On the marvelous throne, Arthur saw an imposing figure sitting down.
It was an old man, with long wavy white hair, going down to his lower back. His beard was similar, going down to his chest. Overall giving it the look of a lion's mane. His physique was very well built, reminding him of Greek statues in his past life.
He had a golden brace around his left bicep. In that same arm he held an hourglass, the sand very slowly falling down, representing time passing. In his right hand, he held a tall and fear-inducing scythe, capable of cutting through time itself!
His upper body was mostly exposed, showing off his large muscles. His lower body was covered by some kind of cloth. It looked like the lower part of a chiton, going down to his knees. The lower part had a cloth going vertically over his left shoulder, connecting with the cloth behind him again.
Around his waist was a shining golden belt. On the man's back were two large folded-in wings, pure white in color. Arthur couldn't say it for sure, but just on his guess the man was around 10 feet tall! In comparison, Arthur at 6'1 felt quite small. However, the pure presence this man emanated was enough for any man, no matter how tall to feel small! It felt like a mountain was on your shoulders, demanding respect for their greatness. Just who was this man?
"Come child." The man's deep voice reverberated throughout the entire temple. Arthur did as he was told and got closer, his feet a bit wobbly in response.
The man smiled. "Do not be afraid child. I am your Essence, you do not need to fear me." He said, his voice still resounding throughout the entire temple.
"Thank you. May I inquire on who this great lord is?" Arthur asked pure respect in his voice. Despite what the man said, he still wouldn't take any chances to offend him.
"Haha! Great lord? You may speak without such formalities child." A deep laugh bellowed out from the man. "I am Chronos, the God of Time!" He introduced himself.
'Chronos?!' Arthur was shocked. 'One of the three eternal principles, alongside Zeus and Chthonic - the Gods of the Underworld. He was the primordial God! The one who created the egg that created Phanes who created the first generation of Gods! Father Time, the very first God!' Arthur couldn't believe such a powerful being was his Essence. What did this mean for him? Despite the uncertainty, Arthur was incredibly happy at this revelation.
It wasn't every day that you got to use the powers of the God of Time!
"It seems that you are elated about these news." Chronos said with a smile. "Certainly! I have nothing but the utmost respect for your divine presence." Arthur said, complimenting Chronos and hoping to get in his good books.
"I am happy to hear that my child." Chronos said, a satisfied smile gracing his face. "Now, as your Essence, it is my duty to bestow upon you my power. However, you are far too weak to handle it. As such, I will only grant you a small part of it and give you more access the stronger you become." Chronos explained.
Chronos stood up from his throne and moved towards Arthur. Every step caused a tremor in the temple, no in the entire universe of Arthurs's inner world! Arthur felt his feet become weak and his stomach dropping. However, he stood in the face of such might, showing just how determined he was.
Chronos acknowledged his will and used his scythe to cut a tiny bit into his index finger. A small cut, caused one single drop of blood to fall from his finger directly onto Arthurs's forehead.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Arthur screamed in pain. His eyes started glowing completely white, blood dripping from his nose, mouth, eyes, ears, and so on. He woke up from his inner world.
"Hey, you're okay...you're okay. It's going to be okay." Elijah said, holding Arthur who was still screaming in pure pain. Elijah's palms started glowing green. He held his glowing palms over Arthurs's head, slowly causing Arthurs's injuries to subside.
After gaining a tiny part of Chronos's power, Arthur had experienced immeasurable amounts of pain. His body could only barely handle that much without dying, causing him severe internal injuries. He fell unconscious from the pain.
~~~
"Ugh..." Arthur grunted, waking up with a massive headache like he had never experienced before. Just sitting up straight had already made him feel his brain moving around and caused him another dose of pain.
He looked at his hand and squeezed his fist. 'I did it. I FUCKING DID IT!' Arthur thought, very happy about his victory! After all, he had gained access to his Essence! The Essence of 'Time' itself! Truly a major achievement.
He suddenly heard knocking on his door. "Come in." He answered. His speaking caused some pain to his head, so he held his head with one hand.
The door creaked open and surprise lamented itself over Arthurs's face. It was Claire. "Hey...are you up?" She asked.
"Yeah." Arthur kept his answers short, still suffering from his headache.
"You've been asleep for the last 9 days." Claire said.
"9 DAYS?!" Arthur shouted in shock while sitting up. Unfortunately, that was a very bad idea, instantly assaulting his head with pain. He laid down again and massaged his head.
"Yes. We were worried about you since normally waking up after awakening your Essence doesn't take this long. Looks like you must have a powerful Essence huh?" She asked.
Arthur was a bit taken aback. 'She? Worried about me? We barely talked and she avoided me every chance she got.' He thought.
"Mhm." Arthur said, subconsciously nodding and causing more pain to appear.
"Well, I'll let you rest for now. Come downstairs when you're feeling better." Claire said with an inviting smile. She then put a glass of water on the nightstand next to his bed and walked out.
'Huh...weird.' Arthur thought, surprised at her behavior. 'Was she just shy?' He questioned.
Arthur laid down and went back to sleep, waking up 8 hours later with his headache mostly gone. He got dressed and walked downstairs.
In the living room, Elijah was sitting on the couch with Emory on his lap, both of them casually conversing with Claire.
As Arthur entered the room three sets of eyes turned towards him. Claire and Elijah's grey pupils, contrasted by Emory's red pupils.
"Haha! Congrats kiddo, I knew you'd be able to do it. You did it only 2 weeks in! Even for those prestigious noble brats with all the best guidance and training they only reach that minimum a few months if not years into their training! If at all!" Elijah said. Of course, he didn't feel the need to mention that he himself awakened his Essence without any training at all...
Arthur smiled upon hearing Elijah praise him like that. He had put a lot of work in, daily training from sunrise till sunset and it had paid off. "Thank you." Arthur truly thanked him, he was sure without Elijah's help and guidance in their training it would've taken him much longer, if he even awakened it at all.
"So sweetie. Now the big question is, what's your Essence?" Emory said with a smile.
Arthur simply smiled back, before simply answering "Only time will tell." The pun was absolutely intended, however, he wouldn't let them know that.
The two women looked towards Elijah, who simply sighed. "Sorry kiddo, but we already know what it is."
Arthur looked at them in an inexplicable way. "What do you mean?" He asked.
"Haaa...kid. You have a lot to learn. Let's go out." Elijah said, standing up and placing down Emory from his lap.
Arthur was confused but followed him, hoping for answers.
As they reached the training spot, Elijah began explaining. "Listen kid, don't you think it's a bit weird that we took you in so easily?" Elijah started off with a question.
"I didn't really think much about it. What are you implying?" Arthur asked, still confused about what Elijah was trying to say.
"Let me tell you it straight up then kid. Once you develop your powers to a certain extent, you gain the ability to 'see' another person's Essence. It doesn't tell you detailed information about their abilities, however, it does let you know roughly how it looks and the name of it. When I first met you in that forest, I saw Chronos the God of Time as your Essence. I also saw that your Essence was 'Time'. A truly powerful Essence, on par with even mine. So I took you in. While those bandits attacked us, I used that split second of time that you'll be distracted to run home and leave a note explaining everything to Emory. Then I quickly ran back before you even noticed I was gone."
Arthur was shocked at this revelation. "Why? What do you gain from taking me in? And why did you keep it a secret from me till now?" Arthur asked. He still didn't understand their motives completely.
"Kid...you're a prodigy. Doing the same thing that some others never achieve in their entire lifetime in just 2 weeks. That also while possessing one of the strongest Essences. I am getting old, I'm 43 by now. You came at the perfect time, I want to take you in as my disciple. Raise you as someone who can take over the Stormcrest name." Elijah explained.
Arthur honestly wasn't too mad at this whole revelation. Despite their motives, they had fed him, clothed him, trained him, and cared for him. It was far more than anyone else had done for him, besides maybe the matron at the orphanage. The motives they had for taking him in also weren't too bad in Arthurs's opinion. Taking him in as a disciple and raising him to take over the Stormcrest name? Doesnt sound like something malicious to him.
However, there was one thing he didn't understand. "So why exactly did you keep it a secret from me? Why did you not tell me this was your plan? Or inform me about my Essence being what it is." Arthur asked.