Kaelus followed the Mage Emperor, Ian Emrys Skyrune, in silence. The Emperor did not speak as they traversed the seemingly endless, echoing hallways of the Grand Mage Tower. Kaelus was left to contemplate the magnitude of the Emperor's revelation—that his mana capacity was hundreds of times greater than normal.
Finally, they reached the end of the corridor, where massive double doors slid open to reveal a vast, wide, dome-shaped area. It was clearly a specialized training arena, its walls reinforced with layers of complex magical wards visible beneath the surface.
The Emperor stopped in the center. He reached to the side of the arena, took a slim, practice sword, and threw it with precision toward Kaelus.
Kaelus instinctively caught the weapon. Ian then summoned his own staff—a relic carved from ancient, black wood and humming with latent power—and adopted a stance. His face, usually serene, was now set in an expression of absolute seriousness.
He broke the silence. "Unleash your true form, Kaelus."
Kaelus froze, the words striking him with the force of a physical blow. He stared at the Emperor, stunned and surprised. He knows? How?
Ian didn't wait for a response. He began rapidly gathering mana, and the air around him grew immediately volatile. Kaelus's elemental senses registered a terrifying convergence of power.
To the Emperor's right, Kaelus felt the raw, brutal combination of Fire, Water, and Earth mana synthesizing into something dense and destructive. This was the terrifying Cinder element. Cinder magic focused on rapidly heating the ground until it burned, then collapsing and hardening it instantly into dense, volcanic glass or slag. It could conjure weapons that shattered like brittle obsidian or instantly immobilize enemies by turning the soil beneath their feet into a searing, immovable trap.
To the Emperor's left, the energy was even more chaotic—a perfect synthesis of Fire, Water, and Wind. This was the deadly Squall element, the ultimate weather-based offensive element. Mages using Squall could create miniature hurricanes, sweeping away enemies with hurricane-force winds, drowning areas with flash floods, and delivering massive, unblockable electrical and concussive damage over a wide area.
While the two monstrous element systems roared to life around him, Ian's voice, cold and devoid of his previous warmth, sliced through the growing maelstrom.
"I will say it one more time, Kaelus... no, whatever monster you are. Unleash your true form, or else I will destroy you."
Kaelus felt the genuine, lethal tension emanating from the Emperor. He knew that even a graze from a skill forged by Cinder or Squall was enough to make him bleed, even with his naturally tough scales. He gripped the practice sword tightly.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Mage Emperor," Kaelus insisted, still refusing to reveal his true lineage or draconic form.
Ian Emrys Skyrune sighed, a sound of disappointment rather than anger. "Fine. I will make you reveal it yourself."
Ian's attack was instantaneous and perfectly coordinated. He slammed his staff down, and his right side exploded with the Cinder element. He instantly unleashed Cinder Spikes, rapidly heating the ground in a wide circle around Kaelus, instantly turning the soil into searing, razor-sharp black glass spikes that jutted upward. Kaelus used a burst of Wind mana for a High Jump, narrowly avoiding the immobilization.
Before Kaelus could land, Ian followed with Cinder Shrapnel: he shattered the newly formed glass terrain and sent thousands of needle-sharp obsidian fragments tearing through the air. Kaelus met the storm with a focused, localized Vortex Sphere defense, spinning the fragments harmlessly away.
Ian didn't stop. He immediately channeled his left side, unleashing the Squall element. The air roared as Ian summoned a localized Miniature Hurricane, centered just above Kaelus's head. The hurricane was a dizzying mix of wind, ice-cold hail (Water), and blinding thermal lightning (Fire), designed not to pierce, but to batter Kaelus with overwhelming concussive force and deliver the disorienting Squall Poison.
Kaelus was forced onto the complete defensive. He poured Wind mana into his entire body, creating a hyper-dense Wind Shell to absorb the impact. He used the practice sword not to attack, but to deliver rapid, invisible Wind Amplified Slashes into the Squall element, attempting to disrupt its delicate balance. The sheer force of the Emperor's attack pushed Kaelus back several meters, grinding his feet into the stone floor. He felt the intense, rapid temperature shift beginning to melt his defensive mana skin, agonizingly transferring the heat and cold directly to his scales.
Ian, observing Kaelus's reliance on pure Wind mana density, began switching elements rapidly, using one to set up the next. First, he used Squall to unleash a massive, sweeping Wind Wall that forced Kaelus toward the edge of the arena. Once Kaelus was in motion, Ian instantly flooded the area Kaelus was running toward with a thick, scalding Lava Flow (Fire/Earth), creating a zone of denial. Kaelus had two choices: engage the lava or run into the Plasma Beams (Fire/Wind) Ian was simultaneously throwing out to restrict movement.
Kaelus adapted immediately. Instead of running into the denial zone, he channeled Wind into his feet, using a precise, horizontal Gale Dash that allowed him to skim over the lava flow and dart around the plasma beams, suddenly closing the distance to the Emperor.
This was the opening Ian wanted. He instantly activated a powerful Petrify Field beneath his feet (Earth/Wind), attempting to lock Kaelus in place when he finally landed. At the same moment, Ian swung his staff, now sheathed in razor-sharp Cinder Obsidian.
Kaelus, bleeding slightly from the exertion and dizzy from the Squall Poison, knew he couldn't dodge both the physical attack and the field immobilization. He had to disable the Squall element that was controlling the air and poisoning him. He channeled the full might of his immense Wind mana and unleashed the skill Tempest Wings, creating a massive disruption that momentarily disabled the Squall element's local turbulence.
But this was exactly what the Emperor wanted: aerial combat. Ian instantly summoned his own constructed Elemental wings and shifted the fight to the air, unleashing a continuous volley of Cinder Glass Shrapnel upward. Kaelus, realizing his conventional armor was insufficient for the continuous elemental warfare, summoned his draconic scales to protect his body from the temperature shifts and shrapnel.
He tried a desperate counter: a giant Vortex Sphere, but the Emperor's combined Deviant Magic was too focused; the sphere melted and evaporated. Kaelus followed with a long-range Gale Rifle, but the Emperor easily shielded himself behind a wall of rotating Squall Obsidian Glass Spikes.
I need to do something, or else I will deplete my mana like last time, Kaelus thought desperately. My mana will become unstable, and I will be forced to reveal my true form as a Wind Dragon.
"I don't know what you are thinking right now, Kaelus," Ian's voice boomed over the chaos. "But there's no other option. Reveal your true form, monster!"
Kaelus pushed himself to his absolute limits. Using powerful Wind Blasts from his feet to gain solid footholds mid-air, he stabilized his position and settled into a perfect vertical sword stance.
"Mage Emperor," Kaelus cried out, his voice hoarse, "I have one thing to say before I unleash this. I am holding to your wish, the first time I met you. You said, 'Be on humanity's side.' Whether I am a monster to you or not, I will follow your command."
With a ragged breath, Kaelus channeled the last of his immense, single-element core into the blade.
"Ryujin no Kaze!"
A devastating, vertical slash of pure, boundless Wind energy surged forward. It met the massive Squall Obsidian Glass Shield the Emperor had conjured, but instead of shattering, the Wind blade passed right through the shield as if it were mist, racing toward the Emperor.
Ian Emrys Skyrune watched the attack approach. A satisfied, knowing smile spread across his face, and he closed his eyes.
"Prismatic Body," the Emperor whispered.
The ultimate defensive skill materialized, coating Ian in shifting, multi-colored light. The Ryujin no Kaze slammed into the Prismatic Body and, instantly, the vertical slash dissolved and vanished without a trace.
Ian lowered his arms, clapping slowly. "Very well done, Kaelus."
But Kaelus had pushed past his limit. With the Wind mana instantly consumed by the colossal Ryujin no Kaze, his Tempest Wings evaporated, his scales receded, and his mana core went completely dry. He was falling, utterly mana-depleted, toward the jagged, searing Cinder Glass Spikes below.
In a flash of speed that rivaled Kaelus's own, the Mage Emperor appeared beneath the falling boy and caught him gently.
"Very well done, Kaelus," Ian repeated, holding the unconscious youth. "You survived the test."