Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 598 - 65 The Pillar of Fire_1

Chapter 598: Chapter 65 The Pillar of Fire_1

"Good morning everyone." Ike’s strong nasal dwarf accent was quite distinctive. It was easily recognizable even without looking: "Starting from the eighth floor, we are officially exploring unknown territory. As for the eighth floor... I’m familiar with most locations, but there are a few regions I’ve only visited once or twice. When we reach the ninth floor, I’ll be as clueless as the rest of you, never having been there myself. Let’s cooperate fully then, okay?"

"Let’s first finish exploring the designated area on the eighth floor." No matter what Pannis was thinking, his facial expressions remained normal. He calmly replied: "Who knows, we might find our target right on the eighth floor. No need to go to the ninth floor then. Hahaha, although the odds are slim, a slim chance is still better than none."

"Are you really comforting yourself like this?" Lina, who had been emotionless while having breakfast since who knows when, gave a cold splash of reality upon hearing Pannis’s words: "We’ve said it before, Mister Ike has gone through the whole eighth floor. If the mission target was really on the eighth floor, he would have found it way before we got here."

"Enough with the chitchat." Catherine used a deer skin to give one final wipe to her one-handed sword. She stood up, making her scale armor jingle: "Since we’re all full, let’s get ready to depart. Let’s work hard today and try to explore all the regions we need on the eighth floor. If we still can’t find the target, we will strive to enter the ninth floor before we rest tonight."

After resting last night, everyone woke up refreshed. An oddity was that while in the underground world of the Earth’s Scar, people seemed to have endless strength. Furthermore, they felt stronger than usual. It was unclear whether this was everyone’s illusion or if there was really something strange in the environment causing this change in everyone. This was also why after a good night’s sleep, the girls who should have been sore from muscle fatigue found themselves completely fine. It was as if yesterday’s ferocious battle was only an illusion.

Under Catherine’s command, the six people quickly packed up their campsite. There was no need here to carefully cover their tracks, so they just gathered up their belongings. As for leftover food and other things, they would naturally be taken care of by passing magical beasts. The adventurers didn’t have to worry about that at all.

Once everything was packed, the six people, energized and ready, advanced towards the eighth floor. Catherine and Ike were still at the front as scouts, the three caster profession girls were in the middle, and Pannis was at the rear of the team lazily following behind. However, when no one was paying attention, Lina quietly slowed down, came up to Pannis, and whispered: "Thanks for what you said to her last night. But, was it all true? Do you really think that by finding those overlooked issues, we will find our target?"

"Of course." Pannis lowered his voice, and seriously replied: "Trust me, I never lie."

"Is that so?" Noticing that no one was paying attention, Lina returned to her normal self, stepped hard on Pannis’s foot, and rolled her eyes: "I hope what you said is true. If necessary, do share with us. Even though we are not as experienced as you, the combined effort of several people is always better than you brooding alone."

"Of course, if necessary, I’ll consult with you all." Pannis nodded: "Right now, I’m still trying to figure out some connections which is key. Once I understand that, it would be akin to finding the key."

"Hey, what are you two whispering about?" Vivian, at the front, realized Lina had snuck off, so she turned around and shouted: "Hurry up, or I won’t care if you get lost."

Lina and Pannis looked at each other and laughed. Lina quickly caught up to Vivian, patted her head provocatively, and the two began to fuss again.

The entrance to the eighth floor that the six people chose was a spiral-shaped gentle slope. It seemed like a waterway from a long time ago, but it became a tunnel after the underground river dried up. As they walked down the slope, the bare crystals were still visible everywhere on the rock wall, and some crystals even fell directly from the crystal clusters and fell on the ground. On the Yarran Continent, crystal veins are distinct. The crystals growing in the veins are divided into inactive types and active types. As the name suggests, inactive refers to crystals whose internal energy has dissipated, they mainly grow on the outer layer of crystal veins. Whereas the active types are the ones filled with energy inside, they usually appear in the mining core area. Since crystals grow like plants, stretching from the core of the vein outward, the lost energy crystal veins are squeezed and expanded by the newly formed energy-filled crystal veins. The area becomes larger and larger, often forming landscapes like the Earth’s Scar, a large area of ​​inactive crystals, impossible to find the core area of active crystal mine. As for processed crystals, once the energy inside is consumed, they will lose their luster and color and become white transparent crystals. However, if it was a naturally inactive crystal vein, it would still emit a certain amount of fluorescence even without energy.

Freya casually picked up a crystal the size of a small calf from the side of the road. Perhaps when this crystal was newly formed countless years ago, it was filled with tens of thousands of Tael worth of crystal energy, but now it’s just a glowing ornament. Rounded heavy crystals are inconvenient to hold and cannot adjust the brightness, so Freya lost the idea of ​​using them to illuminate and shook her head as she threw it aside. They continued down along the gentle slope, and after losing count of the number of times they went round and round, they finally heard Ike’s voice: "We’re at the exit, this is the eighth floor."

Before they even reached the exit to the eighth floor, the girls felt a wave of heat washing over them. The initial seven floors had been consistently humid and hot, but as they descended to the eighth floor, the atmosphere became dry and scorching.

"Oh Denia, it feels like we’ve accidentally wandered into the workshop of a blacksmith in the middle of a hot summer." Lina habitually made a square symbol over her chest, a symbol representing the earth’s four corners, and muttered: "How can it be so hot here?"

"It will be even hotter further down." Ike explained: "Sometimes explorers joke that this place is like the hell described in myths and legends. If you stay here for a long time, even your soul might crumble, haha."

"Those myths and legends might be based on this place." Catherine, who couldn’t quite grasp Ike’s sense of humor, forced a smile and said: "In such a hot environment, can magical beasts really survive in large numbers?"

"Didn’t Pannis just mention that he saw one last night?" Ike said: "The magical beast he described is quite common on the eighth floor; not really a bug, more like common magical beasts seen on the surface. Below the eighth floor, it’s mostly these normal beasts, besides their weird appearance, they don’t have many other distinctive features."

"It’s hard to believe how they can withstand this environment for extended periods." Catherine wiped the sweat collecting on her forehead: "You’d likely die from dehydration if you stayed here for a few days."

"Catherine." Pannis suddenly said to his group: "It’s about time, everyone. We can use the ice-attribute crystal shards to cool down now. Not too many, just two each at a time. One for your upper body and one for your lower body should be sufficient."

"This is the sweetest thing I’ve heard." Catherine was feeling the most uncomfortable with her full-bodied armor, even though she struggled to maintain her dignified presence. Only ten minutes into their journey she was feeling extremely uncomfortable. She had several urges to use the crystals to cool down, but she fought them off, either because she didn’t want to look weak or maybe she was simply reluctant to use them. But upon hearing Pannis’ words, she breathed a sigh of relief and made a signal, saying: "Everyone, quickly use them. Vivian, you too. Just because you don’t feel hot, doesn’t mean your body isn’t reacting to the heat."

"I understand." Vivian nodded, and along with everyone else, activated two ice-attribute crystal shards worth one hundred Tael each. Once inserted into their clothing, a burst of refreshing coolness surged out. The coolness enveloped them in an instant, making the girls almost want to moan in relief.

"Finally, it feels like we’re alive again." Freya took a big breath, finally in mood to take a look around. They could see that on the eighth floor, the crystal clusters on the rock walls were no longer multi-colored. Here, most of the crystal clusters were orange-red, interspersed with a few of other colors. However, there were no blue crystals signifying ice-attributed energy to be found. This kind of light environment dyed the underground world in a faint red, as if everything was bathed in the glow of a setting sun.

"Everyone, pay attention to the front. It’s about time." After a while, Ike suddenly stopped and pointed forward: "One of the spectacular sights underneath the eighth floor of the Underground World is about to be revealed."

The place Ike pointed at was a common underground cavity, presumably an unconnected Earth’s Scar. The cavity was wide open on all sides, resembling a cave on a plain with its ceiling also having an upward cavity opening, although outside view was obscured. The cavity was so deep you couldn’t see the bottom of it, much less determine what was at the bottom. Only a faint red glow could be seen deep within it. Under Ike’s reminder, everyone retreated a few steps from the cavity’s edge. Less than a minute later, the air suddenly became even hotter. Right before everyone’s eyes, a massive flame pillar as thick as the cavity gushed out from beneath almost like a fountain, flowing into the cavity above. The furious, silently burning flames. Even though the girls had used the ice-attribute crystals, they could still feel the searing heat.

The fountain-like pillar of fire lasted for a good thirty seconds before it vanished as suddenly as it appeared, leaving behind a burnt smell hanging in the eighth floor’s cave, proving that what had just happened was not a dream. (To be continued. If you like this work, please support it at qidian.com by voting or subscribing. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users can read at m.qidian.com.)