Chapter 16 - Flame Valley (1)
Flame Valley (1)
16.Flame Valley (1)
[Horned Boars of the Flame Valley]
-Reach the end of the path ahead.
Kwaaaang-!
Eight Horned Boars that had charged at Uncle's Flying Dragon Pierce went flying into the air, repelled by the charge.
The boars, caught in the wind, fell into the lava.
"Ugh, I'm gonna die."
Uncle was panting heavily, even though it hadn't been long since we entered the Gate.
"Take a break. You overdid it."
It was because he had overused Flying Dragon Pierce in a short amount of time. He couldn't help it, though, since Uncle didn't have high Mana.
To survive up to level 14 as a Hunter who couldn't use Skills, he had to focus on Strength, Agility, and Stamina.
"I know, dammit."
"Well, even I wouldn't have been able to resist."
"Right? You wouldn't have been able to resist either, would you?"
Uncle, who had been pouting, raised his eyebrows and looked at me. I understood how he felt.
Just like when I first used Wind Split, Uncle used Flying Dragon Pierce with a very happy face.
No, it was probably even more so for him, considering the time he was oppressed in the early days of the Gate crisis.
And the Skill's performance was outstanding.
It moved forward in a straight line, ignoring the mass of the boars that were charging in. It was unstoppable.
Since it was a charge with a lance, the ones in front were stabbed by the lance and knocked away...
But not all of them were like that.
The ones coming from the outer edges of the formation were blown away by the wind pressure and struggled in the lava.
"Flying Dragon Pierce is a pain to recover Magic stones from."
Since they were living in the lava zone, they didn't die immediately when they fell into the lava. They struggled and came towards us.
However, killing the ones floating in the lava and taking out the Magic stones was a very troublesome task.
"Understand me. It's my first time using a Skill."
"Hmm. Can't you keep using it in the future?"
"I'll give you all the Magic stones in return."
"How much is that worth?"
I said with a confident face. Magic stones were expensive, but I currently had 12 billion in my bank account.
Digging through boars in lava to get Magic stones wasn't worth it.
"Ahem."
Uncle cleared his throat, knowing that.
"I'm just kidding. It's Uncle's request, so of course, I have to do it for you. But..."
"But why?"
"Can you really give me all the Magic stones? Aren't you going to save some for Min-seok?"
Uncle was flustered by my jab.
"Th, that's..."
"Sigh. I guess I have to take care of it."
"That's not it..."
Of course, I was joking, so I smiled.
"It's okay. Just enjoy today. Let's do it properly from next time."
"Thanks."
Uncle smiled.
"Rest for a bit. I'll take care of it while you recover."
After letting the tired Uncle rest, I stepped forward. Thud thud-. Dust rose from the end of the path.
I waited until they got closer and then reached out my hand.
Wooong-
An entrance to Subspace appeared in front of me. It was larger than usual, wide enough to fill the path.
Thump-! Thump-! And since they couldn't cross over, the ones running at the front smashed their heads into Subspace.
"Oh."
Uncle exclaimed.
It was a new way to use Subspace that I had come up with. It could be used as a shield, but it could also be used to block the path like this.
After easily dealing with them and walking down the path, the boars appeared again. Uncle's Mana recovery wasn't complete yet.
Without hesitation, I swung the Elegant Sword. Blades of wind stretched out.
It wasn't as flashy as Uncle's Flying Dragon Pierce. Flying Dragon Pierce made the dust swirl up behind it.
But the blades of wind had their own charm. They were quiet and sharp.
Chwaaaak-!
The bodies of the boars at the front, cut by the blades of wind, split in half. The split bodies slid down due to inertia.
The boars behind them, caught on the corpses, also fell. Some fell into the lava, and some got up again.
Chwaak-!
However, they couldn't block the blades of wind that flew again. I had dealt with all of them.
I wanted to use Fighting Cock in a real battle, but it was hard to use martial arts against boars, so I was a little disappointed.
I heard that Flying Dragon Pierce and this Gate were suitable for us, but I should go to a place where I can have a proper battle in the next Gate.
When I turned around, Uncle's eyes were wide open.
"Whoa, that's quite something too."
"Uncle can use it too if you get the Stats. Do you want to try it later?"
"Then I'd be grateful."
Uncle's eyes lit up. I was a little disappointed.
"Ah, I want to use Flying Dragon Pierce too."
"Hehe. You should have Awakened as a Dragon Knight if you wanted to."
What was with that kind of talk?
So that's how it was going to be?
"Ah, then Uncle, who didn't Awaken Subspace, can't wield the Elegant Sword. Since it came from Subspace."
I smiled and continued.
"Yong-yong, who I got through Subspace, is the same. Well, you can ride a Dragon even if you're not a Dragon Knight, so I'll use it well. You know? If you don't like it, Awaken Subspace..."
"Hye-ya."
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry."
Uncle quickly changed his attitude. The weight of the head of the household was this heavy.
* * *
"Krrr!"
Yong-yong purred happily. Maybe it was because he was a Red Dragon, but he seemed more comfortable here than outside.
We were the same. We felt a little more comfortable than right after we came in.
[The level of Fire Resistance (Grade A) has increased.]
It was thanks to the level of Fire Resistance increasing, probably because we were constantly exposed to the heat. Uncle said that the level of Elemental Adaptation had also increased.
That was also why we didn't use the ice stones from the other world inside Subspace.
It would be more comfortable than now if we used them, but the opportunity to raise the Skill level would disappear.
At that time, Uncle, who was walking next to me, looked up.
Amidst the bubbles rising from the lava on both sides, there were cliffs tens of meters high, befitting the name of the valley.
Uncle was looking at the top of the cliff.
"When Yong-yong gets bigger, we might be able to fly up there, right?"
"Probably? Why?"
"There might be something up there."
"We can go now, though?"
It was impossible to go up riding Yong-yong, but it seemed possible if I used my Subspace.
Portalization, that is.
The limit was 20m per move... but we could go up if we kept connecting them.
We could install them one by one with our bodies straddling the entrance and exit. But why bother?
"But there's usually nothing in places like that."
"Really?"
"Yes. If I had to guess, there's a higher chance that something is hidden in the lava."
Uncle's level was higher than mine, but I was more of an expert on Gate information.
I had been living as an Unawakened Hunter until recently, and Uncle had retired a few years ago.
"In the lava? How are we going to find it?"
Of course, it wasn't easy to find hidden items. There was just a higher chance that they would be in hard-to-reach places.
And there was no guarantee that there would be anything in those places.
"I can check if it's within 20m of me, but the probability is low."
The topic just came up, but I had been focusing on my spatial sense since I entered the Gate.
My ability was more specialized in finding hidden things than any other Hunter.
"We're almost there, though."
The exit of the Gate was visible in the distance. It was probably about 1km away. The blue light made it easy to see even in the lava zone.
The path wasn't that long. It was estimated to be about 5km. It took about 1 hour and 20 minutes...
Excluding the time for battle and Magic stone collection, it wasn't that long. It was probably because our compatibility was good.
I wanted to finish quickly and have a company dinner.
"Huh?"
It was the moment I took exactly three steps after talking.
Something was felt in my spatial sense, which could perceive the surrounding 20m three-dimensionally. No way, it came out this quickly?
"What's wrong?"
"There's something in the lava."
"What?"
Uncle hurriedly guarded and aimed his lance.
"Left or right?"
"It's on the right, but it's not an enemy."
"Then?"
"I don't know either? There's something round."
There was a small pillar in the lava, and a round object was placed on top of the pillar.
"Wa, was that the rare item you just talked about? Speak of the devil."
"We have to check what it is. It could just be a rare-looking rock."
First, I opened Subspace. I had to be careful when creating the entrance and exit because it was in the lava.
Lava shouldn't enter Subspace.
The entrance was right in front of my hand, and the exit was opened right above the round object in the lava.
Then the Subspace entrance would block the flowing lava.
"Hmph!"
Just in case, I quickly took out the round object as soon as the door opened and closed the Subspace door.
And in my hand was a round, crimson jewel like lava. It was quite hot because it was in the lava.
"Wh, what is it?"
Uncle was also surprised and put his face close to my hand.
[Fire Jade (Grade C)]
-A jewel that is naturally generated in lava zones with extremely low probability. It is called the heart of the lava zone.
-It contains a strong fire energy and cannot be consumed. It would be good to use it for Weaponry forging.
"Ah..."
"Ah..."
However, after checking the contents, we couldn't help but sigh at the same time. It was a rare item.
It was definitely hard to obtain. But we were still disappointed because there was no way to use it.
Metals and jewels that don't exist on Earth often come out in Gates like this. The problem was that they couldn't be smelted.
It wasn't a problem of technology. 'Mana' was needed to smelt these metals.
"We picked up some precious garbage."
"I guess so."
It wasn't just 'Mana' that was needed. Awakened could smelt these things, but they couldn't properly bring out their performance. The shape wouldn't be good either.
It was better not to do it at all. It was generally accepted that a rare job like 'Blacksmith' had to appear to use it properly.
"Ha, it's almost impossible to get a Grade C item in this kind of Gate."
Uncle lamented. That's right. It was a similar situation to when I got 'Treasure Wood' in Labyrinth's Dead End.
It usually wasn't easy to get an item above Grade C in a low-level Gate.
"Should we give it to Min-seok?"
It would be sold for research purposes, but it wasn't that expensive. Most Hunters didn't sell it.
They could use it someday if a rare job like 'Blacksmith' came out. It was like a Gate metal coin.
"Is it okay?"
"It's just a few Magic stones if you sell it. Instead, I found it, so I'll give it as a gift."
"Either way, I'm grateful."
Kugugugugung-.
It was then that a huge Ground Tremor rang out in the Flame Valley. It was an impact that felt like the nearby ground was shaking.
The Gate notification was updated at the same time.
[Fire Jade has been acquired. The Flame Valley is enraged. The Flame Guardian has appeared.]
[The Gate is mutating.]
.
.
.
[Guardian of the Flame Valley]
-Recommended Level: 25~30
-Reach the end of the path ahead.
Thud thud-.
And a familiar noise was heard. The Horned Boars that had appeared from somewhere in front were running towards us.
And it was the same in the back. There was clearly no path behind us...
The Horned Boars were running from the front and back, from who knows where.
It didn't end there.
The lava in front of us, where the Fire Jade was, began to rise. It then began to form a thick and huge shape.
'The recommended level has changed!'
It had increased by 15 from the original recommended level of the Gate. That meant it was tougher than a normal Mutated Gate.
Even if my Stats were close to level 20, it wasn't a situation I could easily overcome.
"..."
I judged the situation and met eyes with Uncle.
"Run away!"
"Run!"
As we started running at the same time, the appearance of the lava guardian that was rising next to us was completed.
It was like a giant.
Its lower body was in the lava, so it only had an upper body, but it looked to be 6m tall, and its palm was thicker than our bodies.
"I thought it was going too easy!"
Uncle shouted as he ran.
That's right. All sorts of things happened in Gates. Gate mutation was natural.
Rather, it had been too smooth so far, except for the first Gate where we encountered the Dragon.
"Don't say that!"
Hooook-. At that time, a heavy sound of air being torn was heard. I didn't have to look back to know with my spatial sense.
The palm, thicker than our bodies, was aiming for us from behind. Considering that mass and the lava on the ground...
It was obvious that everything on this path would be blown away, swept away by the lava, and smashed.
I shouted as I opened Subspace.
"Break through with Flying Dragon Pierce!"