The Wizarding Age

The town of Pamela is the closest supply point to the Cotopaxi volcano.

The place where foreign apprentices report is also located here.

When Grimm arrived here in a slow stagecoach, it was just dinner time.

The town of Pamela is a remote but not cold town. The town is not big, with only one central street. It is the kind of small place where you can see the whole town at a glance from the street.

There are more than ten wooden houses built on both sides of the street, which are ordinary houses at a glance. In addition, there is a tavern, a grocery store, a simple and damp small hotel, and a population of more than a hundred households. This is all the town!

As soon as he got off the stagecoach, Grimm faintly heard the rumbling and dull noise coming from the distant mountains. This sound is not occasional, but has been there since Grimm approached this mountainous area. In the periphery, the sound may not be so obvious, just like the muffled thunder in the wild in winter, but when he came to this town, he immediately felt the power of nature's magical power.

This is probably the sound caused by the continuous underground activity of the volcano!

When Grimm thought about the residents of the town living in this environment for many years, he couldn't help but be curious. What made them willing to endure such a harsh environment and stay here?

You know, although it is almost the rest period of Cotopaxi Volcano, the towering volcanic cone in the distance is still spewing out thick smoke and dust. The town is at the foot of the mountain less than seven miles away from the volcano. Affected by the volcano, the sky is always gray. Inside and outside the town, whether on the buildings or on the gravel roads, there is a thick layer of volcanic ash everywhere.

Waiting for Grimm in the small hotel is a senior apprentice named Ivan. Judging from the chest badge on his gray robe, he should belong to the local Jubel family. This Cotopaxi Volcano belongs to their family resource point. Outside wizards are not allowed to enter the volcano without their permission.

Seeing that Grimm's level was only advanced, Ivan was obviously a little unconvinced, and couldn't help but said coldly: "Even in the respite period, the interior of the volcano is not safe. There are terrifying hot air currents and lava monsters everywhere. Are you sure you can survive in it?"

Grimm looked around the hotel lobby indifferently, and casually drew a few strokes in the air, and a witchcraft rune burning with elemental flames floated in the air. His actions certainly attracted everyone's attention. People at the six or seven wooden tables in the hall couldn't help but turn their heads to look here.

To be honest, since Grimm stepped into the threshold of the body of fire, and then after the energy infusion of the underground lava, his nearly 2-meter-tall body looked quite eye-catching. And his dark red long hair and the fierce momentum that was hidden but not released condensed his unique momentum, which was particularly eye-catching.

"Well, so you are a fire apprentice! Then the underground environment will have a much smaller impact on you. As long as you avoid those annoying lava monsters, you may be able to go deeper!" Ivan nodded and took out a white stone and handed it to Grimm.

This will be his pass to enter the volcano in a few days!

"Go and communicate with them! The people in this hall are all foreign apprentices who come here to do tasks. If you can form a team, the task will be easier!" Since Ivan found out that Grimm is a fire apprentice, he has obviously become much more enthusiastic.

After Grimm nodded in greeting, he walked slowly to the hall, slowly scanned the many unfamiliar faces who were gathered at the dining table and whispered, and finally chose to sit at a table alone.

This trip underground, his main purpose was to complete his body of fire, and he was not enthusiastic about the reward of this task, so he had no intention of teaming up with others. Therefore, when he came here, he put on a cold and indifferent look, just to avoid unnecessary trouble.

The wizard apprentices are all sharp-minded. Since Grimm has put on such a strong posture, naturally no one will bother him again. Grimm took this opportunity to slowly take in the situation of everyone and knew what was going on.

The lobby of the small hotel is not big, and the light is extremely dim. There are about 17 wizard apprentices sitting, of which only two are at the quasi-wizard level, and the rest are senior apprentices like Grimm. This actually meets the characteristics of this task.

To collect resources in the underground volcano, on the one hand, you have to endure the influence of the extreme environment, and on the other hand, you have to deal with the elemental creatures such as lava monsters and fire spirits that live in it. Therefore, senior apprentices are already the lowest threshold for this task!

Grimm dared to conclude that most of these senior apprentices must have an elemental affinity of fire, and even if the rest are not fire-type, they are guys who are very confident in themselves. The reason why there are few quasi-wizards is purely because tasks such as collecting resources are quite face-dependent.

If you are lucky, you may be able to hit the fire diamond mines exposed after the lava subsides in the upper layer of the volcano, but if you are unlucky, there are many people who get nothing in the three-month mission period.

In that case, not only will you not get the mission reward, you may also have to pay for the mission share.

Therefore, if there is no special need, the would-be wizards will never be willing to try their luck in the underground volcano.

After understanding the general situation of the apprentices on the mission, Grimm quickly filled his stomach and went into his room without going out. He came relatively early, and there were still 5 days before the volcano's temporary rest period, so he did not leave during these days, and even let the waiter bring his three meals a day directly into the house.

Using the free time of these few days, he desperately studied the flame barrier. He felt that this subsequent defensive witchcraft was the most suitable for his body bathed in fire. If he could master it early, he would most likely form a body-protecting flame similar to the abyss fire demon. At that time, anyone who wanted to attack him would first have to endure uninterrupted flame damage, which was more in line with his sinister mentality of killing the enemy invisibly.

During this period, two or three wizard apprentices came to visit and wanted to pull him into the expedition team they formed, but they were all rejected by Grimm. Therefore, after a while, all the senior apprentices who wanted to explore the underground volcano knew that there was this guy who was planning to go underground alone.

Apprentices who can get to the advanced level are not simple-minded. They all understand that the guys who dare to do this are all strong hands who are extremely confident in themselves, so no one will say anything about it. However, there are still many people waiting to see Grimm's fun!

Soon, the day everyone has been waiting for came!

On this day, the rumbling sound that has been lingering in everyone's ears finally stopped.

The gray smoke column that penetrated the sky in the distance began to become scattered, and the volcanic ash that fell all day long began to decrease and finally stopped.

Grimm, who was silently reading in the room, sensed the changes in the outside world, opened the wooden window facing the street and looked, and immediately packed up everything around him and walked out of the room. There were many apprentices who were prepared like him. After nodding to each other in the corridor, they gathered in the lobby of the hotel.

Ivan, who was in charge of the team, was already waiting here.

After waiting for another quarter of an hour, when all 20 task apprentices arrived, everyone filed out and followed Ivan to the foot of the volcano.

The distance of seven or eight miles was nothing to these wizard apprentices. In less than a quarter of an hour, everyone arrived in front of a natural stone cave located halfway up the volcanic cone. Two quasi-magicians from the Jubel family were already waiting here. After checking everyone's pass, they were allowed in.

The stone cave was not big, only more than 20 square meters, and it was full of jagged rock peaks and limestone. This might be a lava channel leading directly to the depths of the volcano. There was no moss or lichen here, and on both sides of the rock wall, there were thick cracks and deep grooves everywhere, from which hot air currents that could instantly burn people were constantly ejected.

Perhaps the underground lava had just receded not long ago, and even the ground here was still hot, and the channel was filled with a pungent smell of sulfur. Without special means, ordinary people will be invaded by the terrifying fire poison in such polluted air for only half a quarter of an hour, turning the trachea and alveoli into blood-filled water bags.

However, this environmental test certainly cannot stop the apprentices who dare to come here. Colorful protective shields cover them one after another, isolating them from external interference. Grimm did not reveal his body of fire, but blessed himself with a high-temperature force field.

He looked around silently. There were 8 apprentices who blessed the fire defense like himself, almost half of the 20 apprentices. The rest were either earth or wind, and there was no water. Presumably, those guys who were friendly to water would not want to suffer in such an environment.

Compared with other elemental systems, it is extremely difficult for the water system to gather water elements in this environment, and the power and effect of the witchcraft stimulated will be reduced by 70%. As long as they are not mentally ill, they will never come here to seek abuse!

At this point, everyone basically takes care of themselves.

Several apprentices formed a team and gathered together. The fire apprentices gave them elemental protection and entered the passage without saying a word. The residual heat in the passage had not yet dissipated. Once the narrow environment encountered an unexpected large-scale eruption of hot air, even senior apprentices would be in great danger of life.

So everyone said goodbye to each other, and then dispersed into different passages in twos and threes, disappearing deep underground.

Grimm noticed that the wizard apprentices of the Jubel family did not follow these outsiders into the passage. It seems that they are more familiar with the terrain here and have a more convenient place to go. They don't need to rely on luck like outsiders.

Grimm shook his head and sighed, then bent over and drilled into a lava passage. chapter;