Bloodline Evolution: I Can Choose Opposing Paths-Chapter 110: A Strange Storm

"Wait, lightning energy?"

Aren frowned slightly and glanced toward the cave entrance. The lagoon outside was calm, the sky was still clear with the last traces of sun already fading slowly.

There wasn’t a single storm cloud in sight.

What’s she talking about, there’s no lightning here...?

"Go outside and have a look." Sterling’s voice cut cleanly through his thoughts.

Aren turned his head toward her. She nudged her chin toward the cave entrance.

"Go on."

Curiosity quickly replaced his confusion. Aren pushed himself up from the ground and stepped toward the mouth of the rocky shelter.

At first, all he could think about was the cold air hitting him. Everything seemed to be the same.

But that was until he noticed something in the far distance. Dark clouds were beginning to gather where there wasn’t any just a few minutes ago.

Wait...how’s that possible? There weren’t any signs when we were in the air though?"

The clouds moved unnaturally fast, rolling across the sky like an incoming tide. The thick masses of gray clouds swallowed the stars one by one.

Behind him, Daniel stepped up beside the cave entrance and stretched his arms casually.

"Ah," he said with a yawn. "Right on time."

BOOM!

A large lightning bolt had struck something in the ocean as the clouds started moving towards their direction.

"Yeah...might wanna head back inside," Daniel said as he placed both shoulders on Aren and turned him around.

When they came back in, Professor Sterling’s amused expression was evident.

"Believe me now?" she replied amusingly.

"But the sky was clear a moment ago..."

"In the Lagoons," Sterling explained calmly, "the weather follows a very...reliable schedule."

"Every night, massive storms sweep across this entire biome," she continued. "And without fail."

Another flash of lightning tore across the sky, followed by a much louder crack of thunder that rolled across the lagoon like a cannon blast.

Aren slowly turned his head back toward where his professor was sitting, fidgeting with something.

"Professor...do you know why this happens?"

"Why storms appear every night like this," Aren clarified. "There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky a moment ago."

Sterling watched the horizon for a moment longer before giving him a small shrug.

"Beats me."

"...That’s it?"

"Yeah," she adjusted her glasses slightly. "The Lagoons have always behaved this way since the very first expeditions discovered it."

"Every record said the same thing," she continued. "Clear skies during the day, violent storms at night...without fail."

Sterling folded her arms again.

"Researchers have proposed a number of theories over the years. Ether pressure shifts, oceanic currents beneath the Wildlands, and even something with the region’s ley lines as well."

She shrugged again, completely unconcerned. "But none of them have actually been proven."

"You know the region is called the Wildlands for a reason, right?" Daniel added in, jokingly.

"Though because of its nature," Professor Sterling shifted in her seat. "This is exactly why this place is such a good training ground."

She tilted her head toward Aren. "Especially for someone like you who possesses both the Water and Lightning Elements."

Aren sighed slowly.

"Lucky me."

***

Aren shifted in his sleeping bag as a flash of lightning tore through the sky.

Yeah...I’m not sleeping through that.

He rubbed his eyes and sat up slowly. The small fire near the center of the shelter had burned down to faint glowing embers. Everyone else was already fast asleep in their own sleeping bags.

All except one...Luna.

She was sitting near the very edge of the cave with her back against stone. Her fingers were moving quickly around something, which Aren realized a moment later was a crocheting kit.

He stood up and approached her. "...You can’t sleep either?"

"No..." she answered, continuing to fidget with the hooks. "Just...had too many things on my mind."

The storm outside filled the silence between them for a moment. Finally, she spoke.

"...That plane crash."

Her fingers tightened slightly around the crochet hook.

"I thought I was prepared for something like this."

Aren remained quiet, letting her continue.

"My father always said that hunters need to be iron-willed," she said softly. "That if you hesitate, people die."

"I know that," she continued. "I’ve trained for it my whole life. Everyone expects me to succeed him someday."

She stared down at the tangled thread in her hands. "But seeing that many people..."

Her voice faltered slightly.

"...It just doesn’t get easier."

The storm rumbled across the lagoon once more. Aren leaned his shoulder lightly against the cave wall beside her.

"Yeah..." he said quietly, watching rain fall across now dark waters. "It probably never will."

Luna glanced at him briefly.

There was something strangely certain about the way he said it. But before she could question it, Aren shifted the conversation.

"Still," he added, "there’s something about the crash that doesn’t sit right with me."

Luna slowly set the crochet hook down in her lap.

"...You think someone caused it?"

Aren looked out at the storm for a moment before answering. "Professor Sterling tried to remove the curse on the plane."

Luna nodded.

"Yeah."

"But she couldn’t," Luna paused before continuing. "...Maybe it was complicated?"

Aren shook his head slightly. "It doesn’t work like that."

"She definitely has three elements," he continued. "That would make her a Line 6, Ascendant-Grade Mystic at least."

Luna frowned.

"So?"

Aren’s gaze remained on the storm.

"If she couldn’t break the curse on the whole plane, and just only for us..."

"...then the person who cast it had to be stronger than her."

Luna’s eyes widened slightly.

"...Line Seven?"

Aren gave a small shrug.

"Probably."

He looked back out toward the storm.

"But once someone reaches Line Seven, they’re not exactly low-profile anymore."

"They become a Master-Grade Mystic."

Luna fell silent at that. After a moment, she picked the crochet hook back up and slowly resumed working the thread through the loops.

"...I don’t remember hearing about any Curse Masters lately," Aren admitted.

"Neither do I," Luna said quietly.

But the thought lingered in his mind. When they returned from the Wildlands...

He would get to the bottom of it.