CHAPTER 254: THE THUNDER SEED ROOM

Before Eleanor could drown completely in her turmoil, Scáthach’s voice cut through her thoughts like the edge of a blade.

"General Arrichion," she commanded, "return to the academy and inform the Core Magic Department that Eleanor will occupy the Origin Thunder Seed chamber for the next forty-eight hours. After that, bring her back to me."

Arrichion hesitated, his brow furrowing. "Supreme Grandmaster, the Thunder Seed schedule is always crowded. Shouldn’t we allow them time to reschedule? And Eleanor will miss several classes during this period."

Scáthach’s eyes sharpened. "They have no choice but to obey."

Her gaze slid to Eleanor, pinning her like a spear. "All you must do is touch the seed within forty-eight hours. Do not fear the lightning in the chamber. Do not resist it. Accept it into your body. Remember... after awakening the Thunderbolt bloodline, you are lightning yourself. Walk step by step towards the seed. If the pain becomes unbearable, remain where you are until it lessens enough for you to continue. But never, never step back. The academy’s guides will tell you to leave when the agony overwhelms you. That advice is garbage. You are an alpha werewolf... your regeneration is your armour. Use it. Endure. Advance."

Her voice grew harsher, each word hammering into Eleanor’s chest. "As for your classes, books will help you later. Professors will answer your questions when you return. What is the use of carrying the Mind Reaver bloodline if you must cling to others at every step? Trust your own mind. Forge your own path."

Then, with a flick of her hand, she dismissed them. "Go. Return to me only after you have trained enough."

Her fingers traced a brief, intricate pattern through the air, and before Eleanor could blink, the throne room vanished. She found herself standing once more outside the fortress, in the thin, salt-bitten air, a glowing teleportation door shimmering before her.

"Let’s go," Arrichion said simply, stepping into the light. Eleanor followed.

The next moment, she stood again in the quiet chamber of the Combat Department where the gateway was housed. Arrichion moved without pause, pressing a small pill into her palm.

"This is a food pill," he said. "It will sustain you for three days. After that, your reserves will run dry if you do not eat properly. Now, go to the Lightning School. I’ll see everything is arranged before you arrive there."

Eleanor bowed deeply. "Thank you, Instructor."

She turned, her robes brushing against the floor as she left, the pill clenched tight in her hand.

***

When Eleanor reached the Lightning School, the receptionist had already been informed of her arrival. She still remembered that Eleanor had only just enrolled as a visiting student. A few minutes earlier, she had received a peculiar directive from the department... the Thunder Seed room had been rescheduled for forty-eight hours and that slot had been allocated to Cadet Eleanor. Even a professor who had been due to enter the room had been asked to stand down.

The receptionist regarded Eleanor with an incredulous look... a mixture of pity, admiration and disbelief; mostly pity. It was well known that first-timers were allotted only half an hour per day in the Thunder Seed room, and most emerged within ten to twenty minutes. Even professors rarely spent more than six hours inside.

She could not help thinking someone was being punished.

"Please read the user manual before you enter the Thunder Seed room," the receptionist said, handing Eleanor a thin booklet.

It took Eleanor almost five minutes to work through the handbook. It mainly explained what she could and could not do in the Thunder Seed room, and gave basic guidance on channelling thunder energy into the body.

There were ten zones in the chamber... green, light-green, chartreuse, lime, yellow, gold, orange, vermilion, red and black. Students began in the green zone and progressed slowly toward red; the Black zone, at the heart of the chamber, was where the Seed itself was placed. Ordinary awakened cadets were cautioned not to venture beyond Yellow, even by accident.

The manual also warned against overexertion... even awakened students were advised to spend no more than half an hour in the room.

"I don’t know what Scáthach was thinking, asking me to reach the Black zone within forty-eight hours," Eleanor thought. "Arrichion didn’t seem bothered... if it were dangerous, he would have said something, wouldn’t he? He complained about my missing classes..."

She pushed the doubts aside and replaced them with determination. "I’ll take it as an entrance test for Scáthach’s tutelage. She’s interested in me, otherwise she wouldn’t have taken the time. One step at a time. Time will tell how far I can go."

Closing the handbook, she returned it to the receptionist. "I’ve read it all. I am ready to enter the Thunder Seed Room. Please, show me the way."

"Then please follow me." The receptionist walked towards the stairs.

Eleanor followed her down into the underground levels. After descending two levels, they stopped before a door.

"Cadet, please enter through this door. You will find everything exactly as described in the manual," the receptionist said.

Eleanor turned the knob, but nothing happened. Seeing this, the receptionist remarked, "Ah! You must touch your device to the knob."

Switching to her other hand, which was wearing the device, Eleanor pressed it against the metal. A soft click echoed, and this time the door opened. She stepped inside with confidence. The door closed behind her.

The receptionist shook her head sadly, already imagining the bleak future awaiting this naïve cadet, then turned and walked back upstairs.

***

After entering the room, Eleanor found everything exactly as described in the handbook. She followed the instructions step by step. First, she stepped into a changing closet, where she removed her uniform and shoes. The only thing left on her body was the device secured around her wrist.

The device was for emergencies... if she was about to die, it would send a signal to the academy, summoning a rescue party. It was also impervious to lightning, unlike any other material she carried.

At last, a completely naked Eleanor emerged from the changing room, leaving all her belongings behind.

Her height was commanding, her figure an hourglass of generous hips, a narrow waist, and full breasts... a body that seemed carved from alabaster by the hand of a master sculptor. Her pale skin was flawless, smooth, and luminous beneath the sterile light. With her head held high and her silver hair cascading like a frozen waterfall, she looked less like a vulnerable initiate than a queen striding into her throne room.

Her green eyes, fixed upon the final door, shone with cool analysis rather than fear. There was no hesitation in the sway of her hips or in the set of her shoulders... only the sharpened intent of a warrior advancing toward her trial. The single article upon her body, the academy’s device at her wrist, seemed less a safeguard and more a tactical insignia... stark, deliberate, and unyielding against her flawless skin.

The moment Eleanor opened the door, she was struck not by a physical blow but by a lightning rod of sensation. The air itself was thick with the acrid scent of ozone and the deafening crackle of raw power, pressed against her bare skin with the weight of something tangible. Before her unfolded a vision at once divine and violent... beauty and brutality intertwined.

The dome was vast, its circular ceiling lost in a churning mist of incandescent light. The floor stretched out beneath it like a masterpiece of marble, carved into ten perfect, concentric rings, each one a measured step deeper into peril. At the very edge, where she now stood, the green marble was cool and steady underfoot... a deceptively gentle threshold. Yet her eyes were drawn inward, across widening bands of light green, chartreuse, and lime, towards the searing yellow core of the storm.

At the centre, suspended in the small onyx circle of the black zone, hung the Thunder Seed. It was no object of stone or metal but a living heart of chaos... a sphere of violent, white-hot lightning that writhed and pulsed as if alive. With every beat, waves of energy radiated outward. In the inner rings of gold, orange, and vermilion, the storm thickened into a near-constant tempest... arcs of power that crawled across the marble and lashed through the air in violent spasms. The red zone, just before the black, seethed as an impenetrable curtain of light and sound... a final, furious warning.

And yet, as the energy raced outward, it unravelled. By the time it reached the yellow and lime rings, it dwindled to a lattice of erratic sparks. Just the outside of the green circle where Eleanor stood, it was little more than a shimmer in the air, a delicate tingling along her skin.

"Here goes nothing," Eleanor thought. With unyielding determination, she stepped into the green circle. At once, several bolts of lightning struck her skin, each one tearing through her with unbearable pain. The force did not stop at the surface; it pierced deeper, coursing into her body. The lightning travelled straight to her heart, ravaging her from within.

Her alpha regeneration flared to life, mending the shredded tissue almost instantly, leaving her with nothing but the agony itself to endure.

She pressed forward. More lightning lashed at her, each step a battle. After only three strides, she was forced to halt; her regeneration was struggling to keep pace with the ceaseless damage.

Lowering herself to the green marble, Eleanor sat cross-legged, closed her eyes, and began to meditate.