The air shimmered around Kael and Arkzen.
They stood on a shattered plateau high in the Hollow Skies — a neutral training ground where space bent and sound echoed as whispers of energy.
Kael, drenched in sweat, panted, flames crackling along his limbs, lightning spiraling around his body, and kinetic ripples distorting the broken ground beneath his feet. Storm clouds churned above as he held his stance.
Arkzen stood tall, his black coat fluttering, arms folded.
"You're past Radiant's edge. You know what that means, don't you?" Arkzen asked, his tone calm, but his aura like a collapsed star — heavy, inescapable.
Kael didn't answer. He was focused. His body screamed with Essence saturation, but his heart… it burned.
Arkzen blurred forward, a movement so fast that he produced a shockwave capable of leveling a city. Kael reacted instinctively — ducking under a punch that tore apart a mountaintop behind him, answering with a spinning lightning-cloaked kick.
Arkzen blocked, but Kael's strike cracked the sky behind them.
"Faster," Arkzen said, "Push beyond it."
Kael roared.
His Essence ignited — all four affinities screaming in unison. Storm, Flame, Lightning, and Kinetic spiraled inward, condensing into his core.
The world pulsed.
Kael's eyes flared pure white.
A blinding sphere of Essence erupted around him, pushing Arkzen back. The plateau cracked. The Hollow Skies trembled.
Kael hovered — silent, radiant, transcendent.
The shackles on his internal channels shattered.
ESSENCE ASCENSION – ECLIPSE RANK AWAKENED
The blast cleared. Kael stood tall, crimson cloak torn at the edges, his body glowing with contained destruction.
Arkzen exhaled with a quiet grin. "Finally."
Two Days Later — Elandor
Kael returned through the gates of Elandor.
The city had changed. Or perhaps, he had.
Eyes followed him. Not in contempt. Not with doubt. But reverence.
Whispers traveled before him. "The boy who killed an Eclipse Varnok… the one who trained under Arkzen… He's back… and stronger."
Guards gave respectful nods. Guild members parted without being asked.
And standing at the Adventurer's Hall was Leiya, arms crossed, smile small and eyes soft.
She rushed to him.
"About time," she said, punching his arm.
"Ow," Kael winced, "I just became Eclipse. Be gentle."
Leiya rolled her eyes, then leaned in to hug him. "You still smell like lightning."
Elsewhere — High Council Meeting, Elandor Spire
Twelve figures surrounded the round table — guild heads, Essence scholars, strategic generals, and Arkzen.
A projection hovered in the center, depicting a slowly expanding rift above the Thalvann Depths. Essence radiated from it — warped, wrong, and growing.
"It's feeding off the surrounding ley lines," murmured a red-robed magus.
"How long before it breaches?" asked the Silver Fang Commander.
"Six weeks… at most. If it maintains the current rate."
Arkzen leaned forward. "And the being inside?"
The room fell silent.
Then the projection shifted — showing a jagged, obsidian humanoid silhouette — featureless, towering, ancient.
"Peak Origin-class confirmed," the scholar said.
As the discussion prepared to shift toward a possible strategy—
Forest Training Ground, Outskirts of Elandor
Kael stood shirtless in a crater, Essence spiraling like stars around his body. Trees flattened from the pressure. The sky above rippled with power.
He moved through martial forms with focus, chaining spells mid-motion.
Each strike displaced the air like thunder. Each breath bent the space around him.
He was silent. Not because he had nothing to say. But because he was listening — to the world, to his heart, and to the storm he knew was coming.
He hadn't forgotten the dream.
And he refused to let it become reality.