It took eight hours, which equaled two days in actual time, for Aodhán to regain his senses. Still, rage simmered within him like an undercurrent, ready to burst forth at a moment's notice, and it took a steady harnessing of willpower to get it under control.
A smattering of system messages littered his view, but he pushed the notifications aside and turned to take in the chamber with less reptilian eyes. In fact, now that he thought of it, his eyes snapped to his clawless fingers, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
He couldn't remember all that had happened when he'd been under the compulsion of the twisted effect, but he remembered the merge with Varéc. Rather than Varéc taking control like he had done the last time they'd merged, it was almost like their minds had become one, fused into something different, half man, half beast. Chaotic.
He turned to take in the chamber once more. The ornate hourglass was a shattered mess of glass and shimmering sand; even the bucket of water and consumables had been destroyed and disintegrated by lightning. Surprisingly, the straw mat had survived, although it was riddled with holes and burn marks.
The only thing still intact were the chamber walls. It remained undamaged, despite how savagely he'd attacked it. There were no cracks, marks, or even scratches on it. A part of him was a little embarrassed that he'd feared breaking it in the first place, but mostly he was just relieved the whole thing was over.
Aodhán sighed in relief, grateful that he hadn't made the mistake of using the pill without informing Rahim first. The results would have been disastrous, and he doubted Daruk alone would have been able to protect Synové and Unrid from him at all.
Perhaps they would have stood a chance with Kieran's help, but Kieran was just a mundane class awakened, and there was very little he could have done against a chaos-driven, evolved awakened hell bent on killing and destroying everything in sight.
Opening his spirit completely to the origin plane had filled him with so much power, far more than he'd ever thought himself capable of wielding, but it drained his willpower tremendously, and if it wasn't for the time chamber, Aodhán was certain he would have bottomed out. He had heard of warriors fully opening up their spirits to the origin plane before, and now he finally saw the appeal, but he imagined the willpower drain would be a serious drawback for anyone except for inheritors like Daruk, who had an almost inexhaustible amount of willpower at their disposal.
Finally, he tore off his tattered uniform and looked at the faintly glowing seal on his chest. It shimmered with a white gold hue, similar to the cracks that covered his skin.
It was a complex symbol that looked like a rune but was vastly different, and when he probed it mentally, he felt a large amount of chaotic quintessence within it.
Daruk had described the seal as a sort of ‘amplifier’, as when harnessed, it gave one's skill or ability an extra boost and impact that it would have otherwise lacked. More importantly, it was a finite but replenishable source of chaotic essence that, if completely used up, would take a while to refill. In more ways than one, it was very similar to willpower, as both were finite and replenishable, but Aodhán suspected he would only get to understand it well after testing it out.
The chamber door slid open, and he turned to find Rahim smiling at him. “I told you it'd hold.”
“Yeah, right.” Aodhán chuckled awkwardly. “I'm sorry for the mess, though.”
Rahim dismissed his apology. “That's not a problem; no one can blame you for what happens under the compulsion of the twisted effect, not even the court.”
“Really? Don't people take advantage of that?”
“Some foolish ones do. But they forget that although you can't be held responsible for your actions during the duration of the twisted effect, you are still responsible for your actions before and after that.”
Aodhán nodded. He hadn't known that before, but it was great information to have, just in case.
“So, how do you feel?” Rahim asked as Aodhán walked out of the chamber, and he shrugged. “I'm not quite sure. I'm perfectly fine now, but it feels like I could descend into a maddened rage at any moment.”
“That sounds about right, given your element.” Rahim nodded. “You're still being affected by the infusion of chaos; you're just no longer under its compulsion. It should subside with time.”
“Subside? You mean it won't leave?”
“Unfortunately not.” Rahim replied as he led them down the stairs. “You now bear the imprint of storm, and its essence courses through you like never before. It's only natural that you take on some of its attributes. That's the side effect of a seal.”
“Does the compulsion of the twisted effect get worse every time you gain a seal?”
“No, actually, it gets better. The more seals you gain, the more aligned you become with your element, and the less affected you become with every subsequent one.”
“Oh. How many seals do you have?” Aodhán asked, and Rahim shrugged. “Give or take a dozen.”
“That's not a specific figure.”
“Indeed.” Rahim smiled and changed the topic. “Your mother freaked out when I explained to her what was happening; she thought you'd been kidnapped.”
Aodhán chuckled. “Of course. Did she blame the principal?”
Rahim leaned in and whispered. “She called her a cow.”
“Oh, the horror.” Aodhán gasped, and Rahim shook his head. “I was speechless for a moment. I don't think I've ever met anyone who had the guts to insult the principal.”
Aodhán nodded in agreement. “Still, my mom should be more careful, though; we're no longer in the Warren.”
Rahim hummed and pulled out a vintage shirt for him to wear. “Don't bother returning it.”
“Uhm, thanks.” Aodhán collected the shirt, and while he buttoned it, Rahim asked. “I hear the principal has given you your first mission.”
Aodhán's expression sobered and he sighed. “I tried to get out of it, but...
“You couldn't.” Rahim finished with a bitter smile. “I believe this has to do with your secret deal.”
Aodhán nodded, and Rahim sighed. “However it turns out, keep me informed. I won't be at the event, but I'll be close by. In the mean time, I've spoken to the principal about Ludacris's deal, and she has agreed to pay you a certain amount to help lessen the sting of such a loss. I'm not sure how much we'll be giving you, but I know it'll be something substantial.”
“Thank you for this and for everything.“
Rahim nodded and opened a portal that transported Aodhán directly to his room. As soon as he stepped through, the portal closed behind him.
Aodhán sighed and moved towards the antique table situated by the window before removing the vintage shirt and releasing Varéc from his spirit.
He spotted the changes in his familiar almost immediately. Varéc's horns had grown longer and his claws sharper. Lightning crackled across his hide erratically, and his eyes shone with a brighter intensity. The most obvious change, though, was his height, which now neared seven feet. Aodhán couldn't correctly assume his length, but it was obvious he'd grown longer too, which was why, even though the bed was the same size as the one in the academy, Varéc's hind legs, wings, and tail scraped across the floor.
Varéc groaned in complaint, tearing into the foam and sheets as he tried to find a comfortable position. It soon became obvious that the bed couldn't support him, so Aodhán directed him to the floor. “It's better anyway; these sheets don't have any self-repair runes.”
After that, he ignored Varéc's grumblings and turned his attention to the messages on his status screen. Half of them were messages from Daruk asking if he was alright, one from Andrew, and another from Lupin, both asking if he'd gotten home safe. It was then that Aodhán realized he hadn't even spoken to them since he'd arrived home. Feeling slightly guilty, he texted Andrew back and apologized for his late reply. After that, he texted Lupin, apologized, and told her he'd just gained a seal. Before he even finished texting Lupin, his chip pinged with another reply from Andrew, but he put the messages aside for now and pulled up his status screen.
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…
[STATUS]
Name: Aodhán Ashoka-Brystion.
Title: Neophyte, Storm Spirit, Bronze, Origin Marked, Seal Bearer.
Class: Evolved storm awakened: 99.9% (PENDING)
Tier: 21—13%
Glimpse→Grasp→Opening: Increases elemental affinity and abilities by 2.5%
Techniques: perfect will imbuement (8).
Skills {Innate}: [Storm creation and manipulation] [Lightning creation and manipulation]
{Other}: [Lightning surge] [Lightning beam] [Lightning descent] [Create constructs] [Absorb lightning] [Spear rain—Lightning] [Spear rain—Storm] [Vortex of lightning] [Vortex of Storm][Elemental lightning—Stage 1]
Bloodline: Origin Storm supremacy. {Unique}
•Amplifies storm abilities by 3%.
•Grants major resistance to lightning.
•Aura of Origin supremacy.
Familiar—Dragonkin (Fury)
Perks: pyschic bond, merge.
Seal bearer: A title awarded to an awakened who has been recognized and marked by their origin plane.
…
There were a few important changes in his status screen. First and foremost was his new title, which was explained towards the bottom of the screen. He'd also gained a single level, which increased the number of strands he could now use.
The third change, though, was what interested him the most. Aodhán focused on his new skill, and as its information flowed into his mind, he smiled. The elemental lightning skill was a complex one, divided into four stages that granted him the ability to summon and manipulate lightning of various hues to achieve different effects.
From the information he got, each stage of the skill granted him three lightning hues, which totaled twelve for each class. This was the first time Aodhán was seeing a skill that scaled with class advancement, and although he was currently limited to red, black, and green, he was extremely excited to try it out. Before he could do anything, though, Daruk and Unrid suddenly barged into his room, with Synové rushing in a moment later. Synové and Unrid stared at him with wide eyes, seeing the full extent of his bloodline manifestation for the first time, while Daruk focused on the seal glowing on his chest. Varéc growled, but soon settled back down, grumbling discontentedly at the situation.
After a wary glance in Varéc’s direction, Daruk smiled and rushed forward to congratulate him. “I knew you could do it.”
Synové and Unrid hesitated a little, warily watching Varéc, but they soon rushed forward to hug him.
“Bless the ascendants! I thought you'd been kidnapped by that principal of yours.” Synové said, and Daruk sighed in frustration. “Mom, I told you he was fine like a dozen times.”
“It's good to have you back.” Unrid added after ruffling his hair fondly.
“He was only gone for two days!” Daruk exclaimed, and Synové glared at him. “Quit your yapping, young man; I have every right to miss my son.”
Aodhán chuckled, and Synové patted him gently before dragging Daruk out of the room. “We're preparing dinner; make sure you do not disappear this time.”
“I promise.” Aodhán laughed, and when they left, he turned to Unrid, whose gaze held a faraway look, although they remained fixed on the seal glowing on his chest.
“What are you thinking about?” He asked, and Unrid shook his head. “Just how I've been a fool. I let the fact that I couldn't advance my core stop me from advancing my spirit. Even with the limit, I could still gain a seal—multiple seals. In fact, I can still progress.”
Aodhán paused, a little surprised by Unrid's comment. The limit seemed so whole, so limiting, and so life-determining that he hadn't actually considered the fact that it wasn't exactly the end.
“My physical cultivation is limited.” Unrid continued. “But a glimpse, grasp, or even an opening is not impossible. Hard, but not impossible.” He folded his arms and leaned against the bare wall. “I've been wasting my time moping around and gardening when I could have been growing stronger...
He trailed off, but rather than respond, Aodhán kept quiet and listened. Unrid shook his head once more, disappointed in himself, but his eyes shone with determination, and when he smiled, Aodhán was certain it was the first genuine smile Unrid had displayed in a while.
“No more moping around!” Unrid said. “My core might be limited, but I'm still an awakened, and I still have room to grow.”
Unrid rushed out of the room a moment later, and Aodhán chuckled, happy that Unrid had found hope once again.
Now that he was finally alone, he moved to the open window and activated {Elemental lightning—Black}. Immediately, a crackling bolt of black lightning appeared in his palms. It rippled and moved in a more subtle manner compared to the erratic nature of normal lightning. It was beautiful, and with a simple flex of his will, he transformed the bolt into a spear.
He scrutinized the construct for a moment before throwing it into the garden below. Contrary to what he'd expected, the construct didn't explode; instead, it dispersed into a black mist that caused all the plants within a two-meter radius to wither and decay as if poisoned.
Aodhán stared at the damage open-mouthed, glad he hadn't imbued the spear with willpower; otherwise, the damage would have been far more extensive.
The withering process was very similar to that of the plague wraith, except on a much smaller scale. Aodhán tried to imagine what effect the skill would have on animals or other humans, more so when empowered with all eight strands of energized willpower.
The image was devastating, but he pushed down the urge to test it out and instead activated {Elemental Lightning—Red}. This time, it was a crackling bolt of red electricity that appeared in his hand. So erratic and wild was its nature that it shot out of his hands before he could even take control of it.
Still, Aodhán managed to alter its trajectory, so it struck the already withered part of Synové's garden. It exploded violently, throwing up dirt and withered vines in every direction, and Aodhán winced as the entire family rushed out to the backyard to see what was going on.
Despite altering its trajectory, the red bolt had run rampant, destroying several plants, some several meters away from the withered patch. It had basically wrecked the entire garden.
“Oh Raol.” Synové gasped in horror, and Aodhán quickly apologized. “I'm so sorry, Synové; I was just testing out a new skill, and it got away from me.”
“You lost control of a skill.” Daruk asked incredulously, but Aodhán ignored him. “I promise I'll fix it before the break is over. I'll make sure it's as good as new.”
“You better.” Synové glared and pointed a finger at him. “I’ve been tending this garden for weeks!”
“I promise.” Aodhán nodded. “I’ll do it.”
Synové glared at him for a few more seconds before walking back to the room, grumbling under her breath about careless children ruining all her hard work.
“It's not only her garden, you know.” Unrid shook his head in disappointment. “I spent days tilling this ground.” He walked away with a grunt, and Aodhán sighed.
After urging Varéc back into his spirit to avoid another accident, Aodhán jumped out of the window and walked to stand beside Daruk.
“So, care to explain how you lost control of a skill? Your control is top-notch." Daruk asked
Aodhán explained all that happened with the elemental lightning skill and shook his head. “It's my fault; if I'd turned the bolt into a construct, there would have been less damage.”
“Woah, that is a powerful skill.” Daruk shook his head, amazed. “I can't wait to get something like that.”
Aodhán simply stared at the damaged garden, wondering just how he could restore it, when Daruk added. “You should try out the last hue; I mean, it's not like you haven't destroyed the garden already.”
Aodhán glared at him, but then a grudging smile crept onto his face. "Fine," he said, his excitement barely contained. "But if things get worse, you're helping me clean it up.”
This time, when he activated {Elemental Lightning—Green}, a bolt of verdant electricity appeared in his hand, but unlike the red lightning, its movements were far more gentle, undulating, and flowing almost like water.
For how gentle it seemed, it resisted Aodhán's attempt to transform it into a construct, and after almost a minute of trying, Aodhán gave up and simply aimed the bolt at the ground.
It shot out with surprising speed and sank into the ground with no effect. Aodhán stared at the ground, eagerly waiting for an explosion, a bang, anything to show the effect of the skill, but nothing happened.
“Maybe you should do a bigger one.” Daruk muttered, and although Aodhán had the same thought, he hesitated. Obviously, the effect of the green lightning was more subtle, but what if it was poisonous? Doing a bigger one would only ruin things. Then again, things were already ruined.
After another minute without any observable change, Aodhán activated the skill again, but this time, he also activated {Lightning Beam}.
Green lightning shot out of his hands in a torrent and sank into the ground like water in a desert. Aodhán didn't cut the skill off, though; instead, he channeled it, letting it flow from his hands in an unending stream.
Aodhán had only channeled the skill for a few seconds when they began to see results. The blackened and withered ground healed, and small plants sprouted, their tiny green petals crackling with electricity.
It was an understatement to say that Aodhán was astonished, but now that he knew the effect of the skill, he decided to go all out. While Daruk rushed to call Synové and Unrid out, Aodhán willed a storm cloud, the size of the garden, into existence and began funneling energy and willpower into it.
It took only a few seconds before it was fully charged and crackling with a river of electricity, and as Synové and Unrid rushed out, Aodhán activated {Elemental Lightning—Green} along with {Lightning Descent}, and to top it all off, he imbued each skill with all eight strands of energized willpower.
The effect was wondrous.
Green lightning descended from the storm cloud like a river, cascading downward in a radiant torrent. It sank into the ground with a gentle touch, and within moments, tiny green shoots emerged from the ground. They grew rapidly, unfurling into a chaotic mass of verdant plants that soon covered the entire garden.
The ground disappeared from view, replaced by a lush carpet of vegetation, each plant crackling with verdant electricity, so much so that the air was soon filled with a dense amount of lightning and nature essence.
In the awed silence that followed, Daruk whispered. “Well, I guess you fixed the garden after all.”