Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1115 - 228: Eruption of Earthfire

Chapter 1115: Chapter 228: Eruption of Earthfire

If someone stood on the shore of Lake of Termination, they could see a wooden raft drifting from afar. The raft was a pitiful sight, the thick logs laid across it, one-fourth having snapped in two, luckily held together by metal chains threaded through their centers, preventing them from falling off. The passengers on the raft were equally disheveled, everyone drenched, their clothes clinging tightly to their bodies. Pannis, as the only male passenger, felt his arms had swollen—not from fatigue, but from being pinched. Now that the girls had thrown their cloaks over their wet clothes, Pannis’s arms were finally spared.

However, the most wretched of them all was not them but the scorpion-tailed lion, Dillie. The poor creature had shrunk to the size of a human, with wings spread, flying close to the water’s surface at the front of the raft. It was tied with a rope, the other end attached to the raft, dragging it forward. At this moment, Dillie’s face showed a human-like dejection, weakly flapping his wings, gradually approaching the other side of Lake of Termination. Although it was nearing evening, it was still very bright, and the girls didn’t expect that, after the chaos at the center of the lake and the breaking of the pole, the team would still reach the shore according to the planned schedule, just before dusk.

"Because we have the best mode of transportation," Pannis quipped, his mood extra good as they were finally about to reach shore, completely escaping the shadow of being collectively attacked by the girls. Leaning against a package, he said, "This vehicle is faster than me rowing the boat. Had I known this, I should’ve let it pull the boat from the start."

"You bastard Kyle, you are the mode of transportation. You definitely did it on purpose, breaking the pole," Dillie retorted weakly. "I suspect you’ve been plotting to dump the responsibility of steering the boat on me since you got on."

Although Dillie said this, neither he nor the other girls truly believed it. In fact, compared to the first half of the journey, the second half was especially troublesome. During the first half, although the speed of normal progress was slightly slower than Dillie pulling the boat, everyone was at ease, except for the unexpected incident at the center of the lake, where they didn’t encounter any trouble. But the second half was different. Dillie had to fly when pulling the boat, and the flying height often put them on the same plane as the floating Twisted Souls. As a result, they constantly had to detour, circling around the lake to barely get through the encirclement of the Twisted Souls. There were even two instances when the concentration of Twisted Souls was too dense and the area too large to detour, so the whole group had to get into the water and push the raft through their encirclement, which is the main reason why everyone was soaking wet in the end.

As the shore got closer and the number of Twisted Souls dwindled, often not encountering one for half a day, the girls’ suspended hearts finally relaxed. Compared to the unreliable surface of the water, the solid earth brought a greater sense of safety. Throughout the second half of the journey, the girls were worried about encountering another environmental anomaly like the one at the lake’s center. Fortunately, as they made their way, what they feared did not happen. The trip was relatively safe and peaceful, and no more packages from those who had gone before them appeared on the lakebed.

"Actually, you didn’t need to worry," Pannis said leisurely. "Although this area is the Forbidden Land of Living Souls, over the thousands of years, there have still been a few special people like us who’ve reached it. True, there are no records of the lake’s center being explored, but the records left by those who explored the lake shore don’t mention regular anomalies occurring at Lake of Termination. This means, at least near the shore, one wouldn’t see anything unusual. You’ve all seen those water columns, each rising tens of meters, and I estimate the tallest exceeded a hundred meters, loud enough for people tens of kilometers away to see and hear. Given that, it’s likely that only the few hundred square kilometers near the center of this 8,000-plus square kilometer lake experience anomalies, as only that could prevent people in other directions from observing them."

"But that’s just your speculation, isn’t it?" Catherine shook her head, "After all, no one can be sure. No one really knows what the true situation is, so it’s still best to be cautious."

"It’s indeed my speculation," Pannis nodded, "but reality proved that my guess was quite reasonable."

"That’s true," Catherine said, recalling the ordeal in the center of the lake, still feeling shaken. In the face of nature’s power, one’s own strength is indeed minuscule, almost to the point of despair. The knight girl sighed, "I still don’t know what happened that caused such a sudden and intense change."

"I suspect it’s probably related to an Earthfire eruption," Vivian said in a somewhat unhappy voice. Once they left the dangerous waters and reached a relatively safe area, the scholar’s soul in the mage girl longed to go back and study the cause of this phenomenon after the anomaly had settled. But she knew it was too dangerous for the whole team, a highly irresponsible act, so she had to suppress her urge and left the center of Lake of Termination reluctantly.

"Earthfire eruption?" Catherine soothingly ruffled the girl’s damp hair, asking softly, "You mean the rare natural phenomenon where a great amount of lava erupts from the earth? But I didn’t see any lava coming out, and there were no signs of lava flow at the bottom of the lake, so why do you think that?"

"Yes, that’s an Earthfire eruption," Vivian finally cheered up a bit as she discussed academic matters. "But Earthfire eruptions don’t always involve lava. They come in many forms. Sometimes, if there are few or no cracks in the earth’s crust, the lava won’t erupt, and only the completely vaporized steam from the high temperatures will come out, just like what we saw earlier. This could also explain why the lake water has frighteningly high concentrations of Earthfire Stone and acidic Earthfire Stone. If it erupted often like that, it would be strange if the levels weren’t high," Vivian explained with enthusiasm.

"If the water columns are caused by Earthfire eruptions, what about those whirlpools?" Lina asked curiously. "Surely they can’t also be due to Earthfire eruptions."

"I don’t know about the whirlpools; I can only speculate," Vivian replied. "I guess there’s a huge cavity beneath the lake, filled with water as well. The upper and lower layers are connected only by some holes left by the Earthfire eruptions. Whenever the layer of Earthfire builds up enough pressure, it spews out a large amount of scorching gas, which carries a large amount of water through the holes and into the sky. Of course, passing through the holes isn’t a coincidence; there are no such coincidences in the world. The holes exist precisely because of the scorching gas eruptions. After the eruption ends, since a large amount of water was expelled during the eruption, the lower space needs a significant amount of water to replenish what was lost. As a result, lake water pours back into the lower layer, creating large whirlpools precisely at the locations of the Earthfire eruptions."

"First the eruption, then the absorption, to achieve balance?" Lina mused. "Is this the work of a Deity, or a naturally formed marvel? If it’s natural, I must admit, it’s more creative than many designs of intelligent beings."

"This is certainly not a naturally formed marvel," Pannis declared, shaking his head. "Whether it’s steam or lava, an Earthfire eruption requires a long period of build-up. For example, eruptions in the Perpetual Icefield often take decades or even centuries to occur; it’s impossible for them to happen as regularly as eating breakfast."

"So, you think it was made by a Deity?" Lina asked in return. "Or perhaps man-made? Remember that Deities rarely create such specific spectacles; they only create a general environment, leaving the rest to nature. And if it’s man-made, don’t forget, this is the Forbidden Land of Living Souls, who could modify the environment here? Even if someone managed to come here, they wouldn’t be able to do it, as no race currently has that technology."

"No, you’re overlooking one race," Pannis waved a finger at Lina. "Those people don’t believe in Deities. They think they can challenge Deities, they even aspire to wield the power of Deities, and so they audaciously create, modify, and even play with life."

"Do you think it was the goblins?" Catherine said, not at all surprised. "Hmm, it is indeed possible for goblins to do something of that magnitude, since they can even transform a demiplane into a laboratory. Manually causing an Earthfire eruption shouldn’t be difficult for them, but why? It seems pointless."

"If it’s a goblin creation... then it really does make sense," Freya pondered, inspired by Pannis. "They might have done it to cool down large groups of equipment, regularly releasing steam every day, while drawing in lake water to cool overheated devices. Actually, we at the Colossus School occasionally use similar methods for cooling, of course not on such an exaggerated scale."

"Wait, releasing steam every day?" Catherine suddenly interrupted Freya. "What makes you think this happens daily, and even on a schedule?"

Not just Freya, but Vivian and Pannis too, looked at Catherine with odd expressions. The knight girl, confused, asked, "Why? Is it a silly question?"

"Big sister, look," Vivian sighed, explaining. "Your grandfather encountered the eruption forty years ago, right? When we returned, not to mention the forty-year gap, even if it were just one or two years apart, and we didn’t come on the same day, even in the same month, how likely do you think it is to chance upon another eruption?"

"Uh, not very likely," Catherine said, scratching her head and speaking awkwardly. "There must be frequent eruptions for such a coincidence to happen."

"I say, how much longer do you plan to sit up there?" Dillie growled impatiently from below. "We’ve been docked for a few minutes now; aren’t you planning to get off the boat?"