The break in stillness was not a sound but a sensation. A surge of oppressive energy rolled through the expanse of red and black clouds, reverberating with an intensity that pressed against Lassim’s ntal form that had transitioned to this space. His entire body was sohow visualized inside the space and this pressure threatened to crush this visualized version of himself.
The massive storm cloud ahead of him churned more violently, arcs of crimson and black lightning splitting the air with a violent anger. The storm was very clearly an elental, his first ever encounter with a true elental being, and its rage—for whatever reason it was angry—was palpable.
For so reason, Lassim’s halberd had followed him into this ntal space as well, to which he promptly tightened his grip on it ready to attack. His body floated weightless in the endless void of clouds, but his instincts scread in alarm at him to brace for an impact he wouldn’t be able to see coming.
Before he could make a move, a jagged bolt of red and black lightning lanced toward him. Yet, he couldn’t feel the threat to his life within its presence. As if It wasn’t a strike ant to kill—instead a warning shot, sharp and precise, but just dissipating into the air just inches from his face with such an incredible amount of control from the elental that it genuinely surprised him. He could even feel Zaphy’s shock at that level of precision seeping into their bond. The force of the attack, however, sent him reeling back, his halberd flaring to stabilize his form.
The storm elental surged forward, its shape becoming more defined as it neared. It was no longer just a cloud.
Within its swirling mass, a humanoid figure began to take form—a towering silhouette of storm and fury. Its arms were jagged arcs of lightning, its body an amalgamation of dense clouds shot through with streaks of red and black. Its face, if it could even be called that, was a shifting void of lightning and cloud, with twin points of crimson lightning bolts glaring out like eyes.
The elental lood over him, its presence almost suffocating against this visualized spirit form he’d taken. Despite its lack of speech, Lassim could clearly make out what it was feeling: hostility, challenge, and an unsettling tinge of jealousy for so reason.
"Why are you doing this?" Lassim demanded, his voice steady despite the tension in his body. The halberd in his hand humd with fused mana, ready to act. "I haven’t done anything to you and I was just ditating!"
The storm entity’s response was another sudden burst of lightning aid directly at him. Lassim reacted this ti, raising his halberd to intercept the strike. The fused mana within the weapon surged outward with his [Slash], clashing agains the incoming bolt in a deafening crackle and shower of red and black sparks as the lightning sprite fish exploded against it. The force of the collision sent him skidding backward through the air, the shock reverberating up his arms.
"Alright, if that’s how it’s going to be…," Lassim muttered under his breath, steadying himself.
The elental didn’t relent. Another strike followed, then another, each bolt more aggressive and thicker than the last.
Lassim began to dodge and parry, his movents growing more fluid as he adjusted to the entity’s attacks. Yet, this seed to only anger the lightning elental even further.
Each strike ca faster, the arcs of red and black lightning weaving through the air with an eerie precision. Lassim couldn’t shake the feeling that these weren’t random blows—they carried a deliberate rhythm, a purpose that went beyond simple aggression.
"Why are you acting like this," Lassim said with an exasperated sigh, his grip shifting the weight of the halberd as he sidestepped another bolt. "It’s like... like it’s trying to prove sothing?"
The realization didn’t make the attacks any less dangerous to his ntal presence in this cloud kingdom he was dragged to. He found that the small sparks that reached him had giving a kind of ntally searing pain, as if a hot needle was pressing against his forehead, striving to dig deep inside.
A sudden surge of wind accompanied the next barrage, as if the force of the lightning had gathered it as an ally to whip through the clouds with enough force to throw him off balance and far away from the lightning elental.
Lassim grit his teeth, pushing against the gale as he retaliated with another sweeping [Slash] with an arc of his halberd. The weapon released a stormy spiral burst of fused mana and an angry swarm of lightning sprite fish that surged forward to intercept the entity’s offensive.
The sprite fish swam through the air, their glowing forms leaving the safety of the spiral of stormy fused mana to dart around the angry lightning elental. They then clashed against its lightning arms like a school of fish suddenly jerking towards it in unison. Their playful but devastating bites dispersed the mass of clouds and lightning energy that ford the elental.
For a mont, Lassim thought he’d gained the upper hand.
But the elental rely shifted itself, its form dissolving into the surrounding clouds as if it was never there. The remaining lightning sprite fish that had yet to finish their attack and explode snapped at empty air, their attacks finding no purchase.
Lassim’s eyes darted around, his spirit sense straining to track the entity’s movents. But it was useless as the entire area and all of the clouds that surrounded him were made of the sa black and red storm cloud mass.
"Where did it—"
A sudden weight slamd into him from behind, sending him tumbling through the air. The elental reford above him, its lightning limbs crackling with an angry hiss as it prepared another strike, this ti a slap at close quarters threatened to smash Lassim’s visualized form into paste.
Lassim twisted mid-air, barely managing to block the incoming palm with his halberd. The force of the impact sent a sharp jolt through his body, but he held his ground, pushing back with as much strength as he could muster, fueled by an additional surge of his fused mana.
The entity’s movents suddenly beca more erratic, its strikes carrying a swirling rhythm that Lassim felt was familiar. It was the rhythm of the Tempest’s Cradle—wild and unpredictable, yet oddly consistent in its chaos with specific areas like the Nexus as an ideal place where even Spirit Growth spirit warriors could cultivate in relative peace..
"Wait, are you the Tempest’s Cradle?" Lassim muttered, his gaze narrowing as he analyzed the patterns. "You move exactly like… you are the storm."
The entity’s strikes slowed, just for a mont, as if acknowledging his observation and words. But the pause was brief. It surged forward again, its attacks faster and more aggressive, as though lashing out in response to being understood by this lightning presence in front of him.
The back and forth continued, and as it did so, Lassim absorbed all of the incoming rage directed towards him with a focused intensity. After a while, Lassim’s connection to the Lightning elent seed to embolden itself. Zaphy seed to have understood sothing once she realized the lightning elental might be trying to communicate. That’s when she sent forward a strange flicker of emotion through their bond channel that she tried to understand what had begun to seep through the storm entity’s relentless assault. It wasn’t just a simple anger or hostility. There was sothing else—sothing deeper.
"Loneliness," Lassim realized, the thought striking him like a bolt of clarity. "You’re not just angry at . You’re... jealous. But why?"
The entity’s form faltered. For a brief mont, its crimson eyes seed to burn brighter, as if responding to his realization. But instead of calming, the storm grew more chaotic, its fury redoubling as if trying to drown out the truth. This opened up a flood of additional aning that Zaphy continued to forward towards Lassim.
"You see as a threat," Lassim continued, his voice steady despite the storm’s intensity as he utilized [Tempest Steps] to the best of his ability in this ntal landscape. "Do you think I’ve co to take sothing from you? But what? Your place in the storm? Your... kingdom?"
Lassim held his ground, his halberd glowing with fused mana as he deflected the strikes.
"I’m not your enemy," Lassim said, his voice firm. "I didn’t co here to fight you. But if you want to test , for whatever the reason is, then so be it."
The storm entity paused, its form flickering as though caught between its anger and sothing else. Lassim took a steadying breath in the mont of respite, his halberd at the ready.
The battle wasn’t over, but sothing had shifted. The entity wasn’t just fighting him—it was trying to understand him, just as he was trying to understand it.
For the first ti since the encounter began, Lassim felt a glimr of hope at possibly resolving this elental’s anger.
The storm of red and black lightning clouds that made up the elental lood before him, pausing its swirling form but still pulsing with fury. There was a hesitation now, a crack in the wall of its unrelenting aggression. Lassim could feel it, even as it suddenly lashed out with another barrage of strikes.
Each bolt of lightning was still equally as powerful as before, and each accompanied by a companion gust of wind sharp enough to cut, but there was a difference now. It was probing, searching for sothing in him. Yet, this seed to open up a flood gate of further understanding and even ntal images that flashed in his mind through the ambient mana, even without Zaphy’s assistance.
As the entity circled him, Lassim began to piece together the fragnts of understanding he’d gathered so far. This wasn’t just any lightning elental. It was one that had existed within the Tempest Cradle for millennia, its power intertwined with the very essence of the storm. It had ruled here, alone and unchallenged, for longer than Lassim could imagine. And now, for the first ti, it saw soone who might rival it.
"Are you being serious right now?" Lassim asked, "I don’t want your kingdom," Lassim said, his tone steady. "I didn’t co here to take anything from you. I didn’t even know you existed until a few minutes ago. I ca here to grow stronger, to understand myself and my path. If you want to test , I’ll face whatever this silliness is, but I’m not your enemy."
For a long mont, the storm entity was still, its crimson eyes fixed on him. Then, without warning, it surged forward, its form dissolving into a torrent of red and black lightning that engulfed him completely.
Lassim’s world beca a storm of energy and chaos, the force of the entity’s power pressing down on him from all sides. His halberd spun and twirled as he lased out against the all encompassing elental with his fused mana, the lightning sprite fish darting around him in a protective swarm. He could feel the storm trying to overwhelm him, to crush him under its weight, but he refused to yield.
"I understand you’re part of this place," Lassim shouted amidst the roar of the storm, his mind holding fast as he fought to stay conscious. "You’re a part of this place, but if you think I don’t belong here too, then I’ll prove you wrong!"
With a surge of determination, Lassim pushed back against the storm, his fused mana flaring with an ethereal light; brighter than ever. The lightning sprite fish sward outward, their forms rging into a massive school that fused together into its giant form—similar to when he unleashed [Slam]—that did its best to tear through the storm around him.
The red and black lightning receded, and for a brief mont, the storm entity’s form reappeared, its crimson eyes glowing with sothing that he couldn’t quite understand.
And then, it was gone, its form dissolving into the clouds and leaving Lassim alone in the endless expanse of now white clouds, having lost their black and red forms.
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