Soul of Burning Steel

"My lord, do you want to explore the volcano with us?"

The captain of the exploration team standing aside saw that Joshua suddenly remained silent, just staring at the red rock in his hand, and couldn't help but ask, "Then should we start now? Or should we rest for a while?"

This tall, strong northern soldier who was at least two meters away was originally carrying a huge tool bag, but due to the long wait, he had already placed the bag on the ground, and he could see it through the opening of the bag. It is filled with all kinds of magic energy equipment used to detect ore veins and test the purity of ore, as well as some equipment for exploration.

"Of course, but not now."

Joshua nodded. He moved his eyes away from the ancient dragon blood stone in his hand, and glanced around. He found that there were not many tall vegetation on the hills around the volcano, only some low shrubs and small trees. The ground is also hard mottled rock, covered with countless tiny cracks.

The exploration team living in this simple camp consisted of four people, all of whom had mid-to-high-level strength in silver. Counting the paladin Lolanda, the number was five. The captain was the tall warrior, and the explorers were the archer and A hidden person-that is, a thief, but they do not steal when they work for the government, but specialize in detection and lurking.

And the last person is a rare halfling mage, he has a pair of bright eyes, hairy hands and feet, and only half the height of ordinary people, I have to say, if his staff is not so conspicuous, the warrior almost He was ignored.

This halfling didn't look as active as other people of his race. After noticing Joshua's gaze, he bowed silently.

These people all spotted the silver-haired girl and the black-haired boy standing behind Joshua, but they didn't question them much. As the members of the exploration team who need the most insight, everyone knows that they can accompany the lord all the way. The existence of the Black Forest Fortress walking across the mountains without panting is definitely not a simple ordinary boy or girl, at least they don't need to worry about it.

After confirming the lineup of the exploration team, Joshua seemed to sense something. He glanced back at the direction of the Black Forest Fortress, then nodded and said, "Wait a little longer, and my war horse will come over."

War horse?

Everyone didn't quite understand why Joshua said he had to wait for his war horse. You must know that this is a hilly area around the volcano, with many potholes, and there are even rapid high-temperature fountains in some places, and it is difficult for people to pass by. You need to be careful, how can you bring a war horse?

But it wasn't long before they realized their mistake.

Due to the slight tremor on the ground, the concealer and the archer who were looking around at the same time found something approaching rapidly in the distance. They hurriedly looked in the direction of the movement, but found a dragon blood bulging gate rushing from a distance. It came running, and the dust it threw up could be clearly seen thousands of meters away. When the archer reminded it, the rest of the exploration team turned their heads quickly, and gasped in shock when they saw the huge figure.

Before that, Lolanda, who had never seen Hei before, was also very surprised.

This gold-ranked half-dragon is the war horse that Joshua was talking about?

Do not make jokes! Whose war horse is so big, just say the mount is fine! With such a size, it is comparable to a small room, and it is already a circle larger than most of the monsters!

As Hei approached, the huge body became more and more obvious. With sufficient food supply, this guy was already nine meters tall, as high as a three-story building, and his length was nearly twenty meters long if the tail was counted. , It is surrounded by fire elements visible to the naked eye, and with a swing of its slender figure, it actually brings out a ring of fire around its body in the volcanic area where the elements are dense.

Although he inherited the blood of Hai Long, Hei still likes to gallop on the ground. Accompanied by the sound of trampling like thunder, this gigantic beast arrived in front of the camp, and then neighed loudly in front of its master. , the faint coercion spread, and many black shadows flew out of the surrounding forest, and it was unknown whether they were birds or bats.

"It came pretty fast."

Completely ignoring the slight dragon prestige attached to that neighing, Joshua stepped forward, patted the forelegs of his mount, nodded in satisfaction, and said, "Sure enough, the academy sent you from Nissier Snow Mountain. Coming here is the right choice."

Since it was decided to go to the volcanic area from the beginning, how could the warrior not think of Hei who inherited the blood of the black dragon? The half-dragon with the power to control the fire element can not only avoid all dangers, but at least improve the safety factor of everyone. However, this guy is usually kept in the palm print lake under the snow-capped mountains. If he wants to come here, he must go through the teleportation array. .

"Fortunately, after this guy grows up, he can take a bath by himself."

Standing behind Joshua, Ying, who was taking care of Hei, muttered in a low voice. This little fellow seemed to have imagined the scene of herself holding a small brush to clean this giant. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but The shuddered: "It's terrible."

And Rin was also full of resentment and said brokenly: "When it grows big, it will eat a lot. Its food alone is a big expense every day... Why does it grow so big! A horse only needs to be ridden by people ! What's the use of being so big!"

And at this time, Joshua also turned his head, and said to the members of the exploration team who were still in shock, "Bring all the luggage and put it on Hei's body. We should set off."

"Yes, my lord!"

"Obey!"

In fact, based on the experience of the exploration team, it is not uncommon for monsters of this size to be seen, and they are not so surprised. However, the black dragon's power is different from ordinary dragon beasts, with a barbaric atmosphere from ancient times. Coupled with the dense fire elements surrounding it like armor, everyone couldn't help but marvel at the power of this giant beast.

None of the people present was procrastinating. Even if they were always marveling at the hard carapace on the black exterior and the core with lava light flowing on the chest, this expanded expedition team also moved towards the second minute after the order was issued. Set off to the cave that leads to the mysterious place.

The terrain around the Great Ajax Volcano is complex and changeable, with hills, basins, forests and rock piles. The ecology of Warcraft also varies with the environment. A few decades ago, except for the gold-level powerhouses in the four northern territories who occasionally Apart from hunting in the surrounding area, this place has always been a restricted area for humans. The sudden high-heat and toxic steam, boiling fountains, and even lava gushing from holes in the ground have greatly hindered the progress of exploration, let alone living in the There are all kinds of dangerous monsters around here.

Before Lolanda, the gold high-level, and the strongest group of high-level gold in the world, joined this ordinary exploration team, the whole team was at most exploring the hills around the volcano. They dared to get close to the forest at the foot of the volcano, let alone go up the mountain. It was precisely because of this that they were the first to discover the obvious cave at the foot of the mountain.

But now, under the black dragon's prestige, even the sound of footsteps echoed in the mountains, and no monster dared to appear in front of this team. In addition, the half-dragon's huge body was completely fearless of any terrain. , It is just an ordinary step, and it has crossed many obstacles, even the magma pool is easily waded through.

Not long after, the group came to the cave at the foot of the Great Ajax Volcano.

Among the undulating hills and rocks, there is a rock face covered with obvious red marks, and a small piece of dense forest with yellow-brown leaves grows on it. Behind this forest is the one that leads to the depths of the volcano. The entrance of the cave is extremely huge, at least over thirty meters high, and the walls of the cave are extremely smooth, even showing signs of pottery, as if it was fired at high temperature.

When they arrived at the destination, the exploration team took out the luggage on Hei's body, and took out all kinds of equipment and equipment - such as magic gas masks, primary element immunity charms, stretchable long ropes and various To deal with all kinds of unexpected equipment.

"do you need?"

The paladin stretched out a mask in front of Joshua, but the warrior just stared at him calmly, forcing the guy to take back his hand regretfully: "Of course I know you don't need it...but it has nothing to do with strength. Physical strength is also to experience life, so you should try it!"

It is because of the experience that I don't want to do it again.

Joshua shook his head. How could he not be familiar with these equipments? In his previous life, when he went to open up wasteland in some dangerous areas, the whole regiment had to prepare a set of similar equipment. He was lucky enough to use this imperial gas mask for a while, and the effect was really good. However, it is easy to cause breathing difficulties during exercise, and with the possession of gold-level fighting spirit, he will not feel guilty.

And Ying and Rin are both magic machines. To be honest, whether it is breathing or heartbeat, for them, it is just a function of simulating human beings. As long as they want to, they can stop breathing at any time, so naturally they don’t need to wear such mask.

After the preparations were complete, everyone, including Hei, entered the cave together.

Compared with the underground passages dug by the dwarves, this volcanic cave is wider and has more branches. It has only been a few hundred meters away, and there are many cracks or holes leading to other places on the cave wall, but because the last time The reason for coming here once, the exploration team did not hesitate in these places, but walked straight towards the largest passage, and it didn't take long to go down more than 100 meters deep.

There were no accidents along the way, except that the temperature was getting hotter and hotter, and even half of the monsters were not encountered. All these were attributed to Hei's increasingly powerful Longwei, and Joshua even felt it. In front of the cave, there was a colony of silver-ranked diamond mole rats, but after sensing Longwei, they immediately shivered, and then ran back to a hidden cave as if they were fleeing, and disappeared collectively.

With Joshua's powerful perception, he could even [clearly see] with his mind that the colony of 37 medium-sized moles was dragging their families and tensely in a corner of the gap in the cave. The adult male mole rat is digging frantically in front, while the adult female is following closely behind with her cub in her mouth, squeaking and urging.

Facing the coercion at the top of the natural food chain, even a silver-ranked monster still fled in a hurry like a frightened ordinary animal.

Time flies, everyone silently followed the cave deep into the bottom of the volcano.

"Not far away."

Through the mask, a dull voice came. The leading soldier wiped the sweat from his forehead. At this time, the surrounding temperature had reached over seventy-five degrees. The rich fire element even formed a little spark around the surrounding area, illuminating the way forward. Skin care blessing, he still looks very energetic: "Master Lord, last time I was here, I even saw the fire element naturally gather into a magical crystal, although it is only the size of a grain of rice, it is enough to prove the strength of the element here. "

"indeed so."

There was nothing abnormal on his body, even Joshua, who didn't even sweat, noticed this. He looked at the surrounding cave walls, countless particles reflecting faint light, and the fire element that was slowly condensing, feeling a little emotional Said: "If this continues, hundreds of years later, this place will become a small flame crystal vein."

This is not a common situation, and I am really lucky.

While speaking, the group of people reached the end of the cave, the final destination.

A vast, huge underground cavity of at least two or three square kilometers.