Chapter 58: The fire that follows

"Argh!!" Desire screamed when he saw the fire swallow his head up.

The fire traveled through the sky, and Desire's head was on its way, making Desire be inside it.

"Water!" Desire shouted as he pointed both of his hands towards his face.

Even if the fire were still on his face, spraying it with some water would kill it.

Right, it usually would, but the blue fire in Desire's head was stubborn, and it didn't even shrink a little bit!

This all happened in the span of a second, making Desire very confused.

After all, the fire didn't even lose a bit of its force as it continued burning him.

Wait. Desire thought as he took his time to observe himself.

And when another second passed, Desire finally murmured something as he touched the fire.

"What the, it's not...burning me?"

The fire was still on his head, but it wasn't burning him. He also touched it to make sure, but the fire was indeed not hurting him in any way possible.

How is that possible?! Desire thought as he looked at the wonder in the form of the blue flame.

However, his thinking was stopped when he heard the sizzling of skin and flesh just right behind him.

When he turned his head, his eyes widened to the brim.

"What the hell..." He murmured slightly as his eyes began to shake, and his arms began to flail.

Desire even forgot about the fire that was stuck on his head! After all, it didn't matter to him right now.

His eyes were glued on the hand that was clearly reaching out to Desire.

And when his eyes moved a little bit further, Desire could see a soulless body with its mouth wide open.

That was not all.

In the holes of the face, a fire could be seen burning every organ and vessel inside the body.

In its mouth, ears, eyes, nose, and even the pores! It was so detailed that Desire found it disgusting!

Desire was somehow feeling a little bit scared of it just because of its disgusting outward appearance.

It was then.

As Desire stared at the creature dazedly, his eyes soon witnessed a change.

The creature moved forward slowly, but surely and its fingers were moving eerily.

However, when the creature passed a certain point, the fire in Desire's head departed from him and moved forward.

Swoshhh!! The fire grew larger and larger until it swallowed the creature!

Strangely enough, the creature didn't struggle or made any noises when it was burning.

It didn't take for more than a minute for the creature to burn and turn into ashes.

And Desire just watched it happen in silence. Well, his brain was currently thinking of various things right now.

And when his eyes landed on the ground, he soon saw the small, blue flame about to die out.

Whoo. The wind blew, and the fire disappeared with it.

And as Desire stared at it while activating his Light Skill, he spoke while tilting his head.

"What the hell was that?"

Desire didn't know what happened at all. First, a fire swallowed him, but it didn't even burn him.

That was beyond weird, and then something like a monster appeared behind him.

And if that wasn't enough, the fire on his head began to burn the monster in an instant.

At the very least, this was something that Desire didn't expect.

"Did that fire protect me?"

If Desire took a look at it from another's perspective, the fire definitely tried to protect Desire from the monster.

However, Desire didn't know any reason why a fire should protect him. He didn't even know there was a fire protecting him.

"Jarina? Lionel?" Desire shook his head after murmuring those words.

Desire knew that Jarina and Lionel weren't really people who use fire magic or fire skills.

That was why it was confusing for Desire.

'Just who would put a fire on me?'

Desire contemplated for a long time, but he didn't get an answer. He even speculated that something happened while he was out.

It was then.

As Desire continued to think about possible answers and solutions to his question, something appeared in front of him.

The place was dark after the fire burned out, and the Light Skill of Desire was still weak, so the thing that appeared was easy to see.

After all, it was a fire.

And this fire caught Desire's attention as Desire looked over it with interest.

"A small, red fire?" Desire murmured as he observed the fire.

There wasn't anything unusual to it, but the fact that it was burning without burning anything was strange.

Desire had his guard up because of what happened earlier, but he soon decided that the fire wouldn't do him harm.

After all, the first blue fire saved him, no matter how it looked.

That was why Desire decided to touch the fire. And as he touched the fire, he soon found out that it didn't burn or hurt him in any way possible that a fire could.

"It's the same..."

Desire already expected that he wouldn't get hurt by the fire, thanks to the blue fire that appeared and killed a monster.

"Hmm." Desire murmured as he moved his fingers through the fire.

Desire found it fun to touch the fire without being burned. His eyes reflected the light coming out of the fire as he observed the fire with interest.

He tried to figure out the origin of the small, red fire, but as expected, nothing came to his mind.

It was then.

As Desire continued enjoying his time with the fire, he soon remembered what he had to do.

After all, Desire still had the time limit on that ranking up.

"Where is the exit..." Desire murmured as he took off his finger from the fire.

Although Desire couldn't figure out the origin or identity of the fire, he wasn't obsessed over it.

Desire stood up as he looked at his surroundings. It was still the same dark cave, but Desire had a different opinion about it now.

After all, he got what he wanted to find in this cave; water. And he even got some bonus that came in the form of food.

That was also the reason why staying longer than necessary isn't exactly the best decision to make in his situation.

After all, his life is still threatened right now by that something that could take over him.

"Hah." Desire sighed as he took a furtive glance at the fire.

Although he knew that it wasn't the same with the fire that saved him, Desire came to think it was the same.

That was why he wanted to find the origin of this fire. He wanted to know who saved him in that dangerous situation.

Well, there's nothing he can do now, and Desire knows that.

And so, with that kind of feeling, Desire took his first step to go out of the cave.

****

As Desire left the cave with questions unanswered, he soon meets with the sky with the sun over its head.

Desire was happy about how he was able to eat and made something out of his journey inside the cave.

That was why he had a smile on his face. However, that smile soon completely disappeared as he looked at the cave again.

"Why..." Desire murmured as his eyes focused only on one thing.

No...could Desire even describe it as a thing? After all, the thing that Desire was looking at, for Desire, could be described as a living being.

It was the fire that he saw emerged from nothingness in the cave.

"Why is it following me now?" Desire's face was completely that of a bored one as he spoke those words.

Although the fire that followed him was indeed magical, it is no use to Desire as of now.

What's more, it was even annoying for Desire that it was following him.

Desire could ignore the fire, but he didn't want to ignore it.

After all, there was the possibility that the one who saved him might find him this way. And if ever he shooed the fire away, the person who saved him might get offended.

Well, he just wanted to ask how to make a fire like this one.

"I don't really have the time for this..." Desire murmured as he whipped his head back to the mountain.

What he said was right. He didn't have the time to pay attention to something he didn't know.

However, it was obvious that the fire wouldn't have an answer for him. It wouldn't tell Desire why it was following him or anything like that.

It's not as if the fire would suddenly grow a mouth and a brain just because it was acting like a living being would.

That was why, in the end, Desire walked off while having a fire follow him.

And so, the weird combination of a child and fire walked off to find some monsters in the area.