"This far should do." Maya says.
"Wait, do you hear that?"
A faint sound is coming from afar, like spells being casted.
"I hear it now. Let's see what's going on."
They follow the sound, weaving between the trees as the faint flashes of light grow brighter. The forest is alive with mana, the air thick with the scent of burnt bark and scorched earth.
They step past a mossy ridge and spot movement up ahead.
A figure stands in a clearing, sweat dripping, shirt off, arms glowing faintly with residual mana. He pants heavily, fists clenched. A tree nearby is split clean down the middle, smoking from a fresh impact.
Maya squints.
"Wait a second…"
Renji steps closer.
"...Gudo?"
The figure turns at the sound of his name. It's him.
Gudo blinks in disbelief.
"Renji?"
Renji breaks into a grin.
"No way. What are the odds?"
Gudo doesn't smile. Not immediately.
And then he finally cracks a grin.
"Been a while."
"A day or two."
Gudo walks up and punches Renji lightly in the chest. "I went by your place today. You weren't home."
"I got swept into Class 2A, stuff happened, and then... it just spiraled."
"Yeah, well... I just came by to apologize. I know you meant well, and you helped me through what you did... but in the moment it felt like you looked down on me. I'm sorry."
"You're forgiven... how did the other matches go?"
"I won them all."
"That's good. It was worth it after all."
"Yeah, you could say that. What about you? You said something about 2A?"
"Well... I thought I'm much stronger than a first-year, and I was right. Maya here helped me set a fight for a spot in the class. I fought the strongest student in 2A."
"And?"
"I won. We're also friends now, I think."
"Imagine me one-shotting the guy who's stronger than half of this school. You're wild."
Maya smiles.
"That's not even the full story. Come on, Renji. Show him some magic."
"You learned magic?!"
"Yeah, just today."
Something doesn't sit right with Maya.
"Can you use magic, Gudo?"
"Yes."
"And you guys have been friends since kids?"
"Also yes."
"Then you didn't teach this guy about magic?!"
Gudo looks away for a second, scratching the back of his head.
"...It's not that I didn't want to. I just… didn't know how to explain it."
Maya raises an eyebrow. "You didn't know how?"
Renji chimes in. "We always thought I was mana-deficient. Or worse, a null."
Gudo nods. "Yeah. Every time we tried those beginner mana sensing drills, you got nothing. No glow, no warmth, not even a flicker. I thought maybe your body just couldn't handle magic."
Renji shrugs. "Hell, I believed it too. Figured I'd have to live a normal life."
Maya's eyes narrow slightly. "So what changed?"
"I tried again. With real intent. For some unknown reason, it finally clicked."
Gudo crosses his arms, exhaling. "He just exploded out of nowhere, huh?"
"Like a nuke." Maya mutters. "Still doesn't excuse the fact you left him behind."
"I didn't mean to!" Gudo throws his hands up. "I thought I was protecting him by not getting his hopes up."
Renji pats him on the shoulder. "It's alright. You couldn't have known."
Maya shakes her head. "Hmph. You boys are idiots."
They all share a laugh.
"Anyway, show me something!"
"Alright. Step aside."
Renji steps in front of a huge boulder. He begins channeling his energy towards his next spell.
"What should I try this time?"
Maya ponders. "There's only one way this could get any crazier... that's if you had more than two strong elements."
"Why is that crazy?"
"Everyone can use basic magic of any element, but when it comes to a strong affinity, meaning your ability to cast powerful spells of a certain element, people have one or two. Three is quite rare. Four is extraordinary. Five is legendary, and at that point you have them all."
"Let me guess... water, fire, earth, wind, and..."
"Lightning. Those are the big five. There are two others though... which are so rare that putting them in a graph is pointless. Dark magic and light magic."
"What if I have them all?" Renji says jokingly.
"You'd be a world-level threat to all of humanity. Such a person never existed, so it's sort of unlikely."
"Bummer. I guess I'll try lightning."
Renji closes his eyes. Breath steady. Fingers twitching as mana starts to gather around him, sharp, volatile, electric.
The air crackles.
Sparks dance across his forearms, veins glowing faintly blue-white as arcs of lightning start to hiss around his fingertips. The ground at his feet trembles ever so slightly.
BOOM.
A blinding flash surges forward, striking the boulder dead center. The explosion echoes through the forest, and the rock doesn't just crack. It shatters, blasted into hundreds of fragments that scatter around.
Smoke hisses from the crater left behind.
Renji lowers his hand, the static fading from his body with a few stray zaps.
Gudo stares. Mouth slightly open. Eyes wide.
"What... the actual... hell?"
Maya's arms are crossed, lips curled into a proud smirk. "Told you. Like a nuke."
Gudo walks up to where the boulder used to be, kneels, and picks up a piece.
"Clean break." he mutters. "The inner structure's fried. That wasn't a lightning shock, that was a lightning strike. Pure destruction."
He turns to Renji again, this time with something else in his expression. Respect. Awe. And a flicker of something darker, something unsettled.
"You're really not the same guy I knew a few days ago."
Renji smiles. "Still me. Just... unlocked, I guess."
"Guess we're training together now, huh?"
"Guess so."