And now for another beautiful day traveling the scorching hot Isla de Mina. And I mean it when I say "HOT"!!

The whole island looks like it's made out of volcanic rocks. And that may be the truth because there's a giant volcano in the middle of the island that spews out fumes and some volcanic rocks now and then. The only plantlife or monster-life that lives here, or better said, can survive here are those who have adapted to the volcanic activity of Mount Mina.

"Be sure not to overharvest the Pelekiwi trees. We're not here to ruin the eco-system." - Garami

"As if it can turn any worse than it already is-, HOT!" - Noire

Noire and Iron, the two with me on today's search duty, were busy plucking fruits off trees that were perpetually on fire. These Magma attribute trees are some of those "volcanic activity-adapted plantlife" I mentioned, with monsters of the same attribute hiding in the less open area of the island.

"Be careful with those. Those fruits are excellent alchemy materials." - Garami

"Then they're good just for you!!" - Noire

"Not just me, the Union loves them too. What materials do you think these anti-heat amulets are made of?" I asked her while pointing at the fire-themed accessory hanging around my neck. It's only thanks to these lovely little trinkets that we can survive this volcanic heat.

"Fiiiine. They are good for everyone except for Iron." - Noire

True. That guy is harvesting fruits without caring about the heat of the burning leaves. I guess not having flesh to scorch gives you an advantage in these cases.

"Maybe you should just go all in and start obtaining Magma attribute skills? Psych~." - Garami

"*Gleam*!!" - Iron

Uh-oh. Someone is taking a liking to that idea. If Iron obtained Magma skills..., that wouldn't be so bad. He is a ghost, so no pain from extensive heat.

"I take back that 'psych'. Iron, go and conquer that volcano of an attribute!!" - Garami

"Roger. As long as I am not needed to climb the real volcano." - Iron

"Don't even joke about that." - Garami

And I mean it. The Union pushed warning onto warning on us regarding that place. The strongest of the monsters living on this island is inside that volcano, so stepping too close to the mouth of that thing can provoke them into sticking their heads out. Or tentacles. I'm not gonna go into details, but I'm sorta responsible for the latter one. The keywords here are "design work in Limbo". What kind of God asks for an octopus that lives and is MADE of magma!? The God of idiots?

*Rumble...*

Hmm? Was that a tremor?

"Uh, guys?" - Garami

"This complete country bumpkin is going to master one of the most difficult Heat-category attributes? Hah! I will believe it when I see it." - Noire

"Challenge accepted." - Iron

"Hey, guys? I think there's-" - Garami

"So you say, you rust bucket? In that case, I will achieve the feat of learning an even more difficult and greater attribute than your small embers could ever possibly be~." - Noire

"Hey, can you hear-?" - Garami

"Impossible. A simple chicken can never outshine a knight such as I." - Iron

"W-WHAT DID YOU-!?" - Noire

Are the some bad blood between the holy angels and the vengeful undead? Stupid question. But right now, I want them to put down whatever genetic rivalry they have and focus on the fact that there's a dangerous chance of the volcano erupting here-!

*Crack!*

Or the floor breaking underneath our feet. That works too. GYAAAAAAAA-!!

---

One nasty fall later:

"Ouch... Are you IDIOTS alright?" - Garami

"Report: I am still alive." - Iron

I'm not even gonna do another undead joke at this point...

"That hurt! Why didn't anyone notice the ground coming apart?" - Noire

"I did, but nobody cared to listen!" - Garami

That caused the two idiots to lower their heads with bright red ears from the shame. I am guessing the latter half when it comes to Iron though. And sorry to say this, but there's more to come for one of you.

"By the way, Noire, why didn't you fly?" - Garami

"That...idea did not occur to me. Everything happened so fast...and it was a little scary..." - Noire

Pride goes before a fall. That is what I would name a masterpiece of a painting based on the current Noire. Not that I'll bash her with the fact. If I did, she might realize that I forgot all about creating webs, chains, or whatever that we could use to break our fall. I mean, she's not wrong about that traphole being damn sudden and frightening. Maybe I should look into some skills like that?

"What's done is done, and the same can be said about the stuff we didn't do. For now, let's get out of this... The damn hole closed itself on us." - Garami

Are these volcanic rocks similar to corals? "Magma Corals"... That sounds like a monster species. Good thing the Limbo requests didn't include that...or is it that it's already a thing?

"Don't tell me we are trapped here!?" - Noire

"...Looking at the state of 'here', I'd guess there's at least something like an exit somewhere." - Garami

My words caused Noire and Iron to take in our surroundings a little more carefully. Our current location is an underground tunnel that is lightened by the use of red stones placed in lamps stationed on the walls.

I think they're called "Torch Gems", special gems with magical properties that make them give off light indefinitely by taking in the aether from their surroundings. This deep crimson color is probably due to Isla de Mina's high amount of Magma Aether. To test, I used [Aura of Darkness] close to one of them and was rewarded by the strange sight of a lamp glowing black.

"Weird. Last time I checked, Touch Gem lamps are supposed to be rare." - Garami

"You are correct. The lamps themselves are not difficult to craft, but it is difficult to obtain the Gems unless one is searching in locations that the gems have a natural affinity for." - Noire

"Like in mines?" - Garami

"Would not the mines be created after it has been discovered that there are many priceless values in the ground?" - Iron

One point for the armor there.

"Not any random hole in the ground would work for producing Torch Gems. The name does not only refer to how they can be used to replace torches, but it also comes from how the gems can only be found in locations rich in Fire-related aether." - Noire

"Fire, as in relatable to Magma?" - Garami

"Indeed. Solomar, which as you should know by now is a country located in a volcanic area, is affluent with these gems, causing all the streets to be lightened with them." - Noire

Mystery solved. This is a volcanic island, making it easy to mine Torch Gems. Regardless, it does not answer the most critical question I have regarding this tunnel.

"Then why are they here?" - Garami

"Huh? Did I not tell you already-" - Noire

"I meant, who created these lamps? Are you trying to tell me that these unpolished rocks are capable of growing a lamp-like shell?" - Garami

My question knocked out the winds of the fallen angel's sails. This tunnel is too civilized to be natural. In addition to that, the walls and floor are made out of polished bricks. ****ing goddamn polished. I can see my reflection in them, even with them being made from common rocks. How's that even possible?

"Uh, yes, I see your point. But who would be mad enough to consider living inside a volcano?" - Noire

"Technically, we are still a little away from the magma." - Iron

"Who cares about technicalities when we're talking scorching hot MAGMA?" - Noire

All I'm hoping for is that we're not gonna find ANOTHER hidden criminal ring. If I do, I'll think I'm cursed...er than what I already thought.

---

Okay, half an hour of exploration later, and no crime crooks to punch their teeth out. That's good, I think. For the (definitive) bad news, we've discovered a magma vein.

"That is one hot river," I said while peeking down the ravine that magma was running through down below. Geez, that's hot. I could grill marshmallows from way up here.

"What could this be for?" asked Noire while looking at the ravine from a safe distance. Scorching her skin is the last thing this fashion-focused angel wants to do.

I was curious as well, so I alchemized one of those face shields people use while welding stuff to protect myself from the hot air to some degree before trying to get a better look down the red-hot ravine. Nothing but magma down there. It looks like it's moving a little, so it can definitely be classified as a "river", at least. Maybe there are magma fish down there? Lol~.

*SPLASH!!*

AHA! Operation "tempt the troupe" worked! But man, there's really something down there. A giant octopus with tentacles made out of magma. It's the "Kana Volcaloa", one of the monsters I designed. It's C-rank, by the way.

Calmly and silently, I moved away from the ravine before the magma-octopus could notice me and gestured to the other two to follow me to the other tunnel, away from the magma river. After we were at least a few rooms' worth away from the magma river, I could finally release my breath which I had held all this while.

"THAT'S TOO DAMN CLOOOOOSE!!" - Garami

My sudden shout freaked out the other two, but who cares!! That was a Kana Volcaloa, for Pete's sake! That thing is virtually impossible to defeat if it stays inside a pool of magma, or in this case, a river of the ****ing stuff!!

And if you ask "How is it so impossible", then get a load of this. Because it's an octopus-type creature, the Kana Volcaloa has a massive HP gauge that is supplemented by tons of self-recovery skills. Even more so if it's lived for long enough to be able to evolve into its current C-rank state. Its skill repertoire is bound to be filled with high-tier stuff.

The reason why the Kana Volcaloa is so bad is more than that though. It is literally made out of magma, so getting too close to it is enough to shave off your HP! That's not even taking into account that those octopi live in magma, and that's where things REALLY turn into Inferno difficulty, pun intended.

This is due to how high-ranked Magma attribute species are bound to have some sort of skill that gives them an edge in combat if they fight near or in magma. In Kana Volcaloa's case, this is a further automatic recovery to its HP, in addition to increasing its total HP pool so it becomes greater than it already is.

To summarize, this octopus is goddamn hot, it has goddamn lots of health, it recovers a goddamn amount of said health, and finally, all these traits are goddamn enhanced to ****ing hell when it fights from home. Not to mention said home is the worst possible location for our current team!!

My threads will burn to shreds, and even if I'm using [Nature's Webbing] on the bedrock here, this stuff is so freaking solid that it would cost me MP and time, the latter being fatal when facing a stronger opponent such as this octopi. Noire is a long-range healer, but she's useless when it comes to something that bulky!

Only Iron has a decent amount of chance against that thing, since as we were talking about before, he's got a better resistance against the heat than us of flesh and blood, but the difference in levels is gonna spell his doom in the end.

Super-high heat plus super durability is a combination that should have been banned!! I hate myself now for having thought up that combination back in Limbo!! I know that I'm the person behind the design, even more so since I suggested the same playstyle for Iron just recently, but even so-!!

After I explained the reason for my panic to the two, leaving out all the stuff about Limbo and excusing my knowledge of the magma creature with the Kigal-Note, Iron gave me a so simple solution that my jaw fell to the ground.

"If so, we should walk around it." - Iron

That's... True, the Kana Volcaloa isn't exactly hostile to us, nor do we need to enter the magma river to reach for the exit at the moment. Heck, we want to reach the surface, not go deeper into the earth.

"Mmh, you have a point... In that case, let's continue looking for the exit." - Garami

"On that point, I have an idea of how to do so." - Noire

Now this is a surprise. The archer/healer is better at the scout's job than me. This is gonna be interesting.