Charles barely had time to savor his victory.
Lira's screams cut off abruptly, and her body, still trembling from the electric surge, lost balance.
Before Charles could react, she toppled forward, collapsing right onto him.
Thump!
The impact caught him off guard. His back was already pinned to the floor, and now Lira's weight crushed him.
Worse, since her foot had been on his chest, her fall landed a certain part of her body—her backside, to be precise—squarely on his face.
'What the hell?!' Charles thought, his eyes widening in shock.
The heat of her body, the sweat from the fight, hit him all at once.
He tried to push her off, shoving with his hands, but his arms felt like jelly.
'She's heavy!' he groaned in his mind, struggling weakly.
It wasn't just the fatigue from the fight; Rian's body was at its limit.
For a moment, Charles lay still, trapped beneath her.
He could smell her sweat and something else—a faint, not unpleasant scent.
'Doesn't smell bad,' he thought, almost grudgingly, 'but this girl's nuts. I've gotta get her off before she tries some weird wrestling move!'
He pictured Lira recovering and flipping into one of those grappling techniques he'd seen on TV.
With a desperate effort, he pushed again, but she didn't budge.
Lira, meanwhile, was in shock.
Her mind reeled as she tried to process what had just happened.
'What… was that?' she thought, her body still tingling from the last echoes of electricity.
She was slumped over Rian but barely noticed.
Her eyes were fixed on the ceiling, wide open, as her breathing steadied.
'Does Rian actually have powers?'
The idea was absurd.
Rian, the useless one, the weakest, the clan's punching bag… had powers?
'Why's he been hiding them all these years?' Lira wondered, frowning.
Then, something clicked in her head.
This couldn't be elemental control.
What Rian had done—that blue spark, the lightning that shot from his hand…
'That's not an element,' Lira thought, a chill running through her that had nothing to do with pain. 'He used magic!'
Panic gripped her for a second.
In the Storm Clan, magic was forbidden.
Elementals were honorable warriors, but mages… mages were heretics, cheaters who mimicked elements with dirty tricks.
If anyone found out Rian was a mage, he wouldn't just be sold as a slave. He'd be executed without hesitation.
A hoarse cough snapped her out of her thoughts. Rian, trapped beneath her, was struggling to breathe.
Lira blinked, realizing their position, and with an effort that made her legs tremble, shifted just enough to sit on his chest.
She was still weak, her muscles aching from the electric shock, but her gaze was steady.
"Give up on fighting, Rian," Lira said, her voice strained from exertion.
Charles, his head finally free, gulped in air.
Though Lira was still sitting on his chest, at least he could talk.
"What? Didn't you see me beat you a second ago?" he shot back, exhausted but defiant.
Lira stared at him, lips pressed tight.
"What you did…" she began, taking a deep breath to steady herself, "you know it's not allowed."
Not allowed?
What a joke!
Charles let out a weak chuckle, though her weight made breathing tough.
"Not allowed? We didn't set any rules, Lira. That was a fair duel, and I won."
Charles was trying to convince Lira he'd beaten her so she wouldn't keep fighting, because if she did…
He'd definitely lose!
Lira shook her head, clearly annoyed.
"You're an idiot," she muttered, running a hand through her damp hair. "Not just an idiot… a stubborn one."
"But I won, didn't I?" Charles pressed, managing a mocking smile despite his exhaustion.
'This idiot…'
Lira looked at him silently for a moment, as if trying to figure out what the hell was behind Rian's sudden change in attitude.
He used to be so docile, following her orders since that accident, but now…
Her expression hardened.
"What did you do?" she asked, her tone serious now, no trace of mockery. "Tell me."
Charles took as deep a breath as he could with her on top of him.
"I used my powers," he said simply, holding her gaze.
He didn't know how to explain it beyond that, and he was too tired to try.
Lira blinked, and for a few seconds, silence filled the room.
Then, her voice dropped to a tense whisper.
"Magic is forbidden in this clan, Rian," she said, leaning slightly toward him. "If anyone else sees you do that, they'll report it. And they'll kill you."
Charles frowned, confused.
"Why? You guys control water or earth. What's the difference?"
Lira let out an exasperated sigh, like she was explaining the obvious to a child.
"Exactly. We control elements, bend them to our will. Magic uses mana to mimic them. It's artificial, dirty. The clan sees it as an abomination."
Charles looked at her, processing her words.
"But it's not magic," he said after a moment, a spark of realization hitting him. "I control lightning. I'm not mimicking anything. It's part of me."
Lightning was part of him…?
Lira let out a short laugh, but it cut off with a pained groan as she clutched her chest.
The electricity had left its mark, and her body still felt it.
"Control lightning?" she repeated, staring at him in disbelief. "Rian, are you insane? That's impossible. No one controls lightning. And where'd you even get it?"
Charles gave a faint smile, despite the pressure on his chest.
"My body made it," he said, as if it were the most natural thing. "I don't need anything external. It just… comes out."
Lira froze, her eyes wide.
"What?" she murmured, barely audible.
Her mind raced again.
If what he said was true, it wasn't magic.
But it didn't fit with the elemental powers the clan knew either.
Lightning wasn't like water or fire; it was wild, unpredictable, something that fell from the sky, not something a human could control.
'Is he actually telling the truth?' Lira thought, looking down at him. 'Or is he so delusional he believes it?'
"What's wrong?" Charles said, breaking the silence. "Don't believe me?"
Lira didn't answer right away. Her hand stayed on her chest, where the pain lingered.
"Even if that's true…" she started, her voice shaking slightly, "if anyone else sees it, they won't care if it's magic or not. They'll treat you like a mage anyway. And that means death."
Charles looked at her, a knot forming in his stomach as he hadn't considered that.
In his mind, lightning was just another power, like what Darion or Syris used.
But if the clan saw it as forbidden…
'Great,' he thought sarcastically. 'Not only do I have to win two fights, but now I have to hide the one thing that gives me an edge.'