Cal could feel his skin tingle from the beast’s explosion, but he didn’t care about how remarkable that was. It was interfering with his ability to cast spells. He didn’t have time to waste.

He roared in anger as he pushed his mana reserves to overcome the block, the lava seconds away from accepting his body as food. He gasped when he felt a burst within, and directed everything he could at the lava, having nothing better nearby to target.

A slab of lava rose before bending horizontally, creating a platform that was still too hot to survive. He held the bastardized [Earth Barrier] in place and cast [Liquid Core] in rapid succession, dousing the lava platform in water, cooling it just enough before he slammed into it.

Cal winced as he pushed himself up. With a more stable position, he cast [Rainfall] and sighed when comparatively cool raindrops doused him.

He pulled a mana restoration potion from the storage pouch and downed it in one gulp, restoring enough of his mana reserves from a near-empty state. Whatever that beast did to block his casting took nearly everything to break. He would need to keep an eye out to make sure he wouldn’t be in such a position again.

Cal blinked before looking at the hand casting [Rainfall].

I let go of my war hammer in the middle of that…

He pursed his lips. He looked back at where the beast had been, hoping to see its corpse sink into the lava, though the explosion probably disintegrated it.

Cal squinted when he saw nothing in except a glowing white sphere floating, following the flow of the lava down to where he was. He stopped casting [Rainfall], his artificial platform cool enough, and manipulated the glowing sphere with well-placed [Earth Barriers], until it was eventually in his hands.

He put it in his storage pouch and checked the interface.

1 Earth Crystal

“Yes!” Cal cheered uncharacteristically. All he needed was four more to be done with that material, and he had no intention of moving on until he got all of them.

Cal stalled for time as he stayed in place. He needed to recover his mana reserves to get himself out of any tricky situations, and to avoid using his last mana restoration potion. The continued maintenance of the platform he stood on by casting [Rainfall] lengthened the time slightly, but the other option was letting it, and him, crumble into the lava below.

He couldn’t help but recall his mistakes against the beast in the lull. Fighting, with his life on the line, wasn’t a common occurrence for him, in either lifetime, and he felt that was the biggest reason he had been so clumsy in dealing with the beast. Instead of pummeling it while he had an advantage, he stared like an idiot and allowed it time to counter with a sacrificial explosion. It was a mistake he wouldn’t make again.

Plus, the exploding beast made him recall the rumor about exploding rocks. While the beast wasn’t a rock, he could see how it could be mistaken for one while in hiding. It made him question how an alchemist was able to reach this area and get out alive.

Cal knew it couldn’t be personal strength, so it had to be their alchemical prowess.

I should find them after I get out of here. It would be worthwhile to know beginner alchemists who could survive this.

His mana reserves were back at the peak, and he had already scoped out his target. There was still a significant distance to the void below, but even then, the number of grouped platforms that possessed the anomaly of several blackened protrusions was rare. He needed to kill four more of those fiery hounds to get his required number of Earth Crystals, and there weren’t so many choices that he could pick to his liking. If it qualified, he would hope there was a beast hiding.

Cal jumped from the self-created platform to a natural platform tens of feet below, cracking it instantly before continuing onto his target. He landed near his target several minutes later, and he didn’t waste time poking around like before. He cast [Rainfall] with enough mana supplied to make it a deluge.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He wanted to force the hound out on his terms, and have it weakened at the same time.

Cal’s eyes snapped to the right, staring at a protrusion that trembled. Two baleful red eyes opened in the center, glaring at him with death in mind. He smiled in reply, and the lesson learned was fresh in his mind.

He fired multiple [Liquid Cores], one after another, all pummeling the beast before it would make a move. The water spheres shattered the beast’s hide, forcing steam from its insides as the uninterrupted water injection cooled it. He kept repeating the spell long after he deemed it necessary, to be certain he neutralized the threat.

Cal only pulled back his casting when the beast’s form shattered, reducing itself to lumpy rocks and grey ash. He smiled at the prize in the center of the remains. This fire beast might be at the Apprentice tier, but the weakness to water, and the odd overabundance of it in the air was its downfall.

He strode over and stored the glowing Earth Crystal in his storage pouch.

Three more to go.

***

Cal finished the last of the required fire beasts and wasn’t sure what to do with his storage pouch. It had no inventory spots left.

Basic Storage Pouch

Inventory: 20/20

1 Unknown Gem (x5)

137 Copper, 7 Silver, 5 Gold, 14 Guildmarks

1 Rake (Rare)

1 Map (Trade Routes of the Celestial Order)

2 Healing Potions (Minor)

1 Mana Restoration Potion (Minor)

2 Calming Potion

2 Rage Potion

4 Daggers (Common)

1 Voidiron Shovel (Advanced)

1 Voidiron Cube (Rare Artifact)

150 Unknown Crystals

83 Unknown Crystals

2 Earth Crystals (x2)

1 Earth Crystal

Every two Earth Crystals took up one inventory spot, and now he had to get rid of something to free up space for materials he would find. The most obvious choice was the daggers, followed by the calming and rage potions, but he would like to keep the potions in case of emergencies.

Cal jumped to another platform as he thought about what to do. It would be nice if his rake could just swallow the materials it needed… he looked at his storage pouch.

It can’t hurt to try.

Cal pulled his rake from the storage pouch and an Earth Crystal. He stared at the two, expecting some reaction, and brought them together to touch lightly when they didn’t.

His eyes widened when the rake glowed a soft white before it extended to cover the Earth Crystal. The next second, the Earth Crystal was gone, and the rake returned to an inert state. He pulled up the interface to check.

[Rare Rake: Excellent Quality] Upgrade: 2 Requirements

1. Tasks Required: 1

- 8452/20000 Tasks

2. Materials Required: 3

- 1/5 Earth Crystals

- 0/10 Dragonite Scales

- 0/500 Voidiron Pellets

- Progressive Self-Repair: After 24 continuous hours without use, the rake will start to recover its quality in stages. For every additional 48 hours of continuous non-use, the rake’s quality will improve by one stage.

Cal pumped his fist silently in celebration. That solved the inventory spot issue, and proved his assumption wrong. And he was thankful for it. He had no idea how to find a blacksmith to add materials to a Rare-ranked equipment.

He pulled out the rest of the Earth Crystals and let the rake absorb them, curious to see if anything would change after adding all of a specific material.

It changed nothing.

He tested one of the Unknown Crystals, just in case it was a Dragonite Scale, but there was no reaction from the rake, not like he expected there to be one.

Cal stored everything with a satisfied smile. This little mission was progressing far better than he had dreamed. He hoped Tavia was having just as much success as he was. Unlike him, fighting and casting old spells did little to further him as a [Mage], but Tavia should be different since she hadn’t reached the Apprentice tier yet.

He scoured the area for anymore signs of the beasts. Now that he had three inventory spots open, he wanted to get two Earth Crystals for Orrin. If his Rare-ranked equipment needed it, he imagined it would be a highly valuable material for blacksmiths.

Cal located his targets and made quick work of the distance. He would use the same methods to extract the Earth Crystals with little danger to himself.

***

He stood before the void, finished with this area and ready to move to the next.

Cal wasn’t sure how many levels the sinkhole had, but he suspected he would soon find Tavia. He jumped into the void with his readiness at its highest.