Where are we going?
I looked at Lion as he told Sly to transform to his dragon form while the rest of the pack are busy packing all of our things.
If he tells Sly to transform to his dragon form, it means that we are going to a place that is inaccessible with a limited amount of time to travel.
Usually we travel by walking, though most of the time they carry me in turns despite me insisting that I have two legs and I know how to walk. If the destination is a bit far, we would either use a vehicle or Lion would use his magic to make us fly. There are also times that he used a scroll or a teleportation device if he knows the specific destination to go to.
The training definitely helped them a lot as they don't get drained easily using magic and by transforming into their other forms. Since after the event at the palace, I can see them training themselves from time to time in which Lion can use his magic more frequently than before.
Magic burns a lot of physical energy, requiring the magic users to have high endurance and constitution to allow them to handle the strain of magical exertion. That is why back then, Lion looks haggard whenever he uses magic.
Now, aside from having a higher amount of endurance and constitution, their reflexes are more faster as it is essential to have fast reflexes when it comes to casting defensive and counter attack spells.
But even though they have improved a lot, the enemies that we are facing against are getting more challenging. Also it doesn't help that we are facing numerous amounts of them. To make it worse, more creatures, monsters and beings from the Netherworld kept appearing. My knowledge based on what I read about them helped the pack a lot.
The pack admitted that they used to be overconfident about their abilities back then but now they discovered that if they didn't improved themselves, we wouldn't survive for long in facing our enemies.
Seeing that I'm staring at them, Lion told me that we are going to a ruined city that was destroyed long ago.
Heph told them that the mine beside the city is full of fire crystals. It used to be easy to get the fire crystals until something destroyed the city.
No one went back as presence of strange beings were found there and the miners who tried to return were killed.
Fire crystals are very valuable as they are a source of magical energy and crucial in elemental crafting particularly such as fire based weapons and intense warmth to combat harsh environments.
They can also be made as a consumable magic items to cast fire spells so despite the danger, many tried to get it to no avail.
....
Now I understand why no one survived.
Just right after we arrived at the ruined city, the presence of several colossal sized magma titans came out to fight us.
Orm used his ice magic, freezing a lot of the magma titans in which Alpha in his ultimate form destroyed instantly.
Due to the massive size of the magma titans, its movement is slow which is a great advantage of Ghost as his movement improved a lot, destroying them using his earth magic skill.
We were surprised when Ghost can use earth magic in his regular form. Even Ghost himself doesn't understand why as almost all of his life he can't use any magic.
But now is not the time to think of unnecessary thoughts as we should focus on surviving the battle.
I noticed that Sly preferred to transform to his dragon form than his ultimate form, though the massive size of his dragon form can take out several enemies at once.
Lion is holding me with one of his arms as he admitted that he was traumatized on what happened to me back then when the fire giants took me away.
He assured me that I'm not a hindrance and no, I'm not heavy at all since I'm not eating enough for him to stop nagging at me.
I can't help it as I still feel sick if I ate too much though Ghost made me all sorts of soups which helped a bit.
It's a shame that they have no weapons for now as their weapons are left at Heph's house in which Heph was examining curiously as the weapons I designed are not yet available in this world.
Lion is using all sorts of elemental magic attacks towards the magma titans, destroying several of them at once, proving that his magic ability has greatly improved.
He doesn't tire easily after using magic unlike before. With Lion using magic more frequently, the amount of time spent in defeating monsters decreased, though facing numerous amounts of them is still a problem.
It is fascinating watching him use his magic. I can tell if the enemies he is trying to destroy are easy or difficult as he has a small smile on his face whenever the enemy he is trying to defeat seems easy. But when he is facing a difficult enemy, he has a small frown on his face though he does give me an reassuring smile whenever he notice me looking at him.
Right now, he has a grin on his face as he seems to enjoy destroying the magma titans as I kept cheering him on.
....
They are about to continue on their way towards the mine when I gave Lion a look that made him stop.
I told him that they should loot the bodies of the magma titans as it contains a lot of high valued materials but they should be careful in doing so as the immense heat from the bodies can injure them.
Lion placed several protection spells on me before helping the rest of the pack on harvesting the materials which I mentioned to them that they should get.
To my delight, they also found several pinkish violet gems inside the bodies of the magma titans that I begged Lion to give me a single one. He looked confused on why I just asked him for a single one as they had found plenty inside the bodies in which I told him the rarity of those kind of gems and its value is more than the violet jewels that they used to pay when they are buying something.
The pack looked astonished upon hearing it and immediately continued harvesting it from the bodies with much more enthusiasm.
They got a lot of materials from the bodies of the magma titans besides the gems such as several magma cores that are essential for alchemists, blacksmiths and enchanters in which they used as a high level crafting reagent.
Orm gave Lion a grin in which he told him that they will give Heph a hard time in negotiating as they know that Heph will be very, very desperate in acquiring a lot of the materials they harvested.
As for the pinkish violet gems they harvested, I told them to keep it for themselves as they can use it to pay for something they want to buy though I'm still unsure of the exact value but it is more than the violet jewel as a single violet jewel is valued at a million.
Sly and Ghost began discussing among themselves in trying to estimate the value that in the end, they agreed that it might be double or triple the value of the violet jewel.
I'm rich!
Everyone began making all sorts of plans on what they are buying as soon as we go back to the territory when suddenly, I saw out of the corner of my eye that the image of the path leading towards the fire crystal mine seems distorted.
I shushed everyone in which they instantly stood beside me, watching for signs of enemies as Lion gently carried me in his arms.
He whispered as he asked me if I saw something in which I pointed towards the direction of the path and told him that I noticed that it looks distorted.
Alpha moved carefully near it as he sniffed towards it, telling us that we should be alert as someone placed a high leveled magic on the path leading to the mine.
Lion held me tightly as he and the rest of the pack discussed among themselves whether they should bring me with them or I should stay behind with one of them.
Sly told him that it might be risky if there is only one of them watching me as there might be a possibility that a lot of enemies will appear and there is strength in numbers in protecting me compared to only one that is watching me no matter how strong each of them are.
If only I can walk by myself.
I'm a burden to them.
Alpha must've read my thoughts that he nuzzled my face and comforted me, telling me that no, I'm not a burden at all and that even if I could walk, they would still insist on carrying me.
The rest of the pack comforted and reassured me through it took a bit of coaxing and nuzzles from Lion to finally cheer me up.
They formed a protective circle around me with Ghost carrying me in the middle as Lion led the way first as he tried to check if it's safe for us to continue on our way towards the fire crystal mine.
He didn't disappear or got hurt so he signaled for us to follow in which the rest of the pack followed him.
As they continued walking, I observed my surroundings as it looked like straight out of the Netherworld.
Oh.
I have a feeling that whatever happened here has some sort of connection....
What is that??!!!!
I nudged Ghost and pointed towards what I saw that looks like some sort of remains of a demonic being.
Ghost signaled Lion in which Lion and Alpha went near it while Sly and Orm are on high alert, watching for any signs of enemies.
So this is how it looks like when a city is destroyed by demons. It looks horrible.
I'm not sure what kind of demonic being it is as the body is too much decomposed for me to properly identify it.
I'm scared.
I should hurry with my investigation.
I don't want the territory or this world to end up like this.
Fears aside, since there is a presence of a demon here then someone must've opened a portal here.
That someone is looking for something here.
But I don't think they found what they are looking for so they destroyed the city out of frustration.
So they are looking for something else too besides a being like me.
My thoughts were interrupted when suddenly, our surroundings seemed to shift appearances that one by one, the others disappeared that I began to panic, holding Ghost tightly as he tried to find a safe way out.
His eyes narrowed in intense concentration as he tried to use his earth magic to check if it's safe for him to walk.
I asked Ghost if the others are safe in which he admitted that he doesn't know as he isn't familiar with magic. He told me that he will find a way out as finding the fire crystals is not worth it at this point as our safety is much more important.
Looking at the surroundings that changed appearances from being a magma surrounded area to being a blackened field of ruins then in a rocky hill that soon Ghost began to groaned in frustration.
He glanced at me for help but I have no idea on what to do as I haven't read any information about trying to survive in this kind of situation.
Okay.
I should stay calm first and use common sense.
I nuzzled Ghost's neck to keep him calm as he looked like he might faint from panic.
Stroking his hair, I spoke words of comfort towards him in which he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Good.
We can do this.
....
After discussing on what to do next, both of us agreed to find the others as there might be a possibility that they are in danger. Ghost told me that I usually know what to do in most of the situations that we faced.
Now I'm feeling pressured as I absolutely did NOT read about surviving in a shifting environment.
Common sense is needed in this situation.
Since we are both calm now, I told Ghost to keep moving as the place that he is standing might change anytime.
I warned him to keep in constant vigilance just in case that we might need to change direction immediately.
His skills are indeed helpful because instantly, the ground beneath us disappeared. Using earth magic, he managed to keep us safe from falling down towards the lava.
Then in a blink, the environment around us changed into a vast plain where there are volcanoes and mountains at a distance, no presence of trees at all. Only dimness and presence of ashes in the sky.
This is scary.
All of our magical stuff is with the others much to my dismay as having a magic compass may help us a lot.
Soon, I can see unusual movements around us that made me realize that our environment would shift again. I told Ghost to keep moving whatever direction he deemed safe and to prepare himself to jump just in case.
We experienced all kinds of hazards and being in all kinds of dangerous situations until we finally found the mine.
Soon we began hearing sounds of ground breaking apart that we both screamed in horror as Ghost tried to run with all his might as the ground behind us disappeared into the lava. The ground that Ghost is standing on started to disappear that he jumped towards the entrance of the mine.
But what seemed to be a solid surface turned out to be nothing in which I landed luckily on a huge boulder. To my horror, Ghost is starting to lose his grip while trying to hold on the edge of the boulder.
There is a river of lava surrounding the boulder that is spewing rock fragments hitting us that made Ghost lost his concentration to use his earth magic as a huge piece of rock fragment hit the side of his head.
I should NOT panic or both of us will die.
Holding onto his arm, I pulled him towards me despite the pain in my legs and I can feel some of my wounds starting to open.
Ghost looked like he is dizzy but managed to apologize to me for causing me pain.
I yelled at him to make an effort on trying to prevent himself from falling as he is quite heavy and i don't want to lose him.
He became quiet all of a sudden, making me yell curses at him as it is only me who is doing all the effort in trying to save him from falling into the lava.
I kept on pulling and grabbing him when I noticed him smiling tenderly at me.
Not now!
I feel that my back is breaking!
After several moments of staring at me with a stupid look on his face, he finally managed to climb up and we both panted when I noticed that the side of his head is bleeding.
He just kept looking at me as I continued to mutter about what happened earlier while tearing the hem of my dress, using it as some sort of bandage on his head.
After that, he closed his eyes and embraced me while placing his head on my shoulder.
I asked him if he is okay in which he told me that he wants to stay like this for awhile.
I caressed his hair and told him that he can rest as much as he wants in which I can feel him smiling.