Chapter 6: How to Start a Fire

It’s been nearly a hundred days, and throughout this time, I’ve been trying to figure out how that giant bear breathes fire. During my sixth bear chase, I didn’t manage to grasp the secret of the flames, and now here I am, decked out in a massive, warm bear fur cloak, facing off against the seventh giant bear—of course, in a frenzied, ghoul state.

This gray bear should be a firepower-enhanced type; its claw swipes are easier to dodge than the first six, but its fiery breath is almost non-stop. Hmm, what great experiment material!

I’m studying its breathing pattern, certain that it has some kind of fire mechanism in its body. This time, with my now sharper senses, I must uncover how the giant bear breathes fire. The fiery spray from the gray bear is exceptionally fierce.

The heat must originate from somewhere inside it—not from the throat; I confirmed that during our last confrontation.

So, is the flame generated by its heart? I hide in the gap between its paw and the flames, getting closer to the giant bear and preparing to deliver a solid blow. However, the flames don’t go out; they only weaken a bit.

Crap, it’s so hot, I got burned!

So, the heart should only provide the burning energy.

Then the real ignition source must be here! I plunge my hand into its body, pulling out a chunk of stone that looks like solidified lava from above the heart.

It’s so hot! The flames vanish in an instant, but my hand turns red from the “steaming” heat—so hot!

I quickly fling the rock on the ground, but the searing pain in my hand becomes the last straw that breaks my sanity, and I once again lose all sense and lunge at the giant bear, ready to tear it apart.

Though I’ve lost my rationality, I’ve more or less gotten used to this feeling of my body being controlled by frenzy. Watching my ghoul self fight the giant bear feels like I’m watching a movie while trying to regain control of my body. Just as my frenzied body prepared to strike the bear’s left foot, I once again seized control.

Ah, this pain and urge to kill are such a hassle! After regaining control, I freeze up, and the giant bear slaps me away, sending me crashing to the ground—almost losing control again.

“Frenzied curse or whatever, why don’t you just go die?”

I curse as I get back up, glancing at the already battered giant bear over there. Seems like after I dug out that stone, you haven’t breathed fire since, huh? So, that stone really must be the fire-breathing organ? I ponder, picking up the tennis-ball-sized stone from the ground. Meanwhile, the fire-breathing giant bear, probably too scared from my previous assault, doesn’t dare to approach. Instead, it seems to be trying to use its flame breath, let out an earth-shattering roar at me.

You should calm down a bit, huh? Alright, let me just observe your movements and see if I can learn how to start a fire.

“Oh wow, it seems like something is flowing from your heart to that stone position where it got stuck. Okay, let me give it a try too.”

I grasp the stone, focusing my energy like I’m injecting power into it, but after about a minute of trying, still no results. But this is really pushing my limits—trying to restrain my frenzied impulses while concentrating! Why not just give in to the frenzy and pour everything into that stone to see what happens?

Thinking that, I let the frenzied killing intent take over my body again, and then, something unbelievable happens! A bright red flame appears above the hand holding the stone, and my uncontrollable body naturally points my hand at the hesitant, injured giant bear, letting out a chilling roar in return. Immediately, a wave of scarlet flames, more intense than any fire breath I’ve seen from the giant bears before, rushes from my hand towards the giant bear, completely engulfing it.

Then, everything goes white; I can’t feel pain or the urge to kill anymore. It feels like both I and the madness have exhausted ourselves and collapsed.

When I wake up, it’s already nighttime. My body has returned to normal human form, and the giant bear’s stone is still clutched in my hand, while the charred remains of the wounded bear lie there.

A big crisis! If I had been attacked by a ghoul or another giant bear while I was unconscious, that would have been it. I need to be cautious when using fire in the future. I silently remind myself and begin to recall what happened before I lost consciousness.

Hmm, just like this, injecting power into the stone, I mimic my previous body actions and successfully create a small pale red flame in my hand.

But this is exhausting! The flame lasts less than a minute before I feel an overwhelming fatigue. Still, I’m in the green—finally, I’ve more or less figured out how to start a fire. After all, I’ve tried every method, from drill fires to anything else, in this forest, but none ever worked. The bear’s breath was the only real flame I’ve seen here.

What’s even more incredible is that even that breath couldn’t ignite the trees in the forest. So, mastering this one fire-starting method is absolutely crucial for me to enjoy cooked food and improve my quality of life.

Heh, that charred giant bear corpse may have cooled down, but it still smells pretty good! Today is indeed a day worth celebrating. For now, before any other monsters come along and interrupt, let’s eat! Satisfied, I toss the giant bear stone into the pouch of my cloak, humming a tune as I skip away towards the nearby charred bear corpse. My time has finally come!