Chapter 4: The Volcano Expedition
“Lord, you wish to join us in exploring the volcano?”
The exploration team leader, standing to one side, noticed that Joshua had suddenly fallen silent, merely staring at the red rock in his hand. He couldn’t help but ask, “Shall we set off now? Or rest for a while?”
This tall, robust Northern warrior, at least two meters in height, had originally been carrying a large tool pack. But due to the long wait, he had already placed the pack on the ground. From the opening gap in the pack, one could see it was filled with various mana-powered instruments for detecting mineral veins and testing ore purity, along with some exploration equipment.
“Of course, but not right now.”
Joshua nodded. He shifted his gaze from the Ancient Dragon Blood Stone in his hand and swept his eyes across the surroundings. He noticed that on the hills around the volcano, there weren’t many tall plants, only some low shrubs and small trees. The ground was hard, mottled rock, covered in countless fine cracks.
The exploration team living in this crude camp consisted of four people, all with Mid to High Silver-rank strength. Including the Paladin Loranda, that made five. The captain was that tall warrior, while the scouts were the archer and a shadow-walker—essentially a thief, though those working for the government didn’t steal but specialized in reconnaissance and stealth.
The last person was a rare halfling mage. He had bright, large eyes, furry hands and feet, and stood only half the height of an ordinary person. It had to be said that if not for his rather conspicuous staff, the warrior might have almost overlooked him.
This halfling didn’t seem as lively as others of his kind. After noticing Joshua’s gaze, he silently bowed in greeting.
These people had all noticed the silver-haired girl and black-haired boy standing behind Joshua, but they didn’t question it. As members of an exploration team who needed sharp eyesight the most, anyone could tell that beings who could accompany the Lord all the way from Black Forest Fortress, crossing mountains and ridges without even panting, were definitely not ordinary young boys and girls. At least, they didn’t need to worry about them.
Having confirmed the exploration team’s composition, Joshua seemed to sense something. He looked back toward Black Forest Fortress, then nodded and said, “Wait a little longer. My warhorse will be here soon.”
Warhorse?
The others weren’t quite sure why Joshua said he was waiting for his warhorse. After all, this was the hilly terrain around the volcano, full of pits and hollows, and in some places, even sudden high-temperature geysers. Even people had to tread carefully—how could they possibly bring a warhorse?
But not long after, they realized their mistake.
Due to a faint tremor in the ground, the shadow-walker and the archer, who were scanning the surroundings, simultaneously noticed something rapidly approaching from afar. They quickly looked toward the source of the noise and saw a dragon-blooded steed galloping toward them from a distance. The dust it kicked up could be clearly seen from several kilometers away. Alerted by the archer, the rest of the exploration team quickly turned their heads, and upon seeing its massive size, gasped in shock.
And before this, Loranda, who had never seen Black, was also astonished.
This Gold-rank half-dragon was the warhorse Joshua was talking about?
Don’t be ridiculous! What kind of warhorse is this big? Just call it a mount! With a size like that, comparable to a small house, it was already a full circle larger than most magical beasts!
As Black drew closer, its enormous size became even more apparent. With a sufficient supply of food, this creature had grown to nine meters tall, as high as a three-story building. Including its tail, its body length was nearly twenty meters. It was wrapped in visible fire elements, and with a graceful sway of its long body, it actually created a ring of fire that swirled around it in the element-dense volcanic region.
Although it had inherited the bloodline of a Sea Dragon, Black still loved to gallop across the land. With thunderous stomps, this colossal beast arrived before the camp and let out a loud neigh in front of its master. A faint pressure spread out, and from the surrounding forest, many black shadows flew out—whether birds or bats, it was unclear.
“You came quickly.”
Completely ignoring the faint dragon might carried in that neigh, Joshua stepped forward and patted his mount’s front leg. He nodded with satisfaction and said, “It was indeed the right choice to have the academy teleport you over from Nissier Snow Mountain.”
Since he had already decided to go to the volcanic region, how could the warrior not have thought of Black, who had inherited the bloodline of the Black Erosion Dragon? A half-dragon with the power to control fire elements might not be able to avoid all dangers, but it could at least raise the safety level of the group. However, this creature was usually left to roam freely at Palm Print Lake at the foot of the snow mountain, so to get it here, they had to use a teleportation array.
“Thank goodness this guy learned to bathe himself after getting bigger.”
Standing behind Joshua, Ying, who had originally taken care of Black, muttered softly. This little girl seemed to imagine herself holding a tiny brush, cleaning this colossal beast. At the thought, she couldn’t help but shiver. “How terrifying.”
And Ling also muttered with a full load of resentment, “If it grows big, it eats a lot. Just its daily food is a huge expense… Why does it have to be so big! A horse just needs to be rideable! What’s the use of being this big!”
At that moment, Joshua turned around and said calmly to the still-shocked exploration team, “Bring all the luggage and put it on Black. We should set off.”
“Yes, my lord!”
“Understood!”
In truth, given the exploration team’s experience, they had seen monsters of this size before and wouldn’t normally be so astonished. But Black’s dragon might was different from ordinary dragon beasts, carrying a primeval, wild aura. Coupled with the dense fire elements swirling around it like armor, everyone couldn’t help but marvel inwardly at the power of this beast.
None of those present were the type to dawdle. Within two minutes of the order, this expanded exploration team was heading toward the cave that led to the mysterious region.
The terrain around Great Aias Volcano was complex and varied, with hills, basins, forests, and rock piles. The ecology of magical beasts also differed with the environment. Decades ago, except for Gold-rank experts from the four Northern territories occasionally coming to hunt in the area, this place had always been a human forbidden zone. Sudden high-temperature toxic steam, boiling geysers, and even lava surging from holes in the ground greatly hindered exploration progress, not to mention the various dangerous magical beasts living in the vicinity.
Before Loranda, a Gold High-rank and one of the strongest Gold High-ranks in this world, joined this ordinary exploration team, the entire group had at most explored the hills around the volcano. They didn’t dare approach the forest at the volcano’s foot, let alone go up the mountain. It was precisely for this reason that the rather conspicuous cave at the foot of the mountain was the first thing they discovered.
But now, under Black’s dragon might, even though their footsteps echoed through the mountain peaks, no magical beast dared to appear before the group. Moreover, the half-dragon’s enormous body was completely unfazed by any terrain. With just ordinary strides, it crossed many obstacles, and even lava pools were easily waded through.
Before long, the group arrived before the cave at the foot of Great Aias Volcano.
Among the undulating hills and rock piles, there was a rock face covered in obvious red marks, and a patch of dense forest with yellow-brown leaves grew on it. Behind this forest was the cave entrance leading deep into the volcano. This entrance was enormous, at least over thirty meters high, and the cave walls were exceptionally smooth, even showing signs of vitrification, as if fired by high temperatures.
Having reached their destination, the exploration team took the luggage off Black and retrieved various instruments and equipment—such as magical gas masks, basic elemental immunity amulets, extendable ropes, and a variety of gear to handle different emergencies.
“Need one?”
The Paladin extended a mask toward Joshua, but the warrior just calmly stared at him, forcing the man to regretfully withdraw his hand. “Of course I know you don’t need it… But this has nothing to do with strength. To save energy and also to experience life, you should give it a try!”
“It’s precisely because I’ve experienced it that I don’t want to do it again.”
Joshua shook his head. How could he not be familiar with this equipment? In his past life, when pioneering dangerous areas, the entire group would prepare a similar set. He had once had the fortune to use this Imperial standard-issue gas mask. The effect was indeed good, but during movement, it easily caused breathing difficulties. With Gold-rank battle qi protecting his body, he wasn’t about to put himself through that suffering.
As for Ying and Ling, they were Divine Mechanisms. In truth, whether breathing or heartbeat, for them, it was just a simulation of human functions. If they wished, they could stop breathing at any time, so naturally, they didn’t need to wear such masks.
After everything was prepared, everyone, including Black, entered the cave together.
Compared to the underground tunnels dug by dwarves, this volcanic cave was much wider and had more branches. They had only walked a few hundred meters when the cave walls showed many cracks or openings leading elsewhere. But because they had been here before, the exploration team didn’t hesitate at these spots and headed straight for the largest passage. Before long, they had descended over a hundred meters deep.
Along the way, there were no incidents. Aside from the increasing heat, they didn’t even encounter half a magical beast. This was all thanks to Black’s growing dragon might. Joshua even sensed that ahead in the cave, there had been a group of Silver-rank Steel Drill Moles, but upon sensing the dragon might, they immediately fled like refugees into a hidden cave and disappeared entirely.
Time flew by as the group silently continued deeper into the volcano with the cave.
“Not far now.”
A muffled voice came from behind the mask. The leading warrior wiped the sweat from his forehead. At this point, the surrounding temperature had risen to over seventy-five degrees Celsius. Abundant fire elements had even formed little sparks around them, lighting the way ahead. Thanks to his battle qi and basic elemental immunity amulet, he still looked quite spirited. “Lord, last time I was here, I even saw fire elements naturally coalesce into a mana crystal. It was only the size of a grain of rice, but it proves how dense the elements are here.”
“Indeed.”
Joshua, who showed no signs of abnormality and hadn’t even broken a sweat, also noticed this. He looked at the countless particles on the cave walls reflecting faint light, and the slowly condensing fire elements, and said with some emotion, “At this rate, in a few hundred years, this place will become a small Flame Crystal mine.”
This was no common sight. He was truly fortunate.
And as they spoke, the group reached the end of the cave—their final destination.
A vast, at least two to three square kilometer underground cavern. (To be continued.)