Chapter 46 - Flame Grades.
The golden flames surged forward with a heat so intense, it could incinerate anything in its path.
"How can he control such an amount of flame." Karina was utterly shocked by the unbelievable scene in front of her.
It was known that the greater the amount of flame conjured the harder for it to be controlled.
That was why students were thought to shape the flames to increase their control over it, but in this case, not only was the quantity conjured absurd for pre-student like him, Luciano hadn't shaped his flames and the most shocking thing was that he still had control over it.
Normally when pyromancers cast fire-based spells they can make it take any shape of their choice but once it has been released, the spell's shape and trajectory can't be altered. But what surprised Blake was that Luciano's golden flames were not as stiff as regular flames.
He noticed that sometimes the trajectory of the flames would be altered and the flow felt more natural. Although the alteration was not much, it wasn't something that could be overlooked because it was an impressive feat for a pyromancer to have such a level of control.
For a second Karina was entranced by the brilliance of such control and the beauty of the flames.
It was when the heat of the approaching flames met her skin that she came out of her trance. Thanks to her amazing casting speed Karina quickly conjured two water barriers in front of her, but her actions were for naught because when the flames collided with the wall of water, a large amount of vapor began rising.
The water barriers were evaporating at an alarming rate, but what shocked her the most were the flames that circled the barrier and lunged at her.
Blake was not sure if it was an extra effect for a golden flame user or if it was Luciano that had such control over the fire element, but one thing for sure was that he envied it.
[Although golden flames have some rare effects, control is not one of them. The color of a flame does not determine the level of control one has, neither does it grant the user any form of control or mastery. In fact, the higher the grade of flame the harder it is for the user to control and master it.]
"Wait what do you mean by grade of a flame?"
[In the flame pathway the strength of one's flame is determined by its purity or hotness and this, in turn, determines the color.
Flames are divided into 6 grades; orange, blue, green, purple, golden, and white flames from weak to strong.]
'It is almost the same grading as that of stars, but how does the color of the flame relate to the pathway.'
[Firstly, each grade of a flame represents a thing. For example, the green flame is what is known as soul flame which is able to deal damage to both physical body and soul, but because a star doesn't have a soul it is will never produce this grade in any stage of its life cycle.
Coming to your question, the grades of flames have an important role to play when It comes to the pathway. For one to move up the sequence of the fire pathway and obtain Godhood, him/she must refine their grade of flames to white, but that doesn't mean that those who don't refine flames won't move up the sequence.
They would be able to advance in the pathway but it would be like pushing a stubborn bison past a hill only to discover there were mountain ranges ahead and it is certain that they would never attain Godhood.]
'Surely refining one's flame is as easy as it sounds, but you do have the methods, right?' Blake asked in high hopes.
[Someone is learning quickly, and no I do not have the methods. Remember I am just a wisp of the All-fathers consciousness, there are things which I do not know and also things that can't be mentioned to you because having knowledge of them would threaten your existence, at least for now.] Blake ignored the system's remark but was worried about the unmentionables the system spoke of.
'Shouldn't I know and prepare against what can threaten my existence?' Blake was confused but he thought this was a more logical approach.
[No! Someone as weak as you have nothing to prepare for, besides if you were being targeted you wouldn't even be able to guess how you died.
For now, you are not on anyone's radar but once you know of their existence you will surely be. That is why you should get stronger quickly.]
It was just the same as the rumors of ghosts who ruled countries behind the scene without anyone knowing of their existence, but once they are discovered by an unlucky person snooping around where his nose didn't belong. He/she will be eliminated and every record of their existence would be destroyed.
'In this case, curiosity will definitely kill the cat." Blake couldn't help but shudder as he realized random information gathering could lead to a big problem.
While Blake was lost in his thoughts, Karina had managed to block and dodge but she didn't come out unscathed. All over her body were burn marks ranging from mild to nasty, clearly, she was in pinch.
'Shit! This shouldn't be called a flame this is f*cking lava in gaseous state!' Karina was cursing her luck, the reverie in her eyes had now been replaced by fear.
The flames were so hot that whenever an ember came in contact with her skill they left burn marks on it, if not for her quick casting speed and her element being water she would have been burnt to ashes.
'That should be all I need to see.' Although the match was not yet over Blake knew it was only a matter of time before Luciano won. So, he decided to head back to the dorm for a change of clothes because the stares were getting annoying.
As predicted, the moment he left the arena, Karina fell unconscious due to heatstroke, and Luciano was declared the winner of the match, but unfortunately for him, that was when Castiel walked up the stage.