Chapter 56 – The Instinct of Thunder
Seth was out of breath. The floor of the labyrinth resonated with a deep vibration, as if each burst of thunder sought to shatter his eardrums. In front of him, Reinard stood upright with Seth's card in hand and a mocking smile planted on his face. His slender figure disappeared and reappeared in blinding flashes, impossible to follow.
— You're too slow, Seth, he said, his voice echoing in all directions at once.
— Your eyes aren't enough it seems. Your ears neither. You are blind and deaf against me.
A rumble split the air, and the ground exploded a few centimeters from Seth's foot. An electric discharge shot out, throwing him backward. He rolled heavily against the stone wall, his muscles contracted from the shock. His breath caught in his throat.
— Argh…
Reinard reappeared to his right, bursting into a clear laugh.
— So this is what the students of the prestigious Etheria Academy are worth? Really? I am disappointed.
Another lightning bolt split the air, this time behind him. Seth turned too late: the lightning struck his shoulder, hurling him forward, his nerves burned by the discharge. He crashed to the ground, gasping.
— Damn… I can't… keep up… He's way too fast…
The ground began to crackle again. Reinard was already elsewhere, ready to strike again. Each movement was a barrage. Seth saw only streaks of light, shadows that lasted a thousand times less than a heartbeat. His body reacted too late.
A lightning strike. A wound.
Another lightning strike. A burn.
A third. His knees buckled.
He was at his limit.
— Look at you, sneered Reinard, appearing right in front of him, eyes full of superiority.
— You can't even keep up with me… You are pathetic.
He raised his hand, and electric arrows began to dance around him, crackling like a cage of lightning ready to close. Seth stepped back instinctively, but his legs shook. He took the attack head-on, violently destroying the slab he stood on, creating a cloud of dust.
He lay on the ground, helpless:
— I can't do anything… He's way too fast… for me…
Sweat dripped from his forehead, mixing with dust and the blood from his scrapes. His heart pounded wildly, as if it wanted to explode from his chest.
— You're still moving? You surprise me, human… It's time to finish this…
Reinard vanished again. A burst came from the left. Seth raised his arm, too late. The lightning cut his side. He screamed in pain.
Reinard reappeared to his right. Another burst, a shock to the leg. Seth collapsed to his knees.
— That's it, crawl… whispered Reinard, leaning slightly toward him.
— Humans are still light-years away from dragons.
Reinard's laugh echoed throughout the hall, cruel and confident. Seth felt his strength abandon him.
— No… I refuse… I refuse to be crushed like this… Suo… if only I were as strong as you.
His mind desperately searched for a way out. His eyes couldn't follow. His ears received the bursts too late. Every sense was overwhelmed. Then, in his despair, he did something strange: he closed his eyes.
Suddenly;
Darkness invaded his mind. No more light, no more movement, no images impossible to grasp. Only… sound.
The crackle of lightning.
The rumble of thunder.
The void.
— Wait… The light… and the sound…
The blackness behind his eyelids became an arena. Seth could see nothing, yet paradoxically, he finally began to understand. The electric tumult assailing him formed a pattern: first a blinding flash, then, after a brief but constant interval, the rumble of thunder. This delay was no coincidence. It was a measure.
In his head, numbers clicked like clear notes. He rummaged through his school memories, fragments of a professor pointing at the board, formulas he never thought he'd use in combat, and transformed them into weapons.
He first considered the two speeds: light, practically instantaneous at 300,000,000 m/s, and sound, much slower, 343 m/s at ambient temperature. Light would arrive almost immediately; sound would take a time proportional to the distance.
Seth estimated the distance between him and Reinard at a glance: the labyrinth had repetitive modules, and Seth remembered the alcoves: about 18 meters.
He calculated, at a wild speed never done before, like casting a quick spell:
d = 18 m
v_attack = c = 3×10^8 m/s
t_dodge = d / v_attack = 18 / (3×10^8) ≈ 6×10^-8 s
t_dodge ≈ 0.00006 ms
Position = Position_0 + f(Δt)
Impact ≈ 0 if movement = f(Δt)
Seth ran the numbers in his head:
— So 6×10^-8 s corresponds to ~17.15 m. He adjusted the seconds.
He thought in milliseconds, as it was more tangible for dodging: 0.0000572 ms
He also noted the light propagation time mentally:
— instantaneous…
Then he considered light diffusion, not a full formula, but the useful idea: the lightning illuminates everything, then intensity decreases. At 18 m, the luminous intensity he perceived was from a point source. It was a confirmation: the lightning had lit him, but the intensity wasn't what mattered—it was the temporal signal between flash and thunder.
His fingers clenched. He transformed this knowledge into a plan: next time he saw the flash, he would measure the silence that followed. The delay would give him the effective attack distance. Even better, he could anticipate the impact moment: if the flash arrived and the sound took 0.0000572 ms to come, it meant the external signal manifested at this time, but the attack source had triggered the lightning at the same moment as the discharge itself, which propagated almost instantly toward Seth. How to react to the millimeter? He constrained himself, showing spectacular genius worthy of Etheria's greatest students.
If Reinard triggered a series of flashes, Seth could measure precisely the duration between flash and thunder to estimate Reinard's distance.
Then he could time his movement based on the average duration between the flash and the visible strike on his skin: he had to move even before the light touched him.
He reasoned further, almost frighteningly: Reinard had a tempo; he sent lightning at a cadence that included a small pre-flash indicating the formation of the arc's germ, followed by a more concentrated pulse. Seth had to synchronize with the very first flash. If the first flash meant count X ms and move, then moving at flash + (t_sound × 0.85) gave him a margin: he struck within the window between channel formation and final discharge. The fraction 0.0000572 ms was his mathematical intuition: he wanted to outpace the light diffusion enough so the discharge passed by, and he could dodge Reinard.
He set everything in numbers, clear in his head for 5 m. He chose a safety point: move at 0.0000572 ms before the flash. It was late enough to avoid false blinking, but early enough to stay out of the full-intensity window.
The labyrinth shook under magical explosions. Lightning flew everywhere, striking the floor, walls, and even stone columns. Seth stood still, his body burned by several attacks, his clothes in tatters, but his mind fully concentrated. Every movement of Reinard, every flicker of light, was already analyzed in his head.
— You think closing your eyes will find a solution? You're pathetic! Come on, disappear!!!
Reinard leapt forward, like a concentrated flash of light, aiming precisely at Seth's head. Lightning danced around him, ready to strike in the blink of an eye.
— I'm going to finish you… shouted Reinard, his face contorted with fury.
And then Reinard was right in front of Seth!
The flash burst. The world slowed. Seth leaned sideways, his movements precise to the millimeter, as if every muscle were guided by an indescribable force. The light passed mere millimeters from his eyes, scorching the air around him. Space seemed suspended.
At that moment, their eyes met. Reinard, suspended in the air above Seth, felt a shiver down his spine. Seth, despite pain, blood, and burns, stared at his opponent with icy calm, sly, followed by a mind of fire and pure strategy.
Seth's hand closed over his card, which Reinard had stolen moments ago. In a fluid motion, he recovered it at exactly the same time as the dodge, as if the two actions were one perfect movement.
And at that precise moment, in the real world, seated and watching the scene, Vulcan smiled softly:
— Perfect…
Time seemed to resume. Reinard, landing with colossal force that shook the ground and sent up sprays of stone and dust, rose slowly. Rage boiled in every muscle, every vein, yet no words came out.
The ensuing silence was leaden, broken only by cracking stones and the scorching air saturated with energy. Reinard stood there, dominating the ground, eyes fixed on Seth. The tension was palpable, as if every second could erupt into a new lightning strike.
Then, finally, he spoke, his voice resonating in the labyrinth:
— Impossible… I must be dreaming… he couldn't have dodged… could he?!
On the other side, Seth also slowly rose, clothes in tatters, breathing heavy, eyes fixed on Reinard. The card was now firmly in his fingers.
Reinard stared savagely at Seth, and what could be seen was no longer the handsome, elegant young man everyone knew. His anger had transformed every line of his face into a palpable threat. His eyes, normally clear and piercing, were now incandescent, burning with a rage even the lightning seemed to reflect. His eyebrows, arched and perfect, contracted with such force the skin around his eyes seemed ready to tear. Veins protruded across his face.
— You… you dared… whispered Reinard, his voice trembling with a mix of rage and disbelief.
Seth raised an eyebrow, a small smile on his lips, still breathing heavily but perfectly in control:
— You shouldn't have underestimated me…
Reinard growled, clenching his fists. Lightning crackled around him, illuminating his furious face.
— Hm… replied Seth.
Silence fell for a moment, heavy with tension. Reinard inhaled deeply, his boiling anger transformed into fierce determination.
— Enough playing… this time, I'll go seriously…
Seth clutched the card, ready for the next offensive. The labyrinth trembled around them, still moving. Despite everything, Seth had accomplished his first feat: going faster than light.
To be continued…