Time Twister

It was number 6, who had his mind clear off easily, cough lightly, before asking nonchalantly Xander,

"I have felt a strong wave of elemental energy of the Emotion series come out. Was that caused by you?"

Xander nodded, responding, "Oh, yeah. I was immersed in understanding the Emotion elements. It was quite enlightening." He then smiled, causing a wave of pleasant sound elements and pleasure to resound from his words and actions, calming everyone.

Of course, the Mythic professors felt the intrusion of the elements but used it to calm their racing thoughts. Number 6 was surprised to see Xander naturally use the Emotion elements, could he be talented in the Life-Death elements? But that"s impossible since he demonstrated his ability to use the 5-elements system.

Xander looked around for a bit, using his elements to calm the students and other teachers, before waving them goodbye as he headed to his next cla.s.s. The campus had slowly regained its calmness. The mythic professors, on the other hand, received a notification from their leader, the Dean, to not investigate the situation further and let it rest.

However, around the world, this wasn"t the case. All cultivators were confused because for a moment, they really saw themselves disappear into nothingness. Those in the Divine cla.s.s, however, were smart; they felt it was more than an illusion. They felt that they really did die because, at that moment, they were completely connected to the universe, then the next, they were back in their rooms and offices, s.p.a.cing out. They began to contact their respective leaders out and about in s.p.a.ce concerning their situation, while at the same time, issuing a silence order for their respective ancient clans.

Similarly, the governments all over the world were trying to control the ma.s.s hysteria that was slowly building up, from the calls of scared and confused citizens of their countries to the sudden increase of crime rate done by groups who used this opportune time to create chaos.

The countries, however, gained their order after 2 hours, just enough time that Xander had been spending in the cafeteria in the building where Elemental Control cla.s.ses were held.

He was eating with Faykes, who had looked at Xander as if waiting for him to say something about the matter.

Xander merely stayed silent, and continued eating, while reading the latest articles in the net. He did know that there was an emergency meeting council for all governments to partic.i.p.ate in, but he didn"t care because he knew that no one might be able to connect it to him, except for those in the vicinity of the building, which was why he calmed them down immediately.

However, he did plan to leave them a message, to settle their nerves. It was the least he can do since he did cause the problem.

_____________________________________

In an unknown underground meeting room, roughly the size of the Congress court. A lot of people were present, albeit in their holograms, discussing with one another, while some were mad and confused.

Everyone was fidgeting because they were here to learn about the "collective" experience that literally, almost everyone in the planet experienced.

The current leading head of the World council, Ms. Carmen Brightcroft, was standing on the open ground of the room, surrounded by the holograms of these countries" representatives, ancient clans/families leaders/proxies, and large conglomerates.

"Everyone, please settle down." Upon hearing her voice, everyone settled down. For one, it was out of respect of a Divine-cla.s.s magician, and two, the meeting was about to start.

"As every one of you know, at approximately 11:55 am today, everyone had experienced death, their very essence being separated from their mortal bodies and watching their loved ones and everyone and everything disappear. Not even Divine cla.s.s beings were exempted, and we experienced this as well. Yet, it only lasted for a moment, probably not even more than a microsecond, returning back to 11:55 am once more, with everything back to normal." At this, everyone was nodding in agreement and had just hallucinated the whole thing. Ms. Brightcroft continued,

"We originally thought that we were experiencing a ma.s.s hallucination, maybe due to the concentration of elements in the planet. However, after checking the logs in the quantum supercomputers that we have, as well as the main quantum supercomputer, we had noticed a small discrepancy. As all of you know, we have a very, very precise clock system, created, designed, and activated by the quantum supercomputer AI, which attempts to match its ticking to the universe"s time, designated as UTP. We are currently 0.0001 seconds delayed from the UTP. Upon checking the computer now, there was now a delay of 0.09 seconds." When they heard this, their faces changed and checked with the supercomputer servers they had and checked the time. All of them paled because it matched the time difference mentioned by Ms. Brightcroft.

"From this, we came to the conclusion that there was something that happened for around 0.0899 seconds, that wiped out the existence of our supercomputer. All our satellites are showing this as well, meaning they were also affected. Our two moons were also seen to be deviating a small fraction, roughly 0.00000000009 micrometers from their orbit at this specific time," Ms. Brightcroft said, her voice worried and a bit lost, as they have never experienced a situation that they were killed and brought back as nothing has ever happened.

"All of us Divine magicians and even the top scientists agree that…our planet, or the area of the planet"s influence, was momentarily destroyed within 0.0899 seconds. We have no idea where it came or originated from, as our satellites nor supercomputers have detected a spell or element being cast on the planet or from outside the planet," She said helplessly, confused and angry as well.

"As a collective, we have decided to contact our ancestors who have long reached Sage cla.s.s or higher, exploring the vast universe. Hopefully, they arrive within the next few days."

"This is bad news. The only good news is that the restrictive magic array established before was completely gone, according to the report the Heavenly Tree Sprite gave. It will now allow us to raise demiG.o.ds safely to Divine cla.s.s without any problems." Her voice showed a hint of relief and joy, lifting up the moods of the people in the session.

In truth, she and 3 other Divine magicians were happy because the magic parasite that was placed in their bodies also died out. When she had contacted the others, they were also surprised; everyone in their group had their parasites removed, meaning, they were…free. Even the loyal butler that followed the mysterious man also rejoiced and disappeared without a trace, after removing all possible devices and traces of magic he might have left, going to the starry skies. Others also left and began exploring the starry skies, unhindered.

Carmen and the other 3 magicians were not able to leave because they had their own respective clans to manage, but at least they could report the situation to their ancestors.

One of the countries" leaders raised her hand, catching the attention of Carmen and the rest.

"Yes Ms. Vanderbilt, what is it," Ms. Brightcroft asked, her voice calm and patient.

"Hi, yes, I would like to raise a possibility, albeit small, but still a possibility nonetheless. Could this situation be caused by that person, the person whom Homer Simpson was looking for?"

Upon raising the question, everyone fell to a momentary silence. They remembered that they only realized the existence of the magic array placed with the help of the Heavenly Tree Sprite confirming its existence to them, which was also revealed by Homer Simpson, a possible Outsider. If that was the case, could it be he alerted them the second time about the magic array because he planned to destroy it, and he used the person he was looking for?

Even the other Divine cla.s.s magicians present couldn"t help but agree to the possibility that this was all planned. That suddenly raised another problem: What if Homer Simpson had more plans for Eteria? How should they react/how do they differentiate it from an actual crisis?

As they were immersed in their own thoughts and talking with their neighbors, a light, familiar coughing sound resounded the hall.

"Ehem, ehem. This was not my plan at all, please do not think too much. Look at the bright side, at least you people have a deeper comprehension concerning life and death elements! This is a recorded message. Triggered if my name is mentioned." Homer Simpson"s playful voice resounded all over the meeting room.

This caused Carmen"s forehead veins to bulge. How insecure is our technology, really, that it was easily hacked and even left a recorded message to be played? Before she could speak, another sound registered.

"As a sign of support to your planet"s development, I have left the pertinent details hidden in Ruin Et64 that I have gotten and left it on the moons. It"s in 5 data drives, each containing the same information. It contained information concerning terraformation of planets and synthesis of lightweight metal alloys that can defend against Divine cla.s.s magician or lower; you might not be able to produce the latter though, you lack some of the metals needed. Oh, almost forgot: It"s unregistered.

Meaning, the first one to register their genetic material will own the data, and it cannot be transferred afterward, even if you kill the person who got it. If they died, the whole set of information inside will be re-encrypted and deleted completely, before self-destructing. Enjoy and good luck! This is a recorded message. Triggered after the first message is sent."

Upon hearing this follow-up message, the whole room visibly went quiet, before rapidly, people began talking, asking to be excused from the meeting. One by one, everyone left the meeting. Most of the Divine magicians remained, only instructing their other members to begin their search in the moons.

Seeing the meeting devolve into such as state, Carmen decided to end the meeting already, which had no point anymore. Although, the ancestors will still come within a week to help out check the remaining traces of the elemental wave.

______________________________________

After Xander and Faykes both ate their fill, they headed downstairs where the cla.s.s for Elemental Control was about to start. They were going to resume training for Outwards elemental training.

He met up with Maryann and Valerie and suggested that Faykes join their group. They had no qualms, as long as they were able to demonstrate their abilities and what they have learned yesterday. Xander then signaled Faykes that he will be joining their training group.

He talked for a bit with Maryann, asking if she had finally understood how her path to Master cla.s.s and higher should go about. Maryann responded happily that she wouldn"t have known about it if she didn"t experience it from his teachings yesterday. Xander merely nodded, since he knew it was all Maryann"s talent. He only guided her a bit by hinting her about the element"s relationships and she already got it.

He then talked to the other girls and boys in the room, who were, in his opinion, much more reserved than yesterday? Or was it just his imagination? Valerie was the same, as he had sensed some kind of conflict in her emotions. He thought about it for a moment and came to the conclusion that they were probably unsure of what to treat me after yesterday and today"s incident.

After all, I might be young, but I am actually more powerful than them, Xander mused to himself. Prideful? Yes, he was, but he wasn"t exaggerating. He only did things low-key to avoid being pestered by people after him or begging for him to do something for them.

They talked for a bit more before Ms. Amelia entered the cla.s.sroom and everyone settled down to their respective mats. Ms. Amelia discussed a few things for the first couple of minutes, basically recapping the lesson yesterday. Afterward, the students headed to the other side of the cla.s.sroom where everyone has grouped once again and began to train.

Xander looked at the trio, who were geared and ready to practice. He then looked at Faykes, asking,

"You know how to do outside conscious control of elements, right?"

Faykes nodded and showed off his conscious control of the elements. After all, he had experience in using the elements outside and channeling it to his body for physical improvements during the Mundane cla.s.s. He could sufficiently control Wind and Water elements, but for the remaining 2 elements, Wood and Fire, he wasn"t that great at controlling it, and could only use the first two to guide the latter two pa.s.sively.

Upon seeing this, Xander thought about it for a moment before giving him a suggestion.

"You know how one of each of the 5-elements can give birth to one another and restrict another right? Well when controlling your elements, ensure that they are in a cyclical sequence. This means that the last element you control brings forth the first element you control. As you are beginning to familiarize yourself with the 4 elements, you can start with a chain sequence first. You can start with Water, or Wood first, in that case."

"If you can"t do it, you can try dual controlling of elements. What you basically do is divide your consciousness in your life essence doll into two, and simultaneously do different actions at the same time. In this case, one part of you can be controlling Wind and Fire, the other can be controlling Wood and Water. This is a better alternative since you can"t control all the 5 elements in the 5-elements system, making a stable cyclical sequence impossible. Although with enough knowledge, training, and comprehension, you can transform any of the 4 elements into one another as well as the 5th element, that would be far in the future."

Faykes intently listened, before deciding to practice the first option instead. After all, his goal was to master his primary elements and allow himself to manipulate them into other derivatives and into the 5th element that he was lacking, Earth/metal.

Xander then nodded at him before looking at the other 2.

"So, let"s begin our subconscious control practice. First rule: Nothing above Elite cla.s.s spells. The second rule, anything goes when attempting to disrupt or counterattack the opponent"s spells, except killing. I can heal all of your injuries, so go all out. However, in the future, make sure you aim to kill or maim the target, incapacitating them completely."

"You will be fighting one another, before fighting me individually and then fighting as a group. This would help you know one"s limits and abilities, enabling better coordination. Like always, expect that I will be using layered Subconscious spells. This will be what we are going to do for the next 2 days. We will only tackle biconscious control at the last 2 days, everyone agrees?"

No one said a word in response, indicating their silent agreement. Xander nodded and basically began pairing them:

Maryann vs Valerie

Valerie vs Faykes

Faykes vs Maryann

Maryann vs Valerie vs Faykes

Faykes vs Xander

Valerie vs Xander

Maryann vs Xander

The trio vs Xander

For now, Xander and Faykes were just watching the girls fight and practice their subconscious control.

Maryann and Valerie stood 4 meters apart, eying one another, with their magic barriers set up from the beginning. Basically, the first rule in a fight is that the first one to attack can either gain advantage or disadvantage for the rest of the battle.

It was Valerie who made the first move. Instantly, she cast [Corroding Arrow], which was rapidly stopped by [Ice curtain shower] Maryann had been preparing.

She didn"t stop there and continued to prepare her next attack. Maryann, who was also preparing for her spell, noticed something was different with the arrow released by Valerie, causing her to move from her current position and activate her trump card immediately, which was activating her 2nd layer subconscious control, which was exploding the ice wall.

Maryann grinned at Valerie, before saying to her,

"So you learned how to cast the 2nd layer, huh."

Valerie merely rolled her eyes, as if saying in response, "you did as well, dummy!"

Xander was happy at their progress and Faykes, on the other hand, was a bit lost. The second layer of subconscious control? Delayed effect? What? He looked at Xander who briefly explained what layering meant and what it entails the caster, causing Faykes to have an enlightened look before moving a bit further away from the girls, practicing on his own.

The fight continued. Valerie, using the time she managed to delay Maryann with, cast her second spell, [Pending Darkness], momentarily surrounding Maryann in darkness. Usually, this can be easily solved by moving out of the spell"s area cast, but the second layer had a hovering effect, so it attaches and hovers on the target.

Maryann, who was momentarily taken aback, cast the two spells she had been preparing, [Shatter Ice Wave] and [Devouring Firestorm] in succession, showing the fusion and unity between the two spells. It didn"t cancel one another, but actually strengthened the effect of each other!

She used the wave to freeze her surroundings, including the dark mist, Shattering them to pieces and launching them towards Valerie. The remaining dark mist was burning all into nothingness, and then the fire began expanding towards Valerie as well.

Initially, she easily evaded and deflected the ice mist shards, using [Fire Barrier] to melt them to dark mist once again, before evaporating. However, the firestorm heading towards Valerie was actually devouring her fire barrier, causing her to panic for a bit, before casting a [Water Barrier] in that time frame. When the strengthened Firestorm touched the water film, it momentarily stopped, causing Valerie to sigh in relief, before hearing a "cracking" sound.

At the points where the Firestorm was touching the water barrier, they were starting to freeze and turn into ice, causing the now frozen barrier to creak and ultimately collapse into fragments, along with the firestorm. However, it wasn"t over. The period that Valerie was evading and defending the attacks was enough for Maryann to cast another spell, [Frost Nova], causing Valerie"s legs to freeze in place, and continuously lowering her body temperature, the ice climbing up from her feet to her legs.

Of course, Valerie still had one more spell that she had been preparing since the beginning: [Imperial Dark Order - Devouring].

Immediately, once she had cast it, the area where they were fighting was surrounded in complete darkness, causing anyone viewing the fight to be unsure of what was happening. Of course, Xander could still see clearly inside what was happening, so did Ms. Amelia.

Xander was a bit interested in the spell, mainly because the spell had the rule of devouring, but a different kind of devouring from the Chaos element, a bit weaker. It slowly devoured the life essence in the area, both the caster and target. At the same time, it contains poison, a 2nd layer Valerie had added to the spell. It mainly causes the entire area to be only filled with Darkness element, forcing all other elements under the Yin-Yang element to be suppressed.

Basically, the fight has been reduced to Maryann attempting to approach Valerie to physically beat her, while Valerie was just hiding in the darkness, continuously draining Maryann"s stamina. After a few minutes, the dark dome collapsed, revealing the body of Maryann lying down, weakly breathing, while Valerie was standing, smiling victoriously. Both were severely poisoned.

Xander sighed before waving his hand, restoring their condition in a matter of seconds. Maryann stood up energetically, a bit surprised at her defeat. After all, it had seemed that she had the upper hand. Valerie, however happy she is, knew her limitations. If this was a do or die battle, she would have perished. She needed to be prepared for attacks like this and have her spells ready for deployment, but she didn"t know how to prepare them. All she can do is continuously improve her casting speed of the spell by increasing her understanding of it, allowing her to unleash their potential.

That was also why Maryann was a bit better than her in the fight; she had chanted spells shorter than hers.

Xander looked at the two, before declaring the winner.

"In this round, Valerie barely wins. Maryann, you had strong momentum, but bad strategic planning. You should have begun with [Frost Nova], ensuring the target doesn"t move, and then surround her with [Ice curtain shower] with a rebound, elemental conversion, or fire absorbance effect, ensuring her attacks besides Darkness and Poison would not work. Then, with her being a trapped turtle, even if she cast her AoE spell, you can be safely out of the area, and continuously bombard the spell area with your own plethora of spells, until it collapses."

"Valerie. You did well. However, you would be dead as well if this was a real enemy. The universe is not a friendly place, heck even this planet isn"t safe. A do or die like this, you need to have items that can counteract the effects of your spell or ensure enough comprehension and control over your primary elements and pseudo-spell that you aren"t affected by the negative side effects."

"Both of you did well for integrating second layer subconscious control, but I suggest you improve your first layers first to the point it is less than 1/100th of a second before you begin practicing the 2nd layer. With your talent and current casting speed, 6 months or less is enough to improve your casting times," said Xander, before calling Faykes.

"Faykes and Maryann, you two are up. Maryann, just a heads up, Faykes controls Wind, Fire, Water, and Wood elements, so don"t be surprised if you can"t win unless you use your Master rank spell."