Two years later.

  Amidst the smouldering ruins of the once-thriving village, Khali stood as a solitary figure, bathed in the eerie glow of the dying embers. The air was thick with smoke, and distant horse cries echoed in the night.

  Neigh!!!

  The cry of horses echoed through the landscape as two soldiers rode in on horseback, their movements reverent as they neared their commanding officer. They dismounted and knelt before Khali with heads bowed down

  Khali's eyes gleamed with a feral intensity as he turned his gaze towards the soldier on the left, his voice a low, dangerous growl. "Did you find that child?"

  Before the soldier could utter a word, a swift motion from Khali's hand silenced him forever.

  "Your fucking expression tells me enough," Khali gritted his teeth as he stared at the man's lifeless body in contempt, "It's been years, you useless bastards!"

  Suddenly, Khali was engulfed in a sudden rush of memories. A vision of himself kneeling before a shadowy figure with his own insignificance laid bare before an overwhelming power, flashed before his eyes. The memory was suffocating, crushing him with a sense of helplessness and despair.

  Gasping for air, Khali struggled to regain his composure, his chest heaving with the effort of each breath. He shakingly turned to the other soldier, "If it's bad news, I'll-"

  Before he could finish, the soldier interrupted with a tone of reassurance and urgency. "No it’s not bad news, Chief Khali. We've just received word. We've located the stone tablet you've been looking for."

  Khali's eyes narrowed, a glint of satisfaction flashing through the depths of his gaze. His lips curled into a cold smile as he nodded in approval. "Good. Very good."

  The pitched black eyes of a small rat recorded this entire scene.

  Beyond the myriad illusions and mountains that cover this region, a single figure lay on the ground. His clothes were gone, and his expression was calm. His eyes were closed, as if he were sleeping right now.

  His eyelids suddenly opened, revealing two pupils that swirled with the fluorescence of purple lightning. They now maintained a quiet resolve, tempered by the trials he had faced. His gaze swept over the desolate landscape.

  "So, you're done."

  Eclipse shifted his gaze to Celestia as her towering figure loomed over him. His expression remained stoic, but within the depths of his gaze, there was a tumult of conflicting emotions.

  "You really are something else, huh?”

  Eclipse's lips parted, but no words escaped them. Instead, he cast his sight towards the horizon, where the remnants of the once-turbulent storm had faded into nothing. The darkened overcast which rumbled with purple lightning was no longer prevalent and replaced by the shining sun, and the sea of lightning which had once been here two years ago, powerful and rumbling, had completely vanished. In that moment of contemplation, amidst the desolation of the wasteland, he found a sense of peace.

  Eclipse, on the other hand, had grown visibly taller, and his messy grey hair reached all the way to his back, and his fringe was almost completely covering his eyes. He looked completely different from before. Through his grey hair strands, Celestia peered into Eclipse's eyes, which were no longer just cold, but had taken on a dark, crackling, and soulless quality. They almost gave off the same vibe as the violent, rolling sea of lightning, except they were much darker, as if reflecting the depths of the sacrifice he had made.

  "Your eyes, once cold, now hold a chill, a soullessness, and most of all, maturity," she said while observing the emptiness that now resided within them. “All the suffering you must’ve endured for this power - was it truly worth it, my precious student?"

  Celestia lingered for a moment, then bent down to help him. As she did, she stopped to take a look at his stomach area, where a net of almost glowing purple veins were spread out like a string of webs.

  She had so much that she wanted to say, and ask, and tell, but right now, she couldn’t think of anything at all. Eclipse remained silent as Celestia supported him, putting one of his arms over her shoulders. His eyes closed the moment his head touched her shoulders, falling into a deep slumber.

  Celestia looked surprised for a moment, then overwrote her surprise with a warm smile. "He's much taller and heavier than me now..."

  With that, she carried Eclipse and began to ascend the large slope. On her way, she paused to glance back at what had once been the sea of lightning, and her eyes narrowed. "I guess there's no longer any need to maintain these illusory barriers..."

  As she spoke, the scene of the mountains and trees in the surroundings suddenly became blurry, fragmented, and dissolved away all in the moment of a few breaths time. Everything had materialised into a hollow wasteland, the illusion dissolving away.

  Eclipse's eyes slowly opened once again. He found himself back in Celestia's house. The familiar surroundings were comforting but also felt strangely surreal. After enduring a whole two years of that nightmare, he felt like he was in heaven right now. Eclipse put an arm over his eyes and recalled the past two years in the sea of lightning. Every single second had been hell and he even wished death upon himself more than just a few times.

  Every agonising second had been a test of endurance, a relentless onslaught of pain and torment that had pushed him to the brink of despair.

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  "It's... over..." Eclipse muttered to himself, his voice barely a whisper.

  "I knew you liked sleeping, but I didn't think even you could sleep for a whole month."

  The voice came from behind him, causing Eclipse to startle slightly. He turned his head to see Chael standing there, a grin on his face. Despite the exhaustion weighing heavily on him, Eclipse couldn't help but feel a surge of relief at the sight of his friend.

  "Who… Chael...?"

  Eclipse almost couldn’t recognise him for a second. Chael was towering now. From where he was standing, Eclipse could tell that he was almost a head taller than him!

  Not to mention his physique which was much more larger and swollen with coiling muscle fibres. His was chest was broad and his biceps bulged out of his arms as he greeted Eclipse with a hand raise.

  "It's been two years, my friend." He smiled warmly, a sea of unspoken emotions behind his eyes. "Glad you're finally back."

  Eclipse couldn't help but notice how much taller Chael had grown over the past year, only unlike Eclipse's he was kempt. His long hair was tied back in a pony tail.

  GRRRUUUMMBBLLEEE!

  A large rumbling echoed through the room. Eclipse frowned and instinctively put up his guard.

  "Is... that an earthquake?" he questioned, his senses on high alert.

  Chael looked at him dumbfoundedly. "No... it was your stomach."

  Realisation dawned on Eclipse's face, and he rubbed his stomach.

  "You must be pretty hungry." Celestia entered the room, removing an apron she had been wearing. "Come to the dinner table! Me and Chael prepared a feast for you!"

  Eclipse struggled to his feet, his balance wavering, but Chael steadied him. As he laid eyes on the dinner table, Eclipse's eyes sparkled for the first time in two year. With uncontained excitement, he leaped next to the table and began devouring the food with both hands, not even bothering to sit down.

  Chael watched in amazement. "Hey, save some for the rest of us."

  "It's fine! It's his day, let him do what he wants," Celestia laughed, "Afterall, it's his first meal in two years."

  Chael was gobsmacked, like he was unable to understand that notion, “Now that you mention it… No food for two years? I have no idea how I would’ve managed, ahaha!”

  In a matter of minutes, Eclipse had consumed the entire feast, leaving only a few plates with crumbs behind. He rubbed his belly contentedly and let out a sigh of relief. "Ahhhhh... "

  Chael's smile faded and his expression turned serious. "So, how did it go? Did you manage to get a Tenelux."

  Eclipse’s eyes slightly narrowed, his dark purple pupils swirling with crackling intensity. He recalled every second in that lightning hellstorm, and how he’d pass out again and again only to be woken up screaming.

  But all that was behind him now. Not only had he endured that nightmare, but he had conquered it too. After all, he was still here, and that sea of lightning was gone.

  Eclipse met his gaze and answered with determination, "Yes."

  "You're curious, aren't you, Chael?” Celestia grinned mischievously, “I don't blame you because so am I! How about you two have a little spar?"

  Eclipse and Chael exchanged glances before nodding in agreement. Chael went to a corner of the room where two katana were placed neatly inside their hilt. He picked them up and tossed them over to Eclipse, who caught them mid-air singlehandedly.

  His eyes shone with a gleam, “Mooncrest Katana…”

  Chael narrowed his eyes at him and sneered with playful arrogance, “By the oak tree.”

  He then stepped out, a long Odachi resting effortlessly on his shoulder.

  Eclipse's eyes widened in shock as he surveyed the landscape. The once serene surroundings were now marred by destruction.

  Craters and cracks stretched across the earth, and the mountains in the distance were riddled with scars. Eclipse felt a chill run down his spine as he took in the extent of the devastation.

  Chael stood beside him, wearing a cold smile. He rested his odachi over his mountain-like trapezoids, "You're not the only one who got stronger this past two years."

  Eclipse realised the implications of Chael's words. Whatever power he had gained in the sea of lightning, it seemed Chael had undergone his own transformation as well.

  Soon enough, Eclipse and Chael faced each other, ready for their spar. Eclipse placed both hands on the handles of his sheathed katanas, while Chael held his long odachi over his shoulder with eerie confidence. Celestia watched from afar, her eyes keenly observing the scene with a playful smile on her lips.

  Eclipse released his Qi first, his body coated in an ethereal deep purple Qi.

  Just as soon as his Qi was released, suddenly, the space around Eclipse crackled with energy as purple lightning danced around him. With a swift motion, Eclipse unsheathed both katanas, and to Chael's surprise, the blades crackled with the same purple lightning to much an extent that it was as though the blades were made of lightning.

  For a second, even Eclipse’s own eyes widened. This was, after all, the first time he was using his new Tenelux.

  Chael's eyes widened in astonishment as he watched the display of power. The lightning-infused blades cast an otherworldly glow and illuminated the area around them despite the fact that the sun was at its highest. He could only imagine how bright it would be if it was at night. A grin spread across Chael's face as he realised the extent of Eclipse's newfound abilities.

  “You've really outdone yourself this time, huh?” Chael smirked. “A lightning energy type Tenelux? That’s cool as fuck,”

  Eclipse didn’t reply and maintained his stance, his long hair flowing in the breeze. The air crackled with tension as the two prepared to spar.

  Celestia tossed a rock, signalling the beginning of their spar and it landed between them with a thud.

  The duo waited.

  Despite the battle having begun, neither budged an inch.

  Chael frowned, his eyes fixated on Eclipse with maximum concentration as he observed his every movement.

  However, to Chael's surprise, Eclipse didn't even budge let alone make a move. He seemed eerily calm amidst the swirling storm of purple lightning enveloping him, his gaze fixed somewhere beyond Chael's sight.

  Frowning at Eclipse's unusual behaviour, Chael began to voice his confusion. "What's wrong? Usually, you're the first to atta-"

  His words were cut short as Eclipse suddenly appeared in front of him in the blink of an eye, wielding both blades with a deadly calmness that made Chaels eyes widen as a shiver ran across his spine.

  Slice!

  The air hummed with anticipation as Eclipse sliced at Chael's torso. Not much far from them, a smirk played on Celestia's lips as she watched the scene unfold, her eyes gleaming with a cold amusement.

  Meanwhile, Chael's imposing figure loomed over Eclipse with a dreadful and icy demeanour. To Eclipse's dismay, his katana barely made a dent in Chael's skin. No blood was drawn and no flesh was torn, leaving Eclipse stunned in complete shock and disbelief. Chael’s anima was a lot stronger than before.

  "Eclipse..." Chael's voice was low and menacing. With a swift and deliberate motion, Chael grabbed Eclipse's lightning-cloaked katana with his bare fist. Eclipse’s pupils quivered.

  "You've gotten a lot stronger and faster," Chael said with a chilling confidence as he raised his Odachi, "but you don't compare to Granny."

  A sudden burst of crackling lightning exploded from Eclipse, illuminating his immediate surroundings in a blinding flash and Chael was forced to release Eclipse's katana and bounce back with mighty explosiveness. He was slightly shaken from direct contact with the electrical surge.

  Eclipse stood before him, his demeanour deathly calm. His eyes swirled with the same dark purple hue as the lightning and he got into his battle stance, taking the fight a lot more serious than he initially had.

  "Figured I’d go easy," Eclipse uttered with an icy calmness, "Seems like I need to go all out, after all."

  Chael sneered arrogantly and swept his Odachi across the earth, the mere shockwave from that act leaving a scratch on the earth. "Well, at least make it fun."