The Arsonist

"You sure that's safe?" Ian asked as they walked into a little laboratory room in order to separate the growth hormone from the rest of the spit.

"No," Kortock said. "How is your system doing?"

[EXPERIENCE POINTS NEEDED TO LEVEL UP: 5]

[THERE IS A NEW SKILL AVAILABLE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO VIEW IT?]

"Yes," Ian thought.

[SKILL AVAILABLE: TARGET FIRE]

[SKILL DESCRIPTION: TARGET FIRE]

[SKILL: TARGET FIRE ALLOWS IAN RAINWALL TO TURN THE HEART OF A LIVING TARGET INTO A BALL OF FIRE WITHOUT BURNING THE ENVIRONMENT]

[TARGET FIRE PRICE: 10 POWER UP POINTS]

[TO BUY SKILL, USE COMMAND: BUY SKILL]

"Buy skill. Geez, this could have been useful a while ago. My Starfire is too catchy…"

Ian muttered a few curses under his breath.

Kortock looked at him.

"You're upgrading, aren't you?"

[SKILL BOUGHT: TARGET FIRE]

"Yes," Ian said. "Apparently I should have waited until my power up to start burning stuff."

"I'm not half as mad at you anymore. I have now…I have separated the hormone, yes. Do you want some? You look too skinny for that position."

"I am." Ian sighed. "And my strength is pathetically low."

"Well, then, there are a few things we can do about it. I know it's late. But do you want to come to the gym? I swear that the hormone will help."

"Are there any side effects?"

Kortock shook his head.

"I am probably immune to them. I have never been like other people, anyway. But it might give you a weird urge to buy an old motorcycle or something."

Ian was a bit afraid of the side effects. He declined as politely as he could.

They did go to the gym for some late night weightlifting. Ian was not making much progress. It was frustrating for him to have this type of a body – he had real trouble gaining weight, whether it was muscle or fat. Reasonably tall, but nowhere near the tallest in his group, his body was built for climbing, and he loved climbing. However, now that he was going to be the hero of his own story, he wanted to be strong, too.

After deadlifting what felt like pathetically small weights for fifteen minutes, he took the growth hormone flask from his mentor, the number 5 of his strength stat painfully swaggering around on the edges of his conscious mind.

"Be careful with that stuff, then, if you really want to do it," Kortock warned him.

"Yeah, don't fear for me, I am the arsonist," Ian said and took a swig.

"It won't take effect immediately," Kortock said. "It's the reason I often work out during the night and sleep all day."

Ian could not believe how impossibly envious he was of Kortock. Too competent for this imperfect world, the man did his job, but he sure did not take any extra pressure from trying to be normal. No, Kortock was not normal.

As the lifting got a little easier and Ian moved onto the next group of muscles, he thought about Lilac. He had done her a dirty and nasty ghosting trick by not arriving to his home, or the ruins of the house that had once served as his humble little hut.

Lilac was a nice girl, but her system was very suspicious. If she was able to conceal things at this point in her life, there was no telling what she could do in the shadows.

[STRENGTH IS NOW 6]

"My strength just got up to six!" Ian exclaimed, forgetting all social worries.

Kortock took a break, flexing himself, showing off how massively ripped he was, obviously trying to motivate Ian to become more like him.

"That's great to hear. You should take a break before you break yourself. Go to sleep."

"Huh, I do need to meet Lilac."

He said goodbye to his mentor and walked out of the private gym. He didn't know where he would sleep that night, let alone if he had any money, and a shower was also badly on his mind.

He checked his balance.

It was still way more than he could reasonably spend.

"System, show me the next skill and how many puppies I need."

[SKILL: TRAIL OF FIRE]

[SKILL DESCRIPTION: TRAIL OF FIRE]

[SKILL: TRAIL OF FIRE ALLOWS IAN RAINWALL TO USE A WHIP MADE OF FIRE TO LASH A TARGET]

[TRAIL OF FIRE PRICE: 100 POWER UP POINTS]

"Sweet, can I still use my earlier skills?"

[ANSWER: YES]

"What is my next quest?"

[ACTIVE QUESTS: SEARCH RUNNING]

[SEARCH COMPLETED]

[1 ACTIVE QUEST FOUND]

[QUEST NAME: COBRA CRUNCH]

[QUEST OBJECTIVE: KILL TEN RHINO COBRAS WITHOUT USING SKILLS]

[QUEST REWARD: 15 POWER UP POINTS, 20 EXPERIENCE POINTS]

Ian grimaced. This did not sound half as fun without the option to just burn everything on his path. He would have to get good with guns, and he wanted to do it fast. He had responsibilities, as a human with an exceptional system.

He came to his house.

He had to do a double take. It seemed like everything had been repaired. The house was a perfect replica of the way it had been before the fire.

Lilac was standing in the driveway, frowning at him.

"Are you all right? Why do you smell like a dead cat?"

"It's a really long story," Ian said with a sigh. "How did this happen? I thought it would take at least a week to repair everything."

"Oh, I cheated a little," Lilac said. "That house? Just an illusion. I used my special skills to confuse the fire department and the insurance guy. You can stay at my place."

The nurse scrunched up her pretty, dainty nose. "You really smell like a mammal right now. I suggest we go straight to my place, keep that illusion in place and get you a long, warm bath."

"That sounds amazing, thank you, Lilac."

Ian had never been so afraid in his entire life. Going to meet a girl at her place, now that was a trial. That was more mortifying than a dozen krobinnuti generals.