He scanned the area, nothing seemed to be there. He stepped back, moved away from the monster, and circled the area looking for more monsters. The sweat dripped down his skin as though he was taking a shower as he moved swiftly, there was no time to be slow with the fire spreading so quickly. Still, it did not mean he would jump into a trap so obvious.

He unhooked one of the larger pieces of wood and threw it randomly. Quietly he moved to the opposite side and then pulled the trigger. A buzz of activity spread across while he made a beeline for the archer while his eyes darted. The trees protected him as much as they restricted his vision because he stopped at just the right second, jumping into a crevice between two massive roots. The fighters moved in groups, repeatedly inspecting the area.

The air felt hotter. He clinched a morning star and ran. Even though the spear would have been more appropriate he was starting to develop an affection for the weapon. Both his arms were equipped with a spiky weapon, no need for a torch as the light that now illuminated the sky was more than enough for him.

Peaking, he got out and quickly found a suitable target. It was away from the rest of its group. Closing one of his eyes he threw the morningstar, the head nearly splattered but just as the happiness was going to surge, it tilted it. head.

He ran towards it, and wildly swung the weapon. They were easily dodged and what was even more infuriating was the ease. Each time there was just an inch of a difference. He made a big swing, it finally responded to the opening and went for the strike. Midway he released the weapon, jumping back while it tried to strike him. Finally, his weapon struck it in the gut. He did not allow it to regain its momentum.

He swung his arm, a red wave erupted forcing the reinforcements to step back. He took out another morningstar and while it tried to regather itself, exploded its head.

Others rushed at him. Some howling, he grinned, throwing disks at them. Only one landed at the target and he pulled the trigger, it exploded, taking out the fighter. He ran away while they chased.

It became difficult to breathe. The hot air burnt his insides causing his body temperature to rise, he felt nauseated. There was no other option, though.  Stopping, he spun and threw the disk. Exploring them mid-air, diverting their attention for a scant moment. His knives cut threw the air while he rushed, picking up his twin morningstars. The morningstar tore through one of the monsters just as it tried to deflect the weapon. He jumped at another and struck, his weapons rebounded due to the collision but he forcefully closed in, grabbing it by and neck and turning for the other monster that now surrounded him.

He rushed at them forcing them to attack. He constantly used the monster to protect himself from them. A few spells and they were quickly dealt with. He had noticed these monsters were not good at reacting to the spells, at least not as good when compared to their physical combat.

The situation kept on repeating and he became more and more exhausted after each encounter. The danger of the archers had suddenly vanished as they all fell, either dying or as good as dead. There had been a steady rise in temperature which they had been unable to notice. Even he had been late in noticing it despite having undergone a similar                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               situations before.

The hotter it got the more rivers his body expelled. It made him sluggish, exhausted and it was difficult to do anything.

He was just barely approaching the amount required to complete the floors before the 15th. He needed to kill double the amount. A feeling of defeat tried to rear it head but he squashed it into bits before it could bud.

He shut his eyes, remembering all the injustice he had faced and now he had acquired the power to avenge himself for this place, irrespective of how painful it was. He would make sure they regretted it.

He could feel the anger coming back. He grits his and using the a spear as a walking stick and resumed his journey.

With time the effect upon the monsters seemed to become greater. It was apparent when their movements became hampered, loosing their swift and graceful motion. was nowhere to be found allowing his throws to land. All he needed to take them out was a disk bomb and a little bit of attention.

The forest got brighter and brighter. The sky was now a sea of orange filling him with anxiety. He tried pulling more strength from within himself but to no avail. The fire neared and he could feel himself burning. What should he do.? The thought kept repeating. 

Death came closer. A torturess death. He would feel every passing second of his last moments as his hair burnt away his skin start melting and as his limbs started stiffening as the air escaped from his lungs and his eyes lost their ability.

He fell, crawling away as fast as he could. The fire quickly crossed him and kept on spreading.

Pain. He could not scream. He could not breathe. He fell, unable to bear the pain. His eyes lost their sight. He tried to suck in the air but it would not go into his lungs. His thoughts slowed down and his movements slowed down. A gust of wind passed pulling with it the surrounding fire all of which passed above, some of it sticking to him. He screamed and his body squirmed. 

One flame after another shot out from his palm as though trying to strike something down but in vain. He could not hold any longer, the air deprivation killing him. At his last straw, he willed the Cloak of Fire into existence.

He did not feel any different. The fire was still burnin his body and gradually he started loosing the sensations on the different parts of his body. He slamed his body on the ground, rolling repeatidly and after much damage to himself he was able to put out the fire.

Unconsciously he took in a deep breath. The air rushed in tearing the burnt wind pipes and lungs and bringing along with it the smell of burning flesh. He coughed, and blood and something solid came out. Burnt skin and flesh broke apart, blood flowing out. Bones burnt black were visible in some areas. His vision was still destroyed and his thoughts were ever slower.

It was difficult to concentrate. After what seemed like a long time he took out the Elixir of Body from the inventory. His hands trembled and his motions stiff as he tried to bring the bottle closer to his burnt lips.

Like everything was a dream, as though time had been reverted he was suddenly fine. He started crying, questioning God why did he need to go through this torture. As he was crying he felt a pull on his reservoir.

Closing his eyes he focused, the energy seemed to be going into the barrier. Slowly the energy level was trickling down. He stood up, wiping his tears away.

“Just you wait.”

He said as he looked at the fire that surrounded him on the outside.

Gritting his teeth he stood up taking out his weapons, and placing a crystal in his mouth. The whole place was lit on fire. The ground, the trees, the sky. There was only orange. Where should he even go that was currently the problem. Replacing the weapons with the swords he started climbing a tree.

His heartbeat as he looked at the fire that leaped towards him trying to send him through that torture again but the barrier consumed them. Each time he felt a considerably greater pull on his energy.

When he got up high and tired to look he suddenly felt stupid. He vigorously shook his head trying to bring himself back into his face. He jumped towards another tree, ricocheting from a tree to another. The distance flew past as he flew from tree to tree.

He felt a stronger pull causing him to look around. Despite finding nothing the pull was getting stronger. His eyes looked above becoming wide open. He jumped. A massvie creaking sound spread. He looked up and started running. A massive thing had just broken and started falling down. He no longer had any time to care of the other animals.

He saw the end, jumped, and flew out from the fire but did not stop. He kept going and going. The barrier was still present. As he jumped from tree to tree, the barrier brunt the moss covering the tree. His arms were starting to become numb from the long exertion forcing him to come down.

He briefly rested, letting some life return in them, and then moved. A hum sounded, he dodged. It was not the same as before. He jumped from tree to tree and started hunting down the archers. It was much easier to avoid the fighters and he could now take care of them now that they pesky archers were gone

He easily avoided their attacks, playing with them while they were weakened due to the heat. The battle was purely physical as he took out all his frustration within himself. The fights continued. At the start it was only to take out his frustration but as the time went on gears turned within his head and he started observing the energy consumption of the barrier and cross-checked it with the recovery.

***

Within a hole, he looked at the fire with a grin on his face. It mimicked the motion of his hand. The energy kept on being sucked through the connection allowing him to impose his will upon it.

The flames regained their natural flickering after a while. He rubbed his temples the pain had built up too quickly despite the small time frame within which he had manipulated it was small.

He closed his eyes, focusing on the connection. To his senses, it felt like it shaking, some parts on the verge of breaking. Observing the connection he had with the barrier he felt no ripple, no instability within its functioning. Stable with smooth energy passage it was completely unlike the one he had created. He turned to other connections within his mind, finding all of them better in every aspect.

It left a bad taste in his mouth. All his hard work had amounted to this. It was inefficient, costing too much energy and mental power. The little manipulation he could perform was only possible by mixing in the physical movements otherwise the connection broke.

He brought his both hands closer and cupped the fire. The fire slowly compressed causing its size to become smaller. The energy output intensified and he suddenly leaped back feeling the connection breaking. Like a spring being released the fire exploded. Seeing it spreading he quickly ran out. He squatted just at the edge. Energy slowly spread through his hand and then came out into a section of fire burning nearby. The connection was again established and his hand moved into the fire. The energy consumption spiked, massively, but he remained calm pushing in more energy until he felt the connection establishing. The energy spread through the flames.

Despite not feeling even the slightest of the warmth from the flame his heart beat furiously. Instinctively his arm tried to retract requiring him to grab it.

Once the connection was established with all the fire inside he moved out. There was darkness but as he moved away the fire was dragged outside. With every step, the throbbing inside his skull increased. His steps were slow as he had to concentrate upon it to make sure it kept being dragged out.