This bear didn’t just eat his food, it made sure to destroy everything it could. It even mocked him, pooping on the shreds of his father’s bag. This infuriated James even more, the energy blasting out of him with even greater intensity, charring any of the remaining nature around him. James unfortunately didn’t even notice he had roasted his last good pair of clothes and boots.

Finding the bear prints, he used his new agility with his flame to propel himself forward, not wasting any time. He was a speeding bullet, zig-zagging between trees, scorching everything around him. James all the while expertly followed the tracks. His brows were furrowed in vengeful focus, his eyes wide in rage locked onto the prints before him.

“I’m going to kill that fucking bear!” James roared again deep into the woods, echoing his killing intent for all of nature to hear. Miles away, birds detected the fury of James, screeching in fear as they flew as far away as they possibly could. In the distance, the bear knew James was coming, and waited in confidence. For it too, had control of the elements.

James’ mad dash through the woods neared the bear, followed by a path of infernal flames. The charged fires consumed the woods around him quicker than any normal flame. Ash and woodland carnage followed in his wake. James' fury only grew as the prints grew fresher. He was nothing but a blur of crimson flame, veiled under his deep aura of devastation.

The bear witnessed his stampede, with wide thoughtful eyes. He did not expect this from the human. The bear felt respect for James’ power. James was in the bears’ territory, and it wanted to send a loud message. Get out. It expected James to leave, not respond with such fury. The path of destruction left the bear in awe. Despite that, the bear was confident he would win. He’s had time to familiarize himself with his earth element. This was now a battle for his territory, and he would not lose. The bear felt its own anger. James intruded on his territory, and he thinks he has a right to be angry. He snorted.

Getting off his haunches, the bear prepared himself. Grabbing hold of the earth around him. The fire made him feel an instinctual nervousness, but he was literally on his element. The bear considered himself unstoppable.

James’ roaring scream of fury intensified as he saw the bear looking at him nonchalantly. He would put the fear of him into the bear. He would make it pay. The destruction of his father’s bag and gun and James’ supplies would be paid for in kind. That bear will know his pain.

Halting twenty feet away from the bear, he tempered himself. He would not let foolishness get him killed. He eyed his opponent recalling the hawk who controlled air, and wondered if the bear could do something similar. The bear in kind was eyeing him. James saw the intelligence in the bear's eyes. A primal look of defending what was his, the same look James had in his own.

Deciding to test the bear, James decided to throw a fireball. Willing the energy from his hands to spin into a roaring ball, he threw the quickly formed sphere of devastation at the bear.

The bear watched in fascination as he saw the ball form, curious about the human's intent with it. The bear was shocked when he saw it racing at him. Hastily throwing up a wall of earth, he prepared for the impact.

James' suspicion was confirmed when he saw a wide wall of earth form. The ball impacted the sturdy wall, creating a massive, shaking explosion that rattled both James and the bear's ears. The ground shook under the impact, sending a shockwave of blistering flames into the surrounding woods, immediately charring the surface bark of the trees. The reason for the bear's confidence was discovered, though. When the flames settled, the wall stood firm, albeit cracked with massive chunks broken off of it.

James smiled. The bear frowned. Jumping up on his wall of earth he looked down on James, it was his turn.

Parts of the cracked wall rose off the ground, James tensed, ready to evade. The bear watched James’ reaction, splintering the earth into many parts. This made James' eyes go wide. This wasn’t good. There were too many pieces of Earth to dodge.

James sped up his energy, causing his blistering crimson aura to brighten and grow. James hoped he would incinerate the Earth before it reached him. The bear saw James’ reaction, and swiftly attacked, considering him vulnerable.

James ignited the flame from his bare feet, blasting off the ground swiftly dodging as the pieces of Earth disappeared in James’ wide aura. James felt no pain, he didn’t know if his flame scorched the earth splinters or if he successfully dodged, James decided for the time being it would be his defensive tactic. The bear knew what happened, though. He saw the Earth instantly disappear under the heat of the flame. The bear's eyes narrowed as he remained on top of the wall, frustrated. He saw the smiling face of the human. Taking it as a taunt, he snorted.

Raising a giant boulder of Earth from the ground right in front of James, the bear wanted to see James burn through this. Throwing it, James had no time to react. James quickly shifted his aura into a concentrated blast of fire directly to the boulder, halting the boulder in its tracks. James’ anger flared. His anger was no longer halted by curiosity.

James blasted himself into the air, going on the offensive, using the unpracticed channels in his legs to keep himself floating. He split his concentration as he formed the strongest ball of fire he could. Straining under both the pressure of the ball and the concentration of using the flame from his legs to stay in the air, he nearly missed the counterattack of the bear. Another boulder appeared in his peripheral vision, James quickly used the flame from his legs to reposition, narrowly missing the boulder racing towards him.

Orienting himself again, James kept forming the ball. He locked eyes on the bear, rage painted on the face of James. Growing frustration was deeply etched in the bear's eyes, anger traced by its snarled mouth. James would teach that bear a lesson. The superconcentrated ball raced towards the bear, whistling a promise of devastation. The bear vanished from the wall, using his earth element to tunnel into the ground. James quickly dropped to the ground controlling his rapid descent, hiding behind the boulder.

An Earth-shattering explosion rang through the forest. The flames warped around the boulder he was hiding behind. The boulder was flung forward several feet towards James from the shockwave, throwing him several feet. The impact rattled him, making James disoriented. Debris rained around as he got his bearings. James felt the urge to laugh, his only injury so far being from himself.

Standing up, he walked around the boulder. What was in front of him was a deep, wide crater. It was twenty feet wide, and ten feet deep. James was deeply impressed by his power. The trees in the immediate vicinity were completely uprooted and scorched, there wasn’t an upright tree around him. The battlefield now turned into a chaotic conflagration fueled by the debris from trees. The rubble ripped from the surrounding boulders and scattered sporadically through the battlefield. If somebody else had come across this, they would’ve thought it was an active warzone in some distant, foreign nation.

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He didn’t have long to be impressed by his spectacle though, where was the bear? James' eyes scanned through the crater. There wasn’t a bear in sight. James wasn’t going to be caught by surprise. He knew he must be waiting for his chance. He took off into the air again, this time having the luxury of using his hands to control his ascent. It was effortless. James was pleased, his rage brought a level of control he wouldn’t have imagined he’d have by now. Just before when he was training he was struggling to maintain control. A satisfied smile was brought to James’ lips.

This battle has been a thrill to James, but his anger was still raging inside of him. Did the bear flee? Was it injured?

“Come out and fight!” He roared at the bear, hoping he could hear him.

Seeing or hearing nothing, James opted to bait. He descended to the ground. If it was going to attack, it would be after I landed, thinking my guard had dropped. Almost on cue, the bear blasted out of the ground right beneath James, its claws swiping directly for James’ legs. James didn’t expect such a close attack, he had little time. Instinctually he blasted into the air, but not before its claws raked down the outside of his left calf muscle.

Gritting his teeth, he saw its attack didn’t come without consequence to the bear. The flames blasting out of his legs scorched the bear's face, causing the bear to roar in pain and anger. Tit for tat motherfucker, James thought resentfully, enjoying his injured calf didn’t come without repercussions.

James eyed the bear gauging his injury. Its eyes were squinted and it panted in distress, but its fur wasn’t singed at all. How was that possible? His flames scorched everything it touched, yet its fur and skin were fine. James was perplexed, the only injury was the soft tissue of its eyes. The bear looked up at him in defiance, forcing himself to open its injured eyes. James was shocked and a little uneasy. Just what was this bear?

Looking down at his leg, blood was running down his muscled calf. James had little time to think about the strangeness that his blood hadn’t evaporated. He flexed the muscle in his leg, being met by only a slight increase in the pain. He would still be able to walk. The battle was still very much on, but the bear would now struggle to see and James was perfectly fine with just a flesh wound. He had the advantage he needed.

James thought about how to leverage it. The bear would retreat into the ground at any sign of danger. He would need to go to its playing field. Looking at his reservoir, it was about half empty. He couldn’t do this forever. Lowering to the ground a distance from the bear, James eyed his opponent.

The bear watched thoughtfully as James dropped to the ground, snorting at his decision. The human was wanting to fight on his turf. Foolish choice human, my injured eyes mean nothing as long as you’re touching my domain. He could sense every vibration that went through the Earth nearby.

The bear watched the human reduce the size of its aura. It was confused by the human's change of pace. It was reducing his defenses, and putting himself in a more vulnerable area. The bear couldn’t help but wonder if he was overestimating the wit of this human. Flames then shot out of the human's palm as he took on a combative stance. The human is challenging me, the bear thought. He admired the boldness of the human. The bear sharpened its eyes and tensed its rear muscles, displaying his acceptance to the challenge of close-range combat.

Scoping his opponent with blurry eyes, filling in the rest of the details with vibrations from the ground. The bear thought the human intended to strike at sensitive areas due to the close-range injury to his eyes being the only effective attack. It would explain his change in tactics. Closing his eyes, the bear depended on his vibrational sense, the human would not get that chance again.

James furrowed his brow in focus, the bear's hefty muscles were tensed. Its attack would come at any second. James watched the bear’s thoughtful eyes scan over him. Its face relaxed as the bear closed its eyes. James was perplexed, why would the bear close its eyes? Did he miss something? The bear is leaving itself completely vulnerable to his attacks. James could tell the bear hadn’t given up and was preparing to attack, does the bear have extraordinary hearing or something else? James continued to contemplate.

Realization dawned on James. It controlled the earth element. It could detect things touching Earth or something similar, explaining how the bear knew where to catapult out of the ground and attack earlier. This complicated things.

James had to get the jump on the bear, he could tell by the movement in the bear's muscles its attack would be any second. James took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes, this would be the deciding moment in the fight. A ruthless close-quarters showdown and James would have the disadvantage. James smiled, relishing the challenge. He would avenge the desecration of his father’s items, no disadvantage would matter to James. His crimson flames could vaporize any challenge, and his mind could solve any problem. That was part of his family's creed.

His aura roared, flames tumbling through the valley. The bear had stood there unphased, its fire-resistant coat shielding it. Flames shot out of James’ bare feet, bulleting him at the bear. An earth spike thrust towards James with deadly intent. It disintegrated as it made contact with his constant raging aura without a thought needed. He increased his speed, aiming to catch the bear off guard. James razed the side of the bear as he zoomed past, pivoting directions for another high-speed assault.

The bear was caught by surprise, expecting James to dodge around the spiked pillar instead of blasting through it. The heat from the flames slamming against his side was so hot that despite the fire resistance of his stone-hardened fur, he felt a blow to his organs. His abdomen felt blistered, the heat penetrating his fur. The bear felt true fear for the first time in the bear’s life.

The bear accepted the challenge from the human, it would not retreat. The human was strong, but the bear still had more tricks up his sleeve. Earth snapped from the ground, flying towards the bear. It encased the bear in hardened stone, giving him the look of an armored war beast.

James halted his assault, analyzing the change in the bear’s tact. He knew his flame stood no chance with that armor surrounding him. With a smile, James formed a fireball and blasted towards the bear. He would use his fireball at close range. James had confidence his flame would incinerate the resulting debris before it could hurt him.

The bear was not finished, however, and roared on his hind legs. Standing tall as a pillar of hardened stone, ready to smash down on James with claw and earth. As he rocketed closer, he used the earth to wrap around James’ leg, pinning him under him ready for his brutish impact. Not noticing the fireball formed in James' hands.

James was surprised by the Earth encasing his legs. It constantly reformed to keep him entrapped as it melted off of him. James looked up at the towering bear, its descent in slow motion to him. It made a huge mistake. Revealing its more vulnerable underbelly James had a perfect place to unleash the growing fireball. He held the fireball forward, ready to use the momentum of the bear and the power of the explosion to end him. It was a fight well fought, but this would be soon over.

James braced as the moment of impact came, closing his eyes as the fireball extending from his hand impacted the stone underbelly. A concussive shockwave erupted, excavating the ground around them. A wall of flame shrouded the battlefield, eating and expanding the area of destruction created by their fight. A ball of dust and debris rose into the air, standing where James and the bear once were.

The stone on the bear’s armored underbelly instantly vaporized under the assaulting explosion. The shockwave through his body shredded his lower intestines, hemorrhaging his lungs and stomach. His intact pelt did little to protect him. The bear lost all strength to even cry out in pain, his consciousness fading.

The bear didn’t care about the trees it was tearing in half as he flew through them. His defeat was far more painful. His shredded organs and continued impacts remind him of his defeat. Finally coming to a stop, the bear didn’t fight the approaching loss of awareness. It felt no anger or attachment to this world, it had lost, and such the victory of the human was deserved. The bear was disappointed it couldn’t have been stronger.

The bear didn’t think he would die like this. It expected a long reign over his territory when he received these powers, dying from old age. The bear took its last pained raspy breath, bellowing a roar of anguish, disappointment, and regret through the woods, echoing for all of nature to hear. Nature knew the victor was decided. The birds felt safe to return to their hopefully undestroyed nests.

James heard nothing but a loud ringing of assaulted eardrums as he was rocketed backward. The world was nothing but hazy glimmers of crimson red as he went rapidly tumbling through the air carried by the shockwave pounding through the forest. James panicked. If he didn’t slow down the inevitable impact could kill him.

Not knowing which way was down or up, he blasted the flames out of him in all directions in a desperate attempt to stabilize himself. The spin and flight through the air slowed, but it wasn’t enough. He struck the side of a tree, his aura scorching it in the process. The recoil sent him flying into the ground, landing in a skipping halt, his flames extinguishing.

James fought unconsciousness, he lay there groaning in pain through rapid breaths. The devastated woods around him were spinning and every single part of his body hurt. His fight for consciousness was lost. James fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. Soft raindrops fell on his face and the surrounding forest, a mercy for the wildlife under the assault of the wildfires.