“What did you decide?” Yuriko asked curiously.

Dominic Hurin coughed and said, “Er, not me. Us.” His lips twitched into a grin. “I guess we all prefer to be with you, Lady Yuriko.”

“Oh!” Yuriko exclaimed, taken aback and exhilarated.

Then, she felt worry return and gnawed at her mind. She wasn’t sure what she’d find on the way to Synkrasia, but then again, she couldn’t very well leave them here. This was hardly better than leaving them on the road between Kadrac and Uaran.

“Alright. We have to leave by tomorrow then. As for the freshly planted crops…” She pursed her lips. “I will help Sam and the other farmers accelerate their growth. We shouldn’t waste the seeds.”

“Of course. Thank you, Lady Yuriko.”

She hadn’t built up much sweat from the light sparring, but she washed her hands and face anyway before having breakfast. Wayfarer’s Bread with a few slices of meat jerky, as well as a cup of tea, was served.

Afterwards, she looked for the farmers and helped them grow the crops. It took up most of the day before they were harvestable. The land around the vegetables looked greyer afterwards, which probably meant that it would become barren, if not already. This being the rocky waste portion of the desert…

Well, the only idea she had to help it recover was to drip either Ambrosia or distilled Chaos into the dirt, and the former was too precious to waste like that. So, she drew a bit of distilled Chaos from her Anima and spread it out. It didn’t look like anything changed though.

As she finished breakfast, she was about to return to her meditations when Heron’s words echoed in her head.

“You’re stretching yourself too thin. Don’t forget about actually living.”

She supposed she could take a break today. She restricted her body anyway, but not to a bothersome level. It would only increase her Radiant Body Refinement by a minute degree, but the thought of not progressing at all was anathema. Light training should do, besides, restriction meant she didn’t actually have to do weight and endurance training.

So what would she do for the rest of the day? What were Gwendith, Heron, and the twins doing anyway? Curious, she walked around the oasis village.

She found Orrin reading a book. It was the next level above Apprentice Runescribe, Essential Runescript for the Journeyman Scribe. Braden was next to him, meditating. Even as she observed them, red bolts of lightning snaked around his body and occasionally struck a pebble or two. The stones levitated for a moment before dropping back to the ground.

The book Orrin was reading was about an inch thick, and just looking at the title already made her eyes ache. Well, since they were busy, she looked for Gwendith, and found her friend working on her Animakinesis as well as her Ennoia. Heron and Asami were doing a paired practice spar.

Sheamus was seated on a boulder, occasionally drinking from a flash that contained something stronger than ale. He wasn’t meditating, but just staring out in the distance. The land around them was filled with rock formations and broken earth. There was a desolate beauty to it, but she’d always admired nature.

In the distance, towards the north, she noticed the horizon darkening with what seemed like clouds, except they reached all the way to the ground. Rain? It didn’t seem to be moving towards them, and she didn’t smell moisture, either.

“A sandstorm,” Sheamus murmured to himself.

Flashes of lightning flickered across the skies, and then a minute later came the boom of thunder.

“Eighteen longstrides!” Sheamus yelped. He jumped off the boulder and landed easily, before spinning on his heels. He squealed in surprise when he met Yuriko’s eyes, and his bearded face turned crimson, before settling down and laughing. “Lady Yuriko, a surprise. I didn’t see you there.”

“Ah, apologies.”

“No, no. It’s, uhm, my fault,” his breath stank of alcohol and he waved his hand over his mouth to fan it away when Yuriko’s nose wrinkled. “Ah, sorry, sorry.” He glanced back at the darkness. “There’s a sandstorm coming. It’s…it’ll probably be here in a few minutes.”

“Warn the others,” Yuriko said immediately as she spun on her heels and raced back towards the village center. The horses were stabled and should be safe, but the wagons needed to be sealed or the sand would get into them.

“Sandstorm! Batten down!” Sheamus yelled.

The village was built next to tall outcroppings so the northern horizon wasn’t readily visible, which, she guessed, while no one in the village square noticed.

The winds only started picking up by this point, and now, she could feet some grit hitting her condensed aura. In the next few minutes, nearly a hundred people squeezed into the largest house. Yuriko stayed outside for a few minutes, watching as the sandstorm descended on them. The winds blew over the protective rocky outcroppings, which also kept the spring from getting buried. Still, enough sand and grit made it through the gaps that being outside would be unpleasant. She was barely affected, of course, losing vision as the storm descended completely.

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The sound was loud enough that only the winds and sand could be heard, and she found it…soothing. The darkness and the movement of the winds, perceived through her aura, was beautiful. She didn’t bother entering the shelter and kept an eye on the wagons. She noticed the sand seeping through the canvas and wood, so she coated them with a thin layer of protective Anima. She did the same for the stables, but that also meant she was out of range from the longhouse. Still, that shelter was sturdier and she imagined it would have weathered stronger storms.

She must have been staring for more than an hour, but Yuriko didn’t mind. If the winds and sands scouring her Anima was stronger, it might have made for good training. As it were, she had half a mind to call Heron and Gwendith to come out and endure the storm using only their Animas.

At least, until she felt her skin tingle and her hair started to rise. “Wha–?”

Brakooom!!

The world turned completely to bright light. Yuriko felt an enormous force, and incredible heat flowed around her, then down into the ground. She perceived the stone beneath her feet glow red hot for a moment, then-

Crack! Whoosh!

The earth split. The brown and grey stones blackened and formed branching paths that radiated outwards, nearly a pace away from her feet. Her expanded Anima felt…burnt. Strange, she’d never been burned before. It was numb, but also tender. Strange.

Then, her eyes adjusted, or rather, the light receded, and she belatedly realised that she had been struck by lightning. Huh.

There was still a bit of lightning caught in her Anima, and they slowly burned and damaged it. In fact, there were hundreds of lightning sparks caught, and even as her Anima burned, the sparks diminished. In less than a minute, none were left.

Ow. She winced as she felt the pain and damage. Distilled Chaos as well as her Animus drained away to soothe the burns. Eh?

The winds brought sand. The sand struck her Anima, and caused little sparks that were too tiny to be readily seen but her Anima perception caught it anyway. Her hair started to float away from her body and her eyes widened in…

Brakooom!!!

“Ow.”

More of the sparks were left inside her expanded aura, and this time, they managed to reach her body. They jumped from the condensed layer, bypassed the Animus armour by sheer dint of her not having activated the relic, and sent little prickles of lightning into her body.

Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, but the remnant lightning was too weak to really hurt her. Sure, it stung, but beyond that, nothing. More distilled Chaos and Animus was consumed. The lumens were easy to replenish, but not the distilled Chaos. Still, she had a large enough reservoir in Fri’Avgi…er, a reservoir that she shouldn’t be using up.

The thought to just go into shelter crossed her mind, but…

Her Anima had dozens of fractures. The last time that happened was back in the open Chaos Sea before she achieved Actualisation. As long as she had distilled Chaos, she should be fine. But more importantly…

Let more of it hit your body. About twice as much more to begin with. Then actively use Radiant Body Refinement and make sure you have Radiant motes spread out! Damien cut in enthusiastically.

Oh well.

The charge was building up on the outside of her reach, and not a minute later, another bolt struck her. The sound was loud enough to deafen, but her Anima protected her senses. As Damien asked, she let a bit more of the lightning reach her body, and she welcomed them with a glad cry. Tingles raced all over her limbs, where the sparks touched her Radiant motes. She spread the motes into her body, and drew out as much as her Radiant Essence could spare. The clouds and sand covered the sun, otherwise she could have gotten more. That was fine though.

Another minute later, another bolt of lightning struck. Then another. And another. Her Anima healed over the fissures, and after the fifth stroke, the lightning ceased to be able to hurt her. Rather, the lightning followed a path within the expanded Anima, shedding little bolts but otherwise revolving around Yuriko instead of grounding. The amount of distilled Chaos she used up was horrific, more than seven days worth of meditation, but it worked. Her Anima expanded by a full ten inches, and she felt the lightning advance her Radiant Body Refinement by a full 1%.

The lightning snaking around her Anima lasted until the sandstorm passed and she withdrew her Anima from protecting the wagons and the stable. She was half in a daze, focused as she was on controlling it. She didn’t even notice people exiting the building, at least until one of them screamed.

“Aieee!”

“Wha–” Yuriko’s gaze snapped towards the open door, and found one of the unawakened civilians, a boy about her age named Leo Antis, collapsed on the ground just within her Anima reach. He was shaking and frothing at the mouth.

She retracted her Anima closer to her body, and the bluish white lightning snake pulled away from the boy.

“Oh no!” she gasped, hesitating whether to come close and help, or stay away. Well, if she came close, he’d get struck by the lightning again. “Desire! Help him please!” she yelled.

Her Chaos Lord pushed her way out of the building, gaped at the lighting around her, then shifted her gaze to Leo. She blinked in confusion as the boy had stopped convulsing, but she rushed to his side a moment later and pressed her fingers on his neck to feel for a pulse. By the frown on her face, it didn’t look good, especially since she began her hymn of healing immediately after.

Yuriko cursed at herself for being so careless. As soon as she felt the storm subside, she should have moved away immediately. She did so now, before more people could get struck with lighting. She couldn’t fully retract her Anima as otherwise, the lighting snake would enter her body. She was pretty sure that would be a bad idea.

She could also just let it ground itself, but it felt like a waste.

“Yuri? What happened? And why are you…?” Braden approached her, but when he saw the furiously revolving lighting bolt, he stopped. “Lightning?” He glanced upwards, shook his head, and asked, “I…what happened?”

Yuriko could barely spare him any attention. When she contracted her Anima, the lightning grew more unruly. There was also less space to slowly shed its energy, and her Anima was getting damaged again. On second thought, that was probably good.

It took her nearly ten minutes to drain the lightning of its power, and by the time she was done, she felt more than a bit frazzled. Some smoke rose from her hair and fingertips, but all of the energy had been consumed. Desire had finished her hymn, and Yuriko was relieved to see Leo Antis sitting up. He had an odd expression on his face, as if he couldn’t quite believe what happened.

“I’m sorry!” Yuriko rushed up to him and Leo looked up at her, his eyes bright. His cheeks tinged with red, and suddenly, he held out a hand.

After the darkness of the storm, the afternoon sunlight felt so bright. Even so, it didn’t hide the tiny push of green Animus that came out of his fingers, far more than what an unawakened could release.

“Thank you,” he said and bent himself in half with a bow, all while Yuriko and the others around her, stared in mute shock.