My body shivered, my clothes drenched through completely. I lay on my back in a puddle, but bright sunlight pushed through my eyelids.

No. Not sunlight. It was…wrong. Too white, not yellow enough, and there was no warmth to the glow. I forced my eyes open, expecting to be blinded by whatever was causing the intense light.

I stood in a gray-skied void space. Red and blue light filled the world, refracting and reflecting off of massive towers that hung in the sky like daggers about to fall; the smallest was as big as any building in Phoenix, while the tallest few must have been miles high. The air was thick, almost like it was waiting for something. A tension. Almost…electric.

My body…remembered being sore. Remembered wounds that didn't exist. Remembered pain that was only a phantom now. That was strange; I pulled up my status.

User: Kade Noelstra E-Rank Stamina: 250/250, Mana: 400/400

Skills: 1. Stormsteel Core (D-02 to D-03, Unique, Merged) 2. Thunderbolt Forms (D-01, Altered, Merged) 3. Mistwalk Forms (E-10, Altered, Merged) 4. Cyclone Forms (E-06 to E-08, Altered, Merged) 5. Sunbeam Bond (E-03 to E-04, Altered, Merged) 6. Energy Font (E-03 to E-04) 7. Brendan's Hymnal (E-03 to E-05)

Path: Stormsteel Path Laws: First Law of Stormsteel, First Law of the Thunderhead

I'd been restored—perfect health, full Stamina and Mana. I was ready…but for what?

"Hello?" I asked. The sound echoed from the towering buildings overhead, impossibly loud in the vast, empty spaces between. I let the echo fade, not expecting an answer.

But I got one. A massive portal opened in front of me. A gold portal—so bright it was almost blinding against the grays, blues, and reds around me.

I swallowed reflexively, sweat breaking out across my body. I tried not to smell it, but I couldn't help it. I suddenly reeked of fear and stress.

Blue was E-Rank, Green was D, Yellow was C, Red was B, and Purple was A. A golden portal could only mean one thing: S-Rank. As far as I knew, there was only one active S-Rank portal in the western United States, and that was in Carlsbad. There shouldn't have been one here, and I was hopelessly outclassed. But I wasn't going to go down without a fight. I readied myself, filling my off-hand with a full set of five Ariette's Zephyrs and preparing to summon my sword and breastplate.

Dark clouds poured through the open portal, crackling with lightning. Thunder beat against my eardrums like a dozen drums pounded by a dozen men each, a machine gun-speed rattle of deep base.

Then the dragon appeared.

It was thin. Almost two-dimensional. Dozens of burning-white balls of electricity poured through the portal in a long chain reminiscent of Eastern dragons. Lightning arced from each orb across its transparent body, faster and faster until its color matched the portal's. It had no eyes. No features. It was only lightning in the shape of a dragon three hundred yards long, with wings of storm cloud.

I had no chance of winning. But it didn't attack. Instead, the dragon seemed to ponder me. I glared back and summoned the Stormsteel rapier and breastplate. Cheddar appeared a moment later, sunlight rippling along his back in a pale, pale imitation of the raw, storming power looming overhead. He shrank back behind me, then hissed defiance up at the gigantic monster.

The lightning dragon regarded Cheddar for a moment. Then two. And then, it laughed. The sound rumbled and echoed from the towers.

I raised my sword into a defensive stance, my spells ready behind my body, and glared up.

God of Thunder: ?-Rank

"Interesting pet, kid. Let's have a look at you," the God of Thunder rumbled. When I'd said 'hello,' my voice had echoed for a good ten seconds. This monster's voice refused to stop echoing, creating a cacophony of voices that threatened to drown out its deep, slow words.

Then my system opened again as the God of Thunder stared eyelessly into my status—into my core. It hurt. Not the kind of pain I was used to, though. Not crushing, slicing, bone-and-muscle pain. A burning, internal pain that I couldn't mitigate with Stamina. All I could do was grit my teeth and try not to scream.

An eternity later, the God of Thunder pulled its gaze back. "Perfect. The Stormsteel Path is an interesting choice. I wouldn't have picked it if I were you. Your original skill had a lot of potential. I'd have searched for a way to level it safely."

"There…wasn't one," I choked out through still-gritted teeth.

"Wrong. Very wrong! There was a way—there's always a way. I'll show you later."

"Then I didn't discover it. And why do you care?"

The sword in my hand almost vibrated from the static in the air as the dragon's massive, featureless face loomed closer to mine. I'd felt small standing next to Jeff, but this was ridiculous; I would have fit easily in the space between its chin and lip. "I care because you walk one of my Paths. Because of that, I must test you to see if you're 'worthy.' Those are the rules, kid. I don't make them, and I rarely get to enforce them. Ah, but I can't do it myself. It has to be a champion, not a Paragon. Someone who can give you a challenge without overwhelming you.

"But who? Oh, perfect. Perfect, perfect, perfect! Tallas!"

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Before I could react, the dragon rocketed high into the sky, and a single figure leaped from its back. A cape trailed from the man's back, and a sword like mine—but made of portal metal that'd been fashioned by a master craftsman with the time and temperament to create a masterpiece—glinted in his hand. Lightning trailed from the bracers and boots he wore in addition to his breastplate—all the same as my own armor. A single oversized pauldron covered his sword arm's shoulder.

He hit the ground with a thunderclap, rose from his kneeling position, and saluted. His aura pushed out against mine, and mine gave way—but it didn't collapse. Not quite. I dug in and shoved back. Cheddar shrieked in defiance again.

And the battle of wills stabilized.

I raised my sword, nodding, and fell into a defensive stance as my five Zephyrs hummed around my off-hand's fingers.

If the God of Thunder wanted to test me, I'd push his champion to his limits.

Tallas sprinted at me. I barely got my sword up in time to parry, and electricity arced from one blade to the other as they bound up.

The impact drove me two steps back, and I fired two Ariette's Zephyrs into the man's chest. His armor took the impacts, but I danced back another couple of steps, getting a little space as my Wind Charge appeared around the Stormsteel Rapier's tip.

A similar orb, but full of lightning, circled Tallas's weapon.

I couldn't back off any further. The Stormsteel-armored duelist was almost certainly C-Rank, at the least. That meant better spells, faster speed, and deeper resource pools than I had. If he had Lightning Strikes Twice, he might be able to kill me outright from range. My only chance was to keep the pressure up. To press.

So I pressed. I rotated to the two-handed, offensive grip and launched myself at him. My sword's tip ground against his single Stormsteel pauldron; sparks flew from the dark clouds and roaring wind as lightning arced between the armor and blade. I whirled, slashing at his feet. He'd have to jump—no. His own sword snaked down, and the tip caught my rapier, deflecting it into the ground. He'd switched stances to match mine, rotating into Mistwalk.

It was a mirror match. But Tallas was better than me in every way that mattered. Faster. Tougher. Stronger. I kept up the offensive. I couldn't let him cast—

His sword flashed toward my eyes, and the Lightning Charge exploded in my face. A blinding flash sent afterimages across my retinas. I flailed with my sword and backpedaled as I blinked. Without my vision, I needed distance, even if—

A fist of air slammed into my stomach. Then a second one. Ariette's Zephyr.

"Why aren't you…" I coughed, breathed deep, and got back into Cyclone stance.

"Why isn't Tallas going all-out? Do you want him to? When he was alive, he hit A-Rank," the God of Thunder boomed.

I didn't bother answering. Instead, I flung a single Ariette's Zephyr at Tallas.

He moved. I never had a chance of hitting him—and I hadn't intended to. But in my casting stance, I was an easy target. He rushed me, and I cast my second spell: Thunder Wave. Then I replicated it with Lightning Strikes Twice. Three heartbeats later, dozens of tendrils of electricity covered the area between me and my opponent. And then stopped.

He'd countered my spell. I tasted salt on my tongue. Spat. And threw myself back into the fight.

Stamina: 201/250, Mana: 258/400

Tallas's blade flicked out. It cut across my arm, opening a thin wound from elbow to shoulder and only stopping when it hit my armor. Lightning danced across the wound, blackening my flesh and sending a blaze of pain across me. The burning ripped apart my thoughts. I had to use Stamina to ignore it as best I could—until I got it directed, all I could do was retreat.

Then I lunged. Tallas reacted instantly, parrying the blow and riposting at my face. I rolled onto the ground, came up, and blocked his follow-up stroke.

Something flared in my mind. A revelation, if I was brave enough to reach for it mid-fight.

I ignored it for now. I had something else planned. I sent an image and emotion across my familiar's bond. The emotion was surprise.

Cheddar hit Tallas from behind. His feathered wings wrapped around the swordman, and he bit into the man's neck at the base of his pauldron. Blood spurted across the floor, mixing with my own. And I used Thunder Wave again. It took a second for the spell to fire, but when it did, one thing was different.

This time, he didn't have a counter.

The lightning tendrils ripped into Tallas, surging energy into him even as I unsummoned and resummoned Cheddar. His pauldron seemed to overload as the storm poured into it. Then he hit the ground ten feet back, sparks arcing across his armor and cloak.

"Very good. But not good enough. Keep fighting."

Tallas stood up. His cloak smoked. But he saluted me. Then he moved again. Lightning trailed behind him as he sprinted toward me. I summoned a handful of Ariette's Zephyrs and flung them his way, but he weaved through them. Energy Font kicked in. It started filling my Mana from the nearly-dry state it was in, but even so, the Stormsteel breastplate flickered and vanished.

I dropped into my defensive stance. Used Gustrunner to speed up. Dodge left, then right. Parried as hard as I could. None of it mattered. Tallas was just too fast, and I couldn't keep up.

We traded blows. Lightning arced, and every breath tasted and smelled like ozone. Miniature tornadoes thrashed the ground behind me as I accelerated toward Tallas—only for his sword to flick down, parry mine, and leave another cut. This one burned across my cheek and up to the base of my eye. Tears flowed freely. So did electricity.

I had to win. Jessie needed me. And I'd promised Dad I'd take care of her. That I'd make him proud.

Stamina: 87/250, Mana: 62/400

I switched from Mistwalk stance to Cyclone, threw an Ariette's Zephyr at Tallas, and used Headwind on a second cast. I need to leverage something, reduce one of his advantages, so I could find a weakness. That hit with Thunder Wave had been significant, but not enough. Between Headwind on him, Gustrunner and my movement speed Script on me, and a little luck, I might be able to keep up.

That'd leave strength and skill in his favor. But it'd give me a chance.

Wind and lightning trailed behind me. I ran harder than I ever had. My lungs pumped like bellows. But even with the debuff and my stacked buffs, I could barely keep up. Our fight devolved into charges, furious exchanges of blows that sent lightning rocketing between our blades and thunder echoing through the strange, empty world, and quick retreats.

And, as we fought, something became clear.

"Still not good enough," the God of Thunder said.

He was right.

I'd tried everything. And I was running on fumes. Even with Energy Font working overtime, I didn't have the Mana for another big hit. And my Stamina was bottoming out.

I couldn't keep this up forever.

Tallas could.

I couldn't beat him. He was too strong, predicted my moves too well, and outlasted me. All I could do was delay the inevitable. But I had one option: Mistwalk Forms. It had been screaming at me, and I'd been ignoring it. It was a risk; sure, I knew the Law-learning process had been instantaneous when I'd tested it, but I didn't know if it would stay that way in combat.

But, as Tallas dropped into a lunge aimed straight for my heart, I didn't see another path toward victory. I summoned the Stormsteel breastplate to buy myself a split second. I couldn't let him win. I had to try something.

Tallas's sword punched through my faltering Stormsteel breastplate. I rolled with the blow. It slammed into my rib, gouging bone, and I focused on the Stormsteel Core.

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