WIELDER OF PRIMORDIAL LIGHTNING OF THE ANCIENTS
The morning sun painted the mountains in golden hues as Leina followed her new master, the Illusion Mistress, up the winding steps of the Radiant Mirage Sect. The sect's palace glittered with shifting veils of light, as if the very walls were woven from water and moonlight. She felt a thrill in her chest—this was no longer the small village she had known. Here, she would rise.
The disciples lined the steps, their gazes mixed—some with admiration at the girl who had awakened dual affinities of water and light, others with veiled hostility. Leina caught the look of a tall girl with raven hair whose lips curved in a mocking smile. Enemies already, Leina thought, keeping her face calm.
The Illusion Mistress paused and addressed the crowd. "This child is now under my wing. Those who dare touch her… shall answer to me." Her voice was soft, but it echoed like thunder across the mountain.
Leina bowed respectfully, and a murmur ran through the crowd. She was no longer just Leina of the Twin Moon village—she was now the personal disciple of one of the sect's most formidable cultivators.
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Far away, beneath the quiet of the village night, Daniel sat cross-legged in his room. The Codex of the Storm lay open before him, its ancient pages filled with runes that pulsed faintly like distant thunder. His father's words echoed in his mind:
"Power is not to be flaunted, Daniel. If lightning has chosen you, let it temper you, break you, and rebuild you. Only then will you wield it—not as a tyrant, but as justice itself."
Daniel exhaled, reaching inward, searching once again for the spark he had seen at the altar. At first, there was only silence. Then—crack!—a spark of silver lightning erupted within his core, coursing through his veins like molten fire.
"Aghhh!" he hissed through clenched teeth, his muscles seizing as if they were being torn apart. His skin burned, his blood felt as if it were boiling, and every nerve screamed. But he didn't stop.
The Codex's instructions were clear: draw the lightning, let it shatter you, then let it forge you anew.
Hours passed. Sweat poured from his body, steam rising from his skin. His room flickered with faint arcs of silver light, shadows dancing wildly on the walls. Finally, with a shuddering gasp, Daniel collapsed, chest heaving.
His body was scorched, trembling, but his eyes… his eyes burned brighter than before.
"I survived," he whispered, his lips curling into the faintest smile. "And this is only the beginning."
As Leina walked the radiant halls of her new sect, and Daniel endured the storm within, two paths had been set. One under the light of guidance, the other forged in secret agony. Yet destiny, ever weaving, had already begun to pull their threads closer once more.