Victor screamed as the flames engulfed him. His bark began burning as Victor beat a hasty retreat. The fire followed as the attacker followed Victor back to the middle of the alley. She was not going to let Victor get away. They had prepared for him, finding a way to use his new powers against him. However, Victor knew he could not withdraw the bark. It was the only thing stopping him from being burned to death. Pain erupted throughout his body as the smell of burning wood filled the street. Victor knew he must find a way to put out the fire. Rolling on the ground was useless, it was some chemical flame that they had prepared for him. So, Victor focused on the flame. Thought the pain, the villain took a deep breath.

Nexus was a world of energy. Different energies filled the world and different material gives off their own distinct energy. As a cultivator, Victor knew this better than most. Wood, metal, earth, air, fire, and several others, all give off their own different and distinct energy. Distinct energy that contains Qi.

Victor closed his eyes, breathed in the fire around him and called upon his core. With the breath, Victor tried to pull in a little bit of the fire qi around him. Victor had done this once with Wood, but he wasn’t under attack back then. And he wasn’t on fire.

The pain made it difficult, but Victor knew he had no choice. Victor could hear the flamethrower but tried to ignore the presence of his attacker. He took several quick breaths. According to the book on Elemental Cores, he was supposed to do this slowly. He was supposed to slowly filled up his core with Fire Qi, and once there was enough of it, the Fire Qi would spill and formed a sub-core of its own. Unfortunately, time was a luxury he did not have. Victor took in that distinct energy from Fire and willed it in his core. The steam of fire continued unabated as the attacker kept on the attack. Ironically, this was helping Victor. He needed the flames.

He kept breathing. Breath in, breath out. Victor then felt it. A small push. So small he thought he had imagined it, but he remember the feeling. It was the same feeling he felt when he formed his Wood sub-core. Encouraged, Victor kept breathing and realized he had stopped screaming. He opened his eyes and saw the flames on his body. They were…comforting. Instead of pain, Victor felt a sense of bliss. The fire, the smell of burning wood, the smell of burning flesh; Victor breath them all in, and then, he screamed.

Victor saw it the moment it happened. The Fire Qi in his core spilt away, and a blast of fire erupted from Victor’s body. The pressure of the blast blew his attacker off her feet. The flames stopped, and Victor was almost sorry for it. Victor looked at his swollen hands and saw the red blisters. He guessed having a fire sub-core doesn’t make him fireproof.

Still, he was alive. Victor looked over at the woman. Even with the suit, he could tell that she was frightened. She did not run. She laid on the ground, frozen in fear. Victor knew he must be quite a sight. He walked over and stood over her. Strangely, he was not angry. He was grateful. The woman did not intend it, but she had helped him. So, Victor smiled and pressed his hand on her body.

“Thank you, and sweet dreams.”

Victor poured his qi into the woman’s body. Qi that came from his core and went through his new sub-core. The alley became hot, steam began rising from the ground. The woman screamed a long, and fearful wail. Victor continued pouring in his qi, and the woman began shaking. It looked like her body was spasming. Victor raised an eyebrow at this, but he did not stop. Then, the smell hits him. The smell of burning flesh. Even through the hazmat suit, Victor could smell the woman. Then, she stopped moving.

She was dead, and Victor lifted his hand. The hazmat suit may had been designed to stop flames, but it could not stop his qi. By pouring in his fire qi, Victor had managed to cook the woman alive in her costume.

When you go for the kill, you had to expect the opponent to do the same. For people thinking of coming after him, Victor had just informed them how terrible it will go for them if they fail. Victor told himself it was a message that had to be delivered, but a sense of uncertainty rose as the adrenaline receded. Victor had to wonder if the message was worth it.

It was a terrible way to go.

Maybe it was the new core. The book had said that cultivators who specialized in the elements tends to take on aspects of said elements. Was that what happened to him? Victor hoped so. He hoped this was something he could blame on the core, but self-reflection could come later. He still needs to escape.

Victor stood up and his legs buckled. He fell to one knee and immediately realized he had overdone it. He had been shot, losing blood and now he had used too much qi. His sight darkened and Victor half-crawled to a wall. He leaned against it. The pain came roaring back as Victor took a deep breath. He took in the qi in the air, but Nexus was not a world that was filled with the energy. Victor would need time to refill his core, but he knew he did not have it. The shooters were still out there.

Then, Victor heard screeching tires. There were vehicles stopping near the alley. Victor waited to see who had arrived. At least, that was the idea. He heard the shouts as his sight darkened further. He tried to fight it, but the lure was too great. Victor closed his eyes and rest.