Last chapter, Seric and Karia escaped the trial in the nick of time, but Seric was still angry with Karia even after an apology for leaving him for dead which caused tension between them. Later on the boat when Karia wakes up, Seric realized there was nothing she could have done so he apologizes for being so rash and things return to normal. Karia then breaks down after Seric reminds her of her old friends at Vegahold who raised her. Seric tries to cheer her up but to little avail and they continue to their next destination, Magthera. Once they arrive Seric is shocked to see that the island is purely a Volcano, that somehow has civilisation on it.

Seric's P.O.V

"Hahaha, I thought your reaction would be something like that." Karia says.

"Wait, don't tell me we're going there?!" I ask in fear.

"Yeah, of course we are." She responds in a casual tone.

"Uh hehe, I don't need to come with you, right?" I say nervously.

"I came here for you, of course you do."

"Huh? You came here for me?" I ask in confusion, wondering what I would need on this "island".

"Well, since you helped me with the trial and all I thought I would pay you back. On this island, there's a person who's blessing lets them get info about someone's body. For example their age and body structure."

"Wait seriously? Never mind then that'll help a lot, thanks Karia." I say without thinking.

"I thought it would, and no problem..." She replies, sounding amused, but a bit sad at the same time? Weird...

"But still though how can this place be safe at all?" I say anyways as I come back to my senses.

"Trust me I've been here a lot, these people know what they're doing. Still though I'll have to admit it's not my favorite place either." She says with confidence.

"I hope so..." I reply, still nervous about going somewhere so extreme.

Now we return back to silence as we continue driving the electronic boat around the island to get to the entrance.

"Now that I have time to think, what the hell were those two voices I heard in the trial? I doubt Karia heard them since she would probably would have said something, so I guess that means it was telepathic and only to me? Maybe it has to do with how I could open the trial door and absorb the cube? Although, I know one thing for sure. Those voices sounded completely different from anything I've heard before."

I think while zoning out, Karia not noticing as she was looking off the boat herself.

🌋🌋🌋

A few minutes later, we arrive at an entrance at the side of the island that is engraved into the side of the rough brown rock of the massive volcano.

Karia shows the security her ID, and we're allowed in through the gates. I'm assuming that her ID still works because we somehow aren't registered criminals yet.

After passing through the gates we're now driving the boat through a water filled tunnel, illuminated by circular dim electronic lights when I decide to ask Karia another question.

"Hey Karia, I know you're doing this to be nice but shouldn't we be doing the trials as fast as possible? Since we're probably wanted criminals and all." I ask, even knowing that we are probably not wanted yet but just to make sure.

"You dumb or something? We got our asses handed to us back there, I need to rest so I can get my strength back that I used up. Besides we're not wanted yet or else my ID wouldn't of worked."

"Oh yeah, good point. Heh." I laugh to myself, but glad to confirm my suspicions.

We continue through the tunnel until we reach another gate. It immediately opens upwards, and the temperature and heat in the air instantly hit me.

In front of us, a steamy shore made of rock lies, in which we dock our boat next to.

Since I have regeneration, I take a risk and leaning over the side of the boat, dip my fingers in the steaming water. It burns, but not to an extent that would actually harm someone. The closest thing I can compare it to is a shower on the hottest setting, which is pretty insane considering this is all natural.

Karia digs through a bin she has on the boat, throwing random junk out of it until she pulls something out of the bottom.

"There we go, we can't go onto land without these."

She's holding two pairs of bulky shoes which seem to be made of shiny and rough silver materials which look like steel.

"Our normal shoes wouldn't be able to handle the heat of the rock, but these can. Don't ask me why though, I'm not good at math."

"Huh? Math?" I think to myself in confusion.

"Oh, I guess you came prepared." I say.

"Yeah, Magthera is pretty good for a lot of stuff so I always keep a pair or two around."

Karia responds while handing me a pair.

I start to put them on, putting my other blue shoes on the floor of the boat. However they're way too big for my size.

"Hey Karia, these are too big for me." I complain as I try to move in them.

"That's where Hopian Technology comes in handy. Prepare to be amazed."

Bending down, she taps a button on the side of my metal shoes, which immediately morphs them into a tight fit on my feet.

"Whoa! I have been amazed." I say smiling as I look down at them.

"Right? Anyways are you ready to go now?" She asks.

I nod, and after she finishes putting on her own pair we start to walk through the steaming shallow water as I follow behind her.

I'm glad when we arrive on land and my feet aren't being fried into a crisp.

"These shoes are a lifesaver. Since the lava of the Volcano is just beneath the surface here, the rock literally burns your skin right off." She says.

I shudder when she says that which I'm guessing she's amused by.

The shore leads to a long blue steel staircase that digs straight through the rock, which we keep on walking towards and start to walk up, eventually reaching the top.

Surprisingly the metal shoes feel light and flexible, even allowing me to bend them.

Even more heat hits my face, and I understand why as I look around the area.

We're now inside of the Volcano, with a giant lake of lava that could easily kill us just feet away, with only a fairly narrow blue metal bridge with what seems to be translucent energy walls separating us from it. That's pretty cool I guess...

If you can't tell already, I'm a "little" bit nervous.

Further ahead, the bridge diverges into four directions, and each direction also diverges into four other paths. This continues for each diverging path which fills the vast interior of the Volcano with blue steel walkways.

On the side of the bridges though is what amazed me before and still does now.

There were probably hundreds of cubular buildings purely made of the same blue steel, floating in place over the lava.

Each one of them have different signs and decorations outside of them.

Also I'm shocked by the fact that many people are casually walking about the bridges and buildings, not seeming to be concerned about the ridiculous place they're living.

"Hey Seric, like I said before this place is safe. Stop pissing yourself already."

Karia says annoyed and laughing at the same time.

I didn't notice before, but I'm now shaking on the edge of the stairs, and I still haven't even gone onto the bridge yet.

"S-shut up!" I shout out in an embarrassed tone.

Karia groans as she walks back towards me, pushing me from behind onto the bridge.

"There. I don't get how you can walk into a sketchy ass cave but can't walk on a heat-resistant bridge." She says with intelligence for once. Heh.

I think about it for a second and stand up quickly, brushing invisible dust off my shirt.

"Whatever. Let's just get this over with." I say grumpily as I walk on the bridge carefully, and after a few seconds start walking normally when I feel safe.

"Where's this guy again?" Karia says, pulling out a business card from her pant pocket.

"Sector 1... Sector 1... Oh! I remember now. We just have to go straight for a bit then take a left."

As we're walking, I take more time to notice the people.

They're wearing unique clothing that look a lot like the boots we are wearing but much less bulky. It looks like they're wearing smooth aluminum foil.

This made up their long sleeve shirts and pants.

"Ughhh, I wish I bought some of those clothes when I had the chance. This sucks. They're way too expensive now!" Karia says, fanning the collar of her shirt in the process.

For some reason, I'm feeling the heat but it doesn't bother me enough to make me feel uncomfortable. If Karia is dying from the heat why aren't I?

"Hey you! Little boy! Check this!" I hear a man call from the left of me.

Looking over, I see the blonde man in silver holding a transparent cube that was somehow filled with flowing lava.

"This came right from the heart of Magthera! I'll give it to you for thirty Herin! How about it?"

I'm amazed by the cube, and look over to Karia with gleaming eyes.

"Come o-"

"If I can't even buy clothes, do you think we have the money to buy THAT?" She says giving me a cold stare.

She keeps on walking and I sigh, and with my head held low continue to follow her... she at least could've said that nicely...

Anyways after walking straight for a little while, we finally take the left turn.

"Ah, here it is." Karia says as we arrive at a fancy building made of the same blue steel as the rest of the city.

"Wow! This guy must really be high quality huh?"

"To the right, Seric." Karia says pointing in a different direction.

Looking over, I see that I'm wrong about which building it was. It's actually a run down rusted shack that looks like it's been abandoned for years.

"O-oh..." I say as I worryingly think about how safe this place can even be.

Karia walks up to the door and knocks, "Heyyyy! Anyone there!" Karia shouts louder than necessary.

A few seconds later, the door is pulled open aggressively.

A little girl stands there panting inside.

Not what I expected to say the least.

"Y-you're that Officer girl from before, right?!" She asks in distress.

"Umm... Maybe? I've been here before and I was a Hopian Officer but I don't remember you though." Karia responds.

"Then please, you have to save him!"

"Save who?" Karia asks in a slightly more serious tone.

"It-it's Dahai! He got kidnapped!"

"Hah... Great." Karia sighs.

A/N: A new arc begins, and with a new character as well?!

I hope you all consider voting or commenting if you enjoyed, and see you next Friday!