NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

(Match\'s Perspective) (This is just a continuation where Match went to the right side of the forest. You know, in the meadow!)

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After Red\'s hands nudged me to the side, I entered a realm that quarrelled from the road a while ago. Instead of the pavement with thousands of trees, this area had a grass field. No flowers bloomed in this area, which made me think that this was a sanctuary. For thousands of miles, all that the site could offer was emerald grass and hazel-coloured soil.

I might even believe this site was a park because of the green things greeting my eyes! It was only missing some see-saws and swings to make the place more entertaining.

"I don\'t know why Red pushed me into this place, and I don\'t like it!"

It had been five minutes since this game of tag started. The boar kept pestering me, chasing me to the ends of even Wonderland if this boar had to! I did not have any weapons with me besides my scorching hands I can never use.

If I wanted to burn my hands, I could use my abilities against the boar. But that would only mean that I would hurt myself. It was not an option that I could use willy-nilly. I did not want to worry Red by burning my hands. However, I did not have a choice…

I could only hope that I do not have the option to use my ability.

Thanks to the training I had had with Red, my body became light! It was almost like I could fly across the grass! As I sprung through the grassland, the boar behind me chased me around.

I did not know how to end this suffering, but I needed to make a choice. My two legs were against four appendages. It was a matter of time before my body would give up before that animal could.

"What would Red say in this situation?!" I asked the whistling wind, hoping to find an answer.

And yet, nobody was here to help me solve my problem. Now that I had mentioned it, Red always found solutions to the events happening in our life. That girl also had her ways to defend herself or escape having no injuries. Although some methods proved too rough ones; it was still enough for us to live our lives.

But that thought did not stop this boar from chasing me!

"I have to do something about this! Red, why did you leave me here!"

I kept calling out for the person I trust, yet Red herself was not here with me. If I looked at it on another side, Red was keeping two boars at bay. She had more enemies than this boar in the open field.

Giving out of this hog for me to handle was the perfect option to do. Since I needed some experience to fight, clashing against this pig would give me the most knowledge! I remembered the words that I said to Red. "I want to fight with you and stay by your side."

And that phrase kept me going.

A warm feeling kissed my left eye, followed by a swirling scorch of flames covering my fingertips. Two glowing vermilion magic circles formed around my hands with intricate symbols that I did not know. These characters differed from the ones I saw before the first time I used my abilities.

It was as if these texts got re-written through time with a unique power surging through my veins.

I stopped racing forward and looked behind the hog, which was still rampaging at my rear. The animal witnessed me stop and thought it was the opportunity for it to strike. With its ivory horn aimed at my neck, the pig gave everything and launched itself in my direction.

I, who had already activated my spell, discharged an attack of my own. It was the same fireball I used before. But this orb of flames had a more violent arcane imbued with the magic circles. The brilliant crimson red illuminated my surroundings, nearly blinding my eyes.

But I kept a stern look at the hog and saw how everything would turn.

\'Will I burn my hands again? Or will I defeat that animal?\' I pondered those two questions, hoping to get the latter.

And then my magic turned ripe. It unleashed a glimmering tunnel of fire in the hog\'s direction. The speed of the ball of fire was comparable to lightning raging across the green plants. As the sphere travelled in the hog\'s direction, the attack left a trail. Those grasses danced no more from the spell, which burned everything to the ground.

Nothing remained after the attack penetrated everything on its way with the boar as its target.

As soon as my spell clashed against the hog, a bright star dispersed from the scene. It had no sound or energy that pushed me back. There was only fire burning my surroundings.

The temperature increased as the blaze painted the landscape with orange and red hues. Everything that the embers touched, it devoured it.

Much to my surprise, the pig lived despite taking the hit from the spell. A violent wail reverberated throughout the place, filling the dull atmosphere surrounding me. There was a shadow trundling towards me, but I knew that was the pig\'s corpse.

That hog was toast like the barbeque I had with Red! But Red told me to save that pig for later. Maybe we could cook the pig more, since frying an animal was the correct one to make a meal.

The boar finally fell on the ground and oinked its last oink. Within a matter of seconds, the pig died by my hands.

I checked my hands to see if the fire injured me, but it did not. No pain throbbed or churned through my skin. My eyes and lips curved up into a smile as I noticed that the spell I used did not turn against me. All the efforts I did with Red bore fruit! I could finally conjure my abilities within a limited range!

It was a delightful event if it were not for the scene in front of me.

"Is that... smoke?" I murmured, and left my mouth hanging upon the cruel sight of the forest.

Killing the pig was not the end of my problems. The fire continued to grow more sizable than ever before.

It was like Red had mentioned to me before attacking the pig. If I were to use my flames to beat an enemy inside a forest, I would create a forest fire. And look what happened to me right now.

A forest fire!

The blaze spread like a broken dam, continuing to burn all life forms. All the unfortunate grass that got caught up by the disaster I caused turned into dust. The smell of something burning lingered in my nostrils. With the smog as thick and black as ink, I knew there was nothing I could do to stop the fire.

"This forest fire would attract the attention of the players and monsters! What do I do, what do I do??? Hurry up, Red! I don\'t know what to do!"

I had been circling on my spot, refusing to leave from this mess I made. Since I was the one to start this trouble, I wanted to make it right. Now that my ability did not burn my hands, I needed to put out this fire to complete my training!

My efforts at using my fire ability could not become nifty if we die! If the players would see this smoke, Red and I would die!

"If you can use your powers to create fire, you can also devour fire. Since your area has more grass than mine, the fire would spread less if you planned to burn the entire place down. Prove to me that my theory is right and suck all those embers to our hand!" I repeated Red\'s words, wishing to decipher the meaning behind them.

It took me some time to guess, but a thought emerged inside my head. It was a lightbulb that glowed inside my dark and rusty brain.

"If I can summon flames, I could not summon them too," I said.

A snicker emerged from my face as I directed my hands at the fire before me. Two magic circles appeared in each of my hands. It was like what happened before, but this time I could manage my powers.

"I need to suck the fire in my hands!" I yelled, and tried to devour back the flames inside the magic circles.

It took me a minute before tweaking the arcane output I needed to bend the flames by my will. After sixty seconds, the embers waved in my direction.

It was like what Red had mentioned earlier. All those flames I produced flowed towards me like a tornado. The red and orange light went to my magic circle and warmed my hands. Within a few seconds, the flames that were in front of me disappeared.

I was the only one left in the scene, sweating profusely from the workout I just did.

"You did it, Match! You really outdid yourself! Phew!" I fell on the ground and rested, for the time being, while waiting for Red to return.

I did not want to carry a dead body with my hands.. Just thinking about the idea made my body shiver in disgust.