Chapter 17: The Unforeseen Power

I don't want to die without any scars.

Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club:

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Her defiance roared to life, hotter than any fire she had ever summoned. Even as the relentless cold gnawed at her, she summoned every ounce of will to fight back. The orbs of flame she had conjured earlier, which had hovered harmlessly until now, suddenly surged forward with unbridled ferocity, honing in on the boy like predators scenting blood.

And then, from deep within her, a new power stirred. It wasn’t just a reaction to the boy’s attack; it was something raw and primal, emanating from her very soul.

The boy’s sharp gaze pierced her soul, scrutinizing the sudden surge of power coursing through it. This energy wasn’t her own. It emanated from the patches in her soul—strange, jagged conduits that connected her essence to the forest around them. Invisible tendrils snaked outward, threading through the air like phantom vines, linking her to the Forest. From deep beneath the earth, she siphoned a dark, corrupted energy, funneling it into her core. It was both fascinating and deeply unsettling.

Instinctively, he leaped backward, choosing to observe rather than interfere. Whatever was happening, it defied nature. This wasn’t just power—it was something more. The aura it radiated was foul, alien, and utterly inhuman.

No… it couldn’t be. His breath hitched, his eyes narrowing with reluctant recognition. Is that… No. IT CAN’T BE. This is—

“BOOM!”

His thoughts were obliterated as an explosion of energy erupted from her, shattering the air with an ear-splitting roar.

Reality fractured under the strain, splintering like delicate glass crushed by overwhelming force. In the midst of the chaos, she emerged.

Outwardly, she looked unchanged. Her body was the same, her stance steady. But within, everything was different. Her very soul bore cracks, jagged fractures that pulsed with unstable, chaotic energy. The cracks leaked flickers of something dark, something malevolent, as if the corruption was trying to claw its way free.

The boy’s eyes narrowed as he surveyed the battlefield. A reality marble—he identified it immediately. But this one was different, far beyond the crude imitations he’d encountered before. It wasn’t a sloppy construct, hastily cobbled together by those Monkeys or that desperate spider who could barely muster the energy to sustain one. No, this reality marble was something else entirely. It was stable. Incredibly stable.

He tilted his head, his gaze drifting upward. Streaks of cursed energy carved through the sky, jagged and chaotic, like malevolent lightning threading the air. The energy crackled and hissed, its presence oppressive but not truly dangerous—just an irritating, gnawing force that complicated things unnecessarily.

A soft sigh escaped his lips.

He turned his attention back to the woman. Her eyes blazed with newfound intensity, and the fire symbol etched between them burned brighter than ever. What had once been a static mark, an ornamental flourish, was now alive. It flickered and danced like a holographic flame, shifting in and out of reality with an unsettling rhythm.

“It seems I’ve underestimated you,” the woman said, her tone carrying equal parts amusement and resolve. Her voice had an edge of playfulness, but there was no mistaking the seriousness beneath it.

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She raised her arms gracefully, the air rippling with heat as she moved. “Forgive me for that?” she teased, the question laced with a dangerous charm.

With deliberate, fluid motions, she began tracing wide circles in the air. Flames sparked and surged in her wake, coalescing into massive rings of fire. Each ring was enormous—at least a kilometer in diameter, possibly larger. One after another, the fiery rings stacked upon each other, climbing into the sky.

The boy watched silently, tilting his head slightly as the formation took shape. These weren’t random creations—they were precise, deliberate. Layer by layer, the rings aligned, forming a towering construct that resembled a colossal cauldron of fire. Its edges shimmered with raw, untamed power, radiating heat so intense it distorted the very air around them.

It was breathtaking—a masterful display of control and destructive potential. Yet his expression remained unchanged. His cold, detached gaze lingered on the fiery spectacle, his curiosity piqued.

“This,” he thought, a faint smirk tugging at his lips, “is going to be interesting.”

When her preparations were complete, she turned her gaze toward him. This time, there was no dramatic outburst of power—no wild surges of energy or overwhelming force to announce her intentions. Her approach was calm, deliberate, and unnervingly quiet.

The boy remained still, his expression unreadable. He didn’t need theatrics or elaborate buildups. The power already coursing through him—the ethereal blue flames flickering from his hands—was more than enough. This will do, he thought, his gaze steady as the fire pulsed faintly, radiating an ominous, unyielding energy. Slowly, he raised his hands, preparing for what was to come.

Instead of attacking outward with the massive rings of fire she had summoned, the woman did something unexpected. She turned her power inward. It wasn’t a hesitation or misstep; it was intentional, calculated. Her fingers shifted into an intricate pattern, and in the blink of an eye, she vanished.

She reappeared directly in front of him, her speed defying comprehension. Flames erupted violently beneath her feet, and from the inferno emerged a monstrous beast—a towering creature forged entirely of fire. Its body blazed with terrifying intensity, its molten eyes glowing with malevolent life.

The creature’s enormous, flaming maw opened wide as it let out a guttural, unearthly roar:

“Yaaraagh!”

Without hesitation, the fiery beast lunged at the boy, its blazing jaws closing around him in an instant.

This time, he didn’t dodge. He didn’t flinch. He stood firm as the creature engulfed him completely.

The flames consumed him, burning with an intensity far beyond that of any natural fire. But it wasn’t just the heat—it was the suffocating weight of the flames, as if they carried a crushing pressure meant to obliterate him entirely. The inferno bore down on him like a mountain, its suffocating force threatening to smother him into nothingness.

And yet, as the fiery beast tightened its grip, something began to change. The flames that surrounded him didn’t devour—they faltered. Slowly, they started to twist inward, spiraling as though being pulled by an unseen force. The crushing weight lightened, the roaring fire dimmed, and cracks began to form within the beast’s blazing body.

Then, all at once, the flames collapsed. The creature’s fire spiraled inward and was consumed, devoured by the boy’s blue flames. His ethereal blaze surged outward, overwhelming the beast’s attack entirely.

As the fiery beast shattered into fragments, four more emerged from the inferno, each roaring with unrelenting ferocity as they surged toward the boy. Their blazing forms crackled with raw power, moving with the same violent intensity as their predecessor.

But none of them reached their mark.

One by one, they froze mid-charge, their flames snuffed out and their bodies encased in jagged frost. The fiery creatures, once full of life and heat, were reduced to cold, lifeless statues before they could land even a single blow.

The boy had no time to savor his victory. Without warning, bombs of flame erupted from beneath him, each blast more devastating than the last.

These weren’t ordinary flames. They carried a heat that went beyond the physical, and directly attack at the very fabric of his soul. The force of each explosion rattled the battlefield, sending waves of molten lava in every direction.

The boy stood firm, his expression unreadable, though the relentless assault was impossible to ignore. Bombs and flames battered him from all sides, their purpose clear: to wear him down through sheer, unrelenting force.

One explosion followed another in rapid succession, each more violent, more determined to break him. The battlefield became an unholy storm of fire and destruction, the searing heat so intense it bent the air itself, making the world shimmer like a mirage.

Yet, even in the heart of this inferno, the boy remained standing.

And then, amidst the chaos, a faint smirk tugged at his lips.

“Seems like all I’ve been doing is defending...” he said, his voice calm. “How about we change that?”

The air around him shifted. And world grew silent….

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