The Mysterious Black Magician

Two crimson spiders were crawling on the ceilings. Two crimson ants were moving ahead of them, and two crimson bats were hovering in the air. All of these were condensed and materialized using his blazing fire.

And he called them [Fire Dolls].

Their bodies were gleaming in crimson and orange colors. Their outer shell looked shiny and smooth. 

Actually, that time — he failed.

Cinder and Aegor went to sleep when they thought he gave up already. But when they woke up this morning.

They were greeted by these monsters.. They were about to attack them if not because Yman put a stop to them. The expressions on their faces were so priceless that made Yman let a couple of chuckles.

They were asking him about the 'hows' and 'whats' about it, but Yman just gave them a vague reply — that they were his new toys.

They knitted their brows, they thought he already gave up that night. Looks like this freak continued practicing until he succeeded! 

It was impossible to create such a thing. How could a person be able to create a living beast from his Elemental Magic alone!? Unbelievable! Everyone thought.

They were right. It was impossible.

In the first place, the skill he wanted to create was impossible without combining and modifying a couple of his skills. In order for him to succeed, he used his [Skill Modifying] ability by activating his Black Miasma.

To create living dolls out of the fire, he used: [Fire Element] as the power source, [Mana Coating] as the shell and frame, [Air Dance] and [Rapid Leap] for mobility, [Perception] to share their vision to him, and lastly the Demon's [Possession] skill for awareness, for them to move on their own. This awareness was like their sensory ability. They could be controlled by him or they could move on their own.

Although he was using the Demon's [Possession] skill, it actually only shared his awareness. He could not even possess a real person. Maybe he needed to become a spirit too in order to do it. But if he becomes a spirit, then the demon would be freed from their contract. So this [Possession] skill was useless for him.

Luckily, it could also be used like sharing his awareness to these [Fire Dolls]. Thanks to his [Skill Modifying] ability.

Based on what he understood, he could share awareness as long as the target has mana and not a living figure, and most importantly must have an actual body.

He came up to this conclusion because it didn't succeed when he tried it to his illusion magic. Maybe because it was an illusion only and no actual body — it can be seen but cannot be touched.

On the contrary, these six [Fire Dolls] were made of fire and had actual bodies. On top of that, they were made of pure mana. So these dolls were truly the perfect targets for the [Possession] skill.

However, he could not use this skill without the help of Black Miasma. So if these [Fire Dolls] were destroyed, he could not summon them again unless he activated his Black Miasma.

The good thing about it, they could maintain their existence even after he canceled his Black Miasma.

Yman grinned because they were a good addition to the team. And both of them could fire hellish flame thrower.

He could not recreate them without using his [Skill Modifying] ability.

But he wasn't bothered by it because he was able to create another original fire magic.

Unfortunately, he had no chance of using it because those [Fire Dolls] were killing the enemies before they could react.

He could even use them as surveillance cameras.

Cinder and others didn't know what to feel. They could not even gain points for themselves because these dolls robbed their roles as range mages.

On the contrary, Crimson's points had skyrocketed.

They continued the search for the exit. No one of them knew if there was really another one aside for the entrance they used to enter.

Luckily, after another few hours of advancing, they finally saw one.

Before they could step outside, the [Fire Dolls] dissipated into the thin air as their figures turned into an ordinary flame before they turned into smoke and disappeared.

"Eh? What happened to your toys?" Cinder asked with a puzzled face.

"No, our cute bodyguards have disappeared!" Tiafel screamed with a solemn face.

They stared at the owner for the answer. Looking at their curious faces, Yman forced a soundless laugh.

"Looks like their mana reserve had emptied," he responded.

"I see," Aegor and the others were already tired of getting surprised by this person.

"Hmm….. so it lasted about 5-7 hours huh," Cinder stated.

Yman side glanced at her. Looks like Cinder thought that his dolls have a time limit. The dolls disappeared because the mana reserve on them had been spent from battling. He slightly, "Mhm," nodded his head.

Regardless, he could not disclose much information about his ability. After all, Cinder was strong. And there was a chance for them to face each other again in this competition.

Just last day, his Elemental Magic was pitiable, but now he already surpassed them in understanding about it.

The group decided not to think much about those dolls as they could not comprehend the trick about it. They continued walking towards the outside while wearing excitement and relief on their faces.

"Haaaa~" Tiafel let out a long sigh escaped from her mouth. "Finally, the sun!" She shouted. She was finally able to see the light and not darkness only. Although they could use fire to light the inside of the cave, the light coming from the sun was still different.

Cinder, on the other hand, used her hand to cover her eyes from the sudden light, being in the dark for long made her eyes not used to the sudden change.

She wasn't bothered to be in the dark, as she was so used to the darkness. She was an introverted person, to begin with. Anyhow, she also was fairly happy to finally be able to get out of the cave; she liked darkness but only if she was in her own room.

Aegor and Taflas also breathed a long sigh when their feet stepped outside the cave.

However, before they could celebrate, for successfully getting out, "Bang!" They heard an explosion. It was followed by, "Arrgh!" A loud grieving cry.

"!!"

"What is that?" Tiafel asked.

"Must be someone battling," Taflas replied.

"Looks like the hunt is still ongoing," Aegor added.

"Look! There's a cloud of smoke coming from that forest!" Cinder pointed at the forest where the explosion came from. It was located ahead of them about 200 steps away from the cave entrance. It was relatively close, he could even perceive some sign of life in that forest. 

Yman looked further, too bad that his dolls already disappeared. He could send them to make a quick survey of the place.

It wasn't nice to just aimlessly roam, they were gone on the surface for a long time. Now they don't have any idea what the others were doing.

*Sniff!*

*Sniff*

The girl beside him started sniffing like a dog. 'She might be a good bomb-sniffing dog,' he thought jokingly. She probably barked on him if she knew what he was thinking at the moment.

"Stink!" Cinder cried out.

"Heck, you're sniffing the wrong smell!" Yman yelled with white eyes.

For some reason, her nose is on his underarms. 'Is this dog an idiot!?'

"Ehehe," she giggled while sticking out her tongue.

Well, she's cute though. A red hair beauty with wolf ears. Perhaps his peers would be dying at this moment if they were in his shoes.

Looks like she was just teasing him. Being in the cave for long, made their smell not different from the smell of soil.

Yman lifted his hand.

While closing her eyes, Cinder jolted a little, out of reflex, "?!" Question marks appeared on top of her head when she suddenly felt something. She slowly opened her eyes and saw his hand on her head. She suddenly turned red while staring at his eyes under the hood.

He grinned and whispered, "Thanks, Master,"

She could not tell if he smiled or not, but based on his eyes, he seemed happy.

Yman was grateful for her teaching. He learned many things about his Elemental Magic.

Ahem.

"W-Will you two find a perfect place and time for your lovey-dovey. Right now, is not the right time for it!" Tiafel with a blush on her face stated. "Right now, we are surrounded, you know!" She screamed worriedly.

"Eh?!" Embarrassed, Cinder retreated her head immediately. 'Damn it, I almost fell to his charm. Not good to fall to a stranger who could not show his face! Most of them, if not ugly, probably bad guys!' She thought in her mind. 'No no no, I don't even like him. I'm just curious about his strength! Yeah, just curious! It is definitely the only reason! And I taught him because I felt sorry for him!' Her busy thought.

Unaware of her thought, Yman just forced a smile.

He glanced around and saw nothing other than trees and tall bushes around. He glanced at Tiafel and the others and saw their worried faces. He believed they used their sharp hearing to perceive their surroundings.

"Okay, let's try my other toys…" he whispered with a grin.

"?!"

"....."

"What?"

"Another toy?!"

For some reason, they have different reactions.

From empty air, "Bzzzzz!" Small insects materialized. About 50 bees-like creatures came out of thin airs. Actually, they came from his Cyber Storage.

What the hell! And there's more?! They screamed. 

They thought they would never be surprised again if this guy pulled something unordinary once more.

However, this was just the start… the bees immediately scattered towards the bushes around and to the forest.