Volume 1 - Chapter 4 Blazing Departure

There was an increase in security in Palmarina but thankfully, the residents didn't notice it. Palmarina rarely gets attacked by chaos borns and even if there was, the average was not hard to deal with. Which is why most of the Fantasm Hunters of this town are primarily C and D-ranks.

After spending a long night at the brothel, Quenbar was about to take a small walk. Before he could go anywhere, Rednar already found him.

“Yo Quen!”

“Quite early morning to come here, Red.”

“I'm not here for that, maybe later. I was actually looking for you”

“Did we receive our new gear?”

“Not quite. The headmaster came to the lounge and he had something important that involved all of us”

Quenbar was still sleepy but was interested in the sudden visit of the headmaster. He hopes it's going to be something interesting.

At the lounge, all the Flashing Steels were here, except for Aris who was still in a coma. Malrick was a bit nervous to tell the news he learned last night but he didn't have a choice. Palmarina was in danger and they didn't have the task force necessary to counter attack. Taking a deep breath he finally told them about the corpse of the Supreme Elemental Fauna they found on the beach and how it might be connected to the jungle ghost.

After he explained everything, the room was silent. The silence was uncomfortable and Malrick was sweating.

A couple seconds pass and still no reaction from them. Ferinda looks at Quenbar who from the very beginning didn't say a word. He was only listening with his head looking down. Meanwhile Rednar was just waiting for his answer and kept nonchalantly eating a mango fruit from a little fruit basket on the table. Quenbar leaned back on the couch making eye contact with the headmaster. To the headmaster's surprise, Quenbar looked quite happy, too happy even. It's as if fate wanted for him to clash with the Primal man once more.

“Well, well, well! This is some good news headmaster!”

“I-I do not comprehend. How is this good news mister Quenbar? We are in danger and I'm asking you and your team to hunt something that almost killed your entire team.”

“You can't see what I see. Your little town has a bunch of weaklings who can't defend themselves and seek to always have a peaceful time. Meanwhile, we are at the top! We seek more challenges to become stronger, find glory and more! We hail from the nation that thrives from war! The Fantasm Hunters of Revoltwing kingdom seek to reach the top and slay every one of those damn creatures! You have given us a golden opportunity to become better!”

Aside from insulting their town and the kingdom of Tropazion, Malrick understood where Quenbar's pride came from. The Tropazion kingdom didn't have a major impact in mankind history compared to the other kingdoms on LoM. They mostly focus on maintaining peace. Most of the kingdom LoiM was invested in the preservation of their culture and festivals celebrating those.

“Is it safe to assume that...you will hunt for the jungle ghost even after hearing what I just reported” Asked Malrick with an uncertain tone

“Yes, we will be hunting!”

“Oh Mother Lorygina! Thank you! I will make sure that your gears are top notch! It won't be as good as the ones that were forged in your kingdom but I will make sure it will be good enough to guarantee your survival!”

“Looking forward to that, headmaster.” Said Rednar.

Malrick left their lounge to make preparations. If the Flashing Steels succeed to hunt the jungle ghost, their yearly festival will be guaranteed.

Now they are only between them, Ferinda takes the initiative to address something that has been gnawing at her.

“I'm not the only one who noticed something odd in that intel right?”

“I wanted to say something but Quen was listening attentively so I stayed quiet even though it didn't make sense.”

“You did well holding your tongue, but it is true this is quite strange but at the same time quite interesting." Said Quenbar.

Something stood out from Malrick intel. The corpse of a Supreme Elemental Fauna was one thing. What was really odd was the jungle ghost potentially able to use fire El-ergy.

“When fighting him, he didn't manifest any form of El-ergy. Even against that chaos born gorilla.” Said Rednar

“Also there was no source of El-ergy flowing within him. I didn't detect any. Those primates don't possess an Elemental Sense and without it, it's impossible to wield El-ergy.”

“Maybe…” Muttered Ferinda.

Ferinda had a train of thought but quickly gave up.

“What is it, Ferinda? Come on, spill it out!” Snapped Rednar

“Well...you know how predators conceal their presence to avoid being detected by their prey? I was thinking, what if he can conceal his El-ergy the same way? After all we didn't detect the chaos born until it attacked us”

Both men were a bit astonished by Ferinda's idea.

“That's why I gave up on the idea. You can't do such a thing or at least I don't think you can conceal your El-ergy in a similar fashion.”

“Yeah that's right! No matter how weak an Elemantalist is, you can always feel its El-ergy. As for the chaos born, you know damn well it's hard for humans to detect dark and chaos El-ergy. We're not like those Darklings!” Said Rednar.

“Well this means there's two possibilities…” Said Quenbar. “ Either we have our first Primal in mankind history that can wield El-ergy without an Elemental Sense or he lied to us about what he is…”

Both Rednar and Ferind were confused.

“How did he lie to us?” Asked Ferinda.

“Like Red said, as humans we have a harder time detecting dark and chaos El-ergy. You get what I am saying?”

“Wait, impossible! He's human!”

“Well…we will figure this out when we will be hunting him”

***

Kalderic has been trying to remember that last moment when he fought the giant snake in the dungeon. He tried that technique he supposedly did for the final blow multiple times but no results after. The last thing he remembers of that encounter was him attempting to cut the snake's head but he doesn't remember turning the greatsword into a blade of flames. Even knowing this is possible to do, he had a hard time imagining it.

In his mind turning a blade into flames didn't make sense. How can flames that are not solid as steel can cut through something?

“Those logical thoughts are what limit your potential.” Said Pryzhor

“Well sorry if I wasn't born with a lot of imagination. I always optimize my survival and to survive ya gotta be logical. Understand patterns, fonction, hunting fundamentals, adaptability and a lot of stuff. A blade becoming fire is not logical”

“Which is funny because most Elemantalist find it logical. They can enhance their weapons with El-ergy.”

“Enhance?”

“Yes, it's typically just applying El-ergy to a physical object so it gain the elemental attribute.”

“Welp! Guess it's no use to me then, I'm not an Elemantalist.”

“I am one though”

“A fireball, yeah”

“A HUMAN THANK YOU!”

Kalderic sat down at the bottom of a tree and ate the small fruits nearby. They didn't taste great but it was better than nothing.Suddenlyy an idea came to his mind.

“Hey! Let's go hunting! I wanna try something.”

“You are injured! You won't be able to catch anything in this state.”

“Come on! Don't underestimate a Primal's body! I think I can pull this off!”

Pryzhor tried to understand what he was thinking but the loudness and chaos of Kalderic's mind didn't make it easy. They proceed to venture in the jungle to find a prey so Kalderic could test his idea.

After finding footsteps of stonapias and following it, they both found a herd near a pond. Because of his broken ribs, he couldn't do his usual bear walk to get closer to his prey. Under normal circumstances it would have been better if he just stuck to his fruit and various edible plants but with his idea he wouldn't need to be close to his target. He crouched a little and positioned himself so he could clearly see his targets. He makes a sign to Pyrzhor to get closer so he could whisper.

“Alright let see if you can summon those”

” Summon what exactly?”

“Just read my mind like you always do.”

Pyrzhor could feel Kalderic's inner thought clearing out the loud noises and chaos. He imagined the fire blade technique that he has been practicing but this time, it was different. There were a variety of weapons. From swords to knives, long swords and spears. All of a sudden, Pryzhor manage to manifest those blades and with Kalderic's command, they get launch

“FIRE BLADES!!” Shouted Kalderic

The stonapias who were peacefully eating and resting were now all alerted. All they saw was a wave of fiery weapons coming their way. Some of them managed to flee but three of them got pierced by those. The other blades who missed their target hit the trees.

“Waouh! It work!”

Pyrzhor was a bit confused as to why Kalderic suddenly decided to imagine a variety of weapons with the fire blades technique.

“When I usually hunt, I bring with me different weapons so I can adapt my style of hunting at any given moment. With this technique, I can avoid that and just go imagine that I have those already.”

“I see but…”

It was indeed a great idea. Instead of loading himself with different weapons, he can solely focus on creating them instead with El-ergy. Also this will avoid him to throw his only weapon to his target or at least that's what Pyrzhor hopes for. Although this is a good breakthrough, there was one problem that Kalderic didn't account for.

BOOM!

The fire blades were indeed effective to hunt from a distance but they were essentially weapons meant to explode in contact. The poor corpses of the stonapias turn to ashes leaving nothing to eat.

“My...my lunch!”

“Oh well, at least you tried.”

Another problem arises, the remaining blades have exploded as well causing some trees catching fire. Kalderic and Pyrzhor panics but luckily there was a pond nearby. Kalderic goes into the pond and uses the crimson greatsword combined with his primitive super strength to bash the water towards the trees on fire. It was painful to do with his broken ribs but this is the price he has to pay for his carelessness.

“DON'T USE MY GREATSWORD FOR THIS!”

“I HAVE NO CHOICE HERE!”

The forest fire has been averted. Kalderic and Pryzhor call it a day and go back to the tree hut empty handed. Kalderic was looking forward to the day he could start hunting again but also the day he would leave the jungle. He daydreams about how big the world could be. What will he discover? What kind of animals will he be able to sink his teeth in? Is there a chance that he will find another Primal like him? So many questions were coming and going in his mind that Pryzhor could feel them. He couldn't see a vivid image but it was as if it was raining. Maybe a reflection of sadness to leave his home or worried of confronting the world. Now that he thinks about it, Kadleric's mind was like the jungle itself. Maybe because he has spent all of his life there, his mind related things to the jungle so he could comprehend things.

“Hmm...it makes sense now”

“What is?”

“Your mind. It's a reflection of your environment. If my El-ergy was a nature or an earth type, you would have an easier time creating new techniques.”

“Huh?”

“What I'm trying to say, your way of thinking is closely tight to your survival in this jungle and so you have a though time to use my fire El-ergy.”

“I still don't get it…”

“Ok, tell me, what are the things that come to mind when you think about fire?”

Kalderic was taking his time thinking about it. The first thing that came to mind are his utilities in everyday life. Such as procuring light in the dark night of the jungle or roasting his food. Also he also sees it as something explosive, powerful and dangerous. All those thoughts flow to Pryzhor. The latter of his thoughts give him a bit of hope to make Kalderic be able to wield fire El-ergy in a more efficient way.

“See what I mean. We Elemantalist think differently, though we have something in common which is to prioritize our survival. The difference is that Elemantalist are more in tune with their El-ergy and more free of imagining how to manifest it. Meanwhile, for you it's the first time and your ways of thinking are limited to what you can physically do.”

“I...think I get it...?”

Something has been bothering him for the past couple days since he acquired this crimson greatsword.

“By the way Pyrzhor...how come ya can read my mind? It's kinda...creepy if you ask me”

“Rude! It's not like I'm doing it intentionally! It just happens!”

“Eh! Of course ya don't know, what did I expect?”

“Tch! Ungrateful brat! If it wasn't for my mind reading you would be dead in that grotto.”

Kalderic know he was right. In all honesty he has nothing against him being able to read his mind but he still wanted to understand how it works. Even though Pryzhor claims to be human, or at least he was a human once, it was weird to him to have the ability to read minds. He came to the conclusion that it must be a thing that Elemantalist can do.

“I don't know if it can reassure you but I can only see or read your mind when you hold my greatsword. I can vividly tell what you are thinking when your thoughts are focused. So no worries I'm not invading your privacy young man.”

“I'm not worried about ya invading my mind or anything. It's just it's all new to me and I just want to make sure I can understand what I can do with this power. The last thing I want is not being able to use it properly and die without achieving my grandpa's goal.”

“Oh, I see…”

This was an angle that he didn't consider. He thought that Kalderic didn't trust him and poking fun from time to time. The whole time he just wanted to be as close as an Elemantalist he can be.

Understanding his perspective, Pryzhor felt like he needed to be a bit more responsible and teach him properly to the best of his abilities how to wield fire El-ergy.

“Huh?”

“What is it?” Asked Kalderic

Something came to Pryzhor's mind for an instant. His willingness to teach Kalderic to use fire El-ergy properly felt familiar. He couldn't specifically remember what it was but he could feel it wasn't the first time he did this. He tried his best to remember but the thought disappears.

“Argh! I was about to remember something but it's gone! It's annoying!”

“Hmm...ya know, I have one question I didn't ask ya last night that I haven't thought of until now.”

“What is it?”

“Ya said ya were once human right? Did ya live on LoM or have in your mind an idea where on LoM ya might have lived?”

“Of course I did live on LoM where would-”

Another thought has appeared in Pyrzhor's mind. He remembers a landscape fully white. It looked like a snowfield during a blizzard. There was a castle made full of ice and someone was looking down towards him from a window. He couldn't make out the face of the person, just the silhouette. His memory stopped there.

“Everything alright?”

“Yes! I just remembered something! Well it's not a full memory, but we can start from there!”

Pyrzhor tells him about the landscape he remembers and describes it as best as he could.

“Snow, hm? I never saw it in my life but grandpa told me about it. He said that it would be really hard to survive in a place like this without the proper equipment and attire. Also there's not a lot of animals to hunt in those areas.”

“Let me guess, you don't know where to find this place”

“Nah! I never left the jungle, remember?”

Pyrzhor was a bit disappointed. He finally had a lead but no information of how he could find that place. Kalderic notices that and reassures him.

“I might not know where this snowy place is, but since I will be leaving this jungle soon, I don't mind looking for it with ya. Anyway I don't think I will find the thirteenth Fantasm Beast anytime soon. We are in for a long journey.”

Hearing that made Pyrzhor happy. Essentially they were both benefiting from this journey. One was on a quest to remember who he was and the other wanted to make his grandpa's dream come true. Maybe it was fate that made Kalderic and Pryzhor meet in that dungeon.

***

A couple days has passed since the Elemental Guardians have found the corps of the Supreme Elemental Fauna. The preparations for the annual Passion Festival were going smoothly and the residents of Palmarina didn't notice the increase of security.

Meanwhile, in the private lounge, the Flashing Steels were getting ready for their next job now that they received their new gears. They would do it in the middle of the night to avoid bringing attention.

Ferinda and the others analyze their new equipment. Quality wise, it wasn't as good as the weapons and armor made by the blacksmith from the Revoltwing kingdom. Though they appreciate how light it feels except for Quenbar. His original dual silver blades had a specific weight to it which was satisfying for him to swing around and make his attacks impactful.

“Hmm…it's a bit too light for my liking. This will greatly impact the damage output of my elemental techniques.”

“You know, I always thought it was somewhat weird that your El-ergy gets stronger by the weight of your attacks instead of the power of the El-ergy itself” Said Ferinda.

“It's just the thought process of the creation behind my elemental techniques. I always believed the heavier something is, the more powerful it will be but in exchange it becomes slower. That's why I personally make sure that the blacksmith in our city forge my blades with a specific weight. Also my physical strength plays a huge role.”

Ferinda, on the opposite, was quite pleased with the weight of her new sting blade. She tends to prefer speed over power but she could tell that it wasn't made to last for long battles.She would have to make strategic decisions that would be impactful in the upcoming battle. She also has to assume that her opponent can use fire El-ergy which Quenbar and her are weak against as steel Elemantalist.

“I know it's not confirmed yet but to be safe can we let Rednar and Aris if he wakes up take the frontline? I don't end up roasted if the jungle ghost can actually use fire El-ergy.”

“Hmph! What? You're scared of getting a little tan?” Said Rednar mockingly.

Ferinda gave a mean look to him and something caught her attention. Rednar had two swords made for him and it had a unique design. It was dark red and had a green stone on it with dark stripes on the edges. As far as she knows, Rednar always hunts using one sword

“Since when you are a dual wielder?”.

“Am not. I just asked the headmaster to make me a second sword for an elemental technique that I haven't used for a while.”

Ferinda was new in the Flashing Steels, the only elemental technique she knew Rednar could make was the explosive fire daggers and sometimes changes it into simple fireballs that he uses in close range. Though he only uses that one when he is in a pinch to surprise his opponent.

“So what is that technique? Something useful hopefully”

“Use-Just for that I'm not telling you!”

Rednar ignores her and keeps admiring his new blood colored sword. She gives a look to Quenbar to hopefully get some answers but to only receive a mocking smirk. The brotherhood was strong between those two.

“Alright I'm sorry. Please tell me.”

“Hmph! You will have to wait to see it in action so you will see how useful it will be.”

She gave up trying to find out what that technique is but she does hope that it will actually be helpful.

***

Late in the evening Kalderic was doing his inventory of what he plans to bring with him outside the jungle. Now that his broken ribs have been healed from the past couple days, he was able to hunt a couple of stonapias.

The moment he felt better, he restarted his daily routine which consisted of practicing using various weapons that he collected, including the crimson greatsword of Pyrzhor. Now that he has access to El-ergy, he has been going to the beach to practice summoning his one and only elemental technique and expanding it as much as he can. He still has no idea how he could transform the blade into sharp cutting flames. He also has been taking care of his physical health. That was the most important thing to train as a Primal. After all, without a strong body you can't achieve anything. Hunting helped him work on his cardio and agility while sword swings and other exercises such as lifting tree trunks helped him for strength training. While Kalderic did his usual routine, Pyrzhor was making daily efforts to remember certain things about himself. Sadly nothing new came up. He only had that one lead which was the snowy landscape.

After verifying all of his inventory, Kalderic calls it a day and rests on his hamac for the last time. Tomorrow would be the day he leaves the jungle. He was excited to jump into the unknown and discover LoM, finding his origins, hunting the thirteenth Fantasm Beast and learning more about Pyrzhor. Though he was excited, he was also worried. Chaos borns in the jungle never causes him trouble but he knows that it won't be the same outside. Hopefully Pyrzhor's powers are more than enough to deal with them.

Kalderic mutters something under his breath, a saying that his grandpa always used to say

"Survival is proof of strength…”

“What was that?”

“Hm? What is it?”

“What you just said”

“Oh that...just something my grandpa used to say. ‘Survival is proof of strength’. Even if you lose the battle, you can always fight another day. Always strive to come back alive to your loved ones…though now I have no one to come back to haha…”

Pyrzhor felt sadness. Though he didn't know if it was his own sadness or that he could relate to him. He also doesn't have anyone he could come back to. He wonders if he could even die in this state. I'm human of course I can die, Pyrzhor told himself. Those words were beautiful but also felt conflicting. Something in his mind made him feel that real strength was found when there was a clear winner in battle. He theorized that he maybe felt that way because he was probably a warrior in the past. He could only think that because he lived in that greatsword for so long.

“I'm sure your grandpa and I would be good friends if he was still alive”

“Well...he kinda is…”

“Huh?”

“Never mind, let's sleep! Tomorrow is a big day for both of us!”

Kalderic quickly turned his back and pretended to be asleep out of embarrassment. He didn't want to admit that the little fireball looks like his grandpa.

***

The night has settled in and the hunt for the Primal man has begun. The Flashing Steels with their new equipment cross the jungle with the help of a new guide. They didn't have any solid leads of where he might have been located. They started from where they had their first encounter with him. Rednar vaguely remembers that he went in the southwest direction when he spared him and the others. Coincidentally, Quenbar could feel with his Elemental Sense a faint source of El-ergy in that direction.

After walking for a while, they found a spot where there were burn marks on trees. It seems like a forest fire was about to start but got prevented. This was a sign they were in the right direction.

“Hmm…the Primal can really use El-ergy.” Said Rednar.

“Primal?” The guide was confused.

Rednar made a mistake. Aside from the Flashing Steels, no one else knew that the jungle ghost was a Primal, this means a human. If the headmaster knew this, he wouldn't have commissioned them to hunt a man but at least apprehend him. Quenbar gives a mean stare to Rednar.

“Wait, so the target of the commission is a human? Not a chaos born? This is not right! We have to tell the hea-”

“You're not going to say shit! Keep quiet and be the good little guide that you are. Look I will even compensate you”

“B-but this is plain murder! I can't let you hunt a-”

CHOP!

The head of the guide fell on the ground rolling at Rednar's feet. This was the second time a guide has died in their mission though the first time it wasn't their fault.

“Burn it”. Said Quenbar with a cold tone.

Without hesitation, Rednar burns the poor guide corpse. They would put the blame on the Primal man since it was safe to assume that he can use fire El-ergy. Ferinda let out a big sigh and moved on. She's not surprised that her teammate would go to such length just to get their hunting craving satisfied. They continue deeper in the jungle, following the source of El-ergy in the southwest.

Kalderic was dead asleep in his hamac. Meanwhile Pyrzhor had difficulty sleeping, especially tonight. Knowing that tomorrow he will be able to explore LoM after being stuck for so long in his greatsword made him somewhat restless. He floats towards the window to look at the jungle night sky one last time but something caught his attention.

He could feel a faint amount of El-ergy in the northeast. It was the first time he could detect El-ergy from a far distance. His Elemental Sense has been getting more refined as of late. This got him a bit worried and wanted to make sure it was nothing dangerous. He hated the idea of waking Kalderic from his deep slumber but his freedom of movement was limited. He gets closer to Kalderic's head and tries to wake him up by calling his name but he doesn't wake up. He tried raising his voice and it didn't work either.

“I didn't want to this but you give me no choice”

Pyrzor goes under the hamac and breathes little flames. The hamac is slowly getting heated. The uncomfortable heat was burning Kalderic's back and then once the heat couldn't be bearable, he jumped out of his hamac by surprise holding his posterior.

“What's your problem! Trynna roast me or what?!”

“I tried other ways but you wouldn't wake up no matter what! Anyway! We got more pressing matters, well hopefully it's nothing that dangerous…”

“What is it?”

“I felt some El-ergy coming this way. It might be chaos borns or another Elemantalist.”

“Did ya really wake me up for that? It's probably the residents in the town nearby, they are patrolling the jungle, nothing crazy.”

“Oh...I wasn't aware there was a town nearby but now that you say it, I've been feeling some El-ergy more towards the north these past couple days. Seems like my Elemental Sense is getting better.”

“Anyway, don't wake me up for something like that. Even if they were chaos borns, they wouldn't find me. I've been living here for years, no problem.”

It might have been true that until now, nobody has found Kalderic location because Primals don't have El-ergy flowing within them but now that he's living with Pyrzhor, a fireball Elemantalist, something or someone that has a good Elemental Sense would be able to detect him. Knowing this, Pyrzhor was getting worried.

The Flashing Steel were making dangerous progress. The source of El-ergy was getting stronger as they got deeper in the jungle.

Quenbar pulls out from his belt his two new blades ready for combat. Ferinda and Rednar does the same.

“What a shame Aris has still not fully recovered yet. I'm sure he would be thrilled to hunt this Primal man with us.” Said Rednar.

“Knowing him he wouldn't since there is no money involved in this commission. This is literally free larbord…” Said Ferinda with an annoyed tone.

They arrived at a spot where the El-ergy felt stronger. Their target was definitely here or at least very close. Quenbar closes his eyes to focus so he could pin point the exact location of the El-ergy. A couple seconds passed and he found it. Quenbar pointed his weapon towards a tree and made eye contact with Rednar, giving him signal to shoot it. Rednar summons fire daggers and launches them at the tree. Kalderic's tree hut catches fire.

In the hut, things were getting hot. Luckily Pyrzhor already warned Kalderic beforehand and they were ready to attack. They just didn't expect to get attacked first. Kalderic quickly took his makeshift bag that had all his provisions for his journey and put it on his back. He runs to the opposite side of the fire and jumps through the window with Pyrzhor following him.

As they were about to land, they spotted three individuals that looked familiar to Kalderic. The three of them also spotted him and his companion.

Ferinda took the initiative and ran at full speed towards a tree and used it as a platform to leap towards him. She pointed her new sting blade that emanates steel El-ergy ready to pierce him.

“HARDEN PIERCE!”

Kalderic quickly protected himself with the greatsword which surprised Ferinda. She could see he had something in his hand but she wasn't expecting such a big weapon. Taking a quick look at it, she could tell this weapon wouldn't last long. It was all rusty, so there was no way it would last long in battle. Also she was wondering what was that fireball that was following him. It wasn't with him last time.

Blocking the attack knocks back Kalderic mid air and without giving him a moment to relax, Quenbar was already chasing him ready to chop the young man's head

“SHARPENING!”

Quenbar's blade glows temporarily with steel El-ergy and the next second he furiously does a cross slash attack with his dual blades. Unlike last time, his attack wasn't sloppy. It was precise and faster.

Kalderic managed to block it but he could feel that his opponent was going for the kill. While he was resisting the attack he took a good look at the attacker's face and recognized it.

“You're the guy from the other day! What are ya doing here?”

“I'm here for your head! I'm going to kill you!”

“Huh? Why?”

He managed to push Quenbar back and they continued to exchange swords blows. Quenbar uses his steel elemental technique, ‘sharpening’, which raises his attack power and on the side Rednar uses the opportunity to shoot fire daggers.

Pyrzhor sensing both elemental techniques incoming, warns Kalderic. It was time for Kalderic to also use an elemental technique as well

“Pyrzhor use Fire Blades! Launch half of them towards that guy and the other half towards the guy in front of me!”

“Got it!”

At his command, a dozen fire swords were summoned around Kalderic. Half of them flew towards Quenbar which caught him off guard, it was a direct hit. The other half went towards Rednar. Pyrzhor's fire blades El-ergy were stronger and so the daggers blew up in contact with it. Rednar managed to avoid the explosion on time unlike Quenbar.

Ferinda takes over Quenbar and proceeds to attack Kalderic doing fast lunging attacks. He was barely able to dodge them.

Kalderic was experimenting for the first time with what is like fighting Elemantalist at their full strength and it wasn't easy. Ferinda suddenly lowered her body and attempted to swoop her foot to make him stumble.

Noticing that dirty tactic, he jumps avoiding her but what he didn't expect was that she was aiming for this exact reaction. Now, he wouldn't be able to dodge her next.

“SHE GOING TO STAB YOU!” Shouted Pyrzhor

As he said that, Ferinda used her elemental technique which reinforced the tip on an object.

“HARDEN PIERCE!”

He wouldn't have time to block this attack so instead, he stabbed the greatsword on the ground and used the handle to support himself as if he's doing a handstand. He slightly arcs his body to the side making Ferinda's attack just grazing scratch him.

“What the heck?!” Exclaimed Ferinda

Swiftly, he swings his body downward, giving a powerful kick that Ferinda blocks with her arms and followed by another kick making her roll on the ground.

“Woah boy! You can't attack a lady like that”

“Oh yeah? And just let her stab me?”

“No but you could have held back. Woman a fragile flowers”

“Shut up! If I hold back I will probably die here and ya won't be able to find your snowy landscape.”

Ferinda's arms were in pain and could barely hold her sting blades.

“He's holding back huh? Here I feel like my bones are about to be shattered…” Ferinda said under her breath.

While they were arguing, Quenbar and Rednar teamed up. They quickly understood that a one against one won't work against him.

Kalderic takes out the greatsword from the ground and charges towards Rednar, which surprises him. They exchange sword blows and with each blow, Rednar could notice that his sword was slightly getting damaged but not only that, after a closer look at Kalderic's weapon, he could tell it looked familiar for some reason.

Quenbar came from behind and attempted to strike him. Kalderic notices his presence and parries him. Both of them relentlessly attacked him back to back. His skill with the greatsword and physical prowess were nothing to scoff at. Being able to wield such a heavy looking weapon like it was your average sword required a lot of strength training. This made Quenbar more frustrated and his attacks became more ferocious. His blades shined and used them to do a spin attack. Kalderic blocks it and he could tell that his opponent's weapons were lighter than his previous one. If those were the previous silver blades from the other day, he would probably have been knocked back.

He tries to push him back but then Rednar summons at point blank range from the palm of his hand a fireball. He didn't have time to react and take the flashing explosion right in his face. Quenbar was also in that explosion but he protected himself right on time knowing Rednar tactics require him to sometimes do collateral damage.

Jumping out of the smoke protecting his face, Kalderic lost possession of the greatsword.

“Dang it! Fighting a bunch of Elemantalist is annoying! A group of animals or chaos borns doesn't give me such problems.”

“Well, you will have to get used to it! The world is full of Elemantalist. Think of this as a test to see if you are ready to leave the jungle.”

Pyrzhor was right. Kalderic has spent all his life in that jungle and so he got used to opponents that have animalistic behaviors. Fighting a human Elemantalist at their prime, it was a first. Starting tonight, he would need to study new patterns and behaviors to give himself a better chance to survive against Elemantalist. It was annoying for him to redo pretty much everything he did when he first studied how to hunt animals.

Ferinda noticed something odd about the Primal and the talking fireball. Earlier when they summoned the fire swords, the El-ergy she felt at that moment didn't come from the Primal man but the fireball. She wonders if there might be a weak link somewhere

“He doesn't have his greatsword anymore! Let's finish him!” Shouted Rednar.

She quickly appeared in front of Kalderic and she was going to stab him with her elemental technique. Something was odd. Even though her weapon was going towards him, he didn't feel the bloodlust aimed at him. It was a trap. She was actually aiming for Pyrzhor.

Kalderic noticed her intent and intervened with his arm. Because of the elemental technique, his bicep muscle and bone got blown from the inside.

“Your arm!” Shouted Pyrzhor.

“Urg! Not a big deal! I had worse!”

Enduring the pain, with his other arm, he punched her in the abdomen. Then grabs her collar and throws her in the air. He takes out the sting blade from his limping right arm and with a powerful throw, it pierces right through her leg. She crashed on the ground with an injured leg, unable to stand up.

Without a moment's delay, he ran towards the greatsword but Quenbar was standing in his way.

“Don't even think about it, primate!”

“Pyrzhor! Fire blades!”

Pyrzhor summoned the fire blades around Kalderic but something was different. Those weren't blades but simple fireballs and small ones at that.

“What are those? This ain't what I ask”

“I can't make exactly what you want if you don't have direct contact with my greatsword.”

“Ya never told me that before!”

Pyrzhor thought it was obvious that if he used his El-ergy without having someone handling his weapon, he wouldn't be able to use it to his full potential. It was already a surprise to him that he can manifest El-ergy by himself. Until today all he was only able to do was to release a high level of heat.

“Whatever! Just launch them at him!”

At his command he launched the fireballs towards Quenbar who had no struggle to cut them with his blades. Though, he didn't notice that it was slowly melting due to the heat.

Face to face, Kalderic throws punches with his uninjured arm. His punch was strong enough to break some parts of Quenbar's new armor, almost leaving him defenseless. This didn't stop him from relentlessly attacking the young Primal man.

Kalderic manage to avoid all fatal blows, leaving just scratches on his body

“Tch! Ya a persistent one aren't ya!”

“I'm going to get your head no matter what, primate!”

“Pyrzhor, now!”

At point blank range Pyrzord summons a couple of fireballs that blow up right between Kalderic and Quenbar. He took note of Rednar's little tactic from earlier. Now that they had distance between them, Kalderic used this opportunity to go grab the greatsword but then…

“EL-ERGY ENHANCEMENT!”

Before Kalderic could take back the crimson weapon, something on fire almost cut his hand. It was the sword of Rednar that became a fire cutting sword.

“BLAZE BLADE!”

“What the-”

This was the elemental technique that Rednar was hiding from Ferinda earlier today. The reason why he never used such powerful technique before, was because the flame would melt the sword. Which would be dangerous on a hunt. The sword he was using was made from a special resource found in the Tropazion kingdom that could handle heat. It was hard and pricey to forge a sword like this back in the Revoltwing kingdom.

Rednar swings his brand new fire sword towards Kalderic who was panicking. It's the first time he sees such a thing possible. A flame that was solid to cut through things. He steps back to avoid getting burned. Quenbar appears right behind. Feeling his bloodlust, Kalderic smoothly pivots behind Quenbar and pushes him towards Rednar with a powerful kick that destroys the back of his armor. He took this opportunity to leap towards the greatsword like a wild cat. He retrieves it and at the same time, he gets hit by a bunch of fiery daggers which explode on contact. He tanks the explosion and rolls on the ground to kill the fire burning his long hair.

“Are you alright?!” Panicked Pyrzhor

“Yeah! yeah! It stings but nothing that I can't handle. Anyway Pyrzhor I think I can see it now”

“See what?”

“That!”

Kalderic points at Rednar's fire sword and Pyrzhor instantly understands what he meant. All of a sudden, all the loud noises and chaos in Kalderic thoughts went quiet. His mind went from a chaotic jungle to blazing hell. From that hell a fire blade emerges. The blade became bright as if it found new life. Feeling all of that, Pyrzhor's flames became brighter and more hot. He suddenly gets absorbed by the crimson greatsword. In an instant the blade surged furious flames like an erupting volcano. He successfully recreated the technique he used to kill the giant snake.

“Woah…” Said Kalderic amaze by his newfound technique.

Both Quenbar and Rednar were in shock. The level of El-ergy emanating from the greatsword is higher than the both of them combine but this didn't stop them from wanting to get his head.

“He...he copied me! HOW A DAMN PRIMATE IS ABLE TO DO THIS?!”

"SHUT UP RED! LET'S JUST KILL HIM ALREADY! HE WON'T BE ABLE TO DO MUCH WITH ONLY ONE ARM!”

They were both panicking and without any strategy, they both charged towards him which looked like a pincer attack formation. Kalderic took a deep breath and closed his eyes. For a moment things slowed down around him. He could clearly tell which one of them was going to strike first. With the explosive strength of his legs, Kalderic dashes towards Rednar. Caught off guard, Rednar quickly blocks Kalderic's blade. He was only able to use one arm and Rednar still couldn't rival the Primal man's strength.

Kalderic put more strength in his next blow which broke Rednar's fire sword. Unarmed, Kalderic finishes him by doing a flurry of blazing slashes which knocks him out instantly.

Once done he goes towards Quenbar. He swung his flaming greatsword at Quenbar and his dual blades were slowly melting from the intense heat.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?!” Shouted Quenbar.

“I'm the man who will slay the thirteenth Fantasm Beast!”

“WHAT?!”

With a swing of his greatsword, he slashed through Quenbar's dual blades, leaving behind him a trail of flames. A giant tornado of flames that could be visible from Palmarina burns Quenbar. He was barely alive.

All the Flashing Steels were taken down. It was tiring but this battle taught him a lot about Elemantalist. After calming down, the crimson greatsword turned back to its original state and Pyrzhor got out of it. The trees and bushes around them caught fire. This time there was no way he could prevent a forest fire. At this moment, Kalderic realized how fearsome Pyrzhor's powers are. All he can do now was leaving the jungle earlier than intended

“We have to leave the jungle now!” Exclaimed Pyrzhor

“What about them?”

“Are you strong enough to bring them out of there?”

Without answering Kalderic puts the handle of the greatsword in his mouth and grabs the three unconscious Elemantalis by their collar to drag them out of the forest fire.

“Don't put my greatsword in your mouth!” Snapped Pyrzhor

Kalderic didn't bother to replicate and kept moving towards Palmarina.

The fire was starting to spread further in the jungle and the Elemental Guardians and Fantasm Hunters from Palmarina were sent to deal with it by the headmaster. Everyone who was still awake tonight saw that fire tornado which caused panic in town.

***

The sun rose on Palmarina. Thanks to the help of the Elemental guardians and the Fantasm hunters, the fire didn't reach the town but the damage was quite visible. The once lush green and fresh air of the jungle has been replaced by burnt vegetation and ashes floating in the air.

The Flashing Steels were found unconscious in a part of the jungle that wasn't affected by the fire fortunately. Ferinda had a serious injury in her leg which would leave her unable to walk for a while. Rednar had burning scars all over his body and Quenbar had it the worst.

His whole body was burnt and barely alive. They were sent once more to the clinic for urgent healing but it seems like the doctors of the town weren't well equipped for Quenbar's situation.all they could do was first aid and send him to a city with better medical equipment.

As for Kalderic and Pyrzhor, they already left the jungle. They used the commotion of last night to go through the gates that lead outside of Palmarina. With a limping arm and a crimson greatsword that a fireball once resided in, he took his first step outside the jungle. His adventure across LoM has begun.