"As Alethya said, there are these things called Chronogears."
Varek held the small metal gear between two fingers, letting the faint light catch its surface. The thing pulsed softly, like a heartbeat trapped inside cold metal. Kai felt the pulse echo in his chest, a strange tug he didn't understand — or maybe didn't want to understand.
Aika and Leon watched silently, both tense, both confused. But Kai… Kai felt something else. Something deeper. Something ancient. Something that whispered to him from a place he couldn't remember.
Varek continued pacing, his voice casual but sharp.
"She tried so many times to connect with them. To use them. To judge whether they were harmful or not."
Kai swallowed. He could picture Alethya — the legendary figure he had only heard stories about — holding this same gear, studying it, trying to understand it. Trying to unlock something that even she, with all her power, couldn't grasp.
"After many attempts," Varek said, "she failed to even know who or what brought them here, or what their uses are."
Kai's heart tightened. If Alethya couldn't figure it out… what chance did he have?
"But she noticed something interesting." Varek tapped the gear lightly. "There were engravings on it. Ancient engravings. The old language of Chronomara — the one barely anyone can read anymore. That's how she knew their name: Chronogears."
Kai's breath hitched. The ancient language. The language of his ancestors. The language he had only begun to study before everything changed.
He stared at the gear, feeling a strange familiarity — like a word on the tip of his tongue, a memory just out of reach.
"Before sending me on a mission," Varek continued, "she gave this one to me. Without explaining, of course. As always."
He rolled his eyes dramatically.
"I took it, tried to use it, but nothing. Not even a spark."
Kai felt a flicker of relief. If Varek couldn't use it, maybe it wasn't dangerous. Maybe it wasn't meant for him.
But the gear pulsed again — harder this time — and Kai felt the pulse in his bones.
Varek noticed.
"Alethya said it would only react to someone — or something — once it was near them."
Kai's stomach twisted.
Someone. Or something.
Which one was he?
"So I kept this Chronogear on me at all times," Varek said. "As an accessory. A little fashion piece. There were even attempts to steal it from me in the street. Can you believe it? Steal from me?"
He laughed sharply.
"Haha… idiots."
Leon raised a hand. "Actually, I—"
"No," Varek cut him off. "You don't count."
Leon deflated.
Aika sighed.
Kai barely heard them. His eyes were locked on the gear. The pulse. The glow. The whisper in his chest.
Varek's tone shifted.
"Then came the day I followed you three after returning from my mission."
Kai stiffened.
"The gear was… restless."
Kai felt a chill crawl up his spine.
"So I suspected one of you three was connected to it. Imagine my surprise when you turned out to be from the same world as the old hag."
Kai flinched at the insult, but Varek didn't stop.
"I followed you, but you didn't seem special. Just a quiet, awkward little prince trying to blend in."
Kai's cheeks heated. He hated how accurate that sounded.
"But the gear kept reacting. And when I got close to you—"
Varek snapped his fingers.
"—it reacted. And time stopped."
Aika gasped. Leon's jaw dropped. Kai's heart froze.
Time… stopped?
Varek grinned.
"Can you believe that? Time literally stopped. I thought I was hallucinating. But you weren't affected. Neither was I."
Kai's mind raced. He remembered that moment — the strange stillness, the sudden silence, the way the world froze like a painting. He had thought it was his imagination. A trick of fear. A moment of panic.
But it wasn't.
"And suddenly you jumped and tried to punch me," Varek said.
Kai's face burned.
"But of course I wouldn't allow that," Varek continued. "So I smacked you. You looked like you momentarily lost consciousness."
Kai remembered that too — the sudden impact, the darkness, the disorientation.
"And then time flowed normally again."
Varek stepped closer, the Chronogear glowing brighter.
Aika whispered, "Kai…?"
Leon whispered, "Bro… you stopped time?"
Kai didn't answer.
He didn't know.
He didn't understand.
He didn't feel powerful. He felt terrified.
Varek crouched in front of him.
"Now," he said softly, "I will take Kai to a very special place to toughen him up a bit."
Aika stepped forward instantly. "No. You're not taking him anywhere."
Leon puffed his chest. "Yeah! And also—how did you get money to buy a villa?!"
Varek blinked. "I have a spell that can duplicate money."
Leon froze.
Aika stared.
Kai blinked.
Varek shrugged. "What? It's convenient."
Leon slowly nodded. "You know what… I'm sorry. Please teach me, master."
Varek stared at him. "Absolutely not."
Leon deflated again.
Varek stood, dusting off his hands.
"The reason I'm taking him," he continued, "is simple. I don't want this world to be gone. I lost one already — I'm not losing another."
Kai's breath caught.
Lost… a world?
Varek didn't elaborate.
"Plus," he added casually, "I already bought a villa on the sea. Wouldn't want it to go to waste."
Leon raised a hand. "Master—"
"No."
Leon lowered his hand.
Varek turned toward the Clock Tower.
"To the only place on this planet where a Chronogear reacts properly."
Kai stared at the tower. The gears inside hummed faintly. The air vibrated softly. The ground felt alive.
Aika frowned. "What does that mean?"
Varek didn't turn around.
"How do you think your grandmother used her magic here on this magicless planet?"
Aika froze.
Kai's heart pounded.
Leon blinked. "Magicless…?"
Varek nodded.
"Yes. This world has no natural mana. None. Zero. It's a dry wasteland for anyone who relies on magic."
He pointed at Kai.
"Take him, for example. He can't use magic here. Not properly. Because there is none around him. And his inner magic—"
He tapped Kai's chest again.
"—is being depleted every time he uses it."
Kai felt a cold weight settle in his stomach.
He wasn't dying. But he was fading. Becoming powerless.
"And powerless people," Varek said, "can't protect anything."
Kai clenched his fists.
Aika grabbed his arm. "So Alethya survived because she found one of these magic-filled places?"
Varek smirked.
"Exactly. She found a pocket of mana on this planet. A place where magic still lingers. A place where she could recharge, cast spells, and not crumble into dust."
He lifted the Chronogear.
"And now I'm taking Kai there."
Kai swallowed hard.
Aika stepped in front of him. "We're coming too."
Leon nodded. "Yeah! And also—master—"
"No."
Leon sighed.
Varek raised the Chronogear.
Its glow expanded— filling the air— warping the space around them— pulling at their bodies like gravity twisting sideways.
Kai felt his magic stir for the first time in days.
Aika gasped.
Leon screamed.
Varek laughed.
"Next stop," he said—
"the place where this planet still remembers magic."
The world snapped.
And suddenly they were standing even closer to the Clock Tower — so close Kai could feel the vibrations of the gears through the ground.
The tower loomed above them, impossibly tall, impossibly old, impossibly silent.
Kai's heart pounded.
He didn't know why. He didn't know how. But something inside him whispered:
This place knows you.
Varek stepped forward, placing a hand on the tower's stone surface.
"Alethya used this place," he said. "Not to live — she wasn't stupid — but to recharge. To survive. To keep her magic from fading completely."
Kai swallowed. "So she came here often?"
"More than you think," Varek replied. "She hated it, though. Said the tower felt like it was watching her."
Aika shivered.
Leon whispered, "It is creepy…"
Kai barely heard them.
His eyes were locked on the Chronogear.
It pulsed again — violently this time — sending a shockwave of mana rippling through the air.
Aika gasped. Leon stumbled back. Kai felt the pulse hit him like a heartbeat syncing with his own.
Varek's eyes gleamed.
"—you and this tower have unfinished business."
Kai's breath hitched. "What does that mean?"
Varek smiled — slow, sharp, and far too pleased.
"It means," he said, "your training starts now."
He stepped closer.
Kai's pulse quickened.
Varek held out the Chronogear.
"Take it."
Kai hesitated.
The gear pulsed again — stronger, brighter — as if calling to him.
Aika whispered, "Kai… don't—"
Leon whispered, "Kai… do—"
Kai reached out.
His fingers brushed the metal.
And the world exploded.
A surge of mana — raw, ancient, overwhelming — slammed into him like a tidal wave. His vision blurred. His knees buckled. His heart pounded so hard it hurt.
He heard Aika scream his name. He heard Leon curse. He heard Varek laugh softly.
Then everything went white.
Kai collapsed.
Unconscious.
The Chronogear glowing in his hand.