Chapter 5: I set myself on fire
Victor and I head back to my house to regroup and recover. I'd lost a good bit of blood from the spells we cast, and frankly, I need a nap.
We arrive and I flop down onto my bed.
"That was an eventful afternoon, eh?" I say tiredly.
Yeah, Victor replies. And it's just going to keep going downhill from here. Moordoor knows that we're after him, so the element of surprise is no longer an option. And he's way stronger than we had originally thought. Defeating him will be no easy task.
I groan and cover my face with both hands. Victor was right. I might be in way over my head on this one. I'd never really done anything great in my entire life. I've never been all that competent, either to be frank. When did I get it in my head that I could beat a deranged historian?
You're beating yourself up right now, aren't you? Victor asked.
"Huh? Can you hear my thoughts or something?"
I wish. But I only live here. Look, I know that you're under a lot right now. Being a murd-… I mean being miraculously possessed and all that.
"Good save," I say smirking.
Look. If it helps at all, I could teach you some quick, blood-free spells.
"Oh, they make less painful magic, do they?" I say sarcastically.
Haha, Victor says sarcastically. I only use primarily blood magic because it is the most potent, as well as the quickest. But there are other kinds.
"Okay," I say, slightly intrigued. "What did you have in mind?"
Alright. Do you have anything sharp?
After the knife that I retrieved, Victor had me gather a candle, some matches, and an old bed sheet. Then, (for fear of property damage), we found a back alley a couple blocks down.
It was at this point that I realized an important question that I should ask.
"Hey, Vic, we aren't summoning anything are we?"
Victor lets out a chuckle. No, no. A bed sheet wouldn't work very well anyway. We're going to practice some simple fire magic.
I begin to grin. "That sounds like something I can do"
That's the spirit! Alright now lay out the bed sheet with the candle in the middle. Okay, now light the candle. Perfect. Now take out a fresh match.
I did all of these things without hesitation. I hold the match at eye level, awaiting my next set of instructions.
"Alright. What's next?"
We are going to begin with a simple fire-transfer. Take two steps back and hold the match out in front of you. Alright. Now I want you to envision the lit candle. You need to feel its warmth. Feel the candle melting slowly as we speak.
I close my eyes. I see the candle and feel the heat radiating from it. I'm a good 3 yards away from the candle, but I still feel the flame.
Good. Now hold the flame tightly in your mind, and quickly switch out the candle underneath for the match as fast you can. Go!
I grip the match tightly between 3 fingers.
I inhale. "Aaand… switch!"
There is a loud Woosh! and the candle goes out. As immediately as the flame goes out the match bursts into flames in my hand.
I cry out in surprise and drop the match. The match is currently in a flame way bigger than itself. I stare in disbelief.
Whoa… Victor says. Your magic, it's crazy concentrated. Any spell that you cast using your own ability is going to be naturally massive!
"Oh, man…" I say, inspecting the hand that I held the match with. My fingertips are a little burned. "I don't know about this whole magic thing. Is it always this dangerous?"
Aster, everything in life comes with a risk, and nothing comes easily. If you don't want to use magic, I get that, but I'm not about to let you become a coward.
I feel a twinge at the word "coward." If I want to take down Moordoor, I'm going to have to grow a backbone.
I clench my burned hand. "No. I need to do this."
I practice until the sun goes down. By this time, I've made great progress, but not before I burned both hands pretty badly. I'm able to conjure small flames at the tip of my right pointer finger and cause present flames to jump to my hand, causing it to grow in strength.
I toss out the old, scorched bed sheet on the way back to my house. Once inside, I tend to my burns.
You made significant progress for first-day training, Victor says.
"Yeah, I know. The fire doesn't scare me as much anymore, but I need to work up my immunity more. Is there any sort of magical armor or potion that I can use to protect myself from my flames?"
Hmm. Yes, actually.
I perk up. "Really?? What?"
It's a sacred gear known only by humans. An amazing hand-guard. They're called gloves.
Forgetting my burns, I slap my forehead.
"Ow ow ooooooow!" I groan.
Yeah, Victor says. You'd better wrap those up.