With just 18 days left until the Thunder Tournament, the training was only getting more intense. The group had no idea how they'd ended up here. One moment they were on solid ground—now they were inside a twisting, glowing, lightning-filled cloud maze that seemed to move on its own.
The Maze Moves
The walls were thick with electric mist. Every few seconds, bolts of thunder cracked just feet away from them, lighting up narrow paths that stretched in all directions.
"Where even are we?" Shigan asked, his stance tense."We're inside a training space forged from storm energy," Raidon's voice echoed through the clouds, though he wasn't visible. "It changes every five minutes. You'll need to learn how to adapt fast."
Kaelen squinted ahead. "So this maze... it's alive?""More like conscious," Sakayanagi said, spinning a small ember between her fingers.
"And if we split up?" Ren asked."Bad idea," Kaelen said, holding up a hand. "Stay together. This place feeds off isolation."
First Trial: Echo Zones
As they moved, they entered a part of the maze where shadows and voices echoed strangely.Shigan stopped. "Wait. Did you hear that?"
A voice whispered from the fog, "You'll never be strong enough."
Another: "You're just living in someone else's shadow."
Each of them began hearing something personal. Doubts. Fears.The walls seemed to press in tighter the more they listened.
Ren clenched his teeth. "It's trying to get in our heads. We need to drown it out."
Sakayanagi lit a flame above her hand, humming softly, a tune from her childhood.Kaelen joined in with soft rhythm taps against the metal handle of his blade.Shigan followed with short bursts of Ki sparks.Ren snapped his fingers and summoned a tiny shadow drummer, the rhythm cutting through the whispers.
The voices faded. The path cleared.
Second Trial: Mirror Paths
After escaping the whispers, they stumbled into a section where themselves—but slightly off—stood in their way.
Four figures, shaped like Ren, Kaelen, Shigan, and Sakayanagi, blocked the path.Each one copied their fighting style, but twisted it.
Ren's doppelganger used his shadow style with no care for limits.Sakayanagi's was ruthless, her flames consumed everything.Kaelen's moved with coldness, as if he had no empathy.Shigan's clone relied on rage, striking blindly.
"These are us if we lost control," Kaelen whispered.
One by one, they engaged.
Ren used control, weaving shadows around his doppelganger until it collapsed into itself.
Sakayanagi unleashed a calm, precise flame that burned only the false version.
Kaelen fought defensively, showing mercy even to his mirror.
Shigan refused to use anger. Instead, he fought with discipline, using pressure points to shut down his copy.
As their counterparts dissolved, the path to the maze's center opened.
Center of the Maze — The Eye of the Storm
The group arrived at a huge open space, glowing with storm light and filled with levitating rocks and static currents.Floating above them was Raidon, sitting on a cloud like it was a throne.
"Not bad," he said, hopping down. "This was never about strength. It was about being yourselves while everything tried to twist you."
He tossed them a small glowing stone.
"This is a Maze Core. Keep it. You'll need it when we reach the Thunder Skies."
Ren pocketed it. "Is this over?"Raidon raised an eyebrow. "You think one trial a day is enough?"
Everyone groaned.
Nightfall in Stratos Haven
Later, back in their floating home in Stratos Haven, they all crashed on the couches.
Kaelen rubbed his forehead. "That place was brutal."Shigan nodded. "Still… I feel sharper."
Ren leaned back, looking out the window as stars flickered above them.
"Each trial teaches us something we didn't know about ourselves."Sakayanagi smirked. "And hurts in ways we didn't expect."
Raidon walked in with a weird dessert from the Thunder Skies called Whispskin. It looked like clouds but tasted like honey-soaked berries.
"Eat. Tomorrow's not easier."
Everyone sighed and dug in.
To be continued…
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