Chapter 75 - Fireball

"What does it say?" Zell asked, now extremely curious as to what was on his hand.

"Forevermore burn with light, ye who holds the key to everything. All truths reveal, all lies dispels, the time of gods is at its end. The gift of the god slayer is granted upon thee." Sunea replied. "That's what it roughly says. The language does not translate perfectly into our own."

"Those words would imply that it is not a curse." Xalador said. "The gift of the god slayer? What an interesting thing to say. Is she saying that she is the god slayer or that she is making the human here a god slayer?"

"Either way this gift is hurting Zell." Obsi said. "We need to find some way to help him!"

"Quiet young one." Xalador said. "We need to think about this. Can anyone here recall any moment when the gods mentioned a god slayer? I for one cannot."

"No." The other elders said in unison.

"So, either she is something known as the god slayer that no god has ever mentioned, or she granted the title of god slayer onto the human." Xalador explained. "Which scenario is more reasonable? Human tell me, have you ever killed a god?"

"Yes." Zell said. "A couple of times actually."

"There you have it then." Sunea said. "It must have just been something lost in translation. Let us focus on the key to everything part. Is the tattoo some sort of key? If so, what sort of lock does it open?"

"Maybe it is a key of truth." Zell said. 'Because of the next line, also the fact I can physically see the fabric of existence now."

"I see." Excalibur said. "Sensing magic is one thing, but to see it is a level we have not crossed. It could very well be this gift you were given."

"Then why the pain?" Obsi asked. "If it is a gift, why does it hurt him so?"

"It seems that whatever this gift is truly is transcends that of even the divine realm." Sunea says. "For such a thing to be attached to a human… There were bound to be side effects."

"Human you may change forever and there is nothing we can do about that." Xalador said. "For that we are sorry. I think it is clear whoever that woman was, meant you no harm. So, we should hope for the best for now. Perhaps more will be revealed in time."

"We are very pleased you have returned to us." Sunea said. "Now that you understand more of the nature of magic, we are going to teach you a spell so that you may learn what it is like to cast magic."

"I shall teach you a simple fireball spell." Xalador said. "I imagine you learned the nature of fire in one of your school lessons on your former planet. Fire needs three things to be successful. It needs fuel, oxygen, and heat. For fireball you must produce the fuel with magic and use it as the basis.

Hold out your hand in front of you and focus on the mana flowing around it. For a regular fireball use the fake magic placed by the gods, and for a better fireball use the magic of creation. Form that into a ball. When you have that focus on the heat from a fire, the hotter you imagine the hotter it shall burn."

Zell did as he instructed. He focused and felt the magic around his hand, he pictured it clumping together into a ball. He used the magic of creation, he wanted to prove he knew it. As he formed his spell the tattoo on his hand appeared, glowing with the purest of white light.

The fireball began to take shape, but it did not look like a normal fire at all. The fire was black with white peaks and emitted so much magical force that it caused discomfort among everyone in the room.

"Dispel it!" Xalador shouted. "That ball will destroy this entire island!"

"I don't know how!" Zell said.

The tattoo on his hand grew brighter and the ball doubled in size and power. "Shit!" Zell yelled in response, lifting his hand straight up. He launched the fireball into the sky, vaporizing the roof of the building they were in. "I am sorry about that! I will help you rebuild the temple I promise!"

"We did not expect you to master the fireball spell so easily." Excalibur said. "If we had known how quick of a study you were, we would have moved outside."

"Still the power of that ball far exceeded what is normal." Sunea said. "Even with your extraordinary level, most of your stats are in strength and endurance. There is no reason you should have a blast that strong."

"My tattoo lit up during the spell." Zell explained. "I don't know what it was doing, but it was visible once more. I think it powered up my spell."

"God slayer." Sunea laughed. "If that is the cause of the massive boost to the magic, it is aptly named for sure."

"Come, let's go feast and celebrate your return!" Xalador said as he got up.

"How's your hand Zell?" Obsi asked.

"Actually, I feel fine now." Zell said. "Maybe using that attack spell burned off some of the excess magic. I will have to try it again when I am hurting."

"I am glad you feel better." Obsi smiled.

Happy everyone left for lunch.

Meanwhile the massive fireball made its way through space, flying freely amongst the stars. That is until it collided with a star in a distant solar system. At the moment of impact, the star became engulfed in black flames with white peaks. The fire danced for moments before the star went supernova and wiped out the entire solar system. Turning all the planets there to dust.. As luck would have it the solar system was uninhabited, so no souls were lost by Zell's careless launch of his attack.