Prologue

  My name is Virgil Witt.  I’m 23 years of age with a major in computer science. I’m fairly fit and my grades weren’t bad but at the same time they weren’t particularly outstanding.  My eyes are green and my hair is black.  I have a well groomed mustache considered stylish in the South.  I’m a Yunitian and all my ancestors that I know of have been born in the country of Yunis.  I live in an apartment away from my family where I work from my laptop and occasionally go out to take pictures.  I’ve enjoyed taking pictures since my school days and I’m moderately skilled in editing.

  My grades in math related subjects were good while my main hardship in school was derived from English.  I really dislike writing but still enjoy reading.  Although I didn’t study much I focused hard in class so my grades weren’t horrendous.  After school the only work I did was trimming the bushes and sometimes helping with my family’s garden. 

  Yunis is both a country and continent ruled over solely by said nation.  Mostly.  Politics is complicated and there are some mini countries I guess?  They’re conquered countries that were vassalized by Yunis and kind of integrated into the country but still technically count as separate nations.  Anyways I live in the city of Lukin at the south east tip of the continent.

  My family isn’t particularly wealthy or well known but I’m rather impressed by them.  My father is a painter and capenter while my mother has been deceases since I was young.  My grandparents on my paternal side have been divorced and remarried.  My grandfather is adventurous and while my paternal grandmother is a somewhat unpleasant she’s still at her core somewhat kind.

  My maternal grandparents are warm and kind.  I think they’re far too indulgent though.  It’s best to be hard and harsh to build character.  Maybe.  It probably depends on how you go about it.  It has been shown that deriding someone for their inadequacies, or even if they are adequate, can cripple their abilities in that subject.  But I still think a spanking or two helps build a foundation for morality and diligence.  Wow, that sounded pretentious even to me.

  Now that you know who I am I hope you’re ready to hear my tale.  It’s a story of such foolishness that it still eludes how  I could be so rash.  Maybe it was the panic or perhaps I wasn’t as strong as I thought I was.  If I had been able to take things in with a calm mind and hadn’t been so fearful maybe I would have been able to have a life with my friends and family.  But I was cowardly and foolish then.  Here’s how it all began…

  I was walking down a trail through the woods with my camera when suddenly the grass around me starts wilting and I stare dazed and fascinated by the spectacle.  After about half a minute all the vegetation around me, in a radius of 4 meters, has died.

  “What?” I mutter to myself as I take a step backwards.  I trip and land on the ground with a thud and when I try to hastily push myself back up I throw myself forward and hit the ground again.  What was that?  My mind flows through all the possibilities with a shocking clarity the likes of which I haven’t ever experienced.  My memories where clearly drawn and lacked the usual haziness inherent to all thought.

  I look around my surroundings panicking as I try to find an answer and notice that the directions I moved has the same wilting grass.  The areas covered by the withering looking like overlapped circles centering around…  Me.  Is it me?  Could I be the cause?

  I gently push myself up onto my elbows and examine one of the blades of grass.  It’s turned brittle and fragile as if it’s aged.  Does my ability affect time?  I don’t know.  I’ll have to see how if it affects other plants and animals the same way as the grass.  I push myself up and after falling back down a few times until I eventually get the hang of… Standing.  I’ve just re-achieved the accomplishment of young children.  It’s a good thing no one’s here for more reasons than the nonsensical phenomena occurring with the grass.

  I try walking around the area, to see if it’s really me or if I’ve just been watching too much anime recently, and in every direction I walk, more like fall, the plants wilt with an outgrowth mirroring the distance I walked exactly.  I examine myself to find an answer and realize my body feels stronger.  My body feels weightless and my every movement throws myself off balance.  To test it I pick up a rocking to throw before hesitating.  What’s happened to me?  Will this deathly aura surrounding me affect other people?  It certainly doesn’t bother me.

  I force my hesitation away and squeeze the rock.  I slowly open my hands and drop the crumbs that were the rock.  I’ve changed all I can now break rock rocks with a casual squeeze.  Why?   I was just walking and then… And then…  This happened.  I don’t know why or how this happened but I have to find out if this’ll affect other people. 

  So I look through the forest and find a squirrel on a nearby tree.  I run to the squirrel and quickly it climbs up the tree until it’s on a branch far away from my reach.  I grab the sides of the tree and my fingers easily sink into it so that I climb up with a greater speed than I’ve ever achieved before while ascending these wooden giants.  Eventually though as it runs to escape my pursuit it stops and I begin to close the distance it starts shaking, as if experiencing a heart attack, before falling down from the tree.  I jump off the side of the tree and catch it and instantly smash it into meat paste.  I don’t think I can be near people anymore.

  Why?  Is there anyone else like me or am I the only one?  Can I even do anything?  What will the government do when they discover this?  At best I would probably be kept semi isolated and studied.  The government would probably take care of my food and other needs.  What if that doesn’t happen?  And more importantly how am I supposed to negotiate such an arrangement when I can’t get near any government offices without giving someone a heart attack?

  Okay.  Calm down.  Let’s consider.  If I go to the government I can arrange a meeting by calling the police and saying there’s an emergency.  Maybe claim that I was attacked by a bear or something?  Whatever, I’ll think about it when I get there.  Getting in trouble for lying about this in my situations would probably be forgiven fairly easily.  But how do I stop anyone from taking me away and hiding me away in an underground hole for testing?  I’ve never heard of them doing that before but with my situations who knows?

  The best way to defend against any unsavory actions is publicity.  If I’m well enough known and manage to get a good deal of public scrutiny I could be fine.  Wait.  Why did the plants wither and that squirrel seem to get a heart attack?  I’ll think about it later if I need to but hopefully I won’t ever have to find out.

  Well I guess the best way to get well known in this era is the internet.  I could try getting on a TV show but with my new circumstances setting that up safely is a very questionable prospect.  So, say I make a YuVid account and start creating videos showing off my newfound ability to lift weights and stuff.  I’ll hopefully get popular but maybe no one will hear of me.  I’ll see if I can enter any competitions.  I can’t do anything that requires physical participation though…  This is a headache. 

  Now here comes the real nightmare.  How am I going to explain all this to friends and relatives?  Let’s not do that.  I don’t like lying so I’ll just be as cryptic as I possibly can to minimize the deceit necessary.  First I’ll need some isolated accommodations in the woods.  That has power and wifi.  Good thing I brought my wallet with me but buying a house will probably be difficult over mail.  I’m not sure I can even do it without meeting anyone.  I’ll have to research that online.  This idea might be a bust.

  Speaking of the internet my phone is nearly out of power.  I can’t go back home.  Or anywhere else really.  I check my phone and see my charge is at thirteen percent and I’m even lucky enough to still have connection this far out.  Good.  I guess I’ll text them.

Hello, I came to say good bye. I’m going to be leaving to discover myself and place in this world.  I will be roaming around and you probably won’t be able to contact me for a while.  Please tell anyone who asks about me that I’ll be out of contact.  Thank you.  Sincerely, Virgil Witt.

  I copy and paste this message to a few friends and relatives before turning off my phone.  Don’t wanna deal with that.  I might give something away.  Maybe I was being too emotional when writing that.  My messages are, admittedly, overly short and direct.  When I bother contacting anyone; I’m pretty bad about that.  I always have been ever since I got a phone.

  It’s really bitter that I’m lying.  Did I make the right choice?  I’m convinced that if I explained what’s going on to one of my family members they’d help me out.  Should I?  Do I even want them to?  What use would there help be?  I guess wisdom.

  My relatives are fairly wise and savvy.  More so than me at the very least.  They might also be my only option if I want to guarantee my safety through media attention or whatever.  Maybe YuVid was a stupid idea.  I could try making a really big commotion…  Out here in the forest away from anyone who could possibly die from standing too close.  Maybe stream a video about this?  As if anyone would take it seriously.  Then again even hoax videos can attract a great deal of attention.

  Still to live out here in the woods might require some help.  I’m not sure I can manage on my own.  This whole thing is giving me a headache.  I’ll…  What will I eat?  Where will I sleep if I just run away like this?  Is the stream by the river okay to drink from? 

  I sit down on the path in my little blotch of dead grass and lie down.  I don’t know if I can survive on my own in the wild.  I don’t know if the government will treat me well but I do think there’s a good chance it will.  Finally, I can get some friends or relatives to help me try to set up a new home outside any populated areas.  Maybe I can try hiking up a mountain to live?  Who knows how strong I have to be in order to crush a rock like I just did.

  Maybe I will.  If I just make myself a little cabin to live in away from the world then I’d probably be fine.  Unless of course I’m unable to build a house due to my inexperience in anything relating to architecture, some cops coming over to take my away from my then illegally occupied land or whatever else that I can’t think of that would ruin my plans.  I’m not sure about that idea anymore.  Thinking reveals the folly in our plans and destroys the confidence of intellectuals.  If they’re weak of will.  A stronger man can fail and still move forward with unwavering confidence despite knowing of possible dangers!  I feel as if I’m placing myself on too high a pedestal with these thoughts of mine.

    I’ll just run off into the sunset and hide in the mountain until I figure out my current situation.  Maybe mores changed than what I currently realize.  Maybe my abilities only work on squirrels and small animals.  After all I haven’t noticed the trees dying yet.  This admittedly could just be due to the signs of death not being clearly visible until a while after they’ve died though.

  Alright, I’ve got this.  Time for a nice jog to mount Amba!  I needed to find an excuse to work out anyways.  I turn to the direction of the far off mountain before pumping my legs to propel myself forward and promptly send myself flying to my destination until I’m rudely interrupted on my first step by a tree.  I hit the tree face first and knock it down while bouncing back from whence I came.  I of course leave behind some grooves in the dirt to mark my dynamic feat.  Maybe I should try walking first.

  With my blazing passion being abruptly crushed by the cruel beast that is reality I continue on to face whatever challenge the future holds.  I will not give up.  I will go forward no matter what troubles I’ll face or what tragedy I will face.  Unless of course I figure I decide to do something else like abandoning my plans will be moving backwards.  But it’s a metaphor and I don’t really have to mean it to be motivated.  Is it immoral to tell yourself to do something you have no intention of doing because you like the spirit of it?  I don’t know but it feels distasteful.

  Will someone track my path using the withered grass?  Why does it wither?  Is my new unwelcome field of deathly unpleasantness sucking the moisture from the grass?  The air’s humidity doesn’t feel all that different.  This makes absolutely no sense.

  I’ll stop thinking about the mess that’s hit me in the face like a mace hitting a knight’s face and instead focus on the future!  I’ll need to learn if there’s a cure!  I will learn and I will succeed.  I’ve got this. I’m unstoppable, seriously no.  This is so lame but I absolutely won’t give up.

  As I walk to my destination I adjust to my newfound strength and steadily become able to move more freely.  Right now I need a modicum of focus to keep myself balanced but in the future I can see myself moving with more dexterity and grace than I ever could have hoped for previously; barring years of hard work to achieve said grace.   

  I’ve noticed I’m not feeling hungry despite the sky already darkening and me not having eaten since breakfast.  Maybe I just don’t get hungry anymore?  That sure would be convenient.  Eating right is so much work anyways.  I always have to make sure to chew, resist sweets when I’m hungry, force myself to eat something at least half way decent but now with the necessity gone I can freely live my life!  I feel a little regret over not being able to snack but that just goes to show my will still needs to be stronger.

  Now that it’s dark should I still walk?  I can’t really see anything but I don’t feel tired either…  I better stay.  If I get lost and kill another animal unnecessarily I’ll feel pretty bad about myself.  I’ve long since gone off the trail.  I’ll sleep tonight.

…

  “WAHAHAHAHAHA!”  I awake to that insane laugh as I scramble to my feet while turning my head only to see a naked man running at speeds that make the Olympics look slow.  His path is covered in flames the fling off him in waves consuming all the vegetation in the area.  What is wrong with this day?!?!  Admittedly it might be tomorrow by now.  Focus!

  I scramble up and run from him as fast as I can.  He sees me and yells at me to stop and I refuse.  Stranger danger seems to be at a whole other level of risk factor here.  So I run with all my might and of course trip.  I once again go flying forward and smash through two trees knocking them both down successfully ‘breaking’ my previous record of one tree.  I also left a crater where I tried to run like an anime character does.

  Gah, focus me!  I scramble forward, trying to keep my balance while running.  It felt as if I were on a tight rope as I ran from the burning man.  However this did not last long as he soon started to catch up to me and then I heard him let out a gasp before tripping.    I naturally used this chance to continue running. 

  “Wait!”  A voice roars behind me, “What was that?”

  I ignore him and continue my mad scramble away from the flames.  He continues running headless of my distress and catches again but this time he only stumbles a bit and the flames that were knipping my rear end suddenly intensify.  They seem to be glowering in rage over the disregard I’d given to their owner.  With a furious roar the fire exploded outwards and…  I’m now naked.

  This is awkward.  My skin is itchy but not really painful.  Maybe I’m in shock?  I stretch my skin and find it to be just as it was before if a bit red.  Mhmm… I’m suffocating a little though.  It seems to be…  Fine?  I guess I really have changed.

   As I was standing around dazed, I should really stop doing that, the weirdo has been staring at me.  Is he gay?  Am I being molested by his eyes?  How frightening.  Mhmm, he doesn’t really look like a pervert.  Ah, I know.  He’s wandering why I’m not burnt!  That explains it.

  Speaking of that guy who’s been spouting fire.   I’ve already turned to face him and he’s tall.  Like two meters tall, his skin is tanned and his body muscled.  It feels disgusting when I think that but it’s true.  His hair is brown and eyes are hard to make out through the fire intermittently crackling across his skin.  The flames coming off him are much thinner now than when he was running.  His beard is also on fire but doesn’t seem to be burning.  Lucky, I can feel that my mustache has completely vanished after this encounter.

  “Hello!” I say energetically, “How are you today?”

  “What’s up with you?  Whenever I come near you it feels as if my heart’s going to explode out my chest.  How long have ya been stopping the beat of hearts?”  The mysterious, flaming, naked stranger says as if I’m the oddity and with a weird sentence structure to boot.

  “Me?  What about you?  And why in the world are you on fire?  You know what?  Forget that.  Why are you burning the forest down is the more relevant question.”  I say, “so?  What grudge do you have against trees?”

“Well, uh, I caught fire this yesterday evening and started running just because I was, um, on fire.  Then I realized the flames felt nice and it was fun.”  He says looking devoid of both shame and embarrassment despite his words before continuing, “I wasn’t paying any attention to the trees and just forgot about them.”

  I’m left a little speechless by his admission.  I’m not alone!  Yahooo!  Wait same problem but this time instead of having to worry about the possible ramifications of interacting with my friends and family I have to worry about a naked dude I met running in the forest.  Maybe I’ll get an answer about how my powers?  I mean he could control his fire maybe I can do the same with my death field.  Too bad he’s insane.

  I’m actually pretty lucky.  Wait.  The forests burning!  I stare in shock as I noticed how far the fire has spread through the forest.  As before I was engulfed from the flames coming off the strange man now the trees are caught ablaze.  Forget about good luck I’d be lucky if the police don’t arrest me for streaking! 
  I interrupt our momentary silence, “Can you turn off your” I pause briefly to figure out the appropriate word for ‘this’ “Fire?  It’s very conspicuous.”  I say the word with uncertainty over what to call the phenomenon appearing around both of us.

  “No.”  It’s said in a very somberly manner.  I think the ramifications of what’s happening are finally catching up to the man. 

  I wait for him to talk and he doesn’t seem to be in willing to continue further.  I also remain quiet to consider the implications of what’s been said.  We both got our, let’s call them powers, yesterday and we don’t really seem to be able to turn them off.  However the shift in his fire demonstrates a clear change unlike my dreadfully consistent sphere.  Maybe his power just differs from mine in such a way that allows him some modicum of control that I am greatly lacking.  I still haven’t lost hope that I can eventually gain control of my powers.  Maybe I can even go back into society after a while.

  “What do you intend to do about it?”  I ask hoping for a reference to my own situation, “Do you think it’ll be fine if you’re found?”

  “I don’t know.  I’ll just wander around I guess.”

  I look at his fire and think of the disastrous consequences of him wandering around the woods.  “Your fire went down since earlier.  Can you try to turn it off?”

  “I did.”

“What if you try again?  Maybe you just aren’t used to it or haven’t discovered what your fire reacts to.”

  He casually scratches his beard and promptly sits down and I, feeling awkward about our naked chat in the woods, decide on walking away a bit back where the fire partially blocks my view of him so he’s not clearly visible but still within eyesight.  I also try to make my power go away by imagining the sphere surrounding me coming inwards.  I focus on this for a while and I feel it working.  A soothing calm enters my chest and I sit up.  I take a step forward and look expectantly at the grass to find that…  It’s still dying.  Nothing is ever easy.

  I look back at the man and see that he’s no longer on fire.  How lucky.  I walk over despite the visibility of my shame to ask him how he did that.  I came close enough to be heard but far enough not to kill him.

  “How’d you do that?”  I gestures at the area around him, “You got your fire to go out.”

  “I just put it in my body rather than letting it flow outside.”

  I ask him to clarify before finally slumping my shoulders and giving an okay.  I continue to try to ‘retract’ my power as he described but it’s not working and eventually the sun starts rising again.  A new day has begun.  I wonder what that man did after I left.  Wait, what’s wrong with me?  How in the world did I fail to notice the whole flaming forest problem?  I mean I’m literally right in the middle of it!

  We better run before someone catches us here at the scene of the crime.  I hop up and go flying into a tree branch where I fall again onto the grown before rolling up and more carefully getting back on my feet.  I then hurriedly look around the area and fall a few more times before finding my new acquaintance asleep.  He’s lying on the ground.  I hurry to him and give him a good shake.   He immediately bursts into fire.  The heat fills me with a scorching agony for just a second and I’m fine again.  Somehow.  It was so quick that I feel myself doubting if it ever even happened.  Oh well, with all the bizarre changes that have happened recently I don’t pay it much mind until something hits me like a truck sending my flying backwards and searing my flesh again before it heals just as quickly as it had before

 

  “Hey!” I yell, “Stop that!”

  The strange man stops and glares at me with an intensity that mirrors the flames now coming off him.

  “Can you turn it down?”  He pauses for a while before slowly nodding his head.  He seems a bit shaky but I force down my indignation at his assault, “We’re going to be in a bit of trouble if anyone discovers us here.  I think we should run away.”  Yes, it’s now we.  We seem to both be in the same predicament-

  Oh.  That’s why he attacked me.  I’m a fool.  Of course he wouldn’t hold himself back when trying to push me away.  I was killing him.  I feel terrible; maybe I should’ve just left on my own.  No use crying over spilled milk.  I will make it through one way or another.

  “Sorry about that.  I forgot about my…  Thing.  It also appeared yesterday like yours.”  I shift my position awkwardly and nearly fall over again before remembering that we don’t know each other’s names, “My name if Virgil Witt.  What’s yours?”

  “Wolfgang.”

   What a manly name.