The wind atop the Stormlands roared like a wounded beast, whipping sheets of snow against the cloaks of Leon and his companions. Elara held up a glowing stone, her emerald eyes scanning the map beneath the storm. "According to ancient records," she said, "the *Core of Thunder* lies deep within the 'Storm Rift' at the heart of the Thunder Shrine. But now the entire plateau is covered by the Shadow Covenant's *Thundercloud Sealing Array*."
Before she could finish, a jagged bolt of purple-black lightning struck the icy rocks nearby, leaving behind a charred crater. The air reeked of ozone.
"Let me lead!" Garrosh growled, swinging his axe. Ice had formed along the edges of his armor, refracting the flashes of lightning. With every step forward, he drove his weapon into the frozen ground for balance, yet the gale still threatened to tear him from his feet.
Suddenly, Tom pointed ahead. "Look! What is that?"
From the swirling snow emerged several towering figures—the corrupted thunder elementals known as *storm golems*. Their bodies crackled with violent arcs of dark lightning, woven through jagged ice. At their cores pulsed fragments of chaotic energy.
Leon tightened his grip on the True Form of the *Heart of the Flame Dragon*. Multicolored fire flowed across his palm, resonating with the newly-formed thunder mark on his hand. "Tom, aim your rune crossbow at the core fragments. Elara, prepare a wind-element arrow to disrupt their energy flow. Garrosh—we need an opening!"
"Understood!" Tom drew back the弩 string, lightning crackling around the arrowhead. Elara nocked a feathered shaft inscribed with wind glyphs; its tip whistled in the howling wind. Garrosh took a deep breath, slammed his axe into the ground, and roared, "Lend me your strength, the Frost Wolf Clan!"
A golden phantom wolf erupted around him, anchoring his stance and carving a path through the storm.
Leon seized the moment. The four elements surged within him. Raising both the *Heart of the Flame Dragon* and the Thunder Fragment, he summoned a spiraling elemental vortex above his head—crimson and azure energies entwining—and hurled it at the nearest golem.
The storm exploded upon impact. The golem shrieked as its core cracked apart. Tom fired immediately after, piercing the fragment and shattering it into dust.
"Move!" Elara pulled Leon toward the entrance of the Storm Rift. Inside the passage, the walls shimmered with flowing electricity. Every footstep was accompanied by a sharp clap of thunder.
Suddenly, the dragon egg in Leon's satchel pulsed rapidly. He looked down—its shell markings were resonating with the ancient runes carved into the tunnel wall. It revealed a message left by the First Elemental Bearer: **"The Trial of Thunder is not one of war, but of the heart."**
"Wait," Leon stopped abruptly. "This trial might not be about combat." He pointed to two stone tablets flanking a fork in the path. One bore the image of a warrior cleaving through storm clouds, the other a kneeling figure in prayer.
Tom leaned closer and read the inscription at the base of the second tablet: *"Accept thunder with a just heart, not conquer it with force."*
At that moment, Arthus's voice echoed from the depths of the tunnel. "Master Leon, we meet again. Did you really think mere elemental power would let you pass this trial?"
The leader of the Shadow Covenant stepped from the lightning-lit shadows, holding a black crystal that pulsed with stolen thunder energy. "I've rewritten the rules of this trial—now, you must defeat me to claim the Core of Thunder."
"No!" Elara raised her bow. "How could the First Bearer's trials be altered?"
Arthus smirked. The crystal flared with blinding purple-black lightning, engulfing the corridor in chaos. Leon felt his elemental power destabilize—the flame of the *Heart of the Flame Dragon* flickered dangerously.
"He's polluted the elemental laws here with chaos," Leon whispered to his team. "We can't fight directly."
Tom suddenly pointed at a gap in the corrupted runes on the wall. "Look! That part isn't tainted!"
Understanding instantly, Leon pressed the Thunder Fragment into the gap. Light flared from the praying figure on the stone tablet. A beam of pure lightning descended from the sky, peeling away Arthus's corrupted energy layer by layer.
"No!" Arthus bellowed, summoning shadowy tendrils with his staff. But Leon closed his eyes, recalling Ironmane's words: *"The Trial of Thunder demands justice—not hatred."*
He withdrew all offensive energy and placed the dragon egg against the black crystal. The egg's markings resonated with the chaos fragment inside—turning the violent purple-black lightning into a soft golden glow.
"What… what is this? Elemental Fusion?" Arthus staggered back, fear flashing in his eyes for the first time. "How do you know forbidden techniques like this?"
Leon didn't answer. Instead, he channeled the purified lightning into the core of the Thunder Shrine. Slowly, a crystal rose from the center—a radiant gem etched with the mark of the eternal storm. They had found the *Core of Thunder*.
As Leon touched the crystal, the four elemental powers and stardust within him fused completely. The marks on his hand transformed into a perfect ring, the central star sigil glowing with eternal light.
Arthus let out a final scream before vanishing into black mist. But Leon saw the faint, twisted smile on his lips as he disappeared—this wasn't over.
"We did it!" Tom cheered, shaking snow from his hair. Elara carefully secured the *Core of Thunder*, its glow reflected in her jade-green eyes. "Now that we have two relics, where do we go next?"
"Wait," Leon interrupted, staring at the dragon egg. It now emitted a gentle white light, revealing the next clue—a frozen forest with a massive World Tree at its center. "Our next destination is the *Eternal Winter Forest*. We must find the *Eye of Frost*."
Garrosh tapped the wolf emblem on his chest with his axe. "Wherever you go, the orcs will follow. But Leon… that fusion technique you used…"
"I know," Leon sighed. "It's dangerous. I almost lost control to the chaos energy. But I had no choice. Arthus is accelerating his plan. We don't have time to learn slowly."
He looked beyond the Stormlands toward the endless snowy horizon. The sun was trying to break through the heavy clouds. "We must gather all the elemental relics before the Chaos Egg fully hatches."
The four stood silently before the Thunder Shrine, the wind howling behind them.
Leon clenched the *Core of Thunder*, feeling the surge of elemental power within—but also a lingering unease. Arthus had appeared too easily, fallen too quickly. As if everything had been planned. And the growing clarity of the World Tree pattern on the egg hinted at something even more unknown.
As they departed the Stormlands, Leon glanced back at the now-purified sky. The storm clouds had lifted, revealing a clear blue expanse. Yet he knew—the real storm had only just begun.
Arthus's schemes, the threat of the Chaos Egg, and the dangers of elemental fusion loomed like a sword above their heads.
Already, the winds of the Eternal Winter Forest carried whispers of frost giants, while the Shadow Covenant lurked in the shadows, waiting.
Leon tightened his fists. The elemental ring on his hand glowed steadily, guiding them toward the next battlefield.
And so, as the final chapter of Volume I came to a close, Leon and his companions set forth once more. His journey of vengeance had evolved into a mission to save the world. Each step forward tested not only his mastery of power, but the strength of his spirit.