Deus Didymus: Rend

Pt2Ch20: Awakening

Daehyun fell back, panting. He turned to Donghyun, reaching out to pull himself to his feet. As the two dusted themselves off, Minho stepped forward. Not a mote of dirt touched his uniform, contrasting with the dirt and bruises among his students.

"I've shown you how you can use your alleles. Now it's your turn to learn."

"This isn't fair!!" Daehyun groaned. "You're an instructor!"

"You guys are older than me," Minho dismissed. "Y/n hyung took beatings the entire duration of our training sessions from Mr. Park when he was just thirteen. Stand on your feet."

"Is there something you know that can help guide us?" Donghyun probed.

"Sure." Minho raised his hand, causing the grass around him to grow to his chest, "For most people, what comes from your allele is a manifestation of your interpretation of it. The more creative you are, the more effective you can make your allele."

He pushed his hand to the ground, prompting the grass to shrink. With the snap of his fingers, a globe of green energy surrounded the two students, earning amazed murmurs from them. "Y/n hyung started off with a simple knife, but trained himself to be able to make swords, shields, bows, and all kinds of weapons."

As the domes of energy fizzled out, Minho pulled a metal ball from his pocket. "Even though his allele allowed him to make 'weapons,' what he could actually do with it was far beyond that."

Minho tossed the ball to Donghyun, quickly pulling it back to his hand before redirecting it into the grass. "Lesson's over. I'll teach you more theory once you are able to use your alleles properly."

Thunderous clouds rolled above Y/n as he reached the peak of the mountains. A large, circular plane made of various bleached sedimentary rocks made the base while a crown of sky blue coral-like structures protruded from its edge. The ground itself resembled the same aquatic material, but felt significantly harder than that which it drew from.

Cracks of lightning snapped in the air, spreading the pungent smell of ozone through the atmosphere. Every breath Y/n took was deliberate, leaving him slightly winded just from standing still. Centered upon its den, a large horse-like creature stood still, eyeing Y/n. Its red beady eyes contrasted with the light blue color of its scaly hide.

Streaks of black lightning-like patterns ran from its head toward its hind. Groups of hair shaped like clouds wrapped around its ankles and flowed off its shoulders. Arcs of lightning jumped between the fibers of its mane as it swayed in the wind.

Y/n pulled his staff from its holster. Lightning crackled around his hands as he set his sights on the mythical beast before him. In the blink of an eye Y/n dashed in front of the kirin, yet its horn laid primed to pierce his chest. Though barely, Y/n pulled his staff next to his body, parrying the counter attack.

It's fast.

Blue sparks danced around the kirin's hooves spreading the pungent ozone odor through the air. The hairs of its mane stood on their ends as lightning wrapped around its horn. With the rear of its head, a thunderous boom pulled Y/n's head to the skies.

Shit-

Y/n rolled to the side, narrowly dodging a lethal strike of lightning. Chills and static ran along his skin. All around him: running on the ground, surging through the air, and coming from the beast in front of him, true lightning permeated. It wasn't an imitation like that which came from his technique or most alleles. It resembled more of Hana's lightning than his own.

How the heck am I supposed to beat this thing?

Another bolt of lightning struck the ground. From its dust cloud, Y/n slid backward--his own lightning crackling around his body. When he regained his focus, the kirin appeared in front of Y/n, charging horn first into his staff. Though he reinforced the weapon with his technique, crackles of blue surged through the wood, splintering it.