Lightning crackled around Leon in tight spiraling arcs, alive in the way natural lightning never quite was — too purposeful, too aware, responding to something internal rather than external. His eyes were closed. His breathing was steady. The arcs moved with him rather than around him, the distinction subtle but real.
Then they retracted.
Leon opened his eyes and felt the smile arrive before he'd consciously decided on it.
Level five lightning aura, he thought. Finally.
Not just lightning — ice too, achieved earlier in the session, the two breakthroughs arriving closer together than he'd expected. The improved affinity from the Cradle Seed had done exactly what he'd hoped, compressing a timeline that would otherwise have stretched considerably longer into something achievable within this training window.
He ran through everything he'd gained across the full session.
