Chapter 15
When The Fire Turned Blue
Days passed peacefully, but no one in the shelter truly relaxed. Peace in the forest was never safety—it was merely the space between storms. Even laughter carried an edge. Even sleep was lighter.
Every morning began with coordination drills. Sam stood in the center of the courtyard while the others moved around him in practiced patterns—bows lifting together, arrows released in timed succession . The air carried the smell of wood shavings, sweat, and faint oil from the massive crossbows mounted on the watchtowers.
“Again,” Sam said calmly.
Lie wiped sweat from his forehead. “You say ‘again’ more than you breathe.”
“And you complain more than you fight,” Sam replied.
Yuner laughed. “He fights well.”
“Complains better,” Xian added.
Uncle Wang struck his blade against Uncle Ning’s with a loud clang. “Focus. Coordination, not chatter.”
They moved again. This time smoother. When Sam raised his hand, four arrows flew in sequence—thud, thud, thud, thud—into the wooden targets.
AIRS whispered quietly inside Sam’s mind.
-AIRS
Coordination improved by 12%. Reaction delay reduced.
Continue repetition.
Near the edge of the clearing, Fang stood quietly. The white wolf’s golden eyes followed every movement. His fur shifted softly in the breeze, almost glowing under sunlight. His ears twitched at every whistle of arrows. Only Sam and Lie knew what he was capable of. To the others, he was simply an unusually intelligent wolf.
Lie glanced toward Fang and smirked faintly. “Still hiding him?”
“For now,” Sam answered quietly.
Fang’s tail flicked once, as if he understood.
Later that day, while they were training near the river, Sam made a decision.
“Everyone,” he called.
They gathered. Fang padded forward and stood beside Sam, ears upright, breath steady.
“Till now only Lie and I knew something,” Sam said.
Lie crossed his arms but remained silent.
“What?” Yuner asked curiously.
Sam nodded toward Fang. “Watch carefully.”
Fang’s body tensed slightly. The wolf lowered his head. Cold air began to gather faintly around his paws. Frost crept outward along the damp soil. His breath came out as visible mist.
Uncle Ding blinked. “Is it… getting colder?”
Fang exhaled.
The surface of the river cracked.
Ice spread rapidly in a spiral pattern, sharp crystalline veins forming across the water. Within seconds, a thick layer of frost shimmered under sunlight.
Silence fell.
Yuner whispered, “He… he can use magic?”
Xian stepped closer, eyes wide. “That’s beautiful…”
Lie grinned. “Surprised?”
Uncle Wang stared. “A wolf… using ice magic…”
Fang lifted his head slightly, golden eyes calm, as if this display meant nothing to him.
Sam watched their reactions carefully.
Then he turned to Xian. “Xian, do you feel anything when you are near Fang? Or when he uses his ice magic?”
Xian blinked at the sudden question. She hesitated, then nodded. “Yes… it becomes really comfortable and refreshing when Fang uses his magic near me.”
-AIRS
Wind affinity detected in Xian.
Cold resonance compatibility moderate.
Suggest trial attempt.
“Xian,” Sam said calmly, “try to use ice magic.”
She stiffened. “Ice? I’ve never used that type of magic before.”
“Try.”
She extended her hand. Wind gathered instinctively around her fingers, swirling softly. She tried to compress it, tried to imitate what she had seen the wolf do.
Nothing happened.
She frowned. “I failed.”
Lie scratched his head. “You have never seen this type of magic before except Fang doing so.”
Xian exhaled. “I only saw Fang doing so…”
-AIRS
Guide her.
Spiral compression.
Reduce internal agitation.
Lower rotation speed.
Sam spoke gently. “Don’t force it. Fold the wind inward. Rotate it. Slow it down. Imagine you’re cooling it, not pushing it.”
She tried again.
This time, frost formed faintly along her palm—but shattered immediately.
Yuner clapped excitedly. “It appeared!”
Xian tried again. Failed. Again. Failed.
Sweat rolled down her temple.
“Again,” Sam said calmly.
After several failed attempts, a thin unstable shard of ice formed over her hand.
Everyone gasped.
“It’s unstable,” Sam said. “Train this magic.”
They were surprised—not only by Xian, but by Sam’s knowledge.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“How do you know so much?” Uncle Ning asked.
“Observation,” Sam replied simply.
They laughed, teased Xian lightly, celebrated the small breakthrough. Fang gave a low satisfied huff and lay down near the frozen river, paws resting on ice he had created.
Later, Sam returned to his hut alone.
Inside, dim light filtered through wooden walls. He placed a bucket of water before him and extended his hand.
He tried to use ice magic.
Nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
Frustration flickered in his chest.
-AIRS responded.
Wind conversion insufficient. Attempt direct mana crystallization. Warning: high mana consumption.
Sam inhaled deeply. He focused on his mana circle around his heart.
For a moment, let me clarify what this means.
Mana circle stores mana for magic. The strength of a mage depends on how many circles he can form around his heart. The maximum number of circles possible is ten.
Mana core, however, stores mana for warriors. They use it to coat their weapons and increase strength. A warrior’s strength depends on how much mana he can store in his core. Some exceptional warriors can form two cores. Among those exceptional few, some can even form three cores—much rarer.
Three cores: Lower core (abdomen) Middle core (chest) Upper core (head)
The reason why only Sam can form both mana core and mana circle is because of AIRS. To keep the mana core or mana circle stable requires extreme focus. They generally remain stable, but if they become unstable, extreme concentration is needed to stabilize them again. If a person fails to stabilize it, he can explode. The effect of explosion depends on how much mana is stored.
Sam focused.
The water surface trembled.
Crack.
The entire bucket froze instantly.
Cold vapor rose into the hut.
-AIRS analyzed.
Successful crystallization.
Mana consumption: 43%.
Efficiency low.
He exhaled sharply.
Then he tried something harder.
He gathered moisture from the air.
Condensed it.
Shaped it.
An ice shark formed mid-air—translucent, jagged, deadly.
Pain stabbed through his chest.
More than half his mana drained instantly.
-AIRS
Warning: mana reserves critical.
He dropped to one knee.
It took time to recover his mana in his mana circle. Slow breathing. Controlled focus.
He tried again.
Again.
Until he managed to make three sharks of ice.
He threw one toward a wooden target.
It broke when it hit the target.
-AIRS
Structural integrity insufficient.
Something clicked in his mind.
He coated the shark with mana and threw it again.
This time, it pierced the target cleanly.
-AIRS
Reinforcement successful. Penetration increased.
Sam’s eyes widened. “This can work as a hidden weapon for me.”
He jumped in joy—almost forgetting he hides his magic from everyone.
-AIRS reminded him.
Emotional spike detected.
Maintain secrecy.
He composed himself quickly and trained his fire magic.
Blue flames appeared in his palm.
His control was formidable. He compressed the fire into a small stable sphere in his hand. Dense. Silent. Deadly.
-AIRS
Compression stable.
Volatility extremely high.
Use with caution.
He had trained fire magic since his grandpa saved him.
Outside, others trained hard too.
Xian and Yuner formed their second mana circle.
Lie and Uncle Trio could maintain mana coating longer.
Aunt Luo was already a 4th circle mage. She generally remained in the cooking area, experimenting with new dishes when not training.
The next day, Sam made long spear-like arrows and several grass-and-wood dummies.
Lie asked, “Sam, what are these dummies for?”
“These are to confuse our enemy with numbers so their morale breaks,” Sam replied.
Meanwhile, in Uncle Mu’s tribe, the bandit leader and Uncle Mu gathered nearly fifty warriors. Many remained in the village.
Bandit leader shouted, “This time we crush them!”
Uncle Mu added, “We will not return empty-handed!”
They boosted morale, promising rewards.
This time Uncle Mu also went with them, as he was the strongest member of the tribe after the former leader’s death.
They marched toward the shelter.
Upon reaching the outer traps zone, Uncle Mu said to the bandit leader, “Move in front. You know the position of traps and how they look.”
Bandit leader replied coldly, “You have to double our payment, then I will move in front.”
Uncle Mu grew angry, but he had no choice but to accept.
The bandits moved in front and slowly disabled the traps without heavy casualty. Some were injured, but compared to last time, it was minor.
Back in the shelter—
-AIRS alerted Sam.
Multiple heat signatures detected. Distance: approaching.
Estimated count: high.
Sam quickly gathered everyone.
He handed grass dummies to Uncle Trio. “Keep four of them on each watchtower.”
He gave them the big spear-like arrows. “Take positions on each watchtower.”
Fang and Aunt Luo positioned at the gate. The white wolf stood slightly ahead, muscles tense, lips pulled back slightly to reveal sharp fangs. Frost already formed lightly under his paws.
Sam, Lie, Xian, and Yuner went outside the wall and hid on trees ready with their bows.
When the bandits reached the mid zone clearing traps, they saw no traps ahead. They were confused but then happy—they believed they crossed the trap area.
Bandit leader reminded them not to let their guard down. They had already lost two men while clearing traps.
At first, they moved cautiously. But when they saw no traps for a while, gradually they let their guard down.
And this was the biggest mistake they made.
On entering the inner traps zone, the once silent forest burst in painful screams of bandits.
Spikes launched.
Arrows triggered.
More than ten men died instantly.
Many were injured.
Fear replaced their earlier confidence.
Still, they forced their warriors forward with promises of reward.
They lost five more men.
Less than thirty were able to fight when they stepped into the clearing before the wall.
A whistle cut through air.
A spear-like arrow pierced two bandits in one shot.
Within a second, two more spear-like arrows pierced through three more enemies.
The crossbows were so strong the watchtowers shook due to recoil.
Uncle Trio reloaded.
Before enemies could hide fully, three more fell.
They saw fifteen warriors on watchtowers—five on each tower.
When they thought they were safe behind trees, arrows from hidden positions pierced them. Three arrows bent mid-air and pierced three more enemies. Only one survived that volley.
Sam reminded them of their mistake through relentless arrow fire.
After some time, when arrows finished, only twelve men were alive. Among them, eight were Uncle Mu’s warriors.
Sam and Lie marched towards the enemies followed by Uncle Trio and Fang .
Aunt Luo Xian and Yuner also marched but maintained a safe distance. As they are mages.
Bandit leader grew furious.
Then he blew a horn.
An uneasy feeling moved through Sam’s body.
AIRS responded urgently.
[Additional heat signatures detected. Large group approaching rapidly.]
A number of bandits emerged from forest—more than one hundred.
Lie frowned. “Backup!?”
Sam froze for a moment.
-AIRS
Total hostile estimate: 120+. Probability of victory: low.
Then steel met steel.
Head-on clash began.
Uncle Trio dominated enemies with mana-coated weapons.
Lie killed many but had not yet used mana coating.
Fang leapt into battle like a white streak. The wolf’s claws carved through flesh. Frost erupted beneath his paws. Ice shards pierced legs. His jaws clamped onto a bandit’s arm and tore it away. Only now did others fully understand Fang’s power.
Shock flashed across Uncle Wang’s face—but no time to speak.
Sam fought fiercely, cutting through enemies.
But numbers were overwhelming.
Uncle Trio became exhausted.
Lie stepped in to help them—but the bandit leader directly attacked Lie.
Lie activated mana coating to fight him.
The leader was too strong. Even with mana-coated weapons, Lie was suppressed.
Aunt Luo, Xian, and Yuner fought enemy mages from a distance.
Meanwhile, many bandits rushed Uncle Trio.
Even Uncle Wang was overwhelmed.
Sam fought Uncle Mu. Even with AIRS, Sam was suppressed by his brute force.
-AIRS
Opponent strength high.
Avoid direct collision.
When a bandit was about to kill Lie from behind, Sam threw his sword and killed the bandit.
Seeing Sam weaponless, Uncle Mu landed a strong hit on Sam’s body.
If not for mana coating, he would have died in one strike.
A bandit from a distance shot an arrow to kill Sam.
Sam had no way to dodge.
Xian saw this.
She used her ice magic to make a shield.
This was the first time she successfully used her ice magic in real combat.
The shield cracked, but reduced the impact.
The arrow hit Sam but did not go too deep.
Lie and Uncle Trio were also injured.
Fang was surrounded by many bandits with ropes. They threw ropes on the wolf and tied him. Fang snarled violently, ice bursting outward, but too many ropes tightened around his legs and neck. He fell injured, bleeding, golden eyes burning with fury.
The bandits had prepared for Fang.
Seeing their condition, bandits laughed.
They made bad comments about Aunt Luo, Xian, and Yuner.
Lie’s eyes filled with killing intent.
He stood and killed several bandits—but exhaustion forced him to his knees.
Aunt Luo, Xian, Yuner were injured and exhausted.
Fang struggled under ropes, bleeding.
Bandit leader moved toward Lie to finish him.
A cold voice came from side. “Move back.”
They turned.
Uncle Mu was on his knees.
An ice crystal was embedded in his knee and another in his shoulder near his neck.
They looked toward Sam.
Blood on lips.
Blue fire appeared in his hand.
Everyone was surprised.
But the fire became smaller and smaller in size, like a sphere.
AIRS warned urgently.
-AIRS
Compression beyond safe limit. Mana drain extreme.
Risk of collapse: severe.
Bandits burst into laughter.
“So tiny!”
“Is he cooking?”
Sam did not react.
He simply threw the fireball toward the bandit group.
For a second, nothing happened.
Then—
The sphere touched ground.
A huge explosion erupted.
Blue flames devoured everything in radius.
More than fifty bandits burned into ashes instantly.
The shockwave shattered trees.
Heat burned skin even at distance.
Silence.
Terror.
Even shelter members were frozen.
Flames appeared again in Sam’s hands.
-AIRS
Remaining mana below 10%.
Body stability failing.
Uncle Mu, bandit leader, enemy mages, and survivors ran in terror.
As their retreating backs disappeared into forest—
Sam’s vision blurred.
-AIRS
Emergency shutdown recommended.
Sam fell unconscious on the ground.
End Of Chapter 15
To Be Continued.......
