I had no clue how long I’d been dancing with death—an hour? Two? Time had gone AWOL, lost somewhere between dodges, dives, and near-death experiences. My breath came in ragged gasps, blood smeared like war paint, and let’s not even talk about the parts of me that now smelled distinctly... well-done. Just when I thought my misery might finally hit a plateau, Lotte decided to sprinkle in her signature flavor of cryptic riddles. How generous.

Through the choking fog, two pinpricks of crimson light flickered, their glow full of smug menace. "Still blind, Jade?" her voice coiled around my mind like a vice, oozing that irritating mix of condescension and challenge. "The pathways, the elements—do you lack even a whisper of curiosity about their purpose, their dance?" Thunder clapped like a divine laugh track behind me. I ducked the deafening explosion, narrowly avoiding a bolt of lightning that still managed to sizzle through my shoulder. Lovely.

If her riddles were supposed to be enlightening, they were about as helpful as an umbrella in a hurricane. And then things got worse. The crackling arcs of lightning started swirling, coalescing into a shape. Oh, great—stage two. Already? A flicker of pride crossed my mind: at least I’d taken fewer hits this time. Progress?

The fog parted like a curtain to reveal a hulking, golden beast of storms—a wolf, its fur bristling with electricity, a thunderous sword clamped in its jaws. It would’ve been majestic if it weren’t so murderously intent on turning me into ash. The moment our eyes met, it lunged. I barely managed a string of desperate dashes, each step burning precious stamina, as its charge carved molten trenches in the earth.

"I MEAN," I bellowed between evasive maneuvers, "maybe we’d get somewhere if we just talked this out over tea like civilized dragons instead of—OH, HELL!" My diplomatic plea was rudely cut short by the wolf’s tail flicking faster than my brain could register. Lightning flashed, and my survival instincts screamed a split-second too late. My heroic dive—let’s call it that—saved most of me, but a sizzling arc clipped my leg. "BOLLOCKS!" I howled, clutching the fresh burn while limping into another frantic sprint.

Even with Phantom Dragon Dance amplifying my senses and lightning mana turbocharging my speed, I was still a glorified walking scorch mark. At this rate, I wasn’t dodging; I was just delaying the inevitable.

The wolf came at me again, a living freight train of fury, its every step scorching the ground black. No time to think, no time to hesitate. I vaulted sideways, wings snapping out mid-leap to twist myself clear of those sparking jaws. It tore past me, its sheer momentum dragging it forward, but the damage was already done. This wasn’t just a charge; it was a strategy. The thing was carving lightning-laced trenches into the ground, fencing me in and steadily shrinking my options.

I hit the dirt hard, rolling to a stop with claws gouging into the earth for stability. My breath rasped in my throat as I tried to recalibrate. I couldn’t outlast this thing—stamina or no stamina. Sure, I had reserves for days thanks to my evolution and those handy Stamina Surge Reservoirs, but even I wasn’t bottomless. Not after hours of this insanity.

Every step bled stamina like a leaky bucket, and I’d been hoarding it for this very moment. A direct fight? Ha. Hilarious. No, brute strength wasn’t the answer here—I had to outthink it.

But thinking was hard when all I could do was zigzag like a panicked squirrel, praying to gods I’d never even believed in. Dashing left, dashing right, rolling, dodging, spinning—it was a manic ballet of survival, and I wasn’t the star performer. A whole month of this nonsense, and Lotte hadn’t so much as tossed me a clue. Nope, just her usual cryptic mantra: “Learn from it.”

Oh, yes. Learn. Learn how to not get fried into dragon toast.

The battlefield didn’t help either—foggy and oppressive, its only features were towering metallic obelisks etched with glowing runes, standing like colossal, judgmental elders. They hummed ominously, spitting arcs of lightning that turned the fog into a strobe-lit deathtrap. The wolf? round two. The obelisks? Probably just here to laugh at me. And Lotte? She was off somewhere, her voice buzzing in my skull like a smug mosquito.

"Learn from it," she’d said. But what, exactly, was I supposed to be learning? The zen of dodging lightning bolts? The secret to fighting an indestructible thunder puppy wielding a sword it couldn’t even use properly? Or was this just some draconic take on dodgeball, with bonus existential riddles?

I was managing—barely. Dodging, ducking, darting, thinking, all at once. But frustration clawed at me with every unanswered question. What was the point? What was the test? Because right now, all I’d mastered was the fine art of not dying.

A howl split the air. The wolf twisted, its massive paw glowing like molten steel. It swung wide. I flickered with Distortion Aura, phasing just enough to avoid a full hit—almost. Static arced along my side, searing my scales. I skidded back, heat radiating from my body as I sucked in shallow, panicked breaths. Too close.

The fog shifted again, coiling into a draconic silhouette. Crimson pinpricks swirled within, mocking me. "I’ve offered you no shortage of breadcrumbs, haven’t I?" Lotte’s voice echoed. "Yet here you linger, adrift in half-formed notions."

"Yes," I snapped, trying not to snarl through my panting. "Yes, you have. And I’m trying to make sense of them." But that was the rub, wasn’t it? My mind worked in straight lines, in logic and science. Lightning wasn’t magic to me—it was tangible, grounded, a predictable force I could dissect and understand. But that mindset, according to Lotte, was my shackle. A chain tethering me to the mortal, keeping me blind to whatever truth she was dangling just out of reach.

I shook the thought off, my eyes glued to the wolf. It crouched low, growling, the blade in its jaws now a searing star. A charge. No hesitation—I sprang into motion, lightning mana surging through my legs, sharpening my speed. I barely cleared its swing, the air behind me erupting into a cascade of devastation as the sword’s aftershock annihilated the ground I’d stood on.

"Perhaps another gentle push is warranted," Lotte mused, her foggy maw shifting as I hit the ground in a rough landing, claws digging deep. I stumbled but stayed upright. No time to breathe—the wolf followed instantly, leaping high, sword raised.

I recognized the move. Midair lightning blast. Too fast to dodge. Scale Harden. My body locked up as I took the hit head-on. Pain lanced through me. Blinding. Brutal. But my high will stat kept my head from spinning. I was burning—searing pain radiating from every nerve—but I was nothing if not resilient. And the blast wasn’t focused; energy rippled outward. I redirected. My tail lashed out, stamina surging into the strike. It hit the wolf square in the snout, making the beast stagger. Just for a moment. A breath.

I didn’t waste it.

I darted in close, feinting right as the wolf recovered. The sword swung. I dipped left. Echo Claw Swipe. My claws burned on contact with its lightning-charged body, but the strike landed on its leg. The Echo followed, forcing the wolf to buckle for a heartbeat. Just enough to reposition. It all happened in a blur, a whirlwind of action condensed into seconds—barely enough time for Lotte to start her infuriating lesson.

"These so-called pathways," she began, her tone syrupy, "paraded with such mortal pride—have you discerned their true nature? At higher ranks, do they not whisper peculiarities?"

The wolf roared, shaking off the Echo and lunged again. I slipped past its claw, dodging arcs of sizzling death with pure instinct while my mind raced. Higher ranks. What did I know of them? Not much firsthand. The only time I’d seen something close was Gwen—when she annihilated that Lowgold intruder. Her path seemed spatial. Her obsession with Parda hinted strongly at that. But my readings had painted a broader picture.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Pathways, regardless of their element—Path of the Flame Vixen, Path of the Infernal Knight, whatever grandiose title people slapped onto them—followed a pattern. At higher levels, around the red core stage, they began to blur. The distinctions faded, merging into something unified. A concept. Singular. Overarching.

The dots connected in my mind, constellations aligning.

I felt as though I were circling the answer, yet the thread eluded me. Was I blind to something fundamental, something hidden beneath the surface, veiled in the fog of ignorance? Gwen had called this continent a backwater—a place where knowledge and advancement lagged behind the rest of the world. But what was I failing to see?

The fog’s draconic maw rumbled with a chuckle, a sound that coiled through my thoughts like smoke infiltrating every crevice of my mind. More than a laugh; it was an accusation, a taunt, a dare.

"Close, little dragon, but not yet there. Cast aside the veneer of basic elementalism. Tear through the surface. Decipher the essence. Perceive mana not as mere fodder for conjuration, but as a language, as a concept. Recognize your path for what it truly is, not a parade of spectacles, but a symphony of intent.”

Another burst of lightning, claws crackling with the same fury, hurtled at me. I danced and swerved, every dodge a calculated response, yet something deep inside my mind was sharpening, crystallizing. There was more than this—more than just the elements, more than the science. What lay beyond it all? Was there a pulse beneath the pathways, a thread that bound them?

Lightning. It was speed, precision, energy.

But… what had it been to me? When had I truly used it, and why? Memories stirred like restless spirits, fragments of my past weaving into a larger picture. I saw it: the first time I’d wielded lightning. The moment. The context. The intent.

It wasn’t just power or agility I’d sought. Lightning had been deliverance. A declaration of my beliefs. A weapon to impose my order on chaos.

More memories struck like the very claws I dodged, each one hitting closer to the truth. The fog churned with Lotte’s amusement as the as the wolf relentlessly pursued me, a storm alive with fury.

I felt it now, close, so close. Every time I had called upon lightning, it had been more than a means to an end. It was an extension of my will, a force to disrupt chaos, to enforce my pride. My will was the storm.

And then a word whispered itself into my mind, unbidden. It surged from somewhere deeper than conscious thought, resonating through my very being. My mana thrummed with the word’s meaning, a tide of energy so pure it felt as though my cells themselves were singing.

The wolf howled. Its fur crackled, the same lightning that could have killed me now dancing across its form. But this time, I did not move.

I met its gaze.

A thousand arcs of lightning flashed in my mind’s eye.

I didn’t need to move.

The word crystallised. Sharp. Absolute. The weight of the storm. The force of my will. Lightning was swift, precise, and uncompromising.

It was Judgement.

The moment the word solidified, something clicked inside me. My mana surged, wild and overflowing, as though a haze had lifted from my mind. The ground shattered as lightning surged from my core. The storm bent—not to fear, but to will.

My will.

The force to inscribe my will upon the world. To pass judgement. Unshaken and absolute. I had been a judge all along—deep in the dungeon, where I’d faced those who sought its destruction for their selfish ends.

The runes in my mind buzzed, new patterns carving themselves into existence. Knowledge rushed through me, not in an overwhelming torrent but in an exhilarating cascade. Mana coursed through my claws, threading instinctively into these new shapes.

The wolf came, charging, its steps leaving destruction in its wake. But I didn’t step aside. I didn’t need to. Dodging wasn’t the lesson. The lesson was to impose. To carve my will into the world, to issue my verdict.

My throat thickened, not with fire’s heat, but with something deeper—something that resonated with the storm itself. The tiny bolts crackling over the wolf’s body reached out to me, calling.

“DEFLECT!” I roared. Just as the wolf’s charge slammed into me, those tiny bolts scattered its control. For a moment, I felt the reins slip into my hands, and with a thought, I willed it to veer. The wolf obeyed, its body twisting under my command.

It staggered, its own body betraying it. Not for long—but long enough. It tumbled, crashing into a nearby monolith.

The bolts still danced across its skin, eager, waiting. The more I focused, the more I saw—its body, in its entirety, seemed to be woven from them.

My throat thickened once more as strange runes churned behind me. I echoed, “DISPERSE!”

The bolts obeyed, scattering with glee. The wolf howled in agony as it shattered, pieces disintegrating into harmless sparks that fizzled around me.

Fatigue hit me like a wave, but through it, my senses sharpened. Everything felt clearer, sharper than ever before.

At last… I understood.

The moment the wolf crumpled, the fog unwound, curling away like fingers pulling back to reveal the truth of the space. At first, I had no earthly clue what I was standing in—it was merely a frantic dodge of lightning bolts that seemed to materialise from nowhere while Lotte’s taunts rang merrily in my ears. But then, for the first time, I truly saw. It wasn’t just a haphazard storm of lightning and monoliths. No, this was no less than a courtroom.

The towering black monoliths that stood like grim sentinels. Metallic surfaces carved with labyrinthine runes that pulsed with a faint red glow. Like jurors murmuring.

At the far end, presiding over it all with an air of maddening amusement, sat Lotte’s hulking frame in the judge’s seat. Her voice, warm and pleased, slipped into my mind.

“Knew you’d twig it eventually.”

Meanwhile, I was less ‘twigged’ and more thoroughly tangled, my mind fighting to seize control of the rampaging lightning mana and the unnatural weariness that pressed down on me. It felt as though some unseen lever had been yanked without my consent. “I haven’t the foggiest what I’ve just done!” I bellowed, lightning crackling and snarling around me like a feral beast. This was clearly riotous entertainment for Lotte, whose laughter rippled through my thoughts once again.

“You interpreted,” she said airily. “No need to flap—it’ll settle soon enough. But this is your first authentic stride along the path, and for that, little hatchling, I commend you.”

My head was now spinning like a weather vane in a gale, the lightning seemingly intent on setting up residence in my brain.

"There exists a depth to mana far beyond the crude manipulations mortals brand as elementalism," Lotte pressed on. "Each element, at its heart, encapsulates a truth, a concept—a fundamental axiom of existence. The pathways do not diverge; they converge, uniting at these principles. Fire—Conquest. Relentless. Sovereign. Water—Reflection. Fluidity. Transformation. Earth—Foundation. Resilience. Permanence."

She paused, either to let the words sink in or perhaps to revel in her own eloquence.

“And when an element is wielded in harmony with its underlying concept—well, you’ve just seen the results, haven’t you?”

Something in that struck a chord. “I… I just gained new knowledge out of nowhere, Lotte. New runes. An entirely new spell! It felt just like when the System spoon-feeds me skills, muscle memories and all. But this… this was the same sensation dialed up to eleven.”

That earned a soft chuckle. “The concepts these elements embody are more entwined with the fabric of the world and its progression to power than you’d think. Perhaps it will all become clearer in time.”

Brilliant. Back to her cryptic self. I took a deep breath, weary. Just when I thought I might wrangle something useful from her, she pulls back. Still, her words clung to me. I’d never heard of elements embodying concepts like that before. Maybe it was a gap in local knowledge. If Lotte wouldn’t spill, I’d dig elsewhere. Gwen might have something enlightening to say about it.

For now, though, I focused on taming the torrent of lightning mana surging through my body and mind. Little by little, I calmed the storm by centering myself on my core, using Core Stabilization to ground myself—not just for recovering mana, but to steady my very essence. Slowly, order returned.

The courtroom around me dissolved like a bad memory, replaced by the familiar grasslands where Lotte and I had been sitting moments earlier. Lightning, the element embodying the concept of Judgment… who’d have guessed? And then there was the new spell.

I instinctively knew its name: Thunder Verdict. The runes that formed it. They were… intricate. Exquisitely complex. I couldn’t imagine casting it in ten years, not even with the most diligent tutor. But its purpose was as clear as daylight. The spell was designed to pass judgment, to enforce my will. The implications of this new knowledge left my mind slightly reeling. I could control lightning, all of it, by delivering this verdict. I could impose dominion over its very form, its very body. And that, I realized, extended to any living thing, after all, they too were just a web of neurons, each firing like tiny bolts of lightning. To impose my judgment on those signals…

Well, that was a revelation I wasn’t sure I was ready for.

Nor was I ready for what caught my eye next: the metal sapling. The same one that connected me to the System, a living representation of my growth. It had always been a curious thing—black, metallic, and seated at the edge of this endless grassland.

But it had changed. What had once been a modest sprig with two leaves now bore five, each leaf twisting and writhing with flickering light that appeared and disappeared like mirages. And now… there was lightning. The leaves crackled visibly, arcs of energy dancing across their metallic veins.

“What’s happened to this thing?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. “Wasn’t it supposed to represent my growth, in System’s terms?”

“It still does,” Lotte added. “And do try not to fret over a few… subtle modifications to your stat screen.”

Huh?