"Air...Which is...[i][color=7bcdc8]Aer[/color][/i]..."

Below a single overhead lamp illuminating the small work space within an abandoned warehouse just near the outskirts of Villa Nueva, Guatemala, Travis sat hunched over at his drawing table, inscribing a circular diagram with an assortment of symbols and glyphs. While composing his unusual piece, he carefully adjusted the mechanical magnifying glass placed upon his left eye as he wrote the patterns for the eventual runes whose rough outlines were imprinted along the edges of the diagram. It was a delicate process of codding the commands of each symbol represented within every base rune; every so often would he lift his head back and gently dunk in ink pen within its small black filled reservoir before leaning forward and finding the place he left off at.   

His reason being here, especially being so far out from the Societas Academia main campus in Northern California was to spearhead an expedition into the Mexican and South American regions. Travis had happened upon a lead which theorized that the complex cultures of the Mesoamerica civilizations had an understanding of mana and thus, the use of magic. Furthermore, it was even a wonder if the Gods of the Mayan and Aztec empires were at one point real or simply some sort of influenced belief created by those ancient people. 

In any case, he had since established his center of operations in Villa Nueva so that he may not only conduct his tests and and research in peace, but to also launch his expedition further towards the Mesoamerican ruins from a convenient location. With an already established knowledge of the world's languages, Travis was able to move throughout the city and communicate with the locals efficiently, allowing him to learn from those whom had a much stronger knowledge of the region as he did. But as luck would have it, his curiosity had just recently gotten the better of him.   

"Then heat; that's [i][color=f7941d]Aestus[/color][/i]. After [i][color=f7941d]Aestus[/color][/i]...Is [i][color=bc8dbf]Privare[/color][/i]" said Travis openly while going back and forth between his old tome and a dictionary. "...and thus comes consume which that leads into...[i][color=fff200]Ignis[/color][/i]..."

Ever since that unexpected ,and notably, very bad and eventful run-in with a sect of Enlightened cultists and then a hunting party of Salem disciples soon afterwards, Travis had been looking into the possibility of devising a "flashy" getaway that could prevent those from pursuing though moral-breaking maeans. What he had in mind was not the typical method of concealing one's escape but to force one's hand to protect themselves as a means of distraction. For the past few days, Travis had been slaving away into making a convenient miniature backdraft.

The fiery ambush made by the Salem disciples was enough to spark Travis' interest in constructing such a spell or rune that would not demand any incantations, vocal components, or large amounts of mana. Sure, there were plenty of fire-based spells out there that had the same potential like the sudden inferno he was literally cooking up, but the demand for such focus and mana - mana he himself didn't have a whole lot of - would make him predictable and easy to read. If he was to make an escape from a very hostile of individuals that would either want to sacrifice him to a blood-thirsty entity or be killed by convenient association, no one should know what he had up his sleeve.

"Hmm...fall, rise, or rise and fall...? [i][b]Surgere[/b][/i], [i][b]Cadent[/b][/i]..."  

Since a large blast would be a bit much for him to perform though the usual means, he had to come up with a way to get the same results at a much lesser cost of effort through its implementation. For days, he had ran numerous formulas and different rune commands in order to produce the results he desired for making his freak backdraft. A [i]very[/i] condensed and unventilated space with plenty of hot aerosolized gases and fumes roaming within was the basic concoction he was looking to produce and the only way this could be done was through scripting a series of glyphs and runes into a single spell. 

Every so often, Travis would ease back from his work-in-progress to the desk behind in order to refer to a number of open manuscripts, research notes, and other open books in his possession. One such curious publication was tome he had acquired roughly a month ago just now found a particular use for it. The tome itself vastly detailed the foundation of rune magic and the usage of complex characters to construct spells which coincided with current knowledge of craft and his own notes quite well. 

Interestingly enough, Travis identified a segment of the contents and the uses involved within the tome explained rather archaic and currently impractical teachings that went against current understands and physics too. Going by the tome's old and used state as well as the language involved, it was his best guess that the time had been written during the early days of alchemy. But now that mankind has since surpassed its scientific know-how from those early days, utilizing this comprehensive knowledge with modern science should prove positively progressive if not extremely helpful.     

Hours would go be and eventually he would finalize the touches of the prototype spell. Travis eyed his work and filled in the last details. "And...Release! There, this looks promising...Now to see if I either gas or explode myself."

Setting his tools aside away from the drawing table, he retrieved another slide of paper as big as the diagram and pressed the sheets together. Muttering a passive spell, the ink from the diagram bled over to the other sheet, matching the experimental runes and glyphs perfectly; a solid copy ready for testing. Knowing what had happened in previous tests, Travis moved his belongings and furniture away from the center pedestal in the middle of the warehouse. It was definitely a good thing this place was abandoned; the professors would never had forgiven him for testing such a volatile spell back at the Societas Academia campus.

He placed the copy of the testing diagram flat on the pedestal before quickly making his way to his video recorder firmly positioned on its tripod and began its next recording. Once the recorder's light had begun flashing, signifying it was now recording, he made his way back to the diagram and placed his hands at the tip of the circle, infusing it with his mana.  

"Okay, test forty-three starting in...One. Two. Thre-"

Just as he charged the proto-runes with a supplement of mana, the spell immediately performed the commands he put in place. The result was as he expected; a large flare of rushing fire and smoke had surged out from the experimental diagram. However, what he did not intend on was his own breath acting as the catalyst, fueling and detonating the oxygen-free mixture of combustible vapors point-blank in his face. With a loud bang, the explosion was enough to catch him not only off guard but plenty enough to throw him to floor. Eventually coming to, he found himself staring at the ceiling of the warehouse with his ears producing a deafening ring throughout his aching head. While he himself was miraculously uninjured, much of his facial hair has been instantly singed and his skin blackened by soot. So much of it in fact he coughed a puff of the stuff out from his throat.


"Well...At least it works." Travis sighed in amusement before moving his jaw around in an attempt override the ringing in his ears, "...Note to self, don't exhale when casting."