Chapter 63 (2/2)
As I cast the spell onto everyone, only then did they give a look that suggested they could stand it. Nate returned to his original form.
He asked, with his eyes wide open, “It’s completely different from the place where we took the test.”
“Since it’s a different dimension.”
The scenery beyond the blazing haze was filled with red magma. This dungeon was a kind of volcanic zone. Magma rivers, covering the dry land, flowed everywhere. There were no sign of living creatures or organic lifeforms, at least for now, except for a few dark red trees with their roots on the ground.
“How can a tree live in this hot weather?”
“That’s not a carbon-based creature, like a tree on Earth.”
I approached the huge tree and cut off a branch. Instead of sap on the cut surface, something like a dark red jewel glistened.
“Oh… I see.”
I put the branch in my backpack instead of throwing it away.
“Jin-Wook, why are you taking that?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
This dungeon’s Clear was difficult because it was hot, but the overland route was often cut off over a long distance due to the river of magma flowing here and there.
I thought of using levitation, while preventing a potion shock, but the distance I could move forward, in a day, was limited. But, of course, I didn’t intend to waste Mana that way.
Weing!
I opened the [Stardust Wing].
If I controlled the speed well, my exceptionally efficient Artifact would be far greater than a levitation spell. Nate opened his mouth at the sight of particles of light gathering to form six wings.
“Are you going to fly by holding onto both of us?” he said, incredulously.
“Yes.”
Hibiki paused, “Wait, hold… and fly?”
*
Whoosh!
I relied on the map in my head to put my passengers onto an island-like ground floating around the magma. While flying in my arms (Nate enjoyed flying), Hibiki said nothing, but stiffened her entire body. I didn’t recall her having a fear of heights in the previous life. I wondered if she had overcome it later.
“Shh! Shh!”
There was a huge, hill-like rock on the island. On the surface of the rock, lizards, whose whole bodies were wrapped in flames, were sleeping with their bodies close to the rock. As we approached, they remained vigilant.
“It’s a Fire Lizard. They have a bad reputation with zombies, so Hibiki, take care of it alone.”
“Okay,” Hibiki, who was catching her breath, nodded with a firm expression and immediately prepared the spells. The Runestone I gave her shone, and huge magic circles appeared in front of her—three at the same time.
[Ice Spear]
[Freeze Arrow]
[Blizzard Storm]
Ice spears and arrows stretched out from her hand and penetrated the Fire Lizards while an ice storm enveloped and trapped them.
Swish!
Even those who managed to avoid the fierce attacks slowed down in the ice storm, and the attack hit accurately. In the process of overlapping several ice-based magic, the freezing effect was maximized, so we forgot the heat for a while, even if we were a bit distant.
“Ugh! It’s cold.”
Even the [Heat Resistance] overlapped, so it reached the point where even a slight chill could be felt. After Hibiki finished all the monsters and recovered Mana Cores, I asked Nate, “You see that big rock? The ones where the lizards were resting against.”
“Yes.”
“Can you please cut the rock about two meters from the surface? Don’t break it completely, just two meters.”
“Two meters?” he quizzed. It was clear he was not familiar with the metric system. I showed my sword energy in a long stick shape to illustrate the length.
“This is the length.”
“Yes, okay.”
This was also Mana Control Training. He concentrated his mind, rallied Mana at the end of his hand, then shot it. When the wave reached the huge rock’s surface, it caused a violent shock and smashed the rock.
Boom!
“That’s too bad; it needed just a bit more.”
“Man!”
He couldn’t cut as much as I wanted him to, and the shock wave of the psychokinesis stopped along the way. I shaved off the remaining stones by blowing a shock wave. Then, the thing that was hidden in the middle of the rock was revealed.
“Huh? There’s a fire hidden in the stone?”
It was a brilliant green flame, rumbling in the middle of broken, exposed rock. The flame was held by the rock. This is why the lizards gathered here and were standing close to the rock.
“Would you like to come closer?”
The expressions of the two, who were walking, changed. Strange heat surrounded them.
“My body…. feels good and warm,” Hibiki said admiringly.
“Has your fatigue gone away and do you feel energized?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, Jin-Wook. What’s this?”
When exposed to the effect, the item description comes up:
[Vital Flame]
– Item description: This flame, which restores fatigue just by being up close, burns stronger, consuming the sleeping potential Mana in the Mana core when it is contacted.
The enhanced heat generated during combustion heals damaged cells, stimulates cell division, and recovers the gene’s telomeres. If it consumes all of the potential Mana, the effect stops.
Most hunters would avoid it because of the description that it burns up the potential Mana when it was attached to the core, but some of the world’s Awakens were not interested in dungeon exploration. Some wealthy people were Awakened just because they wanted to have a healthy body and a slight increase in life expectancy.
“What this is…….” I began, thinking that this was an item that was expensive but useless to me, in my previous life and my present life, I didn’t need it for different reasons. I continued, “It’s the medicine for rejuvenation.”