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!

close, and actually touching it, was a huge difference.

variation of whack-a-mole. The bird started pecking faster, giving its best to catch Gravis, but he

strength, but the whole lava pond that pulled it down. The bird immediately splashed into the lava and screamed. The lava ran down its throat

they

the swallowed lava, but the outside 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

any more animals or beasts. They probably fled from the natural catastrophe. The sky had darkened from the

Gravis of the environmental challenges in the practical test. This would probably be how a fire challenge looked. His nerves relaxed more and started cooking the bird above the lava. Its feathers were already plucked,

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

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

body had healed to around half of its peak condition. He decided to stay here for another day. It was safer

body to heal anyway, he might as well waste some time on his idea. Only his head remained above

a party of hunters, looking for

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 to

calamity, the elements 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, we can at least

continued looking. After walking for some time, they arrived at a clearing with fewer remains of half-burned trees. The clearing