Fire Plume Ridge
This active volcano, which spewed lava all day long, stood in the heart of Un'Goro Crater. At that moment, the elven boy and the dwarf were trekking up its deadly slopes.
"Sizzle..."
"Owww!"
The stench of scorched clothing rose at the same time as the dwarf's scream.
Al stopped helplessly and cast another shield of ice crystals over Hemet. It was the fifth-circle abjuration spell, Protection from Ice.
Hemet's panicked scream caught halfway up his throat. Still shaken, he hauled up the little mountain on his back, wrung out his soaked cuffs, and wiped his sweat-drenched bald crown.
The temperature on Fire Plume Ridge was so high that merely standing at its foot felt suffocating. If Al had not been constantly casting ice spells to cool them down, the two would already have been burned to charcoal.
"Hemet, it's far too hot here. I think you should head down and find somewhere safe to wait for me. Oh, and don't damage the research equipment on your back."
Al had already put the four-colored crystals in his backpack, leaving the less valuable research equipment to Hemet.
Hemet: That settles it. Once I retire, I'm starting a housekeeping company.
"M-my lord, I'm fine. Let's keep going."
Hemet tugged at his beard, embarrassed and frustrated. He was distressed that he could not help Al; he did not want to be a burden to this boy.
"Hemet, your future lies in the endless wilderness, not here. I've always believed you'll become a good hunter..."
Touched, Hemet rubbed his reddened eyes. He was about to say something when he heard what Al said next.
"Even though you don't even have a decent hunting rifle right now, or a battle pet worth showing off, and your stamina's poor, and your hairstyle isn't cool..."
Al counted on his fingers, ready to continue, only to see that the old dwarf was already crouching on the ground, clutching his head and sobbing.
"There, there. Even though you smoke, perm your hair, and have no pet, I know you're a good hunter."
Al patted the old dwarf's back and comforted him softly.
Hemet: Stop it, heart. You're stabbing my bro.
The old dwarf cried even louder. Who could possibly be responsible for such a fashionable hairstyle?
"All right, Hemet, stay right here. Don't wander around. I'll be right back."
Al said goodbye to the old dwarf, who was so moved that his tears would not stop, and flew toward the summit alone.
"Ah, Old He's an honest fellow. He just can't take a compliment..."
Al smacked his lips, admiring the scenery of this flaming mountain as he flew straight upward.
Seeming to hear something, Al looked down.
"Huh? Was this place really a battlefield in the ancient war of the elements?"
A winding trail ran along the steep mountainside, densely packed with fire elementals. Each was the size of a calf, its entire body composed of burning flames.
Their two little golden eyes blinked, giving them a rather adorably clueless look. But anyone who thought these short-tempered elemental creatures were cute would be sorely mistaken. These fire elementals, each with two slender arms, were natural-born spellcasters.
They could stir their elemental cores into resonance with the free-floating fire elements around them, burning away every creature whose temperature was lower than theirs...
"I really want to catch a couple for my materials collection. What a shame."
Al shook his head regretfully and continued flying toward the summit.
"Whoosh!"
A white flaming projectile flew toward Al, trailing an orange-red tail of flame.
At that moment, his crystal-blue eyes seemed to take on a filter, becoming even deeper.
With the bullet time granted by Hyperthymesia, Al dodged it easily.
At some point, perhaps as his brain developed, the bullet time that had originally existed only within his memory palace had become available for him to use at will.
Imagine being able to see clearly, yet being unable to dodge. How tragic would that be?
Fortunately, Al was a match for a high-ranking Warrior. Thanks to his high agility and strength, he could dodge or anticipate attacks with ease.
If Al's physical abilities could not keep up, bullet time would have been little more than a useless skill to him.
With a playful look in his eyes, Al simply hovered in midair.
"A white Pyroblast. Has the flame's temperature already reached 4,000 degrees? What terrifying power..."
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
In the few seconds Al spent indulging his occupational habits, more than a dozen fireballs, roughly the same size as that white Pyroblast, flew toward the boy at an unbelievable speed.
At first, the explosive cracks in the air sounded one after another in a steady rhythm, but soon they merged into one continuous roar.
In the blink of an eye, the fireballs, too blurred to make out, slammed into the boy.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang!"
The sounds rose one after another, and thick black smoke obscured a corner of the sky.
"Lowly creature of flesh and blood, you dare enter my kingdom!"
Obscure, incomprehensible elemental speech rang out.
A fire elemental blazing with white-hot radiance emerged from the lava at the summit with a deafening roar.
The culprit behind the attack on Al was this strange fire elemental. From the looks of it, he was a flame lord.
"Not bad with those Pyroblasts, little flame. Your temperature is just right for heating my bathwater."
A hazy figure appeared behind the fire elemental, a mocking smile on the boy's handsome face.
The thick Ice Barrier met the searing heat, producing an incessant sizzling.
Soon, both were enveloped in vaporized steam.
"I am a flame lord under Ragnaros-aaagh..."
An ice-blue, elementalized forearm plunged into the roaring fire elemental's body with lightning speed. In an instant, Al pulled out an elemental core filled with white flames.
"Don't announce a bit character's name and make everyone laugh. So... be good and go out."
"Does water extinguish fire, or does fire evaporate water? That's a question worth considering."
His elementalized palm returned to normal. Al curiously felt his forearm, clicking his tongue in wonder.
[Partial Elementalization - Water Elemental]: Transforms part of the host's body into water (ice) elements.
Partial Elementalization was a skill Al had developed through tireless research, day and night, after learning to summon water elementals. This was his first time using it in actual combat.
"I still need new materials. The water elementals I can summon are only lord-class, so Partial Elementalization is already the limit. Should I... forget it, forget it. It's not time for that fellow Neptulon yet..."
Al shuddered and put a stop to that insane thought.
"Lemme take a look at this beautiful elemental core..."
"Hmm, so this is where the secret to its high temperature lies?"
"What an exquisite structure. I wonder if Ragnaros... hehehehe, slurp."
Looking utterly entranced, Al swallowed and began examining the elemental core in his hand in greater detail.
Three days later, in an abandoned camp five kilometers from Fire Plume Ridge.
A layer of dark stubble had grown over Hemet's bald crown. Combined with his squat body and heavy dark circles, he could have been tossed into a river to play a kappa from little-Jap monster tales.
"I can't sleep. It's been so long. Lord Al must be fighting powerful creatures. Even if I can't help, I can't just enjoy myself in comfort. That settles it. I'm increasing today's push-ups to 3,000."
Gritting his teeth, Hemet forced his exhausted body through push-up after push-up. Lord Al, a hero in his eyes, was still fighting. He absolutely could not slack off either.
Meanwhile, Al-
"Mmm, so nice and cool. My mana's just draining a little fast. It's already below ninety-five percent. I'd better recover some right away."
Having just gotten out of bed, Al stuffed the Simmons mattress floating in midair into his spatial backpack and cast another Ice Block on himself.
He took out toothpaste, a toothbrush, a towel, and soap, then began washing up as he floated above this dangerous active volcano as though no one else existed.
If Hemet knew the truth, he would have cried himself unconscious in the bathroom.