Flying magical beasts flapped their wings and flew south, passing through the borders of the O'Brien Empire, crossing continuous mountain ranges and vast plains. Akes and Monica spent a full seven days in the air before finally seeing smoke rise on the horizon at the southern end of the Yulan Continent.
That was the sign of a volcano.
"We're here." Akes pointed into the distance. After consulting a large number of ancient texts in Baruch City, he had finally chosen this group of volcanoes known as the Flame Basin as a place for cultivation.
Monica looked in the direction of his finger, only to see a layer of grayish-white smoke and dust shrouding the horizon. A faint smell of sulfur also began to permeate the air, and the further south they flew, the stronger the smell became.
The flying magical beast landed at the foot of a dormant volcano. Akes jumped down from the beast and looked around. The scenery here was different from any place he had ever seen before—the ground was black volcanic rock, white steam occasionally emerged from the cracks, and the air was filled with a choking sulfur smell. Several craters in the distance were still spewing thick smoke, and occasionally magma flowed slowly down the mountain slopes, the orange-red liquid meandering across the black rock walls and raising rolling heat waves wherever it passed. The sky here was always grayish-white, with volcanic ash blocking part of the sunlight, but the ground temperature was shockingly high.
"So hot." Monica wiped the sweat from her forehead. Her light cyan travel outfit was already soaked through by a small patch of sweat.
She twisted her light golden long hair into a loose bun, revealing her fair neck. Even so, she still could not resist the heat waves surging