Chapter 110: Shimmering Core
Kale gripped the heavy oars of the magma skiff tightly, his knuckles turning white against the heat-conducting bone frame. The clear orange river carried them steadily deeper into the gloomy throat of the Buried Reaches, its translucent liquid shimmering with an eerie internal light.
He leaned slightly over the side of the wooden vessel, watching dozens of needle-shaped golden fish darting beneath the reinforced hull. Their fast, fluid movements seemed to defy every biological law he had spent years mastering back on Earth as a Genetic Engineer.
Suddenly, the weight resting on his right shoulder shifted unexpectedly. Neo’s six golden eyes shone with a frenzied, predatory light that Kale had only witnessed during the violent climax of their battle in the black crater.
All three of the Hydra’s heads turned toward the clear flowing magma, its long necks arching into a state of high tension. The beast locked its sight on the flickers of movement below the glowing surface.
Before Kale could register the sudden shift through their shared mental bond, the Hydra’s scales began to pulse with a brilliant orange hue. A strong wave of radiant heat emanated from the creature’s body, momentarily pushing back the oppressive ambient pressure of the underground tomb.
Neo flapped its powerful green wings with steady rhythm, lifting off Kale’s shoulder to hover smoothly above the glowing liquid river. The creature maintained its position in the air with impressive stability.
The Hydra waited silently above the stream, its three heads remaining perfectly still like an experienced predator waiting in ambush for its unsuspecting prey. The display of aerial discipline showed just how much the beast had matured since its birth in the hatchery.
Kale let the heavy oars drift in the current, his eyes tracking Neo’s form as the creature focused all its attention on the golden flickers beneath the surface. He remained silent so as not to disturb his companion’s focus.
In a sudden burst of motion, a fish-like creature leapt out of the clear lava river. Its elongated, needle-shaped body caught the surrounding light like a solid bar of molten gold.
Neo’s body snapped forward with the speed of a fired projectile. All three heads struck simultaneously in mid-air, their jaws locking around the aquatic anomaly before it could splash back into the molten stream.
The Hydra caught the wriggling creature securely in its central maw while its two sub-heads immediately tore into the golden scales. Landing back onto the flat prow of the skiff, the beast began devouring the lava fish with savage greed.
Its maws unhinged with wet clicks, allowing its throat to accommodate the high-density biological material easily. Kale leaned forward, his analytical mind already evaluating the incoming data from the fresh catch.
To his surprise, the internal system interface indicated that the golden creature lacked the standard classification of traditional Beast Ranks. It completely lacked the specialised mana core structure that usually defined a monster’s progression from Feral to Alpha rank.
However, when evaluating its raw physical speed and muscle density, Kale estimated the creature was roughly equivalent to a lower-tier Feral-rank beast. Its most impressive biological trait was undoubtedly its ability to thrive within liquid magma.
The moment Neo swallowed the last piece of the golden fish, clear system windows flashed across Kale’s vision with a flurry of technical updates. Bright orange data streams reflected in his green eyes as the biological essence integrated into the Hydra’s source code.
[The Nemesis Hydra has devoured a Magma Needle Fish.]
[Fire Affinity has increased by 1.5%.]
[Skill Potency Increased: Flame Absorption.]
[The specimen’s Flame Resistance (lv1) has received a minor structural improvement.]
Kale’s eyes shone with deep satisfaction as he scanned the technical notifications floating before him. The golden needle fish were essentially living batteries of pure fire element essence, condensed by the extreme thermal environment of the deep subterranean channels.
He looked out over the vast school of golden flickers darting beneath the skiff and immediately realised the massive potential for raw attribute growth. This river presented an unprecedented opportunity to refine Neo’s underlying genetic traits.
"Good job, buddy," Kale said, his voice echoing quietly off the damp stone walls of the tunnel. "Move around more and keep hunting those lava fish. We need to maximise this cycle before we reach the inner sanctum."
Neo let out a low, resonant hiss of excitement and took to the air once again. For the next half hour, the systematic enhancement of the Hydra’s elemental properties continued in a steady, highly efficient rhythm.
With every golden creature that leapt from the clear magma, Neo was there to intercept it in mid-air. The beast’s hunting efficiency grew visibly sharper with every successful catch, its movements becoming fluid and precise.
Kale monitored the incoming data streams closely from the skiff. He noted that the statistical gains remained remarkably consistent until the Hydra successfully devoured its twentieth needle fish.
At that specific milestone, the system interface indicated a sharp decline in the rate of fire affinity gain and skill potency increments. The Hydra’s genetic pathways had finally reached saturation regarding the specific fire variables contained within the fish.
While Neo conducted its aerial hunt, Kale did not remain idle aboard the drifting skiff. He activated his specialised Trinity Crafting skill and produced a pair of reinforced glass vials to capture several living specimens.
He managed to secure five of the golden needle fish inside the containment vials for future laboratory research. Additionally, he collected a substantial volume of the clear magma, sealing it tightly to analyse its unique low-density properties later.
Once the biological sampling was complete, Kale reached down for the heavy iron anchor that held the vessel steady against the underlying current. With a grunt of physical effort, he released the locking line, allowing the skiff to be claimed by the river’s momentum once more.
The downward slope of the stone tunnel grew noticeably steeper as they travelled deeper into the earth. Along the rocky banks, Kale observed various strange environmental anomalies, including dense clusters of glowing red crystals that seemed to absorb ambient heat directly from the cavern air.
The surrounding temperature rose to a scorching level that made his skin prickle uncomfortably despite his innate Flame Resistance and Neo’s proximity. The ambient air felt thick and heavy, carrying the sharp scent of compressed volcanic minerals.
By this point, they had traversed more than a full kilometre from their initial entry point in the upper furnace chamber. The skiff glided across the molten river at high speed, its underlying Stone Turtle hull plates vibrating as they skimmed over the glowing liquid surface.
Suddenly, the narrow stone tunnel ahead opened up into a massive, yawning subterranean cavern. The river reached a sudden edge, marking a massive vertical drop in the terrain below.
It was not a simple slope, but a sheer precipice over which countless tons of crystal-clear liquid magma plunged into a dark abyss. The sight resembled a terrifying, molten equivalent of Niagara Falls hidden deep within the earth.
"Hold on!" Kale yelled at the top of his lungs, though the thunderous roar of the falling liquid fire instantly drowned out his warning. He grabbed the side rails of the skiff, clinging to the bone frame with all his strength as gravity pulled them over the edge.
As the boat plummeted alongside the massive torrent of magma, the sheer volume of liquid fire nearly buried the vessel entirely. Droplets of molten rock splashed across Kale’s exposed arms and torso, the extreme heat instantly charring his flesh.
The familiar, excruciating pain returned in full force, threatening to overwhelm his consciousness as his skin blackened under the heat. But before the damage could spread further, Neo acted with lightning speed.
Hovering beside the falling skiff, the Hydra flapped its wings frantically while unleashing its enhanced Flame Absorption ability. It created a brilliant orange energy field around the vessel, actively deflecting the worst of the falling lava away from his master’s body.
The shimmering thermal halo absorbed the intense heat, acting as a protective barrier until the boat cleared the primary torrent. The skiff plummeted through the darkness before slamming into the massive pool at the bottom with a violent kinetic thud that nearly shattered its reinforced frame.
The boat tilted at a dangerous angle, scooping up molten liquid before stabilising as the surrounding current evened out. Kale gasped heavily for air, his charred skin itching intensely as his Octagon trait automatically triggered to begin the healing process once more.
He wiped away the thick layer of black ash covering his face and looked out past the prow of the boat. In the distance, he spotted multiple other stone tunnels pouring massive streams of orange lava into this central reservoir.
It was a grand confluence of liquid fire, a subterranean hub where the world’s primary thermal veins converged into a single location.
In the exact centre of the vast chamber lay a colossal vortex of liquid fire, continuously swallowing the incoming magma streams.
The sight was both awe-inspiring and terrifying, a display of planetary force that made Kale feel utterly insignificant. Yet his heart trembled not from the sight of the roaring vortex, but because of what hovered directly above its centre.
Floating motionless in the air, above the whirlpool was a magnificent, pulsing sphere of incandescent energy. An orb that radiated a brilliant orange and yellow light that instantly captivated both Kale and Neo.
A soft, harmonic vibration emanated from the sphere, carrying the absolute purest flame essence Kale had ever encountered.
Through their mental link, he felt Neo’s soul react to the orb with an ancient, instinctual hunger.
At that precise instant, the bright blue windows of the system interface flashed before his eyes with a high-priority alert, its crystalline text burning brightly against the dark cavern background.
[ANOMALOUS CORE DETECTED.]
[SIGNATURE IDENTIFIED: REMNANT CORE OF THE MYTHICAL FLAME SALAMANDER.]
The system verified that this floating orb was indeed the core of the fallen mythical entity whose residual Will governed these subterranean depths. Kale stared at the glowing core, his fear vanishing as his mind was filled with almost uncontrollable greed.