Cursing, I kicked the massive boulder in anger, before just as quickly yelping and hopping away, holding my foot, perfectly balanced on one leg like a crane. I glared at the boulder, watching in its enormity.

I had been here for 3 days. If you're wondering why I didn’t just go back through the woods, I would point you to a, particularly large snake scuttling along the edges of the clearing, outside the range of the flattened and dead grass that surrounded the death rock in the oblong oval shape. But Bob's pretty nice I guess. He just doesn’t understand boundaries!

Yeah. I’m totally F%@$ed. I had been able to survive by the pocket of neutral mana that lay near the death rock. I had also been trying to come up with a way to scratch the damn thing.

“Damnit Junior! F%^@ you man! I thought we shared a heartwarming moment and all, but noooo. You have to pull this!” I psychically shouted at no one in particular. 3 days. I had been kicking the same rock for 3 days.

I snarled in frustration, not caring at the snake's observant and intrusive gaze. I had become accustomed to it. Sleep was a thing of the past, making me far more irritable and crazed than I should have been. Although, I have no idea how crazy a normal person should be. Eh.

“And F*^! You too Viralya! You just freaking left me here after all that talk of danger lessons and family care! Screw your damn path and all that garbage! Damnit, Bob here is better company than you two sadists!” I projected. Bob looked at me with slitted vertical pupils, regarding me with a forked tongue. Love you too Bob.

He was no spirit beast, but he was a monster. I’d like to think he stayed to listen to my rants and cheer me on. Well, cheers to you too Bob. He had iridescent gleaming green scales that sparkled in the sunlight, the venom practically oozing off him.

“I know Bob! You would think those damn foxes would have some decency and respect! Damnit!” I slammed my chubby fist into the rock, feeling my hand jerk and shake. I shook it off quickly, eyes flashing as I looked up at the boulder, taking 30 seconds to engage in breathing meditation for the sake of my sanity.

I sighed, hand patting my forehead in self sympathy. I continued to train balancing act and shape of wind, flowing the air around me and messing with my small tufts of hair growing from my scalp. I squatted my legs, thumping them into the ground and doing the one-armed pushups I had mastered recently.

I was seriously strong for a baby, I could lift like, 20 pounds! Which is more than the 15 some odd pounds I weigh. The pure balance and weight reduction of balancing act helped too. I did about 30 one-armed push-ups before my body flopped back onto the grass, my muscles already quivering before I grimaced and quickly got back up on my other hand, twirling the ambient death mana around the strained arm, careful not to let it touch my skin. Y’never know what that stuff will do to my supple skin! It’ll rot like the rest of this damn crater of a clearing, that's what!

I looked over my recent skill gains that I was proud of, actually making what I felt like was decent progress.

*Your rage and power have conveyed into Psychic shouts that brand your enemies even without telepathic cords! Telepathy IV becomes Telepathy V*

*In the face of adversary you continue to train, fighting what is expected and what must be done with utter resentment. Meditation IV becomes Meditation VII*

*Practicing your arts as you train, you have better perfected your perspective on the world itself, mastering what is within before mastering what is without. Elementary Mana Control becomes Elementary Mana Control II*

*Pure grit and determination have blossomed into new insights! Shape of Wind II becomes Shape of Wind IV*

*You see the world for what it is, piecing together the world as you know it, one step at a time. Mana Sense VII becomes Mana Sense IX*

Alright, I admit it. I was a little proud of my accomplishments… But those foxes are not the cause of this! No way!

The skill Elementary mana control was super awesome too. It took forever to level up though, dredging along like a child in the snow. The explanation was a little confusing though. The system was excellent with wordplay, twisting this way and that with what must have been flawless grace.

I sat in the neutral mana pocket, feeling its weight and endless capacity. How the heck do these things even work? Ley Lines? Ancient ruins? Or dare I say it… Magic?

I cracked a smile at my joke, feeling the warm sun, egging me on. I had 3 and a half more days to do this. I could, and would scratch that F*&^ing boulder. My life actually depended on it for once.

I gathered a breath, condensing the wind in my palm. I didn’t just use my mana now. I had learned that mana alone was not enough to get what I wanted. The best way is to infuse your mana on the surroundings, manipulating what is already there instead of creating something new. I felt the rustling curiosity of the forest, the whispers of the free wind, the glooming inevitable death mana looming over the rock like a shadow.

I pressed my fingers together, the small invisible string of pure condensed air winding around my pinky, extending to my hand, and my arm, tightening the flesh as I added razor-sharp tiny pieces of grass, urging the wind thread to move at greater speeds.

I wanted to name the skill razor leaf, after one of my favorite computer games, but the system didn’t give me the skill. Damnit.

I focussed, twirling the blades of grass faster and faster in a loop, springing and coiling the wind thread.

I had once seen a video of a paper airplane cut through a wooden telephone line pole due to a hurricane moving it at ridiculous speeds. I know condensed wing needles are cool and all but they just weren't… Solid enough.

I breathed deeply, urging the winds faster, coaxing instead of commanding. After a while of meditation, it came across to me that wind mana loves to be free, roaming wild and in expanse. Asserting my will on it completely is nearly impossible, but what isn’t is just asking it.

It had taken me an embarrassingly long amount of time to coax it into just a simple breeze. I concentrated the thread, condensing it, coiling it like a spring before it shot off my arm, growing until it surrounded the rock like a rubber band. Just for fun, I added a snake head at the end of it, feeling Bob's approval at my actions. At least somebody appreciates my work.

I grinned, flexing my fingers before feeding my enthusiasm to the wind and asking it to curl, tighten, and squeeze.

It did as I asked, the slack from its cord disappearing as the air felt like it was wrangling itself around my throat, silence descending onto me and Bob.

I waited with impatient eyes, watching the grass twirl and continue to drag its sharp edges around the rock in a blur.

10 seconds… 20… 30… Nothing’s happening. The air was unraveling, its power and density decreasing as the wind lost its enthusiasm as I lost mine. The grin dripped like a leaky pipe from my face as I groaned and fell on my back, staring at the cloudless sky. I knew Its bare blue color wouldn’t last long. The wind whispered of rain, chilly and fresh supple winds.

I wasn’t looking forward to that, but I definitely did not want to stick my hand anywhere near a leaf or stick of any sort that was beyond the oblong oval for some kinda shelter.

Bits of moisture appeared in my eye as my natural call for help gathered. I really wanted to cry right now. My poor excuse of a mother wouldn’t come even if I did though. She never did.

Sparks of anger and depression fought in the back of my mind, practically having an argument over who gets the game controller that was my body.

“You should just give op, honestly. You have nothing to fight for besides broken memories and shattered myths and dreams. What's even the point of getting revenge on that lump of fur?” I Psychically blurted aloud just in case Bob thought I wasn’t including him in the conversation.

“F*%^ That! Look at these fantastic results! We're getting better and better with practice! That pathetic excuse for a demon won't be able to know what hit him! Who the F&%@ cares about a stupid rock! We’ll overcome this challenge and survive just like we have any other!” I said to myself again

“But what if we don’t? Luck cannot last forever and these results will burn themselves out! It's getting harder and harder to level shape of wind! What do you think will happen when we run out of ideas to smash the damn rock?”

“We’ll train more skills and come up with new ideas! Hell, I’ve just thought of one! We could crush it with our minds! Like from those movies that we… Well… We think they were from those movies but that's not important!” I began to refer to myself as we just so Bob didn’t mix me up. Us up? Eh, he probably gets the idea.

“You know what will happen when we lose! We’ll just die! It's not THAT big of a deal! This crappy life hasn’t offered us much anyway! Nooo we don’t get any super cute older sisters, no loving family, not even real clothes!”

“But we have magic.” Angry me said. Sad me paused, going silent as I sighed, not even bothered by my bout of insanity, grumbling about clothes and no lucky breaks.

I glanced at Bob, seeing his curious expression and hungry eyes, clearly needing a decent meal. I shook my head, wondering if the Beetles I had seen before would be enough food for him. It probably would. Bob flicked his tongue at me, smelling me with slitted vertical pupils. Bob wouldn't eat me, he’s Bob! I mean… He would never...

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

I meditated, trying to quiet the internal madness of the last three days. I felt my thoughts and concerns bleeding into the river of ambient mana. I stopped soon after, opening my eyes as I looked to the sky again, seeing its suspiciously unsuspicious blue color that covered the world, the yellow sun warming my face almost unpleasantly.

I raised a hand to my face, the azure sky contrasting the chubby flesh that had yet to gain any marks. I activated mana sense, staring at it, watching the fire mana suddenly blossom. My whole body lit up with the hungry flames, consuming me internally but… Giving something back. Like an eternal dance where I was burned away from the inside, but I was also reinforced just as fast.

I shook my head, deciding not to worry about it, and instead focussing on the ethereal silver mana gathering at my fingertips.

I twisted the hand deftly, pulling at invisible strings as the wind danced, bits of dead grass flying up. I continued to work the mana sense, watching the playful mana. I turned my head to stare up at the big rock, glowing black with thousands of threads forming half a skull above it.

In annoyance, I shot the silvery strings of mana towards the forming skull, bitterly watching it pass through. I sighed, continuing to practice shape of wind, my arm infused with wind mana with my all-time favorite skill, balancing act, to keep it steady.

My wind spells were so versatile! Not unless like my flame, or so limited by the life around it like Psychic. That actually reminds me… What if Psychic wasn’t limited to messing with other people's heads? What if it could be far more versatile in practice?

A grin stretched my face as I remembered a very specific superpower. Telekinesis. It had been at the back of my mind ever since I had been able to form two Psychic tendrils at once. The mental expansion skill had reinforced the physical side of the mana too.

I reached out with a Psychic tendril, swiping it through the air, checking for disturbances in the air, even the slightest of one. I cracked an ear open to the winds, listening to its chatter.

…

…

...

Nope. Nada. Nothing. Not even a hint. I wasn’t disappointed though. Things were rarely that easy. Unless, of course, you had fire mana. Then you might as well be at the top of the world. F*^$ing fire mana… I thought bitterly.

I reinforced the Psychic mana, growing it thicker and smaller, condensing it into the size of a pencil, twisting my mental barrier around it, wrapping it up like a taco.

I imagined the sweet juicy meat, the crunchy lettuce, the sour cream and fresh tomato, the crispy shell…

While distracted, I slammed myself into mental expansion, demanding my mental barrier stretch and twist, wrapping it around my Psychic tendril piercing the membrane that was my mindscape.

I wanted to scream. The pain of having your very Psyche warp and stretch, fusing yourself into Psychic mana hurt like hell. Eventually, after a couple of seconds of a spasmodic seizure, I very well did scream.

I could vaguely feel Bob’s concerned but very much hungry gaze staring at me with intent. At least he was honest!

Something cracked in me as my flexible membrane began to tear, my mana tendril dissolving in an instant. The moment I stopped exerting my will, the small tears began to stitch themselves together, snapping my Psychic bubble back into place. I continued to scream.

I felt dazed, dizzy, and confused, reeling in meditation as I tried to comprehend what I had done. Actually, never mind. Thinking is too hard.

Maybe put telekinesis on hold? I’ll have to ask if telekinesis is a thing to… Well, on second thought, I wasn’t asking my mother anything.

I felt myself being pulled from my meditation as I felt a drop of water splash on my face, getting in my eye, freezing my face. I said nothing as the dark sky and clouds began to rain bone-chilling water cusped my face, caressing it better than any damn fox, snake, or giant rock ever could.

Looking upwards, disregarding the cold, I watched in silence as it rained, muddying the ground around me and causing the forest to rejoice.

Strange enough the water seemed to part around the big rock like it was scared of it too.

Damn cowardly rain…

I breathed deeply, feeling the humidity as I covered my eyes with a muddy hand, chuckling in an animalistic growl. I continued to chuckle, soon evolving into full-blown laughs as I rolled around in the mud, enjoying its surprisingly cold embrace. Anything was better than the scalding warmth of a fire. Even death itself.

The storm winds howled, its brethren playful wind urging to go faster as the mana was stirred, earth and water mana meeting in a beautiful blend of colors.

I laughed as my limbs grew cold.

I laughed as Bob fled, leaving behind the crazed human with panic and confusion in his eyes.

I laughed as I heard the forest rumble, cries of birds and beasts echoing throughout.

I laughed at my enemy, the big rock. I laughed at the ridiculousness of it as snot mixed with mud, salty tears dissolving with the rain, indistinguishable from the droplets of water streaming from the water in an angry downpour.

I laughed as I felt death's cold embrace, my fire mana urging me on, to strike the damn rock, to consume and burn death itself.

But above all, I laughed in what may as well be death itself. Something within me cracked a war cry of sudden rage and pure joy striking that unmovable boulder. I lifted my hand to the sky, drifting among the wind as my joy and anger whiplashed the rain, swirling it around me. Sparks came off my body, the cold disappearing as my movements turned from smooth and centered, to erratic and random.

I called upon the winds, the rain, the elements. I had magic! What the hell was a rock to freaking magic? Nothing! I've already died! I’ve spit in the face of death! F*^& Junior! F*^@ this Viralya! And by Kankaar himself, F@&* this rock!

Those damn foxes wanted me to be independent so badly? Fine!

My mana sense lit up in my eyes as the black rock came alive, watching the moving darkness scuttle around like warm droopy flesh. I saw its weak points, its absences, the very nuisance of its flaws. The perfectly round boulder may be physically inept, but that death mana has flaws. It may be endless, but it is not invincible. It may be inevitable, but it is not all-knowing.

The crack of thunder illuminated my red eyes and sunken chubby cheeks, the comically small child, spreading his arms wide as the boulder loomed, the black skull speaking in invisible whispers.

I screamed wildly, leaping up as the wind carried me up. My anger and Joy didn’t fade, only growing stronger until I was eye level with the damn skull. I spat, my droplets of saliva passing through the rain barrier and slapping the rock.

See? I can totally spit in the face of death!

Flashing thunder sparked a chain reaction, the lightning superheating the air and water around it, fire blossoming in an explosion, and a crack that stuck the rock. The clouds swarmed above me, recognizing me as a spirit, the commander of nature itself, the forces of havoc and destruction.

A finger point, a frozen moment in time, an unending scream of black, and above all, a bubbling Joy only slightly less than that of eating the most scrumptious of tacos.

BOOM

Thousands of bits of water were flung at the rock of death, streaking like needles, carried by wind. Plasma itself obeyed my command, my element of fire enough to coax the lightning into striking the rock.

I rose up, carrying myself a bit higher, struggling with gravity as I barely held on. And then, I dropped, angeling towards the boulder. I left a crimson streak in the air, red flames echoing behind me, enhanced and brought together by wind. I didn’t think, I just pushed myself forward, arching my body as if to grab the rock.

I pushed down, external ignition battling with balancing act as I brought my fist down. CRACK! Joy. I had done it. I had left my mark on the damn rock. I had-

My fist was bent the wrong way, my whole body shuddering from the impact as I fell, staring at unblemished stone, standing definitely in my face.

I thumped to the ground, watching my grip on the wind loosen, the sparks dancing on my body dying out as I grimaced. I couldn’t feel my hand, not yet. I had no time to gripe over my use of fire mana. I knew the pain would come, it always comes but only after the shock fades. It-

HOLY SWEET MOTHER OF KANKAAR. I screamed, looming under the rock with closed eyes as the mostly formed skull stared at me, probably looking bewildered.

I thrashed, the pain unimaginable as a flashback of fire came, burnt skin and pain that I had suppressed just weeks ago. I felt death above me again, its scythe inches from my neck, ready to reap my life like a farmer does their crops.

The rain pelted my face, my screams dying out as I opened and closed my mouth like a fish. I felt my arm throbbing, the ultimate burning aching pain of a completely shattered limb. I stared through blurry eyes, my mana sense flaring on and off as I observed the uneven mana flow and internal bleeding.

The fire coursed its way through, burning off my arm. I watched as my arm actually turned to ash, separating from my body against my will. My fire mana rebelled, greedily consuming the flesh. My horror gave way as the fire drilled its way into my cells, burning them, ingraining them into its treacherous flame. And then, something remarkable happened. Something I will never forget.

Lines of fire appeared, stretching in the shape of a chubby arm as the fire consumed and consumed. It burnt the air around it, it sucked away the little life left in the yellowed grass, it burnt away my other corruption nodes, twisting itself into a mockery of wind and Psychic mana.

I mean, that's all fire really did. It ate. I wasn’t wrong when I had said fire only had one purpose, it's just that… That purpose can be very broad.

The chosen of flame skill activated.

Raindrops turned into steam, flowing with pure energy as it poured itself into the fiery mold. It fuzed itself with my personal mana, making up parts of my arm, pulling the earth from the ground and the air from the sky. Nature mana filled the gaps too, flowing into it.

It formed a baseless structure of energy, ambient mana in a cast. The pain was gone too. I knew the arm was far from complete though. The chosen of flame skill deactivated, the energy suddenly going limp as it tried to escape from my now deactivated skills fiery prison.

I lashed out with elementary mana control, grasping the mana and forcing it into the crude shape of an arm again, the flames showing me the way. It guided me, telling me to use the energy, forming a crimson healthy mana the color of blood by mixing a bunch of energies. It felt a little different from Viralya’s healing mana but similar. I reformed my arm, sinking into meditation to concentrate, forcing my own strained wind and Psychic mana in, forming more and more cells by the billions.

At last, after what felt like hours, I was taken from my trance-like state, lurching in surprise and confusion. Why had it stopped? I emerged and opened my eyes to a perfectly good arm, laying there in my lap, completely unblemished. It was identical to its predecessor. I stretched it, shocked and surprised at the outcome. I stared in fascination as the mana circled the limb like normal, the rain pattering on my nerves, my fingers curling like there was nothing wrong.

I stared it at, half in horror, half in fascination. Flashes of flame etched themselves in my mind, bile rising into my throat. I opened my mouth to wail, closing it just as fast. Newfound guilt burned in my gut, disappointment at failure, and fear. Fear that the more I used fire, the easier it would become. I would not become a pyromaniac. All they did was burn things. Hurting and taking. I wasn’t that person. Some core part of me recognized this.

Tears dripped off my cheeks, crimson red eyes wide and dilated. A small smile stretched across my face, looking up at the sky.

Damn dust in my eye. I said with a growing smile. So what if the fire consumed me this time? It will never happen again. I will strive to any lengths to banish these flames from my body. No matter what it did, even somehow healing my arm, I knew the truth. It was a mockery of healing magic, taking just as much as it gave, evident by the little ambient mana still here.

My mood picked up, my failure discouraging, but also relieving. I hadn’t made a mark, sure, but if I hit it with fire, what was even the point? I had just spit in the face of Death itself! Ha!

My smile turned into a grin as the notifications bombarded my mind.

*You have peered into the depths of flames themselves! You know its secrets, know its truths, and have harnessed the knowledge and power for yourself, creating a new skill from ashes alone! Your talent and help from chosen of flame have birthed Gluttonous Creation. Use this skill in balance with the laws of creation! Nothing comes for free, nothing cannot be created from nothing. Consume vast amounts of ambient and personal mana to recreate lost flesh, copying your cells and replicating them!*

*Your pure willpower and focus of the moment have proven you worthy of advancement! Shape of Wind IV becomes Shape of Wind V*

*You have gone above and beyond what others consider worthy, balancing on air alone! Balancing Act V becomes Balancing Act VII*

*You have unconsciously dipped into the flames of wrath, boosting your explosive speed even further! Some would call this genius, others insanity. To you, it is a curse you now bear with grim pride. External Ignition II becomes External Ignition III*

*You have felt the very world for what it is, going beyond mere seeing and diving into the depths of truly sensing what has always been beyond your sight. Mana Sense IX becomes Mana Sense X*

*Mana Sense has officially reached level 10! Bonus effects added: You may now sense mana in an almost 360-degree view, as well as sense the subtle shifts in another's casting mana before activation!*

Oh hell yeah.