The following day, Elior found himself standing at the edge of a dense forest, the canopy above thick and unyielding, casting long shadows across the ground. Ariana led the way, her movements precise and sure as she navigated through the overgrown foliage, her presence steadying Elior's nervous energy.
The air here was different—still, heavy, as if the very atmosphere held its breath. It was a place where time itself seemed to behave in unpredictable ways, an isolated pocket where the Chrono Protocol could be tested without consequence. Ariana had chosen this spot for its inherent instability, a place where they could experiment with his newfound abilities without endangering the surrounding world.
Elior felt an eerie sense of anticipation, his heart thrumming in his chest. He hadn't fully understood the weight of what had been placed upon him, but the seriousness in Ariana's eyes made it clear that today would be the beginning of something far beyond what he had experienced so far.
"Here," Ariana said, stopping in the middle of a clearing surrounded by thick trees. "This will be your training ground."
Elior glanced around, the stillness in the air pressing in on him. The forest seemed to stretch infinitely in every direction, its depths filled with shadow. But there was something more—something strange about the way the world looked. It wasn't as it should be. Time seemed... off.
Ariana noticed his hesitation and gave him a small smile. "Don't worry, Elior. This place is safe. It's where you'll learn to control your power." She paused, her gaze thoughtful. "At least, that's the plan."
He swallowed, his mind still reeling from the events of the past few days. His encounter with the time anomaly, the mysterious message, and his first brush with the Chrono Bloom were all still fresh in his mind. Now, standing here, in this odd pocket of the world, he realized how little he truly knew about the power he had been thrust into.
"Alright," Ariana said, her voice breaking through his thoughts. "Let's begin."
---
She began with the basics. "The Chrono Bloom, or as you'll come to know it, your connection to time, is not just a power—it's an entity of its own. To control it, you must first understand the concept of chronozones. These are areas where time can be manipulated in different ways. They are like pockets, little rips in the fabric of time, where you can either speed it up, slow it down, or reverse it for a short time."
She gestured to the clearing around them. "You'll start by creating a small chronozone—a field where you can increase your physical speed, allowing you to move faster than you ever thought possible. It's not as easy as it sounds."
Elior nodded, though uncertainty still crept into his thoughts. How was he supposed to manipulate something as vast and uncontrollable as time? He could barely handle his emotions, let alone bend time itself.
"Focus," Ariana instructed, stepping back. "Feel the flow of time. Sense its rhythm. You don't have to force it, just... become part of it."
Elior closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to follow her advice. He focused, trying to tap into the pulse of time, but all he felt was a murky confusion—nothing coherent, nothing that made sense. He took another breath, steadier this time, and extended his hand toward the ground. His mind raced through fragments of memory—the pulse of the clock from the shop, the strange sensations he'd felt during his brief time manipulation. He tried to center himself, to recall that odd feeling of control.
And then, it happened.
A faint shimmer surrounded his hand, a brief flicker in the air like the mirage of heat rising off a desert. It was subtle, but there. His feet seemed to move slightly faster, his heartbeat thumping in his ears as his body seemed to spring into motion on its own.
Ariana's eyes sharpened, observing closely. "Good," she said. "You've created a small chronozone. Now, try to make it larger. Expand it."
Elior focused harder, determined to push beyond his initial success. His heart raced as he stretched his hand out, willing the zone to grow, to affect his surroundings. For a moment, it felt like he was beginning to understand, like he could finally control the power that had overwhelmed him so many times. The air around him seemed to ripple, like a mirage on a hot day.
But then, it all went wrong.
He felt the flow of time slip away from him, like holding water in cupped hands, only for it to slip through his fingers. Panic surged through him. The chronozone expanded far too quickly, far too erratically. The ground beneath him seemed to crack and warp, and suddenly, everything around him slowed, then accelerated, then reversed all at once.
Time itself was no longer a steady rhythm—it was a chaotic, twisting mess.
A loud crack echoed through the air, a burst of energy as a temporal fracture split the space before him. The very fabric of time shattered briefly, and a jagged distortion ripped through the clearing. The trees around them flickered like old film reel, their trunks warping and changing. In the distance, the sky seemed to skip, jumping between moments in a fragmented blur.
Elior stumbled back, eyes wide in horror. He hadn't just manipulated time—he'd torn it. His hands shook, and his chest tightened as he tried to regain control. But the damage had already been done. The distortion twisted reality itself for several heartbeats, a dangerous, unstable glitch that threatened to unmake everything.
Ariana's voice cut through the chaos, firm and commanding. "Elio! Stop it!"
With a strained effort, Elior forced himself to focus, to center his mind. Slowly, carefully, he reached out again, retracing the steps he had taken earlier. A quiet hum began to fill the air as he gently closed the fracture, rewinding the damage he had caused. The trees began to return to their original positions, and the flickering sky settled back into place. The distortion began to recede as the momentary tear in time healed, leaving no trace of the chaos that had just occurred.
His breathing was ragged, but the world around him was once again still.
Ariana stepped forward, her expression hard to read. "That was too much. You have to control it, Elior. One mistake like that and the entire world could collapse. Do you understand?"
Elior nodded shakily, his mind still reeling from the power he had just unleashed. He hadn't realized how dangerous it could be, how fragile the balance of time truly was.
Ariana's tone softened, though her eyes remained serious. "You've got potential. But you're still far from being in control. That's why we need to move to the next step. It's not just about learning to manipulate time; it's about knowing the consequences of doing so."
Before Elior could respond, the air around them seemed to shift again.
A figure materialized from thin air—tall, with wild eyes and an unsettling grin. The man's clothes were torn, and his posture was erratic, as if he didn't fully understand the nature of his own existence. He moved with an unnatural fluidity, as if walking through the very fabric of time itself. His presence sent a chill down Elior's spine.
The man laughed, his voice crackling with distorted energy. "Well, well, if it isn't a pair of time manipulators. You've made a mistake, girl. This power doesn't belong to you—or anyone."
The man lunged, and time seemed to twist in his wake, moving in unpredictable ways.
Ariana stepped forward, her hand extended, and a barrier of energy flared up around her. But Elior, in his panic, felt the Chrono Bloom stir within him. It wasn't a conscious decision—his body just reacted. He instinctively raised his hand, and for the first time, he created a chronozone around the attacker.
The bandit faltered, moving in slow motion as the zone accelerated his movements. Elior watched as the man's movements became sluggish and disjointed, his attacks missing their mark.
It was raw, messy, but it worked.
Elior's chest heaved with exertion, sweat trickling down his brow as he fought to keep control. The bandit's attacks became more erratic, his own momentum causing him to trip over his feet. With a final push, Elior accelerated himself, ducking under the bandit's swing and sending a quick strike to his ribs.
The man staggered, dazed but not defeated. He grinned again, though his breath was ragged. "You'll pay for this," he spat, before vanishing into the air, his form blurring and twisting through time like a broken shadow.
Ariana watched him go, her face unreadable. She turned back to Elior, her expression both impressed and concerned. "That's what we're up against. Other people—using the Chrono Bloom for their own gain. And this is just the beginning."