NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter-169 Step-1
Failure after failure consumed his days when Ewan attempted the Prairie Fire potion, and the chasm between the Step-0 potions and the Step-1 potions held his steps. The tries burnt through his Novas stock, yet the maddening fog hid the peak, and his frustration and fatigue came to a head. Even among the Step-1 potions, the difficulty of brewing potions like Prairie Fire and Ocean Song that could help in advancement lingered among the top. If he became a practiced hand at them, the simpler potions would be in the bag—the thought kept him going.
Stefan eased in with the two and rigidity left his gait while Ewan endured his sour lemons. The days of contact and the occasional chatters revealed his expertise in alcohol—apart from his navigation and tradesman skills, he excelled in making wine. Though his status as a Kyron limited his abilities, the first taste of his homemade wine indicated his potential. Not only for personal usage, but also for business. Anima based wine and liquor making branched off of Potioneering and expanded into its own vocation—a milder alternative to the potions—so if Stefan could make wines that mimicked or even rivaled their siblings, Ewan could expand his ‘Brewed Awakening’ business by bringing him in.
Nevertheless, the wines he made weren’t up to par yet, and the idea was just a possible venture for the future.
Two weeks in, as the three adjusted and lived together, as Frost, Orange, Iris, and Toast grew accustomed to Stefan, Kidd brought back news of Kiev’s successful breakthrough—the man was now a Step-1 Severynth. And the blow worsened Ewan’s already bitter mood. If they met now, Ewan would call him Lord Kiev…
The pillars that supported both had their inherent differences. Ewan had a passive inheritance, while Kiev received active support from the Governor, and the contrasting results exhibited that fact. Life wasn’t a race, they all just chased after what they deemed worthy at their own pace, but still, eating dust behind Kiev slapped his ego. Instead of putting him down though, the burn drove his hunger and the tingle triggered his obstinacy. He plunged back into the basement, shut off the doors, and forbade Kidd and Stefan from disturbing him—he went all out.
A quarter of Drarith celebrated Kiev’s breakthrough, the bonfires blazed again, while the rest were up in arms, for their ‘oppressors’ just got stronger. And the kettle of simmering water boiled over in the city as Ewan broke down the wall keeping him away from Step-1.
…..
He took a deep breath and cut off the world. The Prairie Fire rite carved a path in front of him, its ten treads sectioned into three parts, the glimmering strokes and the edges casting his monstrous shadow behind him. The first three steps were the adjustment and attunement section, the next four steps would burn him alive, and the final three were the modifiable extension that would show him a glimpse of his dream.
The Novas coins activated the circuit with his prompt, the slotted materials hummed and melted into the grooves, the room lit up, and the rite began.
The first step of the first section asked for the potion, and Ewan took the cork off the vial and downed the slimy coral-colored liquid—it was the Prairie Fire potion.
It burnt his tongue when he drank it, it singed his throat when it slid down, and it erupted in his stomach. Ewan took the next step and his temperature soared and plunged, his skin reddened and steamed then paled and frosted, the potion cooperated with the rite and was balancing his state. The third step finally found the fulcrum and his vitals stabilized at a higher temperature.
The next section demanded the torturous four steps—it owned the accomplishment of culling down the aspiring Severynths. When Ewan crushed the two stabilizing potions he bought from the hub and took the fourth step, the first of the section, the etched circuit flared up, and the untamed ‘Prairie Fire’ engulfed him. His bare skin blistered, the tongues of fire scorched his hair, and the wave of stinging pain ran through his body.
The next step intensified the firestorm, the hot twisting air blurred his vision, and the deafening hiss of the blaze popped his ears and only a ringing buzz remained. The stabilizers activated at this stage and chained the rite down, stopping it from running amok while still maintaining its ferocity—this step consumed minutes before Ewan could force himself to trudge forward.
By the third step, the inferno clutched his senses and threw him in a red-orange world—he saw fire, he heard fire, and he tasted fire. The charring skin, the sizzling muscles and fat, the boiling eyeballs, the scorching insides, and the searing agony told him that he still lived, that his thoughts were still alive. But the wildfire soon took away his reasoning too, and the loss of purpose was crushing his drive to take the next step. At his core, only his obsession for his dream and that one promise remained. He promised her that he wouldn’t die, he wouldn’t leave her all alone in this world...
At this point, his success only depended on his will, and no number of potions could bring him across the finish line.
Finally, his obstinate determination forced him forward and he took the final quivering step. And the blaze ate him up.
The blackened husk of his skin crumbled, his dry bones crackled and snapped, and the loss of nerves took the torment away. His world was silent and dark, nothing remained anymore, yet her image never faded, and his dream stayed alive with her. He walked the harrowing path to fulfill his desire for an everlasting life, but it changed today. She merged with his dream and barged into his core. An everlasting life without her ceased to be a possibility for him, he denied it.
When the rite reached its peak, when his last breath lingered by a thread of resolution, the flames darted towards his soul space and boiled his spirit. It vaporized the pool, and as his soul space groaned under the bombardment, as the runes trembled, a glittering misty nebula rose at the center. All the ‘water’ in the spirit pool evaporated and constructed the nebula, strengthening its loose yet unwavering structure.
And with the last drop of the pool joining the misty cloud, Ewan broke through to Step-1.
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