Klaus leapt just in time, catching the falling girl in his arms. She was dark-haired, draped in purple linen, her face radiant like the sky, her eyes vast and mysterious. As they landed, he steadied her gently by the waist.
"What were you doing up there?" he asked.
"I wanted to get some peaches," she said, grinning playfully. "I'm Lily." She gave a light hop and exhaled with gratitude. "Thank you, Klaus."
Before he could respond, a sharp pain pierced his head like a needle. He stumbled and collapsed, clutching his skull as a vision tore through his mind: a white statue of a woman weeping blood from her eyes.
Lily ran to his side, panic in her voice. "Are you alright? Somebody help!" But the palace grounds were eerily silent.
Suddenly, shadows coalesced into a horde of evil souls. Instinctively, Lily stepped forward, her hands glowing. With a scream, she summoned her gravity powers, increasing the weight around the enemies, pressing them down. But the strain overwhelmed her. Terrified, she fled to a corner, sinking to the ground and curling into herself.
As the evil souls closed in on the unconscious Klaus, he stirred just enough to release an ice spell skyward. A colossal flake formed above, pulsing with frigid energy.
From the banquet hall, Traven saw the signal. He raced toward the disturbance, wind swirling around him. With a mighty gesture, he summoned a tornado that swept the souls into the air. Lifting it skyward, he released the vortex—it rained down dead evil souls. Then, spotting Lily trembling nearby, he gently picked up Klaus and carried him inside.
Theo and Auren arrived soon after. "What happened?" Theo asked, shaking Klaus. He didn't respond.
A physician was called. After examining him, he looked up, astonished. "He's fine—physically. He unlocked a power far beyond his control. He's birthing an ice spirit."
"Ice spirit?" Theo echoed.
"A legendary entity of pure mana," Auren said. "Only ancient masters, trained for millennia, can summon one."
"But Klaus isn't even a hundred," the physician added.
Just then, Klaus's eyes snapped open—icy blue. The temperature in the room plummeted. Frost crept along the walls, and snow began to fall over all of Eldoria.
Theo stepped forward. "I'll stop this." He unleashed his phoenix flame, melting the spreading ice. The physician nodded. "Use it to stabilize him."
The flames licked around Klaus, and slowly, the blue faded from his eyes. The frost receded. Eldoria stopped snowing.
Klaus blinked. "I saw Jared—the Time Thief. He said I'd fight alongside the Ice Lord against the Leviathan… but the Lord dies. So he sent the Ice Spirit through time—into me. I need to learn to control it."
They laid him down to rest. Soon after, they learned that several cultivators in the palace had vanished. The evil souls had once been them.
---
The Next Day
Theo resumed his training, having mastered the basics of the Ten Phoenix Sword Technique. The technique had four levels: three basic, three intermediate, three advanced, and one god-level move. Now, he practiced the intermediate forms when Deborah entered.
Her face was pale. "I don't remember last night," she said. "I just woke up in the Forest of Eloh."
Theo placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's probably the pregnancy." They brushed it aside and trained.
Later, the group was summoned by the Ten Divine Lords. A new legion of evil souls threatened Eldoria. The team began evacuating civilians and preparing for battle.
Auren struck first, summoning pointed earth spirals—but the evil souls dodged them with surprising intelligence. "They're evolving," Theo noted grimly.
"Try bigger and faster," he commanded. Auren obeyed. Theo infused the spirals with flame, Klaus added icy spears, and together they tore through the enemy ranks.
Traven summoned wind that swept beneath the enemies, forming a low mist. Klaus froze it. Then Theo stepped forward and unleashed his refined bladeless slash—a deadly technique that cut through both spirit and soul, vanquishing a dozen enemies at once.
Suddenly, Deborah arrived. "You shouldn't be here," Theo warned. "You could faint again."
"I can't sit and do nothing while Eldoria is under attack," she replied, joining the battle. But minutes later, her glowing belly signaled danger. She staggered and fainted.
Theo rushed to her side and took flight, carrying her to safety. Traven and Auren held the line—but Klaus's eyes turned blue again. The ice spirit surged uncontrollably. Snow fell, freezing trees, enemies, and allies alike. Ice spikes erupted from the ground, trapping Traven and Auren.
Klaus collapsed.
As more evil souls emerged, a figure dropped from the sky—Lily.
"I'm sorry for running," she said, her voice trembling yet firm. She raised her arms, pushing her gravity powers to the limit. The ground pulsed. Gravity crushed the evil souls into the earth. Her power held steady. The threat was gone—for the time being
Certainly! Here is your refined and punctuated scene, rewritten for clarity, emotional tone, and narrative flow, while preserving all the key story points and character dynamics:
Upon returning to Eldoria, the group met up with Theo and Deborah. Concerned, Theo immediately called for the royal physician and informed him about Deborah's glowing belly.
The physician examined her carefully, his expression turning grave. "This is... extraordinary. Her babies are absorbing her powers. The more she uses her magic, the more they draw from it."
Deborah sat upright, shocked. "What? Then what do I do?"
"It will be safest," the physician advised gently, "if you refrain from using your powers for the next eight months."
Deborah's eyes widened in frustration. "Eight months? How am I supposed to just sit back? How do I train? How do I help protect Eldoria?"
Theo placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. Everything will be alright. We'll handle things. I'll protect Eldoria—and you."
The Next Day
Driven by a sense of urgency, Klaus began training harder than ever. He spent hours practicing spells and soon shifted to deep meditation. As he meditated, his eyes glowed icy blue once more.
This time, Klaus chose to embrace the power rather than fight it—but it was still beyond his control.
Ice began to spread throughout the palace, creeping up the walls and seeping through the floors. Snow began falling once again over Eldoria.
Klaus struggled to calm the rising frost within him, and suddenly, he saw it: ten intricate ice flakes forming in the air around him. They swirled and slowly fused into one larger, medium-sized flake that hovered near him—following him wherever he went.
Confused and curious, Klaus headed down to the Great Library of Eldoria. After scanning several old tomes and scrolls on ice spirits, he found his answer.
"It's a one percent awakening…" he muttered aloud.
The flake was the first visible sign—the beginning of the spirit's manifestation. But the discovery came with a cost. As Klaus walked back, he began to breathe out puffs of ice. The forced awakening was taking a toll on his health.
Worried, he sought out Theo and explained the situation.
Without hesitation, Theo enveloped Klaus in his phoenix flame. The warmth stabilized Klaus's body, and his breathing slowly returned to normal.
"Thanks," Klaus said, exhausted but grateful.
That Evening
Back in his room, Klaus heard a knock on the door. When he opened it, he found Lily standing there, beautifully dressed and holding a basket of fruits.
"This is for you," she said warmly. "To thank you—for saving me from that tree... and for making me realize that running away from battle doesn't solve anything."
Klaus smiled as he accepted the gift. "Thank you, Lily. I appreciate it."
After a pause, he added, "How about we grab a drink tonight? At the Pinnacle Diner—just across the street?"
Lily's face lit up with a gentle smile. "I'd like that."
She turned and walked away, the weight of guilt lifted, replaced with the quiet glow of fulfillment.