Charles barely had a mont to savor his win. Lira's screams cut off abruptly, and her body—still jittery from the shock—lost its balance.
Before he could react, she toppled forward, crashing right onto him.
"Thump!"
The impact caught him off guard. His back was already pinned to the floor, and now Lira's weight flattened him.
Worse, since her foot had been on his chest, her fall landed a certain part of her—her butt, to be precise—square on his face.
'What the hell?!' Charles thought, eyes popping wide.
The heat of her body, the sweat from the fight—it hit him all at once.
He tried shoving her off, hands pushing, but his arms felt like jelly.
'She's heavy!' he groaned in his head, struggling weakly.
It wasn't just fight fatigue—Rian's body was at its limit.
For a second, Charles lay still, trapped beneath her. He could sll her sweat and sothing else—a faint scent, not unpleasant.
'She doesn't stink,' he thought, almost grudgingly, 'but this girl's nuts. I've gotta get her off before she pulls so weird wrestling move!'
He pictured Lira snapping out of it and twisting into one of those grappling holds he'd seen on TV.
With a desperate heave, he pushed again, but she didn't budge.
Lira, anwhile, was in shock.
Her mind spun as she tried to process what just happened.
'What... was that?' she thought, her body still tingling from the last traces of electricity.
She was sprawled over Rian but barely registered it.
Her eyes were locked on the ceiling, wide open, as her breathing steadied.
'Does Rian actually have powers?'
The idea was ridiculous.
Rian—the useless, the weakling, the clan's punching bag—having powers?
'Why'd he hide it all these years?' she wondered, frowning.
Then, sothing clicked.
This couldn't be elental control.
What Rian had done—that blue spark, the lightning that shot from his hand...
'That's not an elent,' Lira thought, a chill running through her that had nothing to do with pain. 'He used magic!'
Panic gripped her for a second.
In the Storm Clan, magic was forbidden.
Elentals were honored warriors, but mages... mages were heretics, cheaters who mimicked elents with dirty tricks.
If anyone found out Rian was a mage, they wouldn't sell him as a slave. They'd execute him on the spot.
A hoarse cough snapped her out of it. Rian, pinned beneath her, was struggling to breathe.
Lira blinked, realizing their position, and with a shaky effort that made her legs wobble, she shifted enough to sit on his chest instead.
She was still weak, muscles aching from the electric jolt, but her gaze was steady.
"Drop the fighting idea, Rian," she said, her voice choppy from exertion.
Charles, head finally free, sucked in a gulp of air.
Though Lira was still on his chest, at least he could talk.
"What? Didn't you see beat you a second ago?" he shot back, tired but defiant.
Lira stared at him, lips pressed tight.
"That thing you did..." she started, taking a deep breath to steady herself, "you know it doesn't count."
What he did didn't count?
What a joke!
Charles let out a weak chuckle, though her weight made breathing a chore.
"What do you an it doesn't count? We didn't set rules, Lira. That was a clean duel, and I won."
He wanted to convince her he'd beaten her so she'd stop the fight—because if she kept going...
He'd definitely lose!
Lira shook her head, visibly annoyed.
"You're an idiot," she muttered, running a hand through her damp hair. "But not just an idiot... a stubborn one."
"But I won, didn't I?" Charles pressed, flashing a mocking grin he could barely hold through the exhaustion.
'This jerk...'
Lira studied him silently for a mont, like she was trying to figure out what was up with Rian's sudden attitude shift.
He used to be so ek, following her orders ever since that accident, but now...
Her expression hardened.
"What did you do?" she asked, her tone dead serious, no hint of mockery left. "Tell ."
Charles took as deep a breath as he could with her on top.
"I used my powers," he said simply, eting her eyes.
He didn't know how to explain it beyond that, and he was too wiped out to try harder.
Lira blinked, and for a few seconds, silence blanketed the room.
Then her voice dropped to a tense whisper.
"Magic's forbidden in this clan, Rian," she said, leaning closer. "If anyone else sees you pull that, they'll report it. And you'll die."
Charles frowned, confused.
"Why? You guys control water or earth. What's the difference?"
Lira let out an exasperated sigh, like she was spelling out the obvious to a kid.
"Exactly. We control elents—bend them to our will. Magic uses mana to fake it. It's artificial, filthy. The clan sees it as an abomination."
Charles stared at her, processing her words.
"But it's not magic," he said after a beat, a spark of realization hitting him. "I control lightning. I'm not faking anything. It's part of ."
Lightning was part of him...?
Lira let out a short laugh, but it broke into a pained groan as she clutched her chest.
The electricity had left its mark, and her body still felt it.
"Control lightning?" she repeated, eyeing him with disbelief. "Rian, are you insane? That's impossible. No one controls lightning. Where'd you even get it from?"
Charles managed a faint smile despite the pressure on his chest.
"My body made it," he said, like it was no big deal. "I don't need anything external. It just... cos out."
Lira froze, eyes widening.
"What?" she murmured, barely audible.
Her mind raced again.
If he was telling the truth, it wasn't magic. But it didn't fit the elental powers the clan knew either.
Lightning wasn't like water or fire—it was wild, erratic, sothing that fell from the sky, not sothing a person could wield.
'Is he for real?' she thought, staring down at him. 'Or is he so delusional he believes it?'
"What's wrong?" Charles said, breaking the quiet. "Don't believe ?"
Lira didn't answer right away. Her hand stayed on her chest, where the ache lingered.
"Even if that's true..." she began, her voice wavering slightly, "if anyone else sees it, they won't care if it's magic or not. They'll treat you like a mage anyway. And that's a death sentence."
Charles t her gaze, a knot twisting in his gut—he hadn't thought of that.
In his mind, lightning was just another power, like what Darion or Syris used.
But if the clan saw it as taboo...
'Great,' he thought sarcastically. 'Not only do I have to win two fights, now I've gotta hide the one thing that gives an edge.'
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