Time Magic, Altering Time

Luo Bai returned to the study and continued studying the Book of the Vishanti.

Although he had barely used any magic in his actual fight with Hulk, after all, mages held far too much of an advantage when dealing with "superpowered" individuals with virtually no magic resistance.

Still, it was not as if he had gained nothing. At the very least, his combat experience and magical energy had both improved a little.

The improvement was not significant, but it was useful.

Over the following course of his magical studies, Luo Bai absorbed knowledge quickly and gained a far deeper understanding of it.

After studying for an entire night, he had completely finished the Book of the Vishanti and begun studying the Time Compendium.

Although Luo Bai had used the Time Stone before, he had never systematically learned how to wield all of its power.

It was time to improve.

Time Compendium.

The title made it sound like a book on the study of time, but in essence, it was a spellbook that taught one how to control time.

This book recorded the understandings of time magic held by Supreme Sorcerers throughout the ages.

It included the fundamental concepts of time, the effects of timelines on the universe and the Multiverse, basic theories of time, and time-related magic.

Though the book contained a great deal of information, put simply, the entire thing was an analysis of the Time Stone.

Most Supreme Sorcerers could not control time on their own. They needed to draw upon the power within the Time Stone.

Through this divine artifact, mages could learn magic related to time.

The time magic recorded in the book included time acceleration, time reversal, predicting the future, stopping time, and more.

A sentence was also clearly written on the book's first page: "The Time Stone contains infinite power. No one can completely understand it."

The meaning behind those words was self-evident.

They roughly meant that although Supreme Sorcerers throughout history had all used the Time Stone, no one had ever fully understood the energy and profound meaning contained within it.

Therefore, those who used the Time Stone could further analyze the power contained within the Time Stone through their own understanding.

After roughly reading through the theoretical analysis and basic introduction to the Time Stone,

Luo Bai took out and opened the Eye of Agamotto, then began manipulating the Time Stone.

As he concentrated, green light shone from his hand.

That green light was the power of time within the Time Stone.

Luo Bai casually found a chair in the room and began experimenting.

Moving his hand clockwise accelerated time.

The chair would take on its future appearance.

Moving his hand counterclockwise reversed time.

The chair would return to its original state, perhaps even reverting to what it had looked like before.

Since he had only just begun learning, Luo Bai was not proficient at controlling the power of time and occasionally failed.

As a result, he was especially focused and failed to notice anyone knocking on the door.

Meanwhile, Polaris had already been knocking outside for a full minute.

Although she could hear movement inside, she had waited for a long time without Luo Bai opening the door, which left her deeply puzzled.

"Why is someone inside but not opening the door?" Polaris muttered.

She tried turning the doorknob.

To her surprise, the door was not locked, and it opened immediately.

But before she could look inside, a streak of green light flashed toward her.

After that, a miniature Polaris appeared before Luo Bai's eyes.

That was right.

Polaris had suddenly appeared, and Luo Bai had not noticed her at all.

So while practicing time magic, he had accidentally used time reversal to turn her into a child.

Polaris had been quite cute as a child, but if Polaris had become a child, who was going to serve as his housekeeper?!

Thinking of that, Luo Bai could not help asking, "Why did you come upstairs? Didn't I tell you not to come to the second floor unless there was something special?"

Little Polaris blinked her big, watery eyes and asked as if she could not understand him, "Big brother, what are you talking about?? Where is this??"

Hearing her answer, Luo Bai remembered what the book had explained.

If time magic altered someone's time, such as sending them back into the past, then that person's memories would likewise remain in the past.

Simply put, Luo Bai had accidentally turned Polaris back into her childhood self, so her memories had also remained in childhood.

That meant little Polaris did not remember what had happened before.

Luo Bai tried using time magic to restore Polaris to her current appearance, but because he was not proficient enough, he tried many times without success.

Instead, his strange actions left little Polaris somewhat baffled.

"Big brother, what are you doing? Does that hand gesture mean something?" Polaris asked, staring at him with those innocent eyes.

"..."

Luo Bai fell silent.

After trying for a while, he decided to give up for the time being.

He planned to practice first, then restore the time that had been reversed on Polaris once he had fully mastered time magic.

With that in mind, Luo Bai patiently persuaded her, "Lorna, this is big brother's room. You're staying here with me now, so go downstairs and play by yourself first. Once big brother is done, I'll come play with you, okay?"

Polaris seemed to have been fairly obedient as a child. After hearing Luo Bai, she nodded obediently. "Okay, big brother!"

After saying that, little Polaris went downstairs.

But before long, she ran back upstairs.

"Big brother, there's a big sister downstairs looking for you. She said she absolutely has to see you," little Polaris said.

She absolutely had to see him?!

Luo Bai stopped what he was doing and headed downstairs.

Only after reaching the first floor did he realize that it was Natasha.

Natasha was sitting on the sofa, and a silver case sat on the coffee table before her.

Judging by its appearance, it looked especially like the sort of case used to carry money in television dramas.

Luo Bai guessed that she had come to deliver the payment.

Sure enough, Natasha said the next moment, "This is the payment Nick Fury promised you. Three hundred thousand in total. Do you want to count it?"

"No." Luo Bai continued curiously, "You could have just handed the case to Lorna. Did you specifically call me down because there was something else?"

Natasha smiled. "She said the same thing, but I insisted that you take it yourself. After all, you promised to have coffee with me, didn't you?"

Now he finally understood why Polaris had suddenly gone to look for him in the study. So it was because of Natasha.

Natasha had indeed invited him for coffee, but he had not taken it seriously at the time and had assumed she was joking.

"I thought you were joking. Besides, I didn't agree to it then, did I? I only said we'd see when the time came," Luo Bai said.

Natasha smiled without saying much. She merely asked curiously, "I didn't expect someone as young as you to already have a daughter?"

After saying that, she looked toward little Polaris.

Luo Bai knew she had clearly misunderstood, so he explained, "She isn't my daughter."

"Then who is she?!" Natasha did not understand.

Luo Bai did not know how to explain it either and could only say, "It's complicated. In short, something happened. This little girl is actually Lorna."

This little girl was Polaris?!

Natasha was completely bewildered. Frowning, she said, "I don't understand what you mean."

Luo Bai did not explain further, but he suddenly thought of something.

Lorna had now become a little girl and needed someone to take care of her, while he needed peace and quiet.

Natasha had appeared at just the right time... Why not?

With that thought, an idea suddenly came to Luo Bai.

He smiled and asked Natasha, "Did you come to ask me out for coffee today?"

"Not entirely. There are also some other matters..." Natasha began.

Luo Bai quickly cut her off. "We can discuss that later. I have something to do right now. If you want to ask me out for coffee, could you look after Lorna for me first? Once I'm done, I'll go have coffee with you."

"..."

Natasha fell silent.

After a moment, she asked, "How long will you need?"

"I'm not sure. About an hour, maybe longer," Luo Bai explained.

Natasha pondered for a moment, seemingly thinking something over. Then she smiled and agreed. "All right. You're so young that you probably have no experience taking care of children, so I'll help you out. But once you're done, remember our agreement."

"Of course~~" Luo Bai said with a smile, then went upstairs to continue practicing magic.

That practice session lasted an entire day.

And Natasha never could have imagined it.

Luo Bai had tricked her into being a babysitter for the whole day.