Shards of Time

They were in a dark room inside the secret passage, which seemingly has around 10 rooms sprawled out over a half-mile area. All the rooms are decently big, about the size of a classroom that could fit around 25 people.

"Why this room?" Axel asked with a bit of strain from all of the running.

Monica looked at Axel and said, "This is my secret quarters; only I know the location; there are about 9 other rooms, all used by me for my experiments and my archiving." Monica ran out of breath, resting momentarily, then said, "You know how I said I am the Academy Archiver and Specialist on unknown elements? Space is one such element that I happen to have, but its use is forbidden on academic grounds. Which is why we had to run here. Time is the rarest element, only having about 5 users, you included." She had been rushing her words and ran out of breath.

Monica went up to a wall and used a few more hand signs, which opened a small drawer that was perfectly hidden in the wall.

Monica grabbed something from it, which was covered in a small cloth. "This, here. It is something vital to have hidden. It is called a shard of time, a dagger set that only works for people with the element. As you are quite weak, you can only use about 1% of its power. Which is still a lot, all things considered."

"So it's a shard of time? What exactly is it, and why is it rare? And why is it a dagger of all weapons? Why do you want to give it to me?" Axel asked in bewilderment.

Monica looked at him and laughed, "You really are strange, you know? Most people who are of nobility should know about a thing like this. To answer your questions, it is rare because of what it's made out of, which is an extremely rare material that is unknown to the world. The second reason is because of who made it. And to answer your other question, here is the blacksmith who made it eons ago.

It is unknown who made it, but it was said to have been made by someone who was the best at forging daggers. And why do I want to give it to you? That's simple. Only a time elementalist can use it. And it is unusable by anyone who still needs it. I can't even access its sharpness. It is wholly dulled if you do not have the element."

Axel looked at the weapon in Monica's hand in amazement; the. The Dagger, shining with a white hue, seemed to resonate with Axel as he looked at it, his body trembling in its presence.

"That… it seems to resonate with me. May I hold it?" Axel asked in awe of the Dagger.

"This is one of the seven shards of the Dagger of Time; this one is the shard of light; only 3 known daggers have been found. However, they can not be used because they lack time elemental users. You can only use about 1% of its power, while people in the Sovereign Plane can only use about 50%." Monica said before handing the shard of time to Axel. 

Axel grabbed the Dagger and held it in his hand. It seemingly pulled him into its allure. Just then, time paused. "Axel, you have come a long way. Keep fighting, and get what you want in this world!" said a mysterious voice. 

Just as soon as time paused, it started again. "This dagger seems powerful," Axel said in awe. 

The Dagger seemed powerful the moment Axel held it in his hand. Even the professor was surprised about the outcome. "It seems to have gained its true power, not 100%, but Axel, try to cut the wall with it," said Monica in interest.

Axel did just that: He put the blade to the wall of the secret room and cut the rock as if it were paper. "Axel, be careful with that. You never know who may want to steal it. Do know, however, that it won't be easy to steal such a thing from someone," Monica said.

A few hours later, both people were heading to the train outside the passageway. Axel had inquired about training his Dagger and stealth abilities.

As they walked, Axel said, "Now, with this dagger, I feel much more powerful than I once did."

They were heading into the training hall just as an instructor stopped them. "Stop there. Who gave you two? I'm sorry. Welcome, Professor Withers! I had not known it was you!" said the guard.

The guard let the two pass and went to a particular training area within the training hall.

"This is the Assassin training ground. You will learn all the skills you need from me. And as promised, I will even give you some knowledge of the element you possess." Said Monica with a stern look.

It was as if Monica was excited. She made eye contact with Axel, smiling slightly.

The training ground consisted of 5 training dummies, 4 sets of daggers, 6 sets of leather armor, and what seemed like weights. Some speed training courses were made from a mix of inscriptions and mana.

Axel walked over to one of the weights and attempted to pick it up. He noticed it was extremely heavy and mumbled, "Heavy."

Monica noticed what he was trying to do and chuckled, seemingly amused about the situation.

"You know you must practice before lifting things that heavy, right?" Monica said, smiling and adding, "That's why I am here to teach you, after all."

Waiting patiently, Axel asked, "May you teach me how to become nimble?"

He stared at Monica in the eyes, gleaming with pride. She stared back at him and looked dumbfounded."That is one of the main reasons we are here, right?" Monica responded.

She taught him how to use the training course for speed; he started off slow, getting hit with the projectiles quite often, which annoyed him. He did, however, slowly get better at it but needed more to beat level one of the course.

"Axel, you should try the gravity chamber; I recommend starting at 1.5 G's of force; however, you may try higher amounts." She smiled at him while pointing at the gravity chamber just as Axel walked into the Chamber; she added, "It would be a good idea to try to run in there; it should increase your speed over time as the gravity force increases." 

Axel walked into the gravity chamber and decided to try 1.6 G's of force, which seemed quite difficult. However, he got slightly used to it and decided to run a little. He ran as if he was tired the entire time due to the extra gravitational force. After a while, he fell to the ground, exhausted, seemingly too tired to continue to move. Axel passed out a couple of minutes later.

Axel woke up around two hours later in the rehabilitation room of the training hall. Monica was staring at him and said, "You worked yourself quite a bit. How about we go out for a coffee?" Monica said, not asking but telling Axel to get coffee with her.

They walked down the school's long corridors until they arrived at the cafe, which took about 30 minutes but was well worth the time.

Just then, Axel saw Winter not too far from them, and he invited him over and said, "Get over here, WInter; we should get something to eat and probably a coffee."

A few seconds later, he responded with a nod and walked over. Axel looked down at both groups and said, "I'll pay for the meal," smiling.

At the end of the day, Axel paid for everyone's meal before returning to his compound and sleeping, not before cultivating for a few hours with little to no success.

As he was walking outside to check for something, he noticed someone may be watching his every movement. Axel, albeit a bit scared, went to investigate, the darkness ever encroaching in the night.

Axel asked, "Who is there?" With a frightened tone before adding, "I am one of the disciples of Monic Withers; she will skin you alive!" He screamed before seeing the figure running behind him.