Our opinions about this area were split. Neither Kaledon or Nesher have any volcanoes. There are some magma pits but that’s all. Geology isn’t my field of expertise but I won’t pass on an opportunity to learn something new.

Mishelly hated it. The rabbits seem to have a bad compatibility with fire and this place is just that; filled with lava and fire.

Benji also had his curiosity take over but he kept his observant persona and because of that we’re hiding in a dark grotto.

Why? Well, the heated fight between magma life forms and fairies is why.

Benji had noticed that the magma life forms are non aggressive. They will defend themselves or territory when provoked which is exactly what the fairies did.

“So what do we do gramps? We can’t hide here forever.”

“That is true but we better avoid conflict as we don’t know the terms and conditions we need to meet to progress.”

There was no end to the battle so we left.

This place was unlike anything I've ever visited! There is a constant rumbling sound. Is the volcano going to erupt? I'd like to see that!

“Hey gramps, what do we do when that volcano erupts?”

“There is not much we can do if that happens. It’s one of those natural disasters that you’d rather not experience.” Benji looked at me as if he had read my mind.

We walked for hours and the heat and fatigue were getting to us. [Acedia] started acting up more frequently.

Giggling became louder and more whispering sounds approached.

“Hey hey! Let’s play! How about who can hold their breaths the longest under the lava?! Ahahaha!”

“Noisy and insane!” I swung my fan and cool winds and icicles blew the fairies away

The fairies kept suggesting sadistic or deadly games. The ambient mana leaned heavy toward fire so using water would be difficult or near impossible, all I could do was wave my fan to create icicles and cold winds.

Benji’s and Mishelly’s plants burned up and their wind magic had been weakened so they had to resort to kicking.

4 rabbit tails sprouted from Mishelly’s butt but Benji stopped her.

“Don’t waste Rabbit mode on these abominations. We can defeat them without, we don’t know if we need it later.”

“But you can use yours when that time comes right?”

“Let’s just be careful. We might get separated and that option might fall off. Look, Azu is doing fine without her Misha mode.” Benji pointed at me.

My stance was neutral. It would help if we could defeat these obnoxious beings faster but I didn’t feel pressured.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

A swing here a [Meteor Slap] there! They might resist fire magic but sending them flying is good enough.

“I have an idea! We will trap them in the magma. Azu I need you to blow your fan over the magma pools after we kick the fairies into them.” Benji started kicking fairies around and into magma pools.

The fairies seemed light but they were dense enough to sink into the magma. Mishelly followed his example and our plan to get rid of the fairies got set into motion.

Benji dropkicked another fairy into a pool of lava. I swing my fan multiple times at it to turn the surface into rock. “Was that the last of them?”

“It seems so. They might be resistant to heat but getting trapped in rock is a different story.”

We rested as the fairies had interrupted us.

Drowsiness set in and I had to chug more potions. It was extremely mana-draining as the ambient mana was making it difficult to open my dimensional pocket.

I took out as many as possible as I might not have the focus to open it the next time. This is bad. My curiosity might lead me to my downfall entering this spire was a terrible idea.

“Azu! Stay awake, you’re dozing off.” Benji shook me gently.

“I’m sorry.” I shook my head and slapped my cheeks to wake up.

“This all must be tiring for you. I could use a long rest and so does Mishelly, your [Acedia] might make this harder on you.”

Benji took some seeds out of his pouch and tried to grow some plants but they dried up before hitting maturity. “This is a problem. We don’t know how long we will be here and food might become a problem.”

I felt like dozing off again so I stood up and moved around to combat drowsiness and Benji got up too.

“Stay here, I will scout for a bit.”

“Be careful gramps.”

Benji disappeared before I could say anything. How did he do that? Is it [Stealth]? Or did he move too fast for me to notice?

This spire is so mysterious. Is this truly inside? We never ended up climbing anything which worries me. I’m sure it’s one of the reasons why Benji went to scout.

I continued chugging potions while trying to dam the flow of mana running into [Acedia] yet again. It had corrected my earlier tampering for some reason. A self-repair system? How careless of me.

I got distracted because Mishelly was talking to me.

“I’m sorry Mishelly, what did you say?”

Mishelly cocked her head. “What? I didn’t say anything. I was drawing in the volcanic ash.”

She pointed the stick she was holding to the scribbles in the volcanic ahs covering the ground.

Was I wrong? I’m sure I heard something.

The self-repair system was well hidden as I couldn’t find it. Or my focus was slipping. It should be somewhere in this cluster. I blocked off the mana supply again to buy some time.

And then I found it. 2 self-repair systems. I couldn’t find them because they had been built into the bridges that connect certain clusters. It almost made me think that it was done intentionally because the bridges between clusters are the first thing to break when the magic circle gets put under stress, which is exactly what I did.

I chugged the last of my potions and finally completed sabotaging the cluster which kills my focus and tries to put me asleep.

“Phew. That was rough.”

[Acedia] or not but that was tiresome. Taking a nap in a hostile environment is unwise.

I heard it again. But it wasn’t Mishelly’s voice. It was...whispering.

“Mishelly! It’s a fairy! a fairy is approaching!”

Mishelly got up and perked her ears. “Huh? I don’t hear any giggling or anything fairy-like”

“I know you can’t hear it but I hear whispering sounds.”

I know that it’s rude but... what’s the point of those ears if they can’t use them...

The whispering became louder and something else was mixed with it.

“Wait! I hear something! Someone started singing! And she’s great at it! Wait! You don’t think that’s the fairy right? She’s coming straight at us.”

We got ready for battle as the whisperings and songs became louder and louder. The whispers sounded pleasant, unlike the ones of the other fairies. Is this the fairy queen?

A woman with long light pink hair walked into our small camp. She wore a dress which should be impractical for hikes or combat. She had frills and everything on her bubblegum themed dress.

Something was different about this fairy, most were either in their hideous forms or in the form as beautiful women the size of a forearm with butterfly wings. This one was as tall as I was and had no wings. There was no mistaken though, this woman is a fairy.

The song didn’t cease and gave us an unpleasant feeling.