After lunch, Liam headed to a nearby bookstore, his usual haunt for free reading. He enjoyed this habit, not for the sake of saving money on rentals, but for the sheer pleasure of it—Liam found great contentment in settling down in a quiet corner between the towering bookshelves. Of course, to avoid annoying the proprietor, he'd usually rent a book or two after a few hours of free reading—a matter of reciprocity, to ensure a steady supply of good books. This way, the owner wouldn't resent him or ban him from the store. After all, large bookstores offering a diverse range of genres, not just fiction, were becoming increasingly rare. Being blacklisted would mean no other decent bookstores near Aethelburg University.
They say a name can shape a person, and Liam certainly lived up to his. He loved reading, embracing all genres: novels, literary works, classical texts, even dense theoretical treatises that made others' heads ache. Lately, he'd been spending his time reading up on vehicle driving techniques and regulations. He planned to get his driver's license while his first-year courses were still light. Enrolling through the university was significantly cheaper, saving him a considerable sum.
...
Time spent reading always flew by. In a blink, it was already around 3:00 PM.
"So fast… time to head back. I should pick up some snacks for supper from the supermarket nearby; I can pull an all-nighter on Saturday!" Liam chuckled. With that, he randomly pulled out a book and headed to the counter to rent it.
The counter was located near the bookstore's exit. Today, the outdoor awning was "broken," so the proprietress, a typical Aethelburg beauty, as fluid and graceful as water, was hiding in a shaded spot, avoiding the direct glare of the sun. She too loved books, often spending entire days engrossed in a volume. Her attire suggested a comfortable lifestyle; the bookstore was clearly a passion project. Usually, she sat quietly reading, a picture of serene beauty, attracting many young men who, drawn to the sight, transformed themselves from casual youths into earnest literary enthusiasts. However, rumor had it that this serene beauty was merely the proprietress's "peace mode"... If there was a peace mode, there were surely "combat" or "berserk" modes. Liam, however, hadn't witnessed them in his half-year here.
"All right, remember to return it within two days. One extra day adds a silver coin to the rental fee," the proprietress said after processing his rental, waving him off. Though they'd only known each other for half a semester, this young man who spent half-days reading for free, yet always rented a book or two out of consideration, had left a deep impression on her. If he hadn't been so considerate, she would have long since shooed him away with a broom.
"Heh heh." Liam chuckled, taking the book and stepping over the bookstore's threshold.
BOOM!!!
At that very moment, a deafening roar echoed like an explosion. Everyone in the bookstore jumped, and Liam, mid-stride, nearly lost his footing, almost stumbling.
"Damn it!"
"Oh, my word!"
"A thunderclap from a clear sky?"
"Terrifying," various exclamations of fright rippled through the bookstore.
Liam looked up at the sky. What was once a cloudless expanse had changed; a dark cloud quietly gathered at the horizon, swiftly obscuring a portion of the sky, portending a coming storm.
"Looks like a sudden downpour? Tsk tsk, they used to say weather forecasts were unreliable, to be read in reverse – if it predicted sunshine, you'd better bring an umbrella. I thought after all these years, forecasts had improved, but it seems they're still unreliable." Liam sighed inwardly. This was even worse than before; then, you just had to reverse the forecast. Now, you had to gamble on its accuracy?
Lost in thought, he clutched his rented book, intending to rush back to the dorm before the downpour began. But before Liam could take his second step, a second thunderous roar erupted, ringing in his ears. His raised foot instinctively recoiled.
At the edge of the horizon, the dark cloud anomaly twisted. Streaks of lightning, like crackling serpents, writhed within the cloud, creating a flickering web of electricity. Liam had witnessed thunderstorms before, but never in his life had he seen such a dense display of lightning—it was like the end of the world. The lightning wasn't striking in individual bolts, but in sheets, tearing through the sky. The rolling thunder, too, was unlike anything he'd ever heard. Previous thunderstorms in Aethelburg were marked by a single, colossal boom, followed by a series of rumbling echoes. But now, the thunder sounded like a firework display amplified with gunpowder—boom, crackle, boom, boisterous and overwhelming, even the echoes were swallowed.
If this was divine retribution, what monumental transgression could possibly summon such a tempest of a thousand bolts? What truly struck Liam was that the black thundercloud remained confined to the horizon, a localized maelstrom of lightning, showing no signs of dissipating or spreading. The rolling thunder persisted for what felt like ten long breaths, unyielding. It felt as if a far more intense storm was brewing.
"What wretched luck!" Liam sighed, thinking, "Perhaps I should read for a bit longer?" Typically, sudden thunderstorms were short-lived, arriving quickly and departing just as swiftly. But if this one lingered, perhaps he could get another chapter in? With that thought, he turned back into the bookstore, intending to settle in for a while longer.
It was as if fate itself was playing a trick on Liam. The moment he stepped back into the bookstore, the deafening roar abruptly ceased! The vast dark clouds and the furious lightning serpents in the sky vanished simultaneously! It was as if an invisible hand had painted a scene in the sky, then, dissatisfied, had casually wiped away the clouds and lightning. The sky returned to its pristine, cloudless state, bathed in sunlight! The explosive thunder and the sky-spanning lightning serpents seemed like mere auditory and visual hallucinations.
Someone in the bookstore mumbled, "What just happened?"
"Was that truly divine retribution for some transgression?"
"Nonsense! Lightning is merely a natural phenomenon..."
At that moment, a small child beside Liam looked up. Clutching a children's comic in his left hand, his right palm raised high towards the sky, he cried out in a dramatic voice, "Oh, I want this sky to no longer obscure my sight! I want this earth to no longer bury my heart! I want these myriad dark clouds to vanish without a trace!"
Liam's eyebrow twitched. He was certain that when this child grew up, recalling this moment would make them squirm with embarrassment. Such a "black history" would haunt the child for a lifetime. And just when they thought they'd finally forgotten it, it would probably resurface from some dusty corner of their mind, making them want to scream, 'Die, you fool, how humiliating!' Or wish they could travel back in time to punch their younger, foolish self. Liam knew this feeling all too well.
Yet, for some reason, seeing this comical child, Liam suddenly thought of the eccentric members of the Conclave of Arcane Lore.
Haven City, Third Tier Mortal Ascension lightning trial.
The group's chat message flashed in his mind. He then estimated the position of the horizon in the sky. That area of the lightning storm seemed… to be exactly where Haven City was located? Even with Liam's usually unflappable composure, his heart skipped a beat.
Could it… be real? The weather forecast predicted clear skies, yet a bizarre, roaring tempest of lightning had suddenly appeared. "Hahahaha, how could that be?! There's no such thing as celestial phenomena of that magnitude in this world. It must be a coincidence, right?!" Liam thought to himself.
But once the thought took root, it stubbornly refused to leave his mind: Could such a massive coincidence truly exist in the world? The lightning serpents had been so peculiar, truly not resembling a natural phenomenon. The words "Haven City" and "lightning trial" echoed in his mind. Liam shook his head vigorously, forcing the possibility out of his thoughts. His eighteen years of established worldview told him to believe in science, to reject superstition. That thundercloud was merely an unusual natural phenomenon, not a lightning trial!