Chapter 101: Azure Flame

“System! Start the five-star card draw!”

I was still reaching toward the ceiling when the view beyond my hand suddenly vanished.

I could no longer feel the bed against my back. When I blinked, both the ceiling and the trophy on the nightstand were gone. I was back in that endless darkness.

Hundreds of cards floated around me.

Some drifted past me and into the distance, while others slowly turned in place. No matter how far I looked, I could make out more cards in the gaps between them.

I couldn’t help smiling.

‘A five-star ability…’

Just thinking about it filled me with excitement. Thanks to Storm Heart, I had started being able to follow Eris’s movements. I was still a long way from beating her, but at least I no longer hit the ground without knowing what had happened every time she attacked.

What could a five-star ability do?

Could my lack of a Nexus really stop being such a huge problem?

I spread my arms and slowly turned.

Of course, I couldn’t forget the other possibilities.

An Overlap.

Or a monster appearing beside my bed, capable of swallowing me in a single bite.

My smile faded a little.

Still, I felt much more relaxed than during the previous draw. I was in the Arclight mansion. If I got into trouble, there were powerful people nearby I could ask for help.

That was another reason I had wanted to stay here tonight.

For once, I could draw a card with a little more peace of mind, instead of ending up alone with a monster in my apartment, desperately swinging Umbrella around.

Of course, I hadn’t told anyone about that.

“All right. Shall we get started?”

I floated toward the cards in front of me.

The first one that caught my attention showed an old wizard holding a black dagger. Half his face was hidden beneath his hood, and his bony fingers gripped the dagger’s handle. Another showed a knight in golden armor, kneeling with a sword held in both hands before them.

Then I passed a card covered in hearts connected by thin threads.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if I got a love spell out of this, or something weird that turned me into a succubus…”

Not that I had anything to base that on.

I still didn’t know what the pictures on the cards represented. Considering what I had received so far, it didn’t seem possible to predict the result just by looking at the image.

I didn’t want to choose the knight in golden armor only to have a monster in golden armor appear in front of me.

I let out a short laugh at the thought.

Moving my feet slightly, I rolled onto my back. I let my head fall back as the cards drifted above me.

I liked flying here.

I didn’t have to worry about falling. I wasn’t looking for solid ground to support my weight, either. I simply headed wherever I wanted, drifting among the cards.

And as long as I didn’t make a choice, I could stay here.

Time in the real world either stopped completely or moved so slowly I couldn’t notice it. No matter how long I had lingered here during previous draws, I had never noticed any clear difference when I returned.

There was no reason to hurry.

After floating around a little longer, I stopped when a picture caught my eye.

The card was tilted to one side, a little farther away from the others.

It showed an old man.

At first glance, he seemed to be leaning against a wall. As I moved closer, I realized the thing he had pressed his forehead against was a large stone door. One edge was broken, and fine cracks covered its surface.

The man had hooked his fingers into one of those cracks.

Several of his fingernails had been torn off. Blood seeped from his hands and ran toward his wrists. Another line descended from his forehead, passed beside his nose, and disappeared into his beard.

His clothes were worn. The fabric over his knees was torn, and small pieces of stone had gathered at his feet.

Even so, he hadn’t stopped trying to force the door open.

His shoulders were hunched forward, his head bowed. I moved a little closer to see his expression.

His lips were parted. His eyes were tightly shut.

He looked as though he was pleading with someone while trying with all his strength to break down the door.

The picture didn’t show what lay beyond it.

I didn’t know what was there, or why the man had ended up like this.

Yet I couldn’t immediately turn my attention to another card.

It was strange to see so much desperation in a picture. The way he kept his fingers in the crack despite his bleeding hands made me wonder how long he had been standing there.

As though everything would be all right if the door opened.

As though nothing else would matter if it didn’t.

My brows drew together slightly.

“It looks like your story didn’t have a very happy ending…”

No one answered.

I looked at the old man’s face a little longer. I still had no idea what the card held, but I no longer wanted to look at the others.

“I think I’ll choose this one.”

I floated toward the card and slowly reached out.

The moment my fingers touched its surface, light spread from its edges and filled my vision.

[Congratulations!]

[You have gained a new ability.]

[Azure Flame — ★★★★★]

“Azure…”

Before I could finish reading the name, my back touched the bed again.

I stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. Then I turned my head and saw the trophy on the nightstand.

I was in my room.

My hand was still in the air.

I slowly lowered it and focused on the text in front of me.

[Azure Flame]

[The flames grow stronger in direct proportion to the user’s willpower and determination. They allow the user to surpass their normal limits and reach a level of power beyond their own potential.]

[However, using this power rapidly drains the user’s stamina.]

I read the description again.

Willpower and determination…

Lately, I had been thinking about how little progress I was making through training. Raising my stats was getting harder and harder. Now there was an ability in front of me that said I could surpass my own potential.

And it gave me flames.

I turned my hand over and looked at my palm.

“Can I really create fire?”

I sat up on the bed. After adjusting the pillow beneath my injured arm, I held my good hand open in front of me.

Then my gaze shifted to the bed, the curtains, and the wooden nightstand.

I hesitated.

This wasn’t even my house.

Aunt Miranda had welcomed me inside, prepared a cake, and told me to rest comfortably. Setting her guest room on fire wouldn’t be a very nice way to thank her.

I lowered my hand.

I could try this in the training area tomorrow.

I looked at the ability’s name in front of me again.

Then at my palm.

“Just a tiny little flame…”

I should be able to control that much.

I held my hand a little farther from the edge of the bed and focused all my attention on my palm.

For the first few seconds, nothing happened.

Then a blue point appeared on my skin.

I held my breath.

The point stretched and flickered. A moment later, a small flame burned in the middle of my palm.

“Ah…”

Light slipped between my fingers and fell across my face.

The blue at the base of the flame was quite dark. It grew lighter toward the top, almost turning white at the tip. As its little tongue curled and straightened again, the reflections on the wall moved with it.

It was beautiful.

Much more beautiful than I had expected.

And my hand wasn’t burning. I didn’t even feel any noticeable heat in my palm, only a slight tingle and a strange sensation that made my hand feel unusually light.

I couldn’t stop myself from grinning.

“If Eris could see this…”

I liked imagining her surprise.

I looked at the trophy on the nightstand. Blue light reflected off its shiny surface, passing over my name.

What would it look like if I made the flame a little bigger?

The moment the thought crossed my mind, the flame in my palm swelled.

My eyes widened.

“Wait—”

The blue fire suddenly shot upward.

The tiny flame that had been above my hand a moment earlier now reached all the way to the ceiling. The entire room filled with blue light as I instinctively recoiled.

“Oii! Stop!”

I quickly shook my hand.

The flames followed the movement, sweeping to the side.

My heart slammed against my chest. My eyes darted from the curtains to the bed, and I couldn’t figure out where to point my hand.

Put it out. Put it out!

I closed my fingers.

The flame was still rising from my hand.

Gritting my teeth, I focused all my attention on it again. I didn’t want it to burn. I didn’t want to see even a single spark anymore.

“Go out!”

The fire flickered for a moment.

Then it shrank and disappeared as quickly as it had risen.

The room returned to its usual lighting, and I sat motionless for several seconds.

My palm was empty.

My breathing, however, was as ragged as if I had spent an hour training with Eris.

My shoulders slumped. As I rested my back against the headboard, I noticed a strange weakness in my legs. A thin layer of sweat covered my forehead.

“Damn it…”

I had only used it for a few seconds.

Yet it felt as though the entire day’s exhaustion had crashed down on me at once. Even lifting my hand took more effort than it had a moment ago.

I looked at the last line of the description.

Rapidly drains stamina.

“You could have made that a little clearer, system.”

I took a deep breath and looked up.

The ceiling.

The fire had reached all the way to the ceiling.

I frowned.

There was no blackening on the white surface. The paint hadn’t blistered, and there wasn’t a single mark.

My gaze shifted toward the side where the flame had swung. The curtain was still intact. I couldn’t see any burn marks along the edge of the bed.

There was no smell of smoke.

“Interesting…”

I looked at my palm again.

When I created the flames, I had only wanted to see them. Burning the ceiling, the bed, or anything else hadn’t crossed my mind.

I guess they don’t cause damage unless I want them to.

If that was true, this ability could be far more useful than I had thought.

Still, I had no intention of repeating the experiment here to find out. I didn’t even want to think about what I would say to Aunt Miranda if I turned out to be wrong.

I opened and closed my fingers a few times.

I couldn’t wait to use it again tomorrow. I wanted to make the flames grow, control them, and learn what they could really do.

But that was enough for today.

My arm was broken, and I was tired. I didn’t need to knock myself unconscious on the same night I gained my five-star ability.

I reached for the trophy on the nightstand.

I smiled when its cool surface touched my fingers. Resting it against my chest, I held it with my good arm. Once I made sure my injured arm was comfortable on the pillow, I pulled the blanket over myself.

“Sleeping with a trophy might be a bit much…”

I looked at the inscription for a few seconds.

Then I pulled it a little closer.

“Who cares?”

I settled my head onto the pillow.

As my eyes closed, I thought about the blue flame rising from my palm and the look Eris would have when she saw it.

Hugging my trophy, I drifted into a peaceful sleep.