Extra's Death: I Am the Son of Hades novel Chapter 167

Neo stared at her, unable to believe her words.

"The reason you can't control Time is because you haven't manifested it."

"…?"

A thin stream of water materialized around Elizabeth.

It circled her in a loop.

"Death manifests as Red lightning. What do you think Time manifests as?"

"River."

Neo answered while staring at the water stream.

"Time flows, just like water."

"That's how most people imagine Time. It's not what I want to know.

"I'm asking what image according to you suits Time."

"…?"

Neo did not understand what Elizabeth was trying to say.

"Unlike most elements, Time has no fixed shape.

"There are some Time Wielders who manifest Time as sand, and some as lightning.

"It's their image of Time."

Neo understood her a little bit after the explanation.

He recalled that, before his first regression, Professor Daniel asked him if he had water element.

'Did he ask that question because he wanted to know if I could associate Time with the image of water?'

Neo felt his guess was correct.

"Professor Daniel didn't teach you about this because he was probably unaware of the concept of 'Manifestation'.

"It's a relatively new theory of elemental awakening."

Elizabeth explained.

After elemental awakening came elemental manifestation.

Most elements had fixed forms.

Fire as flames.

Water as water.

Time was different.

It had no fixed shape.

People needed to give a shape to it.

Most Time wielders followed the teachings of Kronos, and manifested Time as a River.

After the explanation Elizabeth stared at Neo.

"What do you think of Time as?"

It was a etherical question.

Elizabeth didn't believe Neo could answer her question now.

Associating Time with an image could take months or years.

Neo was too inexperienced —

…!?

Elizabeth frowned.

The Time elementals present in the air churned.

They gathered around Neo as if he was the eye of a storm and entered his body.

'He is manifesting already…?'

She couldn't believe her eyes.

…

Neo sensed the Time elementals entering his core.

Since his core was emptied by Elizabeth, he had easier time absorbing Time-infused Divine Energy.

"What is Time for me?"

Neo thought about Elizabeth's words.

He closed his eyes and recalled the years he spent while regressing.

It was a long time.

However, the meaning of Time didn't come from those years for him.

They were long but, compared to the eons he spent in the fourth vision of the Sphinx, they were short.

"Time is an unending eternity."

In the fourth vision, he was forced to live for billions of years while he trapped in a body he couldn't control.

"Time is…"

He had wanted to kill himself.

He had raged, cried, begged to the Gods, to the Akashic Records, to save him, to let him die, but nothing gave him the salvation he wanted.

He had lived, for eons, against his wish.

He continued to float in that void where countless bugs tried to eat him.

It was hell.

It was….

"Despair."

The storm of Time elementals rushing into Neo's body shook the mansion.

Neo was the center of the storm.

The elementals caused the floor to age at an accelerated pace.

The training room was decaying.

'How is he fine after absorbing so much Time?'

Elizabeth never saw anything similar before.

'It's like he… he is devouring Time.'

The thick amount of Time elemetals entering Neo's started to make him age.

He grew older.

And older.

His body reached the physical age he was before he was Eroded by the regressions.

Just when Elizabeth thought he would continue to grow older, his body stopped maturing.

Time couldn't accelerate his age anymore.

'Agelessness? Is that one of his bloodline skill?'

She watched in amazement as every last bit of Time elemental entered Neo's body.

He opened his eyes.

His gaze carried a profound aura.

"Have you manifested Time?" She asked caustiosly.

Neo smiled.

He opened his palm and showed her the caterpillar in his hand.

"What is that? A worm?"

"It's my manefistation of Time."

Time was the synonym of Despair for Neo.

It was a unreckonable force.

When he thought of an image to associate time with, the maggots came into his mind.

They were his only companion in the unending eternity.

He despised them.

He was thankful to them.

"That's a… unique form."

Elizabeth knew Neo would manifest a unique form of Time.

But a caterpillar?

It was a first in history.

"What can it do?" Elizabeth questioned.

"…?"

"Different manefistation of Time have different abilities and weakness.

"The River manifestation makes it easier to regress.

"But the Time wielder becomes prone to Time Slipping.

"The Sand manifestation can stop Time more easily than River manifestation.

"However, it doesn't work if their opponent has same or higher elemental mastery — in any element — as they have in Time element."

Elizabeth pointed at the caterpillar.

"What can your Time do?"

Neo tried to wake up the caterpillar.

The green thing opened one of its eye, stared at him, scoffed, and returned to sleep.

'Did it just insult me?'