I paused, hand still raised, letting the battlefield tremble around me. Enemy attacks faltered. Fireballs exploded mid-air. Walls crumbled as raw Essence unraveled their foundations. Panic rippled through the Holt soldiers.
I closed my eyes and felt the surge of lightning in the air. A memory flickered: Arkas, his lightning trident flashing above the storm, power crackling in every strike. A thought struck me clearly: I want to do that too.
I opened my eyes and planted my feet in the cracked ground. Silence fell, as if the world waited. I activated my Domain once more. The air around me shivered, runes spreading out in tiny ripples. Essence lines glowed faintly in sight only I could perceive.
A low hum built within my chest.
I connected with the natural Essence from the ground, from the broken stones, from the scattered corpses, and from the charged air above. I felt the power of thunder, untamed, raw, and electric.
Then I breathed out, and lightning erupted.
