Wow… Wow!

I am on fire? I am on fire! Why am I not burning?!

Wait… this was definitely the passive skill of the flame manipulation skill card. Skill card, originator card… What’s the point of the ‘originator’ part? No one thinks of the skills those cards provide as separate cards, really.

Well, whatever. Skill cards sound cooler, to me.

Moving on… I place my hand on my hip— Oh, I don’t feel any clothes.

I blinked, taking a deep breath. Stay calm…

Don't panic... Keep your--

WHAT THE FUCK YOU MEAN DON'T PANIC?! I AM NAKED!

Wait, I can acquire more skills. But I don’t want to waste my precious skill points on a clothing skill. Then, an idea strikes me.

I examine my available skills for flame generation and found one. But I need to be at a certain level…

Also, I wanted to change how my level-up looks, I am tired of this status shit every time I gain a level--

Level: 18

What?

Level: 19

Huh?

Level: 20

I blink in confusion… then it hits me. Everything around me was on fire.

A mischievous grin spread across my face as I pondered the possibilities. But no… that would endanger any innocent bystanders, including Vacinay and the other two. There’s a fire suppression skill, but that’s not my focus at the moment. What I want is the fire skin, and I purchase it for 4 skill points!

Alright! Fire skin!

Hmm… I didn't notice a difference, but that was probably because I was already engulfed in flames. Now, to deal with the forest fire…

I rubbed my chin, contemplating whether to take the fire suppression skill. But It was way too damn expensive.

Then, a brilliant idea came to me.

Pushing the limits and boundaries, huh?

I raise my hands to the sky and command, “Fireball!”

Just like against the Spider Woman, I focused on using the surrounding flames to create the fireball. The flames obeyed, rising to the sky as a fireball.

There was just one tiny issue… It was getting heavy. Very, very heavy. I grunted and, with all my might, directed it towards the sky.

It moved at a ridiculously slow pace. I slumped to the ground, utterly drained. That took all my energy points… Or did it?

I glanced at my hand, which was engulfed in roaring flames; fire skin.

Excellent.

I forced myself to stand and inspected every inch of my body.

I was like the Human Torch! But wait, I was out of energy points, which meant the flames would soon die down. Heck, I am surprised it didn't out immediately.

I yelled at the top of my lungs, “Yamanda! Please give me some clothes!”

... Three seconds later.

Why didn’t she appear conveniently?

Oh god. Don't tell me the forest fire made her run away…

She robably did.

Then, at the tip of my finger, I noticed the fire was gone.

Frustrated, I walked towards a burnt tree and tried to find something to use as covering. After about four minutes, when the flame had shrunk to my neck and thighs, I realized this wasn’t going to work.

Plan B: I dug a hole in the ground, got in, and covered myself with dirt. Now, I had to wait an hour for my energy points to regenerate.

Actually, since I had doubled my level, it would probably take less time. I turned off the flame skin since it was pointless and then looked at my energy points bar.

Wait a second, when did it become that insane?!

It wasn’t double or triple the size, it was ten times larger! It was at 100… and it was already on four points.

Oh, it was growing four points per minute. Perhaps that’s why the flame skin didn’t vanish instantly but was instead slowly shrinking, since it consumed five energy points per minute. The energy points weren’t just spawning, they were like a well of water too, which helped.

I could already tell I was going to lose my mind from the damage caused by skills. But according to Tanya, I could escape that fate. I still had a long way to go… but I didn’t want to take the risk, so I guess I would have to focus on acquiring the time reversal skill in the near future.

Left with nothing to do, I found myself humming tunes from Earth that I used to enjoy. It’s a shame, I’ll never get to hear Rustage create a song for Asa. At least there was one for Makima and Denji.

I drummed my fingers on the dirt, contemplating… What if I acquired the future sight skill? It costs a hefty 5 points, and at the moment, I only had 4 skill points remaining. But then…

Level up: 21

The amount of skill energy required for me to gain another level must have been substantial. That likely meant a lot of people succumbing to the flames. I decided not to dwell on that. It was an accident, after all!

Twelve minutes had passed, and the level up increased the speed of EP generation to 5. I wondered how that worked. Did leveling up boost my brain abilities, allowing me to withstand more brain damage?

Regardless, I set myself ablaze, tweaking the application of the skill to keep my face visible. With a few movements, I freed myself from being buried and took a step on the burnt dirt, reigniting it.

Now, to find Yamanda. I probably needed to acquire the fire immunity cast skill, which cost 4 skill points, to prevent my clothes from burning every time I used this skill.

As I walked around, I hoped my burning body would alert her to my location.

Then it hit me. Since I could control which part of my body I wanted to set on fire, I probably didn’t need the fire immunity cast that soon. So, I decided on future sight. My eyes immediately felt different.

“What are you doing…?” Yamanda asked from a safe distance.

Oh! That was easy.

I replied. “Gained fire skill, burned my clothes, need clothes, please.”

The fire skin was good at covering me, but I still felt like I was walking around naked.

Yamanda sighed, and in front of me, a pair of leather armor appeared. Well, if it were metal, the heat would probably melt it into my skin.

“Thanks, now give me some priva— oh wait, I can freeze time!”

After freezing time, I realized that the fire engulfing me also froze. Therefore, I had to create a non-frozen time 'bubble'(since it was touching me, I just focused on unfreezing it, heh) to deactivate it and put on some clothes. Oh, she also teleported undergarments. How considerate of her!

After dressing, I checked myself out. The outfit suited me quite well. However, I wanted more freedom for my new skill. I removed the arm and leg protection, cutting it with my now super-strong fingernails from the elbow and knee down.

“Done,” I declared.

Yamana then asked, “So… you burned the forest down after gaining fire control?”

I scratched my hair anxiously. “It was… an accident. You teleported me in front of a super-strong spider woman, and that happened.”

“Oh right. Sorry about that, I did wonder why I sensed two people in one body.”

Sense, huh…

“So, what are your new skills?” she inquired.

“Fireball and fire skin,” I replied.

She nodded in approval. “Good choice!”

“I guess… I’m going to either get the skill to render my clothes immune to the flames or get flame-proof clothes.”

“The latter one would be better,” she suggested.

“Ah, so they do exist,” I mused.

“Of course…” she answered, her gaze drifting towards the burnt forest.

I asked, “That’s not going to cause some legal or political issue, right?”

“I hope not. At least the half-men drove the animals away, so I’m sure none of them were there to get hurt or lose a home.”

That was a relief. I wondered if that’s why they were cannibals because it was either that or veganism.

Yamanda asked, “So, you want me to teleport you to the others? They are getting whooped a little bit.”

Oh? That surprised me. I grinned. “Yeah, send me.”

With the usual seamless teleportation, I found myself in front of a very green forest. It was good to know the range of my destruction wasn’t too insane.

“Come back here!” Vacinay leaped at a man who was built like a crustacean and swung the sword towards his head, narrowly missing.

He stretched his hand to her side, but she reacted fast, turning into a small cat in a single second.

In that same instant, she reverted to her human form and hurled the sword at him as if she had extensive experience in sword combat.

Had she acquired a skill related to proficient weapon use?

Her movements were somewhat graceful with each swing she took— She descended into a blind rage, slashing and cutting down everything except him.

Ghomas leaped from a tree behind him and shouted, “Got you!”

A bolt of lightning shot towards the half-man and struck him! He was thrown back but quickly recovered, dodging Vacinay’s attempt to behead him.

"Weak! When I get you, first, I will skin you alive, then I will season you! And the girl! I will use her head as a basketball an--"

It seemed like it was my time to shine.

With a sudden burst of speed, my knife plunged into his chest. Due to the momentum, he was sent rolling back.

"Gah!" I screeched.

“Since when… What level are you?” Vacinay asked.

I smirked. “21.”

“Bullshit!” Ghomas shouted.

“You expect me to believe that shit!” Vacinay roared.

Ignoring their disbelief, I turned to the half-man.

“Is he the one who cut you up?” I asked Vacinay.

“Ignoring me, I see. Anyway, no. When we found the bastard, he blew a whistle and ran. A bunch of other guys came out to defend him as he ran down the hill.”

Interesting. He must command some respect here.

“I see, I see,” I responded.

Hessien blew up the guy I stabbed. “He tried to cut off my balls and said he was going to bake them.”

Oh…

Vacinay, covered in blood, ran down the hill. “Let’s find that shithead!”

I shrugged and followed her. All her wounds were healing at a rapid rate. I remember mentioning that her ‘shape-shifting’ was just transformations, but it honestly seemed so, except for the self-repair part.

I really wondered if my theory on desires affecting skills was true. Honestly, it probably was.

After running and jumping over fallen trees and high boulders, we reached a different location…

Vacinay came to a sharp stop and pointed forward, “Am I seeing this too?” In a mountain, there was a massive hole, one where over 40 half-men were guarding.

I asked, “What do you think is in there?”

Hessien smiled. “Loot?”"

Then, one of the half-men asked another, “Is that the last set of sacrifices?”

Another responded, “Yes, for today. I believe he mentioned something about targeting pregnant women and babies for the next ritual.”

A third chimed in, “What a waste of food…”

...

I rose to my feet, extending my hand forward. A massive fireball, four meters in diameter, materialized as I bellowed, “DIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"