Once we leave the jungle behind, I don't see any more beasts, which is odd. There shouldn't be a reason for them to avoid the volcano since they are all fire beasts. In fact, they should spend more time near it so that they can absorb the mana.

As far as I can tell the mana is flowing down the volcano, so the source should be at the top. However, I am a little worried about taking Brightfire and Nala up there. Unfortunately, I doubt I can convince Brightfire to stay behind and I am not leaving Nala alone.

So the three of us slowly make our way up the side of the volcano with me in the lead. It takes a while to climb all the way to the peak, and still there are no beasts at all. The mana has gotten so thick that I feel slightly intoxicated just from breathing.

When we reach the top I have the other two wait as I start sneaking the last few feet. As I poke my head up I can barely believe what I am seeing in the volcano's crater. There is a battle going on in the middle of the crater where a lake of lava sits.

The battle is actually going on in the lake and around it, between two types of fire creatures. One side is made up of fire elementals that seem to be coming out of the volcano. The other side is made up of creatures that are half snake half human and covered in fire.

The lower body is that of a snake, covered in orange scales that have flames dancing over them. They look like fire salamanders from D&D and they are fighting the elementals. The salamanders are using weapons and when they defeat an elemental they stop to eat its core.

The elementals are fighting with just their bodies and fire abilities, but they are stronger. As I watch I notice that most of the time it is one elemental against at least three salamanders. When an elemental wins the fight they also stop to eat the cores of the salamanders.

Since new elementals are constantly rising from the lava the fight shows no signs of stopping. The salamanders don't have unlimited numbers, but they have more currently. All around the crater are caves and huts built with black stone, this is their village.

The presence of the salamanders also explains why the beasts all avoid the volcano. The salamanders probably hunted any beast who came close until the beasts learned to stay away. They probably didn't even do it for food, they can live off of the fire mana in the area.

However, it looks like the salamanders have no interest in sharing the fire mana with anyone. What interests me though is where the elementals keep coming from. Something in the lava is allowing them to spawn endlessly and I want to know what it is.

I can think of two possibilities, either there is a gate to the fire plane, or there is a powerful item. If it is a gate, then if it isn't closed eventually the fire elementals will overrun the island. If it is an item, then I am very curious as to what type of item and how it got here.

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Either way, I am probably going to have to go into the lava to find out. I don't think either the salamanders or the elementals are just going to let me pass. Which means I am going to have to force my way through both of them.

That also means I am going to have to leave Brightfire and Nala behind. So I wave Brightfire up to take a look, it is easier to let her see than try to explain the situation. While Brightfire is looking at the crater Nala comes up and rubs against me until I start petting her.

Brightfire says "This battle is really intense! I've never seen either creature before. Should we just leave them alone?"

"We could, but I really want to know where all this fire mana is coming from!"

Brightfire says "Coming from? Isn't it just a natural effect of the volcano?"

"Maybe, but I doubt it. Even if it is, the spawning of the fire elementals isn't!"

Brightfire says "So, do you have a plan?"

"Not really. I was just going to fight my way through them."

Brightfire says "Having seen you fight, I guess that is fine. What about after that? How do you plan to find something in the lava?"

"Oh, I have a form for that."

Brightfire looks a little dubious but she agrees to stay behind with Nala. So I climb over the edge and start making my way down into the crater. Some of the salamanders spot me when I am about halfway down and they move to meet me.

Four spear wielding salamanders intercept me when I reach the floor of the crater. Up close they are a lot bigger than I expected, each one stands around eight foot tall. The snake half looks to be about ten feet long but it is hard to tell for sure since they don't stay still.

One of the salamanders opens its mouth like it is trying to talk but all I hear is gibberish. However, they don't even wait to see if I respond, all four attack me as soon as the one is done talking. I step to the side and three of the four spears miss, but the last one manages to hit me.

As the spear hits me there is a burst of flames, but it doesn't do much damage to me. Between my armor and my fire resist I am able to pretty much ignore the hit. I draw Blitz and retaliate with a single slash and the salamander tries to parry with his spear.

Unfortunately for him, his spear is no match for Blitz, it goes straight through the spear and his body. Surprisingly, the salamander doesn't die, he just backs off holding his waist. Blitz didn't quite cut him in half and I can already see the wound being closed by the salamander's fire.

No wonder these guys are able to fight against elementals toe to toe, they are quite tough. The other three salamanders attack me to keep me from finishing off the wounded one. They actually coordinate and work well together, proving they are not mindless beasts.

However, they are no match for me, I just change to targeting the head. Three slashes later the other three salamanders are dead and the first one still hasn't finished healing. He glares at me with hatred in his eyes as I walk over and finish him off.

4 Flame Salamanders killed! 20,000 Exp gained!

'They are pretty decent exp! And there are a lot of them!'

The rest of the salamanders haven't noticed that I killed the four of them yet. So I kneel down and cut the first one open, I remove his heart and then look for a core. When I find it I am a little confused, it is small, about the size of a marble.