Chapter 18 - Of course... (1/2)

Gravis materialized some meters above the 'ground'. He immediately felt the absolutely smoldering air. Before he could even look at where he was, he started to fall. He quickly looked down into the brightly glowing lava below his feet. The very first thing he did when he realized in what situation he was currently in was panic. Then he realized that he should, theoretically, be able to survive this fall without any issue due to his elemental synchronicity.

Though, he didn't want to try his elemental synchronicity in such a dangerous scenario. 'Well, I don't have any choice right now,' he thought as he plummeted into the lava. It was hot, but not that hot. It felt more like a bath that was a little too hot for his liking. Yet, it was still manageable. He floated on the top for a while and looked around. He was in a humongous pool of lava. On the edge of said pool were towering walls of stone. Obviously, he was in a volcano.

It surely was 'great luck' that the portal dumped him on top of an active volcano. His exit point was chosen 'at random' after all. Gravis sneered. ”At least I now know that Heaven's 'luck' doesn't take my elemental synchronicity into account,” he said to himself.

Of course, he would materialize over an active volcano.

”Wait, is it getting warmer?” Gravis looked at the blinding lava and felt the heat rise. On top of that, the lava started bubbling at multiple places. Gravis' face whitened when he realized what was about to happen. ”Really? A volcano that is about to erupt?” He immediately concentrated, and his body rose above the lava until he stood on top of it.

Even though he had his elemental synchronicity, a blast this strong would distribute his corpse upon the surrounding couple of kilometers, to multiple places. He had to flee, fast!

”No time to waste!” And with that, Gravis was off. He ran as quickly as possible to the closest wall of stone. ”Earth element is also an element. So, theoretically...” Gravis put his hand on the wall and tried to move upward. ”Yes, it works!” he shouted as his hand stuck to the wall. He quickly climbed up the wall like an insect, the lava below him getting more turbulent.

Just when he jumped over the edge, the volcano exploded. The lava shot into the sky, and the top of the volcano exploded outward. Huge rocks flew through the air, and one of them carried Gravis. Multiple bones in his body broke in the explosion, and if he hadn't had tempered organs and blood, he wouldn't be alive right now.

He soared through the air on the rock and didn't look forward to the landing. The rock spun in the air with Gravis holding on for dear life. He tried to judge if the rock's side with him on it would land first, but the rock was spinning too quickly. It would depend on his luck.

When Gravis had that thought, his eyes widened, and he immediately gripped the rock and moved along its surface. It was challenging, and his arms hurt. His broken bones didn't help. Just when he managed to reach the other side, his previous position struck the ground, and the rock bounced. Gravis pushed himself off and left the rock when it bounced. Chances were, his new position would 'accidentally' hit the ground next.

Gravis touched the ground after falling for a couple of meters, but a fall from this height was not dangerous to him. Yet, it was not pleasant with all his broken bones. Gravis didn't relax and looked towards the sky. Then, he immediately jumped to the side. Shortly after that, another sizable rock struck his previous spot.

Gravis caught his breath, looked at his previous spot, and sneered. ”Of course,” he said in disgust. He quickly looked to the sky again, but no more rocks seemed to come toward his direction. He finally had a moment of calm. He took a deep breath.