Free Web NovelChapter 44: 44. Training (II)
Alaric stood at the shoreline, the weak waves of the lake pushing through his exposed feet.
He wanted to get the feel of his element, wanted to feel it through his feet as he tried controlling it.
He could sense it, feel the connection between him and the water, a sensation he had never felt before in both worlds.
It felt as if he had a remote control but could feel the radio waves, the connection between him and the water, yet he couldn’t move it.
It didn’t feel heavy, nor did it feel stubborn; it just didn’t budge, seemingly indifferent to his attempts.
On the other hand, the lightning snake made its way towards him, slow but surely moving.
He wanted to dodge, goosebumps rising on his body as his nerves remembered the pain that thing would cause.
But he stood his ground, a nervous smile on his lips as he tried to block it by manipulating the surrounding water.
But....
"Arrghhh!" he let out another heart-wrenching scream, the snake making contact with his exposed toes.
Just like earlier, he convulsed while standing up, his bowels threatening to release their contents.
"Let’s try again..." At Raika’s words, the lightning snake dispersed, Alaric slumping into the waves.
He had failed to control the element once again.
"You have the strongest affinity to water there is. No matter your constitution, you can make the water obey you."
Maria’s words resounded in his ears.
The three days he had been unconscious, he had been meditating under Maria’s guidance, getting the feel for the element beforehand.
In the mind’s world, the lake had also refused to budge, indifferent to his supposed superior abilities.
He had spent those three days conversing with Maria about her identity, the majority of that time trying to move the water of the lake, yet it bore no fruit.
If not for the danger to his life, he would have continued to learn how to control the element, but alas, his mind world shattered as the ice spears neared his heart, his consciousness returning to the real world.
Whether reflexive or conscious, at that moment he was able to control the element.
"I am ready." He wiped the drool at the corner of his mouth, sneezing out the snot clogging his nostrils.
Several lightning snakes crackled around Raika
three, four... ten.
Their sizes much larger than before.
"Mother, I don’t think I can handle this much." Alaric stepped back involuntarily.
His body unwilling to go through a pain more intense than earlier, his brain interpreting the size and number as deadly.
And they were; it’s just that he wouldn’t die, though he wished he would.
"Don’t worry, during my training, five was enough to get me to use lightning steps..." Raika smiled proudly. "... But you are the son of Hellflame and Thunder Princess..."
The snakes shot forward, slithering at a quicker pace, and before Alaric knew it, he had bolted into the water.
He who had smiled several moments ago now ran for his life.
He didn’t have the liberty to block this many, not that he could do it for one.
The lightning snakes chased after him, slithering centimeters above the lake as they approached him, Alaric swimming with all his might.
They neared him, shivers running down his spine.
He felt cold, more from the fear than from the cold of the lake.
"I shouldn’t run..." He tried to stand his ground, but before he knew it, he had swum downward, deeper into the lake, away from the slithering snakes of lightning above.
His survival instincts as a Navy SEAL wouldn’t allow him to just throw his life away when there was a way out.
He knew lightning couldn’t travel that deep underwater; its charges would disperse before it reached him.
"That is a smart move, son," Raika laughed. "...But the thunder princess’ lightning isn’t afraid of a little water."
The snakes penetrated the water, their charges reduced, yet they were very much alive.
Alaric felt a tingling across his body, turning his body underwater to meet the lightning snakes crackling towards him.
"How..." His bright red eyes reflected the yellow lightning before him, paralyzed by the dispersed charge. He froze, watching as the lightning snakes neared him.
This was sure to be death.
"..."
His mind went blank. Bubbles of superheated air rose from his form, trembling divergently in distorted trails.
Before the lightning could strike him, a flash boil erupted around him.
In an instant, the space around him became erratic.
Liquid turned to vapor, the sudden change creating an outward explosion.
The lakebed shook; aquatic life boiled under the high-pressure steam, a tsunami rearing above the water, steam rising from the water body.
"That’s my boy."
Raika smirked, lightning forming above her, crackling and intertwining to form the shape of a dragon.
She stood at the shoreline facing the steaming tsunami.
The lightning dragon, about 30m in length and a metre wide, flew towards the natural disaster, diving into the lake.
Its destination: the centre of the chaos; Alaric. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
The latter stood on the bed of the lake, the water around him evaporated to a drought; his gaze absent, seemingly in a trance-like state.
"What happened..." His eyes gained light; his consciousness returning.
But just as he left the trance-like state, so did the burst of power.
The source of the heat disappeared, the water hanging above his head pushing against the cooling steam.
Crackle!! Crackle!! Crackle!!
The lightning dragon also made its way towards him. Alaric caught between a rock and a hard place.
" I did this..." He looked around, surprised by his abilities "... let me try again." Though he was in a trance state, he remembered the feel for it.
"..."
He raised his arm, trying to replicate the feeling, yet it didn’t budge.
The steam had cooled to a degree where its pressure had lessened.
The weight of the lake above falling at tremendous speed.
Raika’s lightning dragon fell with it.
His heart skipped. Death imminent.
If he didn’t activate his ability again, he would surely die.
The water fell, lightning following.
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(• ◡•) A/N.
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