The Academy Stands Still
The entire academy held its breath.
Above them, the sky churned with violent clouds, streaked with crackling arcs of lightning. Each boom of thunder felt like the heartbeat of an impending storm, vibrating in the very bones of those standing below.
Bolt clenched his fists, his muscles coiled with tension. The air around him buzzed with raw electricity, responding to the presence of the man before him.
The Lightning Warborn.
Vael'Zarith.
Aether stood beside him, eyes narrowed. "This isn't normal lightning," he muttered. "It's something else. Something… ancient."
Akane's grip tightened around her twin blades. "That guy… He's leagues above Kairos."
Kairos, standing beside his master, smirked at their reactions. He had changed since they last fought—his flaming aura now tainted with deep shadows, swirling ominously around him.
"You guys look tense," Kairos mocked. "You should be. Because the man standing before you… isn't someone you can win against."
Bolt ignored him. His focus remained locked on Vael'Zarith.
Unlike Kairos's usual arrogance, this man radiated an overwhelming presence, not through words—but through sheer existence.
Then, Vael'Zarith finally spoke.
"I have not come for a battle of pride," his voice resonated like rolling thunder. "I am here to test you."
Bolt narrowed his eyes. "Test me?"
Vael'Zarith took a single step forward. The ground cracked beneath his feet, veins of electricity spreading like webbing through the stone.
"You wield lightning," he continued, his gaze sharp. "But what you hold is incomplete."
Bolt's fingers twitched. "Incomplete?"
"You have yet to understand its true nature," Vael'Zarith stated. "That is why I shall show you what real lightning is."
Then—
He raised his hand.
CRACK-BOOM!
The sky erupted.
A massive bolt of lightning descended from the heavens, so blindingly bright that for a split second, it felt like daylight had returned.
Bolt leaped back, barely avoiding the strike as the courtyard exploded into rubble. The sheer force sent shockwaves tearing through the academy grounds, making even the strongest warriors stumble.
The dust hadn't even settled before Vael'Zarith vanished from sight.
BZZZT!
Bolt barely managed to register the movement before a fist cloaked in raw electricity slammed into his stomach, sending him soaring across the courtyard like a comet.
CRASH!
His body slammed through three stone pillars, rubble collapsing around him.
"Bolt!" Akane called, but before she could move—
BOOM!
A massive pulse of lightning exploded from Vael'Zarith, knocking her and Aether back with just the pressure of his power.
Kairos smirked. "Told you."
Bolt coughed, pushing himself up. His entire body tingled, as if his nerves had been scrambled.
Too fast.
Too strong.
Vael'Zarith wasn't just powerful—he was on an entirely different plane of existence.
Bolt gritted his teeth. No. He wasn't going down that easily.
He raised his hand, and the air shifted.
With a roar, a surging wave of water erupted, rushing toward Vael'Zarith like a tidal wave.
At the same time, Bolt summoned jagged pillars of stone, launching them like spears.
The combination of earth, water, and lightning crackled through the battlefield.
Vael'Zarith's expression remained unchanged.
Then—
With a mere gesture, a blinding explosion of lightning tore through Bolt's attack, vaporizing the water and shattering the earth like brittle glass.
Bolt's eyes widened.
Vael'Zarith vanished again.
BZZZT!
Another lightning-infused strike collided with Bolt's chest—sending him skyward.
But this time—
He reacted.
Twisting mid-air, Bolt summoned winds so fierce they formed a protective cyclone around him, slowing his fall.
Then, with a burst of power, he unleashed a torrent of ice and lightning combined, the frozen electricity arcing wildly as it plummeted back toward Vael'Zarith.
Vael'Zarith smiled.
With a flick of his wrist, he caught the attack.
The ice-laced lightning twisted and crackled in his grip, as if struggling—before he snapped his fingers.
BOOM!
The entire attack dispersed like a dying ember.
Bolt barely had time to react before Vael'Zarith appeared beside him in mid-air.
"Still not enough."
Then—
Vael'Zarith swung his lightning spear straight into Bolt's torso.
BOOOOOOM!
The impact sent Bolt crashing into the ground with meteoric force, the academy courtyard collapsing from the sheer destruction.
Aether and Akane stared in shock.
Kairos whistled. "Yikes."
For a moment—nothing moved.
Then—
BZZZZZT!
The entire courtyard erupted in crackling blue lightning.
The air shook.
Kairos's smirk faded.
Vael'Zarith's gaze narrowed.
And then, from the debris, Bolt rose.
His body was engulfed in unstable arcs of energy, his eyes burning a deep, electric blue—brighter than ever before.
The very air around him vibrated, as if something inside him had finally awakened.
For the first time—he wasn't just drawing from his own power.
This was something greater.
Something primordial.
Bolt exhaled. The lightning around him surged violently, forming an unstable storm of energy.
Then, he grinned.
"Alright," Bolt muttered, his voice crackling with power.
"Round two."
Vael'Zarith's lips curled into a small, intrigued smirk.
"Now," he said, "we begin."