I couldn't beat Tallas directly.

He was too strong.

I needed an idea. I needed time to think of one.

So, as I focused on the Stormsteel Core and appeared, already sitting cross-legged, atop the mountain in the desert, I deliberately ignored the pounding rain and driving wind. Today, there was no lightning, though thunder did rumble in the distance, far behind me.

"Interesting. Very interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with this," the God of Thunder rumbled, and I saw its massive, lightning-orb body appear for a moment in the distance. Then it faded, and only a pair of electrical eyes remained, watching me. That the God of Thunder hadn't had eyes before wasn't lost on me.

Okay. First things first. I couldn't beat Tallas. He was clearly at least C-Rank—a full C-Rank like Jeff, but with merged skills. And he was also clearly on the Stormsteel Path. No matter what I did, it was likely he'd already seen it, done it, or heard about it. Any combination of skills I had, he'd have something similar.

That meant that any strategy or tactic I used to beat him would have to come from me thinking outside of the box—and the first box was right in front of me. Mistwalk Forms was going to give me some defensive insight. It'd almost certainly be something Tallas had already seen, which was bad. But unlike the God of Thunder, who was apparently both able and willing to watch this, Tallas wouldn't know I had whatever I learned.

It wasn't much. But it was something.

"You know, you could always surrender," the God of Thunder said.

"I'm trying to concentrate," I muttered under my breath, sure the wind would drown it out. Instead, my voice echoed across the desert, and I flinched, then rolled my eyes. "Why can you be here, anyway?"

"You're on my Path. Answers will come later—if you pass this test."

I refocused. Tallas. That was what was important. What could I do to gain an advantage against him? I thought for a long time, pulling up my Stormsteel Effects to peruse my options. After all, I had all the time in the world.

Stormsteel Effects (Thunderbolt): 1. Rain-Slicked Blade: Consume Rainfall Charges to pierce an enemy's strongest defenses. 2. Howling Gale: Consume Wind Charges to add cleaving damage to melee attacks. 3. Flareflourish: Consume Lightning Charges to dazzle an enemy.

Stormsteel Effects (Mistwalk): 1. Flashstep: Consume Lightning Charges to instantly reposition when attacked. 2. Gustrunner: Consume Wind Charges to temporarily increase movement speed. 3. Cloudwalk: Consume Rainfall Charges to temporarily reduce incoming damage.

Stormsteel Effects (Cyclone) 1. Lightning Strikes Twice: Consume Lightning Charges to magically echo a cast spell. 2. Saltspray: Consume Rainfall Charges to counter an enemy's spell on melee or cast. 3. Headwind: Consume Wind Charges to add a speed debuff effect to a spell.

Two strategies emerged. They were novel, but they had potential. And the best part was that I'd get to try them both—unless Tallas killed me within seconds. If he did, I'd only get to use the one move, and I doubted it'd be enough. It would be different, though. I hadn't used Bindings in a long time.

"Are you finished? I'm getting bored."

I ignored the God of Thunder. Either he'd already seen what I was up to, or he hadn't. Either way, it'd come as a surprise to Tallas—and that was what mattered the most. I'd still have my Gustrunner for a few seconds when I finished this, but my Headwind debuff was about to expire on him. That'd be to my advantage.

For now, I focused on the Stormsteel Core, Miststep Forms, and the lesson to learn here.

I waited, cross-legged, on the mountain. And I waited. And I waited.

And the rain soaked me through to the bone.

But the revelation didn't come. The Law didn't make itself known. As I sat there, it became obvious that I was missing something. The rain beat on my skin, drenched my clothes and hair, and dripped from my eyelashes.

I shivered. A few drops of rain fell from my hair and landed in my lap. They joined the countless others running down my pant leg and streaming down the mountainside in a rivulet. I watched them go. Then I shut my eyes, and instead of shivering, I shook.

Rain flew in every direction as I shook myself like a dog. After sitting for so long, the motion felt good. I stood, facing the dark, angry sky and the lightning-filled eyes staring at me. And I summoned my sword.

Every raindrop was an enemy.

That wasn't the revelation, but it changed something. As the rain poured down on me, my danger sense went berserk. I could hardly think from all the warnings about incoming danger. Dozens from above me; I threw myself to the side, spun, and shook again. Water came off my hair in an arcing circle. More threats. More danger. More dodging and weaving. It was hopeless. I couldn't help but get hit. Maybe at S-Rank, I'd be able to survive the dance with the deluge.

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But as an E-Rank? Not a chance.

Still, the dance gave me something to do; I contemplated it as I tried and failed to stay dry atop the black mountain. My feet slipped, and I caught myself with one hand. The rocks tore at my palm. I ignored it as rainwater pulled in the rough scrapes. It stung, but so did all pain.

Thunder boomed—not in the distance, but here. Atop the mountain. The storm truly opened up around me, like all the heavens were trying to drown me and sweep me off my feet. I couldn't keep up—not with Tallas, and not with the storm.

And I didn't have to. The storm wanted to teach me something about inevitability. If could just open my eyes to learn it, I'd see…see…

What?

I stood still and opened my eyes. Stared at the sky above. The tension mounted as my danger sense kept flaring. And then I saw it. A split-second before it hit. A lightning bolt.

I moved. I threw myself off the mountaintop as the sky smote it with electricity and thunder so loud it nearly deafened me.

The storm had hidden its death blow.

An inversion of the first Law I'd learned. Or nearly one. It wasn't that protection was destruction. A firm defense could lead to a single, lethal strike from nowhere.

Protection begets deception.

Law Learned: First Law of the Clouded Eye Mistwalk Forms: Rank E to Rank D

The eye of the storm sees both all and nothing. It watches the maelstrom around it, calm and blind in its rage-filled world. The eye sees all that it destroys, protected by its walls of storm and rain. In its wake, the storm leaves only devastation. The eye witnesses it. By closing your vision and relying on the eye of the storm, you have taken a step down the Stormsteel Path: protection begets deception.

The God of Thunder's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Then they widened. "I see. A clever use of basic tools. I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out. Don't disappoint me."

The eyes vanished.

I opened my eyes.

Tallas's sword finished ricocheting off my armor.

And I reached behind me, ripped a dozen pages out of my Script book, and backpedaled. A lightning trap Binding fell to the ground, activated, and sat there, ready to go. Then another. And another. The Stormsteel breastplate unsummoned as my Mana bottomed out, and even Energy Font couldn't keep up.

I was defenseless. All my Mana had been tied up in three traps on the ground that—I hoped—would turn the tide of the fight.

Three things happened all at once.

Thunder cracked as Tallas sprinted after me.

Cheddar dove toward him as fast as his wings could propel him, sunlight surging from his mouth.

And Headwind expired.

The diving familiar caught Tallas completely off guard. He wasn't ready for it. Cheddar rammed into his shoulder, wings wrapping around his body and tail flailing at his face. The blow, at the exact moment Tallas's speed rocketed back to his normal, knocked him off-balance. And both of them crashed to the ground, then slid into a lightning trap.

The binding activated. Lightning tendrils reached up to cover both Cheddar and Tallas, stunning them. I didn't unsummon Cheddar, though. In a way, he was more disruptive as his muscles convulsed, and I needed every advantage, because C-Rank—

Yep. Tallas could still move. But it was jerky and slow, made even worse by the winged snake wrapping one arm close to his body. I dashed in, sword in two hands, and hacked at Tallas's free arm.

And I drew blood.

The slash left a vicious-looking, black cut in Tallas's sword arm, right below the wrist, deep enough that his severed tendons were visible. He jerked back, but his hand flopped uselessly; his own Stormsteel sword vanished, then appeared in his off-hand.

I launched a lunge his way even as he shrugged Cheddar's twitching body off of himself. He parried, but not quite fast enough; my blade's tip left a thin, shallow cut across his cheek. Tallas flinched. Or maybe he twitched from the electricity still surging through his body. His face screwed up in agony for a split second before the Stamina covered it.

A weakness.

Stamina: 54/300, Mana: 31/400

I used everything.

A two-handed lunge. Parried, but another cut to Tallas's face. Two Ariette's Zephyrs. I threw one, then doubled it with Saltspray. Both hit. Tallas's off-hand was too slow, and his main hand couldn't cast with his tendon destroyed. But neither of those was the weakness I'd seen.

Tallas didn't have a quick heal, like Recovery. Like me, he was relying on sheer grit—and on Miststep Forms's increased delver healing. But unlike me, he'd taken a wound he needed healed now.

And unlike me, he hadn't learned how to fight through pain both with and without Stamina.

Dad's training—and the countless schoolyard fights I'd gotten involved in—were paying off. I wasn't unscathed: my arm bled, my stomach had twin bruises from Tallas's Zephyrs, and even with his off-hand, he was still blazingly fast on offense. But none of those were lethal, and none of them slowed me down like my enemy's missing tendons.

My second Zephyr flew. I rotated to Mistwalk, re-used Gustrunner, and slammed into my opponent shoulder-first. My grip shifted to the two-handed Thunderbolt stance; I accepted a stab that cut through my hip and turned on bone, landing my own just below Tallas's breastplate. Then I switched back to Cyclone, Flashstepped his next attack, and brought my sword down on his neck.

Blood sprayed out in an arc overhead, then stopped as the Stormsteel rapier cut through Tallas's windpipe and arteries and cauterized them with pure electricity. He took two steps, then started to turn his body into a lunge. Then, my opponent collapsed.

I breathed. It was all I could do; my Stamina was in the single digits, and I had no more Mana. The Stormsteel rapier flickered and vanished with a sizzling pop.

"Enough." The God of Thunder's voice rumbled across the empty space and echoed from the towers overhead. A cloud formed around him, gray and ominous. Then rain fell, and as it did, Tallas disappeared.

So did my wounds. I found myself restored completely. But fury still pumped through my veins. I wasn't done yet. I hadn't been finished.

The last thirty seconds of the fight, from the moment I'd learned the First Law of the Clouded Eye, and been the most glorious, purest battle trance I'd experienced in my life. It had truly been me, my sword, and my opponent. A duel that had pushed me to my very limits, and with no one to rely on but myself. And even though I was physically restored, the battle trance demanded more from me. It needed more.

I needed more.

The God of Thunder was the only foe I could see, though. And he didn't look like he was ready to fight. He laughed, the sound like a dozen thunderstorms miles away. Then he spoke."Perfect! Wonderful! I haven't been entertained like that in millennia. Maybe longer. What'd you say your name was?"

"I didn't."

"Of course you didn't. Well, have a seat. We have so much to chat about. You are, by far, the most interesting pupil I've had in millennia."

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