The underground lake hidden within the Owens family's secret cave looked like a slice of midnight carved into the earth itself. And as Valerie floated silently near the center of it, she couldn't help but spread her arms as wide as possible while gentle ripples drifted across black water that shimmered beneath the cavern ceiling.
The lake was enormous, easily the size of a football field, and hidden hundreds of feet beneath the forests of Central Florida. Thick roots pierced through the overhead stone like veins, while glowing blue moss clung to the cavern walls and bathed everything in a soft, ghostly light.
It should have felt eerie. But instead, it felt peaceful…
The tall blonde closed her eyes and let herself sink deeper until the water reached her chin. Every bruise from the morning's training seemed to dissolve beneath the surface. The ache in her shoulders faded first. Then the stiffness in her legs. Even the sharp pain in her ribs, courtesy of Victor Owens planting a lightning-enhanced kick directly into her side three hours ago, slowly disappeared.
In all honesty, the young woman still couldn't believe that she was standing right in the middle of the Fountain of Youth.
Not the myth. Not a fairy tale. Not one of those exaggerated stories people whispered about in online forums before the DPA buried the posts beneath layers of government firewalls. But the real, genuine article itself.
And somehow the Owens family was in possession of it….
Valerie still had trouble wrapping her head around that fact.
The woman gently opened her eyes and took a moment to stare out across the dark water in front of her.
Back in high school, during one of those rare days that she actually paid attention in class, she remembered hearing lessons about Spanish explorers searching for the Fountain centuries ago when they first reached the Americas. Her teachers had laughed about it during history class. Mostly about treasure hunters, superstition, and how the whole thing was little more than colonial nonsense wrapped up in church propaganda.
But as it turns out, the Conquistadors had simply been searching for it in the wrong place all those years ago.
The real Fountain of Youth wasn't in St. Augustine, as so many of them had thought. Nor was it somewhere in the middle of Brazil or Colombia. In reality, it was hidden beneath the wilderness of Central Florida. Right in the middle of a strong magic region that they had no hopes of ever finding.
Valerie sighed deeply as steam curled faintly from her skin.
That always happened whenever she messed around and relaxed too much. Thanks to her terrible control over her own magical attribute, her 'fire magic' would heat her body up to the point where it could actually boil water if she wasn't careful.
She lowered her hands beneath the water before the temperature around her rose any higher.
Control.
That was always the problem, wasn't it?
Most elemental sorcerers learned basic mana regulation as soon as their powers awakened. 'Water magic' users learned emotional restraint. 'Earth magic' users practiced grounding techniques. And 'wind magic' users focused on breathing patterns.
'Fire magic' users, though? They either learned control early, or they burned themselves alive in the process. Something that Valerie genuinely hoped would never happen to her.
The tall blonde pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and leaned her head back against the smooth stone behind her.
Her second week had only just started, and already she felt like she'd survived a military boot camp designed by psychopaths.
The first week of training had been utter hell for her.
Eight-hour-long combat sessions. Strength training until she could barely raise her arms above her head. Reaction drills designed to drive her crazy. Endurance exercises that had her questioning her own physical capabilities. And hand-to-hand combat against a woman who apparently considered mercy to be a personal weakness.
And right in the center of it all had been Zharia Owens.
An S-rank 'lightning magic' user with a resume longer than most people out there.
An elite combat specialist who trained some of the country's most notable fighters.
And one of the strongest American sorcerers alive.
Valerie had known Zharia's reputation long before coming to Miami. Hell, everyone in the DPA and beyond knew who she was and what she was capable of. Videos of her exploits circulated constantly within classified DPA networks. And entire training programs had been modeled after her combat methods.
Seeing her in person, however, let Valerie know that all of that was only the tip of the iceberg.
Zharia moved like a natural disaster pretending to be human.
Fast. Violent. Precise.
And completely impossible to predict.
Valerie had lasted exactly eight seconds in their first sparring match together. Something that had apparently impressed Zharia, at least according to what Victor and Mary-Anne told her. But she knew good and well that the older woman was going easy on her when it happened.
Footsteps echoed softly across the stone.
Valerie looked up toward the shoreline, where she watched Zharia Owens approach the edge of the lake carrying two glass bottles of water in one hand. Even dressed casually, the older woman with the burned face radiated a danger that assaulted the 'fire magic' user's senses from every angle.
Tiny arcs of electricity occasionally snapped across her forearms without warning. But unlike Valerie, Zharia clearly had complete control over her element.
"Still alive, blondie?" Zharia asked with a slight smirk.
Valerie snorted. "Barely."
Zharia tossed one of the water bottles toward her. Valerie caught it with wet fingers, despite almost dropping it.
"Your guard improved today." Zharia then said. "Slightly."
"That might be the nicest thing you've said to me all week."
"I said slightly."
Valerie rolled her eyes before taking a drink.
Zharia sat down near the edge of the black lake, resting her elbows against her knees. For a few moments, neither of them spoke. And the cavern was quiet except for the sound of dripping water and the distant hum of magical energy flowing through the underground spring.
Eventually, Zharia spoke again. "You're adapting faster than I expected."
Valerie blinked. "Really?"
"You recover quickly. And your instincts are abnormal." The 'lightning magic' user glanced toward her. "Most young sorcerers panic under pressure. You, however, get more dangerous."
Valerie looked down at the water.
Dangerous.
That was one way to put it.
Some of her relatives back home would've had much different words to describe the concept, though.
Unstable.
Volatile.
A monster.
Most of them at least tried not to say those words around her while in her presence. Mostly because one of them had ended up with second-degree burns on her arms after getting a little too comfortable with throwing insults in her direction.
Valerie hadn't meant to hurt her cousin as badly as she did. She never meant to hurt anyone who didn't exactly deserve it. But on that particular day, all she had cared about was showing everyone around her that she wasn't as useless as they claimed her to be.
"That thing you did during your little Iznana crackdown mission a few months ago…" Zharia said carefully while leaning back on her hands. "During your fight with your unknown cousin or whoever the hell he was."
Valerie stiffened slightly.
Of course, this was coming.
The Iznana mission had changed everything.
Before that night, Valerie had simply been considered moderately talented. A powerful fire user with terrible control issues.
After that, though? People started whispering. And even though she hated to admit it, she couldn't blame them. After all, it's not every day you see someone beaten within an inch of their life by a crazy woman who can apparently enter a rage-state that makes her lose complete control over her own senses.
"You entered a berserker state." Zharia continued. "Correct?"
Valerie hesitated before nodding slowly. "I think so."
"You think so?"
"I don't remember most of it."
That part was true.
Fragments of what had actually happened still remained in her mind.
Blood.
Fire.
The smell of melting asphalt beneath her feet.
And most of all, rage.
Not normal anger.
Something deeper.
Something more vicious.
As if every violent instinct inside her body had suddenly clawed its way to the surface all at once.
Valerie still had nightmares about it. But she made it a point not to tell anyone about them to avoid having to pay a visit to a therapist.
Zharia studied the young woman quietly before speaking again. "Do you know how rare berserker-type sorcerers are?"
Valerie shook her head in response.
"Six confirmed cases in recorded history ever since the Great Awakening. Not including you."
That certainly got the tall blonde's attention. "Six?"
Zharia nodded.
"The oldest documented case came out of Norway a little over sixty years ago. Since then, there have only been five others." She paused. "But the most recent is a woman by the name of Wang Jiayi."
Valerie immediately recognized the name. Everyone did.
Wang Jiayi, the Queen of Sorcerers. China's living weapon. The number two-ranked sorcerer on the planet. The woman who had fought Deputy Chief Mubele to a draw somewhere in the Gobi Desert around six years ago. And a woman powerful enough that entire governments monitored her movements with a laser focus.
Valerie frowned. "She's a berserker?"
"The strongest one ever documented." The older woman replied. "And someone strong enough to make Jean-Jacques actually have to push himself to the limit in order to keep himself alive."
That sent a chill through her despite the warm water surrounding her body.
Zharia leaned back slightly against the stone.
"From what I've been told, when berserker-types enter their 'combat state', their magical output skyrockets. Physical capability increases, too. Along with their speed, strength, reflexes, and durability." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "But their ability to reason completely deteriorates."
"So basically…" Valerie muttered. "You become insane."
"Not insane. More like…primitive."
Somehow that sounded worse.
Valerie paused as she stared into the black water in front of her. "Why are you telling me this?"
Zharia answered immediately. "Because that little trait of yours is why I agreed to train you."
Valerie looked up. "What?"
Zharia met her gaze directly. "In short, I wanted to see it for myself."
The honesty caught Valerie off guard. No hesitation. No sugarcoating. Just truth.
"You brought me here because you were curious?"
"Partially."
"That's not exactly comforting to hear."
"You're also decently talented for someone your age." Zharia added calmly. "But yes. I wanted to know if Jean-Jacques reports were accurate."
Valerie laughed softly in disbelief. "That's insane."
"I've been called worse by much more respectable people."
Another silence settled between them.
Valerie looked away first as she thought about what she just heard. Part of her appreciated the honesty. But another part suddenly felt very exposed. Like she'd been brought here less as a student and more as a phenomenon that needed to be studied.
"You're scared of it." Zharia said.
Valerie didn't answer because denying it would've been pointless.
Of course, she was scared. This berserker-state thing had nearly caused her to kill a man with her own bare hands. That wasn't the kind of thing that could be easily brushed off.
She still remembered some of the other agents back home staring at her afterward like they weren't entirely sure she should be allowed to remain employed.
"I don't even know how it happened…" Valerie admitted quietly. "One second, I was losing the fight. Then suddenly…" She swallowed. "Everything just went dark."
Zharia listened carefully.
"No fear. No hesitation. Nothing." Her voice lowered slightly. "All I remember was that I was having a lot of fun and wanted to hurt the guy more and more with each passing second."
The cavern fell silent again. Then Zharia stood. "That sounds normal."
Valerie stared at her. "Excuse me?"
"For berserker-types, based on what I've read about them." Zharia clarified. "Your combat state amplifies predatory instinct. Violence becomes easier the longer you're like that."
That was not reassuring information.
Zharia stretched her shoulders casually. "Anyways…for the next two weeks, our objective is going to change a bit."
Valerie slowly climbed toward the shoreline. "To what?"
"To see whether or not you can activate it willingly."
Valerie froze halfway out of the water. "…What?"
"You heard me." The older woman replied. "Wang Jiayi can enter in and out of that state at will. I want to see if you can do the same thing."
"That sounds, like, unbelievably dangerous."
"It probably is."
"You say that way too casually."
Zharia smirked faintly as she motioned for the tall blonde to get out of the water.
Valerie did as she was told and stepped onto the stone shore, as water dripped from her clothes. The black water's magical properties had completely restored her body after only thirty minutes of soaking. Her exhaustion was gone. Her muscles were refreshed. And even a few of her bruises had already vanished. Something which, unfortunately, meant Zharia could continue beating the life out of her without too much issue.
Valerie grabbed the black jacket she'd left nearby and pulled it back on. But internally, anxiety had already twisted its way into her stomach.
Activate the berserker-state willingly?
She wasn't even sure she wanted that thing inside her.
But another part of her, a darker, quieter part, wanted to know if it was possible. Wanted to see what would happen if she stopped being afraid of it.
Zharia walked toward the center of the cavern, where a wide circular training platform had been carved directly into the stone. Some old enchantment symbols glowed faintly along its edges. Protective wards of some sort that someone like Evan would know way more about than she could.
Containment barriers, if she had to take a guess. Probably designed specifically for situations exactly like this one. Which was not comforting either.
Zharia rolled her neck once.
"Same rules as before, blondie." The 'lightning magic' user said. "No lethal attacks. Try not to burn the cave down."
"I'll do my best."
"Well, I want to see more than your best."
Valerie exhaled slowly and stepped onto the platform. Heat immediately radiated from her palms, and orange light flickered beneath her skin. But across from her, sparks of orange electricity crackled around Zharia's fists.
The air pressure in the cavern shifted instantly.
Power answered power.
Valerie lowered herself into a fighting stance while a nervous energy surged through her chest.
Fear.
Excitement.
Adrenaline.
She focused on Zharia carefully, and the older sorcerer smiled slightly. "Come at me, girl."
Valerie lunged forward without a moment's hesitation.
A surge of orange mana exploded around her hands, courtesy of her total armament. But right as the young woman got about halfway to her intended target, Zharia vanished.
Valerie barely had time to register movement before a lightning-covered fist slammed directly into her stomach. The impact felt less like being punched and more like getting hit by a speeding truck made of electricity.
A deafening crack suddenly erupted through the cavern. Pain detonated through Valerie's entire body as the force launched her backward across the platform. And for one horrifying second, it genuinely felt like lightning itself had struck her.
'Ah fuck…' Was the last thing the young woman thought before the world began to tilt on an axis.