Since Roman times, people have associated the hand's fourth digit with the wearing of rings. In many cultures, a proportionally longer ring finger in men has been taken as a sign of fertility.
The ball explodes on impact, knocking enemies to the ground and dealing 1d3+3 fire damage per two caster levels (a successful Reflex save reduces the fire damage by half and negates the knockdown effect) and 1d2+2 force damage per caster level (no save) to targets in the area.
This novice-level destruction spell is a magicka-efficient way to trigger the 'Impact' perk that you get in the Destruction tree (requires 40 skill). You can do this with any of the Novice-level skills that shoot an elemental bolt, but fire is useful in most situations, and I specialized into it with perks.