The God of Thunder watched as Kade started consolidating his five Laws into the one that would move him to A-Rank.

  A-Rank was a major milestone for the kid. Most of his best pupils hadn’t had the guts to push past it, and he’d devoured their cores for the power they possessed. But Kade…Kade was different. Eugene was hungry for more power, and he was close. Very close. A-Rank Kade might be enough to push him over the edge and past the final hurdle in his quest to leave this race behind.

  He’d been doing it for so long—first consolidating his own Laws as he blazed the Stormsteel Path, then consuming his rivals’ cores until he realized that they didn’t offer what he truly needed. They were full of power, yes. Even at S-Rank, he knew that. But so little of it matched what he needed, and gradually, he’d realized that only the choicest of Paragons would do. He could hunt the Paragons of Storm.

  Or he could make his own.

  Eugene was hungry. But he was patient, and patience was power. So, instead of spending his time putting himself at risk, he did what most Paragons inevitably do. He taught his Path and scattered breadcrumbs to lead promising students to him. They grew strong under his tutelage—and more importantly, they grew correctly.

  He stared at the kid. He’d dropped into a lotus position and closed his eyes, trusting that the God of Thunder wouldn’t attack. Already, he was reviewing his Laws. The God of Thunder focused on the same set of four—he’d managed to convince Kade not to use either of the two Laws he couldn’t understand.

  The Last Law of the Thunderhead was about power, precision, and, of course, inevitability. It stated that the thunder’s wrath always found its mark. Eugene liked this Law. It spoke to him in a very predatory way, and before he’d been the God of Thunder, he’d been a predator. He remembered his world—his eidetic memory wouldn’t let him forget—and he’d been the apex hunter in it long before his D-Rank consolidation trial. He’d rarely lost a quarry—and never twice.

  Next was the Last Law of Stormsteel. The God of Thunder hadn’t just been the first to learn this Law. He’d all but created it. The storm destroyed, and the storm protected. He was the storm, and Kade, for all that he’d put the kid through, was worthy of protection. He was too valuable to throw away. So while yes, his agreement with the Crone still stood, Eugene would do everything he could to make sure he survived his next encounter.

  The Last Law of the Clouded Eye. The rain had always been Eugene’s least favorite part of the storm. It lacked the crackling power of lightning, the presence of thunder, or even the ripping cold of wind. But it did flow, and Kade did use it well. It was a good choice for the kid.

  The storm prepares. The Last Law of the Sirocco. Eugene lived by this Law. He’d been preparing for a long, long time. Millennia. The path to true godhood wasn’t one most Paragons could walk on accident, after all. His treasures numbered more than the stars, and the weapons he carried were nothing compared to the ones he’d hidden away in his portal world. When the time came, he’d be ready to walk the last steps of the Stormsteel Path. He hoped Kade—or his core, more accurately—would be prepared to help him with that final push.

  And then, last but not least, the black sheep of the bunch. The Second Law of the Unbroken Storm. Stormbreak. Truthfully, Kade would have been better off with a different Law. His affinity with the shadow mage—and their increasingly frequent communing—would have benefited from the Law of the Stormlight or Darkened Lightning. Still, Eugene was pleased with the kid’s choice.

  It was time for Kade to take his next step on the Stormsteel Path.

  Five Laws.

  One Mana-drained core.

  I needed to ascend. To reach A-Rank. But I was also tense. My muscles strained in spite of my attempt to will them to relax. Stormsong’s blade was only an instant away. The same was true for my armor. But with the God of Thunder close and my core drained, that instant might as well be an eternity. I’d hoped that after I chose my fifth Law, I’d return to the mountain top to consolidate my Laws. Instead, I was still in his realm.

  And for all that he was my teacher, he was also, at some point, going to be my enemy. Would A-Rank be the point where he shifted? If it was, I wouldn’t have what it took to fight him.

  I couldn’t afford to die here.

  Dad’s ashes were kept in the tomb built around the Fallen Delvers portal. I’d be fighting Deborah inside, with the opportunity to explore the portal world hanging in the balance. My rational mind understood that I’d more than surpassed him. He’d been C-Rank when he died protecting Jessie and me, and I’d done well by my sister. He had to be proud of me. I had to have fulfilled that promise.

  But emotionally, I needed him to see me triumph. He’d be watching, wherever he was. If I could win the tournament, maybe that’d be enough. Maybe I could set that one promise aside and focus on the others. On taking care of Jessie. On being there for Ellen for the long haul. On everything else I needed to be.

  Maybe.

  So I couldn’t die here, and I couldn’t relax. The God of Thunder was watching; he’d switched back to his overwhelmingly powerful draconic form, and his eyes were like a physical weight on me. I couldn’t focus on the consolidation process if I couldn’t relax. So, I did the only thing that made sense. Mid-consolidation, I stopped paying attention to the pressure on my core, or the burning sensation as my spell’s glyphs searched for Mana to vent. My entire focus shifted to Eugene instead.

  He felt it. His breathing stopped, and his intent landed squarely on me.

  Then he spoke. “Kid, you’re safe here. I need you to keep growing. A-Rank won’t be enough.”

  A shiver ran down my back. I breathed through it. The God of Thunder was telling the truth. I had time—I didn’t know how much, but some.

  “I swear to you, Kade Noelstra, that you will know when I’ve taught you all I can, and that you will have time to prepare yourself before I kill you.”

  That shouldn’t have been reassuring. But it was.

  I focused on my core. The eight bands of portal metal. The lightning inside. The Mana that continued to leak out past my spells. And, most importantly, on the five Laws that sat, half-consolidated, inside of it all. Thunder boomed across the mental space within me, and metal that was both molten hot and icy cold spread through my veins. I breathed through it and concentrated on the combined, consolidated Law—the one that would propel me to parity with Deborah Callahan and into the top echelon of delvers in Phoenix.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  The process took longer than I wanted it to. Mana built, and the space between the four finished and consolidated Laws—The Stormcore, the Shattered Storm, The Darkened Lightning, and the new, half-finished one—gradually filled in. I waited, letting the burning cold sensation slowly fade from pain to discomfort, and then to nothing while the half-formed, unconsolidated Law formed.

  When it happened, the God of Thunder laughed. My eyes snapped open, and I stared at the pouring rain and howling rain in my mental space. He was gone. I was A-Rank. The power I needed to fight Deborah Callahan was mine.

  And there was something else.

  Law Consolidated: Law of the Unyielding Maelstrom

  Rank Increased: Rank B to Rank A

  Rage. Precision. Inevitability. Foresight. Surrender. The Law of the Unyielding Maelstrom’s lessons are both guideposts along the Path and reminders of the storm’s strengths and weaknesses. Do not allow the storm’s fury to cloud your vision, but do not suppress it either, Kade Noelstra.

  By accepting the contradiction between the brewing storm and the sudden lightning, you have taken a step down the Stormsteel Path. Your strength grows.

  Rank A Effects:

  1. Your Mana and Stamina caps have increased.

  2. Your skills’ caps have increased.

  Law Effects:

  1. The Stormsteel Path opens its gates. Those with sufficient power and renown may attempt the Stormsteel Trial and ascend to S-Rank. Corekey Acquired: The Stormsteel Trial.

  The Corekey sat in my lap. It was gunmetal grey, a simple, portal metal key that looked almost elegant. Its bow was styled as a cloud with a lightning bolt running through it, and its bit was square except for a single raindrop-shaped indent. It felt warm to the touch, and when I put my finger on it, Mana surged into it until I mentally clamped down on the flow.

  I’d have to find someone to tell me about the process of ascending to S-Rank. Angelo Lawrence no doubt had his own thoughts on it, and so did the God of Thunder. This next step on my Path would be closer to Eugene’s, but I doubted he’d coach me through it—and I didn’t want him to. The less he had to do with my push to S-Rank, the better. The time of our fight was drawing closer, after all.

  But Angelo hadn’t followed a Path—at least, not one I was aware of. His process for reaching S-Rank would be wildly different than mine, and I doubted his insights would apply to the Stormsteel Trial.

  More importantly, I couldn’t focus on the far future right now. The storm prepares, yes—but right now, I had one last set of preparations to make before my fight with Deborah.

  I pulled up my new status page and my spell list.

  User: Kade Noelstra

  Reforged Core, A-Rank

  Stamina: 460/460, Mana: 575/590

  Skills:

  1. Stormsteel Core (A-01, Unique, Merged, God-Touched)

  2. Thunderbolt Forms (A-01, Altered, Merged)

  3. Mistwalk Forms (A-01, Altered, Merged)

  4. Cyclone Forms (A-01, Altered, Merged)

  5. Stormlight Bond (B-05, Altered, Merged)

  6. Shadowstorm Battery (C-05, Altered, Merged, Dual)

  7. Stormbreak (C-02, Unique)

  Path: Stormsteel Path

  Aura: Negative Space

  Laws: First Law of the Stormcore, Law of the Shadowed Storm, First Law of Darkened Lightning, Law of the Unyielding Maelstrom, Third Law of the Sirocco, Second Law of the Stormlight

  Spells: Darkness, Lightning Chain, Polarity Shift, Thunder Crash, Touch of Shadow

  There were two changes to make, and I’d been planning for them for a while. Thunder Crash was powerful as a combo piece, but there was a better option.

  Avatar of Lightning.

  The A-Rank spell would replace both Touch of Shadow and Thunder Crash in my combo. I’d had my eye on it since the fight against Thunder-King Yalagan, the C-Rank Paragon Hobgoblin Summoner I’d killed for a second time in a Warren portal world a while back. He’d created a massive Eidolon of an ogre from lightning and used it to fight us.

  Avatar of Lightning did something similar. The spell formed a being of lightning, shaped like the caster but operating independently of me. It was an incredibly Mana-intensive spell, and under normal circumstances, I’d only get one or two casts off. But Lightning Strikes Twice—or more accurately, Rolling Thunder—would allow me to chain them and create several storm clones. The force-multiplication of having three or four copies of myself fighting around me was too good to pass up.

  Even better, because Avatar of Lightning replaced both Touch of Shadow and Thunder Crash, I had room for a simpler spell—Brendan’s Stormfire Lance.

  In most respects, Brendan’s Stormfire Lance operated like an electrical version of Ariette’s Zephyr. It was a single-cast spell, a spear of lightning that could be held and thrown or cast immediately. However, what it lacked in Thunder Crash’s apparent power, it more than made up for in its various effects. The A-Rank spell hit harder and cost less than Thunder Crash—and even better, it offered a paralytic component and left behind a Mana-burning debuff.

  That was the biggest advantage—and it was a core part of my plan for Deborah.

  When I finished my spell selection, I opened my eyes and realized I wasn’t alone.

  Ellen knelt behind me, chest pressed against my back and head on my shoulder.

  I looked back. Her eyes were closed, and her face was almost euphoric, she looked so happy. It took me a moment to feel what she was feeling, but it was there. The Dual Skill Advancement connection had flared up. It wasn’t much—just a tiny change—but it was enough. Power flowed back and forth across our bond, from my A-Rank core to her B-Rank one.

  I examined my core. Oddly, it wasn’t growing weaker. It was more like…like my core was reaching a helping hand back to hers to help it along. That was strange—I hadn’t felt anything similar when I was the one playing catch-up. But then again, A-Rank operated on a completely different set of rules than the previous ranks had, right down to the bottleneck at the cusp of S-Rank. It stood to reason that Dual Skill Advancement would act differently, too.

  Ellen’s breath slowed as the connection between us stabilized. She opened her eyes, blinked, and then stared at my face. “Oh my god I am so sorry!” she blurted in one string of sounds.

  “About what?” I asked, reaching out to touch her wrist before she could pull away.

  “I came back from helping Jessie out, and you were still working on your consolidation, so I waited on the bed and played around on my phone. But then something shifted, and this…need…to be as close to your core as I could get started building. I waited as long as I could, but…” Her face was completely red, the color of a tomato, and it kept flushing even more as she tried to explain.

  After a few more bumbling sentences, I stood up and offered a hand—a real one, not my core helping hers. “Yeah, I felt it, too. Something weird about A-Rank and Dual Skill Advancement, right?”

  “Right.” She took a breath and grabbed my hand, and I pulled her to her feet. “So, you got it, then.”

  “Yes. I’m A-Rank now. I’m going to beat her, Ellen.”

  “I believe you,” she said. I waited for the ‘but.’ Instead, she just went quiet. Then after a minute, she kept going. “Your plan’s a good one. I think Avatar of Lightning’s the way forward. It’s different than what Harold tried, and you’re attacking her on a different front than anyone else has even tried. Even if I’d known this was her weakness, I couldn’t have pulled it off.”

  Instead of saying anything, I leaned forward and kissed Ellen’s forehead. She leaned into it for a moment. Then she stepped back. “Jeff’s ready for you to practice against him for the fight whenever you are. He’s not Deborah, but he can stand in for her in training, just like we all did for the other rounds.”

  “Nah, I don’t think I need to. I’ve been preparing for this fight non-stop, and I’ll have tomorrow to get used to A-Rank speed and strength and meet with one other person who might be able to help. But not tonight.” Ellen relaxed as I spoke, and I smiled cheekily, then winked. “It’s late. Let’s get some sleep and come back to the prep in the morning.”

  “You don’t really want to sleep, do you?” Ellen asked. Her eyes sparkled, and I winked back at her as I headed for the bed.

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