Adam raised his trembling hand.Despite the blood streaming from a deep wound on his forehead, the spark in his eyes hadn't faded.Neil caught that glint and instantly understood—he was preparing something new.
"You're so stubborn…"
But before he could move to stop him, a wavering black thread emerged from Adam's palm…It looked like a living ribbon, wrapping around his arm and chest, then extending into the air.It was…
"Shadow thread…? No, not a thread… it's…"
Adam growled weakly:"The twist of nothingness…"
The black ribbon suddenly exploded into dozens of fine threads.They looked like tongues of black smoke, but they were sharp—designed to cut through aura defenses before reaching the body.Neil waved his hand, releasing a gust of wind. The first threads blocked it, but another slipped through and left a shallow wound on his neck.
And at that moment, as the clash between darkness and Neil's power intensified, Krista was watching with a tremble.But her mind drifted for a moment, back to four days ago…
[Flashback – 4 days earlier]In the small training field near the forest, Neil stood watching her, arms crossed over his chest, while Krista panted, sweat soaking her forehead.Between her hands, she slowly spun light energy, then raised it upwards…And there, in the air, it blossomed like a flower:
A diamond-shaped hexagonal symbol, radiating a blinding white glow.
"I… I did it…!"
Krista laughed—a laugh that hadn't escaped her in months. A pure laugh, like that of a child who still believed in the impossible.She looked up at Neil and said with excitement:
"You told me light is rare, and not fast, but its attacks are concentrated… I've mastered it!"Krista looked at her hands, still trembling slightly, while the last traces of the diamond light slowly faded in the air. She took a deep breath, as if trying to comprehend what she had just done.Then she turned to Neil, her face lit with an honest, questioning look—not just seeking encouragement, but understanding.
She asked with pure curiosity and wonder:
"But… how? How did I do it? I've trained a lot, yes, but this time felt different… like something inside me suddenly exploded outward. Like I wasn't afraid anymore. How did I unlock my potential?"
Neil didn't answer immediately. He looked toward the horizon, at the forest stretching endlessly, as if hiding some answer. Then he clasped his hands behind his back and stepped toward her.
"That's the question I've been waiting for you to ask."He said it calmly, then added:
"Potential isn't just energy. It's a spark… trapped inside the heart, needing a shock, a jolt to burn the chains and break free."
Krista raised her eyebrows, her curiosity growing:
"A shock? A jolt? You mean… I needed something to wake me up?"
Neil smiled slightly, like a teacher discovering that his student was beginning to understand the world from a new perspective. Then he said:
"I possess the lightning element. And as you know… lightning doesn't wait. It's swift, direct, and scorching."
He extended his right hand, and a small, dancing spark flickered between his fingers, then disappeared.
"I developed an internal technique I call: 'The Spark of Awareness.' When I release it on a creature's body—even my own—it sends a precise electrical wave through specific points in the nervous system. This wave stimulates the cells, awakens the latent energy memory, and pushes the body to exceed its natural limits."
Krista blinked in amazement, so Neil continued:
"I first tested it on weak monsters at the forest's edge. They didn't have the intelligence to resist… but after the technique, they fought back fiercely. One almost killed me, though minutes before it could barely move."
He paused, and his voice became more serious:
"That taught me something… that inner potential doesn't surface through kindness, but through pressure. Through colliding with fear, crashing into the edge."
Krista fell silent, trying to absorb what he said, then asked in a quiet voice:
"So… you used the lightning technique on monsters. But not on me. Then why did my potential emerge now?"
Neil smiled again, with the look of someone who appreciated the moment when the student's will surpassed the master's intervention, and replied:
"Because I didn't need to. You reached that edge on your own. You used to fear the dark… now you're illuminating it."
There was something in his voice—like respect, not flattery.
Then he added, in his familiar deep tone:
"And that's stronger than any spark."
A light silence followed—not the end, but the beginning of something new.Krista, who for the first time had released a pure light from her heart, began to realize that her journey wasn't just about light…But about what it awakens in others.
For the first time, Neil smiled at her sincerely—without a trace of mockery:"Yes… and you haven't even turned twelve yet."
[Now]
But the joy she felt that day was nothing like what was happening now.She saw Adam getting brutally beaten.Neil's lightning-covered fist smashed into his ribs, then another to his chin, followed by a kick that knocked him down.He got up each time, his face redder, his eyes glowing more and more—as if refusing to accept defeat at any cost.
"Stop…"Neil said quietly, his eyes still on Adam.But Krista clenched her fists… then raised her hands with burning resolve.
"No… not yet."
"Krista, don't…"
"If I don't use it now… I never will!"
A white flash burst forth.The ground trembled around her, the air groaned from the intensity of the energy.It was… her ultimate technique:
"Photon Particle Acceleration."
A giant light sigil formed behind her.Everything in front of her began to disintegrate…Even the air turned liquid, trembling and dissolving.
Neil gasped silently.This time… he could no longer ignore her.
"Damn it…"
He raised his hand, and in a low voice said:
"Condensed Lightning."
The air split, and a waterfall of blue lightning surged forward.The light technique collided with massive bolts of electricity.An explosion roared.Adam was thrown back two meters and slammed into Krista's shoulder before she, too, collapsed.
Everything turned blurry.
But Krista turned to him with a pale face, smiling faintly:
"I just… wanted to reach you… Neil…"
Then the light in her eyes faded and her lids closed—she had lost consciousness.The dust hadn't yet settled after Krista's fall.Neil stood, catching his breath, lightning lines slowly fading from his body, his eyes watching Adam—still standing, though his chin and chest were drenched in blood.
Adam raised his trembling hand, and something strange glinted between his fingers…"Transferring shadow energy… with the black moon… to a single point…"
Neil whispered:"You're still standing…?"
But Adam didn't reply. He pressed his fingers into his palm.In an instant, a small dark orb formed… then exploded into a thin, invisible spear.It launched toward Neil at insane speed…
Neil tried to dodge, but felt a sharp sting on his cheek.He stood still for two seconds… then slowly, a fine cut opened across his left cheek, and red drops slid down.
Adam smiled with a bloody grin, his voice raspy:"More than… 900 times… between us… and finally… I saw a wound on your face… you bastard…"
Neil was silent.He slowly raised his hand to touch the blood on his cheek.Then, without a word, stepped forward once.
Adam barely raised his hands to brace…
But Neil was faster.He extended his arm and gripped his throat tightly, lifting him into the air.Adam's eyes widened slightly, but he didn't resist—instead, he stared at Neil with a crazed smile, half blood, half passion.
Neil whispered coldly:"You… never learn."
Then suddenly released him, delivering a silent but deadly punch to his stomach.Adam's breath was knocked out, his body shattered onto the grass, eyes wide in an endless void.
Silence fell.The battle was over.
Neil stood above him, watching his heavy breathing…Then closed his eyes and said faintly:
"But at least… you're starting to get closer."A strange stillness settled over the forest.A cold wind passed through the trees, as if wiping away the madness that had flared moments ago.
Neil turned his back on Adam lying in the grass, his labored breathing the only sign of life.His steps moved toward Krista's unconscious body, her face pale and chest rising slowly.
He bent slightly over her, touching her neck with fingers charged with faint energy to check her pulse.Then murmured quietly:"You two… will become something dangerous one day."
He raised his eyes to the gray sky, as if searching for an answer he didn't know.Despite the blood, the wounds, and the loss, inside him there was no sarcasm this time… only something close to respect.
An hour later…
Adam slowly woke up.His face caked in dried blood, his clothes torn, his whole body aching.He tried to rise, but his chest only allowed him to crawl slightly, until he leaned against a tree trunk.
He placed his trembling hand on his neck—where Neil had choked him—then gave a faint smile…"The first time… I saw him bleed."
He let out a short, weak laugh. Not one of joy or victory… but a strange mix of defeat, pride, and futility.
He saw Krista lying nearby, her white hair spread around her small face.For a moment, he thought of waking her… but didn't. He didn't know why.
A little later…
Krista opened her eyes. She looked around in confusion, then quickly toward Adam.She saw his pale face, his bruises, his exhausted gaze—eyes that no longer resembled those of an eleven-year-old child.
With a hoarse voice, she asked:"Adam… are you okay?"
He didn't answer right away. He looked at his bloodied hand, then at the dark sky that no longer gave him meaning.
"…Better than ever."He said it with a strange calm, then leaned his head back against the tree trunk and closed his eyes.
From afar, Neil stood on a small hill, watching them silently.He, too, was bleeding a little from his cheek wound, but didn't wipe it away.
He whispered to himself:"Next time… will be more exciting."
Then he turned and disappeared into the shadows, vanishing as if he had never been there.