After spending some time assessing his situation, Jaiden realized just how fucked he was. Stranded in the middle of a giant mystical forest teeming with monsters, he had no food, no pure water, and no clear path forward. Desperation pushed him to search his body for anything useful, and all he found were three platinum coins in his pocket, two books in a leather bag slung over his shoulder, and a pendant with an emblem of two red dragons facing each other—the insignia of the noble house this body belonged to.
"Zephyr Von Akasha," he muttered, running his thumb over the intricate design. "Guess I should thank him for giving his body to me." The thought struck him—it wasn't voluntary, but this body was his lifeline now. In honor of the soul that had once inhabited it, he decided to abandon his old identity.
"I'm leaving my old name behind," he said solemnly. Though a pang of sadness lingered, Zephyr knew how hopeless his situation would have been without this vessel. It was only right to carry the name forward.
He sighed, glancing at his pitiful inventory. "I don't have anything useful," he muttered, disappointment heavy in his tone. "Water might be manageable, but how the hell am I supposed to get food? And what if some monster decides I'm an easy snack?" He clenched his fists. I have to learn to fight. If I don't, I'm dead meat.
"Finally, it's time," Zephyr said, a mix of anxiety and excitement in his voice. He descended the hill and faced a nearby tree, extending his hand. "Fireball!" he called out confidently.
…
Nothing happened.
"Fireball!"
...
"Fireball, fireball, fireball, fireball!" He chanted the spell over and over, frustration building as nothing materialized. Disappointment shadowed his expression. "No, it's too early to give up. I have to try everything," he resolved.
Closing his eyes, Zephyr focused his imagination. Instead of blindly chanting, he visualized a flame—a bright, vivid yellow flame burning fiercely in his mind. To his surprise, his imagination felt sharper, clearer than ever before, as though there was something assisting him in imagining things.
Suddenly, he felt something stirring within him, coursing through his veins—a soothing and refreshing energy. Sparks began forming in his hand, and, before he knew it, a small fireball about four inches in diameter materialized.
Zephyr's excitement surged. "I… I did it!" he exclaimed, staring at the flame hovering over his palm. It was exactly as he had imagined. Experimenting further, he tried levitating the fireball, moving it away from himself, and compressing it. To his amazement, the flame responded to his will, almost as if it were alive.
However, he soon realized the limitations. The farther the flame moved, the weaker it became, and maintaining control drained more of the Ether flowing through his veins.
Still, Zephyr wasn't deterred. Driven by curiosity, he pushed his limits. He willed the flame to return to him and imagined compressing several smaller fireballs into one. The moment he did, pain jolted through his hands, followed by a numbing sensation. The fireball, now glowing with intense energy, pulsed with power.
"Oh boy, I can't wait to test this out," Zephyr said, pointing the blazing sphere toward a colossal tree, at least a mile tall and centuries old. With a final push of Ether to accelerate the attack, the fireball shot forward like a bullet, colliding with the tree. A small sphere, about a meter in diameter, erupted at the point of impact, incinerating everything within its radius.
The tree survived due to its immense size, but the area of impact had been burned to a crisp, leaving a gaping hole in its trunk. Zephyr stood there, breathless, staring at the destruction he had unleashed.
"Now this… this is what im talking about," he whispered, exhilarated.