Questions and Answers

Omni Pov

They moved past doors of reinforced steel etched with draconic runes.

Through halls lined with stasis chambers, dormant golems, and crystal conduits glowing in soft blues and violent reds.

At last, the Patriarch stopped before an immense set of obsidian doors marked with the family sigil:

a serpent devouring its own tail and a wheel below

(Image)

He pressed a finger to the center.

The door opened with a hiss.

Inside was a training chamber unlike anything Chrono had imagined.

The room defied geometry.

Floating platforms hovered over an endless abyss.

Runes circled midair like predator birds.

Spells were etched in the air, glowing and shifting, waiting to be deciphered.

A great crystalline mechanism spun in the center—a Chrono-Core.

A time dilation engine.

(Image)

"Welcome," the Patriarch said "to your crucible."

Chrono stepped in.

Time bent instantly.

He could feel it—like air pressing in on all sides.

"One year out there," the Patriarch said, pointing upward.

"Equals three years in here."

"You'll live, train, and bleed here. "

"No way out."

"No distractions."

"Just magic and you."

He sat on a black bench and gestured.

"Now sit."

"I'm going to teach you everything."

Chrono obeyed.

The Patriarch leaned forward.

His eyes sharpened.

"Lesson one: Mana."

"You think magic is just waving a wand and shouting Latin? No."

" That is for low class wizards, imbecils with a wand"

"Mana is life."

"The breath of the world."

"Everything living generates it."

"Some more than others."

"You? You're a damn battery."

"You just don't know how to use it yet."

"Think of it as a conceptual representation of Life"

Chrono frowned.

"So how do I—"

"Silence."

"You listen."

"Then you speak."

The Patriarch pointed to the air.

Runes ignited.

"Spellcasting is about structure."

"You take mana."

"You shape it with thought."

"You reinforce it with will."

"Then—"

He flicked his hand.

A bolt of green fire erupted, twisting into a blade mid-air.

"—you release."

He snapped and the blade exploded into motes.

"Incantations help with focus."

"They're not necessary, but they give your brain a framework."

"Training wheels."

"Intent is the true engine."

"If you want to light someone on fire, you don't think about matches."

"You think about burning them alive."

"You feel it."

Chrono nodded slowly.

"Next is Resonance," the Patriarch said.

"Magic has a frequency."

"Every spell."

"Every caster."

"If you're in tune with your spell, it obeys you."

"If you're off-key? It backfires."

"That's what Resonance is."

"Harmony between your soul and the spell."

He stood and began pacing.

"Now listen carefully," the Patriarch continued, snapping his fingers.

The runes shifted, glowing in various colors—

"Fire"

"Water"

"Air"

"Lightning"

"Earth."

"These are the Primary Elements."

"Every child with a wand and a bad haircut can sling fireballs."

"But those are just the surface."

He raised a hand, and the runes twisted.

"Then come the Sub-elements."

"They're combinations, or advanced mutations of the basics."

The room trembled faintly.

"Ice—frozen water."

"Magma—liquid fire and earth."

"Storm—air and lightning."

"Mud—earth and water."

"But the real monsters?"

He stepped into the circle, voice low.

"Are the Conceptual Elements."

The air darkened. The runes warped.

"These aren't about nature."

"They're about reality."

"Time."

"Soul."

"Death."

"Dream."

"Space."

"Even Blood."

Chrono blinked.

"Blood?"

"Oh yes," the Patriarch said.

"Blood is special."

"It remembers. "

"It binds."

"It fuels ancient rites and forbidden arts."

"Blood is history in liquid form."

"Not everyone can wield it, but when you do—it's beautiful."

"For example : Long before in the great war of Wizards vs Magical creatures , there was this wizard who was weak."

"He didn´t have much talent... one day he was attacked by the creature but he killed it."

"He was pretty bad, almost dying"

"And you know what he did?"

"He ate the creatures meat and drank it´s blood"

"He gained that creatures blood and some of it´s abilities"

Silence.

"Shocking , right?"

"Conceptual elements aren't learned like math."

"You become them."

"Or you break."

"You're naturally aligned with Time."

"But you'll still need to learn how to bend it without tearing yourself apart."

He pointed to the crystal engine in the center of the room.

"That thing? It bends space and time like a child twists wire."

"But if your Alignment is weak, it'll break you before you bend it."

Chrono shivered.

He pulled a flask from his coat, took a sip, and tossed it aside.

"You're going to train."

" You're going to fail."

"Then you're going to rise."

Chrono took a deep breath.

"What happens when the year is up?"

The Patriarch smiled, slow and sharp.

"Oh... Then we can begin the "Real" fun part"

"After that you go to Hogwarts."

"You play the part."

"And when the time comes… you rip the mask off and show them who you really are."

He leaned in, voice low.

"Time's ticking, Chrono."

"Let's make it bleed."