"Yes…"
The dragon affirmed, impressed at Alexander's comprehension ability.
Although he and his colleagues had dumbed down the concepts, they were still impressed by how easily Alex grasped them.
"Time is #&#)@/#!..."
"What?" Alexander echoed, this time missing what Drakmor said. The confusion in his eyes was quickly noticed.
'He couldn't grasp that one…' Drakmor and his colleagues realised. 'Hmm…'
The Enforcers did not immediately reply, choosing to take a moment to put their explanation in a way Alexander could grasp.
What Drakmor had done was explain the concept of Time in one short phrase.
Because Alex had been able to pick up their earlier explanations, he had jumped the gun a bit, only to hit a wall.
"Let me rephrase what I just said…" Drakmor answered after several seconds. "Time isn't a true concept…. But one that was realised upon the birth of the very first universe."
Alex furrowed his brows thoughtfully, not quite understanding what the dragon was saying.
Regardless, he was open-minded, patiently waiting for the Enforcers to put their intent together.
"Time is the flow of essential essence, that is true. But that only holds in the bounds of a universe." Drakmor continued.
"So you're saying time only counts inside a universe?" Alex wanted to be sure of what he heard.
"That is correct." The dragon nodded. "Like universes, its creations are bound by this concept. Time flows, and essence is put together to birth life.
"But as these energies continue to flow, they interact with the chaos hidden within order, bringing these energies to a peak state before recession."
Alexander was quick enough to understand what that meant. 'The process of ageing… This principle binds everything that exists within reality. So how then does immortality work?'
Predicting what Alexander would ask next, Rycan answered. "Like we said before… Time is a realised concept, not a true one. It is something intelligent lifeforms conceived to make sense of their environment."
"Past a certain level of power, a being becomes capable of controlling their time."
The tigress chipped in. "They can actively control the part of their existence that allows them to tap into their resonating essential energies that make up their existence."
"..."
While Alex mulled over those words, Cassandra, Ross, and Julia had puzzled expressions. They had been lost for a while now.
Everything they heard flew into one ear and came out of the other; they were utterly lost.
'From what I've gathered, time is not a real thing outside of a universe. Day and night cycles, planetary revolutions and celestial timekeeping are invented concepts.' Alexander pondered silently.
'This is why the Past, the Present, and the Future cannot be traversed. One could reverse time to a certain extent, but not go back in time.'
Veilwalkers could only read the records of events that had occurred. It also made him understand why he couldn't read records in the true void.
It was barely there, and he had no affinity for grasping those missing pieces either.
'Moreover, what we call immortality is simply the ability to blend our essence with the essence around us. That way, we can continuously refresh our existence.'
It was that easy and made perfect sense. After all, stepping outside the boundaries of a universe wasn't supposed to be done in the first place.
"So how did three thousand years pass?" Alexander asked. "If time isn't a true concept outside a universe, how then can you accurately tell? From what I recall, the Supreme One said the flow of time differs in the various divisions of reality."
"That is also true." Drakmor nodded. "Just as order contains elements of chaos…"
"So too does chaos contain elements of order." Alexander completed, receiving nods from the Enforcers.
"But chaos closer to the Omnisoul is stronger, denser, more 'nutritious', so to speak. What we call Temporal essence is actually the thinning of all forms of essence in reality as we move further away from the Omnisoul."
"..."
Alex did not immediately see the connection. "Shouldn't it be the other way round?"
The way Alexander saw it, stronger, denser and more 'nutritious' meant thicker, thus slower.
"Remember… Time is an actualised concept." Drakmor reminded. "Those at the farther end of the void take a significantly longer duration to achieve what those closer to the Omnisoul take."
"So when you increase or decrease time…"
"You affect the essence of what you're interacting with… Both the surroundings and people." Drakmor's eyes swept over Julia and Ross.
"I see…"
Alexander echoed thoughtfully, ignoring the look the dragon directed at his friends. 'It sounds so easy, yet so complicated… I can't believe universes in our reality actualised time as a concept.'
Despite what he had gathered, Alex was still nowhere near sensing these concepts. Knowing did not equate to capability.
Cassandra and everyone who had attempted self-ascension to godhood would have succeeded already had that been the case.
And he was astonished to know that, even with the missing pieces and gaps in his knowledge, he functioned well. 'Perhaps they aren't as important as everything else.'
Alexander inwardly shook his head. Had that been the case, the core of his universe wouldn't have pushed the desire to fuse with other universe cores on him.
'Missing pieces, huh?' he thought once more, his gaze refocusing on the Enforcers across from him. 'Seemingly unimportant, but required for something.'
He recalled something else the corrupted Enforcers revealed during their clash. 'Lacking the true essence of existence…'
"Thousands of years have passed for those of us attuned to the surrounding chaotic essence," Drakmor added, taking Alexander's look as a sign to continue.
"Despite that, the events that had transpired haven't felt that long to us. We can sense the flow of time, but you can't. In a way, we can see, and you're blind."
"..."
It was a good analogy despite how it sounded. Thinking back to the deadline the Supreme One gave him, Alex realised that the Supreme One based it on how time passed in a low-level universe.
'That's why there haven't been any distortions in the passage of time.' Alexander deduced.
He had been keeping tabs on his body back in his home universe. And only a little over three days had passed.
'But will this knowledge make a difference?' This was the real issue.
He had boldly claimed whatever he learnt would be his problem to think about. Who would have thought it would be easier said than done?
'Alex…?' Julia called to her beloved through their connection. 'My head hurts with all this gibberish. Thinking back, I should have stayed back to meditate.'
Julia's words brought a small smile to his face, a smile that the Enforcers misunderstood as Alexander coming to a realisation.
'What a freaking monster?' Calyndra echoed, her tone envious. 'Even with how confusing the knowledge is, he has somehow grasped it.'
'...'
Drakmor, on the other hand, was not entirely sure. He observed Alexander's reactions, thinking about what the Deviant Veilwalker could do with such knowledge.
'Will this help him become truly independent?' the dragon thought to himself.
"Thank you for sharing what you know with me," Alexander spoke after several seconds of silence, snapping everyone out of their thoughts.
"Don't worry about it, kid." Rycan quickly replied, grinning. "It's the least we can do for being here at our behest."
"Right, that reminds me…" Alex chuckled softly, finding the carefree nature of the lionkin refreshing. "I'll have to cleanse all universes that have been tainted. We wouldn't want those abysses growing in numbers."
"Way ahead of you, kid." The lionkin looked over to Drakmor. "Drakmor over here already has people on it. Just say the word and we'll take you there."
"Good…" Alexander stood up, prompting everyone to do the same.
He swept his gaze across the Enforcers. "I'll take a day or two to contemplate what you've shared with me today. During that time, don't hesitate to reach out to me when you find the whereabouts of your corrupted colleague."
"Of course…"
Drakmor nodded, watching as Alexander and his friends turned around, exiting the conference room.
'You think he will succeed?' Vornarax asked through their connection as soon as Alexander and friends were out of sight.
Naturally, they were still cautious of saying anything that might or might not offend him.
'Who knows…?' the tigress inwardly shrugged. 'Azarion and the others may also be right… The Omnisoul wouldn't allow an existence like that to exist in its domain. This might be as far as he goes.'
'Even with what he has achieved, he is still more powerful than all of us combined.' Calyndra added through gritted teeth, envy burning in the depths of her being. 'Hah… just what makes him so special?'
'...'
It was the question of the era. How had he bypassed the rules of the Omnisoul to be partially independent?
They had attempted everything they knew with no success in sight. It was an impossibility. A glitch, even.
"Well, that's it for me," Rycan spoke out loud, drawing the attention of the others. "You guys can stay here and play detectives all you want, it won't change what we are."
The lionkin ostentatiously stretched to relieve the stiffness in his body and made his way towards the door.
Before leaving, he coolly added. "We have lived for thousands of years, years we never thought we would ever reach had we not been Veilwalkers.
"No matter the implications of what this power represents, it's still power beyond our widest dreams. Be grateful for what you have and leave the boy to follow his path.
"He is not our enemy. He has no reason to harm any of us. Do well to ingrain that into your existence… do well to remember that before you do something stupid."
Rycan's figure disappeared, leaving his colleagues at a loss for words.
'Was that really Rycan?'
The lionkin they knew never bothered to share any wisdom with his colleagues. What he did was out of character, weirdly so.
'Maybe he's really fond of the boy….' Vornarax proposed.
Drakmor gazed at the spot where the lionkin had vanished, contemplating what Rycan had said.
The dragon was not one to be unsure of himself. However, he had found himself second-guessing his thoughts when Alexander needed their help.
'It can't really be what I was thinking earlier, could it?' Drakmor asked himself, the thought itself sending a shiver up his draconic spine.
'No… it shouldn't be the case. Rycan himself had shown a different part of himself that we never knew about. Maybe this is just a part of me I never truly knew…'
Drakmor clenched his fists under his cloak, his golden irises gleaming with resolve. The self-discovery left a bad taste in his mouth, a taste he wanted to get rid of. 'No more…'