CHAPTER 249: STORM HEART

Dr Aine Calista Riverstone was, like most of her fairy kin, a healer by nature. Yet her path had diverged early. A fascination with supernatural bloodlines had gripped her, and when she found the knowledge of her people lacking, she ventured into the surface world to study among humans.

She earned her BSc in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Oxford, followed by an MSc in Genetic Engineering at the Karolinska Institute. Her academic ascent culminated in a PhD in Evolutionary Genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

Her doctoral thesis bore the title: "Unidentified High-Stability Retrotransposons and Their Role in Rapid Phenotypic Expression: A Model for Atypical Heredity," in human terms. It was a veiled exploration of how magical traits were encoded and inherited.

Her career expanded beyond genetics studies. She became a Visiting Scholar at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, researching human genome sequencing. Later, as a Senior Research Fellow at CERN, she investigated the possible influence of exotic particles on biological systems. Her final human post was as a Distinguished Professor of Comparative Mythology at the University of Tokyo... a convenient cover that allowed her to cross-reference genetic data with ancient mythological records.

Three years ago, she returned to Kvernheim and joined the Ascendance Academy of Midgard as a Research Assistant under Professor Arwen Briar Silverbell, the head of the Bloodline Institute. In the academy, research assistants were regarded as officials, and thus she wore the white robes of their station.

When Eleanor fainted on the bed, Dr Riverstone did not even glance at her. Her focus remained fixed on the monitors, which displayed Eleanor’s vitals in stark, fluctuating lines and numbers. Awakening a dormant bloodline was somewhat like a second birth. The body shifted at the cellular level, rewritten from within. The academy’s potions were marvels of craft, yet even they could not wholly eliminate risk; there were several cases where cadets had brushed peril, even death, in the process.

In her three years at the academy, Dr Riverstone had witnessed many awakenings. When Eleanor’s body began to crackle with tiny arcs of electricity, she worked with practiced motion. Her hands moved swiftly across the console, pressing keys and twisting dials with absolute precision. For a tense moment the sparks spread, dancing across the girl’s skin. Then, at last, the lightning flickered out. The storm subsided. Eleanor’s readings steadied.

Normalcy returned... though in Dr Riverstone’s eyes, this case was too ordinary. This cadet easily awakened her second bloodline, without any problem.

Just a few minutes later, Eleanor’s eyelids fluttered open. The sterile light of the Bloodline Institute burned her vision at first, and she became suddenly aware of the straps still binding her wrists and ankles. Her chest rose and fell sharply, until she caught sight of the white-robed official watching her with a level, unreadable gaze.

Golden sparks flickered in Eleanor’s eyes, a primal flash of her newly awakened essence. Then, slowly, she exhaled and stilled herself.

"Cadet 659," the woman said, her voice clipped but even, "your second bloodline awakening was a success. Please confirm your result. Check your stats and report."

Eleanor gave a small nod. "Nora... show me the status," she murmured inwardly.

The familiar, translucent screen unfolded before her eyes.

[Status Screen]

Cadet Name: Eleanor Elizabeth Raynor

Cadet Number: 10156659

Institution: Ascendance Academy of Midgard

Race: Werewolf (Alpha)

Bloodline: Mind Reaver (Level-1), Thunderbolt (Level-1)

Cultivation Level: Awakened

Academy Points: 5156

Unique Abilities:

Mind Acceleration [Active] – Cognitive speed vastly heightened; capable of predicting enemy movements in real time.

Electroreception [Active] – Perceives the bio-electric fields of living beings, negating stealth and enhancing tracking.

Bloodlust Instinct [Passive] – Combat instincts sharpened to lethal efficiency.

Eidetic Memory [Passive] – Perfect recall of every experience.

Adaptive Muscle Memory [Passive] – Newly acquired skills are instantly integrated into the body.

Universal Comprehension [Passive] – Immediate understanding of all spoken and written languages.

Night Vision [Passive] – Flawless vision in total darkness.

Storm Heart [Passive] – Cardiovascular system generates immense stamina and resilience, allowing sustained high-intensity combat.

Energy Comprehension [Passive] – Intuitive perception of electrical currents, energy patterns, and technological systems.

Combat Skills:

Tactical Foresight [Passive] – Battlefield analysed at a glance; enables optimal targeting and movement.

Killing Precision [Passive] – Strikes automatically direct themselves towards vital points.

Predator’s Awareness [Passive] – Senses minute shifts in an opponent’s intent or movement.

Voltaic Strikes [Active/Passive] – Imbues physical attacks with lightning damage.

Overdrive Focus [Active] – Channels latent energy into heightened speed and reflexes for a brief duration.

Mind Arts:

Mental Lock [Active] – Locks onto a chosen target, suppressing all distractions until the kill is achieved.

Clarity Veil [Passive] – Immunity to illusions, mind-control, and memory tampering.

Memory Erasure [Active] – Erases selected memories from weaker beings for a limited span.

Thunderbolt Arts:

Bolt Step [Active] – Enables short-range, lightning-fast dashes that defy conventional movement.

Static Flash [Active] – Emits a blinding burst of light and electricity to disorient foes.

With a thought, she dismissed the glowing screen. "Yes," she said evenly, "my Thunderbolt bloodline has awakened to level one. Thank you."

The woman had already begun loosening the straps that bound her wrists and ankles. "Good. You may go now. If you experience any discomfort over the next three days, report immediately to the Bloodline Institute."

"Understood." Eleanor rose, gave her thanks once more, and left the room.

As she made her way back to the dormitory, she silently discussed about her current situation with Nora. "I feel as though my body’s become much lighter. How long was I unconscious?" she asked.

"Almost five minutes," Nora replied brightly. "And your Thunderbolt bloodline is astonishing. Your body is now generating more energy. All the nanobots are running at heightened efficiency. I can operate much faster."

"Has my body changed?" Eleanor asked.

"Yes," Nora said. "Your entire physiology shifted at the cellular level in that short time. The most profound change lies in your heart, which now continuously produces electrons. Microcurrents of electricity are flowing through your veins. Every organ’s performance has improved. You’ll feel the difference in combat."

Eleanor frowned slightly. "That reminds me... one of my new skills is a passive called Storm Heart. Are you saying my heart has been completely transformed? Is that what it means?"

"Not completely," Nora explained. "The structure remains the same, but its function has altered. Its performance has grown far stronger. In truth, your heart’s form was already primed for these functions. The potion merely unlocked them."

"I see..." Eleanor murmured. "So that’s why my Thunderbolt bloodline lay dormant. That reminds me, I need to investigate the Langford family’s bloodline. If they carry Thunderbolt bloodline, then perhaps they’re a distant offshoot of the Lychos line... hybrids who eventually bred into fully human and mixed with the society."

"There’s another possibility," Nora countered. "Your father may have been of the Lychos bloodline. Bloodlines tend to assert themselves more strongly along the paternal side."

Eleanor let out a weary sigh. "If that’s true, I’ve no way of knowing. My mother never even left me a note about him."

***

As previously announced, the Prime Minister had formally met with His Majesty the King and, in accordance with the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act, requested that Parliament be dissolved.

The King assented, declaring that at the end of the month the existing House of Commons would be formally dissolved. The kingdom at once slipped into its familiar rhythm of election season, a period equal parts ritual and revelry.

Political parties and their candidates began preparing their campaigns in earnest... rallies filled the town squares, the presses ran day and night with leaflets, the airwaves buzzed with speeches and interviews, and across the kingdom, door-to-door canvassing had already begun.

The Kingdom is divided into six hundred and fifty constituencies, each tasked with returning a single Member of Parliament to the Commons. The aim of the general election is simple... whichever party commands the greater number of seats forms the government. By tradition, if one party secures 326 seats or more, its leader is summoned by the King and invited to form an administration.

This time, however, the outcome was expected to be nothing short of seismic. All indications pointed to the Opposition sweeping to power in a landslide, their projected victory tally exceeding four hundred seats... a mandate not seen for recent years.

Following the declaration from the King’s office, the senior figures of the Opposition wasted no time in convening. Chairman of the Party, Baron John Constantine of Notting Hill, arrived with his Co-Chair, Baroness Angela Dodson of Kestevan, together with Baron Ernest Prentice of Hampton, Chairman of the National Convention and fellow Co-Chair, and Baron Anthony Hayward Chapman of Bethnal Green, the Opposition Leader in the House of Commons to the Langford Estate in Birmingham, to meet Walter Langford, the current Earl of Birmingham.

In the meeting room of the Langford Estate, Walter Langford sat with the core members of the party. A projector screen had been set up on the wall. After some small talk, the meeting began. The screen displayed the current standings of potential party candidates in each constituency, their opponents, and the factors likely to influence swing votes.

A confident, commanding female voice narrated the situation, instructing the leaders on strategies for each area as though she knew every constituency like the back of her hand.

The leaders were all intelligent men. It didn’t take long for them to realize that the voice behind the screen was the true convenor of this meeting... not the Earl.