The clearing was more circular and was about 100 yards long in all directions from the center. It had a long and narrow pathway that led off into the distance. It all seemed unnatural. As if it was cleared out for a property to be built here. If James needed to return to society, he could follow that path and probably end up on a road.
This mental note was a bit unnecessary. He remembered how to get back to the highway he came from, but James never knew what information could be useful in time. Better to be prudent.
There were isolated trees in the clearing that he could practice on. What use was a target if he had nothing to shoot with? With a deep heavy sigh, James opted to take off his shirt and pants, leaving himself with nothing but boots and underwear. He was getting sick of this. However, he couldn’t risk burning his clothes.
Ready to get started, he still had no idea how to go about attempting it. After a moment of thinking, he decided to try and concentrate the energy in his palm as much as he could. He would then will the energy to move as fast as it could out of his palm. He walked up to the tree in the middle of the clearing, standing about twenty feet from it. From that range, if he couldn’t hit the tree, it wouldn’t have made a very good long-range attack.
His hopes weren’t high that this would be successful, but he had no other options. Opening the pore to his right hand halfway, he willed the energy to move slowly to his palm. The crimson specks moved diligently to his palm. Gathering and condensing, forcing the pressure to build.
After a few moments, he felt the energy buzzing under the pressure Demanding it to go somewhere, anywhere other than his concentrated palm. He felt the channels stretching, ready to give under the pressure. In his mind's eye, it looked like an incandescent crimson soup that was being boiled. Closing the pore, he willed the energy to leave his palm in a straight path, giving the pressurized energy the release it wanted.
The flames whistled, destructively leaving his palm, nearly throwing him off his feet with the force. The cone of flames raced forward as a blast of destruction, dispersing as it sped forward immediately setting the grass ablaze as it completely dispersed about fifteen feet out, narrowly avoiding the tree. Although it was a good first attempt, James couldn’t help but feel disappointed. James could tell it was fairly powerful, but it didn’t reach the tree, and even if it did by the time it got there it would’ve lacked very little punch.
James started contemplating what the problem was. The main thing he realized was how it dispersed. It wasn’t even close to a ball, it was more a high-energy blast of energy that quickly faded out. It would at least quickly scorch his enemies at a medium range, allowing a greater distance attack than a simple torch extending from his palm. James shook his head, it wasn’t what he needed, but it was at least a tool in his arsenal.
How do I stop it from dispersing? James asked himself, sitting down to help himself think. James replayed how the flames blasted out of his palms and how the flame steadily spread out. For the first time in his experimentation, nothing came to mind. No ideas to test.
Replaying the scene over and over, nothing was coming to mind. Deciding to look at it from a new angle to hopefully get an idea, he looked at the details of the flame as it dispersed. He remembered how the flame had a gradual spin as a consequence of the pressure release, causing a slight spiral in the flame.
“That’s it!” James yelled, jumping to his feet.
He had to contain his excitement as he realized a solution. He needed to create a spin in the flame as it blasted out, preventing a dispersal in the flame. James' giddy smile dropped a bit as he realized it should’ve been more obvious to him. It’s called a ‘fireball’ for a reason, sobering up his excitement considerably.
This failure in his thinking wouldn’t deter him though, as he quickly got to work figuring out how to create the spin in his flame. Opening up the pore halfway again, he allowed the energy to build up in his palm. As it got close to buzzing under pressure, he willed the energy to spin in his channel. He was met with resistance. It didn’t want to spin. The channel was too narrow and the pressure was too great, he either let too much in or he wouldn’t achieve a spin in the energy in his channel. He couldn’t get rid of the energy though. Once the energy entered the channel, as far as he knew, it couldn’t go back to his reservoir.
So, James decided to try something else. He opened his pore slightly and allowed the energy to leave his palm, the unusual movement of the energy created a unique look to the flame as it left. It looked like a snake coiled up in the grass ready to strike. Suppose the said snake was made of flame, of course. With a smile, James realized this was a great sign his goal was achievable.
The pressure of the flame wasn’t that great now that it left his palm, so the flame was pretty small, but to James, that was a good thing. Made it easier to handle. He could increase the power of the fireball when he had the proof of concept.
James willed the flame to spin, and it immediately responded, the flicker of the flame twisting into a spiral. James realized there was another problem though. It didn’t yet have a ball shape, it looked like a cylinder at its base that turned into a ball at the end. Taking a deep breath, James realized he may have to work with it a while longer.
He wouldn’t be able to turn the base of it into a perfect spiral without disconnecting it from his palm, the fuel source, killing the flame. He would just have to will the energy at its base into spiraling when he decides to launch it. He worked on willing the energy at the base into a better spin, and it improved, still not perfect. Having no other choice, he decided to give it a go.
Before he launched it he decided to go ahead and increase the spin of the entire ball, hoping it would help it form into a perfect ball on its own as it launches. The crimson ball was mesmerizing, its flickers of flame that escaped the flame radiating a graceful power. It gave the impression to James it would be more powerful than he initially expected. The ball was now growing bigger as the flame was filling quicker than the escaping wisps could dissipate the energy.
James took it as a good time to attempt it. He willed the flame at the very base that wasn’t yet spinning to spin, disconnecting the energy source. At the same time, he mentally grabbed the energy in the ball as it spun, and shot the energy towards the tree. The ball kept shape as James visualized, mesmerizing even more as the flame spun, he had never seen anything like it. It raced towards the tree, whistling even louder than his previous cone blast.
It struck the tree right in the center where he told the energy to go. It kept wanting to spin, charring the bark and interior as it dug inside deeply, slowly dissipating. This wasn’t what James expected, it kept shape nearly too well. He still felt a connection to his energy even at the distance and willed the energy to dispel in all directions with as much mental force as he was able to muster.
A loud explosion and shockwave assaulted his ears and forced him to close his eyes, was pelted with wood chips forcing him to drop to the ground. The sound of creaking, twisting wood echoed through the forest. Examining himself, he was left with minor scrapes by the shrapnel. Standing up, the spectacle of the tree completely charred and ripped in half was laid before him. A powerful flame was burning the remaining wood, leaves, and the grass around it.
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James' eyes were left wide, his mouth gaping. James had high hopes, but this completely astounded him. At this rate, he would need defensive abilities before he returned to society. If he were hit by an attack like that, he would be dead before he could even feel it. He didn’t even put much force behind that attack, his pore was only partially open. Looking at his reservoir, his training barely left a dent. It was nearly full. It didn’t know whether to feel terrified by his power or comforted.
Staring at the remains of the tree, he felt a connection to the flame. Furrowing his brows in concentration, he realized that his energy never dissipated. Looking closer the consuming flame had his standard crimson hue. He willed the flame to disperse, sending the specks of energy into the atmosphere. Instantly, the flame completely vanished. Another discovery. Flames started by him remained under his control. He didn’t know why he didn’t realize that last night with the campfire.
He was certain this morning when he woke up his campfire was a normal flame. Last night he was too exhausted to notice his connection to it, but this morning he felt the uncomfortable heat when he reached around it, rather than the soothing one of his own. He would have to test it out, but he would guess a normal one slowly replaced his fire through the night.
Looking up at the sun, it was nearing noon. He still had plenty of time to train. James wanted to test a more powerful fireball but he felt a bit apprehensive about the idea. He felt the minor scrapes caused by the shrapnel of wood chips, he would need to stand further away. He was only using a fraction of his power and he was standing twenty feet away. Even so, the explosion was at least the equivalent of a grenade. James couldn’t help but have a conflicted smile at the power he possessed.
From the state of his reservoir, he could do this all day. James wondered under what circumstances he would ever use up the capacity of his whole reservoir. It took being covered in relentless, torching flame for what seemed like hours on the highway and then afterward clumsily training his control for his reservoir to get low. It has yet to be a problem. Even then, his aching channel was a problem before his reservoir ever was. His arm was left nearly useless afterward but was completely fine the next morning he woke up.
It made him question the nature of the power others would have. Was he outrageously powerful compared to others? He hoped so, otherwise the cities would be an absolute blood bath. His flames seemed solely offensive, maybe he could form a wall of fire, reminding him of when he incinerated the debris from the man with the spiraling hurricane of wind. It even seemed to dampen the wind before it got to him, his best defense seemed like shrouding himself in flame. He could maybe dodge–
His mind snapped to the memory of being forcefully pushed back both when he concentrated the torch in his palm and when he blasted the cone of fire. He had something new to test out.
He marginally opened the pores to the channels in both of his arms, letting the energy build up in his palms before it whistled and shot out of his palms. Positioning his palms behind him, he opened his pores a little further, increasing the intensity of the flame. James was pushed forward, having to balance himself under the new force. James was jumping to keep himself from tumbling forward face-first into the ground.
He opened his pores more but instructed the energy to move slower. The flames fluttered a bit, nearly causing James to fall to the ground again under the change of force. James adjusted the speed of energy to control the intensity of the flame reaching a new balance. He used this to propel himself in the direction he wanted to go. Taking inspiration from the hawk, he angled his hands behind him at a downward angle and he was now able to reach the speed of a sprint. He was propelled slightly off the ground with little force from his legs to keep him from falling.
James' suspicion was correct, he would be able to fly. As he got better with this ability, a childlike smile graced his face. He zoomed across the open field, starting grass fires sporadically. He didn’t care. He was having fun. As he got more comfortable, James decided to try something more difficult. It was time to fly.
Preparing himself, shut off the pores halting the flow of the energy to bring himself to a stop. He walked to the center of the field in case he lost control, he didn’t want to be catapulted into a tree or deep in the forest. With a deep breath, he vowed to take it slow, he knew he liked to get ahead of himself.
He opened his pore a quarter, slightly more than he did before. He moved the energy very slowly through the channel, but at a density that would allow him to have more powerful flames when he wanted to speed it up. As a gentle flame sprouted from his palm, he planned how he wanted to do this. With a deep breath, he sped up the energy gradually.
The flames whistled as it rocketed out of his hands in increasing intensity, slowly lifting him off the ground. He was already struggling to maintain balance. His focus was split between positioning his hands at his sides and keeping the intensity of the flames coming out of his palm even. This would take a lot of practice. Hovering about five feet off the ground, his mind was strained under the focus, nearly losing control several times.
After a couple of minutes, he was starting to get the hang of it. Raising himself about ten feet off the ground and controlling his descent back down. Comfortable, he decided to try moving forward. Angling his palms slightly downwards, he gradually started moving forward. He did the same thing going backward.
Deciding to take a risk, he sped up the energy considerably in a short burst. Immediately, his flames rocketed in the air about twenty feet, more than he was expecting. His hands were thrown from their position under sudden force, sending him spiraling towards the ground. James in a panic struggled to get his hands back in the correct position at his side to halt his descent.
He screamed as he got closer to the ground, his tumble through the air making him nauseous as he saw the spinning ground approaching. He landed on the singed grass from earlier experiments on his back, knocking the air out of him. The flame at his sides quickly incinerated the remaining grass around him near his boots.
Closing his pores he lay there a moment breathing deeply, recovering his breath from the crash landing. Sitting up slowly, he checked himself for injuries. He moved his hips and back. He rotated his shoulders and neck. Nothing hurt except his lungs where the breath was knocked out of him. James was lucky his stupidity didn’t injure him. James could only push his luck for so long.
He squinted his eyes in anger at himself, cursing at his stupidity. If he got injured out here it could be a death sentence, he let his desire to fly get ahead of him. Just as he told himself he wouldn’t. His father would’ve never let him get away with this. You never break your word, not even to yourself. He was disappointed with his failure, to him, and his father.
James decided it was time to go back to camp, he made a lot of improvement today and he could do more later. His broken vow to himself prevented him from enjoying his accomplishments. He was getting thirsty, and once again was mad at himself that he didn’t think about bringing water. What if he had ended up in a situation where he couldn’t get back to camp? James was consistently taking unnecessary risks out of short-sightedness. He had to do better. The feeling of disappointment was piling on him, and he knew he deserved it.
Not wanting to make another screw-up, he kept his head up and attentive, despite his habit of being thoughtful after such mistakes. The forest around him was calm, the feeling of connection he felt to it was eerie. He still couldn’t put his finger on it. Why did it feel so alive and connected to him? As he noticed this morning, it felt similar to the connection he had with his reservoir. Even then, it felt more intense than this morning. Did it have something to do with the animals also being able to control the elements?
With wide eyes, James realized if animals were absorbing this energy there’d be little reason plants wouldn’t. He felt deeply unsettled. He kept walking attentively but with much more unease. What were the consequences? Would foliage bloom and trees get larger? Would they change more fundamentally? James didn’t know, but the idea of staying in the forest seemed less appealing.
Picking up his stride, he was eager to get back to the comfort of his camp. He wondered if his campfire was still going, maybe he’d enjoy some lunch after he quenched his thirst. James' memories slowly drifted to home. He missed his bed, he missed the reminders of his father. He would never see that house again, at least not for the foreseeable future. When he thought of the photos of his father that he left, he was nearly brought to tears. Why didn’t he grab it? He cursed himself again, feeling more like a thoughtless screw-up.
James stopped to relieve himself of his bodily needs, feeling more and more thirsty. He picked up his pace. Getting close to his camp, he thought about how he would safely train his flight. He decided he’d go back to the clearing later and practice balancing himself more, when he got the hang of it he’d fly slowly close to the ground.
Taking his last steps downhill, he turned the corner around the tree his tarp was tied to. Frozen solid, James assessed in horror as he saw three giant tears in his tarp that was lying a foot away from the tree. A bear. James' fists clenched as he realized a bear had ransacked his camp.
My bags! James' thoughts roared, racing to check on his bags. They were both torn to pieces, the cans crushed, the contents drained and eaten, and his clothes were shredded. His radio and compass were visibly smashed. Anger boiled inside of him, he felt his face turn red. Giant bear prints were littered around the site, and bear droppings to top it all off were smeared on the shredded pieces of his bags, his father’s AR15 was reduced to the bent metal on top of the shredded remains. His anger reached a boiling point, filling every crevice of his mind. He was consumed by it.
“Listen to me you piece of shit! I’m coming for you! You hear me?!” He screamed at the top of his lungs. His pores completely opened, and flames rocketed out of him, charring and incinerating everything around him. Fires rapidly spread. James didn’t care at all through his growls of anger. James was going to kill that bear.