[You've obtained 1 Spark.]
"Spark? What's that?"
[Spark is the currency dropped by creatures you hunt. If you have 10 Sparks, you can get a Crown, which is the currency of Crownhill.]
"So, how many Crowns can I get for 10 Sparks?"
[10 Sparks equals 1 Crown.]
"That's such a rip-off! Can't you make it 2?" he said, but received no response. "Alright, alright. You win, tough negotiator. What exactly are you anyway? It's weird having a girl living inside my head."
He received no response.
"Well... Let me learn how to throw this Fire Bolt," he said and rolled up the sleeves of his torn t-shirt, closing his eyes.
"Concentrate... Spark... Growing... Becoming a ball... Coming from my arms into my palm, yes... Then... Then what happens?" he said and opened his eyes.
In the palm of his hand, a Fire Bolt the size of his palm had appeared, remaining stationary. He raised his hand and swung it forward, but no matter how much he swung his hands, it wouldn't separate from his hand, as if it were stuck.
New Quest: [Learn How To Throw Fire Bolt]
Your clumsiness makes everyone who sees it smile. How hard can it be to throw a Fire Bolt?
Objective: Learn How To Throw Fire Bolt 0/1.
Reward: Ability to Throw Fire Bolts
"What kind of quest is this? Why am I getting this as a reward! Help me instead of giving me pointless quests!"
He received no response.
"Fine, voice in my head, don't help if you don't want to. I'll figure it out myself!"
He closed his eyelids. Took a deep breath. A second breath. A third breath. He felt his mind focusing. He could feel the presence of the Fire Boltin his palm more clearly now. Its heat was touching his skin but didn't hurt. Strangely, he felt the fire was a part of him.
"Maybe the problem is this," he thought, "I see it as a part of me. Maybe I need to... let it go?"
He began to imagine the Fire Boltin his hand falling. It's slipping through his fingers, falling downward with gravity, meeting the ground...
Suddenly, he felt the heat in his palm diminishing. He opened his eyes. The Fire Bolt had slipped through his fingers and started to fall. His mouth hung open in momentary surprise. He had done it! Or he was doing it... The Fire Bolt seemed suspended in the air, its falling speed was extremely slow.
"Come on, fall already," he muttered, as if trying to convince the Fire Bolt.
The Fire Bolt, as if obeying his words, suddenly accelerated and fell right next to his foot. The small explosion sound and bright light startled him so much that he reflexively jumped back. His heart was racing.
"Wow!" he shouted. "I really did it! I really threw a Fire Bolt!"
But this wasn't exactly 'throwing,' was it? More like... dropping? Tossing? Whatever it was called, at least he'd managed to separate the Fire Bolt from his hand. This was a start.
"Okay, let's try again," he said and closed his eyes. It was easier this time. He felt the heat gathering in his palm. He opened his eyes and saw another Fire Bolt, seemingly dancing in his hand.
"This time I'll try to really throw it," he said to himself. "One, two, three!"
He swung his hand but again the Fire Bolt stuck. It was still in his palm. He frowned.
"Maybe... not just dropping, but to really throw it requires a different technique?"
He began to think about how to control the fire. Perhaps he should view the fire in his palm as a weapon, just as he had visualized it in his mind. As a physical extension of the spell. He deepened his concentration, transforming the Fire Bolt in his mind into a projectile, a throwable object.
"Now," he whispered. He swung his hand forward, but this time he visualized the target. He wanted the Fire Bolt to fly from his palm and hit the tree in front of him, he saw it in his mind, felt it.
This time, the heat in his palm suddenly cut off. The Fire Bolt shot forward rapidly from his hand, but it had deviated from the target, passing by the tree and diving into the bushes. A small explosion and the smoke that followed showed that the bushes had caught fire.
"Fuck!" he shouted and ran toward the bushes. "I started a fire!"
He looked around desperately to extinguish the fire. There was no water source nearby. What could he do? Maybe there was another spell, a water spell? Maybe...
[Summon Water ability unlocked. You can now summon up to 1 liter of water.]
"What?!" he exclaimed. "I can summon water now? How do I do it, help me! Ah... what was it... aha! How to use Summon Water."
[Visualize cool, clear water in your mind. Picture it as a flowing stream, calm and serene. Feel the coolness gathering in your center, then flowing outward. Let it travel through your body to your arms, and finally collecting in your palms, forming a perfect sphere of water.]
He smiled and decided to try the water spell this time. He closed his eyes and tried to follow the instructions. In his mind, he visualized a cool, clear stream of water. It was flowing like a calm and peaceful creek. He felt the coolness gathering in his center, then flowing outward. It was traveling from his body to his arms but instead of collecting in his palms... it was moving toward his fingertips.
Suddenly, thin streams of water began to shoot from his fingertips. Water coming out of all five fingers simultaneously formed a small rainbow in the air. He looked at his hands in surprise.
"This wasn't what I planned," he muttered, "but it turned out much cooler! Come on, put it out!" he muttered and extended his hands toward the bushes.
The water shooting from his palms aimed directly at the flames. Accompanied by steam and sizzling sounds, the flames were extinguished, leaving only wet and slightly burned bushes.
He smiled to himself. "I can both start fires and put them out. Still, it's better if I don't start them."
He created a new Fire Bolt in his hand and this time more consciously visualized the target: the trunk of the tree in front of him. He swung his hand and the Fire Bolthit its target perfectly. It left a small burn mark on the tree trunk but didn't start a fire.
"Better," he said to himself, smiling slightly. "I'm learning to control it."
The key to throwing a Fire Bolt was to clearly visualize the target in his mind and to want the spell to go to that target. It seemed simple but required concentration. He made a few more attempts, each time choosing different targets: a rock, another tree, a hole in the ground. His accuracy was improving with each attempt. But he needed to concentrate in his mind.
Quest Completed: [Learn How To Throw Fire Bolt]
You can now throw Fire Bolts.
"Yes. Yes I can now."
Just then, the sounds Eiden made in the forest—the impact of Fire Bolts, the ignition of bushes, and his own excited shouts—attracted unexpected visitors. Rustling began to come from among the trees.
"Now what?" he muttered and looked around carefully.
Four small creatures appeared from behind the bushes. At first glance, they resembled innocent squirrels, but Eiden knew very well what they were.
"You again!" Eiden shouted. He took a step back, but even this movement was enough to trigger the aggressive creatures.
The lead squirrel let out a threatening scream—much more savage than a normal squirrel could make, almost resembling a growl—and suddenly jumped at Eiden.
"Whoa!" he shouted as he leaped to the side, seeing the squirrel's jaw miss the hem of his pants.
He quickly formed a Fire Boltand threw it at the nearest squirrel. The Fire Bolt passed by the squirrel, missing. He hastily began preparing a second Fire Bolt.
"Okay, stay calm," he said to himself. "Concentrate, visualize the target..."
Meanwhile, the other three squirrels had also taken attack positions.
"I need to make a plan," Eiden thought. The squirrels were very fast and coming from all directions. He considered climbing a tree, but remembered that squirrels were much better at climbing than he was.
After a brief moment, he developed a tactic: "I should separate them instead of grouping them together. And I need to stay in motion."
When the second squirrel attacked, Eiden quickly dodged to the side and threw a Fire Bolt. This time it hit. The squirrel let out a pain-filled scream and was thrown back several meters.
You have defeated [Angry Squirrel]. Defeat lesser monsters 2/10.
"It's working!" he said, his confidence growing. Immediately afterward, he began running around a tree to separate the squirrels pursuing him.
The second squirrel, with an unexpected move, emerged from the other side of the tree and jumped onto Eiden's leg. Its sharp teeth tore through his pants and sank into his skin.
"Aaah!" he cried out in pain. "Little monster!"
He tried as best he could to remove the squirrel from his leg, and meanwhile, the fourth squirrel also began its attack. Eiden quickly threw himself to the ground, rolled, and got up with the squirrel still attached to his leg and started running.
With the squirrel still clinging to his leg, he threw a Fire Bolt at it with one hand. The Fire Bolt hit the squirrel, and the creature fell to the ground with a squeal.
You have defeated [Angry Squirrel]. Defeat lesser monsters 3/10.
The other squirrels were still in pursuit. Eiden decided to run toward an open area. There was more room to maneuver here. As he ran, he threw Fire Bolts behind him, but they all missed. It was difficult to aim while running.
"Kite, kite," he muttered to himself, using a term he remembered from games. He was trying to drag the creatures along behind him and hit them from a safe distance.
When he reached the open area, he suddenly stopped and turned. The squirrels pursuing him were still coming, but now there was some distance between them. He focused on the squirrel running in front and threw another Fire Bolt. Direct hit.
You have defeated [Angry Squirrel]. Defeat lesser monsters 4/10.
The squirrel became motionless. Eiden let out a victory cry, but he had no time to celebrate. The last squirrel was still circling around him.
"One by one," he said to himself. "Not all at once, one by one."
The last squirrel, with a surprising move, suddenly began to flee into the trees.
"Oh no, you don't!" Eiden shouted and ran after it. Running through the bushes, he tried not to lose track of the squirrel. When he got a momentary line of sight, he threw one final Fire Bolt and hit the squirrel right in the back.
You have defeated [Angry Squirrel]. Defeat lesser monsters 5/10.
When the last squirrel fell, Eiden took a deep breath and dropped to his knees. His heart was beating rapidly, and he was out of breath.
[Combat Finished.]
[Items Gained: 4 Spark]
"Wow," he said when he saw he had earned Spark.
He looked at the bite mark on his leg. It was bleeding, but not very deep. He used his water to clean the wound and looked around.
"Alright," he said to himself. "What should I do now?"