The falling ash lightened up, though the gouts of steam and boiling magma remained ever-present. The path they took was one of the larger ones, several hundred meters wide. It slowly raised itself above the Magma Sea, leading away from the sweltering heat slightly.

They made fast progress, quickly leaving behind the Striped Magma Tigers that had swarmed them. They passed by a few other groups of beasts, but strangely enough, no other humans or humanoids, despite being on a direct path to Tomo City.

Soon, they’d been running for several minutes, growing close to the Oasis City.

‘I guess this is what counts for night here, huh?’ Dorian thought as he looked up at the sky. It was dark up above, the sun nowhere to be seen.

The glowing Magma around the path was constantly throwing light upward, keeping the path well lit, though a few odd shadows stretched out, here and there.

“Inheritor.” A gruff voice interrupted Dorian’s musings. He looked up, staring at the Golden Flame Dragon Aiden that had jogged up next to him.

Leader was leading the group, living up to his name. He was running slightly ahead to be sure the way was clear, while Mira was just behind him, lost in her own planning and thoughts. Dorian and Aiden had fallen to the rear.

“Yes?” Dorian looked at Aiden, trying to keep his voice steady and confident, as if he was the mighty warrior they thought he was.

“I… I wanted to apologize.” Aiden nodded his head slightly at him, a complex look in his eyes.

“I let my disbelief and excitement at finding a connection to the Wise Lady get over me. Your strength is at a respectable level and it was my mistake to mock you.” He said the two sentences all in one go, as if speaking them was painful.

Dorian smiled slightly as he heard this, giving Aiden a small nod. The Dragons, at least, seemed to be pretty reasonable.

“It’s not a problem. I don’t eve-”

“Up ahead! Company!” Leader’s voice bellowed out loud, interrupting Dorian and Aiden’s conversation. The duo turned and stared towards the front.

By now, they had risen more than 100 meters above the Magma Sea level. The rock pathway was as rocky as ever, coated on the edges in some odd, stone-like vegetation, great pods of plants that looked like cacti.

Roughly 100 meters away, farther down the stone pathway, Dorian made out a pair of beings walking towards them. One of them was clearly human, a gaunt-looking woman wearing a torn and ripped dress, covered in small scratches and wounds.

The other looked human, but only partly. Dorian started in surprise at the strange appearance of the being.

The entire right side of this being appeared to be made out of solid crystal. This half of the man’s body glowed lightly, reflecting the light the Magma Sea was giving off.

–

Species: Human

Class – Lord Class (Pseudo-King)

Maximum Energy Level: 126,200

–

Species: Human

Class – Lord Class (Pseudo-King)

Maximum Energy Level: 212,989

–

‘Oh my god, wow. You can have an Energy Level that high and only be Lord Class? Also, that half crystal dude is actually a human? Huh.’ Dorian’s thoughts were thrown into disarray at the info he received.

The two groups had caught sight of each other at the same time. They both came to a halt, freezing up.

The duo facing them responded first.

A powerful, dominating Aura burst forth from the half crystal human as his voice thundered aloud,

“The Borrel Autarchy has official business here, do not interfere or you will face the Autarchy’s wrath!” The half crystal human seemed to have picked up that Dorian’s group had some level of strength, and preemptively warned them against attacking.

“Hmph. You wouldn’t know a damn thing about Wrath, human.” Leader replied instantly, crossing his muscular arms across his chest.

The half crystal human turned and glared at Leader, the blue light that flowed around him intensifying.

“You are clearly a human too, fool.” The man’s voice was full of irritation and annoyance. It seemed he’d been having a bad day. He took a step forward,

“I am Taemin, Vice-Head of the Diamond Department, en route to an official meeting. Stand aside or you will be moved.” The half-diamond, as Dorian now guessed, human’s voice was full of fervor as he spoke, as if daring them to attack.

“Can we all please calm down? We have no quarrel with you, nor you with us. Let us each go our separate ways.” Mira’s words echoed out, the voice of reason as she jumped into the conversation. As she spoke, a powerful, King Class Aura washed out, full of soothing strength.

The half-diamond man’s eyes twitched slightly at that, but showed no other reaction.

‘The Borrel Autarchy? They were the group that was hunting me earlier.’ Dorian stared at the rather arrogant Wizard with a slight hint of distaste.

The two groups slowly walked forward, each on different sides of the pathway. Mira’s words seemed to have resolved the conflict as they passed each other, neither side attacking the other.

Dorian shrugged. There was no need to fight the Autarchy now, not when they didn’t know his current form.

Just as both groups finished passing each other, Aiden and Leader glaring at Taemin the whole way, the Diamond Wizard muttered a single, arrogant remark,

“You’re lucky I have no choice but to attend to this meeting with all haste.” The man spat out, his voice full of venom. He really did seem like a person that had just had a terrible day, Dorian thought, mentally shaking his head.

Aiden and Leader merely turned slightly and glared, but otherwise ignored the man, focusing on the mission at hand.

Taemin saw this and smiled slightly, his eyes still cold.

“Weaklings.” Taemin took out his frustration and failure at achieving his mission on their group.

‘Oh dear.’ Dorian’s eyes widened.

Aiden and Leader froze, both of them slowly turning around to look at Taemin. The half-diamond Wizard looked right back, his eyes fearless.

“Don’t do anything Aiden we don’t ne-” Mira’s voice cut off as Aiden held his hand up, silencing her.

Aiden and Leader looked at the Diamond Wizard, and then looked at each other.

“It’s been a stressful few days.” Leader began.

“That it has.” Aiden replied in turn.

“We really could use something to relieve that stress.”

“Your words speak of true wisdom, human.”

Aiden and Leader smiled at each other, exchanging glances.

Aiden cracked his knuckles, while Leader stretched his arms.

Immediately, two powerful Auras burst into existence. A mighty, gold Aura that gave off a feeling of royalty and majesty, flowing off Aiden, while a resplendent, rainbow Aura that gave off a feeling of undying Pride shimmered around Leader.

“Who exactly are you calling a weakling, human?” Leader’s eyes flashed as he clasped his hands together, muttering a quick spell. A long, ancient looking wooden bow immediately appeared in his hands.

Taemin smiled back with a grin that failed to reach his eyes. He pushed back the woman near him, tossing her to the side and away from him as he reached out with his diamond arm, motioning at the duo.

“Both of you.”

‘Oh now you’ve done it.’ Dorian shook his head, taking a step back. He smiled, however, as he took the situation in.

‘This seems like a good time to test manipulating the Fate of the powerful… how much can I change?’ His eyes flashed mercilessly as he looked at the trio in front of him.

.. .. .. .. .. .. ..

A few miles away, a very different scene was taking place.

The leading subordinate of the Blazing King, the Scythe Master Henry, swore out loud in irritation as he redirected another enormous blade of force.

“Fire Magic: Windsor Shield!” He spat out loud as he cast a defensive Spell. He didn’t study the same type of Magma Magic that the Blazing King researched, but instead followed a more orthodox path towards power.

Immediately, a large, burning shield appeared in front of him, at least a dozen meters wide and tall.

ROOOOAAAAR

Aron’s voice had lost all reason as he launched attack after attack, each one a huge blade of force that sliced through rock and lava with ease.

Two of his blade attacks struck against Henry’s Windsor Shield, cracking it.

‘Damn it. The beast is berserk. No wonder a battle of such scale was taking place here.’ Henry’s eyes narrowed as he glared at the odd looking wolf.

He had been ordered to investigate the scene and put a stop to the ongoing battle. By the time he arrived, however, there had only been this deadly, berserker wolf going on a rampage, everyone else having fled.

“Balt, Kanden, don’t engage. Fall back, I’m going to draw it out away from the city.” Henry flicked his wrists.

An instant after, a large, metallic scythe appeared in his hands, one that was decorated and covered in mysterious symbols.

“Yes sir, Scythe Master!”

“As you command, Scythe Master!”

Two red-robed Wizards yelled a response aloud as they retreated back towards Tomo City, not engaging the attacking wolf.

ROOAARR

BOOM

The Windsor Shield that Henry had spawned collapsed under the force of Aron’s slashes, shattering into a collection of sparks and flames and dissipating in the air.

Henry’s eyes narrowed in irritation. He glanced away to the south, towards the large World Bridge.

“Most of the locals will be avoiding this area due to the turtle surfacing soon… I’ll send it that way to avoid any unnecessary deaths.” He nodded his head sharply, and then leapt up into the air.

“Molten Scythe Technique: A Hundred Cuts!” Immediately, a vast number of blades of light swooped out from his scythe as he activated a Mystic Martial Art, while simultaneously racing south.

ROAAAR

Aron mindlessly charged after him, lost in his rage at losing his fellow Anomaly.

.. .. .. .. .. .. ..

*Hic*

“Where is that damned brat?” A male voice slurred out in irritation.

A middle-aged man could be seen, dressed in a bright pink robe that was tucked into a pair of black boots. A large gourd could be seen strapped to his back, one he pulled off in a smooth motion, taking a long draw from it.

The man had brown hair that fell all the way to his shoulders, set haphazardly. His face was rough, with a scraggly beard and a nose that was slightly bent, set right next to his placid brown eyes. He didn’t have any visible weapons, and seemed, for all intents and purposes, to be extremely drunk.

He was currently standing atop a massive pile of corpses. At least 6 enormous, and now dead, Lava Hellions, the stronger and taller version of Magma Giants, each one with the strength of a powerful Peak Lord Class fighter, but also able to take a huge amount of damage and instantly regenerate.

Lava Hellions, similar to Magma Giants, moved in packs. They were one of the biggest dangers one could encounter on Magmor, but they were also relatively passive. They would only attack another creature if they were provoked.

That, or if they smelled something delicious and wanted to eat it.

Despite their massive stature, standing a giant 25 meters on average, the Lava Hellions were picky eaters that would rather starve and live off the energy they absorbed from the lava than eat something that wasn’t tasty.

As the human capped the lid on the giant gourd of alcohol that he’d slung from his back, a faint whiff of the scent brushed out.

It was mesmerizing and tantalizing, a scent of a drink that smelled incredibly quenching and tasty.

“Sigh… Taemin, brat… How dare you not greet me. I don’t care about the mission you were assigned…” The middle-aged man stood up from the corpses, looking down at them with a sad appearance.

“I put in so much effort to create a pretty pattern, too.” The corpses appeared to have been set with no pattern of any kind.

*Hic*

The drunk hiccuped again, slowly turning and jumping away from the pile of corpses. He landed down on a hundred meter wide stone block, set just a few meters above the Magma Sea.

“Sigh…” He sighed again.

“I guess I will have to come for you, brat.” As he spoke, an awe-inspiring Kingly Aura burst forth, one that gleamed with pure, blue light. One that caused the air itself to shiver, taking on a visible gleam.

“My own Vice-Head wouldn’t even show up on time… I’m sure Arthur would be laughing at me… damned mission…” The drunk began to step forward, his every footstep mysteriously covering a dozen meters somehow, as he began to travel forward quickly down one of the winding stone paths that connected to his platform.

Leaving behind a scene of slaughter, and the tantalizing scent of alcohol.