Pamela Town was the closest supply point to the Cotopaxi volcano.
It was also the place where acolytes from other places could report in.
It was dinner time when Grim arrived at the town on a slow stagecoach.
Pamela Town was a remote but not deserted town. It was not a big town, with only one main street. It was the kind of place where you could see the whole town from the street.
There were more than ten wooden houses on both sides of the main street, which looked like normal residences. Apart from that, there was a tavern, a grocery store, a shabby motel, and a population of more than a hundred. That was all there was to the town!
As soon as Grim got off the stagecoach, he could faintly hear a loud rumble coming from the mountains in the distance. This sound was not an occasional occurrence. It had been there ever since Grim approached the mountainous area. The sound was not that obvious from the outskirts. It sounded like thunder in the wild during winter, but when he arrived at the town, he immediately felt the power of nature.
This was probably the sound caused by the continuous underground activity of the volcano!
Grimm couldn't help but be curious about how the residents of the town lived in such an environment for so many years. What made them willing to endure such a harsh environment and stay here?
Although it was almost time for Mount Cotopaxi to rest, the towering volcanic cone in the distance was still spewing thick smoke and dust into the air. The town was at the foot of the mountain less than seven miles away from the volcano. Due to the influence of the volcano, the sky was always grey. Both inside and outside the town, be it the buildings or the gravel roads, there was a thick layer of volcanic ash everywhere.
The person waiting for Grim in the motel was a high-ranked acolyte called Ivan. Judging from the badge on his grey robe, he should be from the local Jubel family. The Cotopaxi volcano belonged to their family. Without their permission, wizards from other places were not allowed to enter the volcano.
Seeing that Grim was only a high-ranked acolyte, Ivan did not seem to believe him. He could not help but ask coldly, "Even if the volcano is temporarily resting, it is not safe inside. There are terrifying hot air currents and lava monsters everywhere. Are you sure you can survive inside?"
Grimm coldly scanned the lobby of the hotel. He waved his hand in the air a few times, and a rune burning with elemental flames floated in the air. His actions naturally attracted everyone's attention. The people sitting at the six or seven wooden tables in the hall couldn't help but turn their heads to look in his direction.
To be honest, ever since Grimm entered the threshold of the Body of Flame and was infused with energy from the underground lava, his two-meter-tall body was quite eye-catching. His dark red long hair and the ferocious aura he exuded made him stand out even more, making him stand out from the crowd.
"Oh, so you are a Fire Element Apprentice! As long as you avoid those annoying lava monsters, you might even be able to go deeper! "Ivan nodded and handed a white stone to Grim." That's right, "Ivan nodded and took out a white stone and handed it to Grim.
This would be his pass to enter the interior of the volcano in a few days!
"Go talk to them! The people in the lobby are all acolytes who came here for a mission. If you can form a team, the mission will be a little easier! "Ever since Ivan found out that Grimm was a Fire Element Apprentice, he became much more enthusiastic.
Grimm nodded in acknowledgment and slowly walked to the lobby. He slowly scanned the many unfamiliar faces around the table and finally chose to sit at a table by himself.
His main purpose for this trip underground was to complete his Body of Flame. He was not interested in the rewards of this mission, so he did not have any intention of forming a team with others. Thus, as soon as he arrived, he put on a cold and unapproachable appearance in order to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Sorcerer-Apprentices were all sharp-witted. Since Grimm had put on such a show, naturally, no one would bother him again. On the other hand, Grimm took the opportunity to observe everyone's situation, so that he had a clear idea of what was going on.
The lobby of the small hotel was not big, and the lighting was extremely dim. There were about 17 acolytes sitting there. Only two of them were Prospective Sorcerers, and the rest were Advanced Sorcerers like Grimm. This was in line with the characteristics of this mission.
In order to collect resources in the underground volcano, one had to endure the extreme environment and deal with the lava monsters, fire spirits, and other elemental creatures that lived in the volcano. Advanced Sorcerers were the lowest requirement for this mission!
Grimm was sure that most of these Advanced Sorcerers had elemental affinity with the fire element. Even if the rest were not, they were still very confident in themselves. The reason why there were so few Prospective Sorcerers was purely because collecting resources was a very important task.
If they were lucky, they might be able to find a Fire Diamond Mine at the top of the volcano after the lava subsided. However, if they were unlucky, they might end up with nothing even after three months.
If that happened, not only would they not get the mission reward, they would also have to pay for their share of the mission.
Therefore, unless there was a special need, Prospective Sorcerers would not be willing to try their luck at the underground volcano.
After getting a rough idea of the acolytes' situation, Grimm quickly filled his stomach and went back to his room. He did not go out again. He had arrived early. There were still five days before the volcano stopped, so he did not take a single step outside. Even his three meals were served to him by the waiter.
He used these few days of free time to study the Flame Barrier. He felt that this follow-up defensive spell was the most suitable for his Physique of Flame. If he could master it early, he might be able to form a protective flame similar to that of the Abyssal Firelord. At that time, anyone who wanted to attack him would have to endure the continuous fire damage, which was more in line with his sinister mentality of killing his enemies without leaving a trace.
During this time, two or three acolytes had come to visit him, wanting to recruit him into their exploration team, but Grimm had tactfully rejected them. Thus, after a few visits, all the Advanced Sorcerers who wanted to explore the underground volcano knew that there was a guy who wanted to go underground alone.
Acolytes who could become Advanced Sorcerers were not simple-minded. They all understood that anyone who dared to do this was someone who was extremely confident in himself, so no one said anything about it. However, there were still many who were secretly waiting to see Grimm's reaction.
Soon, the day that everyone had been waiting for arrived!
On this day, the rumbling that had been lingering in everyone's ears finally stopped.
The gray pillar of smoke in the distance began to scatter, and the volcanic ash that had been falling all day long also began to lessen and finally stopped.
Grimm, who had been quietly reading in his room, felt the changes in the outside world. He opened the wooden window to take a look, then immediately packed up everything around him and walked out of the room. There were many acolytes who were also prepared. After greeting each other in the corridor, they all gathered in the lobby of the inn.
Ivan, who was in charge of leading the team, was already waiting there.
After waiting for another 15 minutes, when all 20 acolytes had arrived, everyone filed out and followed Ivan to the foot of the volcano.
A distance of seven or eight miles was nothing to these acolytes. In less than 15 minutes, they arrived in front of a natural cave halfway up the volcano. Two Quasi Sorcerers from the Jubel family were already waiting there. After checking everyone's pass, they let them in.
The cave was not big, only about 20 square meters. It was filled with crisscrossed rock peaks and limestone. This might be a lava passageway that led straight to the depths of the volcano. There were no moss or lichens or the like here, and on both sides of the rock walls, there were thick cracks and deep ravines everywhere. Scorching streams of air that could instantly cook a person were continuously released from within.
Perhaps the underground lava had just receded not long ago, even the ground here was still boiling hot. The tunnel was filled with a pungent smell of sulfur. Without special methods, a normal person would only need to stay in this dirty air for a quarter of an hour to be invaded by the terrifying fire poison, turning the trachea and alveoli into blood bags.
However, this kind of environmental test was of course not a problem for the acolytes who dared to come here. Each of them was covered in a colorful protective shield, isolating them from outside interference. Grimm did not reveal his Body of Flame, but instead, he added a high-temperature force field to himself.
He silently looked around. There were eight acolytes like him who had added a fire defense, which was almost half of the 20 acolytes. The rest were either of the earth or wind element. There was not a single water element. Presumably, those with affinity with water elements would not be willing to come here to suffer.
Compared to other elemental systems, water element was not only extremely difficult to gather in such an environment, but the power and effect of spells would also be reduced by 70%. As long as they were not stupid, they would not come here to be tortured!
Now that they were here, everyone was basically minding their own business.
A few acolytes who had formed teams gathered together, and the fire element acolytes added an elemental defense. Without saying a word, they went into the tunnel. The remaining heat in the tunnel had not dissipated yet. In such a narrow environment, if there was an unexpected large scale eruption of hot air, even high-grade acolytes would be in great danger.
Therefore, everyone told each other to take care and dispersed into different tunnels in twos and threes, disappearing into the depths of the underground.
Grimm noticed that the Jubel family's acolytes did not follow the outsiders into the tunnel. It seemed that they were more familiar with the terrain here and had more convenient places to go. They did not need to rely on luck like the outsiders.
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