Crawling Towers

"Warning! Small spatial rift has been detected in the vicinity of the mage tower. Small spatial rift has been detected in the vicinity of the mage tower," the tower spirit's robotic voice blared through the tower. A dark haired youth with stained robes and disheveled hair appeared in the control room in a ripple of light. In sharp contrast to his unkempt appearance, his eyes gleamed brightly like stars in the night sky.

The youth hummed, "My bloodline experiment on the dragonborn has achieved initial success, but further progress will take many years. With the complete data from my experiment, my strength will be greatly improved."

He walked over to the many instruments that constantly monitored the outside world and looked over at the one flashing with red light. "This spatial fluctuation is a good chance for me to stretch my legs." The youth shook himself and replaced his worn robes with a new one covered in shimmering light.

Leaving the control room, he injected magic energy into one of the many formations that covered every inch of the tower walls. A section of brick peeled off and formed a portal-like door that led to the exterior of the tower.

Chronus slowly floated out of the opening. As he passed though, the tower wall quickly reassembled behind him, leaving no trace of an entrance. He glanced over the landscape, finding an unending corrupted wasteland, stretching as far as the eye can see. The sky was filled with a boiling cloud of miasma, shrouding the world in shadow.

"Ahh, when I complete my research I should take a break in the most recent plane I found. I haven't moved in a long time." What his mage tower was currently stationed at is one of the standard landmasses in the Distorted Void, the largest plane.

Here, remnants of smaller planes and worlds that have decayed are absorbed into a cesspool of, well, everything. Large expanses of purple muck and sludge are haphazardly thrown together with abnormal geography to form a large portion of the plane. A large black sun whose weak light can barely pass through the black mist lazily floats above the terrain. Despite this harsh environment, the plane is anything but lifeless. A varied array of vegetation and misshapen creatures resided on the land.

The robed youth brought up a projection of the map of the surrounding area and accelerated towards the blinking red spot representing the location of the spatial rift. During his leisurely flight, he swooped down and collected some useful materials at his convenience. A flock of three eyed ravens were frightened by his actions and quickly flew off, cawing loudly.

As Chronus casually approached the location of the spatial fluctuation, his eyes widened and he immediately focused. An intricate fist sized crystal, covered in dense runes and symbols, slowly floated above the purplish mud. It held an otherworldly beauty, as if it was too perfect to exist. Light and space curved around the crystal, enhancing its allure.

Chronus lowered his flight and bent down towards it, trying to take a closer look, but merely trying to focus on the runes caused them to distort, and his eyes began to drip blood. Chronus understood all of the common magic systems, but the inscriptions within the crystal matched none of them. Trying to probe the treasure with a small amount of his mental power resulted in a backlash. He slightly backed up and took a deep breath.

Quickly making up his mind, Chronus grabbed the crystal and flew back to the mage tower at his maximum speed. There, he would be safer and likely be able to find out the use of this crystal. He already had an inkling of the treasure's potential value. Who knew if a powerhouse tower master had also detected the treasure. Rushing towards the tower, the doorway opened once again.

Right as he barged into the opening, he shouted at the tower spirit, "Lock down the tower! Activate all the isolation and anti prophecy arrays!"

Multicolored lights began to flash all over the interior of the tower, and flowing lines that glowed blue emerged on the inner walls. From the outside world, the giant mage tower gradually became imperceptible, merging with the black clouds and sky.

He passed through winding chambers and rooms until he entered the deepest part of the tower, his surroundings filled with snakelike veins pulsating with magic energy. At the center of it all lay a luminous blue orb. Chronus breathed out and brought the crystal up to the tower core. The tower core has an innate rudimentary ability to identify treasures, and a moment later three lines of text appeared in his mind.

[Crystallization of Time]

[Unique Supreme Treasure- Consumable]

[Sends the user back to a point in time]

Upon seeing the result, Chronus almost couldn't believe it. A unique supreme treasure with a heaven defying effect. What was this concept? The rules of time are something even divine ranked tower masters can only begin to try and weakly influence. He tried to calm down his rapidly beating heart.

This treasure must be used, and it must be used as soon as possible. With its quality and effect, even tower masters standing at the pinnacle of power would frantically try to obtain it. He knew his defensive measures were far from strong enough to hide from those individuals. If one of them knew he had such a treasure in his possession, Chronus could be erased with a single breath.

In the Distorted Void, where knowledge is the greatest strength, something equivalent to rebirth is an unimaginably powerful ability. Even a young tower master like Chronus, by traveling back in time, can ensure he can maximize his potential and not commit the same mistakes. Many decisions made when building the foundations of a tower are irreversible. Every step must be done well.

Under less urgent circumstances, Chronus wouldn't use the treasure in such a hurry, but activating it will allow him to escape into the past, the only way for him to remove the threat of other tower masters that could be eying the Crystallization of Time. He had to thank the fact that he decided to conduct his experiments in this deserted and remote area of the Distorted Void. He mentally prepared himself, then inspired the item, activating it.

A weak consciousness of the treasure communicated with him, giving him some information and precautions. Finally, it prompted him to indicate a point in time to send him to. With determined eyes, Chronus chose the day before he arrived in the Distorted Void.

Upon confirming his answer, the crystal shattered and a frighteningly large amount of energy escaped and suspended around his body. More and more energy was condensed, the sheer amount causing his hair to stand on end. Glaring light shone from his body and gradually everything became flooded in white. Chronus could hear the void twisting and groaning as the treasure built up its power. Then, as it reached its peak, his mind buzzed and went blank.

Chronus woke up with a splitting headache, as if his brain was three times too big for his skull. He rubbed his forehead and winced. His current soul couldn't withstand the rapid infusion of hundreds of years of memories. Stretching his arms out and groping around, he felt himself laying on a soft bed.

He weakly propped himself up and opened his eyes. He found himself in the cramped apartment he had been renting during college. Reminiscing about the past, back then he was still worried about doing well in his studies and choosing a good career path. Now, looking back, it all seemed so absurd and distant.

After taking a moment to acclimate himself to his body, Chronus stood up and examined his familiar reflection in the mirror. Seeing his ordinary looking self looking back at him, Chronus clenched his fist. With his rebirth, everything would be different. With his rebirth, he would be able to make up for all his regrets.