Chương 25: THE CRUCIBLE OF CONFLICT

As the multicolored wisps of smoke and the initial brightness slowly began to fade, a faint hum began to emanate from Elias, a sound almost imperceptible at first, like the distant thrum of a beehive. It intensified rapidly, growing into a resonant thrum that vibrated through the very stones of the training yard. Around his small, bundled form, an aura began to coalesce, a swirling mass of translucent energy.

It was like looking at heat haze made tangible, shimmering and rippling, rotating clockwise in a mesmerizing, yet unsettling, motion. It wasn't the brilliant, saturated colors of concentrated Flow; it was something far more primal, less defined, a clear, shimmering current of his immense, unbounded power. This was a fraction – a bare, restrained fraction – of his Infinite Flow, consciously reined in. Elias knew that what he was doing was dangerous.

Since the time he had blown up the study, he hadn't used his Flow again, opting instead to study and observe to see if there was a way around his immortality. Instead of the Flow itself that swirled and spun within the sea of his soul, he managed to manifest some of the vapor of Flow that hung above it, and even then, his body couldn't handle it. Every fiber of his body screamed in protest, a chorus of tiny muscles and nascent organs threatening to tear themselves apart.

The raw power that coursed through him, even in this infinitesimally small release, was like a raging river straining against a crumbling dam. He could feel the familiar ache, the deep, fundamental strain of a vessel inadequate for its content. The thought flickered through his mind, unbidden and strangely calm: Dying by self-explosion. He smirked. It wouldn't be his go-to method for his end, but it was something he could try. Who knows? It just might work. But then, his gaze sharpened.

A couple of meters across from him, a figure moved within the fading smoke. Aina. She was walking towards him, her usual confident swagger amplified, her expression still cold. Around her, a strange, shimmering barrier was forming, not of vibrant Flow, but of black sand. It swirled around her like a miniature, dark cyclone, individual grains somehow suspended in the air, creating an unsettling, gritty shield. Elias could smell a metallic tinge in the air. Iron particles.

She'd used her electromagnetism to raise the metallic particles in the ground around her to form a shield. Otherwise, she would have sustained damage, being the closest one to the blast. Aina's lips curled into a familiar, infuriating smirk.

"Took you long enough, little worm. I was starting to think you weren't Aunt Elara's real son. Now show me the power within you." Before the last syllable fully left her mouth, her own Flow erupted, engulfing the floating particles around her. It wasn't the contained hum of before; this was a roaring inferno of orange energy that drowned out the black, thick and vibrant, pulsing with aggressive intent. It radiated outwards from her.

She came to stand a few feet away from Elias, looking down on him with a cold expression as their two Flows ground against each other like two gears in a machine. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. With a crackle of displaced air and a sound like tearing fabric, the metallic dust launched forward in five tendrils, two from the sides and one from above, extending like the tentacles of a sea creature and accelerating with terrifying speed.

They slammed into Elias's translucent aura with the force of a battering ram hitting solid rock. The ground beneath them shuddered. A low, grinding roar erupted as Elias's Flow deflected the attack. He began to breathe heavily. He might have the energy to possibly do this for an extended period, but Elias knew that his body was straining to keep up. He also didn't fully understand the principles by which Flow operated, like how Aina manifested a localized magnetic field. She also mentioned something about traits.

Were they abilities exclusive to her or... In any case, he was at a disadvantage. He had to end the fight somehow. Then again, he could always goad her into killing him. His cousin seemed to dislike him plenty already.

"I'm sure it won't be that hard if I really put my mind to it." He smirked again and glanced to his left. He saw his mother watching them anxiously, and the smile disappeared from his face. The thought of death suddenly didn't seem so appealing. He noticed something in his peripheral vision and jumped back just in time to avoid a bolt of lightning. Pushing all other thoughts aside, he decided to use this opportunity to experiment.

Aina had talked as if she knew what she was about when she was talking about their power gap and seemed able to prove it. Also, the fact that her Flow was of an orange color meant that she was advanced in understanding it. At least more than he was. So he decided to use this opportunity to study what exactly she was doing to control the electricity and see if he could replicate it.

With a thought, his energy surged forward, slamming into Aina's wall of metal, and a cloud of dust erupted around the point of impact, momentarily obscuring them both.. ‡. From the observation platform, Lady Elara's eyes widened, a gasp catching in her throat. She took an immediate, instinctive step forward, her hand reaching out, a maternal protectiveness overriding all decorum. This was beyond a simple squabble. But a hand, firm and unyielding, clasped her arm. Ortis.

His gaze, usually calm and distant, was now intensely focused on the swirling vortex of energies below. There was no alarm in his eyes, only a profound, almost analytical curiosity. He had momentarily seen the smirk on the boy's face and had drawn his own conclusions.

"That boy...." he thought, as he shook his head subtly, signaling her to hold back.

"Observe," Ortis murmured, his voice a low rumble, the command unequivocal.

"Let us see what this child truly is." His gaze remained fixed, unwavering, as the translucent aura around Elias pulsed, pushing back against the encroaching orange tide, a silent, furious declaration from a mind trapped in a body too small for its rage.