Chapter 61: A soul bond is formed

Chapter 61: Chapter 61: A soul bond is formed

The training grounds echoed with explosions.

A bolt of lightning tore through the sky.

CRACK!

Before the sound could even fade—

Ice erupted from the ground.

Jagged crystal spikes shot upward in rapid succession.

Penelope immediately retreated.

The ice narrowly missed her shoulder.

A second later—

Another bolt of lightning descended.

BOOM!

The impact shattered the frozen spikes into thousands of glittering fragments.

Penelope’s eyes widened.

She finally understood what Erik had been trying to teach her.

His elements weren’t fighting each other.

They were supporting each other.

Complementing each other.

Becoming something greater together.

"Again."

Erik’s voice remained calm.

Cold.

Unrelenting.

Penelope resisted the urge to groan.

For the past two months, Erik had transformed into a military instructor from hell.

She had mastered the Earth Root.

She had mastered the Fire Root.

Individually.

The problem was using them together.

Every time she focused on Earth—

Her Fire weakened.

Every time she focused on Fire—

Her Earth became unstable.

She was constantly favoring one over the other.

"Stop treating them as separate powers."

Erik said.

"They aren’t."

Penelope frowned.

Of course they were.

One was Earth.

One was Fire.

How could they not be separate?

As though reading her thoughts, Erik raised his hand.

A sphere of ice formed above his palm.

Lightning immediately began dancing around it.

Neither element interfered with the other.

Neither element dominated the other.

They simply existed.

Together.

"The moment you stop thinking of them as Ben’s Earth and Kai’s Fire..."

Erik said quietly.

"...is the moment you’ll finally improve."

Penelope froze.

Her eyes widened slightly.

Because she suddenly realized—

Erik was right.

Even now—

A small part of her still treated them as borrowed abilities.

As though she was borrowing them from Ben and Kai.

As though they weren’t hers.

But they were hers.

The Earth Root had accepted her.

The Fire Root had accepted her.

Those powers belonged to her now.

Just as much as they belonged to Ben and Kai.

As if enlightened, she began to accept them as hers.

The realization caused something inside her to shift.

A subtle change.

But an important one.

She slowly raised her hand.

Earth energy flowed through her dantian.

Fire energy followed.

This time—

Neither felt foreign.

Neither felt borrowed.

Both felt familiar.

Both felt like home.

"Good."

Erik lowered his hand.

"Now prove it."

Penelope immediately frowned.

"Prove what?"

"That you trust it is a part of you. That you don’t see it as just a passerby circulating your boy"

The moment the words left his mouth—

Lightning flashed.

CRACK!

Penelope’s pupils contracted.

Her body moved instinctively.

A stone wall erupted from the ground.

BOOM!

The lightning collided against it.

The impact exploded chunks of rock in every direction.

Before the dust could settle—

Erik was already moving.

Fast.

Far too fast.

His figure blurred across the battlefield.

Ice spread beneath his feet.

The frozen surface carrying him forward like a skater.

Penelope’s heart jumped.

She stomped her foot.

The earth trembled.

Three stone pillars erupted from the ground.

Blocking his path.

Or so she thought.

Erik raised his hand.

A spear of ice formed instantly.

Then another.

And another.

The spears shot forward.

CRACK!

CRACK!

CRACK!

The stone pillars shattered.

Penelope didn’t panic.

Not anymore.

Over the past two months—

She had learned something important.

Erik was terrifying.

But he wasn’t invincible.

The moment the pillars exploded—

Flames erupted from behind the debris.

A wave of fire surged toward him.

Erik’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The smallest hint of approval appeared in them.

She had hidden the attack.

Good.

The flames roared across the battlefield.

Heat distorted the air.

For a brief moment—

Erik disappeared behind the inferno.

Then—

The flames froze.

Penelope’s eyes widened.

An entire section of fire transformed into ice.

The collision between both elements filled the battlefield with steam.

Visibility vanished instantly.

"Again."

Erik’s voice emerged from the mist.

Calm.

Steady.

As though he hadn’t done anything remarkable.

Penelope nearly cursed.

Then she sensed danger.

Instinct screamed.

She threw herself sideways.

A bolt of lightning slammed into the ground where she’d been standing.

BOOM!

The earth exploded.

Dirt showered the battlefield.

Penelope rolled across the ground before immediately extending her hand.

The soil beneath Erik’s feet shifted.

The earth attempted to wrap around his ankles.

For the first time—

Erik actually stopped moving.

Success.

A grin appeared on Penelope’s face.

"Got you."

Unfortunately—

Erik had been holding back.

A pulse of lightning erupted from his body.

CRACK!

The earth restraints exploded.

Penelope’s grin immediately disappeared.

"Cheater."

Kai’s laughter echoed from the sidelines.

"That’s not cheating!"

"That’s literally his power!"

Penelope pointed accusingly.

"I had him!"

"You had his ankle."

Ben corrected.

"One ankle."

Penelope looked offended.

Erik ignored all of them.

His blue eyes remained fixed on her.

Analyzing.

Calculating.

Teaching.

"Better."

He finally said.

Just one word.

But Penelope immediately noticed something.

The approval was genuine.

Not forced.

Not polite.

Genuine.

For the first time since training began—

Erik wasn’t correcting her.

He wasn’t criticizing her.

He wasn’t telling her what she’d done wrong.

Because for the first time—

She had successfully combined both elements during combat without hesitation.

Earth.

Fire.

Attack.

Defense.

Adaptation.

The transition had been seamless.

Natural.

As though the two roots had finally stopped being strangers.

As though they had become parts of the same whole.

Her whole.

A small smile appeared on Penelope’s face. Then, as if out of control, the smile grew bigger and bigger.

She had finally done it. She was finally one with her elements. These were hers and not Ben’s and Kai’s. These two element’s belonged to her.

She couldn’t help but turn to Erik and jump up to hug him. This training had paid off. Erik reached out and steadied her. "Careful P, we don’t want you twisting an ankle." He said with a smile in his eyes. He was extremely proud of what the team had achieved during their time spent training.

A mistake like last time should not happen again. This time, they knew what to expect from those zombies.

This time, they weren’t vulnerable to the unknown. They were prepared.

Then—

A white blur shot across the battlefield.

"ERIK!" Kai screamed.

A low roar echoed across the training grounds.

Everyone froze.

Penelope slowly turned.

Just in time to witness a rapidly growing white wolf launch himself directly at Erik’s chest.

Who was this and where was the little wolf cub they rescued before?

"Brother?" Penelope asked. "what is this?"