Once the preparations outside were complete, Lucien returned to his inner universe.
Alanthuriel had told him to understand Time.
So Lucien did exactly that.
For years, Time had been something he manipulated.
He could accelerate a region until months passed inside while considerably less time moved beyond its boundary. He could slow processes, anchor moments, preserve intervals, and adjust temporal flow so delicately that two neighboring regions could experience different rates without tearing themselves apart.
Those abilities had once seemed profound.
Now Lucien understood how shallow they were.
He had learned how to operate Time.
Alanthuriel was asking him to understand why Time existed in the form it did.
Lucien withdrew into one of the quieter regions of his inner universe.
There were no armies there.
