Kael's Victory — Magma Forge
Kael's screams echoed through the Magma Forge—but they were screams of effort, not pain. He bent his arms to dodge molten boulders, snapping them back with explosive force to strike lava beasts. Every stretch became a whip crack, every recoil a cannon shot. The sheer force of his elasticity reverberated through the molten chamber, sending shards of rock and fire flying. The heat was unbearable, but Kael's Mega Rubber allowed him to move with impossible speed and precision.
Flames consumed him—then bounced off as his Mega Elastic Body absorbed the impact. His body expanded and twisted in impossible angles, stretching over the lava river to avoid a falling boulder, storing the kinetic energy for later use. Sparks danced across his stretched skin as every movement sent shockwaves through the forge.
Finally, a colossal fire golem rose from the lava, heat distorting the air, molten veins pulsing over its obsidian frame. Smoke spiraled upward, thick and choking.
Kael braced himself.
"Round… final!"
He activated Impact Reversal, flinging back the lava boulders toward the golem, each blast amplified by his stored energy. Then he extended his limbs with Gigant Stretch, turning his arms into massive hammers that slammed into the golem's chest. The impact sent shockwaves through the entire forge, causing floating platforms to tremble. Debris and molten rock flew in every direction.
The golem shattered with a deafening roar, collapsing into a river of molten shards.
DING!
⟢ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
[CONGRATULATIONS]
[Trial Cleared: Magma Forge]
[Title Acquired: Mega Wizard]
[Mega Rubber — Full Mastery Unlocked]
He pumped his fist, molten dust falling from his stretched arms.
"Told you I'd crush it!"
Kael flexed, feeling the raw power of his Snap Execution still buzzing in his limbs. Every muscle felt alive, elastic, and infinite.
---
Nova's Triumph — The Timeless Loop
Nova, meanwhile, stood amid a storm of broken timelines. The Timeless Loop flung her into past versions of herself—weak, scared, alone—and future visions—powerful, ruthless, corrupted. Time tried to snap her in half, forcing impossible choices.
But Mega Neutrality was her anchor.
She centered herself. She breathed. She extended her hands. Mana Equilibrium hummed through her veins, stabilizing the chaotic timelines around her. The sphere of pure gray light burst from her chest, rippling outward, and Force Equalization tempered the overwhelming distortions, allowing her to stand firm amid the collapsing past and future.
Her hair floated in a halo of gray energy. Every shattered timeline bent to her control, slowed, and then merged into calm. Neutral Rewrite flickered on the edges of her aura, transforming chaotic temporal energy into neutral mana.
Time slowed. Then stilled. Then bowed to her.
The mirrors shattered. And a radiant window appeared.
DING!
⟢ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
[CONGRATULATIONS]
[Trial Cleared: The Timeless Loop]
[Title Acquired: Mega Wizard]
[Mega Neutrality — Full Mastery Unlocked]
She smiled, her gray eyes reflecting infinite versions of herself.
"I did it…"
---
Riven's Struggle — The Balanced Scale
But Riven's training ground was different.
Silent. Colorless. Unyielding.
The Balanced Scale tested only one thing: his emotional equilibrium.
But Riven had none.
The Mega Connection inside him was unstable—hungering, whispering, corrupted.
The giant stone scales towered over him. On one plate rested a glowing orb representing Connection, on the other, a dark sphere representing Isolation.
The test was simple: maintain balance.
Riven stepped forward.
Immediately, the plates shifted violently. The entire world tilted. Sandstorms whipped at him. The sky cracked with shrieks of imbalance.
He tried pouring energy into the Connection orb. The scales tipped. A system warning flashed.
⟢ SYSTEM ALERT
[WARNING: Emotional Stability: 19%]
[MEGA CONNECTION Distortion Rising]
[Balance Compromised]
He forced himself calm.
"Focus. Focus. Balance. Find balance!"
But his emotions betrayed him—frustration rising, ambition swelling, anger boiling. The scales snapped violently. The ground shook beneath him, throwing him backward. He rose again and again—only to be slammed down each time the scales tipped off balance.
His breaths became ragged. His vision dimmed.
"I… can't…" he growled.
Another system warning:
⟢ SYSTEM ALERT
[CRITICAL WARNING]
[User is unable to stabilize Mega Connection]
[Failure Probability: 89%]
Riven clenched his fists, eyes blazing.
"Why—? WHY—?! Why is everything a weakness to me?!"
The scales tipped completely.
A hurricane of gray light engulfed him, hurling him across the ground. Stone cracked beneath his body.
He lay there trembling, staring at the unbalanced scales with something between hatred and desperation.
"Why can't I win…?"
A final whisper escaped him—barely audible.
"…I'm supposed to be the strongest."
The Balanced Scale remained unmoved. Silent. Judging. Unbalanced.
Riven Nexusborn, for the first time since becoming a Mega Element user, felt the sting of failure creeping into his bones.
---
The Fractured Self
The Balanced Scale shook under Riven's trembling palms as he knelt in the pale sand. A storm of gray light twisted violently around the two massive stone scales—each representing the eternal conflict within the Mega Connection. Every attempt to balance them only caused more chaos, backlash, and spiraling instability.
His mind splintered with each failure.
"Why am I still trapped here?"
Another tremor hit him.
The left scale—Connection—slammed downward. The right scale—Isolation—shot skyward like a recoiling titan.
The training ground roared.
DING!
⟢ SYSTEM WARNING
[Mega Connection Instability: 82%]
[Cognitive Strain Rising]
[User Risk: HIGH]
Sand whipped across his face like needles, the air screaming with imbalance. The stone floor beneath him cracked. The sky above fluctuated between light and darkness like a glitching reality.
He could feel the Mega Connection spiraling. Hungering. Consuming.
This power… it was too vast. Even trying to stabilize it felt like tearing himself apart.
He gritted his teeth, slamming his fist into the ground. "THINK, Riven! There has to be a way!"
The Balanced Scale continued to tilt wildly, mocking him.
---
A Spark of Insight
From deep in the core of the training ground, Riven sensed something—soft, faint, barely perceptible. A repeating pulse. A rhythm. As if time itself, fractured across this plain, was calling to him.
He rose slowly, eyes narrowing in realization.
This place wasn't bound to one timeline. It held countless realities—countless versions of himself—struggling to balance themselves.
A shock ran through him.
"What if I connect to them? What if I create… a network of my parallel selves?"
The idea was madness. Impossible. Dangerous. Which meant it was perfect.
His pulse quickened. A manic grin threatened to spread across his lips.
"Let's see what happens."
---
Connecting Across Realities
Riven extended both hands. Mega Connection flared to life—brilliant, violent, electrifying.
Lines of shimmering blue-white energy exploded from his fingertips, branching outward like lightning, piercing the very fabric of space. They shot toward distant silhouettes—versions of himself in alternate timelines, each struggling against the Balanced Scale's test in their own way.
He reached deeper.
"Synchronize with me… Share my focus. Share my power."
A presence answered. Then another. Then dozens more.
A flood of consciousness hit him—thoughts, emotions, memories from infinite branches of his own existence. Network Overclock amplified his focus, linking every struggling self into a harmonious rhythm.
His knees almost buckled.
DING!
⟢ SYSTEM ALERT
[Parallel Connections Detected]
[Stabilizing… Stabilizing…]
[Mega Connection Enhancement Triggered]
The Balanced Scale trembled, chains rattling as if awakening from centuries of dormancy.
Riven inhaled sharply.
"This is it. The breakthrough."
He commanded the connections: "Harmonize."
Blue-white light surged across the plain, linking timelines, merging energy patterns, forcing chaotic vibrations into a single unified rhythm. A low hum filled the air—steady, controlled, powerful.
The training ground shifted from chaos to calm. The scales slowly began to balance.
---
The Final Strike
Riven stepped forward, eyes blazing with synchronized power.
"Open," he whispered.
A fracture appeared at the center of the Balanced Scale—the trial's core weakness. Small, nearly invisible, but he saw it clearly through the eyes of countless parallel selves.
He clenched his fist. An uncontrolled energy spiraled around him like a storm, Soul Link and Network Overclock intertwining, drawing the energy of infinite selves.
"With all of us together—"
He struck.
The explosion was thunderous. Light shot upward in a pillar that split the gray sky. Sand blasted outward in a circular shockwave.
DING!
⟢ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
[CONGRATULATIONS]
[Trial Cleared: The Balanced Scale]
[Title Acquired: Mega Wizard]
[Mega Connection — Full Mastery Unlocked]
[New Skill Acquired: Multiversal Synchrony]
Riven exhaled shakily, staring at his trembling hands.
"Multiversal… Synchrony. A skill only I can possess. A skill worthy of a king."
His lips curled upward.
"I finally did it."
The Ascension Ceremony
The three reunited outside the training grounds. Kael practically tackled him with a hug.
"Riven! You finally made it! I knew you'd pull it off!"
Nova smiled brightly. "We're all Mega Wizards now. We… we actually did it."
Riven wore a gentle smile, but inside—
Riven thought to himself, "Finally… Finally I stand above them again."
The priestess greeted them with serene pride.
"You have all passed your trials. Come. The Patriarch awaits."
They followed her into a grand chamber lined with moonlit marble pillars. At its center stood the Patriarch—an ancient figure with eyes like burning stars.
"You have earned your place," he declared.
Three chests floated before them, each glowing with sacred energy. The lids opened, revealing flowing robes woven from arcane silk, etched with luminous runes.
The Patriarch raised his staff.
"These are the Robes of the Twelve—garments of protection, secrecy, and authority. Wear them with honor."
As Riven's robe touched his skin, his Mana surged with new resilience.
Kael laughed in awe.
Nova's eyes shimmered with emotion.
Riven bowed respectfully—masking the electricity of ambition coursing through every cell of his being.
The Seats of the Mega Wizards
The trio walked into the vast amphitheater where the legendary twelve seats of the Mega Wizards stood arranged in a perfect circle. Light cascaded from above, illuminating each throne with awe-inspiring brilliance.
Kael whispered, "This is it…"
Nova's breath caught. "This is… historic."
Riven stared at the empty seat reserved for Mega Connection.
"Mine."
But then another thought surfaced—cold and calculating.
"Twelve seats. Twelve powers. Soon… perhaps only one will be needed."
He hid the dark thought beneath a pleasant smile.
Beyond the Spires — Ignis Cor
Far from the Argentum Spires, the bustling volcanic city of Ignis Cor glowed with red veins of magma running beneath its obsidian streets. The mayor walked calmly through the plaza, greeting citizens, guiding workers, offering comfort to the injured.
Despite the tremendous power thrumming beneath his humble exterior—despite his secretly awakened Mega Element—he chose anonymity.
He had no desire for fame or status.
No intention of joining the Mega Wizards.
He simply wished to protect his people.
But fate, as always, had other plans.