The pitch-black gave way to the orange. Sweat trickled down his body. He looked up again, the sky too was now orange and the fire had spread up there even quicker than on the ground.
He sat down feeling lethargic. He took in large deep breaths, the cool air had not become hot and was becoming even hotter as time passed. As he rested against the tree he again considered how strange it was. His mind was stuck not on the magic or repeatedly coming back from the death's door but on him not feeling any hunger or thirst. It was magical, he considered. He had been sweating buckets and his mouth did not feel dry. Maybe it was because the other things were completely fantastical that his mind did not even bother thinking about them.
A gut of air rushed. It was no longer the slow, and somewhat creepy air. He felt his burns start acting again and he stumbled towards the opposite side of the tree to shield himself.
He walked, and his weapons crashed again creating a noise that reverberated through the forest.
The monster ran at him. No longer did he see any grace within them, only anger as they bore their weapons at him. He took out a spear and prepared himself as they rushed at him. The group was much larger than the normal ones, he thought, and then the wave came crashing at him.
He sidestepped clearing the path for them as they came running. They tried adjusting direction but the massive hoard suddenly crashed into each other. They had lost their movement and he quickly came out, flames appearing upon both of his palms, and then he swung them, bursting the shell and causing the swarm of sparks to rush forth. They followed his had moment, a wave of red raining down on the monsters as they tried to get up.
He winced at the pain but nothing more could be done, using the spear as more of a walking cane and approaching the monster. They had been divided. Some were on his side, many burning while others were on the opposite side.
The monster snarled, his mouth open but it only made it easier. The sword went through its mouth and into its brain. One of them had been able to stand on its feet and rushed at him. When it was nearly in front of him he moved slightly, a wobble and its claws cut into his arm. Its mouth opened and he rammed his blade in there.
They were completely different now. Unlike the massive headache, they usually were. It made him consider whether he should start causing fires intentionally but then a massive explosion sounded up above as a gout of fire exploded from the orange sky. He fell, his body trembling as the pain came rushing back. It was horrible. He felt suffocating, his eyes darting around looking for anything to escape from this feeling, and then his eyes landed upon the monsters.
Anger rushed into his head and he ran towards them, his sword replaced with a knife. And then he stumbled and fell. It only made the black tar within him boil forth. He stumbled towards them stabbing them, one after another. They bit off a chunk of his flesh, their weapons cut into his but he seemed to care as he stabbed and stabbed. Eventually, though he came back to his mind and with trembling legs stood up, quickly scanning around. The monsters were starting to appear again, it seemed they had circled the fire.
A flame left his palm, flying up, and then it burst apart, red-colored rain exploding upon contact with their bodies. He winced, his arm feeling as though it would tear apart but he held onto his knife and cast more and more spells. They tried to run but it was inevitable.
Up above, the gouts of fire erupted more and more frequently making him feel anxious. Despite the bone-deep exhaustion, he pushed his body towards the next fight.
***
The flames burst apart, and swarms of red rained down from above. The high temperature only facilitated their effectiveness allowing them to light anything on fire even more quickly. The hoard tried changing their path but it was blocked off by a wall of roots on one side while a sea of fire was burning on the other side. They started climbing the wall, it was easy for them, even still but their efforts quickly became useless as another swarm quickly lit up the wall. The monster screamed, falling down and with another swarm dropping down in the middle, the chaos ensued as they tried running away but were blocked by fire on all sides.
He sucked the energy from the part covering his back, slowly merging it with the part in front. The front part of the barrier became brighter as he looked at the burning body rushing at him. He readied his spear and then stabbed. Sweat poured down his body as he killed the few that were moving about. Ending them he moved to the monsters that had fallen on the ground stabbing every in their eye socket making sure they were dead. Slowly they disintegrated into ashes and only their weapons remained. He salvaged the usable weapons and placed them inside the storage and bit down on a new crystal.
His brain was filled with pain. The cuts, the stabs, the slashes, the bites, the burns. His mind was filled with so much noise that he was unable to think clearly. He became absent-minded but mechanically continued banging the weapons. There was only one thing he knew for sure, he wanted this hell to be over.
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The forest became increasingly more inhospitable. He started encountering the fires more and more frequently and because the fire was spreading all over he had to move between the burning trees. His skin became even more torn and the flesh under started darkening.
Surrounded by fire from all sides, his mind nearly fired. He stabbed the monster in the eyes while small flames exploded. The sparks rushed out with him at the center exploding, burning the monster all around him while he collapsed.
He could not bear it anymore. He grabbed his throat, which was not covered with dark patches as black ash flew off. His eyes narrowed to a slit, barely allowing him to see, his body losing its moisture more and more had become stiffer over time making it difficult. As he crashed to the ground, he vowed again that he would not forgive them.
He would make sure they felt the same pain that he was feeling.
The light was gone as was the pain, the memory remained though. He closed his eyes as a surge of memory rushed through his head causing him to grit his teeth. He needed someone to blame this pain on. Before it had been slowly accumulating and he kept on bearing it in not letting it out but this time the dam was broken. For days upon days, he kept on fighting while his body was slowly cooked alive.
His grudge against the gangs that had been growing thicker as he rotted in the jail sucked in all the painful memories growing darker just like the forest he was stuck in. Laying on the forest floor he kept on thinking about what he would do to them once he got out of here.
There was not even a thought about how he would escape the prison. He understood the prison very well and it was that understanding that ensured that the prison could not keep in the superhuman that he had become. All he needed to be careful of were the firearms; all the other obstacles could be overcome rather easily now.
He stood up using the resentment that was within him to fight and experiment. The fights were still controlled but they became more and more deadly as he kept on pushing himself to end them quickly. After every fight, he put out the fires that were quickly spreading.
Only a single fire remained. He tore away all the moss and other burnable material around to keep it from spreading and then sat down. The fire crackled burning the moss that was ever-present here. Closing his eyes he focused upon the flam trying to detect the energy within it.
Nothing. He could feel nothing even after a long time no matter how hard he tried. Opening his eyes he brought his hands closer until it was just above it. The flames jumped up trying to engulf his hand. Feeling the burning sensation he had instinctively moved back. Bringing it close again he connected with his reservoir controlling a sliver of energy within and bringing it out.
He faced a problem. The spells provided a path for the energy to travel to whether it was the Spark or Cloak of Fire and in the case of Cloak of Fire the connection remained until the barrier was turned off. But he had no idea how the energy moved. He had tried it but he had not been able to even get it out of the reservoir.
He focused within. The energy moved in a blink of an eye, moving somewhere and as a result, a flame appeared hovering above his palm. He tired again, and again, and again but the headache compounded quickly becoming unbearable thus forcing him to stop.
Focusing on the crystal within his hand he started actively sucking out the energy within it. After a while, he tried to understand how it went into his reservoir and where it even was located.
His legs became numb as his reservoir slowly filled up. He had been trying to sense the path that the energy took to get to his reservoir but had no results.
It took a while for his reservoir to be refilled and then he stood up collecting the weapons while he observed the burnt scar that was left on the ground. He stared at them for a while only moving when he heard a sound.
Bringing out the knives he quickly climbed a nearby tree. Reaching a suitable height he stopped and started inspecting the surroundings. Slowly the noise increased and then another hoard came into view. It came closer and closer until they were nearly under him. He inspected for the area with the highest density and then a flame appeared, then another and another. He stopped just before the pain could come back. Slowly he connected with them all simultaneously, the energy seeped out from his reservoir as he exerted pressure upon the lattice structure hiding the sparks within.
Some of the energy seeped in making the sparks excited causing the whole process to become even more difficult. A headache appeared due to the number of flames he was adjusting simultaneously.
He readied himself as the monster approached his trap. With a single thought, a bright red net descended upon the unsuspecting, exploding into the fire.
The fights continued as did his trials and errors. The fights were often short now that he was using energy more leniently but the danger only increased. He kept making the execution more and more risky, reaping greater results for equally greater risks.
The fighting had now become a norm for him. His body acted by itself while he watched and observed how the situation was going. After each putting out the fires he kept on trying to make the connection with the burning fires or sensing how the energy seemed to go inside wherever the reservoir was. It was an exhausting process requiring full attention. After each session, he wanted to give up from mental exhaustion that overwhelmed him but he did not stop.
After the training sessions, he replenished his energy while making sure he was mentally rested for the next fights. The time passed until he cleared this floor and started the next.
He sat down feeling exhausted even though his body was brimming with energy. It seemed like forever since he had last slept and even though his body did not seem to require as much, he felt an intense urge to sleep. So this time he instead offered prayers in a corner that was covered with roots.