With a flick of his wrist, he began to move, testing the weight and feel. The sword danced through the air like it was made for him.
It sliced the wind with every swing, whistling sharply, each movement smooth and fluid. It darted like a silver serpent, striking and coiling, hissing as it cut through the air.
With his footwork weaving in and out, Alex began to flow into proper sword moves, sometimes graceful and light like a swallow skimming the water, other times fierce and sudden like a bolt of lightning tearing through the sky.
With a final twist of his wrist, he spun the blade into a flourish and flattened it out, balancing it lightly on one finger from the sword guard. For a brief moment, the sword stayed level, hovering perfectly still.
Then it tilted, ever so slightly, the tip dipping toward the ground.
"Huh?" Alex frowned, blinking at the unexpected tilt. "That's weird. Why does the blade feel heavier than the hilt?"
He furrowed his brow, studying the weapon's balance carefully. A moment later, realization dawned, and he smacked his forehead with a groan. "Oh, right. Of course. That was dumb. How could I forget?"
Alex swung the long sword to his left hand with a swift backhand motion. Then, reaching into his robes, he pulled out his wand. "I kept feeling like something was missing…" he muttered with a self-deprecating laugh. "Turns out, it was you."
With that, he moved the wand in his right hand toward the base of the sword's hilt.
As the wand neared the end of the hilt, something unexpected happened. A circular opening appeared on the flat metal surface at the base of the hilt, just the right size to fit his wand.
Without a moment of hesitation, Alex slid it straight into the hilt. It was as if the sword wasn't a weapon, but rather a sheath made perfectly for his wand.
Once the wand was fully inserted, the opening at the hilt sealed itself seamlessly, leaving no trace it had ever been there.
The sword's size and shape didn't change in the slightest. It became clear that the sword had been crafted hollow on purpose, designed from the start to house a wand.
"That's more like it," Alex murmured with growing satisfaction. "With this, you're finally completed. From now on, your name is Voltbrand… The Sword of Thunder."
He tightened his grip on Voltbrand, now a sword infused with his wand, and it felt more solid than ever in his hand, balanced, powerful, alive.
But just as the wand and the sword became one, Voltbrand began to transform.
The once-still blade erupted with a dazzling light, even brighter than before.
To everyone watching, Alex was no longer holding a sword, it looked like he was gripping a glowing beam of blue-silver light. But if someone peered closely, they'd see the surface was actually a swirling flow of liquid plasma, solid yet shifting, with a ring of shimmering, rainbow-colored light circling around it.
Even Alex was stunned by the sudden burst of energy. 'What on earth had caused the sword to react so violently just from merging with the wand?'
Still, despite the unexpected flare of power, the sword didn't feel dangerous to him. In fact, the bond between them had grown even stronger, more connected, more complete.
"Alex! Look out!" Brand's panicked voice suddenly rang out from nearby.
Alex turned his head, instinctively reacting to the shout and was immediately struck by lightning.
Not metaphorically. Literally.
If this had happened right after forging the sword, Alex might've dodged in time. But the storm had ignored him for so long, he'd let his guard down. And with his attention stolen by Voltbrand's transformation, he didn't even notice the build-up.
"Damn it! You've got to be kidding me!" The lightning struck him straight in the forehead.
Luckily, the sword immediately absorbed most of the current, drawing it into its glowing core. But that didn't stop the shock from staggering him. His hair stood on end, his skin sizzled, and for a moment, the world spun sideways.
Understandably furious, Alex stumbled back and glared up at the swirling mass of thunderclouds. His face was blackened with soot, his expression a mix of rage and disbelief.
The plasma in the storm's center pulsed again, thicker and brighter, and another bolt began to form, followed by another. The entire sky above him had seemingly declared war.
Although Alex was furious after being blasted in the face by lightning, he didn't dare to let his guard down.
The storm overhead was still surging violently, and he quickly raised Voltbrand high into the air, holding it like a lightning rod to draw the incoming strikes toward himself.
The moment he did, the sword in his hand reacted as if it had come alive. The blade vibrated and hummed with excitement, buzzing like it was enjoying the lightning, almost as if it were feasting on it.
Then, something even stranger happened.
With every strike that hit Voltbrand, more layers of blue-silver plasma spilled from the sword's surface, flowing smoothly down the hilt and across Alex's arm before seeping into his body.
And the moment that energy touched him, he felt it, his drained magic, the mana he'd burned through while forging the sword, was slowly returning. Not just returning, though, it was enhancing.
"What the...?" Alex muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing. "It's strengthening my magic? Is this real?"
He paused for a moment to focus, sensing the changes more carefully. His overall magic reserve hadn't grown larger, but the quality of it had shifted. It felt more concentrated.
He could feel his understanding of the lightning element, especially the spell structure tied to Thundris Tempest, deepening as if it were being etched directly into his core.
"Wait... Is this the reason Thunderbirds chase storms?" he whispered, eyes wide. "This ability to transform and refine magic, it's incredible."
For a moment, he simply stood there in the rain, stunned by the realization. And then, as his grin grew wider, the anger in his eyes shifted to something else entirely hunger. Excitement.
"This is better than training," he muttered, laughing to himself. "If I can absorb more lightning like this, my magic might take a massive leap forward."
He raised his arm even higher, practically begging the sky to throw more at him.
But then he noticed something troubling, the lightning strikes were slowing down. Their rhythm remained steady, but the intervals between them grew longer, and the intensity was dropping. The storm's power was starting to fade.
"Oh no you don't," Alex said, frowning. "Don't even think about it."
This strange reaction between Voltbrand and the storm, might only happen this once. There was no telling if he'd ever be able to recreate these conditions, and if the opportunity slipped away, he might lose this rare chance forever.