Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2168: Chapter 2169: Lava Lake

Both scouting puppets broke, and the way they shattered was preceded by a red screen.

This is definitely not a coincidence; it’s only possible that they encountered the same type of attack. And since they were flying at low altitude without any erupting flames from the Lava Lake, it must have been elemental life hidden within the Lava Lake that acted.

Angel wasn’t surprised by this situation. He was already prepared for the scouting puppets to be damaged; it’s just a pity that he couldn’t detect who or what exactly had acted.

Angel wasn’t affected by the puppets’ damage. He calmed his slightly disturbed mind and continued to control the scouting puppets to explore.

Thirty seconds later, three more low-flying scouting puppets’ screens simultaneously turned red.

Angel didn’t look away this time, but even so, he couldn’t discover what happened to the scouting puppets, or why their screens changed without any warning.

A few seconds later, the three red-screened scouting puppets shattered and were scrapped.

Still puzzled, Angel noticed another scouting puppet was under attack.

But this time, it wasn’t low-flying ones; it was the high-flying scouting puppets. Five high-altitude puppets were surrounded, and the appearance of the assailants entered Angel’s eyes.

A creature engulfed in green flames.

About two meters in length, the front half was like a Finks cat with a cat’s head and forepaws, and the rear half was entirely a segmented worm, dragging a long tail without hind legs or wings. Yet they could still fly in mid-air with incredible speed.

Moreover, these elemental creatures were gregarious. With just five scouting puppets, each one was surrounded by over thirty of these creatures, leaving no escape.

"They look much like Tazo worms, but a fire elemental version of Tazo worms," Angel thought silently.

Tazo worms are magical creatures living in dense forests, appearing as half-cat, half-worm, capable of flying in mid-air. They prey on eagles, using their cat-like claws and a lethal poisonous mist for attacks.

"Could this fire elemental version of Tazo worms be poisonous fire creatures since their entire bodies are enveloped in a greenish flame?"

As Angel pondered, a scouting puppet was sprayed all over its head with the green fire from a flame Tazo worm. The attacked scouting puppet blinked its eyes twice before completely shutting down.

Another scouting puppet was scrapped.

Through a nearby scouting puppet, Angel saw that the scouting puppet sprayed with green fire showed no signs of burning, but the green fire corroded it incessantly like a Tibial Maggot.

Although Angel couldn’t examine the truth behind the corrosion scars, given the current situation, these flame Tazo worms are most likely toxic fire creatures.

Toxic fire creatures are also a type of fire elemental being.

As the first scouting puppet was corroded by the toxic fire green flame, the four other encircled ones also followed suit.

Angel considered escaping, but these flame Tazo worms were too many, and their speed rivaled that of the scouting puppets. Even if Angel had superhuman reflexes, the scouting puppets’ limitations restricted their real speed, making escape impossible.

Angel resigned himself, abandoning these four and continued to observe the scouting puppets in other directions.

The deeper he ventured into the Lava Lake, the more dangerous it became.

Low-flying scouting puppets were once again targeted, just like before, their screens turned red without any warning, and two scouting puppets shattered.

No matter how much Angel ventured inward from different directions, as long as they flew low, they encountered the same outcome.

This indicates that the entire low altitude of the Lava Lake belongs to some unknown fire elemental creature’s hunting grounds.

Now, only two low-flying scouting puppets were left.

Angel still chose to let these two continue flying low, not because he was unwilling to ascend, but because the high altitude was no less dangerous than the low.

The danger at low altitude was invisible, while the danger at high altitude was stark—a swarming mass of fire elemental creatures chasing the four remaining high-altitude puppets, not just the flame Tazo worms, but other fire elemental birds as well.

You could say there was no place safe for the scouting puppets right now.

Angel could only try weaving through the smoke, hoping to obscure his path a bit, but it wasn’t very effective because fire elemental creatures also lived in the smoke, like the Darkflame Fish.

Even though the Darkflame Fish wasn’t highly offensive, with the increasing density and activity of fire elemental energy, even a casually blown bubble was beyond a scouting puppet’s capability to touch.

Two more minutes passed, and the four high-altitude puppets were each caught up by different fire elemental creatures. Seconds later, the pieces of the four puppets fell into the rolling magma, marking a complete failure for the high-altitude reconnaissance.

However, the remaining two low-altitude puppets had better luck, flying a much longer distance.

But in less than half a minute, one scouting puppet’s screen turned red, followed by its shattering.

Now, only one lone sapling was left struggling.

One minute later, it was fine.

Two minutes, three minutes... Five minutes later, it was still fine.

Angel originally thought this scouting attempt was about to end in failure, but did not expect this scouting puppet to have such good luck?

He couldn’t help but hope again.

However, the more one hopes, the more the hoped-for often cannot bear the hope’s weight.

Another half minute passed, and through the scouting puppet’s view, Angel saw a piece of dark land at the end of the rising smoke.

Angel was delighted, thinking he might have finally reached the scorched earth on the other side of the Lava Lake.

As long as the location of the scorched earth was confirmed, and an empty coordinate without elemental creatures was found nearby, he could open the Gate of Void to transport there.

However, just as Angel was imagining this, his expression darkened.

The screen blackened, and the last scouting puppet was also damaged.

This time, unlike before, wasn’t without warning; Angel saw the murderer of the scouting puppet... it was that dark scorched earth.

It wasn’t land at all but the shell of a gigantic turtle.

This giant turtle was also a fire elemental being, though like toxic fire creatures, it was considered a special type of fire elemental: a magma creature.

The turtle’s shell seemed devoid of magma, but its temperature surpassed that of the Lava Lake. The scouting puppet was hovering above the turtle shell when it was steam-burned by the high temperature, eventually falling onto the shell and breaking.

The only relief was that before the scouting puppet was damaged, the giant turtle happened to turn its head, allowing Angel to confirm that it wasn’t scorched earth but the turtle’s back. This avoided Angel from unknowingly facing a gigantic magma creature directly.

With the demise of the last scouting puppet, this scouting journey came to an end.

Although the target location wasn’t discovered, it wasn’t completely fruitless.

At the very least, Angel confirmed that there was a large number of gregarious fire elemental creatures at high altitude, unknown dangers at low altitude, and a magma giant tortoise of considerable strength.

These pieces of information would greatly aid Angel’s subsequent journey.

The only pity was not finding a safe coordinate to open the door.

Although Angel’s Gate of Void did not necessarily require a coordinate, just a rough distance and direction to open the door, no one knows what awaits once the door is opened. To avoid danger, Angel doesn’t open doors recklessly.

As for teleporting into the already explored Magma Lake, there’s still some risk involved.

Because the teleportation through The Gate of Void can be affected by external energy. If there are elemental creatures with malicious attacks on the other side of the gate, the space might be influenced, causing anomalies in the teleportation.

However, this probability is quite small.

But no matter how small the chance, Angel is unwilling to risk his life on it.

...

On the cliff, Angel slowly opened his eyes.

He casually petted Toby’s little head, playfully tugged at the little pom-pom on his snow hat, and then turned to look toward the distant black and gray smoke.

"Let’s go." Angel gently leaped down from the cliff.

He decided not to use his Scouting Puppet anymore.

The Scouting Puppet is, after all, just an extension of his sight. There are many things he cannot perceive personally, like why those low-flying Scouting Puppets turned red without warning. It’s surely hard to know the answer just by looking.

He plans to see for himself.

At least, from the information returned by the Scouting Puppet so far, Angel doesn’t believe there’s any elemental creature that could threaten him; at most, that giant turtle seems tricky to deal with. If it really can’t be handled, he could always run.

After landing, Angel continued walking along the Scorched Earth ahead.

Since this area has already been explored by the Scouting Puppet, Angel didn’t fear danger and quickened his pace a bit.

As he walked, Angel also answered Toby’s questions about this region.

Upon learning that they have arrived in another subsidiary world, Toby wasn’t too surprised. After all, no matter where they are, even in the Abyssal Depth, for Toby, as long as he is beside Angel, it’s an absolute comfort zone.

No stepping out of the comfort zone.

Toby happily admired the unique scenery around, while Angel began pondering a question.

According to the information on the Tide World Map and the drawing left by the Magic Painter Wizard on that big rock earlier, the representative creature of this Region of Fire should be the Darkflame Monkeys.

But why hasn’t he seen any monkey-shaped fire element creatures after walking for so long?

Or is it that what Feng left on the map as the so-called "representative creature" actually refers not to a widely existing type but to the strongest elemental creature in this Region of Fire?

If that’s the case, it would explain why the Darkflame Monkeys are nowhere to be seen.

As the strongest, they must occupy the best territory.

It seems, if the Darkflame Monkey is the ruler of the Region of Fire, one should be able to see it as long as they go to the place where fire element energy is most active.

And the area where fire energy is most abundant is precisely the place Angel is heading to!

Angel is pondering this question because of the very long lifespan of elemental creatures. Since this Darkflame Monkey could be drawn by Feng in such a way, it’s estimated that it may have seen Feng.

There, might be information related to Feng.

For example, the so-called treasure left for future generations.

Thinking of this, Angel’s pace quickened once more.

Avoiding the places previously scouted for elemental creatures by the Scouting Puppet, Angel arrived near the Magma Lake within five minutes.

Even though he had seen this Magma Lake through the Scouting Puppet before, experiencing it up close again still filled Angel with emotion.

Every time he thought he had reached the extreme of the Region of Fire, moving forward, more extreme environments always awaited in the distance.

This boundless sea of fire entirely composed of magma was a new frontier challenging Angel’s limits.

Even the Continent of Yuantan, when it was about to collapse, although spewing a large number of Magma Lakes from below ground, could not compare to this place.

Such an extreme environment would surely be avoided by the ordinary person. But for the Transcendent, this is definitely a paradise that can ignite their passion.

If the situation in the Tidal World were discovered by the outside world, it would probably shake the entire Wizards’ Realm.

After all, naturally formed elemental creatures are too scarce. Yet every Official Wizard must inevitably have them as companions.

So how should the Tidal World be handled in the future?

Angel shook his head, temporarily setting these issues aside to think about them after exploring the Tidal World.

Angel looked again toward the Magma Lake, his expression much calmer.

Now, he needs to consider whether to go by high air or low air.

The low-air situation, as seen through the Scouting Puppet, appeared somewhat eerie. It would occasionally go red and then get damaged.

But Angel thinks it might be a kind of fire element creature that can evade the naked eye.

Elemental creatures are composed purely of energy, and energy creatures being invisible—this isn’t so unusual, is it?

Angel suspects that in the low air of the Magma Lake, there’s an invisible fire element creature.

"Generally, this kind of invisible creature can only achieve a semblance of concealment; the energy body must be impossible to hide." Angel mused. To investigate, it’s simple enough, just sense with spiritual power.

Angel directly released his spiritual power towards the distant Magma Lake.

Fearing that releasing his spiritual power too far might encounter danger and he wouldn’t be able to retract it in time, Angel only extended it within a hundred-meter radius around himself.

Within the hundred meters from his current position, there was nothing abnormal.

Angel walked along the shore for about ten minutes and finally found a clue.

At a spot sixty meters from the shore, Angel saw a creature entirely made up of intense energy.

This was a fire element creature invisible to the naked eye, but its energy waves could not be concealed.

In the energy vision, its shape could be seen clearly.

Its appearance was quite odd, resembling a bean sprout, with a transparent, slender tube for a body, topped by a large head that had nothing but a mouth.

And the tail of this "bean sprout" was rooted in the magma, its exact situation unclear.

After some thought, Angel summoned Earl Mi, signaling him not to stir up trouble, and to stealthily dive into the Magma Lake to see the full form of this sprout sticking out from the lake.

Without hesitation, Earl Mi transformed into flaming Ghostly Shadows, silently and stealthily delving into the rolling magma.