Soul Blaze [Progressive fantasy | No LitRPG]

***

Slowly, signs of approaching autumn could be noticed. First, the sun rose later and set earlier, then some trees and bushes began to turn yellow. The days were no longer so hot, and rain began to fall more often. The village inhabitants paid more attention to how fruits and vegetables were ripening or when livestock gave birth to their young. Although a calendar with 12 months existed in Illari culture, people here didn't tend to rely on it much, perhaps only to remember dates for festivities.

It's getting cooler inside too... Soon I'll have to start wearing socks... Tao rubbed one bare foot against the other.

Until now, he hadn't been sick much—whether it was thanks to natural immunity, his mother's knowledge of medicinal herbs, or something magical wasn't clear. But a runny nose existed in this world, too. Sniffling and sneezing would create unnecessary noise when he was training.

Tonight was easier, though, as rain pattered against the roof, providing additional cover for Tao's nighttime training. Father and Sigi were away, clearing the path in the mountains toward the mines.

Mother and his sisters were sleeping in the parents' bed, farthest from the kitchen.

What more could one want from life, eh? Tao smiled to himself.

As usual, he sat at the table while Eleya stood on the table surface in front of him. Tao knew this not because he was looking at the tiny being—his eyes were closed. Nevertheless, the spirit power that returned provided his mind with information about the form in physical space, about the small, doll-like figure, about the thickness and intensity of her spirit power.

Tao again sent a wave of spirit power toward the table. It returned to reveal in his mind that Eleya had moved a few steps to the boy's left side.

"To the left," he whispered.

The next wave revealed that Eleya had moved away from the boy.

"Farther from me."

The next wave showed that Eleya hadn't moved but had become taller and thinner.

"You raised your arms up?" Tao asked uncertainly.

"Correct... And now?"

The boy sent spirit power again, but didn't sense the forest spirit at all. He repeated the action at a wider angle and larger radius. He sensed something farther away, outside the kitchen, below ground level, but it was something else and barely perceptible, most likely some rodent or mole. Opening his eyes, he saw that Eleya had vanished and began looking around the kitchen.

"Where are you?"

"Here." The voice sounded from behind Tao.

Turning around, he saw Eleya's tiny figure standing on the floor a step behind his chair and smiling smugly.

"You know I can't do all directions yet." Tao didn't feel amused.

"So it seems... Still... to be able to do so much in such a short time is already impressive."

Eleya returned to the table with a leap that exceeded her height several times over. She looked at the boy with interest.

"I suppose you really are gifted... well, for a human, that is." Her tone seemed slightly teasing but still conveyed praise.

That was rare. Tao didn't know how to react.

"No, it's only thanks to your guidance, and I still have much to learn." He automatically replied with the polite modesty characteristic of the Japanese.

Eleya's smile grew wider. She snorted.

"Hmp! True, what's true! This ability is wasted at the current level."

She was right. Tao was currently able to send waves at about a 90-degree angle, and its effectiveness faded after about 10 steps. Skilled spirits could avoid it, as Eleya had just demonstrated.

He still felt joyful excitement when thinking about what he had already achieved, about what this skill gave him. He felt as if a new world had opened up to him, and in a way it had.

Finding invisible spirits was Tao's goal. But they weren't the only ones who had spirit power. All living beings—humans, monsters, animals, and even plants—radiated it. Everything alive, physical or spiritual, was subject to this radar technique. Moreover, the more spirit power a being had, the clearer its form was in his mind. Grass, bushes, and insects were only vague shadows in Tao's mind, even if they were next to him or held in his hand, while Eleya formed a clear shape.

No one will be able to hide from me... and I'll know how powerful everyone is! Every time Tao thought about this, shivers ran down his spine.

The boy wanted to immediately continue developing this technique better; the chronic fatigue that had been plaguing him lately seemed to have disappeared.

No, I have something else planned for tonight, Tao reminded himself.

He rose from the table and went to the woodpile, where he found a log with one smooth surface.

"Again you want to do that..." Eleya sighed somewhat reluctantly.

"Just for a moment, I want to compare something to understand what to focus on." Tao quietly answered, placing the log with the smooth side up and crouching beside it.

"Without forming a close connection with the elements, magic is always wasteful, even more so what you're doing..."

"I have a lot of spirit power, don't I?" Tao didn't want to start this discussion again.

He couldn't afford to slack off; he had to master everything.

"Just don't burn your eyebrows..."

"This isn't pine wood. Everything will be fine." He replied somewhat more irritably.

At least I hope so...

Eleya said nothing more; she sat down on the edge of the table to watch and began swinging her legs. Experience taught her it was wiser not to be nearby.

Tao took a deep breath and spread his spirit power to attract oxygen to a point above the log. He tried to do it faster than in previous attempts, but without overexerting himself, maintaining a certain level of spirit power output. Under Eleya's supervision, he had learned to do it more efficiently, wasting less of his spirit power. A large mass of gas didn't naturally want to be compressed into a small sphere, so to avoid wasting power on this process, Tao began the cooling process earlier. Feeling that he could cool the amount being concentrated at the current level, he began to accelerate the collection, spreading slightly more spirit power.

"Carefully, that's approaching the limit..." Eleya quietly warned.

Tao made a small nod and tried to maintain the current level. Instead of using a larger volume of spirit power, he tried to concentrate his attention on how to create better compatibility with oxygen.

The sky was dark due to rain, hiding both moons. He could barely see his outstretched hand in front of him, so he had to rely on the magic working as planned.

That's my spirit power... but unfortunately, too altered to feel... It came to Tao how much easier it would be if information about the magical process were visible in his mind.

Maybe in the future...

He pushed this thought aside and focused all his attention on the three processes—oxygen concentration, compression, and cooling, remembering from previous attempts to keep them in balance. He felt warmth flowing from the concentration point onto his hand's skin and the stuffiness in the air from oxygen deficiency. When a certain amount of spirit power had been expended, Tao stopped the magic and quickly pulled his hand back.

Something hissed onto the surface of the log. The boy quietly invoked light magic with minimal brightness, so it couldn't be noticed from the hallway. On the log's flat surface was a small amount of pale bluish liquid, from which vapor-like fumes rose in a bluish tint. From his position, Tao didn't feel cold, but he didn't risk bringing his face or hand closer.

"Looks like you got lucky this time, eh?" Eleya murmured.

Liquid oxygen, it turned out, was tricky. It froze the surface it was on, but could sometimes also unexpectedly ignite without any warning. Tao had nearly fallen backward in fright when it happened the first time. Fortunately, the flames quickly disappeared, and the only damage was a burn on the log's surface. This most often happened on coniferous wood surfaces, so he guessed that resin was to blame. He was still careful with the logs from leaf wood, too.

Tao understood that ignition could be caused not only by tree resin. Static electricity from his body and many other conditions that didn't immediately occur to him would suffice. He therefore continued to maintain distance while the liquid oxygen continued to evaporate.

The magical light allowed him to see how the wood surface beneath it wrinkled and cracked. When the pale bluish liquid evaporated, it left behind something like miniature white ice crystals. After a longer time, these too melted, becoming water. Then, only the damaged surface will remain.

Tao wasn't in the mood to wait for this to happen or to check how deeply the liquid oxygen had made the log's surface brittle. Today, he had something else in mind.

The boy extinguished the light, carefully set the log aside, and took another one from the woodpile.

"Eleya, could you observe if I will do it faster or slower this time? I'll try something slightly different." He asked, again preparing to invoke magic above the second log.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

"Fine by me."

The process was almost the same. The only difference was that nitrogen was concentrated instead of oxygen. Through persistent efforts, Tao had managed to discover how to bind his spirit power to it and therefore could concentrate and compress it. To influence only one specific element requires mental clarity, focus on a specific sensation when invoking spirit power. In a way, it was like tuning an analog radio to the right frequency. Who knows, maybe each element really had its own frequency...

Concentrate, Tao reminded himself.

He wanted to repeat everything as before so he could make a comparison. Nitrogen was concentrated, compressed, and cooled, just like oxygen. Again, he felt warmth coming from the concentrated point, confirming the magic was working. Sensing he had used an equivalent amount of spirit power as before, Tao let the liquid drop onto the log. Just like before, a hissing sound was heard.

"Well, how was it?" Tao quietly asked.

"I thought it was similar."

"I see..." he nodded and invoked light magic.

Tiny silvery droplets moved across the log's surface, surrounded by vapor that didn't rise higher but flowed over the log's edges and settled on the floor. Tao felt safer now knowing that nitrogen wouldn't ignite, so he brought his hand closer to the log's surface until he felt stinging cold on his skin. The wood continued to quietly crack and make noise until the liquid completely evaporated or was absorbed into the opened cracks. The vapor spread across the floor and slowly disappeared.

"That looks different..." Eleya said thoughtfully.

"That was a different element from air. The one that doesn't ignite."

"Interesting... it also evaporates differently."

"You didn't know that?" Tao looked at the forest spirit with interest.

She puffed her cheeks in annoyance.

"I never needed to learn such crude, wasteful magic. Nor do I need to know all the properties of every basic element in the Material World, you know."

"Well, so you learned something new now, didn't you?" Tao smiled.

Eleya narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, you think that's funny? I still know 100 times more of the Magic and spirit skills than you, human child! Don't think you can look down on me now."

"I'm not looking down... now. Because you're sitting on the table." His smile grew wider.

In response, Eleya puffed up even more and crossed her arms. But then she tilted her head to the side and looked thoughtful.

"It turns out you have wit... who would have thought..." Her yellow eyes seemed to shine brighter.

Tao felt his cheeks become slightly red. He had allowed himself to relax. That was unexpected. On one hand, it wasn't bad... But it could be dangerous.

Concentrate, he reminded himself.

Seeing the boy's face become serious, now Eleya began to smile.

"Ah... please, continue. I'm not angry." She teased.

"Good things in moderation..."

"Uh… I can't believe you choose to be boring." The tiny being sadly shook her head.

"I simply want to use time efficiently."

Eleya still looked displeased, but Tao decided not to pay attention to it and focused his thinking on analyzing the experiment he had just conducted.

He remembered from school days that air is made up of about three-quarters nitrogen, so he had assumed he could concentrate it faster or in larger quantities with the same amount of spirit power. Although he couldn't measure exactly how much oxygen and nitrogen he had liquefied, comparing both logs, the area where the liquid had cracked them looked similar. Eleya said the magic time was also similar.

Perhaps on a larger scale I'd be able to understand better what's advantageous... But with oxygen it will be complicated... Tao thoughtfully rubbed his chin.

"And he's completely ignoring me yet again..." Eleya puffed her cheeks once more.

"I'm just thinking..." Tao sighed and looked at her.

"About what?"

"Which of the air elements to focus attention on going forward. If I just want to freeze, one is safer.

However, the other, which tends to ignite, could be effective against enemies, I think."

The forest spirit just snorted and began swinging her legs again.

"You already know how to make flames with that fire magic, don't you?"

"I suppose you're right..." Tao nodded thoughtfully.

He didn't want to completely give up the possibility of finding a way to usefully employ liquefied oxygen, but decided to focus attention on nitrogen for now. While Tao was still learning skills to control and use liquefied gases, it would be safer. Well, as safe as it could be to work with liquids at incredibly low temperatures…

Noise from the hallway direction made them both immediately stop their conversation and turn their heads. Raindrops continued to beat against the roof, but there was something else.

Concentrating his hearing, Tao could determine movement in the large bedroom and his mother's voice. He quietly began carrying the wood sticks back to the corner with the others to hide evidence of magical activities. Meanwhile, the bedroom door opened, and silvery magical light shone from the hallway. Tao froze in place. Eleya was still sitting on the table's edge, but was also quiet.

It turned out Inya needed to use the privy, and Sofra was helping her.

"Step on the stool, remove the lid, and sit down, all right?" Tao heard his mother instructing his little sister.

The light from the hallway didn't disappear; apparently, the privy door was open, and Sofra would notice if he tried to sneak past her to return to the children's bedroom. He decided to stay in the kitchen, hoping that afterward, mother and Inya would return to the large bedroom.

Tao heard the children's bedroom door quietly open; his mother had decided to check on him.

Shit... he realized he was caught tonight.

It wasn't the first time, and besides, evidence of magic was hidden. Tao just didn't want to lie to his mother again.

Having put Inya to bed, Sofra headed to the kitchen, magical light illuminating her path. Tao quickly sat down at the table, pretending he was sitting there to drink water from a mug, just like previous times. Eleya sighed and jumped down from the table. She quickly moved across the floor and disappeared behind the cupboard in the corner like a small rodent.

Sofra was dressed in her summer nightgown with short sleeves and hem above her knees, which couldn't be too comfortable now that the air temperature was beginning to drop. Like Tao, her feet were also bare.

Mother didn't look angry; she usually wasn't. Nevertheless, Tao felt uneasiness rising in his heart.

"Hello, Mom." He tried to sound innocent.

"You wanted to drink?" Sofra gently asked, approaching closer.

Her gaze studied the kitchen, possibly looking for something unusual.

"Yes."

Sofra stood beside him and observed her son. Tao carefully raised his gaze. The magical light in the mother's hand wasn't bright, but illuminated her face evenly without sharp shadows. Worry was reflected in her eyes. Sofra seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking again.

"Tao, have... have you been sitting here long?"

He furrowed his brow and tried to look confused to show he didn't understand why this question was being asked.

Sofra sighed and stroked his head.

"Your bed is cold, son... That means you haven't been there for quite a while."

Right... Tao bashfully lowered his eyes, realizing he hadn't even thought about that.

Sofra took an oil lamp from the shelf and lit it. The gentle, magical light was replaced by more ordinary flame, which made shadows longer and thicker. She sat down on the bench next to the chair where Tao sat.

"If something's troubling you, you can tell mama, all right?" Sofra gently said and squeezed the boy's shoulder.

"No troubles. I just couldn't sleep."

"I see... Maybe you're having bad dreams?"

Tao controlled his face so as not to show a grimace. Sometimes he found himself in his old high school during exams or in a university, taking entrance exams, and discovered with horror that he was completely unprepared and couldn't do anything right. He always felt strong relief when, after waking up, he realized it was just a dream. Tao heartily hated these dreams but didn't think they came from an enemy. Sleepless nights and stress simply reminded him of that time in the past.

"No, not really." Tao quietly answered his mother.

"Are you sure about that? Dad had said it's important to tell if something like that happens, remember. That there's a bad spirit out there in the forest that might try to show you something strange in sleep." Sofra continued questioning.

"No, everything's fine... I have this, see? Selesti aunt said it would protect." He pulled out from his collar the chain with the amulet so his mother could see it.

The metal no longer looked as clean and polished as at the beginning, but the eight-pointed star still gleamed on its surface in the oil lamp's light.

Sofra's eyes moved to the enchanted amulet, then returned to her son's face. She cupped Tao's cheeks with her hands and turned his head more toward her face. She leaned closer. Still worried, Sofra's face also expressed determination.

"Tao, I see you every day. You look tired and full of anxiety. Mama worries about you and wants to help."

Tao tried to swallow the guilt that was rising in his throat. He maintained eye contact with his mother and tried to look happier or at least not anxiety-ridden.

"I know, thank you..." he quietly replied.

For a moment, Sofra just observed her son, possibly waiting for him to say something more. Tao felt he saw something else in his mother's eyes, perhaps disappointment. That painfully pierced his heart.

"I just sometimes want to... think... alone." He tried to answer something. "When I sit like that, I feel better…"

That was true; when Tao managed to make good progress at night, he felt much better. Then dreams about exams appeared less often, too.

What he said didn't explain why he was worrying in the first place, but it was hard to quickly think of something better.

Nevertheless, Sofra's face seemed to relax slightly.

"I see..." she nodded, lowered her hands to her son's shoulders, and straightened up.

"Nights are getting cooler, so don't walk around without socks anymore, all right?"

"All right." Tao also nodded.

He smiled to himself, realizing he had been thinking the same thing as his mother.

"If you have trouble falling asleep, I can brew tea that will help you."

"No, it'll be fine. I'll go to sleep now, I promise."

If Sofra had any remaining doubts, she set them aside and gently kissed Tao's forehead.

"All right. But then come to us. There's enough room for all of us in the big bed."

"Ah... well, all right..." he decided not to object this time.

Having extinguished the oil lamp and taken her son by the hand, Sofra led him to the large bedroom. Tao no longer saw Eleya, but she undoubtedly heard the conversation, so she knew that the training couldn't continue tonight.

Safia was sleeping in the bed in Indre's place, while Inya was in the middle. Sofra encouraged Tao to lie down next to his little sister while she lay down on the other side. Inya hadn't yet managed to fall into deep sleep and stirred. Her hands began feeling her brother's sides. Sofra also lay down close to him and gently squeezed her son's hand.

Tao hadn't slept together with the rest of the family for a long time. It was much warmer to be together, but the warmth wasn't only physical. Perhaps it wouldn't be bad to enjoy something like this more often.

In winter it could be especially nice...

Apparently, the sleepless nights were reflected in his face, and Sofra noticed it. But Tao couldn't simply relax. At least not yet, while threats were real.

Forgive me, mother... Bear with me a little longer... he apologized in his thoughts, turning his head toward her.

In the darkness, Sofra's facial features were hard to distinguish. Tao turned his palm toward his mother's side and sent a wave of spirit power.

Unlike Eleya, whose spirit power formed a distinct figure in the shape of her body, Sofra's spirit power was diffuse and unclear, with barely distinguishable arms and legs, like smoke or mist trying to take human-like form. With Inya and Safia, it was similar, only their forms were smaller. This differed greatly from Eleya, whose spirit power revealed itself to Tao's mind as a distinct form of her physical body. Apparently, this was due to her spirit power barrier.

This ability really is powerful. Even those who can hide their spirit power won't be able to hide the fact that they have something to hide, he smiled to himself.

He continued for some time training with this technique, trying to improve his skills with it. Although spirit power waves were sent in all directions, he couldn't find Eleya. Perhaps she had gone away, or continued to evade his attempts to reveal the spiritual power around him. This somewhat diminished his earlier joy.

Mother's and also Inya's breathing gradually became calmer, indicating they had fallen asleep. Tao didn't think to try sneaking out of bed, though. There were several training exercises that were possible for him, even lying in bed and having been neglected lately; strengthening body tissues against magic or increasing physical endurance, for example. He could also learn how to enhance smell, sight in darkness, and other things.

One after another, the boy repeated various skills and abilities he had learned over time. After a while, he still felt that guilt was interfering with his concentration. Many of these skills didn't seem immediately useful. If improving them made him look tired during the day and therefore made his mother worry, was it worth it?

Tao decided that at least tonight, he would allow himself to sleep more.

The only thing the boy still did was cultivate his spirit power. Lately, this was becoming harder to do, though. His body had always shown resistance when Tao tried to exhaust his spirit power reserves to the utmost limits, but now this resistance became stronger. It was also harder to be able to stop before his head began spinning, and he threatened to lose consciousness. This time, too, he felt how difficult it was to maintain balance and breathed heavily when the process was finished.

Tao was afraid he was approaching natural limitations that Eleya had talked about. He hoped he could still do it for some time, though. At least long enough until he fully mastered the radar technique and could find spirits. And until he learned one more skill.

Tao knew this skill existed, but wasn't convinced the forest spirit would help master it.

But the entire plan was based precisely on this ability...

Each problem in its own time, Tao told himself, feeling anxiety beginning to take over his heart again.

He snuggled a little closer to his mother. Just like when he was a little baby, Sofra's body warmth was soothing and helped him fall asleep. Even the raindrops seemed to beat against the roof in a gentler rhythm.

That night, Tao wasn't tormented by dreams about exams.

***