The road to Valtara had become crowded.
Ryuzen walked beside Eldran, his weighted whip hanging from his shoulder.
The massive walls of Valtara were now visible in the distance.
For the first time since leaving Kryptoria, Ryuzen felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time.
Excitement.
He had heard stories about Valtara.
A kingdom filled with powerful warriors.
A place where strength was respected.
A place where nobody knew him as the useless prince of Kryptoria.
He was just Ryuzen.
A traveler.
A warrior in training.
Suddenly, Eldran stopped.
Ryuzen took another step before noticing.
“What’s wrong?”
Eldran looked toward the forest.
“The animals are running.”
Ryuzen listened.
At first, he heard nothing.
Then—
CRACK!
A tree fell somewhere in the distance.
Birds suddenly flew from the forest.
People on the road began looking around nervously.
“What was that?” someone asked.
Another voice shouted,
“Everyone move toward the gates!”
The Valtaran guards immediately raised their weapons.
Ryuzen grabbed his whip.
“Something’s coming.”
The ground began shaking.
Then the trees exploded outward.
A gigantic creature burst from the forest.
It had six powerful legs, a body covered in metallic scales, two massive claws, and a long tail ending in a glowing stinger.
Electricity constantly moved across its body.
A Valtaran guard shouted:
“THUNDER SCORPION!”
Panic spread through the road.
People began running.
“Get inside the walls!”
“Move!”
“Protect the children!”
The Thunder Scorpion roared.
Lightning exploded from its body.
Ryuzen stared.
“It’s out of control.”
Eldran nodded.
“Something has driven it into a frenzy.”
The creature suddenly raised its tail.
The stinger began glowing brighter.
Ryuzen’s eyes widened.
“Everyone get down!”
A massive bolt of lightning shot from the creature.
BOOOOOOM!
The road exploded.
Ryuzen jumped aside.
Dust covered everything.
When it cleared, several warriors were lying on the ground.
Ryuzen immediately ran toward them.
“Are you hurt?”
One warrior groaned.
“I can’t move my leg.”
Ryuzen helped him up.
“Get him to the wall!”
Two other warriors carried him away.
Ryuzen turned back toward the Thunder Scorpion.
The creature was shaking violently.
Its eyes were glowing red.
More electricity was building around it.
Eldran watched carefully.
“Ryuzen.”
“Yes?”
“That creature is gathering too much energy.”
“How much?”
“Enough to destroy everything around it.”
Ryuzen looked toward the road.
There were still people trying to reach the gates.
Children.
Families.
Injured warriors.
They wouldn’t escape in time.
Ryuzen tightened his grip on the whip.
“I’ll stop it.”
Eldran’s expression became serious.
“You don’t know what you’re about to face.”
“I know.”
“Your body isn’t ready.”
Ryuzen looked at the terrified people behind him.
“I can’t just stand here.”
The Thunder Scorpion released another roar.
The sky above it began filling with dark clouds.
Lightning flashed across the clouds.
Ryuzen’s heart pounded.
“Eldran…”
“If I can’t stop the lightning…”
He looked behind him.
“…I’ll take it.”
Eldran’s eyes narrowed.
“Ryuzen, don’t.”
But Ryuzen was already running.
The Thunder Scorpion raised its tail.
The entire creature began glowing.
Electricity gathered around it.
Ryuzen stopped directly in front of the road.
The people behind him stared.
A little boy was crying.
His mother held him tightly.
Ryuzen looked at them.
Then he faced the monster.
“Come on.”
Blue thunder appeared around his body.
The Electric Eel inside his soul stirred.
Ryuzen spread his arms.
“I’m not letting you hurt them.”
The Thunder Scorpion released everything.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A gigantic wave of lightning exploded across the road.
Ryuzen disappeared inside it.
“RYUZEN!”
Eldran’s voice was swallowed by the thunder.
The entire area became blue-white.
Trees were blown apart.
The ground cracked.
The Valtaran gates shook.
For several seconds, nobody could see anything.
Then— something strange happened.
The lightning began moving toward Ryuzen.
Not around him.
Into him.
His body absorbed it.
His eyes opened.
Blue light filled his pupils.
The Electric Eel inside his soul surged.
Ryuzen screamed.
“AAARRRGHHH!”
His veins glowed blue.
The thunder entered through his arms.
It traveled through his chest.
Down his legs.
Into his soul.
His body shook violently.
He could feel an enormous amount of energy entering him.
Too much.
Far too much.
Eldran’s eyes widened.
“Stop absorbing it!”
Ryuzen couldn’t answer.
The thunder continued pouring into him.
His muscles began tearing under the pressure.
His skin burned.
His heartbeat became painfully fast.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The Electric Eel inside his soul seemed to awaken completely.
Ryuzen could feel it.
Not as an enemy.
Not as a curse.
As part of himself.
Take it.
The strange instinct came from within him.
Take the thunder.
Ryuzen gritted his teeth.
“I… can’t…”
The energy kept coming.
His knees began bending.
Eldran shouted:
“Ryuzen! Release it!”
Ryuzen looked behind him.
The civilians were still there.
If he released the energy now, everyone would be caught in the explosion.
He shook his head.
“No.”
“Your body will collapse!”
“I know!”
His entire body trembled.
“But they’re still behind me!”
The thunder became even more violent.
Ryuzen screamed.
“I’m not moving!”
The Thunder Scorpion continued releasing its energy.
But something was changing.
The lightning around Ryuzen was becoming calmer. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Instead of exploding outward…
It was being pulled inward.
The Electric Eel was consuming the thunder.
Ryuzen’s breathing slowed.
His body stopped shaking.
The massive lightning storm began shrinking.
The Thunder Scorpion’s energy was disappearing.
Ryuzen opened his hand.
Blue lightning danced across his palm.
He stared at it.
He had absorbed the Thunder Scorpion’s attack.
Not all of it.
But enough.
The creature suddenly collapsed.
Its metallic body hit the ground.
BOOM.
Silence returned.
Ryuzen remained standing.
Smoke rose from his clothes.
His body was covered with small burns.
He looked at his hands.
“I’m still alive.”
Then his legs gave out.
Eldran caught him before he hit the ground.
Ryuzen looked up weakly.
“Did… everyone make it?”
Eldran looked toward the road.
The civilians were safe.
The guards were helping the injured.
“Yes.”
Ryuzen smiled.
“Good.”
Then he passed out.
Several hours later, Ryuzen opened his eyes.
He was lying inside a small room near the Valtaran border.
His entire body hurt.
He tried to sit up.
“Don’t.”
Eldran’s voice came from the corner.
Ryuzen looked over.
“You’re still alive.”
“So are you.”
Ryuzen smiled.
“That’s good.”
Eldran walked toward him.
“You were reckless.”
Ryuzen sighed.
“I know.”
“You could have died.”
“I know.”
“Your body nearly entered Beast Overload.”
Ryuzen became quiet.
Eldran continued.
“You absorbed an amount of thunder your current body should never have been able to contain.”
Ryuzen looked at his hands.
“But I did.”
“Yes.”
Eldran’s expression became thoughtful.
“And that is what concerns me.”
Ryuzen looked up.
“Why?”
“Because your Electric Eel is behaving differently from what I expected.”
Ryuzen stared at him.
“What do you mean?”
Eldran looked toward the window.
“The people of Kryptoria called your Inner Beast weak.”
He turned back toward Ryuzen.
“But a weak Inner Beast should not have been able to absorb that much electrical energy.”
Ryuzen’s eyes widened.
“So…”
Eldran nodded.
“Your thunder was never the problem.”
Ryuzen remembered the words Eldran had told him months ago.
Your thunder isn’t weak.
Your body is simply too weak to carry what sleeps inside you.
He looked down at his hands.
For the first time, those words felt completely different.
His Electric Eel wasn’t worthless.
His body simply wasn’t ready.
Ryuzen smiled.
“Then I’ll make my body ready.”
Eldran smiled.
“That is exactly what we’re going to do.”
Outside the room, a Valtaran warrior watched through the doorway.
He had seen everything.
The boy with the supposedly worthless Inner Beast had stood in front of an entire crowd…
And absorbed a Thunder Scorpion’s massive attack to protect them.
The warrior quietly turned toward the kingdom.
“People need to hear about this.”
He looked back at Ryuzen.
“There’s a strange warrior at the border.”
And without knowing it, Ryuzen had just taken his first step toward becoming a name that Valtara would never forget.