Peak Fire powers

I appeared directly in front of the Humbaba, moving faster than the eye could see to appear in front of him, catching him within the edge of my Aurora as I did. At once, the Humbaba flinched as if in agony, small clouds of white smoke rising from his skin as if he were burning in the light. He tried to lunge backwards to escape it but I followed him step for step, keeping him within the range of my power and turning up the heat.

Literally.

Elemental Soul (Active) LV1 EXP: 7.14% MP: 250
The shifting of Aura in accordance with one’s Elemental Affinity, now refined to the point of transformation. Unlike its predecessor which empowered the user by imitating the properties of the chosen element, this skill allows the user to directly transform his Aura into the physical form of an element. Power changes as the caster’s INT, skill level, and Elemental Affinity grow. Only possible for those closely attuned to the forces of nature.
Aligns Aura towards a specific element.
Enhances the effects of the appropriate Elemental Aura, while so aligned.
Additional 250 MP used per minute.

Elemental Soul was a skill I’d played around with somewhat, but had been forced to limit my use of for much the same reason as Aurora—namely, its breadth. While it was a simply enough skill at its most basic level, when used solely with my Aura, it was also something that could easily go out of control. Using Fire as an example, if I used Elemental Soul while limiting myself solely to my Aura, all it would do was wreath my body in flames. If I used it in conjunction with Aureola, however, the effects of the skill would expand, surrounding me in a raging bonfire that could incinerate anything that came near. Used with Aurora?

The world around me became a raging inferno, engulfing the Humbaba along with everything else around me. The flames weren’t just physical, either; Elemental Soul enhanced my Aura, instead of replacing it, which meant that the effects of Aurora combined with the sudden fire to strike at the Grimm even more deeply. The flames were hot enough that the ground around me liquefied in moments and swiftly began to boil—and had a normal human abruptly found themselves within easy reach, they’d have melted even as they burned.

But needless to say, I wasn’t content to stop there. Not when I still had cards to play, at least—and I’d chosen to play with fire for a reason. Because I was using my Aura to create them, I could feel the flames as easily as if they were my own limbs, swirling around me and rising brilliantly from the light of my soul. Around me, I could see the patterns in the sky shift to reds and purples, as though the sun was setting, but more than that, I could see the Aura within the flames, blazing hot to my senses. But instead of drawing away from that, I reached out to the sensation and drew it inwards, fanning the flames hotter and higher with each passing moment.

And then, as if flicking a switch, the flames closest to my body turned white and the rest turn blue.

Surya (Active & Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%
The ultimate technique of the ancient warrior Vasusena, mastered in his final moments as he reached a higher level enlightenment and understanding. An extremely powerful fire technique only usable by refining and purifying one’s Aura to an incredible level, it is a skill that allows for the generation of extremely intense flames which surround the user in his entirety. Rather than a single attack, this skill represents the ability to generate those flames and the state of being that allows their use, with the cost and form of the attack dependent on the wearer. The power, versatility, and intensity of the flames increase with the Fire Affinity and Wisdom of the user, but are said to be able to burn almost anything.

At this point, the Humbaba wasn’t even trying to fight back, he was simply attempting to escape from the range of my flames before he was incinerated by them utterly. With each wound I inflicted, his condition seemed to worsen as his body refused to heal properly, plagued by the Brahmastra’s curse—and he was burning faster by the moment, red matter all but drooling from the frame of his increasingly skeletal figure.

And I still had fuel to add to the fire.

“Suryasta,” I said, feeling the Fire Elemental form behind me. “It’s time.”

Suryasta didn’t nod or answer—didn’t do anything but focus on me, in fact. But that was all he needed to do for me to feel the confirmation running down the line between us and feel the change. As I closed my eyes, I felt Suryasta both come apart and come over me in a way that was both hard to describe and intensely familiar. It felt more than anything like using Bai Hu’s ultimate technique.

It made sense to me, in a way—felt natural even. By their very nature, both Bai Hu and my Elementals were part of me given form, at once internal and external. They were pieces of my Aura and my Soul shaped such that they could aid me and give me strength, but we were still one, in the end, if also a strange and unusual duality. Merging with them, then, was like unifying my Elemental to create Keter; a form of restoration…and also addition. In creating my Elementals, I’d attached pieces of myself to forces of nature, giving them slowly growing hearts and minds, as well as different ways to experience the world.

When Suryasta returned to me, Fire came along for the ride.

Agni (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%
An ancient technique named after its user, one of the Apauruseya of Vytal. The man that became known as Agni was born with a tremendous kinship with the element of fire and forged that connection into a being that burnt hot enough to sear the world. As it raged endlessly in the battles that reshaped the fallen world, however, Agni found a yet deeper truth within the flames—that they were born of his soul, as much a part of him as he was of them. Joining the ranks of the legendary god-kings of Vytal, he mastered this art alongside them, internalizing the part of himself that he had previously unleashed to reach for new heights of power.
Fire Affinity rises to Max.
The user of this skill is immune to Fire Elemental attacks.
Active MP-based skills that do not naturally share an affinity with an Element way be given the Fire Element at no additional cost.
Only those with a Fire Elemental may use this skill.
A Fire Elemental may not be manifested while this skill is active.
Only one Elemental may be merged with in this fashion at a given time.

The Grimm burned.

Outside the range of my Aurora, I saw the other Grimm pull away slightly even as the world around us began to burn. As I stepped forward, the ground continued to liquefy and boil, causing my feet to sink slightly into the viscous fluid before I caught myself. The Humbaba stopped as I approached, no long able to even move. Instead, he tried to lift a single skeletal limb and I watched apathetically as it began to vanish, everything from finger to forearm quickly vanishing as I entered its reach—and he entered the reach of Surya.

I didn’t bother lifting a hand against the creature. Instead, I simply passed through the space he occupied and watched as he was vaporized by the flames.