After a good night’s sleep and a big meal, I was human again. Rue’s Ste had emptied while I was shooting lizards, so I gave him more food auro Hell. I shouted as loud as possible to attract lizards and shoot them. Very few lizards came to attack me, and I got rid of them ihan an hour.

  I flew more and more towards the ter, towards the volo. After about a kilometer, my health deed again. Based on all the experience I had gained i few days, I already knew how the signs immediately. I tried calg how many days had passed, but couldn’t. I was sure at least five days or more, maybe eve, but that’s as close as I could guess.

  When I took a deep breath, the air still felt heavy, hot, and oppressive, with a powerful stench of sulfur, but it didn’t burn me like it had before. It just felt too heavy and hot in my lungs.

  So why is my health dropping?

  I hovered in pce, cast Fortify Life Force to restore the points I’d lost, and just took deep breaths, over and over, until the air felt normal. Not hot or heavy. Just air that stinks of sulfur. I checked my profile, and my health was full.

  Hmm, so I’m still not wholly attuo fire?

  The air became heavy and hot again once I flew a few more meters in. I stayed put until the air felt normal, cast Fortify Life Force tain what I had lost, and advanced a few more meters. I went on like this for hours, maybe even two or three days. Now and then, a lizard or teared, but I didn’t even bother to take out the rifle. As soon as they tried to spit fire at me, I closed their mouths with telekinesis, waited for them to stop vulsing, and flew on.

  I was tired again. For a very brief moment, I thought about Al’s potion, and then I told myself there was no way in hell I would ever drink that horrible thing again. I returo the entrance cave, sat with Rue for a while to keep him pany, heard about the movies he watched while I was busy, ate, took a cold bath, slept, and rinsed aed.

  That’s how I spent at least two weeks and finally arrived at the volo. I kilometer, the air was full of ash. I tried to put on a gas mask, but quickly, it began to melt. I repced it with a medical mask. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it was better than nothing. The air here wasn’t just hot; it was boiling. The red fshes of lightning looked threatening and dangerous.

  I took a deep breath, almost choked on the ash, and told myself:

  You’ve already faced lightning once, and you survived. Not only did you survive, but you gained your most powerful on. If you’ve do once, you do it again.

  To be on the safe side, I said a brief prayer.

  “Guiding spirits, watch over me, and don’t let me kill myself through sheer stupidity.”

  I pulled on three medical masks, pressing them tight against my mouth and did little to block the ash clogging the air, but at least it softehe worst of it. Each breath still felt raw, burning my throat with that gritty, bitter taste of soot. I tried to push the disfort aside, closing my eyes aing the world around me slip away for a moment. My mind zeroed in on the energy building in my core, a familiar hum that surged from somewhere deep inside, buzzing down my arms, itg to escape. Lightning crackled along my fingers, a wild, eager thing.

  I took one more breath, steeling myself before I released it, letting the lightning arc forward. I felt it coil, surge, and leap out in a fsh, meeting the red lightning bzing toward me with a blinding crack. For a heartbeat, I thought maybe that was it—that I’d overpowered it—but then I felt it: the red lightning tched onto my own, its energy rag back along the liraight toward me. Before I could even process it, it smmed into my body.

  My entire system jolted. It wasn’t pain so much as something primal, a blisterihat felt alive, tearing through every nerve like fire rag through dry grass. It came in brutal, relentless waves, eae tearing through me from my hands down to my feet, then whipping back up my spine and straight to my head. My whole body locked up, instinctively tense against the onsught. I was burning from the i, eaerve set abze, each breath sharp and desperate.

  But I couldn’t let go. I was close to my limit—no question about that. If I lost trol now, I wasn’t sure I’d survive the backsh. With a st-ditch effort, I split my mind, one part hanging onto sciousness, the other reag for Healing Touch. I poured the spell into my left hand, flooding myself with a soothing warmth, trying to chase the worst of the agony from my body. The healing energy moved through me in pulses, like a balm against the fire, and I yered Fortify Life For top, strengthening my cells, holding myself together as the red lightning fought against me. It was all I had—twile spells against a storm tearing through every ine.

  Time seemed to stretch. I couldn’t tell if it had been seds or hours, only that I was locked in this relentless fight, an inferno of lightning and fire. Every pulse of magic, every wave of energy, kept me teetering on the edge of sciousness, but somehow, I didn’t slip. I g on, anchored by sheer stubbornness and a hard-won knowledge that, eventually, this would end. Ae how much I hated pain—how much it scared me—I stayed. I endured. Because I knew what waited oher side. And this pain, I decided, was worth that.

  This was nothing like the first time I’d tangled with lightning. That had been unfortable, sure, but manageable. This… this was something else, a twisted blend of fire, ice, electricity, and pressure, like my insides were getting squeezed and bsted in turns. It was a sensory overload, a relentless storm that pouhrough me over and over.

  My body trembled, a brittle shell barely holding up as the two forces raged inside me. Fire and life. Lightning and healing. Slowly, the bze eased by stages—not by much, but enough that I could finally breathe without feeling like every breath was a new shock. The waves dulled to a steady, throbbing ache, each pulse eg through me with a lingering burn but without that raw edge. My muscles loosened, my chest expanded as the searing tension faded into something I could handle.

  When I opened my eyes, thin wisps of smoke curled up from my skin, drifting into the ash-choked air. I looked at myself. Red lines ran ay arms and chest, faintly glowing as if the lightning itself had carved them there. My vision swam; sudden bursts of heat would fre up in my eyes, blurring everything until I blinked hard, and for a moment, the world would flicker out. When my sight returned, it came back sharper, every detail outlined in strange crity. Thiies of lightning danced ay skin, glowing and crag like veins of molten light.

  Then, just like that, the lightning started to ease, the red glow fading from my body. It wasn’t agony anymore—just raw energy, flowing through me in waves, almost gentle now. The st of it trickled out, dissipating as I steadied myself. The storm was over. All that remained was the thick ash clouds, swirling around the volo like a heavy curtaihe chaos that had just passed.

  When I peered into the crater, I saw the core suspended in its ter. I flew towards the core, touched it, and got a red stone. I already suspected what it was, but I used Identify to be sure.

  Affinity Stone

  Fire

  As I suspected.

  “You’re a sneaky bastard,” I told the dungeon. “Nobody reach you without fire affinity, but the reward you give is fire affinity. Egg and chi much?”

  Of course, the core didn’t answer me, but I o express my opinion.

  I took the core and flew towards the entrance cave. Rue touched the core with his nose and also got a red stone.

  “Rue not want it,” he informed me. “Rue not like fire.”

  “Are you sure, buddy? It’s another element.”

  He shook his head. “Rue not like fire. Fire not friend.”

  I thought I’d offer my stoo Al and Mahya and have them do rock-paper-scissors to decide who gets it. Now, there was no need for that. There were two stones.

  I tio hold the core in my hand. The dungeon would colpse the minute I stored it, and I still had things to do. I took flight and circled the entire dungeon. It took me hours, but I saw nothing iing. When I looked into the crater, va was the only thing I saw ihis dungeon was just horrible. There were no materials to collect, only annoying lizards.

  Suddenly, an image jumped in front of my eyes—a textbook page from the 7th grade.

  The Bes of Volic Ash for Soil

  Volic ash, produced by eruptions, have a surprisingly positive impa soil. When this ash falls to the ground, it might seem like a disaster, but it make the soil more fertile. Here’s how:

  1. Nutrient-Rich Minerals:Volic ash tains various minerals essential for pnt growth, including potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and calcium. As the ash weathers or breaks down, it slowly releases these minerals into the soil. This process enriches the soil with nutrients, making it more supportive of pnt life.

  2. Improved Soil Structure:The fine particles in volic ash help improve the soil’s physical structure. This means the soil hold more water and has more air pockets, which is crucial for healthy root growth. Pnts growing in this improved soil access water and nutrients more effitly, leading to better overall growth.

  3. Adjusted Soil pH:In some cases, volic ash help ralize acidic soils with a low pH that be less favorable for many pnts. By raising the pH closer to a ral level, volic ash make the soil more suitable for a wider variety of pnts.

  4. Boosted Microbial Activity:The minerals in volic ash be pnts and tiny anisms living in the soil. These micranisms are crucial in breaking down anic matter and recyg nutrients. Volic ash stimute these microbes, leading to healthier, more fertile soil.

  Long-Term Effects:While volic ash might initially cover the ground in a thick yer, making it hard for pnts to grow, its long-term effects are beneficial. Ohe ash has weathered and mixed with the soil, it create a more fertile enviro, leading to lush pnt growth iure.

  It surprised me—no, more precisely, it stunned me. I was always a good student and had an excellent memory if I studied hard. But I never ever had a photographic memory. And here, in front of my eyes—or mental eyes—was the page from the book I studied in the seventh grade. In my mind, I turned one page back.

  Volic eruptions are among the most powerful natural events oh. While they cause immediate devastation to ndscapes and uhey also py a crucial role in shaping the enviro over time. One way volic eruptions influence ecosystems is through the deposition of volic ash. When it settles on the ground, this ash begins a transformation process that signifitly impacts the soil beh it, eventually leading to increased soil fertility.

  I turned one page forward.

  Questions for Review:

  1. What minerals does volic ash tain, and how do they be the soil?

  2. Expin how volic ash improves soil structure and its effe water retention.

  3. How volic ash influehe soil’s pH level?

  4. How do micranisms in the soil respond to volic ash?

  5. Discuss the long-term effects of volic ash on an enviro after aion.

  Hmm, is that what the Intelligeat does? If so, I love it.

  I removed the metal taihat used to hold the sand from the rat isnd and filled it with ash for Al. I looked at the amount; there was a lot, but I already knew Al. He liked to have excessive amounts of everything. I remembered my quantities of coffee and Mahya’s alcohol and ughed.

  Okay, not just Al.

  After taking out more crates, boxes, ay buckets, I filled everything with ash. To ensure I didn’t overlook anything, I dedicated several more hours to expl the entire duhhly, only to find nothing but ash.

  I returo the entrance cave, closed the house, pced the core on the ground, and instructed it to absorb everything.

  The phenomenon we saw iure dungeoed itself. Everything seemed to , and then red, brown, bck, and e lines, which looked like streaks of flowing acrylic paint, flew toward the core and disappeared into it. It went on like this for over ten hours. This dungeon was massive. In the meantime, I sat with Rue, ae and talked about movies. He had just finished binging all the Mission Impossible films and wanted Mahya to i a deviake masks so we could pretend to be other people.

  “We have gmor,” I reminded him.

  “Gmor not same. Rue think mask more fun.”

  I couldn’t uand his logic, but it made me ugh.

  After the core absorbed everything, the dungeon again looked like a vast space with hazy borders, and my crew a timeter.

  Before exiting the dungeon, I said to Rue, “I’m not st the core because as soon as I store it, the dungeon will start to colpse. We’ll e out of it with the core in hand, and then it will colpse. I’m sure there are adventurers oher side. So we will turn invisible, and the minute we’re out of the opening, we will fly straight to the cave’s ceiling.”

  “Yes boss!”

  As soon as we left, we flew straight up. This was the first time I saw the portal of doom when the dungeon colpsed. The portal lighteo a dark gray, then a light gray, almost white, and gradually shrank.

  I heard a shout, “It’s the invisible duhieves!”

  I looked at all the adventurers below—there were at least fifteen—and reized the trio of crocodiles from the ge.

  Well, hello there.

  They still wore the same leather vests that showcased their tattoos. The biggest one among them, who I thought was the leader, pointed his giant sword and shot fire at the portal from the sword.

  It made me angry. This was the sed time he tried to kill us. I felt anger rising from my core and flooding me.

  Who does he think he is?

  What makes him believe he waltz in and cim dungeons as if they’re his by right?

  I became furious. My hands shook with anger, and I started taking shallow breaths. It felt hard to breathe; I was so angry.

  First e, first served, that’s the rule!

  And he calls us thieves?

  How dare he?

  It felt like a dam inside me broke and released a flood e that overtook me. Each thought worsened my fury until I felt I wasn’t getting enough air.

  I couldn’t let it go any longer—he had to go. The world would be better without him. It wasn’t enough to avoid him; I o erase him from existence.

  I created lightning in my hand—red lightning with fire—and held out my hand in his dire–

  Rue yelled in my mind, “JOHN NOT ANGRY!”

  It was an even louder shout than when he had previously spoken-shouted. I felt it reverberating inside my head like it had enormous sound waves with real volume. It stunned me and snapped me out of the downward spiral of anger. My as shocked me. It wasn’t me. I never wao kill anyone. Yes, I have killed people, but only in self-defense or to proteother.

  I cmped down on my emotions with everything in me and told Rue, “Let’s get out of here.”

  After we left the miunnels, we tio fly along the river, and I tried to uand what had taken over me.

  What had e over me? It wasn’t me, not even in my worst nightmares.

  I shook my head to clear it and looked at the view. We flew along the river, above the trees, and I could see a winding road in the distahe air was so , with no air pollution or industry smells. I breathed deeply a myself getting saturated with the air ay around me. Slowly, my anger cooled.

  It stopped me in my tracks in shock. I hovered on the spot a Rue getting further away until he stopped and flew back towards me. I nded and started thinking. It wasn’t me. That was the fire inside me.

  I had a fsh of a memory of Sonak yelling at us for staying in a luxury suite in Vegas while his friend was being held captive. He had two csses with Fire: A Fire Mage and a Pyro Knight. For the first time, I uood his temper. There was too much fire in him. I still thought he was an idio. His zealotry and tendenp to clusions without asking questions were entirely his traits and had nothing to do with the elements. But for the first time, I uood him a little.

  The thought of me turning into Sonak, at least in temperament, scared me. I had to find a solution, and urgently. I thought about it. The wind was the mind, and the earth was the body. Both banced each other. The wind was light and chaotid the earth was heavy aled. Together, they created a bance.

  Water and fire were both elements of the spirit aspect. Fire was the drive, and water was the calm. I had to ect with water to bahe fire inside me. Otherwise, right now, I would be dangerous.

  Luckily, we were near a river. I didn’t want to sit by this river because I saw boats on it occasionally as we flew by. I opehe Map and saw a stream that was close by and ected to this river.

  “e on, Rue, I must take care of something.”

  We flew towards the stream and arrived after half an hour. I flew along the stream until I found a picturesque spot with trees and flowers. As soon as I nded, I went into the water to establish a e with it. For a long time, I y on my ba the water, ign the cold, uo make the e. It felt like there was a barrier within me. Something was stopping me.

  Rue came up to me. “Rue hungry.”

  I s him, “’t you see I’m busy? Stop thinking with your stomach!”

  Immediately, I felt terrible, jumped out of the water, and hugged him. “I’m sorry, buddy. I’m not myself right now. Instead of me trolling the fire, it’s trolling me.”

  Full of i, Rue looked me in the eye and said, “Fire is not friend.”

  The first time he said it, I thought he meant he feared the fire. But now I uood.

  From the mouth of babes—or a dog, in this case.

  The fire was not a friend. I didn’t earn this affinity holy. I didn’t readerstanding, then e, unity, friendship, and finally trol. Instead, I forced the fire down my body and mana els, kept myself alive with magid basically forced myself to be attuo the element. But I didn’t uand fire. How could I trol something I didn’t uand? Of course, the fire trolled me. To trol something, you o know it, to uand it. I didn’t uand fire, so I couldn’t trol it. That was what blocked me with the water. I didn’t try to get to know or uand water but to extinguish a fire. Of course, it didn’t work.

  I had to learn about fire and uand it. Knowing the asped being able to y mana with the aspect of fire wasn’t a fual uanding. It was an imitation. I o attain a genuine uanding and knowledge of fire.

  I took some wood from my Ste, lit a fire, sat, and looked into the fme. Despite my efforts, I couldn’t uand it. Fire was fire; what was there to uand?

  A memory floated up. There was a fire in the foster home I lived in when I was ten. The father, Mr. Santon, was drunk and fell asleep on the couch with a lit cigarette. When the fire started, he ran out and didn’t even try to save us. The neighbors called the fire department. A firefighter rescued me and Mark, the boy who slept in the room with me, through the window. Whe us out, I saw them put the other two kids in the house into an ambunce, and the paramedics looked frantic. That night, social services took us away, and I never saw Mark or the other kids again. When I tried to ask what had happeo them, the social worker told me not to myself with grown-up things.

  Even then, I suspected that one of the children, or even both, didn’t survive. The urgency of the paramedid the fact that no one agreed to tell me what happened retty big clue that I uood, even at the age of ten.

  I looked at the fire and realized that I was afraid of fire. That experience colored my opinion. Later, when I worked in the ER, I treated quite a few burn victims—people who survived a fire and firefighters. I looked at the fire and tried tive it.

  It didn’t work.

  I sat and remembered more and more things about Mr. Santon. How he would shout and curse when he was drinking. His impatieh me when I asked for something. How he would ignore my questions. How he called me ‘white trash.’ And I uood. For the first time, I uood. It wasn’t the fire’s fault. Fire was just fire. You ’t bme water for bei or the ground for being under our feet. These thi. Fire is just fire.

  She burns—that’s her nature.

  The oo bme wasn’t the fire. Mr. Santon fell asleep with a lit cigarette and ran out when the fire started without thinking of us. I felt something release. I let go of the anger about the fire and the fear of it. Fire was just fire.

  I knew I had regained some trol, but it wasn’t enough. I had to reach true oneness and, from there, Unity and friendship. Acceptance was not enough.

  What do I like about fire?

  I like to cook, and I like delicious food. You ’t cook without fire or its derivative—heat.

  I tried to imagine myself living my whole life on raw food and shuddered in horror. There was no ce!

  I smiled at the fire a closer to it.

  As I was thinking, I tried to remember what else I liked about fire.

  The rat isnd came to mind. We did burn the forest there, but I knew we also burned most of the rats’ bodies. I was sure that without the rat iion, the enviro on the isnd would thrive, and a big part of that was the fire that burned away their ination.

  Fire is renewal.

  I felt closer to the fire.

  I tried to think of something else and remembered all kinds of sayings and clichés reted to fire: Burning Curiosity, Set the World on Fire, Trial by Fire, Light a fire under someone, Fire in the belly…

  Although these were just metaphors, and it wasn’t a physical fire, it was still fire—simply in a different embodiment. Fire is ardor, passion, drive, ce, energy, creativity, resilience, and a relentless spirit that refuses to be extinguished.

  It took a whole day and night, but I finally uood fire and appreciated her. I felt the closeo this element, the e to it. A fme jumped from the fire and nded on my palm, making me jump in surprise. I didn’t feed the fme with my mana, but it burned on my palm. It tickled a like ughter. I felt the wind giggling on the breeze. Fire giggled with warm tickles on my palm.

  Rue came over, she fire, and she fire jumped from my palm onto the tip of his nose and just burhere.

  “John smart. Now fire friend.” He informed me in a serious tone and licked my face.

  I realized I didn’t need unity. The element was already inside me, a part of me. We already had a much deeper Unity. Now was the time to build friendships, aook the first step.