I was so back.

And Ellen was so strong. She hadn't broken a sweat the whole time we'd been working out. Even as a mage, C-Rank weights and my maximum speed didn't push her the way she wanted to be. And then there'd been the sparring. I hadn't won a single time. Her rank was just too high for me to compete; it felt like fighting the hobgoblins back when I'd been an E-Rank support. Granted, I had a lot more options, but trying to get close to Ellen was all but impossible.

The shadow mage's aura was an ace in the hole that I couldn't beat. I was glad most monsters didn't have that kind of control over theirs.

Ellen and I sat in the sauna, relaxing after the brutal workout and fighting she'd put me through. She was running through our fight, pointing out things she'd noticed. "You're still trying to fight me like I don't have an aura. You're going to have to change your tactics—at least until you hit B-Rank. Mine isn't like the Light of Dawn's. I've got a small perimeter. Ten, maybe twenty yards. And it takes effort to control. If you're fighting something like that, you can bait the aura and burn through its Stamina pretty quickly."

I groaned. "I'd rather just hit B-Rank."

"How close are you?"

I pulled up my status.

User: Kade Noelstra Reforged Core, C-Rank Stamina: 380/380, Mana: 480/490

Skills: 1. Stormsteel Core (C-10, Unique, Merged, God-Touched) 2. Thunderbolt Forms (C-09 to C-10, Altered, Merged) 3. Mistwalk Forms (C-09, Altered, Merged) 4. Cyclone Forms (C-08 to C-09, Altered, Merged) 5. Stormlight Bond (C-07, Altered, Merged) 6. Shadowstorm Battery (D-01, Altered, Merged, Dual) 7. Stormbreak (E-10, Unique)

Path: Stormsteel Path Laws: First Law of the Stormcore, Law of the Shadowed Storm, First Law of the Hungering Abyss

"I'm getting close," I said. "Four Laws to go, I think. That assumes that five Laws will get me there, regardless of rank. I need to get Jeff and the rest of the team together. Either that or we need to start clearing portals together—just the two of us. It's hard not being able to use Cheddar. He's falling behind."

"Right. So, you're looking at one more portal—maybe two—before you push to B-Rank. Be flexible in the meantime."

"Sure. I've got something else, actually. Something I noticed during the fight with the Marionette Merchant. Stormbreak. It should have knocked me completely out of the fight. I should have eaten Mana Burn for using it. But I didn't. Something's up with that skill. I wish I understood what."

"Maybe you're just strong enough to survive it now," Ellen said.

"I got hammered pretty hard when I used it on Yalerox, though."

Ellen shook her head. "I don't think that counts. You were up against her Eye of the Storm. It was going to be overwhelming. But against a boss near or at your power level, your Mana pool probably matches more evenly. I think you should keep trying it."

"Sure." I sighed. "It's about to hit D-Rank, too. I could probably force it soon, but I'm not sure what kind of Law it's going to give."

"Kade, something's off with you."

"What do you mean?"

Ellen sat up, stretching out and then pushing herself to her feet. "You're hesitating more than I'm used to. Get back to being yourself. You had a plan, and it was all messed up for a while because your core broke. But you're back now, so it's time to embrace the chaos and see what comes from it. You can make a new plan once you know what you have. And speaking of that…"

"What?" Ellen's eyes sparked a little, and I blinked as she offered me a hand.

"It's time for you to advance Stormbreak. I'll be there to help you through it if you need me. Stop putting it off."

I nodded and let Ellen pull me to my feet, muscles screaming in protest. It had felt good to push myself, but I was feeling it now. "Okay. My place?"

I could have been patient.

Rushing is what had gotten me to my core break in the first place—that and, if the God of Thunder were to be believed, the unique instability of the Stormsteel Core in the first place. And I had been growing faster than just about any delver I'd heard of.

But no. Patience wouldn't help me. Not with the second part of my core's rebuild. I needed B-Rank. And Ellen was right. Now wasn't the time to hesitate. Now was the time to get back on track. I even knew what I had to do. I just had to do it.

Ellen sat on my couch, with Jessie lurking in her blanket pile. I waved to them. They stared at me for a moment. Then, Ellen nodded. I shut my eyes and disappeared into my mental space.

At first, there was nothing. An empty white space with no shadows, no light—nothing but emptiness. And then, lightning started. And thunder. Green-black, shadow-tainted lightning poured through the sky like water as Ellen's influence filled my space. I let it stay for a moment, then braced my mind. I couldn't do this with her. It had to be my own power.

I took a deep breath and turned my eyes toward the sky even as the green-black lightning shifted color into the white-blue bolts I was familiar with. Electricity surged across the sky like a net that covered every space I could see overhead. But instead of disappearing, the channels of energy seemed to stay, like cracks in the sky.

My heart stopped. My core couldn't be coming apart, could it? I peered through the clouds overhead, struggling to see the Stormsteel bands and lightning-gold reinforcements. No. No, they were intact. Whatever was happening, it was only happening within me.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

But what was happening? What was I witnessing? Stormbreak had never looked—or felt—like this. The cracks in the sky looked less like lightning with every passing second and more like rips and tears in a piece of art, exposing the white backing behind a painting. I wanted to stop watching. Keeping my eyes on it felt like watching the world come apart. It was almost as strange as feeling my core break. Uncomfortable. Wrong. But I couldn't look away—and not just because it was everywhere.

There was an opportunity here. A chance to move Stormbreak forward and make it less horrifying to use. I'd already fired it once with someone nearby, and being able to exclude them from the storm's wrath had been enlightening and empowering. I couldn't wait for more flexibility—and more opportunities to embrace the broken storm.

That was it.

Just that.

The storm wasn't something I could hide from. I'd tried. I'd hidden Stormbreak away inside the Stormsteel Core. But it hadn't stopped hunting for me, and when I'd needed it, my Unique skill had still been there, waiting for me to embrace its anger and weather its wrath.

Stormbreak wasn't a Unique skill I'd been given at random. It was a part of me—a reflection of my anger.

And that meant that Shadow Boxing was reflective of something inside of Ellen, too—and that Angelo's build was part of himself. But what did that mean for someone like Carter Richards, who'd sacrificed his Unique skill? What was that a reflection of? And what was the Stormsteel Core? It was part of me, too.

No. That didn't matter. None of that helped me understand the Law. But what did was the inevitability of Stormbreak.

What mattered was that the storm couldn't be rejected—not forever. I couldn't hide. All I could do was embrace the storm—embrace it, and try my best to survive it.

Law Learned: First Law of the Unbroken Storm Stormbreak: Rank E to Rank D

You have taken a dangerous Path, Kade Noelstra. The storm cannot be rejected or hidden from. It must be embraced and weathered. In attempting to run from it, you have only brought yourself closer to its true essence. The Stormsteel Path embraces you, Kade Noelstra. Now, do the same. The unbroken storm is within you, and it longs to break free.

User: Kade Noelstra Reforged Core, C-Rank Stamina: 380/380, Mana: 480/490

Skills: 1. Stormsteel Core (C-10, Unique, Merged, God-Touched) 2. Thunderbolt Forms (C-10, Altered, Merged) 3. Mistwalk Forms (C-09, Altered, Merged) 4. Cyclone Forms (C-09, Altered, Merged) 5. Stormlight Bond (C-07, Altered, Merged) 6. Shadowstorm Battery (E-10 to D-01, Altered, Merged, Dual) 7. Stormbreak (D-10, Unique)

Path: Stormsteel Path Laws: First Law of the Stormcore, Law of the Shadowed Storm, First Law of the Hungering Abyss, First Law of the Unbroken Storm

I hadn't hesitated. I hadn't been patient. I'd given myself exactly what I needed.

As I sat on the living room floor, my breathing gradually desynchronized from Ellen's, and I realized she'd been keeping herself in rhythm with me even though she didn't have a Law to learn. She'd put her back against mine, too. I relaxed and closed my status.

"Did you get it?" Ellen asked.

"Yes. Shadowstorm Battery and Stormbreak are both D-Rank now. And I'm so close to hitting B-Rank. Maybe I'm already there, but I don't want to push it too much yet—not until I know my core's okay with this much pressure. I should start preparing for another large Law-learning soon, though. Maybe I can ask Eugene for help with it again."

Jessie shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea. You had to trust him to fix your core, but you don't need to trust him to rank up. You don't need to give him any more power than he already has."

Ellen stood and offered a hand, and I let her pull me to my feet. Then her other hand rested on my shoulder, and she looked me in the eye. "Jessie is right. You don't need Eugene to move forward. You have us, and you don't need to push yourself as hard as you did to get to C-Rank. Take your time, let your core settle, and his B-Rank when you're ready."

She turned and stared at the couch—and at all of Jeff's stuff piled in the living room corner. Her eyebrow raised, but Jessie beat her to the punch. "Or, go as fast as you can so we can get this guild off the ground. The sooner Jeff's out of here, the better."

"You know we're moving into that building too, right?" I asked.

Jessie nodded. "Yeah, but we won't have to share with him."

Ellen cleared her throat and stared at Jessie, but instead of moving out of Ellen's favorite chair, my sister only dug in deeper. After a few seconds, Ellen gave up. "Okay. So, your personal advancement is still working just fine. Now for the next problem. My energy might be fine with brooding and waiting, but I'm not. Let's figure out how to deal with the Traynor Corporation."

Dealing with the Traynor Corporation was harder than it looked.

Fifteen minutes in, Jessie got a text. She read it, then glanced at the door, then sighed and slumped down into Ellen's favorite seat. Ellen waited a minute, then cleared her throat. "Hot date?"

"Not if I'm here," Jessie grumbled.

"So go?" I asked. "It's all good. We don't have a solution for this mess anyway. We need more information on…"

"Everything," Ellen finished. "I know enough about the corporation, but the Traynor delving team's a black box to me, and until I know more about what Bob wants, there's only so much speculation we can do. Besides, you've earned some time with that guild building find. How about this? Kade and I stay here and do some research, and you meet Stephen wherever you're supposed to meet him. Sound good?"

"Yes." Jessie started to stand up, then paused. I looked for the telltale signs she was overdoing it. Instead, I only found suspicious, narrowed eyes locked on Ellen. "Wait. You just want your chair, huh?"

I rolled my eyes as Ellen spluttered. "No, she doesn't. Get out of here, Jessie."

Jessie finished standing, and less than a second later, Ellen was in the chair. Jessie turned, stared Ellen down, and then headed for the door. "Whatever. Good luck with your planning."

The door clicked shut behind her. I waited five seconds, then burst out laughing.

"What?" Ellen asked. "It's the best chair in your house."

She sat there stubbornly until I finished laughing. "We should go on another date sometime," I said.

"Sure. What do you have in mind?"

"Oh, you know? Somewhere romantic, where we can take our mind off of delving, your dad, and the Traynor team. This whole thing is a gigantic mess, and I mean, I want to figure it out, but it's not going to be easy. Unless you and I want to hit the GC center, get names, ranks, and archetypes for the Traynor team, and figure out how we can get in contact with them, we're stuck—and even that's a long shot. There's no way Bob isn't talking to them, and they're likely to trust the guy pouring resources into them."

Ellen rolled her eyes. "Somewhere romantic? Kade, you can't even ask me on a date without turning your brain right back to our problems."

She stood up and wrapped her arms around me, resting her head on my shoulder. We stood there for a few minutes until she got fidgety and let go. Then she smiled. "Besides, I already did that research. I've got names and archetypes, and they're all C-Rank. As long as we don't talk to the mage or the tank, we should be able to make headway."

"You already looked into it?" I asked.

"Yes. I had to, because we've only got a couple of days until Bob hosts another party—and this one's open to the public. You and I are going to crash it. We'll need back-up, though, and I think I know who to ask."

"Who?"

"Don't worry about it. She'll have so much fun, though."

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