54 Chapter 54 Ignite Fire (1/2)
The second day of travel, was going to be exciting! After the disappointments from the day before, Joseph had decided he was going to start working on Ignite Fire. Being only 7, and probably looking 5 or 6, hadn't helped him any when it came to talking to the adults around him about serious things. With this, he would have something to back his talk up with, if things ever went south. This would at least give him a fighting chance. Food spells didn't really offer much when a fight broke out.
However, no sooner had he started, he fell into a trance.
Looking around, he found himself in that place again. The rune for FOOD was off to the side and in front of him was the rune for FIRE. The other runes he knew were visible in the distance, but there were still many more hiding amidst the fog.
Thinking about how Selena embraced the fire, he began to circulate the mana inside of himself to form the rune in front of him. He was trying to interact with FIRE on a deeper level.
Suddenly, he was in a different place. The world was flames and fire. It was more than a world of fire, it was an existence; pure energy. Flames weren't just crude fire, they were energy. There was a connection between FIRE and another rune he thought was LIGHT, but it was ironically in the dark.
He could feel that they were closely related, and thinking about that, he became aware of the other elemental runes drawing closer. This place was like bathing on the sun. Somewhere out there was another rune. He could sense it but wasn't sure what it was. It controlled harnessing energy so FIRE understands it, but it doesn't draw closer like LIGHT.
Joseph was losing the sensation of a body as he moved and flitted among the fire energy. Nothing was supposed to be here but fire. And then, Selena was there. He could tell it was her, because of the energy she put off. It was slightly different from everything else.
”Little Joseph, you shouldn't be here. You are just beginning to understand. If you stay here, you will lose yourself. Because of your guidance earlier, I have progressed much on my own journey. Let me lead you out of here before you are consumed.”
Joseph opened his eyes and saw Stella frozen, looking down at him. Lifting his head, he saw that he was naked in a bath tub.
”Um, you've been out for 3 days… your body still works, err. Oh!” She finally turned around and closed the curtain on him. ”If you're awake, you can clean yourself up!”
Joseph realized what she meant and blushed. If he had been out for days, then he must still have gone to the bathroom! EWWW!
Once he was out of the bath, wrapped in a warm bath robe, he found a spread of food on his table waiting for him. Stella refused to make eye contact as she placed his gla.s.s down last and then leaved the room. He knew she would deal with the tub in a bit, but probably needed to let people know he was awake.
If he was out for 3 days, they should be almost to the border! He checked on his progress and was floored. When he entered the trance, his training on IGNITE FIRE was at 6%, and now it was 86%! He began to scarf down the food as he thought about how productive he had been. If Selena hadn't shown up when she had, he might have lost himself, but he still kind of wished she had waited a few more minutes, so that he could have gotten even closer to completing it.
There might even be a chance he could finish it and start on CREATE FIRE before they ever got to the north. Thinking about the realm of fire, that he had just visited, he found himself wondered about Selena. It was a good thing she had shown up when she had. He was pretty sure he wouldn't have been able to come out on his own. And he really wasn't sure what would have happened if someone had tried to wake him with his mind and possibly soul, were elsewhere. He looked forward to going that deep again, but only with Selena around. He didn't want to lose himself without someone to help him get out.
After resting the rest of that day, he was ready to start reading through all of the reports the next morning. Daniel was itching to see him, and was there right at dawn, while he enjoyed a delicious breakfast.
”There's no towns up here, only a few houses built by tax-evaders. Walter has gone to see his family and to see what is going on, because none of the towns we've gone through have let us trade or buy supplies from them.”
”I thought we had supplies.”
”We did, but we had also planned to buy some along the way. The towns we rode through, wouldn't even give us the time of day. They insisted we keep moving. Because you were occupied, we opted to keep going, rather than cause a fit.”