Compiled and commented by Albert Weaver
"Fire doesn't love you. It remembers you."
- Graffito, burned into a collapsed stairwell, Wild Years
Of all the schools, Fire is the one people think they understand.
It's simple, right? Mana in, flames out. Flashy hands, roaring explosions, scorched earth. The crowd-pleaser. The war crime. The favorite of cocky teens and dead soldiers alike.
But Fire Casters know better.
***
[Field Log – Combat Debrief, Fort Balança, Wild Years]
"Enemy spell was Red, mid-tier. Arced it clean over the barricade. No warning, no chant. Just heat. Everything flammable went up in under two seconds. Four wounded, two missing. Commander said it felt like the air itself turned against us."
Note: Barrier team was slow. Not their fault. Fire is faster.
***
Fire spells are fast because they cheat. They don't build - they burst. Every cast is a gamble with entropy. Flame doesn't ask if it should burn. It just does.
And yet, the most respected Fire Casters aren't the ones who burn the most. They're the ones who burn just enough. The ones who walk into a room, light a match, and make everyone stop breathing.
Albert once asked a retired fire instructor what it was like to cast in a crowded city.
She said: "Like threading a needle... while the needle's on fire... and the thread is your heartbeat."
***
[Audio Transcript – Training Interview, Ember Corps]
CADET: "I love it. It listens fast. Feels alive. Like my blood's ahead of me."
INSTRUCTOR: "Fire doesn't listen. It obeys - for a second - and only if you're lucky."
***
There's a reason firefighting squads across the world still list "Red Spill" as a top-10 hazard. Misfire a single spell, and what was meant to scare becomes a crater.
But not all Fire is for war.
Some Casters light paths through the dark. Warm shelters in blizzards. Cook for a dozen with a single spark. The spell is the same. The intention is different.
Albert scribbled in the margin: "Fire's a tool. A torch. A trap. A truth."
Because the real danger of Fire isn't that it kills.
It's that it works so well, so fast, so easily, you forget it's not your friend.
Albert's final line:
"Red Magic is honest. It doesn't lie to you. It just lets you lie to yourself."