>Chapter 15<

The day before…

Swimming in the deep waters of the long river, was a big and snake-like creature. It was very hungry because it didn't eat anything in the last couple of days. It didn't know why, but all the fish just somehow disappeared. It wondered where they could've gone to.

As it was slithering though the water, the creature found a very familiar scent. It was the scent of blood. The creature noticed that it was coming from the opposite direction. It didn't wait for even a second longer and started to swim in the direction of the smell of blood, which was more than 500 kilometers away…

Present time…

It was about lunch time. The sun was shining, bringing great heat along with it. Next to a riverside, three boys could be seen asking question to the other two boys. Well, it was more of an interrogation than just asking questions.

Tim and Patrick were trying to answer the barrage of questions the other boys were giving them. Though, they themselves didn't really know what happened. It was a mystery even for them.

"How did you do that?" Phillip asked in anticipation.

"Well, for me, I just thought about how the water flowing was similar to the energy flow and then something happened. Now I can control water, I guess?" Tim answered.

He then proceeded to show them an example by making a hand gesture with his left hand. Out of nowhere, a string of water flowed out of the river they were standing next to. He then opened the palm of his right hand and a ball of water appeared out of nowhere.

Tim then continued to speak.

"I can now even create water out of the energy, and surprisingly, it takes less energy than just controlling an already existing source."

"What about you Patrick?" David questioned.

"Hmm, I just thought about how fire spreads and it reminded me of how the energy spread in my body?" Patrick answered in a questioning tone. Even he himself wasn't sure. He then showed them an example and created fire out of what looked like pure air as well.

"So, we can basically agree that the type of energy we control depends on associating it with something that already exists?" Jacob said, thinking of a possible explanation.

"Hmm, that's a plausible theory." David agreed.

"But if that's how it is, then why can we not already control fire and water?" Phillip asked in doubt.

"He did raise a fair point to be honest." David acknowledged. He then continued to theorize. "Maybe, we associate it with the examples of water flowing and fire spreading but we don't actually think that it works like that?"

"So you think we understand the theory, but it doesn't work like that for us?" Phillip asked.

"Basically, yes." David replied.

Standing there, the boys continued to think over David's words. The three of them that had not yet "unlocked" their kind of energy decided to think about it some more and find associations to the energy, while Tim and Patrick decided to try out some things with their power.

Facing their palms upwards, they tried to create a small pillar of water/fire. It didn't work. Confused expressions appeared on their faces. Just now they could easily create a ball and a thread of water flowing from the river, but now, for some reason it doesn't work.

Thinking about it, they sat there in silence. Thread, thread…

The next moment, it was as if something clicked into place in their minds. They then created a thread of normal energy let's call it natural energy, and then coated it in their energy. Soon a thread of fire and a thread of water appeared on their palms.

"So first, we have to create a foundation with natural energy and then we can coat it in our energy." Tim said and Patrick just nodded in affirmation.

Suddenly, the group could feel the wind picking up. The next moment, the wind started to circle around Phillip. The cold wind then dispersed, ruffling the boy's clothes and blowing away strayed leaves.

"Congrats!" Tim and Patrick said at the same time.

"But dude, was that wind cold…" Tim said before he flashed a look of realization. He then continued to talk. "Hey, if we can control our element then can we control it completely, like its physical properties?"

David looked at Tim and the ground started to rumble. The boys looked at him and saw small pebbles basically flying around him. Calming down, the pebbles then fell to the ground.

"Great now almost all of us have the control." Tim said excitedly.

"Yeah now we can maybe even put up a fight against the monsters here." Patrick said as he glanced at David.

David understood his intention and started to explain.

"When you said changing physical properties, I got the idea of lava flowing, which is basically a melted rock."

The others nodded in understanding before looking at Jacob, waiting for him to unlock his magic.

Though, they didn't have to wait long, but not because Jacob unlocked it but because they felt a chill crawling up their spine. They turned and looked around for the source of this feeling. Finding nothing, the boys didn't dare to relax and only got warier as the atmosphere grew more and more tense.

Standing there in complete silence, only the gentle wind a leaves falling on the ground could be heard. Yes they could hear them because of their improved hearing, but they still couldn't hear the invisible threat hiding somewhere close.

At this moment, the sound of electricity crackling could be heard from the side. They turned their gaze over and found Jacob surrounded by what looked like purple lightning. The lightning flashed around him and created tree-like marks on the ground. The boys still looked on warily, but visibly relaxed, because they had though that the dangerous feeling was coming from Jacob.

*Splash*

Though, they were proven wrong when they heard splash and a long shadow coming out of the water, coming right towards them…