Elentals—those rare beings who could rge with a natural phenonon so completely that the line between flesh and nature vanished—were creatures whispered about, revered, and feared. William had never read about them in any dusty library archive.
Everything he knew ca from his father, carried through late-night talks and half-finished stories told beside a dim lantern fla.
One immutable truth lingered in those teachings: *as long as even a speck of their elent existed sowhere in the world, an Elental could never truly die.* Fire, water, lightning, sound—each one tied to the eternal heartbeat of nature.
And William had already t one.
A boy around his age. A boy who knocked him out cold during a spar. A boy who blitzed him so rcilessly that William had no idea what even struck him until he woke up flat on his back hours later.
Mark—Dolla’s son.
He had moved like a streak of thunder. A whisper. A ripple of air so sharp it carved through reality and defied his senses.
Mark most likely didn’t even know what he was. Elentals were too respected, too closely protected. Surely, his reputation would have been sothing else if they knew.. But the signs were undeniable. When William tried to block that final strike during their spar, Mark had dissolved into *soundwaves*—leaving no silhouette, no breath, no existence to track.
A one-in-a-lifeti encounter...or so William thought.
He had been wrong.
There was another Elental standing right in front of him—one he never even considered.
*BOOOOOOM*
The night cracked open.
Fire swallowed the earth. The ground blackened, the sky flashed white, and several buildings exploded like paper sculptures as Warren unleashed a fire orb from the blazing limb that had replaced his human arm. Flas tore through his skin like liquid blood. His entire arm was burning, molten and wild, consuming half his face and scorching his chest—yet he didn’t flinch.
He only stared at the monster ahead with a hatred sharp enough to split bone.
"...who could have thought...that he would show his Elental side for us..." Gloria muttered, leaning heavily against Emma for support.
Warren—the boy who complained about everything...who sighed before helping...who acted irritated every ti he had to lift a finger to save others—was now a wall of living fire, shielding them with a ferocity none of them expected from him.
William clenched his fist. "...We should use this ti and get out of here."
Gloria’s eyes widened. "But what about Warren?"
William inhaled sharply and gestured toward the blazing boy. "Look at him. Even if he can stand against the Devil right now, the mont that fla dies down, he’s done. He’s barely holding that state together."
Cruel words. But true.
Warren was shaking. His breaths were ragged, his legs trembling from the strain. Fire Elentals supposedly burned endlessly—but only after awakening. Warren clearly had not mastered even a fraction of what he was now forcing out of himself.
And then—
**RUMBLE**
Thunder split the night.
The Devil, furious and relentless, shot toward Warren with a roar that vibrated through their bones.
Warren’s eyes narrowed with a twisted grin. "Now...that I look at you..."
The Devil lunged.
Warren sliced his burning hand in a vicious arc.
A mont later—a severed limb hit the ground with a heavy *thud*.
The inhuman arm writhed before turning to ash, while the Devil staggered backward, snarling. Its arm regenerated, yes—but noticeably slower than when it fought William.
Warren let out an unhinged smirk. "...you look nothing more than a bug."
Both moved simultaneously. The Devil leapt back. Warren slamd his blazing arm into the ground.
**DOOOOM**
**DOOOOM**
**DOOOOM**
The earth erupted.
Columns of fire burst upward like volcanic geysers, forcing the Devil to twist mid-air and contort itself to escape—but the pattern was unpredictable, like a possessed heartbeat. One wrong angle—
**DOOOOM**
GHUAAAAGH!
A guttural scream tore through the sky as the creature was swallowed whole by the lava-hot inferno.
Warren didn’t waste a second. He spun around and roared,
"FUCKING RUN AWAY WHEN YOU HAVE THE TI!"
William gave him a firm nod—an unspoken promise—before grabbing Emma and Gloria’s hands and pulling them away from the burning field of battle.
As they rushed toward the island’s exit, Gloria risked one last glance over her shoulder. Warren was charging back toward the monster, flas spiraling around him like a dying star trying to shine one last ti.
’Really...you can’t judge soone until you see them fight.’
Using telekinesis, William had already pulled Kevin’s limp body along with them. They reached the edge of the island where a long bridge extended into the dark sea, leading toward the final destination.
"Emma," William said as he lowered Kevin onto the ground.
Without speaking, Emma knelt down beside the blood-soaked boy and began healing him. Her silver hair glowed faintly as her palms hovered above his chest, knitting muscle and sealing torn veins.
anwhile, William approached the little girl clutching her trembling hands to her chest. The mont she saw Kevin covered in blood, tears gathered in her eyes.
William gently picked her up before her fear spiraled. He pressed her face against his chest and whispered, "Don’t look."
Her tiny voice echoed inside his mind.
[...just like...papa and mama...I am hurting people...]
William’s heart tightened. Of course she didn’t understand. How could a child grasp the idea of a Great Hall test? To her, everything was real—danger, blood, death. Trauma layered over trauma.
He squeezed her gently, rubbing her back as he answered through telepathy,
[It’s okay. Don’t cry. Kevin isn’t dead. And none of this is your fault.]
She sniffled again, burying her face deeper into his chest.
[Am I really cursed?]
That shattered sothing inside him.
For a child so young...to even consider that... How many tis had she been called that? How many whispers had she heard behind her back?
William held her tighter.
[No. You’re not cursed. You’re you. That’s all you ever need to be.]
He closed his eyes, giving her the comfort she had been starved of since her parents died.
Minutes passed before Emma finally stood up with a tired exhale. "His wounds are closed, but he’s lost a dangerous amount of blood. He won’t be waking up anyti soon."
William nodded. Had it been dayti, Kevin would’ve healed instantly using sunlight. But under the heavy darkness of night, he was rely human.
"So...should we just leave him here?" Gloria muttered, massaging her swollen toes.
Emma offered to heal her too, but Gloria refused—telling her to conserve her strength since their journey wasn’t over yet.
William sighed. "...Yes. We don’t have another option. The council is watching us—they’ll collect him."
He was sure of it. They were being monitored the entire ti.
With that decision made, they all turned toward the long, narrow bridge stretching before them—a spine of stone leading into the final island shrouded in mist.
The last trial.
The final destination.
Island Beta.
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