The crater had to be over a thousand meters wide and almost as deep. It was like looking into a whole other world down there and one that was hard to comprehend.
I could see serpents and other monsters swimming in the hot pools of lava below, but there was also a small town that I could just barely see in the far-off distance. Many creatures were moving down below, but it was nearly impossible to make them all out from this distance.
"Pretty interesting place? This is actually the smallest fire lake on the island, but the other two are controlled by the other two Demon lords, and the last one is controlled by a Fire Wurm. This one contains the more timid monsters, and it also houses Fireden, who watches over the area," Mex explained as we walked up to the edge of the crater.
"You said that there was a Magma Spider that was causing trouble here; where is she, and what is a Magma Spider?" I asked curiously.
I didn't see anything in the crater that looked li
We both had to stand back from the massive face of churning molten lava. My skin started to steam, and Fireden, the giant Fire Elemental, started to laugh, but it was only loud.It was nothing like the body vibrating experience that I had got when Grovel started to laugh, but the heat that poured off this guy was no joke! Even Mex was forced to step back with me, and now I was leaking steam like I had just hopped out of a hot tub at the Banff Ski resort in the Rockies."Where did you find this one? Soaking in the ocean for a week, and decided to bring him for a little story?" Fireden asked in a surprisingly weaselly sounding voice, not what I expected after the hearty laugh."I am just bringing him to visit, but tomorrow he will be coming to see you with Nushi and some girls," Mex explained as he fanned himself with his hand."Oh? I get to tell stories to little Nushi? She loves my stories, and maybe now that she is older, she will be able to stay longer!
Now that I was no longer dry as a fart in a sandstorm, Mex waved for me to follow with a sly smile. I felt like I was missing something, but that was completely reasonable considering what I had just gone through.It had been hard enough already to follow what he had been saying about the last Elemental that we were going to meet, but I was interested in the daughter. I caught up to Mex and was about to ask him about her, but he put up a finger just as I was about to speak."Don't bother; you won't see her this time anyways. If you survive this, then I have picked properly; if not, well, you know," Mex said as the Evergreen trees started to become denser, and soon the rock plateau was visible from a distance.Soon the trees became too thick, and I lost the rock outcropping, but one thing that I was able to notice was the constant vines and hissing flowers. I don't remember seeing them near the fire lake, but there would be no way that they could survive there an
"How am I supposed to go save people underwater? I can't breathe down there, you know that, right?" I asked, giving him a single raised eyebrow."I know that, but don't worry about it, nothing we can do for now. All right boys, go back in the water, this handsome young chap will help you out when he can, but he will need a day or four," Mex told the horrifying creature.Good lord, that was a face that even a mother would have trouble not leaving them in the first cardboard box they saw! Mex's statement didn't really seem to help the problem of his crying, but the Sahuagin did head back to the group and started shoving them all back to the water."Can we really just leave them like this? Like, are the girls safe? Barracuda are like Sea Wolves, right?" I was concerned.This world was just a series of problems stacked on top of each other, but this seemed like the most urgent one I had found yet. Still, not like there was anything that I could do unless I st
The trip back to the castle went by fast, and I was surprised that I could keep up with Mex on the way back. The man ran incredibly fast, but I was somehow able to barely keep up.We only slowed down when we reached the place where we first stopped to talk, and Mex had tried to test me. After slowing down, I was able to walk comfortably with him, so I decided to grill him a bit."You said that I couldn't hold my breath long enough. Does that mean that you think I will be able to rescue someone in a single breath of air?" I asked, trying not to sound incredulous, but failing.Mex didn't answer me at first, but I could tell that he was thinking about something, so I left him be. There was no point in trying to badger him for the information, and after a short moment, he began to speak."When you go to meet with Jessabell, there will be something at the center of the Maze that will help you. The item you will be looking for will be the Cloak of Manta Ray, an
Mex left me and headed upstairs, so I headed over to the right and around the fountain. I led me to a large pair of dark wooden swinging doors behind and under the staircase.I had a hard time trying to rationalize how the place stayed so clean, there wasn't a single spot of dust anywhere, but I also hadn't seen people clean. That didn't really mean anything since the cleaners could have come while I was gone, but I wondered where that was all hiding then?I shook the thought from my head and pushed open the kitchen door to find a large area with a sizeable two-by-four-meter island set up in the middle. I could see the stoves and ovens on the side and a large area to wash dishes."You must be Mex's new guest, but what are you doing in the kitchen? If you are hungry, can I make you some food?" An average-looking female demon in an apron asked me.This must be Lidy, Spel's wife; she was slightly shorter than me, but she wasn't what I would call overly prett
As I walked into the room, I noticed that Nushi was sitting on the bed, and her horns had barely even grown, and I frowned. I remember how adamant she had been about her horns growing back fast, so I was a bit confused.They had already cleared the books off one of the three tables Nushi had around her room, so I was able to finally set the plate of different kinds of meat. I had to get some pointers on cooking some of the giant bug parts for Jilly.I was hesitant about even cooking the giant ants, but Lidy had told me that I would get special points with Jilly if I cooked these for her. Mary was easy, and I only had to fry up some rabbit meat, and Lidy told me I could have just fed it to her raw, but I wanted to see if she and the snakes liked it better cooked.Cera, Bera, and Riez just got big thick steaks, but I had cooked them just past blue, and they were still full of blood and juices. I had also asked Lidy what Nushi ate, and she had said to just cook one
After I finished feeding Mary's snakes, I was able to start eating my boiled potatoes. They weren't much for flavor, but I could feel them fill me up.Mary was feeling around the bowl for more meat, but I had picked out the last of the meat chunks for her, and now there were only a few spuds and my boiled eggs that I had yet to crack and peel."No more meatsss?" Mary hissed after turning to me with a disappointed look on her face."I have some hard-boiled eggs if you want to try one?" I asked her, but Mary shook her head at me."Thatsss not meatsss," She hissed cutely."Yes, they are, eggs might not look or feel the same as normal meat, but they still have lots of protein," I tried to explain to her, but Jilly popped up in the background to give her two cents."Yes, but you get shells in your mouth when you eat them whole. Also, even if you do just get the inside in your mouth, it is just eating your own nose running," Jilly said with a disg
"Wow, you came just at the right moment. Everyone is getting tired, and I am sure that you and your daughter don't want us sleeping in here," I said as I turned to find Mex walking over in a burgundy housecoat that had a black lining."The girls know where their rooms are; you just have to ask them. Nushi, the trim looks clean, but you know that they will just grow back the same way," Mex said with a piteous voice that made me want to punch him, and I wasn't the target of his dramatism."I trimmed them for her, and I was going to help her mold them," I said, still puzzled over the how, but I did have a couple ideas; one involved heavyweight and some string."Shape them? Did my darling daughter not tell you why her horns shrink down? It's because she has such a poor attitude, isn't that, OOF!"Mex's speech was cut off as a book hit him directly in the mouth and knocked him over."GET OUT! ALL OF YOU!" Nushi screamed.I wasn't sure what the re