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The obsidian floor quaked again. The salamander's ashes hadn't even cooled before three new forms rose from the lava channels—this time smaller, faster fire beasts, their bodies crackling with elemental sparks. They circled the party like hunting dogs, hissing with molten teeth.
Anne flinched, clutching her summoning tome tighter. "Three at once…"
"Stay calm," Sorrel said, his voice steady, staff glowing aqua-blue. "We've already proven we can handle one. We just need to keep the formation tight."
But Nico wasn't listening. His flames, which normally burned in wild, uncontrolled bursts, suddenly shifted. They shimmered faintly with a deeper hue—not just red-orange, but with streaks of golden-white, resonating faint spiritual energy.
Oliver blinked. That's… different.
Even Aether tilted his head, narrowing his eyes. "That's not ordinary flame Vita."
Nico flexed his hands, laughing under his breath. "Heh. Guess I leveled up." The flames condensed around him—not chaotic, but refined, almost alive, swirling in patterns instead of raw explosions.
The three fire beasts lunged.
"{Attack!}" Nico shouted again, but this time his strike wasn't reckless—it was precise, devastating. A single punch unleashed a wave of golden fire, blasting one beast to cinders instantly.
Oliver rushed in beside him, blade striking cleanly as Nico's flames curved around him, almost like the fire was protecting Oliver rather than consuming him.
"His fire's… resonating with his spirit," Sorrel muttered, awed. "That's no simple spell—that's a spiritual flame awakening."
Anne's summon burst forward—an armored wolf wreathed in mist—slamming into another beast. Garrick's shield intercepted the last one, molten claws screeching across metal.
"Zack, threads!" Oliver shouted.
Already moving, Zack's invisible cords lashed out, coiling around the beast Garrick was holding off. "Now."
"On it!" Oliver darted in, his blade piercing the bound creature's chest just as Nico's flames surged to finish it off.
The battlefield lit up in a brief inferno, and then silence.
The last embers flickered out.
Nico stood in the center of the arena, flames dancing in golden spirals around his arms. His breathing was heavy, but his grin was unstoppable. "Did you see that? Did you see that!?"
Oliver's eyes lingered on him—half amazed, half wary. That power… it's not just fire Vita anymore. It's something beyond.
Sorrel frowned thoughtfully. "Resonance with spirit like that… usually takes years, decades even. Nico shouldn't have been able to…"
"Shouldn't," Aether cut in, his voice cool, "but did."
The obsidian walls shifted again. A massive stone door rumbled open at the far end of the arena—revealing the path deeper into the furnace trial.
Zack melted back into the shadows. "Looks like we passed phase two."
But Oliver couldn't shake the feeling: Nico's flames weren't just evolving… they were awakening into something dangerous, something that could change the balance of their entire party.
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