Chương 254: Chapter 246: He Who Woke the Volcano

"A draconic lair? Is that the den of the Seventh Terror?" Priam asked, tapping his foot on the pristine rock. He didn't need Esmée's intel to feel it: his prey awaited below.

"That is right," the phoenix confirmed, scrutinizing the ground.

"It is a well-known ability of dragons."

"I know what comes after Scales now," mused Priam. The bird exhaled a puff of smoke in disagreement.

"Your bloodline comes from a wyvern, which is why you gained Breath first and Scales second. However, it is not a universal rule; amphipteres start with Wings, drakes with Scales, and so on."

"That's reassuring… and disappointing." If the Terror possessed three draconic abilities, devouring its heart would significantly enhance Priam's bloodline.

"Lair allows the creature to alter a space and restrict access to it," continued the phoenix.

"Facing it on its home turf is dangerous, but the risk is often worth it, as that is where it hides its treasures." Priam's eyes sparkled. In most human myths, a dragon's lair was brimming with the riches of these greedy and hoarding beings.

"How do I get in?"

"Assuming you don't have mythical skills related to spatial displacement or thievery, you have two options. The first is simple: blow the door down by overwhelming its defenses. An A-bomb or ten should do the trick." Priam rolled his eyes.

"Let's say I misplaced my bombs. What's the second option? Knock on the door?" The phoenix chuckled.

"Exactly. As a bearer of the same bloodline, you can challenge it, and its draconic honor will compel it to respond. Of course, it's not that simple. After all, it's an ability meant for secluding oneself to meditate—although, if you ask me, most dragons use it to hibernate. Nevertheless, the lair's master will have to accept your challenge if you can prove to the draconic laws that your request is serious enough to wake it up." Priam pinched the bridge of his nose.

"How do I prove that?"

"To avoid wasting the lair master's time, you must prove your motivation. Thus, you'll have to lay siege to the lair for a duration depending on your difference in Soul Tier and the purity of your respective bloodlines." Priam had a bad feeling.

"I suppose it would be ridiculous if I could easily force a Tier 9 dragon out of their lair to listen to my challenge. Well, how long will I have to wait?"

"Hard to say without knowing the purity of the Terror's bloodline," the phoenix replied, shrugging its wings.

"At equal purity, it is a year between two draconic creatures of the same Tier. You may multiply that time by ten for each Tier of difference."

"You're shitting me," grumbled the young man.

"The Terror is Tier 1. I'm not waiting ten years!"

"If its bloodline purity is over one percent, you can multiply by ten," the phoenix pointed out. It was so ridiculous that Priam burst out laughing before calming down. That was the maximum time, but if the Terror remembered him, it might want to make him pay for his arrogance.

"I'll provoke it to a duel. If it responds immediately, great. Otherwise, we'll move to plan B."

"Sounds like a solid idea." Priam stared at the ground and the hidden lair below for a moment before coughing.

"Is there a specific rite to follow?"

"You need to dance naked with a phoenix feather up your ass." Masking a smile, Priam cast a calculating look at the phoenix.

"I wonder where I'll find a phoenix feather…" The bird quickly backed away.

"Stay away from me! Just spill some blood on the door and challenge it."

"Why is it always blood," muttered the young warrior, using his skills to make a small cut on the inside of his cheek. He extracted a droplet of blood from the tiny wound, then made it levitate above his hand.

"Couldn't you just prick your finger like everyone else?" asked the phoenix. The question reminded Priam of the wildlife documentaries he watched as a child.

"On my planet, sharks can sense a drop of blood from nearly a mile away. I'd rather not have an open wound while underwater."

"..."

"What?"

"I am always surprised to see that you can actually think. You would have made a good phoenix."

"Shut up," Priam grinned, letting the drop of blood fall onto the hidden door. In a loud voice, he declared, "It's time to duel!" and then waited. And waited. Thirty seconds later, he groaned.

"I guess I can go fuck myself."

"Not necessarily. Dragons are heavy sleepers because their dreams can enhance their affinity with Concepts; the Terror might be taking a while to wake up." Priam raised an eyebrow at his mentor. When the phoenix met his gaze without flinching, the young man realized it wasn't a joke.

"This race is seriously broken…"

"That is actually a good thing for you."

"Touché. Alright, I'm tired of waiting. If it comes out, it'll find me easily. Otherwise, I'll force it out."

"How?" Priam shrugged.

"I may not have ten A-bombs, but I do have a volcano. Let's see who wakes up faster, the Terror or Mother Nature." Triggering a volcanic eruption was an idea Priam was particularly proud of. Discussing it with the phoenix, the bird had confirmed the feasibility of his plan. According to the bird, there were two main types of eruptions: effusive, with simple lava flows, and explosive, with pyroclastic flows. It got more complicated underwater, but Priam had an idea to correct that and provoke a memorable explosion.

After taking a deep breath of oxygen, Priam closed the portal and shattered the ice shell surrounding him. Pressurized water rushed in with terrifying force, forcing him to briefly merge with his mist to avoid being crushed. Moving a few meters away from the lair entrance, Priam asked his add-on to find the approximate position of the main volcanic conduit—the path lava took from the earth's depths to the surface. Knowing the crater's location, his system indicated he was about two hundred meters from his target.

Perfect. Using his kinetic mastery, Priam created a sort of ice drill the size of a refrigerator. Hesitating for a moment, the young man decided to go all out and increased its size to that of a pickup truck. Orienting the massive drill horizontally toward the main volcanic conduit, he reviewed his plan. It boiled down to one sentence: create a second conduit through the rock that would channel the pyroclastic explosion directly to the lair of the Seventh Terror.

A volcanic eruption was far more powerful than an A-bomb—sometimes by a factor of ten thousand. The energy would dissipate over a vast area, but even a fraction of it would surely force open the Terror's lair. [Note: The explosion may destroy some of the Terror's possessions.] Priam shrugged off the warning. His main goal was his opponent's core; the rest was just a bonus. While studying the volcano's topography, Priam continued to cool his drill to increase the ice's hardness.

Finally, he decided to angle it slightly downward. Instead of reaching the main conduit, it was better to drill obliquely to target the magma chamber, the reservoir of magma and gas within the volcano. Creating a breach in this high-pressure basin would lead to a violent explosion—like puncturing a tractor tire. Once his add-on validated the plan, Priam began to rotate his drill clockwise. The multi-ton tool started to turn slowly, then accelerated, creating a massive underwater current that stirred up nearby sand.

Smiling, the young man hoped the Terror wouldn't immediately respond to his challenge. If he could create a volcanic explosion, he had to do it. For science! Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. Flexing his skills and Domain, Priam advanced the drill, which struck the chasm wall. A violent shockwave made the seafloor tremble for a moment before the rock began to fracture.

Stone fragments shot backward at high speed, and Priam dodged a few before ignoring them—they would train [Kevlar Tissue], the upgrade to [Perforation Resistance]. The tool shook as it drilled into the rock, and Priam groaned as he felt cracks spread through the drill. Part of his attention, which had been reorganizing his meridians, switched tasks to focus on [Kinetic Control]. He applied the skill not only to spin the drill but also to maintain the ice's cohesion.

As the entire canyon trembled and the tunnel began to take shape, a parallel thought employed [High Aether Manipulation] to create an aether drill around the ice drill. The blueprint for this second drill was inspired by [Tribulation Piercing Spear]. Once ready, the aether drill began to spin counterclockwise, increasing the tool's penetrating power.

Lvl Up: [High Aether Manipulation] lvl 7 META (Affinity) +3 META (Focus) +3 META (Endurance) +3 Lvl Up: [Tribulation Piercing Spear] lvl 18 STR +1 AGI +1 DEXT +1 A smile on his face, Priam started moving behind his creation. The tunnel drilled into the rock was three meters in diameter and water filled every corner of it, progressing along with the drill. That suited Priam perfectly, as he siphoned its heat to maintain his tool's rotation. As he advanced, he pondered possible improvements.

A water drill could have done the job, but it was less controllable than a solid like ice. His Mist Concept could manipulate mist and, to a lesser extent, the water he condensed, but natural water largely escaped his control. Something to keep in mind for future evolution… Part of his attention soon noticed the rock's temperature beneath his feet increasing. He was getting closer to the magma. The Champion dispersed the ice drill, fearing a vibration might prematurely create a fissure leading to the magma chamber.

Keeping only the aether drill, Priam continued mining. It was slower, and he had to push away the fine dust, but it was also safer. A few minutes later, he paused. His Domain sensed nothing, but Pyro did. Ahead of him, less than twenty meters away, a massive magma and gas reservoir bubbled. Sensing the immense pressure, Priam smiled before continuing to excavate. When the wall separating him from the chamber was just two meters thick, Priam dispersed his last drill and turned around.

He had left a large amount of broken stones and fine dust in his wake, in the middle of a flooded tunnel. The water couldn't act as a buffer between the explosion and the Terror's lair. Summoning his Mist Concept, Priam conjured a massive amount of mist around him before condensing it. The water he created gradually pushed out the natural water. Watching the two fluids in his Domain, physically identical but magically different, Priam was struck by the contrast. I need to compare natural mist with my own.

The Champion was at the Symphony stage with the Mist Concept, just before Unity, and an epiphany would undoubtedly bring him closer to that final tier. A power-up that doesn't bring another Tribulation? Too good to ignore! Priam studied the differences between the two types of water until the entire tunnel was filled with his own condensed mist—a substance he could banish with a single thought. Satisfied, he turned toward the chamber and focused on the spark orbiting his soul.

Pyro manifested, and Priam rode it to mentally plunge into the volcano's heart. Viewed through Pyro's prism, a world of blazing flames opened up before him. The Concept he had inherited from the ancestor of the phoenix in Elysium, whose body served as Elysium's sun, was peculiar. It was fire, but it was also more than that. Priam didn't fully understand it yet, but so close to the volcano's heart, a new facet of the Concept revealed itself.

Pyro was the prefix of pyroclastic, an adjective describing flows or clouds. These phenomena were tied to volcanoes and exemplified nature's violence. A glimmer appeared in the flooded tunnel. Priam's hair began to move and glow like flames, a physical manifestation of his soul resonating with the volcano and Pyro, a fierce and irascible Concept. Pyro wasn't a flame guiding humanity through the night; it was the wildfire that blinded frightened animals.

Pyro wasn't a campfire warming a weary traveler; it was the blaze consuming the condemned on their pyre. Pyro wasn't the embers resting peacefully; it was the volcano shaking the world. Seeing the vehement lava raging against its earthen prison, Priam understood. [Pyro - Concept] - The fragment of a shattered Concept from an Eighth Throne Candidate. Let the failure of its creator be your stepping stone. You still master the Fire Concept.

Affinity - Your connection now lets you grasp certain truths about Pyro and manipulate it. Harmony - Allows you to infuse your aether into your flames to increase their tenacity. Nothing can withstand your flames. Symphony - Your flames are enraged. When you work for destruction, they more easily cause ruin. Priam opened his eyes, filled with rage. A few meters away, a volcano rumbled, ready to unleash its fury.

The Champion clenched his teeth to maintain control of his thoughts and applied his formidable willpower to his cause: he wasn't Pyro's avatar; he was Priam Azura, and he was here to force open the Terror's lair. Lvl Up: [Emotional Discipline] lvl 11 WILL +3 The outlet satisfied Pyro's Symphony stage's violent condition and empowered the Concept. Even for a Tier 0 as formidable as Priam, willing a volcanic eruption was a tall order. However, with a Tier 1 Concept lending its strength, the bridge could be crossed.

Pouring his aether like a philanthropist's money for a worthy cause, Priam cultivated the flames' anger, increasing the magma chamber's pressure. Just before passing the point of no return and triggering a classic eruption, the Champion summoned Promesse and fired it into the wall separating him from the chamber. The bound weapon effortlessly penetrated the rock, creating a large hole between the tunnel and the chaotic blend of gas and lava. For a brief moment, the world stood still, as if incredulous.

Then the moment passed; the superheated gasses rushed into the breach, and the explosion occurred. A blast of lava, molten rock, and pressurized gas surged through the drilled gallery. As the incandescent wave rushed, the summoned water vanished, seemingly revoked by its creator. A second after the eruption, the flow reached the tunnel's end and struck the draconic lair. The world shook as the equivalent of a thousand A-bombs detonated at the bottom of the underwater chasm, unleashing a pyroclastic hell.

Amidst the volcano, as Priam tried to survive by merging with the flames, a thought disturbed him. I feel like I forgot something… … Shit, Esmée!

Status: PHYSICAL: Strength 726 (+1) Constitution 1 105 Agility 866 (+2) Vitality 1 058 (+18) Perception 767 MENTAL: Vivacity (D) 592 Dexterity 658 (+1) Memory 842 Willpower 1 168 (+5) Charisma 692 META: Meta-affinity 805 (+4) Meta-focus 412 (+3) Meta-endurance 629 (+5) Meta-perception 340 Meta-chance 274 Meta-authority 216 Potential: 13 644 (+7) Tier 0 Sun points: 1 481 401 (+208) [He Who Eludes Death] charge: PRIMED [Tribulation]: Five Tribulations pending.

Future Tribulations delayed until: Time: 153 days 10 hours 48 minutes 21 seconds. Next thresholds: 12 attributes > 600 / 6 attributes > 900 / 1 attribute > 1 200