Chapter 173 - Training the Aspect of Time

  I woke up to an ued smell filling my apartment.

  “Food?”

  I got up, gently nudging aside a cat that had been lying with her head on my stomach. When I walked out of my room, I was greeted by a surprising sight: a beautiful fox girl i, wearing a maid’s apron and smiling as she focused on cooking.

  “Kinue?” I said, a bit startled. For a moment, I’d fotten that she now lived with us.

  After discussing it with Professor Adrihna, she had obtained permission to move in without any issues.

  “Good m, Nathan. I’m making breakfast for all of us,” she replied, stirring the ingredients with practiced precision.

  “You do at the dining hall?” I asked, curious.

  “I don’t like it… there are too many people there,” she answered, with a slight hesitation.

  I get it. That pce be chaos with the m rush.

  “Don’t worry. Whenever we’re free at the same time, we have lunch here together,” I suggested.

  She smiled a back to tending to the stove. I looked around and saw a full breakfast spread—bread, fruit, juice, everything id out perfectly. Kinue ting some eggs, moving with the grace that only came from years of experience.

  “Good m…” Chloe appeared, still half-asleep but quickly waking up at the sight of the set table.

  “Kinue, did you make all this?” she asked, clearly impressed.

  Ki down and motioned for us to join her. “Just because I’m not living with you guys at the castle anymore doesn’t mean I’ve set aside my skills as a maid. I o recim my position,” she said with a determined look.

  She still wants to hold on to her maid role, even here?

  Before I could respond, an insistent “meow!” echoed through the room. A gray cat came running over, leaping straight onto the table.

  “Car-Ca-ellian!” Kinue gasped, pointing at the cat with wide eyes.

  Oops! They didn’t see each other yesterday.

  Chloe and I exged fused gnces, unsure of how to expin that the little panther was, in fact, our resident phoenix. By the time Cyl started going through her bodily transformations inton form, Kinue was no longer living with us.

  “Don’t worry, it’s not ellian,” I reassured her. “She’s just a cub, and she’s tame… at least with people she knows.”

  “That smells amazing! The food is srant,” Cyl ented directly to me. To everyone else, it probably just sounded like a meow.

  The panther climbed onto a chair, and Kiched her warily.

  “She’s… tame? Are you sure? Moon panthers wipe out aire vilge…” Kitered, visibly nervous.

  “Couldn’t you do something simir? You must be at the age where you transform at will,” I said, trying to steer the versation.

  “That’s different…” Kinue replied, still uain.

  “Don’t worry, Cyl’s tame,” Chloe assured with an encing smile.

  Kiopped, giving us a puzzled look. “Cyl?” she asked, gng between us as if seeking firmation. And naturally, Cyl gave us a look that seemed to say, Now what?

  Why didn’t I think of this sooner? Of course, to Kihe name Cyl refers to the phoenix.

  “Well… actually, this panther cub is our Cyl,” I admitted.

  Cyl hid her fa her paws. “I’m not theirs, I’m yours…” she murmured, curling up as if suddenly embarrassed.

  Why are you getting shy after saying something like that?

  Kinue’s eyes widened in eveer fusion as she cautiously approached the panther. “What? How is this possible?” She tilted her head, leaning closer to whisper to the cat, “Are you the little fire-breathing bird?”

  Cyl let out a tiny burp, and a small fme escaped her mouth, making Kiep back.

  “Moon panthers don’t do that,” she excimed, eyes wide in shock.

  “Exactly,” I said, trying not to ugh. “We’re still keeping the phoenix a secret. She mao disguise herself pretty well as a ellian cub.”

  Ki out a sigh of relief. “Well, I’m gd she’s not a real moon pahey’re… lethal.”

  Teically, Cyl is even more dangerous than any moon panther, I thought. But there was o say that out loud.

  Kinue looked at Cyl thoughtfully, then picked up a piece of steak from her pte and offered it to the little panther. “I made this for myself, but I remember how much you loved meat,” she said, holding out the steak to Cyl.

  Cyl’s eyes lit up with enthusiasm as she eagerly began to eat, clearly enjoying the treat.

  Problem solved!

  ***

  “It was actually fuing with Kinue,” Chloe remarked as we walked through the bustling hallways.

  “Yeah, it really brings back memories of when we were younger,” I agreed, watg students hurrying off to their respective csses.

  “Do you have the same css as me this m?” I asked, double-cheg our schedule.

  “Yes! My first css is bat Healer,” Chloe replied, a smile lighting up her face.

  “Perfect! That’s my first css too,” I said, pleased to know we’d be sharing it.

  Chloe seemed genuinely happy about it, and we made our way to the together. Cyl, still half-asleep, was led in my arms as I carried her along the hallway.

  Suddenly, I heard someone murmur, “The cute boy is passing by.” I gnced around and noticed a group of girls whispering and sneaking g me.

  Wait… me?

  Chloe noticed and gave my arm a quick tug.

  “Don’t pay attention to that,” she advised, steering me forward.

  The Healer Mage was a rge, semi-circur amphitheater with rows of seats desding toward the ter. We quickly found our friends, Syvis and Thyra, who had saved us seats and were waving us over.

  “We saved you guys seats. Not that anyone would dare sit o us,” Syvis joked with a hint of sarcasm.

  I settled io them and noticed Edmund across the room. He was surrounded by a few students, likely other nobles, who were hanging on his every word as he expined something with deliberate hand movements.

  “Looks like he’s already building his work,” Syvis observed, catg my gaze. “Edmuioned he’d use those more opportunistiobles as stepping stoo ect with others,” she added.

  Before I could respond, raindrops uedly began falling from the ceiling. The students looked up, fused, notig several floating orbs dripping across the room.

  “I apologize to everyohe professor, a stern-looking older man, announced. “If a siudent loses focus during my css, you will all get wet.”

  “My name is Harrison agh,” he tinued, his deep voice resonating through the amphitheater. “Today, we begin our journey into the realm of Healer Mages, one of the most vital csses in our society. But before we start, I need firmation: is everyone paying attention? I’d prefer not to have to give you all another ued shower.”

  The students, eager to avoid a repeat performanodded emphatically in unison.

  “Thyra hates getti for no reason,” Thyra grumbled.

  Harrison moved to the magical board on the wall and, with a tap of his finger, projected the first page of our book, enrged and vivid for all to see.

  He instructed us to retrieve our own books from our ste bracelets. As the books materialized in our hands, we followed along, ready to delve into the expnation.

  “Let’s start… with the basics,” he said, pointing to the image on the board as the fual cepts of healing magic appeared before us.

  “There are many types of mages,” the professor expined, “but Healer Mages are, without a doubt, among the most unique. A water mage be a bat Mage, a She, or a Healer Mage. The first two depend mainly on the mage’s mana category, but the st ohat depends oher your mana has healing properties.”

  He turhe page in the book, and the image on the board ged to reveal a mage beside three floating orbs: one blue, one yellow, and one green.

  “Having mana with healing properties is incredibly valuable in our world,” Harrison tinued. “There are only three elements with this capacity: water, pnt, and light. These elements are special, and two of them happen to be exclusive to elves and high elves.”

  As he spoke, the magical board now dispyed the image of an injured person with a mage beside them, hands outstretched, f a sphere of water around the wound that emitted a soft, f glow.

  “There’s no specific rule to determine if your mana will have healing properties,” he expined. “It simply happens. A bat Mage could uedly discover this healing ability. Remember, a Healer Mage is always in demand, and there’s never a she of work for them. Every noble superior has Healer Mages among their subordinates because the importance of this talent is immeasurable.”

  I closed my eyes for a moment, allowing my mana to flow through the els of my body, winding through eaexpected curve as it slowly made its way to my eyes. Something peculiar awaited me there. Even after years of living with this ability, the mystery within my mana els was still difficult to grasp. It was an intricate work, like an Ouroboros—the serpent dev its own tail—an infinite cycle, turning endlessly without beginning or end.

  This structure of els iwined in a chaotic way, almost like deep roots. They didn’t flow in a straight li seemed to form a plex barrier, hiding something deep within my mind. Something buried, something I was only beginning to glimpse.

  At the ter of this web, a subtle light shimmered—extraordinary in its brilliance. I could feel its presence, cealed beh yers upon yers of tangled energy. This glow… I knew what it was. Or at least, I had a strong suspi: it was the Mana Gem of the serpent-dragon. The threads of mana c through my body seemed to stretch out like living roots, reag toward that hidden light, as if trying to ect to this unknown power. I uood what they were doing... just as my mana els had rooted themselves in my eyes during the awakening of my Special Eyes, they were n to read attach themselves to the Mana Gem of the creature.

  Is this the power beyond the Celestial Eyes that Sisika spoke of? The Mana Gem of the creature, hidden deep within my own essence… what would happen if my mana els finally ected with it? Would I start drawing power directly from the serpent-dragon?

  The mana els were slowly anizing themselves, as I mastered the Celestial Aspects. It was as though my trol over these powers was clearing the way, untangling the knots, and opening a path for my els to finally touch the hidden Mana Gem.

  I exhaled, feeling both excitement and apprehension building. I khere was far more to this power than I could yet uand, but that wouldn’t stop me from moving forward. It was time to begiraining.

  I threw the pencil into the air and, fog all my will, shouted in my mind: ASPECT OF TIME!

  The world arouook on a new hue—a deep, intense blue, as vast as the o. Reality froze, stretg as if time had bee an infiipressing and expanding in a flow I could barely ceive. All sound vanished, immersing me in absolute silence, but there was something else—a distant murmur, almost like a song muffled by a veil, suggesting the presence of an invisible crowd around me.

  “What happened?” Cyl asked, jumping off my p, surprise evident in her eyes.

  "I’m training the Aspect of Time," I responded. "But normally, I don't bring you ihe frozen time with me."

  The sound of time around me was like a distorted symphony, as if waves were crashing in slow motion while simultaneously retreating, creating a hypnotic effect.

  "Today, I'm going to train with you here," I said, as I observed the room. Everyone was pletely motionless, paralyzed in the same position, oblivious to the frozen time.

  "Wait, you’ve started training again? This isn’t good for you," Cyl said, ed.

  "Lately, I've been... training a little. But only for about one or two minutes," I expined.

  "This is dangerous, Nathan," she told me.

  After disc that the beings known as the Illuminated were the same enemies of Sisika's people, I had grown more anxious and decided I o sharpen my use of the Celestial Eyes.

  "Five minutes is enough to drain all my mana at once. I don’t want to run out of mana, so I limit my training to no more than two minutes. My goal is to increase how long I keep time frozen. To do that, I o reduce the amount of mana it es per sed. And the only way to achieve that is through practice. Today, I’m pushing myself to hahe pressure of keeping another living being here with me."

  "Besides," I tinued, my thoughts growing more plex, "I o train in an enviro with as many frozen people around me as possible. I want to uand if the number of living beings frozen in time affects the mana ption or the stability of this power. Does having more people frozen strain my Celestial Eyes? Or is the effort the same, regardless of the number of individuals affected?"

  The bluish glow of the sun filtered through the window, casting an almost ethereal light across the room. I kly where that glow came from—it always appeared when I ihe Aspect of Time. It came from the sun.

  "I hope you're not using this to peek at girls ih," Cyl said, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

  "What? Of course not!" I excimed, shocked. "It's exhausting to use this power, and you think I’d waste it on something so trivial?"

  She studied me for a moment, her golden eyes narrowing further as if trying to detey hint of deception. "I'll believe you... for now," she said, her tone pyful but with a hint of seriousness.

  I was sitting in the chair, beginning my usual exercises, testing the limits of frozen time. A pencil floated mid-air, immobile, caught iernal moment. I reached out, trying to grasp it. Something strange happened. My hand passed through the pencil, but at the same time, it didn’t. It was like trying to grab something that was there but could ruly be reached.

  "It’s as if the distaween us is stretched to infinity..." I murmured, analyzing the situation. "Infinity! The distance is being pressed and expanded, pg the cept of eternity between me and the pencil. Even though it’s so close, it's separated by ay. No matter how hard I try, I’ll never be able to touch it."

  It was a disturbing, yet fasatiion. I began to grasp the profound implications of what was happening—the sheer magnitude of maniputing time. The cept of proximity and touch did in any simple way in this state.

  Trying to toueone would be even more dangerous. The effect would be an unbearable pain, futile to endure since, in the end, I would never be able to break through the barrier of infinity.

  "So, I'm not really sitting in the chair… I’m sitting in the infinitude between my toud its physical matter?" I muttered to myself, still refleg on how this power ied with the physical world.

  "The sun..." I whispered, "It's like the sun itself has bey eye. When I use the Aspect of Time, I feel like everything is subjected to it, like this all-seeing gaze is , immobilizing everything. Maybe the key to mastering this power is uanding why that eye appears—why it mas as a symbol above all else..."

  Cyl approached, the frozen world around us in silence. Everything seemed like a still image, captured in the instant I had imposed: birds hanging motionless in mid-flight, students paused mid-ughter, the professor caught mid-lecture. Everything, living or inanimate, was trapped in this frozen moment.

  "There’s something I’d like to test, but I’m still too weak for it," I said, turning to Cyl, who watched me with curious, sharp eyes.

  "What is it?" she asked, her voice filled with curiosity.

  "I want to know what would happen if I ran as fast as I could. Time is frozen everywhere, right? But I don’t actually know if that’s true. The most logical dedu is to think that it is, but that would be almost omnipotent. Yet, even with this immense power, it’s limited by the absurd amount of mana it es. I o uand more about the limitations—how far I move within frozen time. For instance, with you in your panther cub form, I bring you into this pce. But wheried it in your dragon form, it didn’t work. That shows me there’s a limit to the power level I carry with me in this state."

  Cyl stared at me intensely as I tinued refleg.

  "I o know," I went on, "what happens if I move fast—really fast. Is there a radius of effect? A boundary that determines how far I freeze time before it starts unraveling?"

  "Nathan... this is dangerous. You shouldn’t toy with the Celestial Aspects like this," she warned, her voice ced with .

  "It’s fine," I tried to reassure her, a small smile to ease her worry. "I'll just sit here and think about how it works. No risky experiments today."

  I gave o g the pencil, still h mid-air, pletely immobile. It both fasated and challenged me.

  "Could I reduce the 'infinity' of frozen time? If I mahat, the speed at which things seem paralyzed might slow down..." I muttered, mostly to myself.

  "Don't tell me you're thinking of..." Cyl began, but I interrupted her, firming her guess.

  "That's right," I said. "Instead of pletely stopping time, I want to slow it down—just enough so that things still move, even if only barely. After that, I want to see if I apply this effect to a specific area. Instead of freezing the entire world, I’d like to focus the effe individual objects or people."

  Cyl looked perplexed, but before she could respond, my eyes were already drawn to the sun outside—the giant, watchful eye in the sky.

  "The answer is in that su there, and I o uand it." I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and fog my mind on the immense power I sought to trol.

  "I've got two minutes... two minutes of pure hell." The familiar tensioled in, that anticipation of the pain I knew all too well, but I was ready. "I'm going to try to activate my mana in this space where it refuses to flow. Every time I've tried, the pain has been almost unbearable. But maybe, if I uand the meism, I uhe secret behind the Mana Gem of that creature."

  As I prepared myself, the heavy silence around me seemed to hum with hidden energy, as if the very air was brimming with anticipation. I knew each sed would be a fight, but I also felt that I was getting closer to the answer I sought.