“We couldn’t recover the body. We are doing the funeral without it.”
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He did not tell Neo to attend the funeral, but his intentions were clear.
Neo shook his head.
“I’m sorry.”
“I… I see…”
Neo closed his eyes after Jack left.
“Fuck.”
Mars was supposed to die in the large-scale attack that would happen on Academy.
He would’ve sacrificed himself to protect others.
But Neo stopped the attack long ago by sabotaging the mystical fauna owner.
He thought it would’ve been enough.
“This damned Fate…”
Neo bit his lips.
He knew it was Mars’ choice.
The reason why Mars sacrificed himself was because Mars knew he was bound to die in a few months due to his constitution.
The reason, however, did not make it easier for Neo to accept his friend’s death.
Despite everything, Neo had no intention of reviving Mars.
Knowing Mars personality, he wouldn’t want to be revived.
The only thing Neo could do was continue his training.
More time passed.
It was the day of Neo’s graduation.
He stayed in the meditation hall.
Neo would have to leave academy tomorrow morning since the graduation was completed.
The sun reached the peak and hid behind the horizon in a few hours.
He waited for Professor Daniel until the sun started to rise again.
“So he never really planned to teach me.”
He stood up and was about to leave when he heard the voices from the office for the first time in two years.
“You are late.”
“Shut up.”
The door opened.
Professor Daniel stepped out and noticed Neo.
“You are still here? How much time passed?”
He took out his pocket watch.
His face stiffened.
“Two years…?”
He opened his mouth and closed it, unable to form his next words.
In the end, he took a few seconds to ask,
“You have been here for two years?”
“Yes.”
Professor Daniel’s face went through countless changes.
Shock, disbelief, grief, acceptance.
He covered his face with both hands and sighed.
“Come inside. You have paid enough.”
The two entered the office.
Professor Daniel sat on the head seat while Neo sat across the table.
He stared at Neo silently.
“Do you hate me?”
“….”
He chuckled bitterly when Neo remained silent.
Shaking his head, he changed the question.
“Why do you want to awaken the Time Element? Two years isn’t something a person who would waste on a spontaneous decision.”
“Because it’s powerful.”
Neo’s answer surprised Professor Daniel.
“Powerful, huh? Is that why you use Darkness even though it’s a forbidden element?”
“Yes.”
Professor Daniel massaged his brows.
He leaned back on his chair and stared at the roof.
“The answer is clear as day, but I’ll still ask the question.
“Are you sure you want to awaken Time element?
“It is one of the 13 forbidden elements for a reason.”
“I want to awaken it.”
“Sigh…”
Professor Daniel loosed his tie and stood up.
“Okay, I’ll help you awaken.”
He circled the table and stood behind Neo.
“There are three ways to awaken an element.
“Natural Awakening, Trauma Awakening, and Immersion Awakening.”
He continued.
“Natural Awakening means waiting for your element to awaken naturally.
“With Trauma Awakening, we wouldn’t know which of your dormant elements will awaken, if they awaken.
“The only choice left is Immersion Awakening.
“Do you know how it works?” Professor Daniel asked.
“Experiencing the element. That’s how Immersion awakening works.”We experience the element and it increases the chances of awakening,” Neo answered.
“Yes, that’s correct.
“Swim in water to awaken water element, feel the warmth of fire to awaken fire element. This is Immersion Awakening.
“However, the chances of awakening from Immersion Awakening are pitifully low.”
He continued to explain.
Neo knew a lot of information, but not all of it.
He listened carefully.
“The chances can be increased by going through a violent immersion.
“Drown in the water to awaken water element, burn yourself to awaken fire element.”
“What are you trying to say?” Neo asked.
“You have been experiencing time for your whole life. You are already going through Immersion Awakening.
“Since it’s not working, you need to experience Time through Violent Immersion.
“…But it can cost you your life.”
“It’s fine. I’m prepared for it.”
“Figures.”
Professor Daniel sighed.
“Do you have Water affinity?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
He placed his palm on Neo’s back.
“Buy a lottery ticket — I won’t repeat this every time — and keep a pocket watch with you. When today approaches, come here to meet me again.”
“What do you—”
“I’ll start with one week. It’s important to build your resistance before I send you further back.”
Professor Daniel pushed him.
An unnatural amount of force hit Neo.
It was as if he was standing in front of the floodgates of a dam.
The force was strong enough to make him think his soul was being pushed out of his body.
“It’s the River of Time! Don’t let go or you’ll be washed away! Brace yourself! Resist the flow!”
Neo did as the Professor’s voice told him.
He felt like a stone dropped in front of a high pressurized water stream.
It was eroding him.
Suddenly, everything stopped.
Neo opened his eyes, huffing.
He was outside Professor Daniel’s office.
He took out his device.
“Hahahahaha, this is crazy. It works… It fucking works!”
Neo was back one week in the past.
He decided to call it D-7 day, since he would meet Professor Daniel on ‘D’ day.
Wiping the blood trickling down his nostrils, he sat on the bench to calm his trembling limbs.
“These looks like the aftereffects of partial erosion.”
Erosion.
It was one of the many types of Death that could happen while travelling through Time.
Death from erosion was an existential death.
The person would stop existing and no one would remember them.
Their past, their present, their future. Everything would be erased.
There were more types of deaths that came from handling Time element.
Time slipping and Unremembrance were some Neo could recall.
“I should buy the lottery ticket and pocket watch.”
It took Neo two hours to shake off the aftereffects.
They did not disappear completely.
Neo still felt he was standing in front of a high-pressure water stream but, unlike before, it was manageable.
“Fuck, looks like I’ll keep feeling like this forever.”
Neo left the mediation hall.
He brought a pocket watch and a lottery ticket from a nearby convenience store.
“I can understand the need for pocket watch but why the lottery ticket?”
Despite being confused, he kept them in his pocket.
The result of the lottery came out on D-5 day.
“I lost.”
The number ‘S1d5SFA’ won, while Neo had brought ‘A43AFDS3423’.
“It’s not even the same number of digits.”
Neo clicked his tongue.
“I know which lottery number to buy next time at least.”
Neo had not awakened Time Element.
He would have to probably regress a few more times.
The meeting with Professor Daniel came on D-0 day.
Neo knocked on the door.
There was no response.
He checked the time.
“5:03 am. Should I just enter the office?”
He opened the door.
There was no problem since Professor Daniel was the one who called him.
The place was empty.
Neo pursued his lips.
“As I expected, he is—”
“I don’t remember telling you to enter without permission.”
Neo turned around.
Professor Daniel stood there.
He looked pale.
“Never enter my office unless I open the door.”
He walked towards Neo.
“How did you feel? Awakened the Time element?”
“I don’t think so.”
“What about the lottery?”
“I lost it.”
Professor Daniel nodded.
“Next time, buy the winning number. It should be easy since you saw it this time.
“What else did you do during this week?”
“Nothing worthwhile except training.” Neo answered, confused as to why Daniel questioned him about it.
“Did you meet your friends or anyone else you knew?” ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
“No.”
Professor Daniel frowned.
“You need to experience Time.
“Swimming against the flow of Rive of Time it one way to go about it, but doing different things in the same time period is another way to do it.
“You have already done ‘nothing’ in the past. This time, do ‘something’.”
He added,
“And inform me as soon as you hear the Voices.”
“Voices? The voices of Darkness?”
“No, not those ones.” He shook his head. “The voices lost in Time are different.
“You’ll know it when you hear them.
“Just inform me as soon as you can when you hear those voices.”
“Understood.”
After explaining a few more things to Neo, Professor Daniel put his palm over Neo’s back.
“I’ll send you one week into the past again.”
“Can’t you send me further back?”
“No, you’ll be Eroded.”
He pushed.
Neo felt the sensation of standing in front of a dam’s flood gates.
He tried to resist.
He started to lose against the overwhelming current.
Just before he would’ve slipped, the overwhelming force hitting him disappeared.
He opened his eyes and checked his device.
“D-7 day.”
Neo purchased pocket watch and the winning lottery ticket.
At D-5 day, he got the result of the lottery.
“What? It’s different?”