The morning haze hadn't lifted yet. The sky was tinged with pale amber, and Kael stood at the center of the training field, arms folded behind his back as his five students stretched and prepared.
Today was meant to be another grueling round of Mirror Trials. More soul-ripping exposure. More breakdowns. More growth.
But the wind stopped.
Not slowed. Stopped.
Velura froze mid-stretch.
Seris dropped her illusion midcast.
Gorran clenched his fists, his senses screaming.
Then they all turned—every head in Elandor turned—toward the east.
Toward the thing that had just arrived.
A wave of sickening, blood-curdling Essence rolled across the land. It wasn't chaotic like most Varnoks. It was… wrong. Layered. Mutilated. Alive.
Kael exhaled slowly, golden light glowing faintly along the lines of his jaw. "So they finally sent it."
The students stared toward the horizon where a shadow loomed—a shape so large it blocked the clouds. At first, it looked like a hill of flesh. Then it moved.
Multiple heads.
Half-formed arms protruding from malformed torsos.
Jagged bone protrusions twitching like antennae.
And the smell — gods above — it was rot and lightning and screaming blood.
Seris gasped, "What… is that?"
"A Varnok," Kael said calmly. "But not like any you've fought."
Thorne took a step back, sweat already beading. "That thing feels like a nightmare."
"No," Kael replied. "That thing is a Peak Origin-tier beast. One the Sovereign crafted using a fusion of dozens—maybe hundreds—of high-tier Varnoks. They likely wanted it to reach Ethereal. But it didn't."
He turned toward them, eyes serious. "Which is why I'm letting you feel it. Just briefly."
And before anyone could respond, Kael blurred forward and grabbed all five of them with a sweep of Kinetic Essence — disappearing from the field in a thunderclap.
Field of the Monstrosity – Moments Later
They appeared just hundreds of meters from the creature.
It had no face. Just a yawning vertical slit lined with twitching teeth, with fused heads scattered across its torso like cursed jewelry. Tentacles of fused limbs dragged along the earth behind it, scouring the terrain as it moved slowly — but with purpose.
Seris threw up in the grass beside them. Gorran staggered backward and fell. Reyne's knees buckled, and even Velura's eyes widened in uncharacteristic horror.
"Engage it," Kael ordered.
"What?" Thorne barked. "You want us to die?!"
"I'll step in before that happens," Kael said coolly. "But if you want to understand the gap between where you are and where I stand — go."
And though every bone in their bodies screamed no, they obeyed.
The five launched forward, spells charging in desperation.
Lightning, wind, ice, illusions, gravity crashes — everything they had — slammed into the Varnok.
The creature screeched — a grotesque blend of human, beast, and godless noise — and barely slowed.
It swung.
The earth cracked, and Thorne went flying like a doll.
Reyne weaved mist to shield Seris, but it was torn apart instantly.
Velura's shadows flickered uselessly over its hide. Gorran managed to anchor its limb briefly, but its mass shrugged the effect off.
Then it raised one massive limb — jagged, fleshy, fused with half a dozen claws — and brought it down on Reyne.
Kael appeared in an instant.
He caught the attack with one hand, Essence flaring out in a brilliant storm of gold and violet. The shockwave sent dirt and bone flying for miles.
"No more," he said quietly.
He carried the five of them backward with a single motion of Storm-enhanced speed, setting them gently behind a torn ridge.
"You all did well," he said, his voice low and warm. "I'm proud of the improvements you've made."
Then Kael turned.
His smile vanished.
The Battle – Kael vs. the Monstrosity
The monstrosity howled and lunged.
Kael vanished.
He reappeared mid-air above it, Storm Essence coiling around his body like serpents. With a flick of his hand, Tempest Reaver Drive ignited — an anchor vortex exploded beneath him, driving him downward with impossible force.
The creature's hide cracked.
It struck back, and Kael blocked the mountain-sized arm with his forearm, gritting his teeth slightly as he channeled Kinetic compression to redirect the blow.
"Not bad," he muttered.
He launched again — Voltbreaker Ascension flickered into life, and Kael blurred forward, piercing into the Varnok's side and paralyzing half its mass.
It screamed.
But it still moved.
Its endurance was unmatched — even as Kael shattered limbs, vaporized heads, and tore through muscle, it kept regenerating, kept resisting.
So Kael ended it.
He rose into the air, eyes glowing with condensed power. Four affinities blazed around him: Flame, Lightning, Kinetic, Storm.
"Essence Devastation," he whispered. "Apex Overdrive."
And when he descended, the world shook.
When it was done, the Varnok was a smoldering crater of molten flesh and shattered Essence.
Kael stood atop the corpse, cloak rippling, his eyes distant.
Then he turned.
Later That Evening
Citizens had gathered across rooftops, streets, and towers. They'd felt the monstrous presence, the shift in air, the terror crawling up their spines.
Kael descended in a flicker of lightning, his cloak burned at the edges.
"It's done," he said. "The monster is gone."
He said no more, and walked away.
But the five students?
They stayed.
And they spoke.
" He's a monster, he blocked every attack it through with one arm "
" Every attack he launched caused shockwaves that made me lose balance and he wasn't even near us! "
" That monstrosity instantly overpowered all 5 of us and he defeated it like it was a normal Tuesday! "
The stories spread.
Once again Kael's legend grew.