Free Lightning's Limit by Mark Brandon Powell

1

    The sun rises with a faint orange glow penetrating through the dome of Pharis. Vargas was used to getting up this early but it's usually just to get to class on time. It felt strange going to school on an off day. He didn't have to follow dress code but he did have some school work he needed to turn in. That could be for later, because today was tournament day and nothing could be more exciting.
    Pedaling his bike across the dome was tiring, but he didn’t mind it. He convinced himself it was mostly for training because he always trained. It could have also been because his older model bicycle's magnetic drive system, or magdrive, was broken. That was the real reason. He hadn't fixed it yet because his finances were tight. Like usual, nothing new there. With the cardio being good for his physical conditioning he might as well keep it that way. The only down side was everyone at school liked to pass judgment upon the poor kid from the edge of the dome. Sure he could have some of the frills of life if he wanted them but if he did he would be in debt up to his eyeballs. One of the few things his father taught him was not the place to be.
    Vargas should have slept like a stone the night before, after a hard day of school, practice, and apprenticeship but didn’t. And he was feeling it now. He just hasn’t been able to rest with the tournament getting so close. When was the last time he got a good rest, he thinks. Had it been a week, month, year... Vargas' mind wandered... How long had it really been? He has been on a streak of luck recently, starting with gaining an apprenticeship with the Seleaf Mativ, a highly accomplished Sage, and that was two years ago. But even before then he was working side jobs when he could. It must have been the last time his mother put him to bed.
    Right after his mother passed he threw himself into work. He was only six at the time, but he didn’t want to feel. He cleaned, started cooking, and did the laundry. His father was a mess, but he was there less and less. Picking up two more jobs by the end of that dark year. Vargas always had to stay strong for his father, and not let him see how much he was hurting. It would just make things worse on his father, and they got to spend so little time together.    
    He missed his mother every day since she was murdered. It’s still an open yet cold case. Then with his dad having to picking up the slack in the income, it was almost like he lost both his parents that day. But today he wasn’t going to think about any of that and was going to make this day be a great day all around. It was the first official Mixed Magical Arts tournament, and his father promised to give him a ride home from the arena, and he knew he would find a time and place to use everything Master Sel taught him. He just hopes where ever his mother is she can see him now.
    He thinks about his training. ‘ Only in life threatening situations .’ Master Sel's caveat kept resonating in Vargas' head over and over about a rune symbol he had shown him.   He also said something about delorium metal with its half life of about four seconds. He remembered that him saying this rune worked best on that metal.
    ‘ It's forged in a special rune chamber that alters time and master time elementals cast powerful and focused spells to make that four second half life into something akin to regular steel but molecularly stronger than a diamond. It is extremely time consuming, ironically enough, to forge with.. .’
    Vargas remembered most of speech just not exactly as it was spoken. He was just waiting for his ' life threatening situation ' to come up. If it doesn’t, he will just have to make one. Master Sel was very clear on the use of it but if he doesn’t try it out, how will he know he’s using it right when he needs it. All he had to do was inscribe the rune on the ground, because only the planet is strong enough to support the pressure of magical power this rune can exert, other than