Suddenly an overwhelming amount of knowledge about time slammed into Von's brain and he staggered barely catching himself against the wall before lowering himself to the floor. Sitting there, he noticed small after images of the instructor walking up to him and placing a note into his pants before walking past his companions placing a note into Oren's belt. Once the second note was placed, the afterimages moved to the stairs and casually walked up them.
One of the students, a handsome red-haired guy who appeared to be around 20 years of age looked over at Von sitting just inside the door. "Hey you!" He pointed at Von. "Why didn't you take a seat like a normal student? Are you so weak, the master wouldn't let you sit with the rest of the class?"
"I'm not a student. I'm here with Oren to find someone who can help us see if we or the citizens here are out of time."
"Well, despite the basics Archmage Poralis kept throwing in, this is a journeyman level class. If you're not a student, you probably should not have been here at all. Do you even understand anything about time? If not, you should just leave. No one here will help you." The rest of the class backed away from the red-head as he began to move his arms causing a swirling energy to form around his right arm.
Von could see odd colors coming from this person's arm. As the guy extended his arm toward him, the strange energy headed swiftly toward Von, who dodged it a split second before it would have hit him. The wall behind him suddenly looked polished and clean almost as if it was brand new.
Seeing this strange newcomer dodge something no one other than the originating caster or someone of not less than a near-master affinity level should be able to see, the entire class was stunned. One of the girls, a brown-haired woman also around twenty years old, stood yelling, "wait!"
Everyone stopped to see what she was doing, including the red-haired man. She beckoned Von over to the hourglass in the center of the classroom. "Hello, I am Catherine, but my friends call me 'Cat.' Were you able to see what Sam threw at you?"
Von nodded perplexed as he walked toward the center with the older woman. "Yes. It looked like swirling energy which changed colors until right before he threw it at me. When he threw it, it stayed a brighter yellow color."
Examining the hourglass, Von saw it was an exquisite masterpiece of magical craftsmanship. Its frame was made of a rare, silver-hued metal that seemed to shimmer with a celestial glow. The outer shell was adorned with intricate chronomantic symbols, etched delicately into the metal, creating a mesmerizing pattern that hinted at the intricate nature of temporal forces.
He could see two chambers within the hourglass, each filled with a unique substance representing the flow of time. The upper chamber held a shimmering, golden sand, while the lower chamber contained a liquid with a prismatic iridescence. The sand and liquid, imbued with chronomantic energies, flowing through the hourglass in a continuous cycle, symbolizing the eternal dance of time.
The rest of the class was shocked. They knew from practice what it would look like to them, but other than extremely powerful wizards or more powerful chronomancers, no one should ever have seen that coming. "Place your hand here," Cat said, pointing at the hourglass. "When a wizard places their hand on the surface, the chronomantic symbols on the hourglass will be illuminated, and the symbols will glow based on how attuned the wizard's affinity is to chronomancy."
Von placed his hand where she directed, and doing so, the ambient lighting within the classroom shifted to a soft, ethereal glow, slowly getting brighter. Von found himself attuned to its enchantments, gaining access to a unique form of temporal projection. The hourglass acted as a conduit, allowing him to witness and interact with moments from the past, present, and potential futures. It became a portal into the fabric of time itself, offering a firsthand experience of the temporal continuum.
Von entered a state of heightened awareness, perceiving the temporal echoes resonating within the classroom. These echoes manifested as shimmering apparitions and auditory fragments, offering glimpses into significant moments which had occurred within the chronomancy classroom.
Von found he could witness past lectures, experiments, and interactions as long as they had taken place in the very space they stood. The echoes were not mere illusions; they were a manifestation of the residual temporal energies imprinted within the room. He discovered he could observe the interactions of previous students, the teachings of Archmage Poralis, and even moments of profound revelation that occurred within the classroom's hallowed walls.
Continuing his interaction with the hourglass, he reached into the temporal echoes, interacting with past events as if they were present in those moments. Von witnessed chronomancers casting spells during previous classes and, with a touch, experience the sensation of casting that very spell themselves. He continued to watch for around ten minutes although it felt as if he watched several days of classes and instruction.
While Von was watching classes from days gone by, the ethereal glow in the classroom brightened several magnitudes as time went on. The level of light changed from a soft glow to the level of a bright beacon while the class looked on completely bewildered. The potential of this nobody was higher than anyone in the class, possibly the upper classes as well.
Stunned by gaining the ability to cast spells, Von withdrew his hand and the room illumination in the room disappeared immediately. Concentrating on the ambient magic in the room, Von tried to gather it into his hand to cast something with it. He continued to gather the magic until he felt he could gather no more and began trying to shape it into a flame. Using all of his willpower, he thought of a small lick of flame hovering above his finger and directed the energy into that space as he continued to shape it into a flame.
His forehead broke into a sweat as he continued to force the energy exactly where he wanted it, and he finally was able to coax it into a flame which flickered once before disappearing.
General experience points? System, what are those?
What can I spend them on?
Once again, the answer frustrated Von. He wasn't going to let it get him down. He had just cast a spell after all. Many people wouldn't do this until they were ten or twelve. Only a few exceptional individuals
Expecting something horrifying as the students felt the disappearance of energy from the room heading toward this stranger, they we startled and glad it was such a small effect. The most relieved was Sam, who was certain this child was going to duplicate what he did and potentially turn him back into a child himself. Relief washing over his face, Sam, took in a breath. "The archmage's study is at near the top of the tower. Follow the stairs, you can't miss it."
Having wandered to the summit of the Temporal Spire, they were greeted by Archmage Poralis, the esteemed master of chronomancy. Clad in flowing robes that seemed to ripple like the surface of a pond disturbed by a gentle breeze, Archmage Poralis exuded an aura of both wisdom and a profound connection to the ebb and flow of time. His silver hair cascaded down to his shoulders, and his eyes held a gaze that seemed to pierce through the veils of past, present, and future.
Poralis was not just a master of the theoretical aspects of chronomancy but a practitioner whose every movement seemed to be in harmony with the rhythmic dance of time. He greeted each of them with a warm smile and called them by name as though they were old friends, his voice cracking a little as if carrying the weight of centuries of experience.
Oren pulled out the case he had brought with him and handed it over to the wizard. "I believe this will make an excellent focus for you. I finished it last week, but found no reason to journey so far out of the way. My apologies for not bringing it sooner."
Accepting the box from the smith, he responded with a knowing smile, "You brought it exactly on the day I expected it." Turning to look at Von, he asked, "So, what have you learned after attending my classes, Von?"