Rain veiled the city of Eldervale in silver.
Each droplet shimmered faintly with essence, drawn to the ley lines that pulsed beneath the marble streets. The canals glowed like veins of living light, carrying whispers of power across the city.
Daniel stood beneath the eaves of the inn's upper balcony, his eyes closed.
He could feel it — every ripple of essence, every shift in the air.
Since the battle in the alley, something inside him had changed.
When he reached out with his will, the world answered.
A single drop of rain fell toward him — and paused midair.
Lightning threaded through his veins, invisible but alive. He wasn't forcing the world to obey; he was listening to it. The essence around him responded like a living sea — vast, boundless, ancient.
> [Codex Synchronization: 37%. Glyph Resonance Stable.]
[Passive state unlocked — Sensory Communion.]
He opened his eyes, the raindrop falling again.
"Show-off," Mira said from behind him.
Daniel turned. She leaned against the doorframe, arms folded, eyes gleaming faintly violet. Her dark aura coiled like smoke at her feet, yet the rain refused to touch her — sliding aside as if the shadows themselves repelled it.
"You're getting better," she said. "You can feel everything, can't you?"
Daniel nodded slowly. "It's like the world breathes, and I can hear its heartbeat."
Mira smirked. "Just don't forget to breathe yourself."
Behind her, laughter echoed — light and arrogant as always. David stepped out of the room, adjusting the cuffs of his travel robe, his expression all mock grace. The faint glow of runes shimmered under his skin — earth patterns along his arms, light glyphs woven into his palms.
"Training again? You two don't rest," he said. "Meanwhile, I made progress — and I didn't even have to meditate."
Mira rolled her eyes. "Let me guess — flirting again?"
"Not flirting," David said smoothly. "Networking. You'd be surprised what you learn when you talk to people instead of glaring at them."
He tossed a small object at Daniel — a crystalline pebble pulsing faintly with essence.
"What's this?" Daniel asked.
"Earth-light fusion core," David replied. "Found it at a smithy run by some old geezers near the west gate. They said it can enhance both stability and projection. You might use it for your glyph circles."
Daniel examined it. The crystal thrummed faintly, resonating with the glyphs etched across his Codex. "Thanks."
David grinned. "Don't thank me yet. You'll owe me a drink when this is over."
---
The next few days flowed in rhythm.
Morning — meditation and training.
Afternoon — exploration through the city's market districts, watching street cultivators duel for coin and pride.
Evening — study and glyph formation.
Daniel worked on inscribing his first true combat glyph: the Storm Veil Array, a circular formation that bent ambient energy to form a protective lightning barrier.
The glyph lines danced across the wooden floor of their rented room — spirals of faint silver light drawn with essence threads.
One wrong stroke, and the whole thing could explode.
Mira sat cross-legged nearby, eyes half-closed, her body surrounded by wavering shadows. Her cultivation had deepened; darkness now obeyed her like a living cloak. She could disappear from sight entirely, her aura folding into the surrounding night.
David practiced in the courtyard, controlling streams of sand and beams of refracted light. When he fused both, the sand turned to crystal — glowing with heat and beauty. His technique, Radiant Terra Shift, allowed him to reshape the ground beneath his feet and weaponize the shards of light he created.
"Looks like you're turning the ground into mirrors," Mira said one evening as she appeared from the shadows.
David chuckled. "Then let them see their defeat coming."
---
Late one night, as rain whispered over rooftops, Daniel completed his formation.
Lightning arced between the glyph lines, forming a half-sphere around him. The light was soft, humming like a heartbeat. The Codex pulsed beneath his skin.
> [Storm Veil Array – Basic Form Complete.]
[Effect: Reactive defense. Converts kinetic energy to lightning discharge.]
He smiled faintly — exhausted but satisfied. "It's stable."
Mira opened her eyes. "Finally."
"Hey," David said, leaning against the wall. "That array might just save our lives when things go bad."
Daniel gave him a look. "You sound certain they will."
David's smile faded. "They always do."
---
The following morning, the city buzzed with rumor.
Whispers spread that the Crimson Hall had lost three envoys.
Others claimed a secret bounty was placed — for the "boy who wields ancient thunder."
Daniel's name wasn't spoken aloud, but every cautious glance, every sudden silence when he entered a shop, told him enough.
They tried to stay low. The innkeeper grew nervous. The guards passed by more often. Even the air felt tighter, charged with unspoken tension.
That evening, as the trio sat in the dim tavern below their inn, David broke the silence.
"They'll make a move soon," he said. "The Hall won't let the fragment slip away. Not after they saw it resonate."
Mira swirled her drink, watching the liquid shimmer with reflected lantern light. "Let them come. I've been itching for another fight."
Daniel said nothing, his gaze fixed on the rain outside. Every droplet that hit the window sent faint ripples through his senses — distortions he could read like patterns in water.
"Something's off," he murmured suddenly.
David frowned. "What?"
Daniel's pupils thinned, lightning flashing faintly inside. "The rhythm of the storm changed. There's interference — essence pulses that don't belong to the weather."
Mira rose instantly, hand on her dagger. "You're saying—"
The door exploded inward.
---
The tavern erupted into chaos. Figures in dark robes poured in — masked assassins bearing the insignia of the Crimson Hall. Their weapons gleamed with sealing runes, designed to suppress essence rather than kill.
"Alive!" one shouted. "The Wielder must be taken alive!"
David's hand slammed against the table, the ground rippling outward like liquid gold. Spikes of crystallized earth burst upward, hurling attackers off balance. "No one takes me alive without buying me dinner first!"
Mira vanished into smoke, reappearing behind two assassins. Her dagger sliced through their essence threads, leaving their bodies collapsing silently into their own shadows.
Daniel moved last. His lightning didn't blaze — it whispered. The Codex within him glowed, and thin glyph patterns spiraled across his arm. He struck the floor.
The Storm Veil Array erupted.
A circle of pale thunder formed, expanding in a humming wave. Lightning arced through the air, connecting every metal weapon, every armored mask. The assassins screamed as their essence channels overloaded.
> [Glyph Reaction: Counter-Channel Successful.]
Daniel moved through the storm like a ghost, his senses sharp, his body flowing with the rhythm of the world. He knew where every enemy stood before they even moved.
"Behind you!" David shouted.
Daniel spun, catching a spear with his bare hand. Lightning surged through the weapon, melting its runes.
Mira reappeared beside him, eyes glowing dark purple. "You're getting too calm, Daniel."
"Calm wins battles," he replied, crushing the spear shaft.
She smirked. "Fine. I'll handle chaos."
Her shadows spread again, swallowing half the room in darkness. The assassins stumbled, blind and choking on their own fear.
When the last one fell, silence returned — broken only by the patter of rain.
---
David exhaled, brushing dust from his sleeve. "Next time, we pick a better inn."
Mira kicked a fallen mask aside. "Or you stop showing off at auctions."
Daniel crouched beside one of the unconscious assassins. Their robes bore a faint sigil — a crimson eye surrounded by jagged wings. Not standard Crimson Hall marks.
"These aren't the main branch," he murmured. "Someone else is moving."
The Codex flickered.
> [Foreign essence residue detected. Multiple factions involved.]
He stood slowly. "We need to leave the inn. Now."
Mira nodded. "Where to?"
David's playful tone returned, though his eyes were hard. "Somewhere with stronger walls and fewer witnesses."
Outside, thunder rolled across Eldervale — distant but growing closer.
The city lights reflected in the puddles like scattered stars, each trembling with unseen power.
As the three vanished into the rain-drenched streets, a cloaked figure watched from a nearby rooftop, her red veil fluttering in the wind.
"So it's true," she whispered. "The storm listens to him."
Behind her, more shadows gathered — silent watchers of the Crimson Hall.
And above all their murmurs, lightning flickered across the clouds, forming faint, ancient glyphs that only Daniel could see.
The storm was awakening again.