Chapter 27: Halt! The princess is here!
Liam opened his eyes. He stood up and went outside of his room. For a short amount of time that he was out, there were a lot of players and NPC around the whole camp.
The camp itself was a small town but it was only called a camp and not a town because every time there would be a beasts that would attack the camp so its either completely destroyed or completely fine.
Those who seek adventure and reckless would wander around the camp and the Vulcan of Terrors. Liam didn't care about those people so he proceeded to walk towards the entrance of the Vulcan of Terrors, but…
"Halt! The princess is here!"
"What the-" before Liam could finish his words, trumpets could be heard all throughout the camp. It was unknown where they hid their instruments but the beat and the sound from the trumpets made the listless crowd silent.
They all looked at the direction where the drums could be heard. Liam also looked at the south direction and saw a large number of troops coming through it. At the back, he could see that a carriage was at the very center of the march with two white horse carrying it.
The spectators inhaled and gasp of admiration coming from the NPC were heard from the crowds. Liam could only sigh and wait for it to end.
The troops stopped and a trumpet was blown three times before a knight emerged from the carriage. The knight was adorned with a silver colored armor and a sword was kept on his right side. The knight was still young with his blonde colored short hair. He made a bow and stretched his hand for a gesture like helping a lady.
Well, he was really helping a lady come down the carriage. The hand grabbed the stretched hand of the knight. The hand was as pale as a vampire and it was adorned with a golden chain all throughout her fingers. The young princess emerged from the carriage with her grace presented to the spectators to see.
Another mouthful of breaths inhaled, the princess finally showed herself. Unlike other princesses with their gowns, the princess was equipped with silver and golden silk robe that hugged her figure tightly. She was like a mystic from the legends that were depicted in history.
She looked up and saw the commotion happening. She gave them a graceful smile and waved her hand. Like a queen, she captured everyone's affection and attention with a smile and posture.
"I am princess Ytra Rotha. I am assigned to lead this exploration and bring back a treasure inside the Vulcan of Terrors. I, first princess of Rotha Empire of Rotha Imperial Noble, wish for the adventurers to lend their strength. I will compensate everyone who are willing to help me complete my mission. Thank you."
Unlike her graceful and beautiful appearance, her voice was full of strength and power that could melt even the hardest metal with the intensity behind it.
"I Samuel Ruther, will guide this exploration with the princess. Any malicious people that wanted to steal the treasure would be slaughtered by me! Please be on your best behavior or die in my hands!"
Unlike the princess' speech, the knight he have was powerful with the strength to prove it. They complimented each other. The players heard the knight and they gulped. They could see the level of Ytra and Samuel were 150 and 190. They were close for their fourth awakening. There were five awakenings for every normal class and NPCs the level were: 10, 50, 100, 200, 300. Every time someone awakened or make a breakthrough for the NPC would become stronger.
The highest level from any rankings for the players were only 64 but the NPC that was leading the exploration was more than twice the highest ranking on level.
There were a lot of players received a notification for the quest the princess issued. Liam also received it and read it.
[Hidden Quest: Exploration]
Princess Ytra, imperial princess of the Rotha Empire, was assigned to lead the exploration with his loyal knight Samuel Ruther. She wanted to gain the approval of his father and lead the exploration to success. With the unknown danger inside the Vulcan of Terrors, the princess issued a request for help.
Mission: Help Princess Ytra gain the treasure inside the Vulcan of Terrors
Reward: Epic Weapon, Ytra and Samuel affection +15, ??? Experience
Failure: --
Of course, Liam declined the quest. He didn't want to waste his time exploring the Vulcan of Terrors he wanted to grind. The guard was also looking at the princess so he entered the Vulcan of Terrors.
He assumed that they'll enter the innermost part of the Volcano. They didn't know how hard it was especially when you're near the heart of it. The heat was unbearable and suffocating.
He went to the direction that he thought that would not impede the exploration and his grinding.
"Let's do this!"
[Lesser Fire Spirit]
Lv. 30
HP: 15,000/15,000
MP: 3,000/3,000
Liam saw a lot of lesser fire spirits. Well, he could only deal with the weakest among them with the fastest time. He could also obtain fire stone with them so all's good for him. Unfortunately, Intermediate Fire Spirit gave an ore and fire stone at the same time every time there was a drop.
The spirit looked at Liam's direction and fired his fireball. Liam dodged the fireball by rolling to the side then stood up. He attacked the fire spirit that attacked him with fervor. He couldn't dodge the attack without looking at his distance with other fire spirit.
On his first time here, he almost died because of the raining fireballs. Fortunately, he was fast enough to run away and dodge some fireballs or he would burn to death. Every time he remembered that he would feel a shiver deep inside his bones.
-271
-402!
Liam's strength now exceeded 200 so he dealt good amount of damage even without using a skill. Of course, he was saving his mana for the last hits so his skills could have a greater experience. He was not only grinding his level but his skills too.
After awhile, Liam heard the commotion coming from the entrance, "Well, it might be the exploration team." He didn't give them any attention after that. He continued to level up until he noticed that the respawn time of the mobs were slowing until no mobs respawned.
"Strange, it never happened before, I should find some spot."
Liam didn't pay anymore attention for the strange occurrence. He found another spot and killed his way. After killing the mobs he found out that, they too, didn't respawn.
"Now, it was totally strange."
He might find it a coincidence at first but now, he was sure that something's going on because of the exploration. It looked like a dungeon for Liam now. He went and followed the exploration team.
"They sure travelled far, huh." Liam saw the traces of battles the further he went deeper. Unlike before, the traces of battle lingered longer than normal. He got this feeling that something dangerous was about to happen.
He braced himself and went further. Suddenly, he saw a red light coming from his periphery. He stopped and observed the light. He saw a shining object stuck on the wall. The intensity of the hotness of the surroundings urge Liam to be done with it.
Liam's stamina was depleting as fast as before the update. He sighed and touched the stone. When he touched it, there was a suction feeling before he disappeared from the place!
Liam didn't know what happened but he felt like he was losing consciousness which was a bad feeling. He was either dying or drowsy. Whichever it was, the feeling of free falling to the ground was a bad news for him especially with the distance he travelled from falling.
Liam finally succumbed to the feeling of drowsiness and closes his eyes. The last thing he remembered before he totally closed his eyes were the feeling of something on his hand.
While Liam was falling somewhere inside the Vulcan of Terrors, the exploration team was finally at the heart of it.
"So this is the heart of the Vulcan, what are we looking for Samuel?"
"We are looking for a flower that bloomed inside the heart of the Vulcan."
"I see." Ytra faced the adventurers and her troops. "Find a flower inside the lake of magma."
A chorus of yes was heard. Ytra faced the lake of magma and felt the heat coming from it. Fortunately, they were strong enough to resist the heat.
A sudden shout from the adventurer got Ytra's attention.
"I found it! Look!"
Ytra and Samuel arrived at the adventurer's side and saw a flower floating nearby them.
"Get it!" But before they could step to get the flower a loud roar coming from the lake vibrated throughout the cave.