Chapter Forty-Two

Elysia’s eyes cracked open to a world of silvery white. Her mind snapped into focus a moment later, upon finding she couldn’t move her wrists apart. Anger and fear spiked through her as she grasped a thick thread of lightning, only for the lightning to rush out of her core almost of its own accord.

The lightning sizzled down her arms, causing the fluffy silvery-white to recede from her face. Her eyes blinked a few times as they focused on her surroundings. Tension released from her muscles upon recognizing her new bedroom, only to tense a moment later when her eyes landed on the cuffs welding her wrists together.

She watched as the lightning absorbed into the cuffs, but unlike last time, they grew warm. A primal need to break free overcame her as she released another thread of lightning. As the cuffs grew hotter, a vicious smile formed.

The cuffs grew sweltering hot as spider-webbed cracks spread through the thick black shackles. Her eyes widened as the room turned violet-white, followed by an ear-popping explosion. Elysia’s hands sprang apart as the cuffs exploded into a million pieces, peppering the walls with shrapnel.

-300 Charge.

Several minutes passed in deaf and blind silence before Elysia’s senses recovered. She shot upright, feeling Ione’s terror coming from under the bed. Uncaring of her red wrists, she dropped to the floor and gently pulled out the frozen-stiff kitten out from under the bed.

While pampering Ione with head scratches and petting as a long list of notifications filled her vision. She almost waved them away in favor of figuring out her current situation, but she stopped herself in case something important showed.

Race Evolution Successful.

Nascent Lightning Elemental

+400 Charge, +20% Lightning damage, Tier 2 Lightning Affinity.

Achievement! Throwing off the shackles of humanity.

“Congratulations, you are no longer human. Maybe you will start making better decisions with your life.”

Reward: 5 attribute points.

Achievement! Smiting

“Wow! You one-shot something forty levels higher!”

Reward: 2 attribute points.

Congratulations! You have conquered ERROR.

Achievement! Shatter.

“This is why you can’t have nice things. Sure, you didn’t break it, but you were the cause.”

Reward: Nothing. Be happy with no penalty for destroying a dungeon, though involuntarily.

She destroyed a dungeon? How? When? Elysia shook away her shock to return her attention to the notifications, but she found no more left.

Memories of her evolution and smiting the last nightcrawler played through her mind. She inspected her body, discovering she was naked with purple veins glowing throughout her body. Like she usually did when she used her internal flashlight, Elysia tried to suck the charge back to her core but found nothing to suck as if the glowing was normal. It looked like stealth was out of the question for now. Hopefully, she could find a way to shut it off. She really didn’t want to glow for the rest of her life.

To take her mind off turning into a lightning bug, Elysia climbed out of bed, earning an annoyed meow from Ione. “Sorry, little one, but I can’t pet you all the time.”

Ione gave her big kitten eyes, which proved to be super effective as she earned herself a few more head scratches before Elysia returned to inspecting herself.

Elysia did a few experimental hops and stretches before frowning. She didn’t feel much different.

An internal inspection caused a sharp gasp. She prodded her now-massive core, taking up the space where her heart once was. How was she alive?

Unable to resist, she opened her status menu.

Status:

Name: Elysia Arashi

Race: Level 1 Nascent Lightning Elemental.

Class: Channeler Level 52.

Charge: 950/1021.

Attributes:

Available Points: 49.

Strength: 32.

Dexterity: 32.

Endurance: 32.

Intelligence: 32.

Perception: 32.

Proficiencies:

Novice Spear Level 8.

Novice Throwing Knives Level 3.

Affinities:

Tier 2 Level 1 Lightning

Resistances:

Death Resistance Level 1

Water Resistance Level 1.

Poison Resistance Level 2.

Bonus

+20% Lightning damage.

+10% Damage to undead.

+10% Damage to Arthropod.

+5% Damage to Ladybugs.

Skill slots:

Slot 1: Electric Current +20% Efficiency +10% Power.

Slot 2: Static Shock +10% Efficiency +20% Power.

Slot 3: Electrify +10% Efficiency, +15% Power.

Slot 4: Lightning Rod +30% Power.

Slot 5: Static Zap +30% Efficiency.

Was she really an elemental? Elementals from her sister’s games looked like inhuman monstrosities, but she looked human other than the lightning bug effect. She hoped she stayed humanlike; she didn’t want to be some massive blob of lightning. Elysia froze as a horrifying thought came to her. Please, please be able to eat chocolate! She couldn’t survive without chocolate!

That thought sent her dashing into the closet to throw on some clothes. After donning a dark-blue sweatshirt and black sweatpants, she returned to the bed to scoop up Ione, who happily nestled into her side, purring up a storm.

The added weight of Ione prompted her to stare down at her companion. Did she grow? She wasn’t as heavy before. Did she snack on her in her sleep? Fortunately, she had a ton more charge now.

As she stepped toward her bedroom door, her gaze landed on a piece of shrapnel lodged in the door. Her previous urgency vanished, replaced with a hard expression. She scrutinized her bedroom but found nothing out of place. With her enhanced ears, she listened for anything outside, but the soundproofing did its job.

Unwilling to risk Ione, she gently set her down on the bed before sneaking outside the bedroom. After closing the door, she returned her attention to her surroundings, picking up muffled conversation upstairs.

Curious, she ascended the stairs as quietly as she could, peeking her head out into the living room to find Eva and Joe Walker conversing on the couch. She gave Joe a suspicious glare, remembering how he appeared hostile to her after her evolution.

With her lightning at the ready, she approached the duo with confident strides. The duo’s tense conversation ceased as they both eyed the new arrival warily.

Elysia’s shining amethyst eyes drilled into Joe. “Why the hell did I wake up handcuffed?”

Joe winced as he defended himself. “I didn’t know how you would react to the race change, so I erred on the side of caution.”

After glaring at him for a few more seconds, she released a sigh. “Fine, I understand. But I expect you to clean up the mess your handcuffs caused.”

Joe’s eyes shot toward her wrists, finding a faded red ring around her wrists, nothing else. “How did you escape? The new model should be unpickable.”

With a smug smile, Elysia grasped at a thin thread of lightning, but instead, a torrent shot out. Elysia’s eyes widened as she released a stream of lightning out the back door.

Joe let out a whistle. “Quite the power-up. I don’t think I could survive that head-on.”

The whooshing of a helicopter sent everyone scrambling outside on the rear deck.

Now outside, Elysia found Umbra anchored just outside China Creek, idling, probably because Eva couldn’t start her. Her gaze turned toward China Creek to find a helicopter touching down.

She tensed as a team of four Changed exited the helicopter, led by a middle-aged, graying brown-haired man wearing a uniform, ribbons pinned to his chest. Refusing to be captured, Elysia moved to escape with Umbra, only for Alex’s team to arrive on a boat blocking her means of escape.

Her veins flared as she glared at the Changed teams boarding Umbra via raft. Despite the overwhelming numbers, Elysia held her ground, grasping at her enlarged core, ready to smite her way out.

The first to approach was the official-looking man, closely followed by the Changed. Each Changed stared at her with expressions ranging from contempt to sympathy.

The Changed teams moved to surround her as Joe Walker stood by her side with Eva sneaking into Umbra for reasons unknown.

Static sparked off her skin, singeing her sweatshirt as the leader approached her only to stop and frown. He whispered something into an earpiece before speaking to Elysia with a booming, authoritarian voice. “State your name and race!”

With a bite to her tone, Elysia questioned, “Why? Doesn’t your unfair inspect skill tell you who I am?”

“State your name and race now or we will subdue you!”

“Geez, no need to get nasty. As I’m sure you know. My name is Elysia Arashi. As for race, well, I was human.”

His frown deepened, turning to Alex for confirmation. He received a nod. Still unconvinced, he drilled his gaze into Joe Walker, who was standing beside Elysia, hands on his sheathed swords. “Sergeant Joe Walker, report!”

Joe Walker winced, but he stood at attention as he spoke. “My superior, Major Evans, led us to reclaim China Creek with the help of Miss Arashi. When we arrived, we found China Creek turned into a dungeon. A creature called a nightcrawler killed Major Evans, Private Sherman, and Private Marshall. Miss Arashi and I conquered the dungeon, but as a result, Miss Arashi evolved.”

The man directed his attention at Elysia as he questioned. “Evolved?”

Elysia shrugged her shoulders, just as in the dark as he was.

He shook his head, redirecting his attention to the task at hand. “Well, no matter. We will find out soon enough. Please present yourself for arrest.”

Lightning gathered in her hands, ready to defend herself, propelling the Changed teams into action. The first to strike was Alex, looking to redeem himself. A streak of blue lighting shot toward Elysia, but to his shock, the lightning simply absorbed into Elysia’s body. In response, Elysia released a cone of lightning, sending everyone scrambling. A few unlucky Changed were too slow, falling to the deck with singed clothes and seizing bodies.

-250 Charge.

New skill unlocked! Cone of lightning.

Would you like to slot the skill?

Elysia directed her furious gaze on the leader, lightning sparking between her fingers, ready to smite him down. As she lifted her hand to deliver the strike, a hand grasped her shoulder, sending the lightning strike harmlessly into the sky.

She spun toward the culprit to find Joe Walker shaking his head. “I know you want to, but don’t kill him. If you kill him. They won’t just capture you, they will hunt you down.”

“So what! They already want to force me under the thumb!”

Before she could release another strike, the Changed teams recovered, forming a protective barrier between her and their leader. Elysia growled in frustration, but she held back another attack to negotiate after her show of force.

Elysia took a deep breath before speaking in as calm of a tone as she could. “Let me go. It won’t do you any good forcing me to join if I’m not willing. If your goal is to clear dungeons, I’m already doing that. No need to force me into a team.”

While safely behind his subordinates, the leader spoke. “As a human, Changed or not, you must comply with the mandates. In this dangerous world, we have to band together to survive. Everyone must put their desires on hold for the betterment of our race.”

As if disgusted to be called human, a sneer formed on Elysia’s face. “I’m not human.” Elysia punctuated that fact by flashing her veins brighter while staring down her nose at the Changed teams.

Alex, the only other lightning Changed, paled as an instinctive part of him told him to bow down before Elysia.

The leader opened his mouth to refute the claim, only to pause, left hand cupping his ear. His expression soured, then he too paled as he listened through his earpiece.

Silence reigned on the deck of Umbra, but Elysia kept her lightning on standby. Joe Walker still stood by Elysia’s side. His swords remained in their sheaths, but still, his presence spoke volumes on the side he chose.

Finally, after several minutes of silent standoff, their leader spoke. “Miss Arashi, President Burns would like to extend an offer.”

Annoyance flashed across Elysia’s face, but she gave an imperious nod for him to continue.

“He will grant freedom of movement to you and those under your command on the condition you answer a summons if you are in the area.”

Surprised by the offer, Elysia ruined her image by blurting, “Really? Why would he make a concession? I can’t be important enough for that.”

Joe Walker jabbed her in the side with his elbow, shutting her up before she dug herself into a deeper hole.

The Changed teams moved to surround her again, but Alex held out a hand to stop them, still looking at Elysia with terror-filled respect.

After overcoming her surprise, her newfound superiority flashed once again at the gall of President Burns, a human ordering her. Before she made a mistake, she held her tongue as she thought it through. If she took the deal, could they abuse it? Just the thought of being under the authority of a human angered her for some odd reason. Was it because she wasn’t human anymore? She didn’t feel any different, but maybe it was because whatever changes happened felt natural. Now the question was, should she take it? How would they enforce the deal if she did? She could just boat away and never return. Actually, could she even leave their area of control? The turtle was blocking the Pacific Ocean. She could take advantage of the deal and curve around Vancouver Island to bypass the turtle though. Tempting, but did she want to give them any power over her? With Joe Walker’s help, she might be able to kick them off Umbra, though with a helicopter they could probably chase her down. Where would she go, even if she tried to make a run for it?

She directed her attention to Joe. Understanding what she wanted, he turned his back to the Changed and released a flash of warmth that cut off all outside sounds before he began speaking. “I wouldn’t take his deal. I’ve heard some nasty rumors about President Burns and his deals. It’s almost like his deals are system enforced as anyone who agrees to his terms never breaks them. Our mayor made a deal to send all Changed to the capital in exchange for support against our dungeon. I’ve known Mayor Stevens going back to our high school days, and he would never tear apart families, yet he sent us to collect every Changed, no matter their situation. If we didn’t comply, he would report us to President Burns. Those who were reported and sent to the capital never returned the same.”