Water has many forms and many properties.
For example, a water curtain can block an enemy’s vision, a water wall can be used for defense, and a water blade can be used for attack.
But these are all uses on the physical level.
Yet water has one more trait she had never used before—its conductivity.
Not using electricity to hit someone, but using her own water to attract Sige’s lightning, turning her water into a conductor, taking Sige’s thunder from her hands and sending it back out again, like a cyclotron.
“I have an idea,” Xuan Xi said.
The Thunder Light in SigrdrÃfa’s palm vanished.
“Oh? Let’s hear it.”
“We can use the conductivity of water. When your lightning strikes, I’ll catch it with a thin line of water, guide the thunder into myself, pass it through my body to the other side, and send it back into your hands. That way, it forms a circuit. The thunder loops through the circuit, and with every lap, its power grows stronger.”
SigrdrÃfa looked at her, silent for a few seconds, “If we do that, you might get hurt.”
“I’ve already been electrocuted by you plenty of times, haven’t I?”
“It’s different. Those were just spell afterwaves—I controlled the power.”
SigrdrÃfa’s brow furrowed slightly.
“But what you’re suggesting is essentially having me shoot lightning directly into your body. Even if you’re of the Dragon Race, you might not be able to withstand it.”
“But if my water line is thin enough, the thunder will only follow the water line I release—it won’t spread to other parts of my body. When you cast spells, the lightning Spiritual Energy also flows through your meridians without electrocuting your internal organs, right?” Xuan Xi paused.
“In theory, it should be about the same.”
SigrdrÃfa didn’t speak.
She was mulling over the feasibility of the plan, thinking about how she’d contain the situation if something went wrong.
“Let’s try it once, then,” SigrdrÃfa said, “But you have to promise me—when I tell you to let go, you let go.”
Xuan Xi nodded.
She reached out her hand and drew a water line through the air between them, no thicker than a piece of string.
It was nearly invisible to the naked eye, but Xuan Xi could feel its presence.
A spark flickered at SigrdrÃfa’s fingertip, and a bolt of Thunder Light was launched.
It traveled along the water line, not fast—like a baby snake just learning to crawl, inching forward slowly.
When it reached the middle of the water line, it stopped.
The electric arc bounced back and forth a few times within that short segment, hesitant.
Clearly, Sige was still worried about Xuan Xi’s body.
“Don’t be afraid, Sige. I can take it,” Xuan Xi said.
SigrdrÃfa shot her a glare.
The Thunder Light suddenly lurched forward, rushing straight into Xuan Xi’s arm.
Her entire right arm, from fingertip to shoulder, felt like it had been pricked by a thousand fine needles.
The numbness climbed up along her bones, spreading through her whole body, until even her teeth began to ache.
Xuan Xi clenched her jaw and didn’t let go.
The current passed through her shoulder, flowed from her right arm to her left arm, then surged out from her left palm, traveling back toward Sige along another water line.
When the silver-white arc leaped from her left hand, it was twice as bright as before.
SigrdrÃfa’s eyes lit up.
So it really worked.
The Thunder Light began racing through the circuit.
One lap, two laps, three laps—with each lap, it grew brighter.
After several rounds, Xuan Xi’s arms had gone completely numb.
All she knew was that her left hand was outputting and her right hand was inputting.
The purification step in the middle seemed to have been erased.
She couldn’t even register how the current was passing through her body—only that it wasn’t killing her.
“Release!” SigrdrÃfa saw that Xuan Xi was nearing her limit and shouted.
They both let go at the same moment.
The circuit broke, and the Thunder Light shot out from the end of the water line, flew through the low air for a moment, then detonated midair.
The silver-white arc surged forward in a fan-shaped trajectory.
Everything it touched burst into flames—dead grass burning, the ground charred black, and even the air ionized with a pungent, acrid smell.
The pillar of light lingered above the open field for several seconds before slowly dissipating, leaving behind a massive scorched scar.
Xuan Xi stared at that scar, her legs giving out as she collapsed to sit on the ground.
SigrdrÃfa sat down too.
Neither of them spoke—they just leaned back-to-back, gasping for breath.
That single blast had nearly drained both their Spiritual Energy, but the feeling of electric current surging through the body, of Spiritual Qi roaring through the bloodline, was still vivid in their minds.
Fortunately, it was all worth it.
The power of that one strike absolutely met the school’s requirements.
After a roll of thunder, the rain finally came.
Countless raindrops poured down from the sky, pounding against the two of them.
The rain was heavy—so heavy that their vision blurred, leaving nothing in the world but the curtain of rain and two people huddled close together.
Xuan Xi tilted her head back, letting the rain hit her face and trickle down her cheeks, cool against her skin.
She opened her mouth and caught a mouthful of rain, tasting the flavor of the clouds.
“That feels amazing,” she said.
SigrdrÃfa gave no verbal answer, but her body responded.
She too let the rain pour over her head and shoulders.
Her long hair, soaked through, clung to her body, several shades darker than usual.
The two sat back-to-back in the heavy rain for a long time, until they were both completely drenched through.
“Let’s go.” SigrdrÃfa stood up.
By now, she had absorbed enough elemental power to pull Xuan Xi up from the ground.
But the rain was too heavy—neither of them could see the path they’d come from.
The two stumbled forward, feeling their way along, until they finally found a cave at the edge of the forest.
The entrance was small, mostly hidden by hanging vines.
The space inside wasn’t large, but it was enough for the two of them.
The ground was dry, and there was even a small pile of firewood stacked in the corner—probably left behind by a passing traveler or woodcutter.
SigrdrÃfa crouched down and condensed a small flame at her fingertip.
Fire spells were far more practical than anything else at a time like this.
The dry wood caught, and the firelight illuminated the entire cave.
Xuan Xi sat down by the fire.
Her clothes were soaked through, water dripping from her hair.
She hunched her shoulders and let out a loud sneeze.
SigrdrÃfa looked at her, firelight reflected in her eyes, a hint of surprise in them.
“Can a Water-element dragon catch a cold?”
Xuan Xi sniffled and answered with a thick nasal voice, “My Water Attribute is extremely pure, you know. The books say rainwater is ‘rootless water’ since it never touches the ground, but it spends so long in the clouds, absorbing dust and impurities from the air, that it’s far dirtier than the water inside my body.”
She sneezed again.
“And after being out in the rain for so long, my immune system dropped. Catching a cold is completely normal.”
SigrdrÃfa said nothing, she quietly took off her wet jacket and laid it over a stone by the fire, then peeled off her sweater and set it beside the jacket.
Wearing only a thin blouse, she sat by the campfire.
The soaked blouse clung to her body, subtly outlining the curves of Sige’s fine figure.
She gathered her hair to one side and wrung it out.
Water droplets sizzled as they hit the flames.
Xuan Xi simply watched Sige, completely captivated.