[Day 2]
Kael's eyes shot open.
A spark — wild, golden — leapt from his chest and danced into the air. He gasped, back arching as arcs of lightning rippled across his skin.
— "Ghk—!"
Pain. But not like wounds or broken bones.
This was deeper. Like thunder rolling inside his veins. His body felt like a storm barely contained in human skin.
He lay on the cold training hall floor, body soaked in sweat, breath shallow. Each time he inhaled, his chest sparked with energy. Aura. Raw. Untamed. Alive.
He grinned.
— "It worked..."
He forced himself upright, limbs shaking, fingers twitching with light.
Around him, faint crackles lit the air. The atmosphere itself felt charged — as though the room were holding its breath.
This was only Day 2, but Kael had already crossed a line most wouldn't touch in a lifetime.
Why? Because he wasn't starting from scratch.
He'd lived this before.
And he refused to waste his second chance.
[System Notification]
Aura Status Synchronization: 11.3%
Core Status: Instability Detected
Trait Gained – Stormblood Initiate: You gain power faster when under pressure, but your aura reacts unpredictably.
Kael rose slowly, each movement sending lightning trailing behind. He raised a trembling hand and focused.
The spark responded.
FZZZT.
A fork of lightning — pure golden — shot from his palm, crashing against the stone floor.
"Still unstable..."
He needed to focus.
Aura wasn't about logic. It wasn't something you understood. It was something you felt. Where magic obeyed equations, aura demanded intention.
Aura didn't listen to doubt.
Only to will.
And Kael's will? Sharper than ever.
He steadied his stance. Closed his eyes.
His thoughts drifted — to his father's sacrifice, the screams of the past, the cold taste of regret. All of it… fueled the storm.
BZZZZZTTT!
Golden lightning exploded from his shoulders. The ground cracked beneath his feet. His aura flared violently, illuminating the room in radiant flashes.
His body screamed in protest — but Kael didn't back down.
He couldn't.
[System Alert – Core Strain Reaching Threshold]
Core Stability: 14.6%Warning: Overuse may cause internal backlash. Recommend cooldown.
Kael laughed under his breath, teeth gritted.
— "No cooldowns. Not now."
He grabbed the iron spear from the rack. As his hand closed around it — a violent surge raced through the metal.
CRACK—!
The spear jolted, sending shockwaves through the floor. But Kael held on.
Golden lightning crawled up the weapon like it belonged there.
Like it was meant to be his.
— "You feel it too, don't you?" he murmured to the spear.
The weapon sparked again — not as rejection, but as recognition.
His aura was syncing.
Not perfectly. Not yet. But it was listening.
And Kael had more to say.
[New Technique Acquired: Lightning Lunge]
An explosive burst propels the user forward. Consumes aura. Cooldown: 3 seconds.
He crouched low. Focused.
BOOM.
In a flash of thunder, he vanished — reappearing across the room in a blur of motion.
The wall behind cracked slightly from the pressure.
Kael stumbled forward, panting.
Not bad.
But not enough.
He turned back, golden arcs dancing in his wake, and began again.
Drill. Strike. Dodge. Repeat.
His movements grew sharper, cleaner. Each repetition etched the aura deeper into his muscles.
The storm wasn't something he had to control anymore.
He had to become part of it.
[Day 3]
He didn't sleep. The aura wouldn't let him.
It pulsed through his nerves like a second heart, thundering louder with each hour.
By morning, the training hall was scorched — black marks on stone, air heavy with the scent of ozone.
Kael's body ached. Lightning scars crisscrossed his arms. But his eyes? Brighter than ever.
— "Come on. Show me more."
The aura responded.
[System Notification – Core Saturation: 91%]Status: Critical. Core nearing overload.
Kael staggered. His knees buckled. The storm raged out of control.
He couldn't focus.
Couldn't think.
His body wasn't ready for this.
But his soul?
His soul burned.
He dropped the spear. Fell to one knee.
Pain surged — real, unforgiving. The kind that forced silence, made every heartbeat feel like thunder.
And still… he smiled.
— "If pain is the price..."
He closed his eyes. Dove inward.
[Soul Core – Internal Domain]
Darkness. Then light.
He stood within himself. A realm of shadow pierced by golden lightning. At the center, a glowing sphere — his core. Shaking. Shattering.
He stepped forward.
Visions struck him — his failure, his regrets, the faces of those he let die.
— "You're weak."— "You ran."— "You don't deserve this power."
He clenched his fists.
— "Then I'll earn it."
The storm howled.
He reached the core.
Touched it.
And the lightning welcomed him.
[System Update – Core Stabilized]
Synchronization: 28.3%
New Trait Gained – Voltheart – Lineage of ThunderLightning aura is amplified during emotional surges. Speed +10% under stress.Aura Skill: Stormweave Pulse unlocked.
Kael's eyes snapped open.
The pain was gone.
No — it had been reshaped. Refined.
His body pulsed with steady rhythm, golden arcs dancing calmly over his skin. The storm inside him had finally found a voice.
His.
He stood.
Not with rage. Not with fear.
With purpose.
— "Five days left..."
A small smirk played on his lips.
— "And I'm just getting started."
Kael moved forward, his steps slow, but his presence heavy — like a storm walking on two feet.
Cracks spread beneath him as golden arcs surged violently. His skin burned, his nerves screamed, but he refused to slow down.
[System Notice — Aura Synchronization 12%… 13%…]
Warning: Host's body is sustaining internal damage.
He ignored it. Pain was irrelevant.
He reached the center of the chamber — a lone stone monolith, its surface carved with ancient sigils from the Thundrael lineage. This was where his father — no, his adoptive father — had once tested his aura.
Kael raised his hand.
The golden lightning obeyed.
It slammed into the monolith with a thunderclap that shook the entire chamber.
BOOM!
Chunks of stone flew outward, and a deep fracture carved itself into the surface — glowing faintly with gold.
He smiled, breath shallow.
[Aura Manifestation: Partial – External Expression achieved.]
[New Skill Acquired: Lightning Surge (Lv.1)]
But even as he succeeded, Kael's vision blurred.
The raw force of his aura was tearing at him from the inside — lightning without a vessel. His veins glowed faintly under his skin, flickering like unstable conduits. A normal person would be unconscious by now. Or dead.
But Kael… had already died once.
He dropped to one knee, gritting his teeth as his aura flared violently, smashing into the walls like wild lashes.
Sparks flew. The training chamber was falling apart.
[Warning: Aura Instability at 76%]
If synchronization fails, the host's nervous system will collapse.
Kael chuckled bitterly. "Then I guess I better succeed."
He slammed his palm onto the ground.
"Focus," he muttered. "Anchor the soul."
He reached inward — deeper.
He found it. A memory.
Not of war. Not of power.
But of her.
His mother — the one whose face he barely remembered. A gentle smile. Hands stained with light. A voice that had whispered once: "Live, no matter the cost."
Kael's chest tightened. The lightning flared again.
But this time, it wrapped around him — not like a prison, but like a cloak.
Golden. Vast. Alive.
He rose.
Slowly.
The storm calmed.
Not because it had grown weaker — but because he had grown stronger.
[Aura Synchronization — 91%… 98%… 100%]
[You have successfully awakened your Aura.]
[Unique Trait Activated: Lightning Body (Dormant)]
[Title Earned: Heir of the Storm]
Golden light swirled around him like divine fire.
And in that silence, Kael smiled again — not out of pride, not out of arrogance, but out of clarity.
This was just the beginning.
The world had yet to remember what true power looked like.
And Kael Thundrael was about to show them.
Kael turned slowly, the fractured chamber behind him, wild golden arcs still flickering across the stone like sunlight striking tempered steel.
There was blood on his lip. His skin bore the marks of battle. His aura still pulsed erratically, golden and raw — but real.
And yet, his gaze was steady. Calm.
Then—
[System Update — Bloodline Quest Complete]
Reward Unlocked: Location Revealed — Tomb of the First Thunder GuardianPassive Trait Acquired: Primary Resonance – Lightning Techniques +15% EffectivenessItem Received: Aura Skill Book – Foundations of Aura Mastery (Intermediate)
His breath hitched.
"...The Tomb?"
The name echoed through his mind. A place whispered in myth — a resting ground for an ancient hero of the age of Guardians. He had read tales. He had heard fragments.
But in his past life, no one had ever mentioned a technique hidden there. Not even once.
"Why now…?"
He clenched his fists, golden sparks flaring from his knuckles.
Everything was changing. The timeline. The pieces.The system wasn't just awakening him — it was rewriting the path.
And the real training…was only beginning.