Weeks passed.
Adam pushed through every training session with grit and determination. Under Kaelrik's brutal regimen, his control improved, his energy flowed cleaner, sharper, and more precise. He learned to compress it, circulate it, and even direct it with impressive focus.
But something was missing.
He felt it in the silence between his breaths, in the moments when his body obeyed but his power hesitated. Adam felt something missing, an edge he once had, an instinct buried beneath the haze of his new life.
Then, on one fateful night, everything changed.
---
The Trance
Adam sat cross-legged beneath the moonlight, breathing slowly. His core pulsed gently, no longer chaotic but steady like a second heartbeat.
Then, without warning, his mind snapped inward.
His body stiffened as golden energy rippled outward, but his consciousness was already gone, drawn deep into a memory.
White walls. A lab, sterile and humming. The soft sound of humming equipment filled the background. In front of him, a woman in a clean coat adjusted her glasses with a tired smile.
"Adam," she said. "You're the only one who's ever survived it. Do you realize that?"
He remembered her. Dr. Elara Vance. The scientist who first discovered the Nuclear Trinity within him.
Nuclear Trinity was what Dr Vance called it, but this was Nuclear Sentinel's major special ability. It was what enabled him to use a vast range of abilities, it comprised of 3 abilities, energy absorption, manipulation and conversion.
"You've mastered energy absorption. You've mastered manipulation. But conversion? That's the key, isn't it?" She stepped closer, eyes gleaming with awe. "To convert one form of energy to another—not just redirect, but transform it... that's where you surpass the limits of physics itself."
The lights flickered. Alarms blared somewhere in the distance.
She placed a hand on his chest. "When it finally unlocks… don't resist it. Let it change you."
---
The Awakening
Adam's eyes snapped open, golden light erupting from his body in a violent surge. The earth cracked beneath him, a crater forming at his feet. Energy screamed through his veins, roaring like thunder. His nuclear core no longer simply pulsed, it awakened. His body overflowed with explosive wave of energy.
Kaelrik paused mid-step, eyes narrowing as a shockwave flattened trees in all directions.
Seren shouted, shielding her face. "Adam?!"
Golden tendrils of energy danced along his skin, crackling violently. His body lifted inches off the ground, glowing like a newborn sun.
Then…
BOOM.
The explosion of light lit up the entire mountainside.
When the dust cleared, Adam knelt in the center, panting, steam rising from his skin. His eyes burned gold. Lightning danced around his fingertips.
"I remember…" he whispered, more to himself than anyone else. "Energy… isn't bound. It adapts. It transforms."
Adam had finally unlocked the 3rd part of the nuclear trinity and had instinctively already achieved his first conversion.
---
The First Conversion
Kaelrik appeared beside him in a flash, arms crossed.
"Impressive." he said, observing the arcs of electricity swirl around Adam's hands. "While I did expect that you would eventually have an epiphany, I didn't think you would awaken a unique trait this early."
Kaelrik's eyes narrowed for a second, then he smirked. "You even went through body reconstruction."
Adam slowly rose to his feet. "Yeah, I do feel that my body has become way stronger and my energy capacity increased too." he murmured, eyes locked on a crackling bolt sparking from his palm. "My energy, It's not just raw release anymore. I can now transform it."
Energy Conversion.
His third and final pillar of the Nuclear Trinity restored.
To others, it looked like he had awakened a rare elemental affinity. Lightning. But Adam knew better. This wasn't anything about elemental attribute, he had gained the ability to convert his nuclear energy into another desired form of energy, manifesting lightning was only the beginning of everything.
The Nuclear Trinity was whole again, he had taken a big step towards recovering his former strength.
Kaelrik gave a grin of excitement. "You might be worth something afterall. I will be sure to match your growth rate with even tougher training."
---
Adaptation
Kaelrik didn't let Adam savor the moment.
With a flick of his wrist, a flash of steel. A dagger soared toward Adam's throat.
Reflex kicked in.
Adam's fingers twitched and an arc of lightning burst forward, deflecting the blade midair.
Seren gasped. "Since when can you use lightning?!"
Adam flexed his hand, sparks dancing across his knuckles. "…Since now."
While Seren was indeed better at swordsmanship, Adam's growth rate and strength was rapidly improving.
Observing Adam with awe in her eyes, Seren let out a tired sigh. "I will be left behind at this rate." She murmured to herself.
Kaelrik smirked faintly. "You've succeeded in awakening a unique trait, now you just have to get better at using it."
"...and I will be helping you with that." Kaelrik declared, letting out an evil grin.
Adam felt a shiver ran through his spine. He knew he was in for another set of Kaelrik's torture sessions.
---
Lightning Unleashed
The weeks that followed were a blur of daily experimentation and combat.
Each battle forced evolution, each challenge demanded innovation. Adam wasn't just remembering his past strength—he was surpassing it.
He didn't try to copy his old techniques. He created new ones, adapted them. Lightning became his theme.
The training only grew harsher.
Kaelrik attacked relentlessly forcing Adam to refine his techniques. When brute strength failed, Adam adapted and responded with the different attacks and skills he had developed in his several duels with Kaelrik.
A wide, electric burst that stunned the entire area around him for a period of time. He called it Stun Field.
Electrified momentum that enhanced his speed and reflexes. He called it Flash Steps.
Tesla Cage, a web of electricity that wraps around the target, binding or slowing them down.
He also learned to channel lightning through his fist and weapons and unleash focused arcs that struck faster than sight.
And many more attacks that he created but even then, none of them were enough to land a direct hit on Kaelrik.
When power alone wasn't enough, the battered Adam manipulated the battlefield itself.
He released a controlled sphere of slow-draining radiation that weakened enemies over time. It covered the area in a faint, almost invisible field.
Kaelrik stopped just outside its radius.
Seren coughed slightly. "Something's… off with the air…"
Adam didn't respond, but Kaelrik did.
"A poison field," he said calmly. "Low-grade steady emission. Lethal to most. But not me, I am always protected by my aura shield."
Adam gave a tired smirk. "I was thinking of a way turn the battle in my favor by creating attrition damage but it seems to be useless against you master."
Kaelrik gave a dry nod. "Regardless, it is an impressive attack, work more on the range and fatality."
No matter how much Adam improved, Kaelrik still outmatched him. The old warrior barely broke a sweat, countering Adam's attacks with ruthless precision. Every spar was a brutal lesson, every failure another refinement.
And Adam welcomed it.
---
A New Beginning
Three months passed in that storm of growth.
Adam didn't just regain his power, he began to reinvent it. He wasn't the Nuclear Sentinel anymore, not exactly.
But his energy conversion ability gave him an edge no one else in this world possessed.
While an advanced aura user such as a diamond class swordsman could only unlock a unique trait, Adam had the means to convert his energy into multiple kinds of energy.
By the end of the second phase, he stood taller, stronger, more complete. He had not only mastered his lightning skills but also improved on his heat manipulation skills too, and yet, he knew this was only the beginning.
Kaelrik watched him from afar one evening, arms folded, as Adam trained with lightning dancing at his feet.
"You might actually be worth something after all." the old warrior said.
Adam smirked, rolling his shoulders, golden energy pulsing through his veins.
"We'll see."
…
Some days later, after a brutal sparring session, Adam collapsed to his knees. His body ached, his core burned, and his mind swam in exhaustion.
Kaelrik stood over him. "You've done well, but you're still holding back."
Adam clenched his fists. "I need… more. This, this isn't enough to take him down."
"Who might you be referring to?" Kaelrik questioned.
Adam then explained the events that had happened so far to Kaelrik and how he was being targeted by one of the ascended seven, a peak elite of the crimson veil cult, Veyron Maldrak.
"Interesting." Kaelrik smirked. "Not to worry, none of the cult bastards will dare come near my domain, not even their top dogs. I will hear more about this later, but to guarantee your survival against a foe like an ascended seven of the cult, Then survive the final phase of training."
Adam exhaled, his golden eyes glowing with determination.
"I have to be ready."
Kaelrik nodded. "Then prepare yourself. The final stage will make everything you've done so far feel like child's play."