The clearing remained silent.
The broken tree lay across the ground.
Split completely in half.
Nobody looked away from it.
Especially Zeven.
The black lightning had vanished.
But the image remained burned into everyone's mind.
Dak finally broke the silence.
"Okay."
Nobody answered.
"That was awesome."
"There it is."
Ozias sighed.
"I was wondering how long it would take."
Dak pointed at the tree.
"LOOK AT IT."
Matthew stepped forward.
His expression was far more serious.
"No."
Everyone looked at him.
"No more random testing."
Dak immediately looked offended.
"Excuse me?"
"We need to know what these powers actually do."
For once...
Nobody argued.
Because he was right.
If these abilities kept growing...
Someone could get hurt.
Or worse.
Matthew looked around.
"We test properly."
"How?"
Kael asked.
Matthew pointed toward a massive boulder resting near the edge of the clearing.
"Start simple."
Dak grinned.
"Now we're talking."
The first test began.
Dak approached the boulder.
The thing was enormous.
At least three times heavier than the one he had thrown earlier.
Normally impossible.
Dak grabbed it.
Nothing happened.
He pulled harder.
The veins in his arms appeared.
Then...
The rock moved.
Everybody froze.
Dak slowly lifted it.
The grin disappeared from his face.
Because it wasn't easy.
His entire body trembled.
The weight was unbelievable.
Yet somehow...
He kept lifting.
Higher.
Higher.
Until the boulder stood above his head.
Silence.
Then Dak dropped it.
BOOOOM.
The impact shook the clearing.
Dak immediately sat down.
"Okay."
He breathed heavily.
"Maybe I'm not invincible."
The others laughed.
Matthew nodded.
"Good."
"What do you mean good?"
"It means you have limits."
That answer made everyone think.
Because limits were important.
Without limits...
Powers became dangerous.
The second test belonged to Matthew.
This one was harder.
Much harder.
Dak held several small stones.
Matthew stood with his eyes closed.
Ready.
The goal was simple.
Predict which stone Dak would throw.
At first he failed.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Nothing.
Then suddenly...
A flash.
The image appeared inside his mind.
Left.
"Left."
Matthew said instantly.
Dak threw it.
The stone flew from his left hand.
Everyone froze.
Again.
A flash.
"Right."
Correct.
Again.
Correct.
Again.
Correct.
Matthew slowly opened his eyes.
A headache immediately hit him.
Hard.
He nearly stumbled.
Zeven caught him.
"You okay?"
Matthew rubbed his forehead.
"Yeah."
A lie.
Because his vision blurred for a moment.
The ability worked.
But it clearly had a price.
And that worried him.
Then it was Kael's turn.
The force ability.
The most destructive after Zeven's.
Matthew pointed toward several dead logs.
"Try moving them."
Kael nodded.
At first...
Nothing happened.
Then frustration appeared.
The air around him trembled.
One log moved.
Then another.
Then another.
Suddenly...
CRACK.
A nearby tree snapped.
Everybody jumped.
Kael's eyes widened.
"I didn't touch that."
Nobody doubted him.
Because nobody had seen him move.
Yet the tree had broken anyway.
Silence settled over the clearing.
Their powers were growing.
Much faster than any of them expected.
And somewhere nearby...
Hidden among the trees.
A pair of eyes watched everything.
The Vanguard remained motionless.
Observing.
Evaluating.
Five awakenings.
Five candidates.
Interesting.
But only one truly caught his attention.
His gaze settled on Zeven.
The Black Lightning.
Rare.
Very rare.
Yet rarity meant nothing.
The Vanguard had seen rare talents die before.
Many of them.
His expression remained unreadable.
"Show me."
He murmured quietly.
"Show me what makes you different."
And without any of the boys realizing it...
The first real test was about to begin.
The clearing remained silent.
The broken tree lay across the ground.
Nobody noticed the figure at first.
Then Zeven did.
A footstep.
Slow.
Heavy.
Confident.
His head immediately turned.
The others noticed.
"What?"
Matthew asked.
Zeven narrowed his eyes.
"Someone's here."
The atmosphere changed instantly.
The boys turned toward the forest.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Crunch.
A tall figure emerged from the trees.
Long black coat.
Dark hair.
Sharp eyes.
He stopped several meters away.
Nobody recognized him.
Nobody spoke.
Dak stepped forward first.
Naturally.
"Who are you?"
The stranger didn't answer.
His gaze moved across the group.
Studying them.
Evaluating them.
As if they were objects.
Dak immediately disliked him.
"Hey."
Still nothing.
Kael crossed his arms.
"You're in a private area."
The stranger ignored him.
His eyes eventually settled on the shattered tree.
Then on Zeven.
"The Black Lightning."
Silence.
Every boy froze.
Zeven's eyes narrowed.
"How do you know that?"
No answer.
Dak had enough.
"Okay."
He grabbed a large rock from the ground.
"Who are you?"
The stranger remained silent.
Dak threw the rock.
Hard.
The stone shot forward.
Fast enough to hurt someone.
Nobody expected what happened next.
The stranger didn't move.
Didn't dodge.
Didn't react.
The rock simply stopped.
Midair.
Silence.
The stone hovered for a second.
Then dropped harmlessly to the ground.
Nobody moved.
Nobody blinked.
Nobody understood.
The stranger finally spoke.
"Gravity."
His eyes settled on Dak.
Dak blinked.
"What?"
"Gravity Manipulation."
Silence.
Dak pointed at himself.
"You're telling me..."
Another pause.
"I got gravity?"
The stranger said nothing.
Dak slowly turned toward the others.
"GUYS."
Nobody liked that tone.
Especially Matthew.
"Don't."
Matthew immediately said.
Dak ignored him.
"DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS MEANS?"
"No."
Ozias replied.
"It means I can jump off a mountain."
"Please don't."
Matthew said.
"I can throw things into orbit."
"Please don't."
"I can probably punch the moon."
"You absolutely cannot punch the moon."
Dak pointed dramatically at Zeven.
"Your lightning is cool."
Then at Kael.
"Your force thing is cool."
Then at himself.
"I HAVE GRAVITY."
Kael rubbed his forehead.
"He's going to become unbearable."
"Become?"
Ozias asked.
"Good point."
For the first time, the stranger looked mildly amused.
Only for a moment.
Then it vanished.
His eyes moved toward Matthew.
"Future Sight."
Matthew froze.
The stranger continued.
"Still unstable."
Then Kael.
"Force Manipulation."
Kael frowned.
Then Ozias.
"Hypercognition."
Nobody laughed anymore.
The clearing had become completely silent.
Because none of them had told him anything.
Yet somehow...
He knew.
Finally his gaze settled on Zeven.
"The Black Lightning."
This time his voice sounded different.
Not impressed.
Not excited.
Interested.
The stranger took a step forward.
"Less than two weeks awakened."
The boys exchanged glances.
Another correct answer.
Matthew stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
This time the stranger answered.
"My name doesn't matter."
Dak immediately groaned.
"Of course it doesn't."
The stranger ignored him.
"What matters is that every one of you is currently walking toward disaster."
Nobody laughed.
Because his tone wasn't threatening.
It was factual.
The kind of certainty that made people listen.
"You have power."
His eyes moved across the group.
"You don't understand it."
Another step.
"You don't control it."
Another step.
"And if things continue like this..."
His gaze settled on Zeven.
"One of you will eventually get someone killed."
The clearing became completely silent.
The wind moved through the trees.
Nobody spoke.
Not even Dak.
Because for the first time since the stranger arrived...
They weren't looking at him like a random man.
They were looking at him like someone who knew far more than they did.
And that was far more unsettling.