Chapter 3: Chapter 3 – Flame Core

 

Aila gutted the wolf, took the intestines out, and knew she wouldn't be able to clean them properly. She was in a foreign world, and had no clue about how long it would take her to get more food. She really didn't want to waste it.

"Maybe I should just burn them." She looked at the stove, and sighed. "Yeah, I'll burn them. I need some wood for this fire."

Aila took her ax, walked out of the manor, and looked around. She saw how close the forest was, and went to the closest tree. She took a few practice swings with the ax, to get the feel for it.

"It won't chop itself." She grit her teeth, aimed and swung. "Ow!" The ax clattered as it twisted in her hands. She shook her hands out. "Do I need to grip it tighter?" She frowned and took another swing. "Oh. Stupid me. It was at the wrong angle when the blade hit the tree. Of course it would turn." She rolled her eyes and tried again.

"Huh?" She said stupidly. The ax cleaved right through the tree like it was made of paper. She looked up and saw it fall. Right towards her.

"Crap. What is with this cliche shit?!"

 

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"That was scary." She whispered. She had dodged out of the way, and at such a speed that she didn't think possible. When the tree fell, she was over a dozen feet away. She didn't do the stupid movie trope where the person ran away along the length of the tree. That would be even dumber then what she had already done. She ran to the side, and easily got of the fall zone.

"So how did that happen? I cut the tree far too fast. That should have been impossible, but I guess I'm strong now." She shrugged, as she couldn't do anything about it.

"The trunk even looks clean cut. No jagged edges, like it was cut by a saw, not an ax that chops out bits." She looked closer. "Oh, that makes sense. When I cut it, the tree skipped back from the force, which put it at an angle aimed right at me. It had no choice to fall towards me."

"Sigh. Well, I've never cut down a tree before, so it makes sense now." Aila was intelligent, and could reason this problem out easily.

"Now, the branches are in the way. So cut them away?" She started to delimb the branches, and within a few minutes, the tree was free.

"Now, should I chop it into small pieces, or do that inside?" She pursed her lips again. "Drag it all. I can cut it up and make less trips." She nodded heartily, and bent down.

"Ow ow ow!" She whined a little. "Why do I keep forgetting how strong I am now?" She had leaned down to pick the trunk up, but was too forceful. The trunk bounced up and hit her in the forehead.

Aila quickly recovered, as it didn't hurt that much, and dragged the tree inside angrily. She cut it up easily, and stacked a few pieces in the firebox.

"Okay, now what?" Her face twitched. "How do I light this? Oh!" Her finger had pointed into the firebox, at the wood, and when she said light, she pictured a gout of flame. The wood within smoldered as though exposed to a heat source.

"What the hell."

 

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"Ah, finally!" Aila rolled her eyes. She had no clue how she was able to make the wood smolder the first time, but after she added dry pine needles, some twigs, and a bit of birch bark, she was able to replicate her feat.

She took her knife and continued to butcher the wolf. The intestines were already turning to ash in the fire, the pan and pot were also scorched, and rinsed with some water from a nearby spring, whose water she couldn't seem to drink enough of, it was just that sweet. The water even sparkled, but she put that down to the peculiarities of this world. One pot was used to boil water so she could wash up. The pan sizzled as she added the wolf's fat so she could render it.

Once the pieces were fried, she would remove the solid residues, and use the cooked up fat to cook the meat.

"Hm, what is this?" She pulled what looked like a berry from behind the heart of the wolf. It was solid, but her eyes glazed as she looked at it. Without any control, she put the 'berry' into her mouth and swallowed it.

"Oh oh. What did I just do?" That was not a berry.

 

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Unlike the flame berry, an elemental essence plant that contained large amounts of flame elements, the flame wolf's beast core was a flame attributed core that contained a hundred times more elemental essence.

Once damaged, a flame core could explode. Within Aila's stomach, the flame core began to release its elemental essence in a torrential flood of power. The eddies were so powerful, they threatened to engulf her body, and blow her to bits.

"Behave!" She cried out. All at once, just behind her own heart, a vortex appeared, and began to rapidly pull the tyrannical energy inside.

The core was pulled right along with it.

Aila lay on the floor of the kitchen, her eyes slowly opened, and she let out a slow breath. She had no clue how close to death she had come, but right now, she felt a little bit stronger. She knew how weakness felt, as she could feel her body grow weaker over time. Now she was sensitive to strength, and power.

"Oh damn, what was that thing?" She sat up, and looked around. "Hm? What was that a magic stone? Why can I now see heat?" Her eyes could now see the heat that radiated out from the stove, so she frowned. "This is no good. I won't be able to cook if this continues....oh, I can turn it off?" She focused, and her ability to see thermal signatures turned on, then off again.

"This could be really useful. Will a wolf be able to sneak up on me now?" She grinned, and stirred the fats on the stove. "Looks like it's time to add some meat. I am so damned hungry!"

Aila, once again, failed to understand the depth of her own strength, and the unusual abilities she now possessed. Being able to see in the dark, see heat signatures, and being as strong physically as she was, was not the norm on this world.

Not even close.

 

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