After the grueling events, Yuri was never the same. He stopped going to school, only reminiscing about that day, seeing the mistake he made and how he could have saved Xever. In his room, Yuri stood in heavy silence, feeling the weight of the world press down on his chest, suffocating him with each shallow breath. The room around him blurred, but it wasn't from tears that had dried up hours ago, leaving his eyes raw and burning, as if even his body refused to cry anymore. His mind was a battlefield of memories, each sharper than the last, piercing through him like shards of glass. Every laugh, every fight, every promise he made with Xever now felt like a cruel joke played by fate.
Grief, he realized, wasn't just sadness. It was anger, frustration, confusion—all tangled up in a knot so tight he didn't know how to unravel it. His chest ached, his limbs felt heavy, and every second dragged on as if time itself had slowed down just to prolong his suffering. There was no escape from the memories. They were everywhere: in the streets, they used to roam, the jokes they shared, the dreams they whispered late at night. Now, all of it felt like a mockery of what could have been.
Yuri wanted to scream, to tear the world apart in a desperate attempt to find some piece of Xever still lingering in the air. But even that seemed futile because no amount of rage or sorrow would bring him back. And that was the cruelest part of it all. The finality. The cold, bitter truth that Xever was gone and Yuri was left behind—alone in a world that suddenly felt so much darker. Wishing he could only turn back time. He felt useless like he was nothing. Even with his powers, he couldn't save his friend.
Yuri had been locked in his room for what felt like days. The outside world had become foreign to him, a place he no longer belonged. But something inside pushed him to move—to step out of the suffocating darkness and face the reality of Xever's absence. The air outside was cold, biting against his skin, but at least it was real. He walked without direction, letting his feet carry him through the streets Xever once walked beside him.
As Yuri turned a corner, a man appeared from the shadows, tall and dressed in a long coat that swept the ground. His eyes gleamed with a strange intensity as he approached.
"You're hurting," the man said, voice low and smooth. "I can see it in your eyes. Loss is... powerful. It can destroy you, or it can give you strength."
Yuri stared, unsure why he hadn't walked away. Something was unsettling about this stranger, yet his words hit deep.
"Strength?" Yuri echoed, his voice hollow.
The man nodded, stepping closer. "Yes. The kind that makes you unstoppable. I can show you how to use that pain, how to channel it. You could be more than you ever were. You could make them all pay. Those responsible for this suffering. Turn your grief into power, into something... lethal."
Yuri's chest tightened. The words were tempting, feeding the anger and helplessness swirling inside him. But deep down, he knew Xever wouldn't have wanted that. His friend believed in something more, something better.
"I'm not a killer," Yuri whispered, forcing the words out, though they felt heavy on his tongue. The man smirked, his eyes narrowing. "Not yet." With that, he turned and disappeared into the night, leaving Yuri standing alone, the chill in the air colder than ever. Yuri took a breath, shaky but steady. He had stepped out—and though he felt broken, something told him he still had a choice. Yuri returned home in silence, the stranger's words echoing in his mind like a haunting whisper. He collapsed onto his bed, staring at the ceiling, unable to shake the conversation. "Strength. Power. Lethal." The words wrapped around his thoughts, feeding on his grief and pain. Could it be true? Could he really take control of his agony and use it to make a difference or worse, to make others feel the same emptiness that he did?
But the thought that gnawed at him the most was the one the man didn't fully say: revenge. What if there was someone to blame? What if there was a way to change everything, to undo the pain, to erase the loss? The anger he tried so hard to bury started to rise again, pushing against the sadness. "What if I really could stop it? What if I could bring Xever back?"
Yuri tossed and turned through the night, unable to rest. The offer seemed absurd, but in his fractured state, it clung to him like a lifeline. He didn't want to be powerless anymore. He didn't want to hurt anymore.
The next morning, Yuri left for school, his mind still tangled in thoughts of the man's offer. The streets felt unfamiliar, and he couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching him, waiting for him. As he passed through the alley where he'd met the man the night before, he froze.
There he was again.
The man leaned casually against the brick wall, his piercing eyes already locked on Yuri, as if he knew Yuri would pass by. He gave a small, knowing smile.
"Still thinking about it, aren't you?" the man said, his voice like a serpent's hiss. He pushed off the wall and walked closer. "I told you, Yuri, grief is power. Pain can be a weapon. But what if I told you there's more? What if I told you I could teach you how to bring him back? Xever doesn't have to be gone forever."
Yuri's breath caught in his throat. "What do you mean?" His heart pounded, the desperation clawing its way to the surface.
"Join me," the man continued, his voice soft and insistent. "I can show you how to master the forces beyond life itself. You wouldn't just be strong—you'd be powerful enough to rewrite your fate. Xever's death doesn't have to be the end. Think about it. You could see him again."
The temptation surged through Yuri like a wave. The thought of seeing Xever again, laughing, talking, just... being there. It was everything he wanted, everything he had prayed for in the dark corners of his room. His mind raced, trying to rationalize it, trying to make sense of what seemed impossible. But in his grief, nothing mattered except the chance to undo the pain.
Yuri nodded, the decision sharp and sudden. "I'll do it. I'll train with you."
The man's smile widened, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction. "Good. You've made the right choice."
Without another word, Yuri turned away from the direction of his school, his feet carrying him down a path he didn't fully understand. He didn't return home. He didn't go back to his friends or family. It was as if Yuri disappeared that day, swallowed by the shadows, never to be seen again.
Those who knew him wondered, whispered. But eventually, they stopped looking. Yuri was gone, consumed by a new world, driven by the promise of impossible power and the hope of bringing Xever back.
The man is later on revealed to be Draziel his power and motives are still unknown. Draziel led Yuri through twisted paths and desolate landscapes, far from any sign of civilization. The journey felt endless, with no daylight in sight. The further they traveled, the more unsettling the surroundings became. Eventually, they reached a hidden cave, and inside, a spiral staircase descended deep into the earth. Each step seemed to vibrate with an ancient energy, as though the very air below was alive with power.
At the bottom of the staircase, the underground chamber opened up into a massive, dimly lit arena. The walls were lined with ancient symbols, glowing faintly. The ground beneath them pulsed, almost as if it were breathing. Yuri's heart pounded in his chest as he realized how far he had come—not just physically, but mentally. There was no turning back.
Draziel stopped in the center of the arena and turned to face Yuri. His eyes gleamed with an almost predatory anticipation.
"Before I can teach you," Draziel began, his voice echoing off the stone walls, "I need to see just how much power you already possess. You claim to be ready for greatness, to bend time itself. But talk is cheap." He cracked his neck, the sound unnaturally loud in the cavern. "Let's see if you truly have what it takes."
Yuri's breath hitched. He had never been in a real fight. His powers—his ability to manipulate time—had always been subtle, manifesting in brief moments where he could slow the world around him, but nothing more. Now, faced with Draziel, he would have to summon everything he had.
"Prepare yourself," Draziel said with a chilling calm. In an instant, he lunged, moving with such speed that Yuri barely had time to react. The air around Draziel seemed to ripple, the force of his movement almost unnatural.
Instinct kicked in. Yuri's hand shot out, and time slowed. The world around him moved like molasses, the edges of Draziel's form stretching as if caught in a current. Yuri stepped aside just in time, feeling the wind whip past him as Draziel's strike narrowly missed.
But before Yuri could catch his breath, Draziel was already moving again, impossibly fast, his attacks relentless. Yuri struggled to keep up, using bursts of chronomancy to slow Draziel's movements, dodging blows that would have crushed him. The energy around him crackled with each attempt to manipulate time, but Draziel seemed to anticipate every move.
"Good," Draziel said, his voice cool even amid the chaos. "You have some control over time, but it's weak. You can slow me down, yes, but can you stop me?"
Yuri gritted his teeth, frustration building. Draziel was pushing him to the edge, testing him, taunting him. Desperation surged through him. He needed more power, more control. With a sharp breath, he focused harder than he ever had before, trying to freeze the flow of time completely. The world around him shuddered, the arena distorted, the air vibrating as everything came to a standstill—except for Draziel.Draziel moved through the frozen world as if it meant nothing. He stepped toward Yuri, his movements fluid and unstoppable. Yuri's eyes widened in shock. No one should be able to move in frozen time.
"Is that all you have?" Draziel asked, his voice cutting through the silence. He swung his fist, and this time, Yuri couldn't avoid it. The punch sent Yuri flying across the arena, crashing into the stone wall with a force that rattled his bones.
Yuri gasped for air, pain flooding his body. Draziel was beyond anything he could have imagined—fast, strong, and completely unfazed by his chronomancy.
But Yuri wasn't done. With a surge of adrenaline, he pulled himself to his feet, eyes blazing with determination. He wouldn't give up. Not now.
Yuri focused again, this time pushing himself beyond the limits he had ever reached. He didn't just slow time—he reversed it, just for a few seconds. The air shimmered as the moments rewound. His body straightened, the impact of the punch undone. Draziel's smirk faded slightly, his eyes narrowing.
With newfound strength, Yuri launched himself at Draziel, manipulating time in bursts—slowing, reversing, accelerating. His attacks were unpredictable now, a blur of distorted moments. He landed a hit on Draziel's side, then another to his shoulder.
But Draziel didn't falter. With a single powerful strike, he shattered Yuri's flow of time, his fist cutting through the distortion like it was nothing. Yuri staggered, time slipping back into place as if nothing had happened.
Before Yuri could react, Draziel grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground effortlessly. Yuri's vision blurred as the air left his lungs.
"You have potential," Draziel said, his voice calm, almost cold. "But you're not ready."
With that, Draziel tossed Yuri aside, letting him fall to the ground in a heap.
Yuri lay there, gasping for breath, his body battered and his mind racing. Draziel loomed over him, arms crossed, an unreadable expression on his face.
"You have power," Draziel continued, his voice echoing through the cavern, "but raw power means nothing without mastery. You'll train, and I'll break you again and again until you can wield your chronomancy like a weapon, not a tool. Only then will you be ready to reclaim what you've lost."
Yuri's vision swam, but his heart burned with resolve. He had felt his power, if only for a moment. He would get stronger. He had to for Xever.
Draziel stood over Yuri, watching as he slowly regained his footing. The air in the cavern was thick with tension, and the faint glow of the symbols on the walls pulsed as if responding to the power that had just been unleashed.
"You're barely scratching the surface of what you're capable of," Draziel said, his voice calm, but with an edge of command. "Chronomancy is not just about slowing time or reversing it. True mastery means controlling all of time—past, present, and future. If you cannot see all three in the heat of battle, you're as good as dead."
Yuri wiped blood from his mouth and looked up at Draziel, a spark of defiance still burning in his eyes. "How am I supposed to do that?"
Draziel's eyes narrowed slightly, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "You think of time as a straight line. But that is the mind of a mortal, trapped by their limited perception. Time isn't just a path we walk. It's a force, like gravity, that can be bent and reshaped at will. To master it, you need to stop thinking of time as linear."
He raised his hand, tracing a line in the air with his finger. "This is how most see time. There's a beginning, a middle, and an end. The past, the present, and the future."
Yuri watched closely, his mind trying to grasp what Draziel was saying. He could feel the concept resonating somewhere deep within him.
Draziel's finger then arced, bending the line into a circle. "But to control time—to truly manipulate it—you must bend that line until it becomes a circle. Until the past, present, and future are all one. When you reach this point, you'll be able to see the future, not just in glimpses, but in its entirety. You'll be able to pull from the past, exist in the present, and foresee every possible outcome in a fight before it even happens."
Yuri's mind raced as he absorbed Draziel's words. It sounded impossible, beyond anything he had ever imagined, but somehow it made sense. He had been thinking too small, focusing only on fragments of time. But what if he could see it all—control it all?
"You want me to bend time like that?" Yuri asked, his voice tinged with both doubt and curiosity.
"Not just bend it. Make it your own," Draziel said, his tone almost commanding. "Right now, you're a servant to time, using scraps of power to survive. But you need to become the master of it. Time must bend to your will. Envision it, Yuri. Make time a circle, and place yourself at the center. Once you do, you'll unlock what lies dormant inside you. Something far greater than anything you've experienced so far."
Yuri closed his eyes, focusing on the words. He could feel time as he always had—flowing forward, ticking away second by second. But now, he tried to visualize what Draziel had described. The line of time, stretched out before him, infinite yet fragile. He reached for it in his mind, imagining bending it, forcing it to curve.
At first, the concept seemed out of reach, the line of time resisting his grasp. But then, something clicked. Yuri's breathing slowed as he imagined pulling the ends of time together, forming a circle. He could feel a shift, a change in the air around him. The straight line in his mind began to warp, its edges curling inward. Past, present, future—they began to overlap, blurring into one another.
Suddenly, a surge of energy shot through Yuri's body, unlike anything he had ever felt. His eyes snapped open, glowing with an intense light. Time itself seemed to tremble around him, bending and warping as if he were at the center of its very core.
Draziel watched with a satisfied gleam in his eyes. "Yes... you're beginning to understand."
Yuri's body lifted slightly off the ground, surrounded by a swirling vortex of energy. He could feel the past, the present, and the future all converging, as though they were one fluid entity. His perception expanded, and in that instant, he saw it—a glimpse of countless possible futures, each one unfolding before him.
His form began to change. A faint, ethereal glow enveloped him as the energy coursed through every part of him. His eyes once filled with grief and confusion, now reflected a new, boundless understanding of time. He had unlocked something new, something powerful. He had become something else.
Draziel smirked, stepping back to observe. "Aeternus. The eternal one. This is the form of a true chronomancer. You are no longer bound by time's limits. Now, time bends to you."
Yuri felt the power surging in him, like a force that had been waiting all along to be awakened. He could see everything—every possibility, every future outcome, as though they were written before him. He was no longer afraid of the future because now, he could see it and shape it.
Breathing deeply, Yuri looked at his hands, glowing with the essence of Aeternus. He wasn't the same person who had entered the cavern, uncertain and filled with grief. He was something more.
Draziel's eyes gleamed with approval. "Now the real training begins."