Tied Book 2

Chapter 216

Because Hyewon was still out of the house, Y/n and Ji Hoon decided to begin their training. With Minju sleeping upstairs, the two men went into their spacious backyard.

"Okay, so, what can you do?"

"I can conjure fire and ice using my own body as a fuel source."

"Your own body as a fuel source?"

"When I create the ice, it's from the water of my own body. When I burn the fire, it uses the carbon dioxide in my lungs."

"Doesn't fire burn oxygen and expel carbon dioxide?"

"Yeah, but I can breathe perfectly fine and I don't feel lightheaded when I use the flames. In fact, I feel a lot better when I burn the flames so I assume it uses my carbon dioxide- well, aside from the irregular breathing pattern I develop when I burn the fire for a prolonged period of time."

"Interesting... Have you tried using both at the same time?"

"No."

"You should try that."

"It's kind of hard... It takes a great deal of concentration to use the ice part of my powers."

"You should try making more simple objects. From what I heard from JiU ah, you're probably trying to make a hexagonal lattice or whatever she said. From what I could pick up, it seems like a really difficult thing to make. Instead, try making a pile of snow or something. Wait- Snow would probably also be hard. Try making a simple ice cube while you expel the fire."

"Okay..."

Y/n did as instructed, holding his left palm upwards while extending his right hand.

"Feel free to shoot the fire right at me. I can absorb it."

"You can?"

"Yeah. I'm able to respond to disasters and attacks, so fire is something I need to be able to deal with."

"If you say so."

Y/n began expelling the fire from his palm as he concentrated on creating the ice cube. The dual-process served difficult for Y/n. When he focused on making the ice cube, the intensity of his fire would diminish, but when he would refocus back on the fire, the ice would begin to melt. This cycle proved too intense for Y/n as he collapsed onto the ground, heaving in an attempt to correct his breathing pattern.

"Okay then... How about we get you used to those flames. From what I saw you already have some experience with the ice."

"Are you going to have me keep pumping out the flames?"

"Exactly. I want you to focus on breathing though. If you're going to be defending those around you, you're going to want to keep up in a prolonged battle. If you cannot do that, you're as good as dead meat. Do you want that?"

Y/n shook his head.

"No..."

"Okay, good."

Y/n stood on his feet once more, taking a deep breath as he extended his arm.

"Good. Take multiple deep breaths. Correct your respiratory system before you start tampering with it."

Y/n nodded, closing his eyes as he took multiple deep breaths.

"Hold on- Relax bro. You're going to cause yourself to collapse. Take it slow."

Heeding the warning, Y/n slowed his pace until he regained his composure.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

"Shoot it."

Y/n expelled the flames from his hand, continuing his deep breaths as he expelled the fire. A few seconds later, Y/n lost his balance, falling onto his back.