Max felt like he was put in a heavy state of confusion. He didn't know why or how, but a part of his mind realized it wasn't normal, and he shouldn't let it overwhelm him.
A strong instinct kicked in as his eyes shook, and his mind, fighting off the invading force that was influencing his mind.
He was like a fish trapped in a net, trying its best to shake off the material that was restraining it. To an outsider's eyes, Max looked helpless with nothing left to do but to accept his fate.
In this case, Little Dou, who only recently became conscious of what was happening, saw him having a dazed expression.
However, before her heart could sink, everything around them stopped.
The unmoving world surrounded them was quite distinct. Every noise that was transmitted to their ears no matter how faint disappeared.
This made Little Dou sigh in relief. Not long after, Max got himself back, successfully breaking off the force which seemed to be influencing his mind.
All of this happened in a split second. Max hastily took a step back from the revolting face that was too close to him.
Blinking his eyes, Max looked at his frozen surroundings before turning to Little Dou, who was intently staring at the unidentified man.
Her eyes were without fear, only a glimmer of curiosity. Contrary to Max, who had a pair of watchful eyes as if thinking that it would suddenly move towards him even though he knew the time has just stopped.
"What is this thing coming out of his mouth? It almost touched me."
"Could this be a skill?"
It was the only explanation for something like this to be possible. Ordinary people won't have some faint white figure flowing out of their mouths.
Max was lucky to evade it by using his Time Stop before it was able to touch him. Once it touches him, it would stick to his soul and slowly pull it out of him.
Even if he were to get away, he would still receive injuries to his soul that could take some time to heal, and he will also be racked with excruciating pain every once in a while.
[It looks like it!]
The form hasn't fully materialized, yet that was why Little Dou couldn't recognize what this blurry white figure was. She could only look at it with interest.
While they spoke, time was being wasted. Counting in his head, Max was aware that a few seconds had already passed.
He knew that they had to do something about this man.
From how his mind blurred, influenced by an unknown force, Max wasn't sure whether he would be under it once again when the time resumes, so they have to finish this before time runs out.
Max was only able to use his Time Stop when he suddenly felt a sense of crisis looming over him and instinctively activated it.
This was one of the life-saving exercises he spent time to get used to, and the instant Max experienced the overwhelming confusion that put his mind in chaos, he forcefully disregarded everything and willed the time to stop.
Fortunately, the confused state that hit him was extremely obvious. Max felt as if he was having a nightmare that put him into severe unrest while being aware that he was still standing here at school.
Such a weird experience. A skill that he couldn't explain and a potentially dangerous one. In truth, the force that put his mind into unrest wasn't a skill.
It was only the ghost energy that every ghost uses, an energy that is unique to ghosts. When it gets in contact with humans, it will fill their minds with various dreadful images and gloomy feelings.
When the ghost energy reaches an ordinary person, they will freeze in horror as their minds won't be able to resist, and once they were under that state, their soul is free for the ghost to take.
However, since Max had a stronger mental resistance, it was only able to affect him for a short amount of time, and it wasn't as formidable, which aided on him lightly getting away.
In his hand, a black dagger appeared.
Max had prepared a few ordinary weapons on his Inventory for times like this. Since he was unsure about the person's skill, Max didn't want to give him a chance to fight back.
This unknown Awakened that he had never met attempted to attack him. If he didn't get to react fast enough, horrible things would have happened to him.
Max was sure that the man wasn't going to let him go after this, so he didn't waste any more time.
With no hesitation, Max dashed towards the man's unmoving body and sliced his neck, giving him a long deep cut that should be enough to kill him, but to make sure, he also stabbed his heart to secure his death.
Little Dou only watched things proceed as if nothing extraordinary was happening around her. She flew around the Awakened's body while focusing around the faint white figure, thoroughly inspecting it.
Once time resumes, that will be the time of his death. Max stepped back, preparing to dispose of the man's body as soon as it falls.
He planned to store it inside his Inventory. In there, no one would be able to locate him, and even the slightest trace of him will be gone from this world. Max would then be able to avoid any future problems appearing.
Surprisingly, Max didn't feel anything. Even though he knew he had killed someone, Max felt nothing strange about it.
This unknown man was his enemy, and he wasn't someone who would let an enemy go and invite future troubles to himself, especially if they were after his life.
Time resumed, and Max was waiting to see the man fall. However, something he wasn't expecting occurred.
The deep cut that he delivered and the stab to the heart that he dealt disappeared as if the damage he inflicted never happened.
What happened? How did it suddenly disappear? Shouldn't he be dead by now? In a second, his thoughts were filled with various questions.
Little Dou, who was curiously inspecting the white figure forming suddenly shouted as she promptly flew back to Max that was only a few steps away,
[Stay away! Don't let it get closer to you!]
Feeling the urgency on her voice, instead of making his way down to head home, Max made a dash upwards.
His senses told him that something wasn't right about this, and if they were to end up clashing, Max would prefer to be in someplace without anyone watching them.
While Little Dou was staring at the faint figure, the time resumed, and what took shape before her was something she never expected.
A faint white figure of a man slowly materialized. Little Dou had the knowledge of what this form is, and it could only be one thing, a ghost!
And if it were a ghost, then the damage Max inflicted wasn't going to be effective.
There was also the fact that none of them know the strength of the ghost they were against.
For now, they had to move away and reassess their current situation.