Stirring awake, a pounding headache, a dry mouth, and a cramping, rumbling stomach greeted him. James groaned in complaint as he slowly sat up, leaning against the tree the tarp around him was tied to. He realized he hadn’t eaten or drank a single thing since his morning coffee yesterday. With a sigh, he unzipped his bags and pulled out a bottle of water, along with one of his cans of potted meat and peaches. He would need to keep a good level of protein and vitamins given what he faced. His modest breakfast would do well to energize him for his day.

He gulped down the entire water bottle, his pounding headache starting to ease. Feeling slightly revitalized, he opened the pull tab on his can of peaches and savored the sweet liquid and peaches within. Drinking it halfway, he decided he’d warm up his potted meat while he enjoyed his peaches.

Opening the lid to the meat halfway to retain the heat, he placed it a few inches away from the burning logs next to the fire to warm up. He noticed the fire dwindling, its fuel depleted from burning all night. Reaching around, he gathered the extra logs he had prepared and carefully positioned them to rekindle the flames. He thoughtfully grabbed the lid from the can of peaches and placed it in his bags considering its future uses.

Savoring the remaining peaches, he was soothed by the serene singing of the birds and the crackling of the fire as it caught the new logs. The heat retained by the tarp gently warmed his face and hands, tempting him with the thought of more sleep. He enjoyed his moment of peace in his makeshift shelter, realizing it was now a rare luxury for him in his newfound reality.

Finishing off his peaches, he cautiously tapped the side of the potted meat to gauge its temperature. Finding the aluminum was close to being too hot to handle, he quickly moved it away from the fire. Finding the meat to be just right, he carefully used his fingers to scoop the meat out, careful to not drop and waste any. He regretted not packing any utensils.

No use dwelling on the past right now, he thought, considering his training plans as he carefully ate his meat. He had learned how to control the pores and energy well enough for now. He wanted to focus on learning what he could do with it. His powers were limited to being an extremely powerful torch, judging it to be more than hot enough to melt metal. Glancing at his rifle, he wanted to find a way to attack at a longer range with his flame. Nodding to himself, he would make that his goal for the day.

In haste, James scooped out the remaining meat. His hearty breakfast filled him with the energy for his day. Closing the lid he placed the can back in his bag and left the shelter.

As he emerged, he was greeted by a sky transformed. Gone was the oppressive gray of the day before, it was a beautiful expanse of blue, with hardly a cloud in sight. The sudden change astonished James, It stood in complete contrast to the dark foreboding skies of the day before. Now, it was an extravagant canvas of radiance, shining brightly down on him. It brought a small, hopeful smile to his face.

The forest around him had a peculiar feeling of vibrancy he had never felt in a forest before. The feeling of being truly alive. His smile got wider. It made him not feel so alone. James also felt a connection with it, a resonance. In the same manner that he felt towards the reservoir that was inside him. Except it didn’t feel like his, nor did he have any ability to control it. This connection was striking to James. Seeing some potential implications, he was curious to know if any changes happen with nature going forward.

As of now, on the surface, it looked like any normal forest of trees and foliage. The only difference was its feel. He got the same sensation and feeling as he did looking with his mind's eye at his reservoir. Not thinking he’d find an answer any time soon, he dismissed the topic from his mind.

Walking over to the stream, he washed off his dirty hands, covered in the oils from eating the potted meat. He saw his reflection in the ripples of the water. His short, black hair was messy and unkempt, laying gently on his forehead. Heavy bags were obvious in the reflection, outlining his sharp light blue eyes. They contrasted well with his pronounced jaw and cheekbones. He was handsome and tall, but his desire for isolation didn’t allow him to make use of it.

He always hated authority, considering it egotistical and vain in contrast with his father's just guidance and deserved punishments. He would watch in disdain as teachers would lash out in ego-driven anger at the slightest disrespect shown by students. Having to ask to use the restroom, having to ask to leave his seat. Every restriction and control increased his frustration. It reached a boiling point when a teacher took his book during a lesson, causing him to cuss the teacher out and snatch his book back from her. When he was suspended, he dropped out of high school.

From there, he was absorbed into his pursuit of bettering himself, spending his days training his body and mind while he lived off his father's hefty inheritance as a professional boxer. He never knew what he was bettering himself for, but it was the purpose in his life he received from his father. He had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. He knew he would never fit into a 9-5, the structures of management and authority reminding him of his hatred of public schools. He figured he would learn enough about finance, economics, and rising markets to start his own business to make something of himself like his father would want when he saw the chance.

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James laughed at himself. Money was nothing but paper now. Its only use now is fuel for a campfire to keep you warm at night. James was always happiest when he was camping. He felt more alive in the situation he was in now than he did in his old reality.

The simplicity of it all, the growth, the training. Felt more real than the arbitrary struggles society was labored with. School, business, bills. He knew the point of them well, reading more books and learning more than he knew what to do with. He only enjoyed knowing about them, seeing the bigger picture of things. Chasing money, women, and status didn’t appeal to him at all. This world did.

He just wished this new world wasn’t tainted by so much loss and death.

Why do I feel so much pain? James pondered. He hardly related to humanity but he cared so deeply.

He looked away from the reflection of his sorrowful eyes.

He didn’t like that he was starting to enjoy this world. Felt like he was stomping on the loss of so many others. When his flame ashed everything around him, he felt unrelenting joy. He supposed it was symbolic, for the longest James despised the world around him and secretly fantasized about its destruction.

James’ head dropped even further. James admired the power he saw in his father's punch, and by extension admired the power in his flame. His only consolation was that he wouldn’t allow his powers to harm the weak and innocent, but to protect them, to give them the chance to carve their place in this new world. He would not use it to exploit anybody and he would not let it go to his head.

His mission has always been to better himself, others had their own, usually less productive missions in James' eyes, but missions nonetheless. He wouldn’t judge them for their weakness or take advantage of it. Everyone had their station in life. Even though his efforts may make him the most powerful, doesn’t mean anybody else was less than him. The only way in James' eyes you were lesser, is if people used their advantage to exploit and take from others. Those were the truly despicable people in this world, and he considered them better off dead. Those would be the ones he wouldn’t hesitate to turn to ash if he found irredeemable.

It was a responsibility he knew he had to handle appropriately. It was the only way to keep order in such a world where such power was at your literal fingertips. The evil would take happily from the weak, but he would stand in their way at every step.

James realized he’d been in thought for far too long. His time was precious out here. Remembering his goal, he would need to think of a way to create a long-range attack with his flames. Creating a concentrated flame that extended tens of feet would probably be easy. He already learned how to control the size and intensity. He wanted something like a fireball, something to concentrate his energy in and blast out of his hands, exploding where he wanted it to.

It would be a giant increase in complexity, but he wanted it done by today. The bigger his arsenal was, the more he could do when he went back to the city. First, he would need to find somewhere safe to train. Trying to throw fireballs around here would start a forest fire. He would need to find a clearing. He remembered noting one when he was running through the forest yesterday, it wasn’t far from here. He decided to head there.

Leaving his campsite, he went from landmark to landmark he had mentally noted. He was thankful he had that presence of mind. James didn’t have the best navigation ability, but he made up for it with his excellent visual memory from years of reading books. If he wasn’t mindful about it, he’d quickly get lost.

His focus on navigation was broken when the chirps of birds around him suddenly went erratic. Confused, James looked up in their direction. Initially not seeing anything but the bird's panicked flight, he looked around for the source. They were flying overhead in his direction instead of away from him, James didn’t think he was the one frightening them. Suddenly, he saw a hawk diving right for one of the smaller birds, missing by inches. Fascinated by the display of nature, James watched intently.

The hawk flapped its wings to slow its descent and change directions. And that’s when James saw something bizarre. Halting the flap of its wings, it spread them wide and angled the front of its wings downwards like it was trying to catch a gust of wind. It shot off suddenly like a bullet towards the small bird. James was barely able to follow the hawk before it captured the small bird in its talons and flew off. James stared wide-eyed, struggling to understand what he had seen.

Without flapping its wings it accelerated that rapidly. How was that even possible? James' thoughts were a series of questions. It wasn’t a windy day, with no extra wind or anything to aid it, James couldn’t figure out how it did that.

Replaying the scene in his mind, the only explanation was it caught a powerful gust of wind and had prepared for it before it was even there. Realization dawned on James. The implications made his head spin with the consequences. Animals can control the elements too.

What does this mean? Can all animals control the elements? James' mind continued to contemplate. He didn’t think so. He saw no attempted use of it from the small bird, just normal flight. If it could have used the same powers the hawk did, the bird would have used it to try and get away. Do they have the same abilities but just haven’t learned to use them? James hated an unanswered question but the only way to answer his questions was time and experience.

This only reinforced to James his need to train. Other humans wouldn’t need to be the only thing he had to worry about. If the hawk could do it, something more dangerous probably could too. James smiled at the idea, he liked a good fight.

Orienting himself again, he continued walking. His mind was now focused on his plans to create a long-range attack. Based on what he knew about his energy, he had a few ideas. He remembered looking at the flow of energy as it converted into flame. As the flame was torching, his energy would travel along the course of the flame and only converted into fire as it reached an area of absence. In other words, it only converted into flames only when it had the space where there wasn’t any flame.

The fire would concentrate under pressure from the energy, causing a more intense flame. He could achieve this by making the energy move faster and more sporadic or opening the pore wider to create more pressure. The power of the flame all boiled down to the amount of energy and the pressure it was under.

James kept thinking as he stumbled upon the clearing, almost not noticing. Looking up, James felt a bit stupid. James sighed with squinted eyes. If he kept this up, one day he would walk in on trouble and not realize it.