Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis and the bird looked at each other, one in smugness, the other in fury. Gravis had no intention of leaving any time soon. He would stay in here until he had completely healed.

"Just you wait, shitty bird!" Gravis shouted at the bird, who just squawked back in rage. The bird kept squawking incessantly, trying to taunt Gravis out of the lava. But the more it showed its anger, the better Gravis felt. "Yeah, go die of frustration, shitty bird! Just wait until I'm healed, then I'll whoop your ass!"

The bird didn't understand human language, but it understood that Gravis was provoking it, so it only got angrier. It tried several times to reach him but had to stop each time. A couple of times, some feathers even caught on fire, and the bird had to put them out. With time it was slowly losing feathers, but it also managed to come closer.

"Yeah, go pluck your feathers, shitty bird. Then I don't have to do it myself when I cook you!" Gravis continued his provocation. Even though it didn't understand what he said, the bird got angrier. Its fury could blow up the sky. By now, the lava chunk had cooled slightly and had melted a several meters deep hole. The lava looked like a small glowing pond now.

Gravis' head poked out of the top of the lava pond, like a growing watermelon.

After a while, the bird couldn't take it anymore and made a major decision. It landed and started plucking out all its feathers. Every plucked feather hurt, but its anger suppressed the pain. "Yeah, go on, you idiot chicken! While you're at it, come over and cook yourself!" The provocations never ended.

This only fueled its rage, and it increased its speed. After a couple of minutes, the bird was clear of feathers. It plucked the feathers on its head with its talons, leaving some gashes along the way. Its determination was astounding.

The naked bird now walked over to Gravis, getting closer and closer. The air was still scorching, but at least the bird didn't catch on fire. The bird stopped in front of the lava pond and glared into Gravis' eyes. Gravis still had a smug look on his face. They continued looking at each other for some seconds.

PECK!

pecked, and Gravis head immediately sunk. The beak of the bird didn't touch the lava. Being close, and actually touching it, was a huge difference. The bird had missed, and Gravis' head poked out

for a while, like a variation of whack-a-mole. The bird started pecking faster, giving its best to catch

it wasn't just his strength, but the

part of its body. Then, they would pull

was still ok. Gravis sighed. Finally, for the first time in this world, he had time to relax. He looked around and noticed that he was in a forest... which was on fire. Many trees had ignited due to the lava rain. In the distance, he could see the smoking remains of the volcano. It seemed like he

hear any more animals or beasts. They probably fled from the natural catastrophe. The sky had darkened from the smoke, and ash was starting to rain

forest, the lava pool, and the, otherwise, quiet forest reminded Gravis of the environmental challenges in the practical test. This would probably

and slept. He preferred the lava's safety instead of the open

good sleep and noticed that it was very tough moving in the lava. It had started to harden into obsidian. He poked his head out and saw that only ash remained around him for several hundred meters. The floor and the

collateral damage when dealing with me," Gravis noted as he looked around. His body had healed to around half of its peak condition. He decided to stay here for another day. It was safer in this hellscape since no beast would want

lava as well as possible and saw some success in his plan. Since he had to wait for his body to heal anyway, he might as well waste some time on his idea. Only his head remained above the

clothes and carried bows. Obviously, this was a party of hunters, looking for resources. The party consisted of three men and one woman. The

There's only ash as far as the eye can see," one of the men commented. "Maybe it'll be better if we hunt in an actual forest and not this ash-land." The man didn't sound rude but concerned. He wanted

will be in disorder. If we're lucky, we can find an opportunity in this wasteland, and this opportunity might finally turn our luck around. Even if we find nothing,

walking for some time, they arrived at a clearing with fewer remains of half-burned