Despite the suffocating heat, the group pushes on, gathering a few more [Red Stones] along the way.
They avoid a massive cluster of lizards by mounting Tereza once again, who carries them across the lava river with her wings. But the oppressive temperature quickly takes its toll—her senses blur, and even in her full bat form, the heat sears her wings, forcing her to land sooner than she would have liked and revert back to her human form, which is not as sensitive.
An unexpected weakness... she's really suffering. Her PHY is probably too low. This is annoying for me as well, but I can easily deal with it, while Jewel looks completely fine. I see that Benezia is also struggling, but she's doing her best to act proud.
At last, they reach the line of rocks scattered across the lava, forming a path even for those unable to fly. The lake itself is eerily still, its molten surface unnervingly calm—except for one section, where bubbles begin to rise.
Bubbles! Maybe there is a tasty fish inside. Princess Jewel will win this fishing contest for sure!
"This is stupid, obviously there's nothing inside..." Alex argues, slightly stressed, but as soon as he finishes, a monstrous lizard bursts forth, walking out of the lava, twice the size of the ones they fought before. Its entire body is covered in thick red scales, streams of lava dripping from its body. Like its lesser kin, it walks upright on two legs, and its enormous tongue flicks out as it locks onto the group.
Benezia doesn't hesitate. She uses Warp, hurling a bright blue orb of biotic energy at the beast.
The orb detonates against its chest, ripping away several scales. The lizard screeches in fury, but otherwise remains largely unfazed.
Alex responds in kind, unleashing Warp of his own. His attack looks nearly identical to Benezia's—thanks to his Gold Quality skill and focus on biotics.
You have dealt 31 damage to Giant Lava Lizard
You have destroyed part of Giant Lava Lizard's armor
Tereza meanwhile draws her wand and waves it at a nearby rock, transfiguring it into a sharp spike that she hurls, using her wand, into the spot where Alex's Warp landed, causing the lizard to scream in agony once again as the spike pierces into its body, causing heavy bleeding.
Despite its injury, the huge lizard shows no sign of slowing down as it begins to charge even faster, now running on all fours.
"Cover me!" Alex yells, and Jewel, Tereza, and Benezia engage the lizard while a red barrier of orbal energy surrounds him as he charges up his strongest art.
"Move away from it now!" Alex orders, warning them.
Exactly five seconds later, Alex unleashes Crystal Flood, a massive line of frost energy bursting from him and rushing toward the lizard
You have dealt 245 x 2 = 490 damage to Giant Lava Lizard
You have frozen Giant Lava Lizard
With the lizard frozen, Alex rushes forward, drawing his [Executioner's Blade R2], using Ko, and finally activating Blizzara Sword, aiming directly at the lizard's neck and landing a devastating hit that beheads the frozen foe in a single stroke.
You have dealt 229 x 3 = 687 damage to Giant Lava Lizard
You have killed Giant Lava Lizard
Breathing heavily, Alex watches the huge lizard drop a glowing Blue chest, which he quickly grabs.
"Frost damage seems to be highly effective," Benezia notes nonchalantly. "Let's move on quickly, before more appear."
"..."
That's it...?!
Soulmate did a great job! ❤️
At least Jewel is praising me....
Feeling a little neglected, Alex pets Jewel, which she seems to enjoy immensely.
❤️❤️❤️
"Get moving already!" Benezia scolds as she leaps across the stones of the sea of lava, with Tereza following after, looking a little embarrassed.
As Jewel climbs back onto Alex's head, he follows the others, jumping from boulder to boulder, slowly making his way across the small lake of lava. He finally lands in the center of the lake, on a small island of solid ground with a small volcano that still appears at least partially active, as lava is still flowing down from the top.
As the group moves toward the top of the volcano, the heat steadily rising, they all peer down into the volcano, hot fumes rising up to hit their faces. Aside from that... nothing.
"There's nothing down there... aside from lava! It's a dead end!" Tereza exclaims, frustrated, wobbling a little before turning back.
Alex only shrugs, saying nothing, sweat dripping down his cheeks.
Like I guessed....
"Seems like it," Benezia agrees. "The Realm offers many opportunities to players, but some areas are created just to fill the gaps of the original world. With so many wondrous opportunities, it's possible this is nothing more than a filler area, like you said, Alex. We at least managed to get a chest, so I think it was worth it."
Just admit, you were wrong...!
Suddenly, Jewel hops down from Alex's head and rushes partway down the volcano.
She heads to a strange, dark-black boulder, enhances her legs with magic, and drives them into it.
The rock begins to crack apart with every stab until it finally crumbles into a pile of loose stones.
As Alex approaches, he notices one of them stands out — an orange, transparent rock with a small, egg-shaped core inside, no bigger than a fingertip.
[Tiny Dyna Stone (Inferior)]
World: One Piece / Fantasy Realm
Quality: Blue
Type: Rock
Effect: A rare stone that causes a huge explosion once exposed to oxygen, dealing up to 1000 damage within a 30-meter radius. The further away from the core of the explosion, the less damage it deals.
Note: This stone is encased in a protective mineral, preventing it from exploding.
"This... this is a friggin bomb stone!" Alex yells in excitement. "What luck!"
"Let's search for more!" Benezia urges, already moving on, on the lookout for more similar black boulders.
It takes the group only about thirty minutes to search the entire small island.
They uncover two more [Tiny Dyna Stone (Inferior)], both also tiny and inferior, like the one they found, incomparable to the true Dyna Stones that can cause far greater explosions, which are capable of destroying islands in large enough quantities.
"This is an item that only appears in a movie, a TV special, and a game—not the main series," Alex explains. "I never bothered with the One Piece games; they usually suck and feel like cheap cash grabs. The movie was decent, though; I watched it. Still, it's a little surprising to see this item here."
"Your luck is indeed unprecedented," Benezia says, appearing both satisfied and intrigued. "Let's leave. With three stones, we can enhance our planned explosions even more! We might as well add these to the food and alcohol we've prepared. It may be overkill, but it should ensure our plan's success. With three stones, we can save one and use two."
Princess Jewel can use the remaining stone to further upgrade her Ultimate Secret Spider Divine Super Technique!
"The name is growing..." Alex mutters. "Not only in length but also in stupidity. And you even threw in a spider at random. What does using explosives to ambush opponents have to do with spiders?"
Princess Jewel might need to put in a bit more work on the name. Such a divine technique deserves a name equally invincible.
"... Let's move on," Benezia says, steady as always, looking at Jewel with amused eyes. "Don't look so down, little one. I actually like your new technique's name. I'm sure you'll be able to create something special with it. Keep one of the stones."
❤️
With Jewel happily resting on top of Alex's head, the group retraces their steps and heads out of the volcano, still picking up the occasional [Red Stone] and killing a few lone lizards. By the time they finally emerge from the volcano, riding on top of Tereza's back, the sun is already rising.
"Finally!" Tereza exclaims, in a deep voice, now that she's back in her full bat form. "I need a break... I'm about to collapse."
"It seems the volcano still hasn't erupted yet," Benezia says. "We can rest near the center of the island, where we'll have a clear view of the Giants."
The group heads back to the place where they initially landed and rests.
Tereza appears visibly drained. She just takes out a dish from her inventory, quickly eats it, and then lies on the ground.
Benezia also eats a dish, which is also prepared by Menchi, but does not totally relax.Alex and Jewel, with no other plan, also eat and rest, enjoying the cool morning air, which feels like heaven compared to the smoldering hot volcano they just exited. Feeling reborn, Alex briefly closes his eyes, his lips curling into a smile as he rests.
After a few hours, Alex's eyes suddenly snap open.
A loud sound echoes in the distance as fumes and lava spew out of the largest volcano in the distance.
It's time!
Suddenly, he senses the ground vibrating as a large humanoid creature appears, walking to the center of the island.
------------------------------------------------
A/N: Always thankful for Power Stones, Comments, and Reviews. Thank you for reading!
If you are interested, then please support me at patreon.com/FRWriter
75+ Early chapters available - I will still release on WN daily!! Thank you!
New Chapters every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday!
Bored? Complains? Demands? Check out the Discord: https://discord.gg/puVqWsf3y9
Thank you for supporting the story with Power Stones!