The wind of Dravhallow Peaks did not howl — it whispered, sharp as knives. Snow whirled in tight spirals, refusing to fall. Every breath Kael drew stung with a cold that felt intelligent, like it wanted to see what he'd do next.
He stood at the edge of a frost-slicked ridge, pale mist curling around his boots. His cloak flapped violently behind him, damp with Essence. The world here was quieter, heavier. Even Essence itself… felt different. Sluggish. Condensed. Watching.
Kael exhaled slowly. The breath came out as steam, and he let it drift.
"Dravhallow," he muttered, eyes narrowing. "Nothing about this place feels natural."
Behind him, the trail was already lost — buried under snow and sleet. But Kael moved forward anyway.
He had changed.
In just one month of relentless self-forging, his Essence had deepened. What had once flickered now surged like a steady inferno beneath his skin. His body moved faster, hit harder, reacted sharper. Spells once requiring full concentration now danced to instinct. He had reached Flicker – 8th Flame.
And it showed.
Now, he hunted something old — an anomaly reported in the northern peaks. A pulse of Essence. Something not Varnok… but not natural either.
He descended into a ravine where snow gave way to a broken field of frozen stone. That's when he felt it — pressure. Subtle at first. Like a hand brushing his chest.
Then it hit like a wall.
Crack.
The ice split beneath his feet.
Figures burst from the walls. Four Varnok, frost-armored and hunched like wolves, Essence curling from their jagged limbs. Not large — but fast. They came in at once, a blur of claws, teeth, and freezing wind.
Kael didn't flinch.
A breath. A flick of the wrist.
Lightning surged.
He vanished.
The first Varnok's eyes widened before Kael reappeared above it, fist descending like a hammer. Lightning trailed behind him, and when the strike landed, it shattered the creature's skull, exploding snow in every direction.
The others turned — too late.
Kael slid beneath one, palm striking upward into its jaw. Electricity snapped through its torso, lifting it midair. Before it landed, Kael spun, whipping a heel across the third's temple with a flash of Storm-laced force.
Three down in under three seconds.
The last Varnok hesitated, baring crystalline fangs. It leapt, a desperate blitz of Essence-enhanced limbs.
Kael caught it midair.
Fingers curling around its throat, he channeled Essence with a snarl — and detonated a Storm burst point-blank. The thing's body exploded in a concussive shockwave, pieces flung against the surrounding rocks like shattered porcelain.
Silence returned, snow still falling in unnatural spirals.
Kael lowered his hand, breath slow and steady. But he didn't relax. His instincts were flaring.
Then he saw it.
From the northern edge of the clearing, something moved. Something ancient.
A Varnok, but unlike any Kael had seen before — tall, armored in layers of frost-steel and ice-etched bone, its body pulsating with deep blue veins of Essence. It stepped forward slowly, each motion precise. Its eyes were hollow and glowing faintly.
Kael raised a brow. "You're the anomaly, aren't you?"
The Varnok roared, and the air buckled.
It surged at Kael, faster than it had any right to be.
Kael blocked the first blow, but the force behind it sent him sliding back, boots scraping frozen stone. He parried the next strike with a Lightning-coated forearm, sparks scattering.
Another punch — and this time Kael was hit.
His ribs cracked as the fist slammed into his side. He flipped through the air, rolled, and barely caught himself with a jolt of kinetic force.
Blood in his mouth. Vision shaking.
This one's different. Essence-augmented muscle. Cold adaptation. No lag. Smarter too.
The creature circled him now, slow and deliberate. Kael's body screamed from the impact, but he pushed to his feet.
He smiled through the blood. "Alright. Let's test something."
He took a breath — and the air around him shifted.
Lightning gathered along his limbs, tendrils crawling through his veins like living energy. Storm Essence roared to life in his core.
Kael whispered: "Maelstrom Overdrive."
First — Lightning.
He supercharged his nervous system. Twitch fibers ignited, muscles straining to contain the surge. Sparks danced across his body, wrapping him in violent energy.
Then — Storm.
His fists and legs began to hum with pressure. Dense. Coiled. Like thunderheads before a strike.
His heartbeat synced with the rhythm of the storm.
And then… he moved.
The Varnok lashed out — too late.
Kael blurred forward, a whirlwind of motion. One strike hit its ribs — a thunderclap. Another across its face — like a collapsing mountain.
He was everywhere.
Punches, kicks, elbows — each strike landed with explosive bursts of Lightning-Storm hybrid force, turning the battlefield into chaos. The Varnok couldn't track him. Couldn't react. It was caught in the eye of the storm.
He vanished again — reappeared behind the Varnok mid-spin.
Kael's final strike spiraled upward, both fists crashing into the Varnok's chest — detonating the built-up pressure in a dome of sound and force.
BOOM.
The shockwave shattered the ice for dozens of meters in every direction. The Varnok was flung high into the air, limbs trailing vapor and blood, before crashing into a jagged cliffside with a distant crunch.
Silence fell.
Then—
Kael collapsed to one knee.
His arms trembled violently, Storm Essence crackling faintly around them — then fizzled out like dying embers. His legs buckled beneath him, barely holding him upright.
It felt like his very bones were hollow. The surging might of Maelstrom Overdrive had torn through his energy reserves like a wildfire. Lightning had scorched his nerves raw. Storm pressure had battered his joints from within.
He tried to raise a hand… and it barely lifted.
I pushed too hard, he thought, sweat freezing against his skin. That last flurry… it wasn't just Essence. I used everything I had.
He slumped back against a shard of broken ice, chest heaving, breath shallow and uneven.
The storm clouds above still churned, faintly responding to the power he had unleashed. But now, they quieted… as if satisfied.
Kael's vision swam. His body didn't ache — it screamed.
His fists felt broken. His legs were numb. His Essence pool had been sucked dry, leaving only dregs and exhaustion in its place.
But despite it all… he smiled weakly.
The ancient Varnok was gone. The technique worked.
Even if he'd nearly burned himself alive doing it.
Snow drifted down again, gentle and soft now, covering the ruined field in a quiet blanket of white.
Kael let his eyes close for just a moment, whispering to the still air—
"…I'll need to refine that."
Then darkness took him.