Silence…
Xue Ren had no words to adequately describe what he was feeling right now.
However, after a few seconds of staring off into space, he finally regained enough of his bearings to say, "What's in it for you? If you've given something as broken as this to me, then there must be a catch."
[Yep, there is!] Fireball replied as if it were obvious. [From this moment onward, you must put your all into evolving your Fireball. If you fail to live up to the expectations that have been placed on you, the System will be stripped from you and you'll lose everything that it helped you obtain!]
"...That's it…?"
[Yep!] replied Fireball. [Why? What else were you expecting? Did you think I was going to ask for your soul or something??]
"...."
[You actually thought that!?] Fireball showed genuine astonishment. [You really are a very unique human, Destined Host.]
"I guess so…" Xue Ren said while looking at his hands.
[Ho? If you're itching to try out the functions of your System, then feel free to go right on ahead. However, don't be too disappointed when the results end up being not quite what you expected.]
"Hmm?"
Wishing to understand what it was talking about, Xue Ren followed the System's instructions and tried casting |Fireball| by saying it aloud and sticking out his hand.
|Fireball|
He was expecting a decently-sized ball of flames to burst out of his palm and scorch the area. But unfortunately…
*Sizzlee…*
What couldn't even match the intensity of a lighter's flame appeared in front of Xue Ren's palm in the form of a blueberry-sized sphere of fire. It lasted not even half a second before dissipating into nothing.
"...."
Xue Ren couldn't believe that, at the cost of being unable to use any other Skill or Energy Technique, this was what he got.
"This underdog story will be a turbulent one…" He took on the air of an expert that had experienced all Eras and seen everything. "Truly turbulent indeed."
[I told you not to place your hopes too high, Destined Host. But fret not, for this is why proficiency exists!]
[Skill 'Fireball' proficiency increased by 0.000001%!]
[Normally, it would take ages to go anywhere with any Skill or whatnot, but what separates you from the rest, Destined Host?]
"...Inexhaustible Spiritual Energy…"
[That's right!] replied Fireball. [Inexhaustible Spiritual Energy, and with it, nothing is impossible so long as you set your mind towards it!]
Almost right away, Xue Ren realized the potential of a combination like this one.
"It looks like I found my new training regimen," he stated as he stuck out his pointer finger in a random direction. "|Fireball|"
*Sizzlee…*
[Skill 'Fireball' proficiency increased by 0.000001%!]
Again!
|Fireball|
[Skill 'Fireball' proficiency increased by 0.000001%!]
Again!
|Fireball|
[Skill 'Fireball' proficiency increased by 0.000001%!]
|Fireball|
|Fireball|
|Fireball|
[Skill 'Fireball' proficiency increased by 0.000002%!]
Again!!
|Fireball| X10
[Skill 'Fireball' proficiency increased by 0.000003%!]
|Fireball|
[Skill 'Fireball' proficiency increased by 0.000003%!]
|Fireball|
[Skill 'Fireball' proficiency increased by 0.000003%!]
|Fireball|
[Skill 'Fireball' proficiency increased by 0.000003%!]
Time passed without pause, and deep within the woods outside the Family Home of two Bluemoon Sect Core Elders, a young, exquisitely handsome man trained his |Fireball|. He did so without stopping, his Spiritual Energy seemingly a bottomless reservoir.
— Half a week later —
|Fireball|
BOOM!
A small explosion sounded as a ball of flames a meter in width collided with an oak tree. A good chunk of the tree was blasted to bits, urging a little satisfaction to surge up within the one who shot the Fireball out.
*Ding!*
[Skill 'Fireball' proficiency increased by 0.0004%!]
[Skill 'Fireball' proficiency has reached 100%!]
[Acquired 10 Evolution Points (EP) from completely mastering your 'Fireball' Skill!]
[Evolution Gauge (0%) → (100%)]
[Commencing the evolution of your Primary |Fireball| to the next Tier!]
[Evolution complete in… 5… 2… 1!]
[Primary |Fireball| has advanced from the Dark Orange Tier to the Solid Orange Tier!]
[The Range and Damage of all Skills branched from Primary |Fireball| have multiplied by X2!]
[Unlocked Skills: Fireball Arrow (Medium-range), Large Fireball (SA/AoE)]
"A Fireball Arrow…?" Xue Ren questioned. "That doesn't make any sense… How can a Fireball possibly be an Arrow?"
[Try it out and see.]
Doing just that, Xue Ren recited |Fireball Arrow| inside his head.
SHA…
A small spur of fire no wider and longer than a #2 pencil emerged from his hand. It dispersed before being able to hit anything, but Xue Ren didn't need it to do that to figure out how it worked.
[Skill 'Fireball Arrow' proficiency increased by 0.0000001%!]
"A bunch of tiny Fireballs glued together, each making use of combustion to propel the ones in front forward, thus creating an action resembling a flying arrow," he said while unfocusing his Divine Sense on the zoom-in function. "How interesting…"
[The higher the Tier of your Primary |Fireball|, the smaller the glued-together Fireballs can become, allowing for more complicated diversity.]
[For now, each individual Fireball can be no larger than a thumbnail. However, later on, even atoms won't be the limit.]
"Why does this actually make sense…?"
— Next time on Spamming Fireball: When FIREBALL and Logic come together! —