death by lava and stupidity [spirit hunt]

It didn't take long for him to get to an area where he thought he now really fucked up.

He had walked far enough to get to a place directly facing an active volcano, an empty field now charred black with constant volcanic eruptions, and cracks everywhere on the field from the earthquakes that came with it.

At first, there was nothing unusual about it. The lava came spewing forth from the volcano, which is normal whilst highly dangerous, but not unusual.

Then he could feel heat start to form from beneath his feet, which he thought he imagined at first. But then lava began to spew out from between the cracks on the rock field, and that was when he had realised that he fucked up.

"Is that a D-Tector that I sense, young man?"

"What?" Ry called out, as a disembodied voice began to laugh, coming from nowhere yet everywhere at the same time.

"I see you come with the correct attributes, the correct personality... Though perhaps you need a little tweaking before you can get to your full potential."

"Who are you?" he called out even louder, "Show yourself!"

"Only if you can reach me, and prove yourself worthy."

"How do I go about doing that?"

"Reach me."

"Where?" Ry shouted exasperatedly, he couldn't tell where the voice was coming from at all, as if speakers were booming from every corner of the field.

"Where do you think I would be?" the voice chuckled again, lighthearted in the midst of all the lava, "Think more, young man."

He glanced around, looked up, and then sighed. Of course there was only going to be one place that the person was going to be at. The most dangerous place imaginable.

The very foot of the volcano.

Well, better start now than later right?

He took up the starting position for a run, and then dashed his way through the field. Admittedly, a very stupid move, however he couldn't sit around to think of a solution when time was not on his side. The longer he waited, the more lava would flow out from the cracks, and more of his pathways would be blocked out by molten lava.

He dashed around the field, inwardly thanking his foresight in becoming a regular member of the track team. He took care not to ever come close to cracks that were now spurting lava, he didn't know how fickle the lava would be or how high they would start to burst out.

Slowly but surely, he was getting there. Yes, the foot of the volcano was far, but his full-on dash made up for it. Sweat dripped from his body in streams now, and each drop that hit the ground hissed from the very heat of the lava beneath the rocks.

Here and there, he had to take detours. In more than one occasion, he had to suddenly stop in his tracks because the path he was about to take began to literally go up in flames. At one point, he was so close to a crack that suddenly began to spurt lava, he had to throw himself backwards to avoid being hit and he fell on his tailbone, "Son of a-"

But he jumped back up and kept moving, because it might have been a matter of seconds before the crack behind him started to spurt fire too and trap him in. But he also started to get exhausted, running in what seemed like a hundred degree heat would do that to you, even if you've regularly ran in the track team.

He was beginning to become slower, he could feel it. The exhaustion began to seep into his bones, his muscles felt strained to its core, his legs began to feel as if they were dragging across the field instead of being light on his feet.

But he kept moving, not just for his life, but also for the power. The power he needed, the one that he had been dreaming for all his life.

He could feel it, almost literally. He could hear it calling out for him, reaching for him the same way he was reaching for it.

He looked up and saw the distance between him and the foot of the volcano begin to shorten. He was almost there. Almost.

His arms were formed in an x-shape to shield his face, as he jumped through a literal being made out of lava and rocks.

It was the only way that he could see to get out of this situation, with every other way blocked. The phoenix's form disintegrated for a bit after every beat of its wings, he saw that, and that was the best chance that he could find to get away from it. The best chance that he could get to getting away from the phoenix with the least harm.

But even then, it still hurt like hell. The flames licked away on his body, burning his bare chest and arms. He could feel the lava melting his skin for the split second that he was in contact with the phoenix.

After what seemed like an eternity, he was through the molten form, even though he was singed and burnt badly from the lava, skin starting to peel off at places where it severely burnt him.

Yet it almost didn't matter to him, he could almost feel no pain, as if it was numbed out by his adrenaline and exhaustion. Still, he managed to force himself to look back behind him, to see if the phoenix was readying itself for yet another attack.

But the phoenix had stopped moving, instead only watching him, as if the creature had approved of his existence now. Perhaps it had, but the thought slowly began to die out in Ry's mind purely out of tiredness. Only one word sentences formed in his mind now, directing him to move.

Volcano. There.

He began to push forward, one leg front, then the other. His mind didn't register it as it wasn't of his concern at the moment, but if he were to look up, he could see that the lava around him had stopped to flow. The cracks had gone back to nothing, to silence, as if acknowledging that Ry had accomplished his trials.

One foot forward, then the other. He was nearly there, just a little bit more, he could see the rocky wall of the volcano beginning to get larger and larger as he got nearer. That was the only thing that his mind was able to comprehend at the moment: that he was nearly there.

He could feel himself sagging, though he didn't know how much, but anyone who saw him would have been shocked at his state. At this point, he was more limping than he was walking, dragging one foot in front of him and then the next. But he was getting there, he was moving.

And then, finally, he reached it. He didn't realise that he had until all he could see was the rocky wall, the tip of his nose just about to touch the wall.

His breathing was ragged, the skin on his arms and body practically about to fall off, but he was here. He had reached his destination.

His goal, his source of power.

With the ounce of energy left in him, his lips tilted upwards in a small smirk, and then he could hear the voice once more, barely registering in his mind.

"Congratulations, you made it, young man. I'm surprised."

"You... shouldn't... be."

"Perhaps not, but the important part is that you survived my trials. You persevered, you had proven yourself worthy of power," the voice paused for a moment, "My power."

Ry tiredly looked up, forcing his head up, his chin now grazing against the rocky outcropping. He would have been more surprised if he had even the slightest bit of energy left in him with what he saw when he looked up, but he didn't.

What he did saw, however, was something he had never seen before. It was yet another being, not dissimilar to the lava phoenix earlier, yet this one felt more powerful. It essentially radiated power, not heat, and Ry could feel it stretch for miles. It was just how powerful the being was.

The being was made of lava and flames, yet it looked like a king. An emperor, with a humanoid form instead of that of a phoenix, a billowing cape of lava behind him and a flaming crown to go with it. He was fully armoured in lava, platings of rock and flames outfitting the being.

"I am proud of you, Raphael,"

"Don't say... that name."

"Ha, you look terrible yet you can still curse your name, you are an interesting person," the being remarked, "Well, regardless, I am proud of you, Ry. You are worthy of wielding my power, of being my successor. For that, I will bestow upon you what you have been searching for."

Ry instantly felt a gush of wind caressing his burnt body, yet it did not hurt him. It was gentle, as if careful not to harm him any further. The wind carried him gently up until he was floating up to where the being was. In an instant, the pain and exhaustion that he felt all began to erode away, leaving behind an invigorated soul and heart, beating loudly in his chest. With renewed energy, he looked up once more at the being.

"Rise, my successor," the being spoke, his voice booming throughout the land, "Let it be known that you are now the inheritor of the power of bombardment."

Ry rose, further up in the air as he began to feel the power enveloping him. He could feel his burns fade away, the skin on his arms begin to latch itself back, the power entering his body and into the depths of his heart.

"Be one with this power, Ry," the being advised, "And you will gain greatness even beyond your imagination."

As he spoke, Ry could feel his eyes begin to droop, even as he felt all his pain and tiredness soothe away. He didn't know why, he fought his eyelids, yet they closed anyway, with the being as the last thing he saw before he drifted into darkness.

"Are you okay?"

Ry's eyes snapped open in shock and he sat straight up, and it took him a minute to calm down as he began to register where he was. He was laid down in a bed with white sheets, in a clean and tidy room made out of wooden tiles and walls. Next to him was the cat digimon that he had encountered in the inn before he had set off, looking at him with a worried look in her face.

"Are you okay?" she asked, "A few travellers found you in a field near here and brought you here, but you don't seem to be hurt. But how do you feel, are you fine?"

Ry adjusted his position on the bed, and bumped into something next to him. He grabbed it and held it up, and realised that he was looking at his own D-Tector. Yet instead of the emptiness that he had felt all this time when he held his D-Tector, he could feel it now bursting with heat and power.

It wasn't a dream after all. His lips curled into a smirk, "Never been better."