Inflame (The Completionist Chronicles Book 6) by Dakota Krout (best romantic novels in english TXT) 📕

he didn’t get scorched again, Joe went over to inspect the space where it had been standing. There was a small hole in the rock, about six inches behind where the wall ‘ended’. It was especially visible because a strange, soft light was shining through. As Joe had Darkvision, he hadn’t bothered to light any torches. That worked out well for him, because just as he peered through the hole, a hulking earth elemental, an ‘Air Spirit’, walked past… closely followed by what were clearly Elven summoners.

“Abyss. That crazy Dwarf at the base of the cliff was right.” Joe watched as the Elf moved along, catching the exact position where they faded out of existence. “Oh, look. A fast travel point. No wonder the Dwarves could never figure out how the non-hostile ‘Air Spirits’ were attacking Dwarves in the caves.”

Quest update: Air Spirits Suck. You found the reason the spirits are invading this territory! Either report your findings, or continue questing to put a stop to the issue on your own.

Quest update: Go Away For a While! Level gained: 0/1. Elves killed: 0/100. Important information gained: 1/1.

Chapter Forty-One

The Reductionist now had a dilemma. Should he go and report his discovery right away… or should he enter the tunnel system and try to learn more information? There were pros and cons to each of the options. Namely, if he left the cave, the door would open and light would shine through and into the tunnels. The Elves might be given a chance to close this off.

But, if Joe was fast enough, he might be able to get an entire battalion of Dwarves back here. He would need to get out at night, and… he looked at the dial that still showed a ‘four’. If the room shrinking back down was any indication, he was stuck in here for at least three and a half more days, unless he went out through the tunnel. Joe sat and watched the hole for another few minutes, but he didn’t see any more Elves. That was unsurprising. He guessed it was… early. Very early. If the sun was going down—cut off by the mountain—around four in the afternoon the previous day, then it made sense that most rational people would be asleep.

“If I’m going to go… it needs to be now.” Joe motioned for Salgathor—his new name for the Slag Elemental—to hurry over and start melting the wall. While he waited for an opening large enough to fit through, he cracked open his two Ritual Orbs and placed Common ranked Cores in them.

Ritual Orb of Corify. Charge remaining: 1,112/1,112. Cost per hit: 65. Cooldown: 4 Seconds.

Ritual Orb of Cone of Cold. Charge remaining: 1,545/1,545. Cost per hit: 195. Cooldown: 24 Seconds.

“That’s… expensive.” Joe winced at the hefty cost associated with using the now on-hit effects. “Cone of Cold can only be used eight times before it drains the Core?”

Slagathor finished melting into the tunnel and squeezed through. Joe gave the path enough time to cool down, then jumped through and started walking down the unlit corridor. The elemental started rolling alongside him, and Joe wavered between letting it guard the area, or just going it alone. “Hey… I’ve decided that I’m gonna need my mana, so I need you to go. If I call out into your plane another time, is there a way that we can work together again?”

Feelings of acceptance came back to him, so Joe cut the flow of mana between them. Since the terms of his side of the bargain were no longer being met, the elemental instantly vanished, like a soap bubble popping. Now down a protector, the human rushed over to the spot where he had seen the Elf vanish. He felt around, listening to his Hidden Sense, until he found the spot where he could take control of the point. He didn’t activate it just yet, instead opting to use its function.

The point was set to ‘open travel’, likely due to capturing Dwarves and carting around massive creatures made of rock. A message appeared, asking if he wanted to travel to ‘point Qfzt1554’.

“Don’t mind if I do.” Joe stepped through just as he blinked, and found that he was sweating right though his Neutrality Aura. A low red light filled the area, and the heat…! Quickly searching for a place to hide and figure out his next move, Joe spotted something that boggled his mind. Two things, actually.

He was clearly inside an active volcano. That was a pretty big deal. It explained both the light and the heat. Frankly, ever since someone had mentioned a volcano a few days previous, he was almost certain that he would eventually go into one. The second chunk of news was a bit more alarming: he could see an entire fort within the cavern. If this was the volcano he thought it was, Gramma’s Shoe, then it meant that there was an Elven outpost practically right next to the Dwarven capital city!

“How? How could this go undetected?” Joe breathed the words softly, not trusting that he could keep quiet enough at even a low speaking volume. His mind was buzzing with possibilities, but the main thought spinning around was that the Elven race were masters of illusion magic. Joe had only heard one thing about the most active volcano in the entire Zone, namely that it was so dangerous that no one should ever go there. Had that always been a lie, or had something changed?

“They must have this place layered in illusions so thick that you can swim through them!” Joe’s eyes were so wide that it felt like they were about to fall out. He was glad that he had come here; there was no chance that they could have found this place if the Elves had shut down the fast travel points. He was frazzled, unable to even think about how he could alert the Dwarves or stop this…

“Wait.” Joe peered at the fort in the distance. “Wait,