Edwin kept looking around and wondering when all this was going to end. He had long since moved away from Hadrian’s kick, just to be safe, and had gone up to Hunt and Maxwell.

Poking them had made no effect. Trying to talk to them hadn’t either. So, he sat by them and waited. He got sleepy as he waited and closed his eyes, and then, the noise continued around him. He opened his eyes with a start and looked at the confused Boliarins.

“I think I stopped the time,” he looked down, at the confused Harry who was standing with his foot inches away from where Edwin’s head had been. He then looked up and Edwin waved.

“Try it again,” said Hunt and Edwin concentrated on the feeling his mana had given him before everyone stopped. Then, Hunt attempted to say something, but stopped with his mouth open. Edwin closed his eyes slowly again and Hunt resumed talking.

“Did you have successes?” Asked Hunt and Edwin nodded.

“Yes, didn’t you feel it?” Maxwell grinned at Edwin.

“Time mage. Rare and hereditary. Do you remember any Time mages in your family tree?” Edwin doubted that the line of hedge healers and wood’s witches that was his mother’s side of the family had any.

“It must have come from my father’s side. But I have no idea who he was,” said Edwin. No matter how much he had asked his mother, she had always played num when he did so.

“Doesn’t matter. Do you know the implications of this?” Edwin shook his head.

“You can have millions of years worth of an extension to your already promising life span,” told him Maxwell, his grin widening. “And, you can simply cut up mobs during the stopped time frame. What is your trigger?”

“I have this sudden surge of mana within me. And when I close my eyes, the time begins to move again,” Maxwell nodded and shared a look with Hunt.

“He should practice making the transition as fast, if not faster, than a blink,” Hunt nodded and looked pointedly at Edwin.

So, Edwin did just that. He managed to get time to stop in a second by the time his stomach grumbled. Then, he closed his eyes and it resumed. By then, Hadrian had come to the viewing sits and had been told what had happened.

“Eddy, I wasn’t going to hit you. You know that, don’t you?” Asked Hadrian for the tenth time. Edwin gave a sigh.

“I do, Harry. Don’t worry. We can still practice. But now, I have an ace up my sleeve,” said Edwin with a cheeky grin. Hadrian returned it and turned to Maxwell.

“Is there any way to stop Eddy from cheating?” Maxwell chuckled at that.

“No. Time magic is unstoppable. By the way, Roberts, expect to have a new title when this spreads. You will be asked to get rid of monsters too. Mark my words. What was the title, Hunt? Lord something?”

“Lord Protector. In Mopia it is Lord of the Mountains. Here, in Alanqian it is Lord Protector of the People. You get to end up third in line for the throne. As it is the tradition. With your children being eligible to inherit,” Edwin didn’t want that. He wanted a comfortable and a calm life.

“It doesn’t matter what you want,” said Maxwell sternly. “Only what you can do for the world.”

“That is enough training for today,” said Hunt and he got up. He offered his hand to Maxwell who took it. Edwin stared at the two. Huh, so they were together. The Emperor must have been overjoyed at that. Both of his Boliarins, without a chance to go up against each other.

“Eddy, are you hungry? I am starving,” Edwin turned to look at Hadrian who was eyeing Edwin’s neck. Edwin blushed and looked around. The crowd was yet to think.

“Come on, we have to go back to the inn and our room,” said Edwin, standing up. First they had pig blood sludge and Hadrian kept whining that he wanted Edwin’s blood. So, with an eye roll, Edwin let himself be led into the bedroom.

He was reduced to a moaning mess in minutes and his clothes found their place on the chair next to the bed. When Edwin awoke the next morning, he was satisfied and sated.

Edwin left Hadrian in bed and went to take a shower and to dress for the day. There was no sense in waiting for Hadrian to wake. He had left him a note telling him he’d go to the training arena and practice with his shadows and his time magic. Harry will join him at 8 pm. When it got dark again.

As the days were becoming longer, Hadrian just couldn’t spend as much time with Edwin as he wanted. Maxwell and Hunt just didn’t want to have to switch their sleeping cycle to accommodate them and, seeing as they were the teachers, Edwin had to accommodate them.

Edwin let his shadows go in the arena and begin entertaining the crowds. They were getting better. He saw Sebastian in the arena with Marisa and Daniel. He raised an eyebrow at that.

“Why are you three here?” A walking corpse went too close to Marisa, and she brought the business end of her axe on its head. It split, and dark matter fell from its head. Still, it attempted to keep going, only for all its limbs to be cut off quickly by Daniel and for its core to be smashed by Sebastian.

“We want to see if your time magic can take all three of us on, Eddy,” said Daniel with a grin as he raised his sword in the air. Edwin noted that the blade was half of Daniel’s high and looked to be deadly sharp. He decided that he should make it his priority to not end up near that edge.

“What is it, Eddy?” Asked Sebastian after Edwin remained silent. “Scared?”

Edwin stopped the time and went and tugged Sebastian’s ear. Something he would have never done otherwise. He grinned. This was going to be fun. He turned towards Daniel with an evil grin. Fun indeed.