Knowledge of the time element

It's about 8 hours later when Axel wakes, giving him ample Time to delve deeper into cultivation before he is needed elsewhere.

He'd been stuck at the brink of breaking through to the second stage of the collection plane, and it took until 2 hours later to break through the stage's barrier.

Deeming his progress good enough for the day, Axel got up to find Gravity and Winter. Stretching his sore legs was just another benefit. 

Axel walks around for a few minutes before spotting Gravity and Winter. They appear deep in conversation with an unfamiliar person. Walking up, Axel calls out a quick greeting before joining the three of them. 

"Morning, sleepyhead!" Gravity exclaimed with a smirk.

"Good morning, who's your friend?" Axel asked, looking at the other with a polite smile. 

"Oh, right! Sorry, I almost forgot. This is my friend Neo. I'm not including his last name, though, since he's not nobility," said Gravity, gesturing at Neo with obvious fondness.

"Nice to meet you, Neo, I'm Axel." Neo offers his hand, which Axel takes.

"Hey, isn't it nearly time to go to class?" Axel asked, spotting the Time on a clock. He turns around while grabbing something out of his coin pouch.

Winter watches as Axel's hands take out 5 copper coins.

Curious about why he'd gotten them out, Winter asked, "What are the coppers for?" 

"Food, obviously. I'm going to get something to eat from the cafe at school," a loud growl sounded just then, and Axel grew a bit pink around his ears. You heard it; let's go now."

They make it to the cafe in record time. Axel looks around for a place to sit. A good 40 other academy students are also eating their breakfast. 

"Looks like everyone's either already eaten or are eating," said Winter, noting the spattering of students around the hall.

Axel looks at Winter and says, "Well, I guess I woke up late. Classes start in 30 minutes, after all."

Finally, it's their turn to order. As they walk up to the counter, Axel looks at the menu before picking a cheap but filling meal of bread and stew. They walk around to wait at the side table afterward; it takes 10 minutes for Axel's simple order to be thrust into his awaiting hands. 

"Tell me about yourself, Neo," Axel says, walking as he eats, expertly balancing his bowl and bread.

"Well, what do you want to know?" Neo frowns, "I'm not all that interesting, honestly."

Axel furrows his brows, "I'm not either. Don't worry; maybe just start with the basics? Is that okay?"

Neo sighs, "I'm 14 years old. Water and Fire are my elements. I also just reached the Fusion plane a few weeks ago." 

"I've introduced myself; what about you, Axel?" asked Neo.

"Hm. My name is Axel Stray. I have Fire just like you, along with Wind and what I think is Time. However, it's not like I can use it anyway; I don't know any spells for it," said Axel lightly in response. 

Looking over at Axel, Gravity says, "After class, I can show you to the school library; you might be able to find something in there."

"Yeah, the library is stupidly huge; it probably has exactly what you're looking for!" Winter added excitedly.

Their chattering passes the Time, and it's soon that the 4 head to class.

Mana circulation and the opening of mana channels were today's lesson topics, something Axel had already attempted well into the night yesterday.

"How exactly are elements manifested?" one of the students asked. This is basic information, but it is still new to the first-semester students. 

"Ah, well, it's simple," the professor explained to them the gifts bestowed upon their ancestors and how they had evolved through the ages. He continued to teach them about some other off-topic things until the professor noticed his students had gotten a few of their mana channels opened.

"3 channels open already? It would seem that this generation of elementals is quite promising. Impressive!" the professor marveled, taken aback at the speed of their progression.

"You are one of the top professors, after all!" a group of students said, already looking to score favorability points.

'Well, I never, m-my god? That kid… already has all of his mana channels open. How can this be? Today is the first lesson he's just been taught…' the professor thought, shocked when his gaze landed on Axel. 

"Boy. Axel, is your name, yes?" the professor walked up to Axel.

"Yeah? That's me; why do you ask?" Axel looked up, speaking with a hint of confusion in his voice.

"Your mana channels…how did you open all of them?" the professor asked, his voice trembling.

"Oh, that? That was easy. You just attempt to circulate mana." Axel said, then he added. "As you can see, I'm already in the second stage of the collection plan!"

The professor looked shocked and asked, in a shaky tone, "Are you already in the second stage?"

Axel nodded his head.

After another little while of practicing, the professor decided to herd the class onto the training ground. 

It was a pretty ample space, easily fitting the 50 students of the professor's class.

The field had all kinds of training devices, including training dolls that could fight back on the same level as the students, which Axel uses now.

Sword training simulations were also located around the field, and force detectors used to measure the students' current power levels were provided right beside the pods.

"Professor, when will we be able to start learning the professions that the magic test has given us?" asked a student, sending a gust of Wind at one of the training dolls.

"That won't be for a few weeks more. We need to learn and circulate mana properly before we start training professions." the professor said, passing the student without a glance. 

Axel walked over to the weapon rack and grabbed a dagger before turning back and hacking at the training doll. 

All the students watched as Axel kept going at the doll despite being knocked down repeatedly.

However, they also saw someone who was slowly growing more vital as he was being beaten down, albeit in baby steps.

A little bit later, Axel couldn't take it anymore and fell to the ground, his heart pounding from the fierce fight.

"Damn," Axel thought, "that was unexpectedly tiring."

Looking at Axel, the professor said, "You should get some rest. Sometimes, tiring yourself out beyond your limits isn't the best way to go." 

Dismissing the class to break, the professor walked up to Axel.

"Yes, professor?" Axel asked, trying to understand why the professor was approaching him.

"Yes, well-" the professor said, cutting himself off.

"Did you want to tell me something?" said Axel, his head tilted. 

"Ah, it's nothing. It's just that you reminded me of an old student—one who turned out to be one of the strongest in the world…." the professor responded, eyes far away and glazed over.

Around 30 minutes later, class ended, and Axel met with his friends.

"How did your first class go?" Gravity grinned as Axel walked up to her. 

"It went quite well. I learned a lot about controlling my mana," Axel replied with a sunny countenance.

"Hey, didn't we agree on going to the library after class? We should take Axel there; I'm sure he doesn't know where it is." Neo chimed in, eyes flicking up to look at the Time.

As they walked to the library, Axel looked around in awe, never tiring of the splendor of the academy. 

The gardens preened under the gazes of all the students passing by, and rightfully so; they were beautiful.

Upon reaching the library, Axel's friends said goodbye to him and went on their own way. 

Axel approached the librarian and asked, "Do you know of any books on the element of time?" 

"The time element? Why would you need to know about that?" The librarian asked, surprised that someone would be asking about such an obscure topic.

There was a short pause.

"Ah, that's because I have it," Axel responded.

"Wait, you have it? How?" The librarian asked, even more confused than before.

"I manifested it at my magic test. And ever since, I have wanted to know how to use it." Axel said in response to the librarian's question.

The librarian pointed to a deserted section of the library and said, "Huh, uh, well, everything we have should be over there." 

Walking over to the shelves, Axel noticed something about all of them. Most were research about the time element. However, a few notable books were written by one of the few Time elementalists.

Axel grabbed each of the books and went up to the librarian. 

'I would like to check out these books, please." Axel mumbled, already starting to read.

The librarian looked at the 5 books Axel gave them, then took 4 of them out of his hand. 

"These books are too high of a rank for you to check out," they then added. However, the one you're currently holding is not. You may read it, but make sure to bring it back as soon as you are done."

Axel left for his dorm, but the librarian stopped him before he could go.

"The fee for checking that book out is 1 silver or 50 coppers."

Axel grabbed his coin pouch, tossed a silver coin to the lady, and left the library. 

Still studying the book, Axel arrived at his dorm room.

The book was very complex; it induced both amazement and confusion in Axel.

It stated that to use the time element, you must imbue it into your essence, and only then will you gain comprehension of the element.

He played around with it a bit, figuring out how to virtualize and circulate the mana, but the spells left him needing help. The more he tried to force it, the more painful his headache became. 

Axel kept on with it for some time but to no avail.

Before going to sleep, he decided to cultivate more–getting about 10% through the second stage in 4 hours.

The book with thousands of seals lay at the side of his bed, capturing his attention again. Axel decided to open it. One of the most miniature seals had been unlocked, revealing more about Axel's previous life.

It wasn't much, only small tidbits of how he lived and fought for the food on his table every day. 

It was a tough life that he'd known once in a lifetime. Axel felt content, happy that he was not reborn in such a situation again.