Master of Thunder

The next morning Darius awoke to Raiga's giant golden eyes bearing down on him. He shrunk back down to his smaller self and began floating towards Darius "Took you long enough to wake up. It's almost noon. Now give me your hand." "Wait a minute damn it. I just woke up, I need food and water." "Over there. And your welcome." A metal cup and plate sat on a flat area of the mountain top. The plate contained what looked to be the meat of a giant fish. "Um....thanks, but I can't eat raw meat." "Cook it" "With what fire?" "This is going to be a long month." Before Darius could reply he figured out what Raiga meant. He picked up the meat and cooked it in his hand using lightning. He gathered snow in the cup and melted it using the same method. He sat down to eat his breakfast while trying to ignore the smug look on Raiga's face. Realizing that the tableware wasn't there last night, he questioned Raiga. "Where'd you get these anyway?" Raiga's thoughts shifted back to his excursion in a village of humans outside the forest. He had distracted them with an array of inappropriately shaped clouds, so they wouldn't notice him sneaking into one of their houses and stealing what he needed. "That's not important. Just enjoy your breakfast."

While Darius was eating he realized for the first time that he wasn't cold. Being as high as he was with only his pants on, he should be freezing to death yet he felt nothing. Raiga, hearing his thoughts, answered his question. "As a dragon, my body generates so much heat that it acts as a constant shield against the cold. Your body is likely doing the same due to your new abilities." "Makes sense to me." As soon as Darius finished his food, Raiga repeated his original command. "Now that you're nice and full, give me your hand." "Why?" "You need to learn telepathy. It's an important skill that will be invaluable to you." "Can't I use it already?" "No. You are simply thinking, and I'm purposely listening to your thoughts. This can only be done when we are near each other. The way things stand now, at great distances I'd be able to reach you, but you wouldn't be able to reach me. I'm going to fix that and give you access to that power by opening your mind."

"Open my mind? You gonna give me access to my great and powerful third eye?" "Sarcasm aside, you're half right. The idea of the third eye is a bullshit one my kind made up to mess with you humans, but it's not completely false." "I'm sorry. I don't speak in riddles. What you just said doesn't make any sense, but I'm guessing it also makes all the sense in the world right?" "Look it's hard to explain, just give me your hand and quit arguing." Darius extended his hand and Raiga took it in his claw.

A tingling feeling started in his hand and worked its way up his arm and into his head. He watch curiously as Raiga seemed to be absorbed into his body. He looked down and saw that Raiga's body had been turned into a tattoo of his likeness that had been infused into the skin of his arm. He then heard Raiga's voice in his head. That was the first step. Now I'm going to open the door of your mind from the inside. I'll warn you. This won't be pleasant. Darius didn't get the chance to object before being hit with a wave of vertigo. He stood still as the world seemed to dance around him. This went on for what seemed like forever.

Finally the spinning stopped about ten minutes later. He heard Raiga's voice again. All done. Coming out now. The tattoo seemed to swim from one arm to the other as he exited Darius's body. It passed through the tattoos he already had, but it didn't seem to affect them in anyway. "That was weird." "How do you feel?" "Like I took a ride on a giant spinning top." "It'll stop soon. Now to test it."

Raiga grew back to his true form and flew far enough that Darius couldn't see him. Reach out with your thoughts. Try to feel our connection. Think, but also project those thoughts out to me. Darius closed his eyes and focused. His mind felt quite a bit different than before. It was as if a veil had been lifted. He reached out and did as Raiga instructed. Instead of sensing Raiga, he sensed everything. He sensed that there was a massive forest beneath him teeming with life. He could sense the presence of many creatures, some faintly and others strongly. He also sensed something different. There were beings that had a different feel than the beast of the forest. He could tell they were sentient, but he couldn't read their thoughts. After searching he finally felt the presence of Raiga's mind. It was like touching the surface of an ocean.

He grabbed on to their connection and spoke. Can you hear me? Raiga answered cheerfully, Yes I can. It seems you're a natural. Darius answered back. Thanks, now get back here. I've got questions. Raiga made his way back to a crossed legged Darius hard at work feeling his surroundings. "There are people below us, how come I can't hear their thoughts?" "Telepathy has many aspects. Simple communication is what I've given u, and that requires a willing mind. To forcibly read minds you'd have to learn how to use it offensively. It's a rare skill that even I don't have."

"Hm cool ability either way. Anyways, I think this covers the first part of my training. What's next?" "Mastering one of your main abilities." "Which is?" "Storm Control. That's the ability we share. It allows you to manipulate and create thunderstorms." "What about this?" Darius raised his hand, and instead of firing lightning, he molded it into the shape of a dragon's head. "That's your own ability. That level of precise control over lightning is beyond me." "Cool. I guess that gives me a one up on you huh? Hahahahaha." Raiga considered reminding him that he was still an ant compared to him, but he figured he'd let him have his moment to shine.

The next few weeks were spent practicing his telepathy and training on how to control his strength, along with learning to mold and create storms at will. Storm Control, along with his ability to fully manipulate lightning, gave Darius an idea for an attack in the case of a serious threat. He put it in his mental vault for when he needed it later. If he tried it now he might end up blowing up the mountain.

He learned how to channel lightning into himself to not only strengthen his body, but also enhance his reflexes. By the time he was done, he'd managed to learn how to change his body into lightning itself and traverse through the clouds at a much faster rate of speed. He even managed to beat Raiga in a race using this technique. Of course Raiga said a bug flew into his eye so the race was invalid to him, but Darius knew and that's all that mattered.

Over the weeks, Raiga had to admit to himself that he was impressed. He'd never add to Darius's ego, but no human he'd ever trained in the past few centuries had shown such promise. Only the demigods he'd trained eons ago progressed at this rate. He decided he'd test something out at the end of this training period. It was a bit on the extreme side, but he was sure it'd work out in the end.