A being with intense heat and light appeared before them, swirling figures of bright, flickering flames.
Its body continuously shifted and moved, composed entirely of fire, with the flames dancing over it in an entrancing way.
Its eyes were intense and fiery, reflecting its elemental nature. Slowly, it took a humanoid form to greet them, with small lights floating around it like fireflies.
Zenith turned to Elyan. "Now, Elyan, show him your control over flame magic. The fire spirit will guide you on how to improve your skills and understanding of flame magic. Well, to be honest, that happens only if it likes you."
Without missing a beat, Elyan put down his food and began producing fireballs in both hands. He divided those fireballs into smaller sizes, making them hover around his fingers.
Concentrating, he increased their size and power by pouring his mana into them, drawing from the environment but carefully avoiding the mana surrounding the fire spirit.
Seeing the fireballs grow larger and harder to control, Elyan condensed them back to their previous sizes without losing any power.
Not satisfied with this, he pushed himself further, refining each fireball into a perfect sphere instead of the usual fiery look. Nearing his limit but still wanting to do more, Elyan stretched his right hand and pointed it away.
He aimed at a medium-sized boulder near the riverbank, a little taller than him and as wide as his arm span.
With incredible speed, he shot one of the fireballs at the boulder, causing it to explode into pieces, displaying the true power of his condensed flame magic.
Elyan then opened up his palms and gathered all the fiery spheres while making sure they didn't touch each other.
He closed his palms simultaneously, undoing the spells. This resulted in a small miniature explosion with smokes and sparks, suggesting that the spells had been canceled and the mana had spread into the surrounding area like a spark of fire.
The fire spirit's body of flame increased its vigor, becoming brighter and warmer. Its fiery eyes shone more intensely, and its dancing flames shifted faster.
It was elated by Elyan's brilliant performance. Gathering mana from the surrounding area, primarily from Elyan's previous spell, the fire spirit changed its shape into an even more humanoid form, resembling Elyan.
"Hah! I guess it—no, He really likes you, Elyan. Now focus and pay attention to everything he is doing. You see, him mimicking your body structure is a signal that he wants to teach you something." Zenith tells Elyan this, so he can understand what is about to happen next.
The fire spirit took a step towards the riverbank, spreading its arms to collect more mana from the surroundings. It turned to face them, pausing to ensure Elyan was paying attention.
With its arms still spread, it slowly brought them closer until its palms seemed to touch, forming a big fireball. It proceeded to refine the shape into a spherical fire, much like Elyan had done.
As the spherical fire became more defined, it grew warmer and brighter. "Oh, I didn't think of that! You can cut the process time by doing so!" Elyan exclaimed.
The fire spirit's face shifts, forming a crevice resembling a smile, which indicates its agreement with Elyan.
With a deliberate motion, it divides the fireball into ten smaller but denser spheres, the fire contained so tightly that the flickering orange-red flames seem almost solid.
The fire spirit then spreads its hands apart synchronously, carefully separating the condensed spheres, distributing them equally between its left and right palms
It begins to imitate Elyan's previous actions, effortlessly maneuvering the fireball around its extended finger as if in a slow dance. The fire spirit maintains this motion for a moment, meeting Elyan's gaze, silently urging him to pay even closer attention.
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Upon observing Elyan's intense focus on the dancing fire balls, the fire spirit once again cracks a smile—or at least the closest approximation to a smile its flickering form can manage—and nods its head in affirmation, indicating that it is satisfied with Elyan's concentration.
Curling its fingers slightly, the fire spirit lowered its elbows before spreading its arms abruptly, launching the fireballs high into the air.
Before the fireballs reached their maximum height, the fire spirit extended its arms further, causing them to explode into hundreds of small orbs.
The spheres of fire then floated and spread out evenly across a vast area from the cave's entrance to the opposite bank of the river.
As the orbs touched Elyan's skin, he noted in surprise, 'It's... warm... not hot.' He watched the orbs lingering around him without actually touching him. Confused, Elyan shifted his attention back to the fire spirit, which was waiting for him to watch its next move.
The fire spirit continued to move its hands in a rhythm, and the orbs followed suit, creating a captivating dance around him.
The fire spirit spun around, collecting the orbs into a single large spot above its head. As it clapped its hands, the orbs spread out, becoming twinkling lights in the surrounding area, before slowly fading back into the environment.
Elyan stood there, awestruck, realizing that this was another level of what he has been learning so far.
The fire spirits moved closer to Elyan, who was still mesmerized by the event that had just taken place. Noticing that the fire spirit was now in front of him, Elyan, whose heart was still pounding, thanked the fire spirit for the lesson.
"Thank you! I now know how to warn the villagers without them being afraid of the sudden flame spells that will appear in the village. If it looks magnificent in broad daylight, I can only imagine how wonderful it will be at night!"
The fire spirit smiled again and stepped back, raising its right hand as if gesturing for Elyan to stay back. Understanding, Elyan gave it a small nod.
The fire spirit then hovered slightly off the ground and began to maneuvering in a dance-like manner. The air around them became hotter with each passing second, causing Elyan to sweat more than before.
"Zenith, what's happening? Did I offend him with my remarks just now?" Elyan asked with concern. "No, Elyan. Just observe for now. I think he really likes you." Answered Zenith to Elyan's concern.
Suddenly, countless small spheres of warm, glowing light appeared around the fire spirit, slowly orbiting it. The fire spirit continued to move and dance, causing the bright balls to follow its every move.
As the dance became more and more intense, the sun seemed to shine brighter than before. Oddly, nothing in the surrounding area had caught on fire.
In the blink of an eye, the surrounding mana, now rich with fire-type mana, gathered once again towards the fire spirit. However, instead of twinkling lights, the mana now appeared in the form of flames.
When the flames enveloped the fire spirit, its size increased significantly, and it began to manifest as a muscular man adorned with burning flames. Its body glowed, and it was surrounded by constantly flickering fire.
The flame-like appearance of the man was adorned with long, flowing hair that resembled burning embers, and his eyes smouldered with an inner fire, looking like they were about to burst into flames at any moment.
His entire body was engulfed in flames that appeared to be alive, constantly moving and crackling like a burning bonfire. The whole scene was mesmerizing, and the heat emanating from the fire man was intense enough to make Elyan's skin sweat
The now muscular-looking fire spirit raised its chin and approached Elyan. Gathering fire-type mana from the surrounding area, it caused the warm air to gradually grow cooler, with the fire spirit becoming the only source of heat in the area.
The fire spirit now towered above Elyan, its height causing it to bend its body to reach him. It gently touched its forehead to Elyan's, greeting him with a gesture. With its left arm embracing him, the fire spirit placed its right hand's index finger on Elyan's chest.
Elyan was at a loss on how to react. All he could feel was a strange sense of familiarity rather than the usual strangers' hugs or the intense heat of the fire spirit.
Before he knew it, tears streamed down his cheeks yet did not evaporate. Noticing the warmth growing in his chest area, Elyan glanced down to see the fire spirit's finger burning a hole through his clothes.
Right before he could say anything, he saw a symbol beginning to form in the centre of his chest where the fire spirit's finger had been placed.
Suddenly, a system window appeared to his right, and Elyan turned his attention towards it. He noticed an additional addition to his blessing, which read:
"Blessing: 813$5i^& 0f @!!, Solaris's Blessing (The Fire Lord's blessing descends upon you)."
"Friend..." Elyan quickly turned to face the voice, realizing it was the fire spirit speaking to him. "Were you the one who called me?" he asked the spirit.
"Yes," The fire spirit repeated, its voice crackling like a fire. "With the blessing bestowed upon you by me, the Fire Lord Solaris, you now have the ability to understand and communicate with any fire spirits."
"But... how?" Elyan exclaimed. "I thought humans only received blessings from the 12 deities?"
"It was lost in time," Solaris explained, "the knowledge of a blessing bestowed upon humanity. Yet, you have now experienced it first-hand. Do not ask further questions, but believe in it, for it is the truth."
Solaris crouched down further to meet Elyan's eye level. It placed its hand on Elyan's face, gazing at him with deep sorrow. "Friend... beloved friend... the burdens that await you will be heavy. I hope my blessing can help alleviate your suffering. Why did you choose this path? Why did you hesitate to seek my aid? Have I lost your trust, my friend?"