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Chapter 25 - Breathe

Chapter 25 - Breathe

Mike

(Colosseum, Academy Grounds)

The rest of the class had Mike and the other fire users on the track, learning to use their fire to give themselves either speed or added mobility.

Damn, I hope Wisp doesn't blow me up while trying this. He thought despondently, before slapping himself across the cheek, much to the amusement or horror of the two guys beside him.

"What did Joe say, dumbass? No more negativity! You have powers now. You're awesome, and that's okay. Stop with the lame excuses and man up!" he said to himself, before realizing he didn't think it, he spoke it out loud.

It would help if I didn't keep making an idiot of myself. he smiled, despite himself, even as the two guys next to him tried and failed to suppress their laughter. Game face Mike, let's go! He psyched himself for the next part of class.

"Alright, time to learn how to use your fire to increase your mobility. Aden, how would you use your hammer to increase mobility?" Professor Dranor asked, crossing his massive arms across his chest in what seemed to be his signature stance.

Aden seemed to think about it for a moment before answering. "I could use my hammer to blast me somewhere if I could direct it enough, " he said confidently.

"That's certainly one way you could use it, good! Do you think you would need to use the hammer to impact an object in order to create a blast?" Dranor pressed.

"I guess so, why?" Aden asked suspiciously.

"Would your opportunities for mobility not be greatly increased if you could use your hammer to create blast whenever you wanted it to?" Dranor asked with a cheeky grin, making Aden scowl for not having thought of it himself. "All of you, open your Gift tabs and head over to the Advancement menu." Hands went up as the class swiped around before stopping to look at a display only they could see, the majority of them transfixed by what they were seeing.

"In case you don't know what you're looking at, it's the paths you can take with your gift in order to advance its potential and your own strength. You will have noticed that all of your gifts are at Level 1. Can anyone explain to me what going up a level would entail?" he asked in general. Tyrone raised his hand to answer. "Isn't it like a game? You get experience and then you level up right? Your character becomes stronger, you get new powers or they evolve, stuff like that." he said quickly, before looking thoughtful and adding, "Actually sir, why is it that the Link looks like a game menu? Did the aliens study us and our games to make it easy to use or?..."

"Those 'aliens' will be referred to as the Livari, Tyrone. Never get that wrong. Whether it was out of ignorance or disrespect, that will not slide in the Academy, understood?" Dranor said severely.

"Whoa, sorry sir. Didn't mean no disrespect. The Livari, got it." Tyrone said placatingly. Dranor smiled and acknowledged him before continuing. "Tyrone's answer is in fact extremely close to being correct, and as for his question, I'll simply say this. What came first; The Society, or Computer games?" he answered with a smile. "I'll let you chew on that little fact later. For now, though, let's get back to class. For most fire users, increased mobility is an advancement option. Whether through explosions, controlled fuel burns in jet and rocket engines, or even the chemical reactions of flammable materials, fire is potential energy unleashed, and where there is energy, there is the potential for movement. Aden, hit me with that hammer of yours, a full-powered swing."

Aden activated his hammer skeptically but did as he was told. "If you say so, sir." He hefted the flaming hammer and walked up to the professor who nodded. Aden roared as he swung the hammer in a high arc above his head, sending it crashing into the raised gauntlets of the bracing professor. As the hammer struck, an explosion shot out engulfing the professor in a ball of fire, leaving the class looking on nervously. After the flames and smoke died down though, the class gasped as they saw Dranor standing as though nothing at all had happened.

"Stephen, take notes. The beauty of Spark is that unlike other flame powers…" he trailed off, pointing his palms straight at the ground and bending his legs for a jump. He synchronized his movements perfectly, as he not only leaped into the air but detonated the exact same explosion out of his palms, rocketing himself upwards. He must have flown halfway to the top of the enormous dome, before he fell back to Earth at a speed Mike was sure would kill him. The rest of the class seemed equally nervous as apprehension took hold amongst the students.

Dranor fell feet first, as though it were the most natural thing in the world, before executing a textbook superhero landing with a dull thud and a cracked patch of earth beneath him. He stood up from the kneel with a smile on his face. Mike and the rest of the class cheered and clapped for the display. Seeing a human and not a Livari do it somehow made it even more impressive. "…you can use any other flame sent your way, in any way you like. But that's for another time. The reason I showed you all that is because there are many ways to use fire as a means of mobility. Consider what your Gift is, and how it works for the next 10 minutes, then we'll test you out on the long straight and see if you're using it right. As your time here progresses, you will each get one-on-one sessions with yours truly as I assess and assist you with your powers. Alright, go!" he pointed to the track as the fire group took off to see what they could do. "Mike, you're with me today." he said with a head tilt, gesturing that they move away from the others.

Mike walked after the professor away from the group. He was more excited than nervous, and he also felt some sense of relief that he was getting real focused help from a professor who was clearly an expert in his field. When they were some distance away, Dranor turned back to face Mike with a pleasant but serious expression on his face. "So Mike, I've figured a few things out for you, and I have good news and bad news."

"Wow, what an intro, what's the bad news?" Mike said with a lopsided grin, his sense of humor winning out over his usually sardonic nature. Dranor smirked at that.

"Heh, the bad news is, Will o' Wisp is not fire magic, at least not in the usual sense," he said seriously. Mike stayed quiet for a moment, unsure what to make of the statement.

"Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure it burns stuff, I mean I nearly burnt this one table back at…" Mike began.

"I'm sure, Mike, though we don’t really have the luxury of chit-chat in class, perhaps later. Right now, we work on your Gift, yes?" he said sternly, to which Mike simply nodded. "The good news is that I have a feeling that I know what it could be related to, but first I need your permission to see the Systems your Gift branches into. Is that alright?" he asked calmly.

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"Honestly, the sooner I know exactly what I'm working with the sooner I can learn to use it right? Here you go." By now Mike had mastered learning how to project what he wanted to show others from the Link.

No idea how to fo a forged version though. Should I even attempt that? He thought as the projection hung in front of a now incredibly silent Dranor. He blinked a few times as he went from hunched over reading to upright, staring off into the distance. "Honestly, that explains a lot. Haha…" and that was when Dranor began laughing hysterically and covering his eyes with his hands. "Oh man, to think I get to see this day and train this Champion. All nine systems!? I'm not even gonna ask for more right now. Right, Mike, never mind, scratch what I said about the good news, it's not what I thought, it's way way more. Honestly, Mike, this will either be a massive blessing or a huge curse. It's impossible to say at this point. What I can tell you though, is that right now, I'll still be able to train you how I wanted to originally."

Mike's questions about his power were now extra heightened, and though he desperately wanted to ask more, he also knew that There would be time later for it. "That's good, I guess?... Not gonna lie though, pretty ominous all things considered." Mike responded.

"Sorry Mike, we'll chat more about this later, but just know that your case is completely undocumented, and changes everything about you. Now, are you ready to learn how to fly?" Dranor said with a twinkle in his eye.

"I guess if there's one thing that could get my mind off my millions of questions it would be that!" Mike exclaimed excitedly, activating the Wisp, which responded to his excitement by floating around him more enthusiastically than usual.

"I thought it might," Dranor said with a smile. "Alright, so first things first. A single point of propulsion is the simplest to control, but the hardest to use in flight for a human body. Therefore, I think the best practice you can get right now would be to try to split your Wisp into two Wisps if possible. I suspect, however, that it will only become available once your Gift levels up. You can check that in your own time. For now, try focusing on creating as much force as possible out of the Wisp. Like a jet engine."

"A jet engine huh?... Alright, here goes…" Mike brought the Wisp to his hands and tried to make it turn upside down. The Wisp floated upright as normal, no matter how ho moved his hand.

"Try thinking of the base of the Wisp purposefully turning upside down. Visualize it." Dranor suggested. Mike hadn't thought of visualizing what he wanted the Wisp to do yet. After all, he had only had his powers a few days now. Mike closed his eyes and 'felt' the Wisp, floating in his hands. He saw the colorful tendrils of magic beaming out of it; it was pure magic, right at his fingertips.

Alright you crazy thing, now how do I make you flip over?...

Mike focused on the Wisp intensely and willed the flame to stay in the direction his palm was pointing. Mike could feel a connection take place, yet it was incredibly fragile, like trying to pick up a heavy bunch of keys with a very thin stick from far away. Still, Mike twisted his hand ever so slowly, and whilst he kept his concentration, the flame tilted as well. Then just as he thought he was succeeding, the connection slipped, and the flame righted itself into the upright position.

"Ahhh! That's hard, damn!" Mike exclaimed.

"No one said magic would be easy, now did they?" Dranor said with a smirk. "Come, try a few more times, then we try to intensify your flame."

Mike attempted to get the flame to point down, but it always seemed to elude him just after pointing sideways.

"Practice Mike, practice makes perfect. Now, just as the Wisp is, I want you to think of making it 'more', not in size, but in intensity."

Mike shut his eyes again, and a memory made him smile. Just like the time when he and Joe stood outside with the Wisp for the first time and Mike had gathered the magic in his hands…

Looks like you might save my butt again bro.

Mike focused on the Wisp, and instead of his hands, began pouring what felt like his magic into the Wisp. From his mind's-eye view, the Wisp became gradually brighter and more energized, though it never changed size.

"Okay, anytime now Mike," Dranor said somewhat nervously. "You've got enough magic in that thing to blow off the roof. Try to control the release by increasing the burn." he offered helpfully,

Easier said than done.

With the magic gathered in the Wisp, Mike pictured the flame building, and thought 'release'. It felt, sadly, like the magical energy simply dissipated from the Wisp and all was normal once more.

"Great, nothing happened." Mike sighed, frustrated at the nothingness when he felt so close.

"These things take time, and remember technically they aren’t natural Mike. In your case though, before we finish up and head back to the track, let me ask you, what were you thinking about when you fired off that Firework?"

Mike thought about what he'd done before he fired the Wisp off. "Well, this might be stupid, but I was thinking 'at' the Wisp, like talking to it. I asked it not to embarrass me, and do something flashy and big, like a… oh!" The dawning realization struck Mike as a puzzle piece made itself known to him.

"Well, aren't you full of surprises Baker? That's totally strange but why not? Talk to it and ask it to go intense or something. See what happens.

Mike closed his eyes and silly as it felt, spoke to the Wisp. "Alright little guy, show me just how crazy you can get!"

Mike focused on getting the Wisp to face away from him as he tilted his palm and held his arm in front of him. The Wisp stayed parallel to the floor without popping upright. That settled, Mike instead thought 'Intensity' at the little Wisp and poured his magic into it. In his mind's eye the Wisp changed from its usual slow and lazy burn, and the colorful magic began to take up all his vision.

* * * * *

Dranor

(Colosseum, Academy Grounds)

Fire came in many colors, and Dranor was certain there wasn't a single one that would have surprised him, and if he was being honest, this little blue flame Mike was working with was nothing special to look at. From the outside, that is. With magic sense, though, the Wisp's deceptively demure flame stood out in strong contrast to every stream of magic around it. In its 'dormant' state, when it simply floated about, it seemed to emit the barest hint of magical energy, just enough to identify itself as a magical flame. However, when Mike poured his seemingly enormous reservoir of magic into it, that's when Dranor stood in awe.

Fire came in many magical colors too, in relation to magic sense. Colors could denote an affinity towards a specific use or proclivity of the fire's eventual advancement, though every flame gave off at most three differing colors. The Wisp, however, while at first understated, became a blaze of color, and if you looked too long, a blinding sea of light in every magical spectrum. Dranor switched off his magic sense as this became the case, and instead watched the little Wisp turn into something he'd never seen before. It was no longer floating about lazily, but rather, it was still as a naked flame in a room without windows. Yet it was sideways.

When I saw him trying to get it to change its alignment, I was gonna laugh it off, but I can't make judgments based on what I know, not with this one. He's the Champion. And even now, look it it!

The air around the now-growing flame rippled as it began to lose its still appearance and shake as though a particularly powerful wind were blowing from beneath it, though this flame was in no danger of going out. The flame grew exponentially larger and a sound like that of a gas flame being turned up and up and up began whining in his ears. Mike began to brace his legs against the flame.

He's using it as propulsion! Dranor thought giddily.

He watched as the flame started to grow wildly, the whining turning into a rising roar as the flame turned into a cone of heat and grew to be larger than Mike. At this point, Mike opened his eyes, and saw, in shock, what the Wisp looked like. An enormous cone of blue flame, roared like a jet engine out of his hand, turning the grass beneath it to a crisp. Mike was bracing hard and losing ground to the force of the flame when it abruptly winked out and Mike collapsed to the ground.

In an instant Dranor was right beside him, kneeling where Mike lay. "Mike! Are you okay?" he flipped Mike over like a ragdoll, only to see a sweaty but smiling face greet him. "Sorry sir, but I...think I...forgot to breathe!" Mike gasped out between breaths before laughing a little. Dranor smiled and shook his head.

This kid...