Chapter 24: Minofang III
Fire.
What is fire to you?
This is just like at the start… no… your start... This question would inevitably be repeated throughout your story… throughout your life.
You may even come to a particular conclusion, or you may only be at the stage of realization.
This question will always come to you…
So ask yourself… What is fire to you?
No….
'What is fire to me?'
Fire is not just considered a physical manifestation of heat… or the visualization of heat. Fire is also something else depending on how you lived or are living your life… It is your realization on how you describe fire….
For others, fire may be the passion to love, the passion for volunteering.
Some may equate fire to be for killing, as in firing a gun.
For me, fire is what drives me to work everyday. Just being doused by the sunlight in the morning would be the first fire that will light up my day. My incandescent pillow was warm from being drenched by the light of the sun in the morning.
Fire is also what I use to cook, during breakfast and dinner. Fuck lunch since I only buy food. I'm too tired to wake up early and too lazy to make lunch in the morning. I want and need warm food to get the day going by.
That's why for me… fire is what starts my day… fire is what makes me continue to live through the day.
So let me ask you a question Bjorn…. What is fire to you?
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What is fire to me…?
Fire… Fire….
Fire is my life….
Fire is my dream….
Fire is what makes me alive….
Fire is what keeps me awake at night….
Fire…. is Loki...
Really? If fire is Loki, then you are her spark, a flicker in the dark, a loyal ember in her flame, dancing to the rhythm of her name.
But really… is that what you mean? If fire is life, then you are its stream, Flowing, burning, chasing a dream.
Yet, if fire consumes, It leaves behind ruins. So tell me…
Is your fire creation or doom?
............
Silent treatment it is.
Alright alright, then just tell me this… What is the shape and visual of your fire?
Shape and visual?...
…..
…
That fire...…. I want that Fire...
Oh. So the fire that you visualize is the fire in your dreams? The fire that made a nation. The fire that everyone worships.
So… is that what you want? A fire that will elevate you to being a king? A fire of a ruler? A monarch? An emperor? A fire that would let others follow you? Through tyranny or magnanimity? Through holding feasts or letting your citizens starve? Is that what you want?
No…. No… Not that… I do not want a fire like that…
Then what is it? What is the fire that you want?
What I want…. Is a fire that is a torch to light the way….
Flames to be my sword to defeat beasts… monsters….
A fire that stands…. Through snow and rain… through dry and wet…
An unwavering fire….
That is what I want in a fire…
Hmmm… I see…. A hero's fire is it?
No… I just want my fire to stand sturdy…
Alright. Then I wish you luck… Re%$&#}{@#D G&# L[@&...
Hmm… What did you just call me?
Nothing. Go forth. Return and kick ass.
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Bjorn opened his eyes.
His whole body was hurting. His body aches so much to the point that he no longer wants to stand up… but will he just succumb to the desires of his body and mind? Maybe…
Life is full of maybes… Maybe… I want to eat barbecue tonight… nah, maybe I'll just eat a shawarma.
Maybe I'll get the promotion that I want next week… Maybe I'll get pushed off the list again…
Life is full of maybes… but that does not mean you will fight for your choice… Yes, what's important is your choice.
For Bjorn, this time, he chose to stand up.
Amidst the screaming pain of his body… the ailing of his mind… he stood up.
The monster in front of Bjorn stopped for a moment and then he continued walking towards Bjorn.
Bjorn just stood there… his head was nodded down… his eyes on an unfocused gaze… Blood flowed down from the top of his head, making it so that his gaze was full of red…
He was looking at the rocks at his feet…
Haha… that rock looks like a kangaroo… that one looks like a rabbit…
He then looked at the monster coming towards him…
That stone looks like a minotaur and ligerfang combination… just like the one I was fighting before….
His previously unfocused gaze focused…
Yeah… I was knocked unconscious by this guy….
Bjorn looked down to his hands… His hands were now full of open wounds…
His left hand was empty… yet his right hand holds the remnant of his sword… a hilt of the sword that he bought in the master dwarf's blacksmith shop…
It was a simple hilt… the handle was made of leather… and the sword guard was a normal metal lined horizontally…. It was simple… neither eye-catching nor filled with ornaments…
Bjorn then looked towards another sword in the distance, towards his left… This sword is the sword that his foster father previously used when he was an adventurer…. It was also a simple sword yet it exhumes age… It is rusty in some places… yet it still does the job.
I'm sorry…. Father….
Bjorn sheathed his broken sword unto the sheath on his waist…
"You… give…. up?"
Bjorn paid no heed to the approaching monster… His full attention was on the sword in the distance… He then activated his skill… it was a new addition to his previous skill…
[The Fledgling Swordmaster]
The previously distant sword now came flying towards Bjorn. Yes, this was a new addition to his skill…
Bjorn then let the sword pass his sight, then he grabbed it with his right hand, eventually unsheathing it at the same time…
Now, his sword is horizontally placed which is also pointed towards Bjorn's right…
The monster was a little bit surprised… it was a new skill that it didn't know… However… it was just slightly surprised… Obviously… who would be scared to fight a dying man with only a sword in his hand…
Until...
"Opna… [Eldbokina]."
(Open… [Book of Fire].
Streaks of fire immediately surrounded Bjorn, the vibrant orange hue shimmering like the first rays of dawn piercing a stormy horizon… The air around him warped, rippling with intense heat, as flames danced and swirled with untamed grace, forming an incandescent whirlwind.
The fire wasn't just chaotic; it was alive, moving in sync with Bjorn's breathing, as if it were an extension of his very soul…. The flames roared and spiraled upward, coiling around his body like a protective vortex…. Sparks crackled in rhythm, painting the scene with fleeting embers that vanished as quickly as they appeared…
Bjorn's sword, held firmly in his hand, became the focal point of this fiery scene. Streaks of flame latched onto the blade, wrapping it in an elegant yet ferocious embrace….
The flames didn't merely coat the weapon; they moved with purpose, weaving intricate patterns as though inscribing runes of destruction upon the blade…. Each flicker of fire along its edge mirrored the hypnotic rhythm of a sacred dance.
It was a sight akin to Ais Wallenstein's Tempest, but where hers summoned the storm, Bjorn's brought the inferno. The fire around him surged with a life of its own, a symphony of heat and destruction, as if the very spirit of fire had awakened and chosen Bjorn as its vessel….
You know, in every thing you do, there must be an equal and opposite reaction… Just like Bjorn's fire…. Bjorn's fire didn't just emit destruction… it also emits life… like a phoenix's fire, wherein a new life would be born…
Hmm… 5 seconds…
The monster at the opposite side of Bjorn was now startled. It was the first time it saw an intense and alive fire… However, it knew that it was something that would kill him..
5…
Bjorn's body was then covered by a swirling streak of fire… it was concealed from outside view… Like a cocoon which a butterfly awaits to break free… and it broke free.
Bjorn's figure broke through the cocoon of fire and in an instant he was already in front of the monster…
4…
He then swung his sword towards the left, originating from the right.
Instantly, a line of scorched skin appeared on the monster's chest… It was caught off guard so it tried to jump backward, but Bjorn was fast and insistent.
3…
Bjorn immediately swung his sword towards the right, cutting the monster's left hand in half horizontally…. Yes, it cut through…
Bjorn's sword cut through the monster's hand like a laser cutting instrument… or a Jedi handling the force.
To build upon his success, Bjorn swung his sword upwards towards the left, cutting the monster's arm, leaving it now armless and handless…
2…
The monster jumped backward, this time it succeeded… It had jumped a long way… like towards the opposite end of the barrier on where Bjorn was…
Seeing this, Bjorn paid no expression to the created distance. Bjorn then placed his sword facing backwards… He placed it slightly pointing downwards… after a few milliseconds… an orange coloured fire surrounded Bjorn's sword… It didn't just surround it but… it also emitted fire from the sword…
Like a jet's afterburner… the fire emitted backwards by Bjorn's sword was intense… Bjorn held his feet so that he may not be carried away prematurely… and when it garnered enough fire…
1…
[Eldrbókin: Kafli einn]
([The Book of Fire: Chapter one])
*SWOOSH*
Bjorn bursted through the cavern…
A line of orange coloured fire was seen through the dungeon… and Bjorn? Bjorn appeared a distance behind the monster…
0…
On Bjorn's hand… molten metal dripped down… it didn't hurt Bjorn since his extreme resistance to fire was really extreme…
This molten metal came from Bjorn's previous sword… Yes, it melted into liquid metal, like mercury, it dripped down towards the ground bit by bit… until all that was left was his empty hands… He looked at his wounded hands and noticed that it was red… though it was free from any burns… free from any scorches…
Half-a-second later, a resounding thud was heard…
Bjorn looked back and saw the monster's head, which was cut off from its neck… A scorched wound was seen on both of its neck and decapitated head, cauterizing it from any bacterial infection… not that he needed it…..
….
….
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Yow! And that ends the arc hehe. '
Anyways, I really hope you enjoyed it… despite my late postings hehe… but I really hope you did enjoy it.
Anyways, that's all for me now!
Peace out my dudes!!!!