Divinity

--- [Illian’s perspective]

“’Doing it properly’? What do you mean?” – Illian

“To maximize your chances of crossing it, we need to give you some sort of head start.” – Shin

Head start?

What is he thinking?

“My first thought was that Alex could clear away as much of the flames as he can, then you enter at that spot. It wouldn’t be much, but it would help. However, I don’t think that’s the best use of his abilities… Alex is fast, but more importantly, he is strong…” – Shin

Where is he going with this?

“As silly as it may sound, I think if Alex carries you, builds up speed all the way from over here, then right before hitting the wall, he chucks you in there with all his strength, you’d go way further than just moving on your own. Of course, if that isn’t enough, you’ll have to run the rest of the way on your own two legs.” – Shin

He's right…

That is silly!

But it might just work…

“Also, I want to test something first…” – Shin

He makes his way over to the wall; it’s clearly affecting him much more than it did Alex.

His breathing is heavy, and it looks like he might pass out from heatstroke…

He gathers his strength and summons two ice swords.

As he swings them through the inferno, the flames themselves briefly freeze, before thawing out.

The swords melted away after just one slash, so if he wanted to go on, he’d have to summon more of them.

He hastily gets away from the flames, and back to us.

“Just as I thought… With my specialty, I can even freeze the flames themselves. It doesn’t last long, but that’s fine. Before Alex throws you in, I’ll freeze a column on the left and right. He’ll throw you between them. You’ll be moving past them quickly, and it won’t stop the flames your inside of, but it’ll help, however little it might be. It’s all to maximize your chances of survival.” – Shin

“What about me? How can I help?” – Lett

“I… I’m sorry, but I think you’ll have to sit this one out. I’m sure your skills will come in handy later.” – Shin

“Got it…” – Lett

It must feel bad not being able to help, but I’m sure she understands.

“So, are you ready then?” – Shin

“As ready as I’ll get.” – Illian

“Alright.” – Shin

Alex picks me up, and shuffles me around as he finds the best way to hold me to maximize how far he can throw me.

Shin makes his way back to the wall…

“Ready?!” – Shin

“We’re ready!” – Alex

“Alright, then start running!” – Shin

Alex kicks off into a sprint, moving so much faster than I could on my own.

Shin looks behind him, and just before we reach the wall, he makes two fresh ice swords, and quickly slices the fire.

The frozen flames form a clear path.

Shin rolls away, making way for Alex.

While still in a sprint, just mere centimeters away from the wall, he throws me into wall of fire with all his might.

I doubt he was able to stop in time, and probably dipped into the flames himself, but I don’t have time to worry about that now; I’m sure he’s fine, Alex is tough.

As I fly across the endless blazing sea, I orient my body, preparing to land.

Before reaching the ground, my first shadow fades away.

It only takes an instance to make a new one, but that instance was all it took to burn away my clothes, my hair, and leave even more severe burn scars across my body than what I experienced in the exam…

It hurts so much I’m barely able to think, but I have to push through!

There’s no way back!

According to plan, I land on both feet.

Without stumbling, I quickly start running as fast as I can.

Moments later, my second shadow clone dies.

Just like last time, the fire chars my entire body.

It feels like I’m being cooked alive…

I make my third, and final, clone…

This is it.

If the clone dies before I make it through, I’m dead.

I push myself as hard as I can, sprinting faster than ever before.

Right when it feels like it’ll fade away, the sweet relief of fresh air touches my skin.

I made it through!

And with one shadow clone still intact too!

I make as much distance between myself and the wall as possible to cool off, while I investigate my surroundings.

There are burning torches and patches of fire all over…

Suddenly, a hellish creature ambushes me.

I hit it on the side of the head, but it goes on fighting.

It doesn’t punch, it doesn’t kick.

Instead, it claws at my skin, and bites me on the shoulder.

It tries to dig its teeth into me, but my specialty redirects all the damage to my shadow.

After a short struggle, I manage to kick it off me.

While it’s still on the ground, I put all my power into a powerful stomp, instantly crushing its skull.

That creature is probably the source of those noises we heard earlier…

As I make my way down the corridor, more of those creatures appear.

This time, I’m more prepared.

One here, and one there.

They all go down, one after the other.

However, by the time I reached the end of the corridor, I’m left exhausted.

They might not be all that powerful by themselves, but having to fight so many of them still took a toll on my body.

Not to mention the intense burning I just experienced…

Every part of me aches, but the show must go on.

At the end of the corridor is another door, except this one is huge.

Is the boss behind there?

My shadow clone is still alive, but just barely.

I don’t know if I can take on a boss by myself…

There doesn’t seem to be any way to get rid of the flames though, so it doesn’t seem like I have a say in the matter…