The Phoenix tightens his grip around his odachi for a moment, the flames along the blade burning brighter… Then, he swings at the air, unleashing a wave of flame towards Welnar and Kali. They duck under it as they charge forward, Welnar swiftly grabbing hold of the scarlet knife and activating its blood manipulation. As he moves, he slices open the palm of his hand… Kali is the first to reach the Phoenix, slashing horizontally. The Phoenix parries and responds in kind, Kali backstepping from his slash. He stops short as she does and pushes forward, aiming a stab now… But Kali deflects it to the side, just in time for Welnar to point his hand toward the Phoenix and unleash a spike of blood toward him! The Phoenix narrowly pivots to the side to avoid it, the spike flying straight through his wings and near instantly evaporating from the heat. Kali slashes upward, Welnar simultaneously leaping forward in a spinning kick!

  The Phoenix deflects Kali’s blade aside with one hand on his odachi, raising the other to catch the spinning kick from Welnar with his other hand! “Got you-” He tries to say, but a secondary burst of mana point blank breaks straight through his guard and catches him by surprise! He stumbles for a moment, and Kali capitalizes with a slash to his right shoulder that digs into flesh, rendering the arm nearly unusable. He brings his left hand to the ground, and unleashes an explosive ball of flame that sends the pair flying back though… He, of course, emerges from the flames unharmed. But he no longer holds his odachi.

  “You bastards!” He yells, taking to the skies.

  “I’LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!!” He raises his one usable hand to the air, flames coalescing. Welnar fires another spike of blood from his hand, and it strikes the Phoenix in the leg… He didn’t even try to dodge?

  The flames continue to build and build, forming a massive fireball. People begin to run. {“He’s… He’s pouring all his mana into this last ditch attack. Damn coward!”} Monarch says. {“If he can’t beat you, he’ll just make sure nobody lives to tell the tale. Including himself.”}

  {“Is he insane?!”} Welnar says, looking around as people continue running. The only other person who stays is Kali… “Kali, go! Why are you staying?!”

  “Because I’d rather go down fighting damn it!” She yells back. Welnar grits his teeth…

  “At least get behind me.” Kali begrudgingly listens to that at least. “You better know what you’re doing…” She says.

  “I don’t. But we don’t have many options… I hope everyone can get away in time.”

  And with a swing of his arm, the Phoenix sends the massive fireball to the ground. From here, it looks like a damn meteor. But Welnar also notices the wings of the Phoenix die out, and he begins to descend, knocked out. If he survives this… No…

  “If we survive this… We win.” He says. All he has to do… IS SURVIVE! Welnar raises his hands, forming as solid of a mana barrier as he can. He pours his mana into it in waves, creating a dome of blue energy. The fireball grows closer and closer, and soon enough… It hits.

  The fireball collides with the barrier, clashing with it in an incredible display of power. A bead of sweat forms on Welnar’s brow as his knees buckle… Survive.

  He pushes his barrier even further, pouring even more mana into it. The ground cracks and rumbles beneath him, Kali falling back from the rumbling… Survive.

  The fireball continues to press, the heat beginning to break through the barrier. It makes Welnar sweat even more, but he keeps pushing. He falls to one knee… Survive!

  Blue veins form all along his body as, with legs shaking, he stands back up, pushing the fireball back momentarily. He pours every inch of mana into his barrier now, consequences be damned! He just needs… To Survive!

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  And it’s in that moment, that Welnar understands. An epiphany hits him in the heat of the moment, both figuratively and literally. This… Is his concept.

  The concept of Survival. That is what he’s fought for all his life… Just to survive to the next day. The next week. The next month. So on, so forth… The core of survival is adaptability. If someone cannot adapt to a deadly situation presented to them, they will die. At this rate, Welnar knows what he’s giving isn’t enough. If he keeps going as he is now, his barrier will shatter and he and Kali will be burnt to ash in an instant. But what more can he give? He’s already given all his mana…

  …But he hasn’t spent his body yet. Welnar stares up at the burning fireball, his mana barrier beginning to crack. He’s pushed himself to the limit… But so what?

  To Welnar, limits are not there to hold one back… They are simply another obstacle to shatter!

  His eyes shine a bright blue, and the mana barrier begins to reform, strengthen even. Without mana, Welnar has decided to pour in the only other thing he can. His lifeforce… His very soul. He pushes and shatters the very limits of his mana pool, pushing beyond it and reaching into every inch of his body, using the only other energy within the human body as a substitute; Spiritual energy. The energy that is the culmination of the soul, and the only other energy that exists in every living being alongside mana… It is an energy that very few can harness, one of said few being the Goddess of Life, Alistrea. The others are all people who have been blessed by her, allowing them to use spiritual energy as a more potent substitute to mana. So when Monarch witnessed Welnar perform this feat without any blessing, she was utterly astonished.

  The fireball begins to dwindle in size, its power weakening. Welnar is certain of victory now, and he simply sustains his barrier as the fireball grows smaller and smaller, until at a certain point it simply disappears. The barrier of mana disappears in kind, Welnar letting out a heavy sigh of relief. Silence fills the field, broken only by two words. “Holy shit…” Kali says, her jaw hanging in disbelief. She can’t believe what she’s just seen. A giant fireball like that would’ve spelt certain death for probably most newbie Sorcerers, yet Welnar…

  “You crazy son of a bitch you did it!” She yells, jumping up.

  “Yeah, I guess… I did.” Welnar says. He can’t believe it himself, and he’s not even entirely certain what exactly he did. He just let his instincts kick in upon realizing his concept and, well… Stuff happened. He feels… Kinda weak now though.

  Welnar slumps to one knee, causing Kali to run over and put a hand on his shoulder. “Dude, you alright?! Don’t go dying on me after all that!” Welnar shrugs her off, slowly standing again. “Yeah, yeah… I-I’m good. Just… Got one thing I need to do.” He says, walking towards where he saw The Phoenix fall. He still lays silently in the grass, unconscious.

  As Welnar gets closer, he clasps his hand around nothing, a translucent, single edged sword forming in it as he does. Upon reaching the Phoenix, Welnar plants a foot on his stomach, raising the sword up… And plunging downwards. It pierces through his chest and into his heart… Then, Welnar rips the blade out, leaving a white orb of energy impaled upon the tip just like last time, although this one seems surrounded in an orange flame…

  Fitting, for a Burning Heart.

  Unlike last time, Welnar’s hands do not tremble. Calmly, he plucks the orb off of the sword, letting it disappear as he takes the orb in both hands. He stares at it for a few seconds…

  Then, he squeezes until it cracks… And shatters. He absorbs the soul into himself, and on the opposite side of his head from the scarlet knife, a new weapon begins to form. A scarlet spear in the shape of the Phoenix’s partisan… Welnar grabs hold of it, and he immediately feels the change in his body. A tingling, almost burning sensation all throughout his body… Yet painless. He snaps his fingers, creating a tiny burst of flame.

  Kali watches all of this happen in silence, now truly understanding why Welnar wanted to deliver the final blow. She watches the Phoenix dissolve into dust, blown away with the wind. Then, as she is certain the threat is dealt with… A new worry enters her mind.

  “Where’s my mom? M-my dad?” She says. Welnar whips around, the realization hitting him as well. His eyes dart back and forth around the scorched clearing, seeing no signs of life. Did nobody survive, or… Did everybody get away? “Hello? Anyone alive?!” He calls out, letting go of the scarlet spear.

  “Somebody say something!” Kali follows up as she begins to run towards the village, Welnar close behind.

  “THE PHOENIX IS DEAD!!” He yells again. It’s then that he begins to hear footsteps approaching. Many footsteps. The townsfolk emerge, having survived. Welnar lets out a sigh of relief… Practically sprinting out of the crowd comes Kali’s mom and dad, who are swiftly embraced by her. Everyone else seems pretty relieved as well at the news of the Phoenix’s death… Maybe, just maybe… They at least won’t have to live under oppression.

  But deep inside, Welnar knows this isn’t true. It’s only a matter of time before another Sorcerer rolls around with big ideas just like the Phoenix. He clenches his fist… Yet he cannot stay and protect everyone. Not now. He needs to collect more hearts, get the Zero Blade… Then he’ll become a real hero.

  {“Come on Welnar, don’t be so mopey after such a win. Besides, we need to have a damn chat. About a couple things… But for now, celebrate!”} Monarch says. She’s right…

  {“Sorry Monarch. You’re right… I guess for now I can be a hero.”} Welnar chuckles. “What’re you laughing about?” Kali says, having let go of the death grip on her parents now. “Oh, nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

  For now, Welnar decides to relax and celebrate with Kali and her family… But what would happen that very night is something Welnar could never have expected.