Chapter 112: Arid Inferno
"You have your memories now, so you know that the mysterious energy force of iris has been part of our world for centuries. That said, only recently have humans been able to inherit and awaken iris within them," says Zeris, clicking something on his watch as he sits at my bedside.
A projected image of a crystal shard takes shape in front of a navy background, "When an iris shard makes contact with a person's bloodstream, that individual awakens their iris. Iris can naturally increase somebody's speed, strength, and healing qualities. Iris also acts as the energy source that funds your unique ability. Those who have awakened and possess an ability are called iris wielders. And without iris, you wouldn't be able to cast your flames."
Alex nods, and Zeris continues, "When you inherit an ability, you instinctively gain an understanding of how your ability works. It's why you've been able to use your fire these past few days without proper training. However, just because your body knows how to use your ability doesn't mean you're invincible. You're very weak right now, and you need to train your iris to strengthen yourself and your ability."
"Alright, seems straightforward enough," says Alex. "Tell me something I don't know."
"Okay," says Zeris, clicking his watch again.
The crystal shard minimizes, becoming the center of the new design. Around the central shard, three different lines branch off from the shard. With bold white outlines, each of the three branches leads to its own bubble. The top left bubble is labeled 'Internal', the top right bubble is labeled 'External', and the bubble directly beneath the shard is labeled 'Mythic'.
"This is a visualization of the three classes an iris ability may belong to. Every iris ability belongs to one of these classes, and from there, a specific category," says Zeris, clicking on the top left bubble, and the bubble enlarges while the other two minimize. "This is the internal class and probably the most straightforward of the three. These internal abilities can use iris to manipulate the mind or body. Think super strength, telekinesis, those kinda powers."
Zeris double taps on the bubble, and it swiftly minimizes to the bottom right of the screen. Two new bubbles quickly appear connected to the faded internal class bubble. They were distinct by color, the blue one labeled 'Myalo - Mind' and the red one labeled 'Soma - Body'.
"Internal class abilities can be divided into these two categories. As I said, they pretty much speak for themselves. Nonetheless, make sure you remember the more distinct titles. Myalo means mind, and soma means body. It's not uncommon for people to refer to the names of myalo or soma when talking about an ability."
Alex nods, and Zeris minimizes the screen twice before swiping over to the next class bubble.
"This is the external class, and things get trickier here. Wielders with an external ability can influence the reality around them by manipulating their iris," says Zeris, double-tapping on the bubble.
Three distinct bubbles appear this time, and the faded external bubble is minimized to the bottom left of the screen. Branching off from their class, the orange bubble is labeled 'Tochi - Elemental', the green bubble is labeled 'Ano - Particle', and the purple bubble is labeled 'Resu - Realm'.
"And these are the three categories of the external class. Tochi, the variation of elements. Ano, the adaptation of particles. And Resu, the control over a realm."
"So my ability to control fire is most likely among the tochi category and, therefore, an external class ability," says Alex, and Zeris nods.
"We'll find out for sure in a bit, but that's also my assumption. I'm kind of speedrunning this whole thing because we need to get started on your training, but if you have a question, let me know."
"I do, but I want to learn about the mythic class first."
"Okay, you think you got the names down?"
"Nope, but I got the gist."
"Alright," chuckles Zeris.
Returning to the visual of the three classes', Zeris clicks on the bottom bubble. Branching off into two bubbles this time, the gold bubble is labeled 'Los - Light', and the black bubble is labeled 'Kadil - Darkness'.
"This class is by far the rarest for an iris ability. Mythic abilities don't follow the rules of the other two classes, and every mythic ability is unique in its own way."
"I recognize those names from the academy. Los and Kadil, aren't those names in reference to 'The Battle of Halos and Kadillan' from a few centuries ago?" asks Alex.
"So you did pay a little attention in school," snickers Zeris, clicking on his watch.
The image of the bubbles vanishes, instead replaced by a drawing of armed humans shooting at one another in a violent depiction of war.
“Let me back up to what happened before that battle and before iris ever existed here on our planet. World War Three… not the fondest period to look back on.”
“World War Three? I thought there were only two?”
“Nope, there’s a third, and many today don’t even know about it because of something else more… you might say… eventful. Anyway, while we were all killing each other for whatever reason, a meteorite struck the Earth during the war. Boom! There were eleven billion humans alive at the start of that war, and rumor has it that only around two million of us survived when the dust settled. Of course, the war ended too, and humankind obviously remembered the meteorite as time passed.”
“Eleven billion? Are you sure this story is real?”
“It’s definitely real. Because that meteorite is the reason you and I have powers.”
“Go on…”
Zeris clicks on his watch, and a new image of a singular island surrounded by water appears.
“When the meteorite struck, almost all habitable land was destroyed or swallowed up by the ocean. But weirdly, only the land surrounding the meteorite stayed intact. It defied logic; we still don’t know how, but we do know that the humans still alive were somehow teleported to this land unscathed. Together, they were forced to start civilization anew, but they found hope in the meteorite.”
“I’m guessing the meteorite was able to give them powers?”
“Exactly. Humanity used iris and these abilities to rebuild itself, but it all happened so fast. Too fast, you might say. People still remembered the horrors of World War Three… greed, wrath, and hatred still lingered in the back of mankind’s conscience. Heh, aren’t we something?”
“So by the way you’re talking, I’m guessing whatever peace there was… didn’t last.”
Zeris meets Alex’s gaze and bobs his head. He clicks on his watch, and an artistic visual of the ancient battle appears, redrawn to how their current-day society imagines the battle would have looked.
“As soon as some people deemed humanity was back on its feet, the survivors couldn’t agree on what should go, so they broke apart into two civilizations, ‘Halos’ and ‘Kadillan’. This is what you learned about. Both civilizations sought control over the only land left and the iris meteorite, and as tensions boiled to a head, a fierce battle between the most powerful iris-wielders commenced. The Halos Legion and the Monarchs of Kadillain were the two sets of ancient warriors that fought in this legendary nine-on-eight battle, and it’s the first time humans used iris as a weapon against one another.”
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“And this caused humanity almost to go extinct… again.”
“Correct. It was so close to World War Three that many people had to endure that war and the battle.”
“And it split the land into the six separate continents we have today,” says Alex. “And more importantly, the meteorite vanished.”
“You’re half right. The Battle of Halos and Kadillan was so destructive that it even destroyed the iris meteorite, but it didn’t vanish. It actually shattered, and the crystal shards that once constituted the meteorite shot back into space as the ground broke apart. The lands were pushed away from one another so quickly that humankind didn’t have time to react, and the divided clusters of people that inhabited each new continent were forced to restart on their own all over again.”
“So the crystal shards around now that give people powers…”
“Yes, they were once part of the meteorite. Twenty-one years ago, “The Shard Shower” brought the shards raining back to mankind. And the mythic abilities around today are glaringly identical to the powers that the seventeen ancient warriors wielded back in the Halos and Kadillan days.”
Swiping out of the visual and then out of the bubbles of Los and Kadil, the visual of the shard and the three class bubbles appear on the screen again.
"We won't go over all the mythic abilities today," says Zeris, retrieving a handheld device from the nightstand beside him.
"What do the colors of the categories mean?" asks Alex.
Zeris holds up the device and shakes it, "That… will kind of be answered with this. This is called an iris scanner. After scanning a tattoo, the iris scanner downloads a bunch of data about you and your ability. Mind pulling up your sleeve?"
As Alex lifts his sleeve to reveal his tattoo, Zeris holds the scanner above it. After a beep, a light at the bottom of the scanner turns green.
"Thanks, let's see here…" says Zeris, clicking a few buttons on the scanner.
Suddenly, a bunch of data panels are projected in front of them. Sorting through the panels in search of one in particular, Zeris quickly finds the one he's looking for and expands it with his fingers. At the top of the panel is the headline, 'Name: Arid Inferno', the line below reading 'Category Type: Tochi / Elemental'.
"An elemental power—I thought I'd have that," says Alex, looking at a perplexed Zeris. “What? Is something wrong?"
"No," says Zeris, slowly shaking his head. "Not really."
Not thinking much of it, Alex moves on to the next bit of data. 'Description: By utilizing iris, the user can conjure and manipulate fire to achieve various tasks. The most common method of use involves the user snapping their fingers. With notable offensive power, overuse of Arid Inferno may cause dehydration and, in more extreme cases, hyperthermia and heat stroke.'
"Well, besides the repercussions, sounds like I have a pretty solid ability," says Alex.
"Mhm," says Zeris, remembering that parts of Alex's physical body alter when he uses Arid Inferno. "It's straightforward, which means it won't be too difficult to learn and train over time."
Thinking about how he needs to go through this data again later, Zeris minimizes the data panels, and the screen of the three classes pops back up.
"You asked earlier about the varying colors of the categories," says Zeris, clicking on the external class, and the orange, green, and purple bubbles appear. "These colors have to do with your gemcore, which exists right underneath your tattoo."
Alex looks at his tattoo, "I don't see any orange…"
"You can't. Not yet, at least," says Zeris. "But whichever category your ability belongs to, that's the color your gemcore takes on. Since you have an elemental ability, your gemcore is orange. If you had a particle ability, you would have a green gemcore. Realm abilities, purple. You get the idea."
Alex nods, and Zeris clicks something on his watch. The visuals on the screen disappear, and some new images appear. In the center is a large ovoid labeled 'Gemcore'. Branching off to the left is an image of a collection of gems, and a small glowing sphere branches off to the right.
"Your gemcore is made up of two main components. The first is the gem, or the hardened shell with a texture identical to the crystal shard you came in contact with to awaken your iris. This crystalline shell protects what's stored inside: the iris core. The second part of your gemcore… is the iris core: a small, concentrated sphere of iris that carries the signature coding for your unique ability. Which means there'll never be another ability in the world identical to yours. Without your gemcore, not only will you lose the means to use your ability, but your body will be significantly weakened as there won't be a source for your iris anymore," explains Zeris.
"I gotcha. Just means I'll need to protect my gemcore moving forward, right?" asks Alex.
"Yes, there's a lot more to gemcores, but you don't need to worry about those traits now," says Zeris, activating orasi and once more becoming confused, this time hiding it better.
"So, what kind of powers do you have? You seem to have purple iris. Does that mean you have realm ability?"
"That's a thought," inconclusively says Zeris.
"Should've known you wouldn't tell me," scoffs Alex. "What else you wanna tell me before I start my training?"
"Only one more thing," says Zeris, clicking a button.
Another new visual takes to the screen, headlined 'Iris Control & Circulation' with a bunch of text underneath.
"I'm gonna have to read again?"
"No, just listen. Control and circulation are crucial to every iris wielder if they want to improve. Without understanding these basic concepts, your iris might even kill you, and that's not even bringing up the fact that you'd be an easy target in the future. Think of it this way: between you and me, I'm currently far more capable than you as a wielder because I've worked so much on mastering the basics."
"I get it Zeris. Are you gonna start explaining how these work or what?" says Alex and Zeris scoffs at his cheekiness.
"Sure. Now it might be because of your parents," starts Zeris, and he has a sudden realization.
"My parents?" asks Alex after a couple of seconds. "Zeris?"
Zeris snaps out of his brief daze, "Yeah, your parents. They were both iris wielders, and your father is especially strong. We're only just entering the years where we're starting to see the effects parents who are iris wielders have on their children. There's actually a wide belief that descendants of iris wielders are more naturally capable of picking up on the basics. That's probably why you subconsciously understood how to circulate your iris when you fought against me, as dangerous as that was."
Alex slowly nods, thinking about his father as Zeris continues, "Control and circulation are concepts that are easy to learn but very difficult to master. In simple terms, control and circulation are all about learning how to channel iris into certain regions of the body. For example, when you snap your fingers, you channel your iris into your hand to create flames. You following?"
"Yeah."
"Previously, you weren't aware of what you were doing, and you had no control over how much or how little iris you were using, which is very dangerous. Because you're still fresh as an iris wielder and lack consistent training, your pool of iris, or your iris capacity, is still very low. If you had continued using iris at the pace you were, you would've faced those drawbacks you read about earlier."
Thinking back about Arid Inferno's description and when Zeris told him that he had done him a favor after knocking him out, Alex now understands why Zeris had done what he did.
"The key to growing as a wielder is learning to control and circulate iris properly in correlation with how your ability operates. And while the process of learning and training these concepts are more or less the same for everybody, the way these concepts are applied are unique to each person."
"And is that because we all have unique abilities and are at varying levels of strength?"
"Precisely, you're catching on," says Zeris, tapping on the screen, and two silhouettes appear. One is a person meditating, and the other is a still frame of them punching. "These are the two most common ways of practicing control and circulation. Meditation involves circulating iris through your body and is considered the most efficient way of becoming more in tune with iris. On the other hand, practicing using your ability is more gradually effective; however, with this method, the wielder also becomes more comfortable with their ability over time. Finding a healthy balance between the two is essential."
Alex nods, and Zeris continues, "Wrapping things up now. While this might seem obvious now, control and circulation also help the human body acclimate to iris. You see, the gemcore might be essential to our bodies after we awaken, but it's more like we're drawing on its power and energy rather than benefiting us on its own like the human heart. The further we practice controlling and circulating iris through our bodies, the more natural iris becomes integrated into our anatomy. Additionally, as wielders continue to train, their iris capacity also gradually increases."
"Yeah, that makes sense," says Alex, itching to get started.
"Do you understand everything I told you?" asks Zeris, wanting to double-check.
"Yeah, don't worry about me. Like you said, I kind of already know how to do this stuff, right?"
"And that's why it's critical that you're now conscious of what you're doing," sharply says Zeris. "It's dangerous to only rely on your instincts."
"I know," says Alex, his change in tone informing Zeris that he genuinely did listen. "Show me the ropes. We only have so much time, right?"