Tower Of Rebirth

Chapter 3: The First Challenge - Trial of Fire

Adrian deftly avoided a fiery tendril closing in on his face. Heat licked at his neck as another tendril grazed past.He moved gracefully, but the next tendril singed his arm. Taking it as a signal to retreat, Adrian moved, only to hit his back against the wall.   

"Damn it," he muttered, as he realized the portal had vanished.

Five tendrils homed in on him, each attacking from a different angle. His body flowed with a natural rhythm as he pondered the true nature of this elemental. Its entire body was made of flames, with tendrils hovering around it. It looks like an extension of the main body, Adrian keenly observed the tendrils which Lucas and Elara had evaded, leaving Adrian to bear the brunt of the assault. The relentless flames were heating the arena, and the smoke blurred his vision. 

Adrian needed a way out. My dagger was useless against the fire, and my mysterious arrival didn’t provide me with any other weapons. He avoided another lash, his body moving instinctively while he searched for an escape. Or at least he tried. 

Adrian's breath caught as he finally saw the fire elemental. The creature looked so terrifying, that Adrian thought… Was this thing spawned from the depths of hell?

From Adrian’s perspective, the fire elemental’s body seemed to be made up from molten lava, a writhing mass of flames that emitted an intense, searing heat. It stood tall and imposing, its form resembling a grotesque hybrid mix of a fiery beast and a humanoid figure.

The creature's skull-shaped head, if one could call it that, was a deformed with flames sitting on its face like a super scary version of ghost rider.  The elemental’s eye sockets were hollow, black and empty..

The elemental's core, the heart of its existence, was sitting just in the torso of the creature, and glowed with an intensity that defied the limits of mortal comprehension. It pulsed with a mesmerizing rhythm, like the heartbeat of a volatile volcano on the verge of eruption. This core was the source of its power, and the key to its vulnerability. 

The elemental's body extended from this central core, its shape constantly shifting. Its elongated arms were made up of six tendrils made entirely of flames, and each moved around as if searching for something to snare, or burn. The creature’s legs resembled pillars of burning flames, and no feet. It didn’t seem to move around very much, but it seemed to hover slightly above ground

His gaze kept getting drawn back to the fire elemental, and his focus wavered. There was something within the flames, a hidden language he felt he could understand.

"Adrian!" Elara's voice pierced his daze. He blinked, horrified that he had lost focus. Two more tendrils hit his body as punishment. What is happening to me? Did the fire possess hypnotic magic? How can I fight against that? 

Adrian honed his concentration, making his movements more precise. The fairy, Lila, had warned us that the trials could be deadly, but I never expected this much danger in the very first challenge. It is embarrassing. Vance would have... He silenced that thought with a scowl. Vance's actions didn't matter. Vance had betrayed him. End of story!

Adrian pushed those thoughts aside and focused on avoiding the tendrils and finding an escape. It worked for a while, but his attention wandered every time he gazed at the elemental for too long. There was something there, shapes materializing and dissolving, like glimpses into another realm. Adrian's mind raced to decipher it, despite his efforts to stay focused. Then, he saw it... A sequence of symbols within the elemental, each pulsing to its own rhythm. I can sense these symbols, as if we are connected somehow. 

Adrian extended his mind, guided by an unexplainable instinct, and touched one. Instantly, he felt a deep connection to the flames, sharpening his perception of the elements. He became both the dodging man and the elemental defending its territory. 

In that brief moment, knowledge flooded into his mind. He understood the elemental like a part of himself, feeling its rage and its desire to protect its core. He understood the meaning behind the symbols and more. 

Huh, is this the tower’s magic? He thought, remembering what Lila said, “Every soul has a certain gift that expresses its deepest emotions.”

Meanwhile, Elara and Lucas had been locked in a fierce battle of their own. Somehow, the elemental had conjured three smaller fiery minions from its essence,—these minions looked like the elemental but smaller, with empty eye sockets, a core sitting directly in its forehead. Its body formed entirely from flames,—and they swarmed around the chamber like vengeful specters attacking the others.. 

Somehow over the last five minutes, Elara, blazing with determination, had summoned a protective barrier of water that shimmered and moved in response to her will. Her barrier kept the minion away while she expertly manipulated water to create another blade of water, which shot straight through the fiery minion attacking her, and immediately extinguishing it. Her control over the water was mesmerizing.

Lucas, with his scholarly demeanor, wasn’t doing too bad either. With the last minion’s tendrils moments from stabbing him in the torso, he moved clumsily, going low to dodge the tendril. Then, he casually touched it. It was as if the searing flames did nothing to burn him, as he began to sap the energy from the minion’s tendril, causing it to crumble into ash. 

Malik seemed unconcerned, and comfortable watching as the others fought for their lives. A minion ran up to attack him, but was quickly sliced apart by what looked like a thin blade made entirely of water.

A tendril grazed Adrian’s back, snapping him back to reality. Adrian stopped evading, overwhelmed by what he had just experienced. Thankfully, the elemental appeared equally confused, retracting its tendril. The standstill lasted only a few seconds before the elemental regained its fury. 

But now, Adrian was no longer a passive observer. He no longer needed to concentrate to see the symbols; they were plainly visible. They encircled a marble-like sphere. The elemental's core. Adrian extended his hand toward the creature and moved his fingers in sync with the symbols. 

Adrian hadn't known what to expect. The burst of knowledge had been more instinctual than comprehensive, but he hadn't anticipated the elemental twisting in response, as if gravity had shifted for it. Its core shot upward, carrying the creature with it. 

Adrian stared at his hands in disbelief. He understood what he had done—the symbols were a key to manipulating the elementals, and he had tapped into that key—but he had expected to create a minor opening to exploit, not...whatever this was. 

“Malik, I think I just unlocked my gift” Adrian shouted out so the others could hear him while watching the elemental still in the air.

“That’s not unusual. The tower’s magic is called Soul Manifestation” Malik shouted out. Adrian couldn’t see where Malik was exactly and he couldn’t take his eye off the elemental to look for him. 

“You too?” Elara asked, standing up from behind the boulder she used as a shield.

“What’s your gift?” Lucas yelled back, standing next to Elara. “Shouldn’t he be helping?” Adrian thought

“You’re clearly adapting to the Tower already. You should already understand how it works, yes?” Malik continued

“I’m not sure how to explain it but it has something to do with manipulating weight.” Adrian tried explaining. His unique gift allowed him to manipulate the weight of anything with matter. As he stared at the elemental's core, a sphere-like marble pulsating with fiery energy so high up in the air, it started falling fast. Suddenly an idea formed in his mind.

He extended his hand again, but this time, the core's response was minimal. Earlier, he had made the elemental’s core weigh less by changing the gravity of the core. It was as if he was rewriting the fundamental laws of physics just for this moment. The core, with its immense mass, was subject to a powerful gravitational pull. But Adrian had the power to alter that pull. He decreased it, making the core weigh far less than it should. Instantly, he felt a shift in the elemental. The core that was once heavy and firmly rooted in place, became as light as a feather. 

It seemed to defy gravity, hovering in the air as if it had lost all its weight. 

Only this time, the elemental was ready for it, making it more difficult to manipulate. Adrian needed to weaken it first. 

"Use the water!" Lucas's voice echoed from somewhere. Water? Adrian scanned the chamber and saw a huge tsunami of water came seemingly out of nowhere from behind the elemental.  Looking closer, he saw Elara panting while making a gesture with her hands, as if controlling the tsunami. 

Did she just? He thought bewildered at what was unfolding before him. “Is that your gift?” He shouted to Elara just as he avoided another tendril, charted a path, while moving to lure the creature towards her.

The elemental took the bait, swiping at him with three tendrils as he passed. Adrian gritted his teeth and rolled, landing near the pond. He glanced behind to ensure the elemental followed. When it drew close enough, Adrian dove out of the way with all his might, and landed next to Elara.

The giant wave of water surged, creating a curtain of steam upon contact with the elemental. Panting, and looking drained, Elara shifted to watch Adrian and the elemental—which was screeching loudly as if in pain from bathing in the wave she created. “Yes, this is my gift. I don’t fully understand it myself but somehow, I can just feel it.”

Adrian listened, while he watched, his gaze entirely locked onto the target. The water hadn't completely destroyed it, but it had weakened and disrupted the creature. The core was exposed, but attacking it meant risking burns. 

"There's a weakness in the creature. It's the core. I'd break it, but the flames are intense," Adrian shouted to the others.

Malik said. "Break it. My gift can heal any wound."

"Perfect," The Steele Reaper grinned. 

The elemental, still dazed from the water, struggled to maintain its form. Adrian wouldn't waste this opportunity. He saw his chance when the elemental’s body started to regenerate slowly, so he swiftly approached the creature with his dagger in hand. The elemental's tendrils were weaker compared to their earlier onslaught, and Adrian easily dodged them. 

Next, the creature launched a huge fiery surge directly at him—trying to push Adrian back—but Adrian refused to give it a chance to recover. He pushed through the pain, diving through the surge and landing inches from the elemental. The intense heat threatened to force him back, and his body screamed at him to retreat. Adrian silenced the instinct. I won’t fail in the first trial; I won’t be defeated so easily. 

With unwavering determination, he raised his hand and drove the dagger into the core. A brilliant burst of light and heat enveloped the chamber. For a moment, it seemed as if the entire space might be consumed by fire. Then, with a deafening roar, the elemental collapsed in on itself, dissolving into sparks and embers. 

Adrian staggered back, Heart pounding and body covered in a fine layer of sweat. Burns marked his hands and face, matching those across his body. Hopefully, Malik's powers live up to his claims.