“Anyway,” Kudela waved her hand, “Blades are highly sought after among the combat classes. Because of the quality of the steel and how difficult it is to actually wield it, a Chosen with a Blade is much more deadly, and therefore, all Sects want a Blade in their roster. But the greatest of all artifacts is a Codex.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a religious artifact. It might not even be a real thing, but supposedly, the Codex was a book of knowledge given to the priests before the Gods vanished. It’s said that the Codex contained knowledge of how to contact the Gods or how to take away someone’s power.”

“Wow.” Leta didn’t know why her heart was suddenly beating in trepidation. “That sounds like some very Ark of the Covenant stuff right there.”

“Who knows if it’s real.” Kudela shrugged. “No one’s every scene it-”“That we know of.” Kaviah interjected with a terse tone.

“But, just because we do not know doesn’t mean it does not exist. I wouldn’t worry about it, dear. It’s like El Dorado or the Holy Grail. Maybe it’s real, but most likely, it’s just a fairy tale.”

A water bottle was pushed into her face and Leta looked up to see the young boy, Samuel, holding the object out for her to take, his dark eyes wide as he looked at her with uncertainty and awe.

“Oh, thank you.” She gave him a warm smile as she took a sip.

“You’re welcome, your Majesty.” He nervously stuttered, small hands wringing with uncertainty.

Leta grimaced into the bottle before swallowing her drink. “Call me Leta, and you don’t have to bow, kid.”

Allister clapped his hands, calling out, “Breaks over. Leta. Center. Everyone else, either get indoors or get away from the courtyard.”

She let out a breath, her muscles aching as if sensing the oncoming pain she was about to be in. Kaviah held out a hand to help her up, callused fingers deftly pulling her to her feet as if she weighed nothing.

“Thanks,” Leta muttered as the Blacksmith was already walking away and out of sight as if she couldn’t be bothered by what others were doing.

Kudela patted her arm, “Dr. De Mar is charged with examining what’s brought up, and I hear he is very excited about what’s been found so far at the dig. I can send him a message to get in touch with you. You were a student of history, were you not? Perhaps you can take some comfort in learning more about the ancient world as you did before.”

Leta smiled at the older woman’s attempt to cheer her up. “That would be nice.”

Kudela, Hayato, Koa, Yelana, Afra, and young Samuel chose to stay and watch, retreating to the second-floor walkway where the columns and courtyard rods provided some measure of protection.

Atreus stood some ways away from the rods, arms crossed over his chest as he surveyed those watching above before giving the giant a nod to begin.

Allister turned to her with a serious expression like a ship captain about to address his men before battle. “Alright, we’re going to be testing the rods first. Can you hold a charge in your hands and gradually increase its intensity?”

Leta took a breath and raised her head in affirmation. “I can.”

“Right then. On my signal.”

Allister about-faced and joined Atreus outside the rods.

“These better hold.” She saw Atreus’s lips form the words, but he spoke so low that she couldn’t hear him.

“Alright, begin!”

Leta filled her lungs with air and slowly blew it out, centering herself as she pulled forth her lightning slowly.

Blonde hair began to lose touch with gravity as the tresses floated around her head with the rising static. Tiny arches of electricity zapped over her arms as she raised her hands, holding her palms in cupped positions like an imaginary ball.

The tiny sparks arched between her fingers, holding for half a heartbeat at a time, then half a second.

Five seconds.

Ten seconds.

The longer the arches of electricity were sustained, the brighter they glowed until they began to splinter into a spider’s web of crackling light. At the center of the arches started to collect and fuse, the bands thickening until a ball of white-blue light appeared between her fingers.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Hold it.”

Leta heard Atreus’s command but didn’t look up, afraid that any break in concentration and the lightning would run wild.

She didn’t want to break the rest of the building and the rods if things got out of control.

Focusing on the baseball-sized mass of lightning, she slowly pulled one hand away until it was accessible from the web of electricity holding the ball aloft.

“Good. Put a little more into it.”

Breathing deep, she pulled static from the air around them and channeled it into the ball, watching it swell as it fed until it was the size of a basketball.

Everyone hissed and held their hands up to protect their eyes as the light of a miniature star filled the courtyard.

As she held its size firm in her mind, excess lightning began to discharge and connect with the ground around her, leaving tiny scorch marks on the cobblestone.

“Excellent, Leta. Can you put more in?”

“Y-Yeah.” She grunted, doing her best to focus, holding the mass in place while answering, “But it’s going to start discharging.”

“Okay, everyone, back.”

Distantly, she could hear the group watching above take steps away from the balcony ledge as Atreus and Allister retreated a few steps.

“Alright.” Allister nodded, “Give it a go.”

‘Just a little more.’

The smell of ozone filled the air as she fed the mass. Leta brought her other hand back up to support the mass as it swelled between her hands to the size of a beach ball.

[Warning. The Host has reached the voltage limit to hold a sustained charge. Further increases in voltage may cause harm to the Host.]

Leta grunted by holding firm, her nanites continuously repairing her retinas as the white-hot light of the mass blinded her.

Seconds later, a large arch of lightning cracked through the air, connecting the ball of electricity with one of the rods.

Another giant arch snapped to her left, seemingly drawn to the rod.

“Holding…” Atreus muttered as two more bolts connected with the metal additions.

Suddenly, an arch shot up and branched into two halves, one striking the ivy-covered wall above the war room and blasting the greenery to ash instantly as the other crossed the courtyard to strike the tiled roof.

She heard Samuel scream in surprise and nearly lost control of the energy she was wielding.

“Alright, Leta. Slowly draw energy out of it.”

It might have been easier stuffing a hurricane into a bottle.

Now that the energy was there, it couldn’t be turned off. It had to be channeled into something or release the power simultaneously. The sudden release would probably shatter the windows and everyone’s eardrums, so that option was out.

Leta imagined an arch of energy running up her arms, through her body, and into her feet, dispersing its potential into the earth below her.

At first, it felt like nothing happened, so she tried again.

And again.

After the fifth or sixth time, she could see it slowly decreasing as it shrank from the size of a beach ball to that of a basketball.

Without the mass to give it power, the bolts decreased until the much smaller arches from before were all that remained.

Leta dared to glance up and see the General’s reaction.

Atreus had found a pair of very dark aviator glasses but was still using his hand to protect him from the glaring light of the ball in her hands.

Allister could only close his eyes and feel his face warm as Leta’s miniature sun increased the air temperature around them.

“Well done, Leta.” Atreus called, “Bring it down a little more.”

Steadying herself again, she began pulling strands of electricity through her body and expelling the energy into the ground beneath her. As she painstakingly shrank the mass of lightning, the smell of burning rubber singed her nose as the soles of the sneakers she’d been wearing began to melt with the heat of the discharging electricity.

A minute or two passed before the mass was once more the size of a baseball. Its bright glow was still too much to look at directly, but it was small enough now that those watching could at least see her.

“Alright, now throw it at a rod.”

“What?” She nearly lost control of the lightning mass at such a crazy request.

“The rods can take the bolts, but we need to know if they will hold against a heavier attack.”

“Fuck, okay.”

Just as when she used the skill Ball Lightning last night, she compressed the energy together, holding its fragile form together before throwing her hand out and sending it flying.

Unlike last night, the mass of lightning moved almost lazily through the air. As it neared the rod, tendrils of electricity branched off and connected, wrapping around the pole like reaching fingers.

The moment it made contact, the ball of lightning suddenly jerked and shot toward the rod just like metal shavings were dragged to a magnet.

When it made contact, it flashed blinding white like a photographer’s camera light, splitting the air with the loud crack of thunder.

In its wake, the rod glowed red where it had been hit, and the metal scorched back with the direct attack but otherwise unharmed.

Leta breathed and shook the static from her hair as the last electricity was grounded through her feet into the cobblestone and dirt below.

She saw Samuel’s dark eyes peaking over the stone ledge. “Is the coast clear?”

“From me? Yeah.” She chuckled before addressing Atreus. “I think it would be a good idea to put a metal net up and attach to the rods. That would probably keep my lightning from hitting the buildings.”

Atreus was blinking furiously as he removed his aviators, stepping forward again now that the danger was contained, “Agreed. Samuel?”

“On it!” He answered before his smaller feet putter-pattered away.

“You’re going to need some new shoes.” He pointed to her sneakers that had melted slightly, sticky strands of plastic and rubber gluing her in place as if she’d stepped in bubblegum.

“Yeah, it might be best if I just go barefoot from here on out if we just test my skills. I don’t want to end up melting every single pair.”

“We’ll need to research a good pair of shoes for you. If the worst should happen, I won’t have you going into harm’s way without some foot protection.”

“Lineman must have something,” Allister commented. “I’ll see what the good ole’ inter-web offers.”

Atreus bobbed his head in agreement before looking up to the wide-eyed Hearth Maiden, looking around in surprise as if she fully expected another wild bolt to come out of nowhere.

“Afra. You’re up.”

“You want me to face off against this goddamn X-Man? I think fucking not!”