Chapter 128: The Awakening of Power

The battle against the Shadow Beasts had barely left a scar on the land, but it had opened a rift in Kaelen. The storm inside him had grown stronger, more chaotic, as if it were trying to tear him apart from the inside out. Yet in the chaos, there was something else—an awareness. A potential he had never fully realized.

Kaelen stood amidst the silence, his breath slow and deep, his eyes now glowing faintly as the storm's energy coursed through him like an unstoppable current. The rush was intoxicating, but it was also dangerous. He could feel the power pulsing through every fiber of his being, threatening to overrun his senses. He wasn't in control, not yet.

Lira was watching him closely, her usual nonchalance replaced with a deeper, more calculating look. "Kaelen, you're starting to lose yourself to the storm. You need to rein it in before it consumes you."

Kaelen's lips curled into a small smirk, though there was a tinge of bitterness in his voice. "Rein it in? Lira, this power… it's different. I don't need to control it. I need to embrace it. The storm is my connection to this world, and it's only growing stronger."

Lira took a step forward, her hand gently resting on his shoulder. "I'm not saying you shouldn't embrace it. But you need to understand it first. If you don't, it'll control you, not the other way around."

He looked into her eyes, searching for any sign of doubt, but there was none. She believed in him, even when he didn't fully believe in himself.

"I know," Kaelen murmured, his voice quieter now. "But the more I embrace this storm, the more I understand it. I feel it pushing me toward something greater. Like a force pulling me forward, urging me to take control."

Lira's gaze softened, but there was an underlying tension in her voice. "Take control of what, Kaelen? This world? Or something... more?"

Before Kaelen could answer, a deep rumble shook the ground beneath them. His instincts flared. Something was happening. The air grew thick with energy, and Kaelen felt his heartbeat quicken.

"What the hell?" Kaelen muttered under his breath as he looked to the sky.

A swirling vortex began to open above them, dark clouds converging and twisting in a storm of cosmic proportions. Kaelen's heart raced as he sensed a presence, something far greater than the Shadow Beasts.

"You felt that, didn't you?" Lira whispered, her voice laced with fear.

"I did," Kaelen replied, his eyes narrowing. "It's not a storm… it's a call."

The vortex began to pull them in, the wind picking up speed as Kaelen felt an overwhelming surge of power—the kind of power that could tear apart entire worlds. His body trembled with the force, but he refused to back down. If this was a trial, he was ready for it.

His hand shot forward, instinctively reaching out toward the vortex. "I accept."

In that moment, the storm within him answered. It spiraled outward, merging with the cosmic storm overhead. Kaelen's body was consumed by the energy, his mind expanding in a flash of blinding light.