Becoming Stronger

Thunder Chronicles: Path of the Light (Volume One)

#5 Becoming Stronger

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Our training takes place among the picturesque peaks in the northwest of the Land of Fire, known as Jinfen. I had only ever heard of this place in geography lessons at the academy, back when I was in the sixth year (I was twelve or thirteen at the time), studying the geomorphology of neighboring countries. Our teacher, Master Ehrhart, was deeply in love with these lands and even shared an interesting story during class about his expedition here with a friend. Now, Kobo and I train in those very lands. If I remember correctly, his journey took place in the year 698, though I'm not entirely sure. It's a shame that Lord Reinhard Ehrhart met such a tragic fate – his daughter died before his very eyes on the day of the attack on Windhelm. He was on his way to meet her for the graduation festival, and a moment later, the Purge took him as well.

Well, we're talking about training now, aren't we?

Unlike me, Kobo quickly got into the rhythm. In just a week and a half, he had fully acclimated. By about 4:30 in the morning, he was already standing motionless on the training grounds, which were located on a mountain opposite the village. The grounds consisted of a grassy clearing, bordered on one side by a towering cliff that stretched hundreds of meters into the sky and on the other by a sheer drop that plunged deep into the valley below.

Master Liang may have looked like a frail old man, as Kobo called him once, but for that, Kobo ended up running around Mount Yun Le – one of the widest in the region – eighty-seven times. The master, in a show of encouragement, ran alongside him, which ultimately led to Kobo feeling utterly defeated, as the old man completed the laps in about seven hours, while Kobo took twenty-nine.

Our first task was to fight each other. I was not prepared for this, as Kobo already had some mastery over the Earth Element, while I hadn't even begun unlocking Thunder. Nevertheless, the master declared this the entrance trial, which took place on a foggy morning the day after we arrived.

The bushy-browed old man stood at the entrance to the narrow bridge connecting the training grounds to the village, arms crossed. His piercing gaze through his gray eyebrows was so strict that even turning in his direction felt intimidating.

— I won't use my element, so let's fight with pure strength. — Kobo said eagerly, anticipating the battle.

— No! — The master's voice rang out. — You must show your full strength, Johnsen!

— What?! But Raito can barely hold a katana properly yet! — Kobo protested, practically yelling.

And he was right.

At that time, I had no real combat experience. On our way to the village, I had been training with Kobo – we had small sparring matches where, of course, he held back so I could get used to the blades.

...

— Try fighting with just one blade at first. — Kobo had said, sitting by the campfire in the forest on our way to the Land of Fire. — The longer one.

— Alright, but wouldn't it be better to use both from the start?

— Maybe, I don't know much about the sword techniques of the Land of Thunder. — He said, raising an eyebrow. — Just try it, then add the secondary sword.

Kobo retrieved a heavy stone, which he chained to his axe, allowing him to swing it freely. That's how he attacked me, and I was too terrified to even move as the axe, its blade the size of my head, came flying toward me.

I doubted I could deflect a flying axe with my swords, so my only option was to dodge. Kobo spun his weapon and kept hurling it in my direction.

The same thing happened during Master Liang's entrance trial. I simply couldn't get close to Kobo while he spun his axe with terrifying speed. Holding my two swords in my fingers, I assessed my chances – not many, objectively speaking. I made a quick dash, barely avoiding the axe's sharp edge, and tried to stop its movement by striking the chain with both swords, causing the weapon to twist and wrap around me.

The old man smirked slightly.

— Huh?! — Kobo exclaimed. — Raito, you're not dumb enough to fall for that trap again!

— I didn't have time! Even though I was ready.

My strength had increased, albeit slightly, since the moment I first picked up swords. This affected the speed at which Kobo's axe spun around me.

The fight continued. Now I was closer to Kobo since he pulled the chain in, making my situation even more difficult. Every time my swords clashed with his weapon, it felt like boulders were being hurled at me.

Master Liang told Kobo not to hold back, but it seemed he overlooked just how serious the fight had become. Nevertheless, Kobo obeyed the master and used his element – blocking my attacks by covering his right arm from fingers to elbow in stone armor. His weapon moved like a snake, constantly appearing behind me and forcing me into disadvantageous positions.

For twenty minutes, Kobo tried not to kill me, while I struggled to withstand him. The battle only ended when the master clapped his hands.

— Enough, children. — The old man said. — Watching this mess makes me realize how much you still have to learn.

— So, will you take us as your students? — Kobo asked hopefully.

I collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath after the fight.

— How could I leave weaklings like you behind?

— We're weak?! — Kobo shouted indignantly, twirling his axe behind his back.

— I won't repeat myself. — The master replied. — You may have fought with confidence, but it was only against a weaker opponent. You stood in the same spot almost the entire fight, not paying attention to your weak points. That mistake would be fatal in a real battle.

— You think I wouldn't notice an enemy getting behind me? — Kobo laughed. — Yeah, right!

— Oh? — Master Liang's voice came from behind him. — You think every enemy will fight on your level?

Kobo spun around sharply, his eyes widening as he looked down at the elderly master. Neither he nor I, sitting behind him, had noticed his movement.

— Hmph. — The master chuckled. — Since you've chosen the path of strength, you must dedicate yourselves entirely to training. No 'just a minute' or 'I'm tired.' In battle, an enemy will seize those moments.

— Ha-ha! As if we'd say something like that! — Kobo declared confidently. — Right, Raito?

— Yeah, we'll give it our all!

And so, our training began.

Within a month, I had fully adapted to the rhythm of training. Although I had yet to master my element, I was quickly learning to control my energy under Master Liang's guidance.

Our current goal was that very cliff standing at the edge of the training field. We had to climb it, overcoming all obstacles, relying only on our own energy.

Oh yes, those obstacles. Master Liang showed no mercy – sometimes he would send boulders rolling down at us, other times he would somehow find an enormous log and hurl it right in our direction.

Carefully, directing my internal energy into my feet and hands, I scaled the cliff, managing to climb about eleven meters. Kobo stood below, gazing up, waiting for the old man's next attack.

— Huh, you've climbed quite a bit already, yet he's still throwing and throwing. — Kobo said, shielding his eyes with his hand.

— Climb faster, I don't want to wait for you later.

— Oh, so confident you'll reach the top? — Kobo dropped his hand and smirked. — Alright, I'm coming.

The moment Kobo reached my position, and we continued our ascent, the sun disappeared behind a massive boulder that was plummeting straight toward us at alarming speed.

— Oh, damn, I knew it!

— It's too close to the cliff, we can't just dodge it. — I said, my grip tightening.

— Don't be scared! I'll stop it! — Kobo yelled, for some reason, smacking me on the back.

He pushed off the rock face, twisting midair, and encased his right arm in stone armor.

— Damn, that thing's huge! — Kobo shouted as he descended, arm extended. — Stone Release Technique!

The enormous boulder was already upon me – I clenched my eyes shut in reflex. But a second later, I felt the warmth of sunlight on my face again.

— Such a reckless throw! — Kobo laughed triumphantly.

The airborne boulder cracked and exploded into fragments that scattered in all directions. Most of the debris landed in the rice fields below, for which Master Liang (once again) later had to apologize to the village elder.

That day, we finally reached the top of the cliff. Its summit was a gently sloping green plateau, offering an incredible view of the mountains and fields of the Land of Fire.

Our training followed an incredibly grueling regimen, one that no ordinary person could endure. Of our sixteen-hour days, nearly eleven were dedicated solely to training, and within that time, we accomplished much. Every morning, we ran five continuous laps around Mount Yun Le. After a short break, we moved on to strength training, which lasted until noon. Following a heavy meal (with our goals, we had to eat a lot, and Master Liang simply would not allow us to consume fewer than three thousand calories a day), we transitioned into more refined training –energy control exercises.

Energy control training followed immediately after strength training for a reason – according to the master, true combat effectiveness depended on a balance of muscle strength and energy control. However, he also told us that energy control alone didn't require immense physical power; some could rely entirely on their element to sustain their energy reserves. Unfortunately, not everyone was born with an element capable of such feats.

During energy training, we meditated frequently and sought guidance from the elemental gods. We also sparred, learning to conserve energy for future encounters with stronger opponents.

As evening approached, Master Liang conducted swordsmanship lessons – mostly for me, since Kobo had already learned much beforehand, and his weapon was rather unique. During his sessions, he trained in rotation speed and practiced combining his attacks with his weapon, a technique called mixed prayer. In Kobo's case, mastering this technique was nearly impossible, as he had already learned the basic form of elemental combat – using it separately from his weapon.

Mastering both types of prayer was called universal mastery, and attaining it was incredibly difficult. Still, setting it as a goal was exactly the kind of thing Kobo would do, so he never stopped training.

I, on the other hand, focused on dual-blade swordsmanship. Master Liang was well-versed in the sword arts of the Land of Thunder and taught me many of the techniques he had mastered himself. He truly was an incredible man, Master Liang.

Two and a half months later, I awakened my element – the violet lightning, known to all as thunder, finally stirred within me. Thunder is a branch of light – one of the five fundamental elements – but despite this, it is considered the strongest of them all. This status makes thunder incredibly difficult to master, and even as a Hakami, born from a lineage that had inherited this element since the descent of the Heavenly Gods, I struggled to reach even the first stage of elemental synchronization.

Two years passed in training.

The fourteen-year-old, who once barely knew anything, was now gone. I felt far more confident in myself. I celebrated my coming-of-age in winter, on February 20th, in the company of Kobo and Master Liang, who prepared an enormous feast filled with various delicacies.

By mid-August of the year 722, I sent another letter to Ren Arataki at the Shadow Headquarters – this time via a falcon I had somehow managed to befriend during my training.

Throughout those two years, we maintained our correspondence with Ren. Back then, his raven had been the one delivering our letters back and forth, surely exhausted from flying such long distances.

A week later, his reply arrived.

"We're eagerly awaiting you! Especially Kaisa and Ludwicht. Apparently, I set their expectations of you too high – ha-ha! Or maybe not?"

— Ha-ha-ha! Stupid Ren, you didn't overhype anything. — Kobo huffed, sitting beside me as we read the message.

— Huh, I'm surprised anyone besides Ren still remembers us. — I said, feeling a flicker of warmth. — It's been a long time, after all.

— How could anyone forget us, damn it?! — Kobo clenched his fists. — We're probably already leagues stronger than Kaisa, so she'd better be ready.

I laughed. The feeling in my chest was difficult to put into words, but I was returning home, and that alone made my heart lighter. That is, until my joy was overshadowed by the thought of the attack on Windhelm. Neither Kobo nor I had any clue what had truly happened that day. And my mother… I hadn't seen her since I left home for my Academy graduation, more than two years ago.

Hakami Raito.