79. Stormfire (II)

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He was exhausted and excited all at once. It was hard to explain—like he was running on fumes, but very hot fumes, the kind that got you all tingly and buzzy in the head.

He sank back into the recording and watched the vision over again. By the time he got out of it, his brain felt wrung dry. He wasn't sure he had another watch in him—but he had the feeling now. That he was sure of.

All he had to do was reproduce it.

He stretched out a giddy hand. And Scorched Wrath flames burst to life on top of it. He drew out the Major Law of Discharge and closed his eyes. Twin feelings raged beside each other. He felt them like pieces of the same puzzle.

Now that he'd felt them whole, he knew where one completed the other. He just needed the right position, the right opening. And he could trace the line where they met. The binding pattern.

He soon found it—he'd start from the edge and weave his way in. He took a thread of electricity and started winding.

Discharge touched Scorched Wrath.

And exploded.

Then he was face down on the ice, convulsing, hacking up air, then blood. He built his way up to his elbows—elbows with no skin on them, just flesh. Fiery Renewal patched him back up pretty quick but he felt the stinging all over the front of him. The blast had taken off a whole layer of skin.

…That wasn't pleasant.

It only made him more excited to do it to someone else.

He felt a spreading wetness under him. For a moment, he thought he was lying in a pool of his own blood. But no—just a crater in the ice, dissolving to water.

He threw himself back into it. He traced a sizzling line through the fire. This time he got a little ways in before he exploded.

He only grew more excited. He'd screwed up twice, and already he'd learned so much about what not to do. Which was almost as valuable as learning what to do. He could feel himself getting closer.

He went at it again. It felt like sprinting down a winding tightrope of the mind. He had to do it in one mad dash, one go, or he'd fall off. Except he couldn't see the path. He stepped into open unknown air. His only compass was feeling. Zane could see why someone would lose their nerve—it was probably why those elders didn't want to do it. You had to have a steady hand. A steady mind.

Something told him they didn't have the kind of intuition he did either.

By his fourth explosion—

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘!

ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟟𝟝%

Closer, but still not quite right. The electricity was dancing around the fire, on the outside—weaving on the fringes. He needed it cleaner.

By the sixth explosion, he'd gotten it more than halfway, he felt. The fire was flickering like lightning now, burning like fire. But the sparks still weren't quite there. They were embers, not ember-sparks.

He blinked and fuzzed out mid-thought.

Drat. He could feel himself starting to crash. He grabbed the Pearl and drank the rest of it. Instantly he felt lightheaded, a buzzing rush of energy, and his eyes fluttered back open.

Again.

And again.

And again. Faster, faster—

The fires met the lightning at the center of his palm until his eyes started to water, until blood started trickling from his lips, until the two blurred together in his vision...

Until he blinked, and the blurs resolved, and he saw them in full. Dancing brilliantly on the center of his palm, a fire brighter than any fire, cackling like lightning.

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕙𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕕!

ℙ𝕤𝕖𝕦𝕕𝕠-𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖 (𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝕃𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕪 - 𝔹𝕒𝕤𝕚𝕔 𝕄𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕪]

He grinned a big dumb grin.

**

Now, what could he do with it? That elder said he could use it on pretty much anything, right? He felt like a giddy kid. What first?

He'd try Rising Sun Slash. Seemed the simplest.

He gave it a few experimental slashes. First, with basic fire.

It wasn't quite as simple as swapping in Stormfire. He tried it. Even he could've predicted the explosion.

But it was still much easier than weaving Stormfire in the first place. He frowned, sat down, and focused. It didn't take him long to work out the kinks.

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕖𝕧𝕠𝕝𝕧𝕖𝕕!

ℝ𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕊𝕦𝕟 𝕊𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕙 [𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔] -> ℝ𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕞 𝕊𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕙 [𝕃𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕪]

Now when he slashed, it wasn't just an arc of Stormfire that shot out—brighter, hotter, more explosive than before, sizzling and cackling and buzzing and smoldering, all at once. It also left a groan of thunder in its wake.

There were a bunch of puddles around. He chose one ankle-deep, the size of a small swimming pool. It had some Major Laws of Ice swirling within—Laws that had given his Inferno Cyclone some trouble.

He threw out a slash just to see.

Fire stormed out, rippled across the water lightning-quick, eating it up. The slash was blindingly fast now—and where it passed, water caught fire, kept spreading, kept roasting like it was made of dry wood. Before, it would've fizzled out. His fire might've been weak to water. But water was weak to electricity. And Stormfire had none of fire's weaknesses—but all of lightning's powers.

He watched as the flames licked out from the slash, spreading until the whole thing went up, hissing steam like a sudden sauna. No resistance.

Man. If he had this slash before the Monster House, he could have just sniped the whales from the surface. Or burned them alive.

He couldn't believe this came from only a B+ ranked treasure. This felt really strong.

Maybe that wasn't how treasures were graded, though? This was just a recording, after all. What you got out of it depended on you. Some folk would get nothing. Whereas for something like a Vial of Essence, everyone would get a huge influx.

Anyway. He was very happy with this new toy. It didn't spread quite as fast as the fire in that vision. That Stormfire had lit up the lake instantaneously—his had to spread. Probably had something to do with that 'Arcane Conduction' Law.

He wondered if he could get it from the Stormheart. First he'd get that, then weave Stormfire into his Cyclone, then...

... His thoughts were getting sluggish. He frowned down at the Pearl. It was empty.

He seemed to be crashing a little.

"..."

Everything was getting quite blurry. But he wasn't done!

"Hmm," he said. And blacked out.

**

He woke with his face smushed against icy ground, which was getting to be a familiar place for him. It felt like there was a second heart inside his head, a very hot heart, and it wouldn't stop thudding that nauseating beat over and over. Groaning, he tried to get up. This turned out to be a bad idea. He spent the five minutes dry heaving.

"Fuck," he groaned.

He'd burned out—worse than he'd ever burned out before. He ran out of that pearl juice, and all his fatigue, mounting, put off for so long, finally caught up to him. It felt awful.

No more Law. No more. No more comprehension. He didn't even want to think anymore—maybe ever. No think. Must hit things.

He crawled to his feet, squinting up ahead. The next tunnel lay open before him, a dark-blue blur in his vision, and he ambled toward it.

Sometime later, he came out the other side into blinding light. Far too bright. The shafts of it seemed to streak through his eyes, piercing straight into his brain. He groaned.

They were glistening. Sunlight off of ice. He tried to make out the cavern ahead. It was like the cavern before, only he couldn't seem to make out the ceiling. Or the walls. They were lost behind soft walls of mist. Very big place. Very, very big place. No—he made them out now; things were resolving. A very high, vaulted ceiling spiked with icicles. Sunlight came through as though through stained glass, drenching the place in an extraterrestrial blue.

Another giant lake lay before him. So giant the edges faded off as a mini-map—at what point does a lake become an ocean? Icebergs bobbed about in the water, and he saw the blurry outlines of massive beasts trapped inside, crusty gray things with skin like some hybrid of dirty ice and rough stone.

𝔾𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕝𝕖 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕜 (𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣)

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟟𝟠

𝕃𝕒𝕨:

𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝔻𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝔽𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕫𝕖 (𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕀𝕔𝕖)

𝕂𝕖𝕪 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕤:

𝔾𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝔸𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕣 (ℙ𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖) [ℝ𝕒𝕣𝕖]

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕒 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕝𝕒𝕪𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕞𝕪𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕤 𝕒𝕤 𝕓𝕠𝕥𝕙 𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕔𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣. 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕣 𝕣𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖, 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕙𝕪𝕤𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕤. 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕣 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕝𝕤𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕝𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕖 𝕔𝕙𝕦𝕟𝕜𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕗𝕝𝕦𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕞𝕪.

ℂ𝕣𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔸𝕣𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝕆𝕔𝕖𝕒𝕟 (𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔]

𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕞𝕒𝕨𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝕒 𝕥𝕤𝕦𝕟𝕒𝕞𝕚 𝕠𝕗 𝕀𝕔𝕖, 𝕕𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕫𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕞𝕪. ℂ𝕒𝕡𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖 𝕓𝕝𝕦𝕟𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕔𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕦𝕞𝕒 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕫𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕕𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖.

They showed up as red dots on his mini-map.

Then there was the iceberg in the middle. You couldn't even call it an iceberg, really—something like a glacier, or the world's biggest ice cube. It took up the bulk of the cavern. It must have been half a mile out from him, and it still dominated his sight.

And in the center of it…

He hadn't seen it at first, partially because it was almost the same color as the ice. But also partly because you see animals by their parts. A fin, a flipper, a head, and you can start piecing them together.

When a flipper's the size of a cruise ship, you start to lose all context. Zane had to blink and then turn his head from one side of the room to the next. Zoom out. Only then could he really take it in.

It was hard to tell where the ice ended and where its body began. The closest thing he could compare it to was a blue whale—a blue whale the color of ice on an overcast day. Maybe an aircraft carrier? It was almost hard to think of it like a Boss, a thing he was meant to fight.

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝔾𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕣 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕝𝕖 (𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣)

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟠𝟡

𝕃𝕒𝕨𝕤:

𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕋𝕚𝕕𝕒𝕝 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕔𝕖𝕤 (𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕎𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣)

𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝔻𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝔽𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕫𝕖 (𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕀𝕔𝕖)

𝕂𝕖𝕪 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕤:

ℂ𝕣𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕠𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝔻𝕖𝕖𝕡 (𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔]

𝔼𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕒 𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕗𝕦𝕝 𝕔𝕣𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕔𝕖. 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕔 𝕨𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕣 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕞𝕪 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝕕𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝕧𝕚𝕓𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕕𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕖𝕣 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕔𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕖𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕒 𝕘𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕣.

𝔾𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝔸𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕣 (ℙ𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖) [ℝ𝕒𝕣𝕖]

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕒 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕝𝕒𝕪𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕞𝕪𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕤 𝕒𝕤 𝕓𝕠𝕥𝕙 𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕔𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣. 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕣 𝕣𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖, 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕙𝕪𝕤𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕤. 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕣 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕝𝕤𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕝𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕖 𝕔𝕙𝕦𝕟𝕜𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕗𝕝𝕦𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕞𝕪.

𝕋𝕚𝕕𝕒𝕝 𝕊𝕦𝕣𝕘𝕖 (𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖) [ℝ𝕒𝕣𝕖]

ℂ𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕗𝕦𝕝 𝕥𝕚𝕕𝕒𝕝 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕔𝕖𝕤 𝕔𝕒𝕡𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕨𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕔𝕣𝕦𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕚𝕖𝕤.

𝕎𝕙𝕚𝕣𝕝𝕡𝕠𝕠𝕝 𝕄𝕒𝕨 (𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔]

𝕊𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕣𝕝𝕡𝕠𝕠𝕝 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕖𝕣'𝕤 𝕞𝕒𝕨, 𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕩𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕪 𝕕𝕣𝕒𝕘𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕓𝕪. 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕔𝕖 𝕓𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕𝕤 𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕥𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗. 𝕀𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕪 𝕕𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕦𝕝𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕤𝕥.

Its weaknesses were its eyes. What Zane thought were its eyes, anyway—these two pale discs covered by a huge fleshy flap. And its throat lit up red too. That was pretty much it.

He tried using his Sage Mind empathy on the thing, just to see, and felt like a hot whip had lashed him inside his skull, right at the tenderest parts of his brain. He groaned.

He was so burnt out he couldn't even use soul-based Skills properly?

…Wow.

Then one massive eye snapped open.

It stared at Zane through the ice.

"…"

A screech blasted out from that central iceberg and tore through the room, so ferocious, so blisteringly loud everything present trembled. The waters jumped a foot in the air; the walls shivered; the icicles on the ceiling cracked, shivered, threatened to drop. Zane trembled too. He couldn't stop his whole body vibrating.

It didn't hurt much. Just felt incredibly odd.

Then…

Seams lit up on the icebergs. They shattered all at once.

And the Whale Sharks inside broke free, crashing into the sea, sending jets of water splashing halfway to the ceiling.

They came for him all at once, from all sides, bellowing deep, mouths wrenching impossibly wide. Reams of white gathered deep in their throats, spilling out…

Zane got out his Axes. They let up with Stormfire at the edges; they sparked mightily as they dragged against the ice. He loved the new look.

He readied Rising Storm Slash just as a world of Ice poured over him.