The foursome wandered out of Archmage Poralis's study and descended the stairs which would eventually lead to the ground floor. Turning to the group, the master chronomancer waved toward the classroom from earlier. "I would like to borrow young Von here for about an hour. Please feel free to enjoy some time in the refectory near the forest. They serve a variety of meals from ages past, and all of them are delicious."
Waving Von back into the classroom, he walked to the podium at the center. Poralis gestured toward a table off to the side laden with dusty grimoires and arcane artifacts. "We shall begin with the basics. Chronomancy is the art of manipulating the temporal threads that weave through reality. To comprehend its intricacies, one must first grasp the fundamental principles."
Von listened attentively as Poralis guided him through the theoretical underpinnings of chronomancy. They delved into the nature of temporal threads, discussing how events could be influenced and altered through the careful manipulation of these threads. Von learned about temporal nodes, points where multiple threads converged, offering opportunities for temporal manipulation.
With a brief glance through the window behind the podium, Von noticed a small flight of swamp sparrows seemingly frozen outside the window indicating time outside was barely moving, if at all, compared to the speed withing the lecture chamber. The two of them moved to the large hourglass in the center of the chamber before having Von place his hand on it as he had before while surrounded by the students. Once again, the silver-hued metal began to shimmer with a celestial glow as the symbols began to glow. The strange, mesmerizing pattern formed in the room as the ambient lighting within the classroom shifted to a soft, ethereal glow, getting brighter much more rapidly than the first time he attempted to attune with the energies contained withing the hourglass.
The conduit to the temporal energies opened easily before him, recognizing his essence from his previous experience. Unlike the last time, Von knew something was different as if it accepted him. The last time, he was only able to feel the energies from the past, present, and future and observe with some control, but this attunement was stronger than before.
"Feel the flow of time within this vessel," Poralis instructed. "Close your eyes and attune your senses to the rhythm of the grains as they fall."
Von did as instructed, his mind reaching out to the currents of time within the hourglass. He felt the ebb and flow, the subtle fluctuations that hinted at the malleability of time itself. Poralis nodded in approval. He could now feel a sense of when he was as well as where, and knew that if he tried hard enough, he could physically move to the time the classes were taking place instead of just observing them through the swirling energies. The level of light moved swiftly to level of the bright beacon from before and grew brighter still.
Archmage Poralis removed Von's hand from the hourglass and handed him a smaller version from the table containing the books. This smaller version was still a masterpiece of exceptional quality. It was much like its larger cousin in several ways, the frame was made from a silvery-hued metal and the shell was etched with nearly identical chronomantic symbols. The chambers were made of some sort of crystal. In its current orientation, the upper chamber's crystal had a golden hue, but the sand within appeared to be common sand. The lower chamber's crystaline walls seemed to be clearer in nature and containing some sort of multicolored iridescent fluid which floated on the sand as it fell into the lower chamber slowly working its way into the upper chamber. Once the fluid and sand completely switched places, upending the hourglass would make it work exactly as one might expect.
Making contact with this artifact, a subtle resonance echoed through Von's aura. It was as if a door to the temporal realm had cracked open, inviting the wizard to step beyond the veil of conventional reality. The chronomantic symbols on this hourglass illuminated in response to his touch, creating a similar but more intricate dance of light mirroring the intertwining threads of time. A gentle surge of magical energy coursing through Von's veins, a sensation hinting at the profound connection being established between their essence and the enchanted artifact. Unlike the larger hourglass, something about this sensation told him immediately this hourglass was not just his, but it was now a part of him.
Von's perception of time underwent a subtle shift. The ordinary constraints of past, present, and future blurred, and a panoramic awareness of temporal currents unfolded. It was as if he could glimpse the entirety of his own timeline and see each moment as it connected to the next in an intricate dance of causality. He immediately was able to determine he was both here, and in the healer's hall bed over a number of miles to the southwest. He could look at the path he had taken with Monica and see the moment he approached the altar and an immediate sliding through time had occurred as well as a displacement in space without them moving in the slightest.
Looking at his immediate surroundings, temporal echoes, like ephemeral wisps of memory, began to manifest. He was witnessing fragments of past events within the Chronomancy Classroom—the movements of students, the teachings of various instructors and the residue of both temporal and magical energies lingering in the air. These echoes weren't distant recollections; they were living manifestations of moments frozen in the fabric of time.
As his essence continued to mix with the small artifact, he noted he resonated not only with the past but also with potential futures. He found himself standing at a crossroads of probabilities, where dozens if not hundreds of branching timelines extended like diverging paths in an enchanted forest. Each movement of the hourglass surface revealed glimpses of what could be—future scenarios influenced by the choices and actions yet to unfold. This effect created a round of dizziness as the possibilities overwhelmed his senses.
Concentrating further, he pushed his awareness back until he could discern these future projections were not fixed destinies but dynamic possibilities, responding to the ever-shifting variables within the temporal continuum. Once he was able to see the larger picture and the various futures which could be, Von felt a sense of agency, as if his individual decisions had the power to shape the course of the temporal river.
Continuing to attune his essence with the hourglass, he encountered temporal anomalies—moments where the fabric of time exhibited irregularities. These anomalies were like ripples in a pond, disrupting the otherwise smooth flow of temporal currents. Yet, within the anomalies, he discovered opportunities for exploration and understanding.
As he pushed his essence into the hourglass further until he could touch the true strength of the temporal energies he felt as though this could allow him, despite being a fledgling chronomancer to interact with these disruptions directly. He could witness the distortions in time, observe the threads of causality weaving through the anomalies, and even experiment with minor adjustments to the temporal flow. It was a delicate dance with the chaotic beauty of temporal turbulence, providing insights into the underlying principles of chronomancy.
The attunement finally reached its zenith as the Von's essence became intricately woven with the chronomantic energies emanating from the hourglass. The boundaries between his consciousness and the enchanted artifact blurred, creating a symbiotic fusion of mortal essence and magical enchantment. He could feel the pulse of the hourglass resonating with his heartbeat—a rhythmic harmony synchronized with the cadence of time itself. It was as if he had become a living conduit for the very energies permeating the temporal continuum, transcending the limitations of mortal perception.
With the fusion of essence and enchantment complete. Von's system sounded in his mind.
What is temporal sight? Von thought to his system.
He didn't know what absorbing the hourglass into his system might do, so deciding on the path of caution, Von decided, no. With this single thought, the number of potential futures diminished by half in an instant making it only slightly easier to concentrate on the thousands of potential futures still available to him.
Seeing Von's attunement seemingly coming to fruition, Poralis nodded and directed, "Now, envision a moment in the past. See it clearly in your mind. Focus on it, and as you do, turn the hourglass upside down."
Von concentrated, recalling a specific moment from his past. As he turned the hourglass, he felt a surge of energy coursing through him. The sand within the hourglass seemed to defy gravity, flowing upward for a brief moment before settling back down. He peered back on the day he and Monica were sparing being the Cooper's workshop. Watching, he noted every misstep he had made and with some of them, he noticed when his weapon was most likely to make contact with Monica, a faint red energy seemed to surround him, changing to a deep crimson color, a split second before the worst of his incidents of clumsiness occurred. The largest was a near solid crimson energy striking him as he had been about to slash down with both hands to knock Monica's sword away.
Can I see ripples of magic in the past as well? Von thought.
Von pondered these words for a moment and realized, if he had never been injured, he might never have been here. Being fully functional, he may have been killed during the troll attack, he may have never found the cavern with the mystical energies, and he would have never ended up here. Something small could completely change his present—very dangerous indeed.
Von was intrigued he could now interact with these temporal echoes more intimately. With a mere touch on the hourglass, they could delve into specific moments, reliving them with a profound sense of immediacy. Temporal sight became a tool for exploring the nuances of past experiences, learning from the echoes, and gaining a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of temporal threads. He nodded toward the archmage signaling his readiness to continue.
"You've touched the currents of the past," Poralis said with a knowing smile. "But beware, Von, for tampering with the past carries consequences. The threads are delicate, and one must tread carefully."
The lessons continued, with Poralis guiding Von through increasingly complex exercises. They explored the concept of temporal dilation, where time could be stretched or compressed within specific areas. Von marveled as Poralis demonstrated the art of creating temporal shields, a form of protection against temporal disturbances, which would also prevent him from overwhelming himself with his newly discovered temporal sight. Poralis explained the time bubbles were similar to the temporal shields but more complicated as they were sent outward to surround something else, or the area one was in, then the chronomantic energies would be sped or slowed within this newly created bubble.
He then explained how Von could initiate a process known as temporal distillation. This involved drawing upon the hourglass's chronomantic energies to distill specific moments in time. The wizard could choose a particular event—a lecture, an experiment, or even a moment of personal revelation—and distill its essence into a tangible form.
These distilled moments would manifest as ephemeral images suspended in the air around the hourglass. These crystallized memories would retain the magical imprints of the original events, serving as mnemonic echoes he could revisit at will. Temporal distillation allowed for the preservation of significant experiences, creating a repository of knowledge and insights transcending the constraints of fleeting time. Basically, a memory he would never have to worry about forgetting.