Roaring Thunder

Chapter 5: Stronger (Part 1)

A blast of water shoots out at me, pushing me off the ground. 'What an immense power!' I think as I regain my foothold. Electric currents are shrouding my body and bruises appears almost everywhere on it.

'Is that all you got?' Her palm facing me.

'Bring it on!' And another stream of water magically appears and is unleashed. Focusing the currents into my fist, I throws a punch into the blast. The water disperses into droplets but not without a consequence: I am blown backwards by the impact myself.

'Worse than bad!' Without hesitation, she follows up with another similar water strike. This one hits me directly before I could do anything. I drop to the ground and winced.

'A-Aquae, I think that's enough for today, don't you think so?' Hex says. 'It has only been a day since he's been here. Surely, he has not recovered yet... Right?'

'It was his request, Hex. Don't pin the blame on me.' She replied.

'Yea, perhaps. Bu-'

I stood up and say,' Enough. I have decided to do this. No one's forcing me but I, myself.'

'B-But, Rex...' Hex says.

'Let's continue, Aquae.' I slam my fists together. 'Beat the crap out of me, please!'

Waves after waves, the torrent of water strikes keep coming. There is no dodging everything. The chest, the head, the arms, the abdomen: I got hit everywhere. I rise from the mud and charges using my lightning speed skill, but my head-high kick slices through her body. The body melts into a puddle of water. A whistle can be heard and I turn around to it, only to be met with another attack. 'Too slow.' She said. And another strike sends me falling on my back. 'Stand up if you are truly the inheritor of Raijin's abiilities and power.'

My body hurts. I lift myself up shakily. 'Not yet...' Water bullets rain down on me, scraping my skins off as I struggle my way up. 'Not yet...' I place my hands on the ground for support as the onslaught of droplets goes on. I am close to standing up straight when one of the water bullet brushes against my leg. My mind goes blank and my vision fades, I drop.

Somehow, I can see the scene after I faint. As if I am watching them from the sky. Have I merely fainted or have I died? I can see my body lying motionless on the green pasture as the attacks continue to rain on it. It is then when suddenly, Dane jumps out to my front and casts a black shield, impenetrable by the bullets. He seems to be shouting something but it is quite soft, to be honest. I try to make out the words but the distance between us is quite unfavourable. I can only watch the entire scene unfolding before me, the spoken words unheard of. Also, I notice the pair of eyes constantly shifting to me. Aquae sees me.

'Dane, step away.' Somehow, I can hear her voice. Dane protests, I assume from his unwillingness to move away. 'Move or you shall be my target as well.' She raises her hand. 'Move!'

Dane widens his mouth, like he's shouting a word. Aquae shakes her head and mumbles some words. A swirling patch of water surfaced at her palm. 'Brace yourself then.' The water rises horizontally and strikes him. Dane's shield ripples at its surface for every hit taken. He frowns deeper as he withstands each hit. His legs are beginning to bend at the knees and are sliding to the back. 'He's gonna fall... STOP IT!' I shout from the bottom of my heart but to no success.

One more hit and he will fall, I think. 'NOOOOOO!' I wake up in my own body and punch the ground, waking up to my feet. The balls of my feet exert force to the surface and propel me forward. 'All the currents into my right-' I dash past the surprised Dane. '-I summon the power of the THUNDER!' My fist hit the ground.

The electric currents go wild. Dane, Aquae and Hex run away... And the area goes off like a bomb. It explodes. A massive bolt of light shoots out into the sky. The nearby trees sway and the leaves rustle. What happens next, I do not know.

'Rex, look out!' Someone pushes me away and a blade pierces through his chestplate. He coughs inside his helm and turned his head to me. Muffled, he says, 'Find him for me.'

My eyelids swing open, revealing my sight. 'The ceiling...' I mutter while rubbing my eyes.

'Awake?'

I sit in my bed and look at Aquae standing by the window. Her eyes are still and focused to what lies beyond it. 'The crater-' She says, then turn her stare to me. '-Not good enough.'

'What crate-' I ask as I walk to the window. My eyes widen and my mouth gapes opens at the sight. Before me, about a kilometre from where the cottage stands, the grassy plain is replaced by a large hole and the surrounding trees are gone. 'D-Did I do that?'

She nods then, says, 'But I was expecting it to pack more impact than this.' And heaves a sigh. 'Well, that's about a quarter of Raijin's power when he's sick so, not a bad job, Rex.'

I respond with a reluctant smile.

'Hey, Rex! You should rest more.' Hex notices me and says as I step down into the crater. I shake my head.

'So what's here to see?' I ask.

'We are here just to see how much power you have, to be able to create a crater of this size.' Hex says. ' Man, I can't wait to face you as a Holy Knight in the future.' A grin forms on his face. It changes quickly to a laugh as he taps me on the shoulder. 'Well, that's still long though.'

Something catches my attention, I ask, ' Where's Dane?'

Aquae approaches from behind and says, 'He has gone off to somewhere since then.' Hex sighs then explains that Dane told him about how weak he still is and the need for more power. 'You will just have to wait for him to come back. It's almost night anyway.'

'Wait, it is then.' I reply.

I have my fair share of meal for dinner. The sun has almost set entirely and night is dawning in about an hour or so. And yet, Dane is not back. I stand outside the cottage, feeling the cool breeze blowing. My body are bandaged at most parts. 'Guess that I will have to seek him out.'

Putting on my lightning mode, I move out.

'Shadow Orc!' Dane shouts, his arms out. Black trails stretch out from beneath his legs omni-directionally. After a distance, the flanking shadows turn and merge with the middle shadow from where a massive figure surfaces. It is only partially out when it becomes shaky and fall apart. The pool of shadow disintegrates. He drops to his knees. 'Just a little more.'

I walk out from behind a tree and reach a hand out to him. 'You are not that weak, Dane. Come on.' He grabs it and pulls himself up. The last traces of light are gradually vanishing. 'We have few hours to go before breakfast.' I smile.

'Sure.'

And before the next dawn arrives, we are already lying on the plain, huffing and puffing. At the first sight of the Sun, we make a promise.

A promise to be stronger, than before.