Thunder boomed and lightning crackled along the mountain range, illuminating two individuals that stood at the base of the electrifying chain of mountains. Of the two beings, the smaller one had his hair sticking up from the surrounding static, causing him to resemble a frayed brush, while the taller individual, a woman with a slim but muscular figure, seemed to be completely unaffected by the raging static as her black hair laid tamely upon her head.

As he stared at the ancient forest covering the mountains and heard the thunder crackling in the air, the young boy quivered and turned to the tall woman. “M-Master, do we have to start the training in Thunder Mountains? C-couldn’t we learn the basics at home first, before going into the field?”

The Master’s red eyes looked down at the small boy, answering his question with a smile, “Now Volt. You should know from reading our legacy’s texts that to learn our style you must kill many beings with higher power than you. And since you're a dwarf we’ll have to tweak the style to fit your body. What better way is there to do that than life and death battles?”

Volt shuddered under his Master’s gaze, “U-umm... are you sure t-this is the only way?”

The youthful woman ruffled Volt’s hair, “Yup! My master and his master all the way up to the first master, who was a dragon mind you, each had unique bodies. They evolved the core tenets to what they are now and made their own styles off of it. This place-”

She waved her hand at the mountain range, “-will be your teacher now, while I will take on more of a guiding approach. Bandits, creatures, and monsters roam these ranges at will, and with our core element rampaging around, this is a perfect target rich environment for training. Now...”

Lightning crackling off her body as her voice turned somber, “Get moving or I’ll light your ass on fire.”

***

“Anticipate it’s movements! If you keep doing that you're going to lose your head.” Volt's Master offhandedly remarked as she took a bite out of a blue apple.

Volt bent backward to dodge the swiping hand of a Lightning Ape that roared with fury when he wasn’t crushed to death. Digging his sword into the ground as a support, Volt used his sword like a pivot pushing himself out of range of the beast’s second swipe by kicking off the ape's face.

Twisting in the air like a cat, he landed on his feet and pointed his blade at the ape. Taking a deep breath as sweat dripped off his face, Volt felt as if his heartbeat had exploded within his ears.

Thump, thump, thump.

After fighting with the Lightning Ape for half an hour, Volt was running on fumes.

I only have one more good swing in me before I expand all my stamina. It’s do or die.

With his back against the wall like a cornered rat, Volt shut out everything that didn’t matter, the ape’s roar, the crashing thunder, the feeling of the wind… he sealed it all away in order to survive. Everything but the thumping of his heart, the sound of his breathing, and his Master’s words before he closed himself off from the world faded away.

Anticipate its movements.

Eyes wide, Volt watched the ape slowly charge at him on all fours.

No, it isn’t slow. I’m just thinking faster.

Volt shifted his left foot forward and raised his sword in a diagonal stance.

Wait for it… He thought as his body began to suck in the surrounding blue static.

Five meters…

Almost… The blue static dove into his muscles, causing them to twitch.

Four meters...

There… His muscles bulged as his eyes flickered with lightning.

Two meters…

“Lightning….” Lightning came down from the heavens and struck him as he began to move, but the ensuing thunder failed to mask his furious voice.

One meter...

“SLASH!”

In an instant, in a flash, Volt appeared behind the ape, roaring his lungs out as the power of lightning coursed through his body.

As he wailed his lungs out the charging ape moved forward for a few meters before it realized that its prey had somehow gotten behind it. When the ape tried to turn around, the ape felt as if its vision had turned sideways. Then it hit the ground. The ape was confused until it saw its body with a smoking stump at the neck. It didn’t take long after that for it to expire.

Smiling at the show, Volt’s master began clapping from a tree.

“Not bad, disciple. You killed a Peak Tier One existence whilst only being a Low Tier One existence. Ya even got stuck with some good fortune! Guess we’ll have to take a break day as you digest the energy.”

Getting out of the tree, Volt’s Master went over to his twitching, semi-burnt, and smoking form and jabbed at his body in a few odd spots. Weirdly, Volt stopped twitching and his body began to glow.

The last words he heard before he lost consciousness made him want to cry.

“Sigh… I’d already scouted a bandit camp for you to slaughter tomorrow. Fuck! Be grateful that your Master is so thoughtful and gave you a break day!”