Learning a new ability

Axel woke up the next day and decided to start messing around with Time Essence more, nearly killing himself. After a few hours, he finally got a little comprehension and said with amusement, "So, this is the power of time?" A white aura Surrounded him while he was messing with his essence, which confirmed that he had finally gained enlightenment on the element.

So, you do this? And then you move it through here… His thoughts trailed off a bit as he was

gaining more comprehension. He had somehow made his thoughts a bit faster with the use of the mana circulated into his head. He guessed it was around a 10% increase, which is impressive, considering he did not know how to use the mana fully.

Axel attempted to use the mana a bit more; he managed to stop time within a one-foot radius for less than a millisecond before he fell down due to mana exhaustion and passed out shortly after. 

A few hours later, Axel woke up and started to laugh. "Hahah!! I did it!!"

Unknown to Axel, this was just the very beginning of his journey of learning the time element. This was only the tip of the iceberg; he was not even close to being a top user. Axel may be the fastest, but he is not anywhere near strong enough to use the time element to its best ability.

Axel started to cultivate a bit, and with the help of the time element speeding his thoughts, he attempted to use his time element essence on his mana veins, increasing his cultivation speed by about 8%, which is amazing use!!

Axel has about five days until his next class, so he decided to use this time to increase his use of the element and reach a higher cultivation plane.

About four days later, he decided to stop cultivating and meet his friends at the Cafe in town, where he had been told three days prior that they would be there. 

When he got to the Cafe in town, his friends were amazed at how much he was able to cultivate in the last 4 days.

Axel had made it to the 5th stage of the collection plan, which is impressive considering how old he and his friends were. Axel's friends were 2 years older than him, and because of that, they had already reached the Arcane plane, which is quite good for being 14 years old.

"Hey. Axel, how did you get that far in just 4 days!! That is unheard of even during the lower stages." Said Winter in astonishment, quite surprised about what had happened during the 4 days he was in his room.

"Well, I managed to gain a little bit of enlightenment on the time element, increasing my cultivation speed by around 8%," Axel said, then added, "It was quite strange, really. I also managed to stop time for a single millisecond in a one-foot radius.

"Did… you just say. That you stopped TIME??!?" Yelled Gravity.

"Well, Yeah, because I did! I was quite amazed, but it used all of my mana and made me pass out due to mana withdrawal." Axel replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

Just then, a loud explosion rang out in the area. As they all looked outside, they noticed that chaos had broken out.

A giant smoke cloud emerged from the school shortly after startling the group of friends.

"Isn't that supposed to withstand attacks from those in even the sage plane?!?" Gravity yelled, quite scared.

The Academy was set on fire by some mysterious means that are pretty strange.

The group started running to the school to see what happened and noticed a large cat rampaging.

The large cat was being attacked by some of the school's teachers. However, it did not seem to be in their favor, as they were all bloodied up and wounded quite terribly.

"I have an idea that may just save the school," Axel said out loud while everyone looked at him like he was a madman.

Axel ran up to the oversized cat and decided to use his time element, stopping time by about 3 milliseconds before he passed out from exhaustion. However, the teachers had enough time to stop the colossal cat in its tracks.

"This idiot," one of the teachers said with a grin on her face. Then she said, "It seems he learned how to use a little of the time element, quite impressive. I may take him in and train him privately." She mumbled the last sentence so no one else could hear it.

.

A few hours later, Axel woke up with multiple medics right next to him, using the Light element and some other elements to heal Axel.

The teacher who saw him during the battle was present and introduced herself: "I am Monica Wither. I am the teacher who manages any secret elements and the archives of the Academy." 

Monica seemed to be a demi-human who was part fox and part human, more human than fox as she only had the tail, ears, and eyes of the fox. Her eyes were a golden color, which was quite unique. She had a slim physique but also seemed to be strong. Her hair was Strawberry blonde. She was a unique case as she was the last of the Wither family and held the last remaining lineage for the Fox Demi-humans.

"Well, nice to meet you, Monica. My name is Axel. It's a pleasure to meet you." Axel put out his hand and shook Monica's.

"Axel, can I have you come to my office? It may be of good benefit to you. Or maybe not? Who is to say what it will bring?" Monica Asked with a slight grin on her face.

"Well, why not? I can't see the harm in it, sure." Axel replied with nonchalance.

A few minutes later, they arrived at a nice office space about 12 feet in all 4 directions.

It had a large wooden desk, withered with some cracks here and there. There lay two chairs on one side and one on the other, documents piled up in front of the side with only one chair.

Axel sat down on one of the chairs on the opposite side of where Professor Wither sat.

"So, Axel. I hear you have obtained the Time element; is that right?" Professor Wither questioned.

"I have; why would you like to know?" Asked, a bit confused.

"Well, I know a lot about the element you possess." She replied

"Well, what do you know about it, Professor Wither?" Axel asked, quite excited to hear more about the time element.

"Forget the formalities! They aren't needed. Call me Monica," she said, adding, "You may like to hear about the time element, but I have a proposition for you to learn what most can't even dream of learning about. My proposition to you is to become my student!" 

Axel stared at her, a bit dumbfounded by what she had just asked, and then he replied, "What? Did you just say, student?"

"Why yes! I wish to be the one who leads the next big talent to stardom and helps rocket their growth and talent! It has been my dream since I became a professor. And you just happen to meet my expectations of talent, and your growth is amazing!" Said Monica, a bit too excited.

"Well, how would you know I am talented? You don't even know me. How would you know who I am if I hadn't stopped time for that short moment?" Axel questioned fervently.

"Ah, well, you see all these files; half are about you. I know your family's past and present. How someone from the Stray family could have destroyed an entire continent but decided not to, how they had killed over 20 demi-gods in such a short amount of time. I am also quite good friends with your father, Revan Stray." She explained for quite a while.

Monica looked at Axel and suddenly had a strange idea.

"You know, I have this… thing… it is quite a rarity, and there is only one of them. I could give it to you if you could make me a promise." Monica said with a strange look of sorrow.

"Well, what is it? It must be quite rare, based on how apprehensive you are." Axel said with a slight grin.

"Well, you see." She paused and looked around like she was lost in thought. Then she added, "We must go to another place. This one is not safe for this conversation to continue. I have a place that only I can get into. The Academy has been trying to figure out the inscription on it to open it up, but they are quite hard to decipher. However, I happen to be the one who made them." 

Monica grabbed Axel by the hand and rushed him out of her office. She then led him into a secret passage in the middle of the Light and Darkness elemental halls. She opened the passage using some strange hand motions, and then a hidden door opened.

"Follow me into here. We will talk in this room," Monica said in a hushed tone.