Brightfire says "So, are we heading back to the village tomorrow?"

"No, I want to spend one more day here."

Brightfire says "Great! I should be able to hit level five tomorrow!"

"I'm surprised you haven't already leveled up."

Brightfire says "It is hard to find a single dinosaur to hunt, most of them travel in herds. The predators tend to be alone, but they are a lot more dangerous."

"That's true. Well, you can always hunt orcs once we return."

Brightfire says "Yeah, I hadn't thought of that. Will you have time to fly me over to them?"

"Probably. I will need the occasional break from working on the ship."

Brightfire says "Great! But I still plan to hunt tomorrow, level five is not my ultimate goal!"

"Oh yeah, how did the bow work out?"

Brightfire says "Are you kidding? It is basically a god's weapon!"

"I don't mean the power, how was it to handle? Anything I need to modify?"

Brightfire says "It's perfect! You don't need to change a thing!"

"That's good. Did you get a chance to try out the sword?"

Brightfire says "No, sorry. I was so in love with the bow I didn't even think of using the sword!"

"It's alright. Whenever you get around to using it let me know if it needs any work."

Brightfire says "Okay, will do!"

"Alright, so tomorrow you can hunt. Then the day after we will leave. But we aren't going straight back."

Brightfire says "Huh? Why not?"

"Because I want to go back to the volcano island first."

Brightfire says "How come?"

"Blitz was destroyed when I was sucked into the gem. But Blitz was made of Armatite, the rarest and most valuable metal there is. So I want to see if I can recover any of the pieces to use later."

Brightfire says "Oh, okay! Then that will be the plan!"

"Alright, finish eating and then get some sleep."

Brightfire nods and goes back to eating dinner and so do I, Nala never stopped eating. Because of that she is the first one finished and also the first one to go to sleep. Brightfire follows not long after, but even as she goes to sleep I am still eating.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Considering how much I have eaten, I am probably getting ready for another growth spurt. Hopefully, after the next spurt I will be able to shapeshift without getting headaches. The only reason it concerns me is because I am going to need to shapeshift to work on the ship.

Once I can't possibly eat a single bite more, I curl up with the girls and go to sleep. I end up sleeping for around ten hours, yet I am the first one to wake up. Since the other two are being lazy I start eating breakfast on my own.

However, the smell of food wakes up Nala, Brightfire might have slept through it if she wasn't using Nala as a pillow. Grumbling about her rude awakening, Brightfire joins us for breakfast. I eat fast and after wishing the two of them good hunting I leave and head to the lava tube.

As quickly as I can, I make my way down into the belly of the volcano and land on the island. Once I reach the edge of the ice I slow down and move around randomly. I waste time wandering around until I can't sense either goddess watching me.

As soon as they aren't paying attention I throw a tiny amount of divine power at the ice. For the first time there is a reaction from the ice, the divine power creates sparks. Once the sparks fade I can see a tiny crack on the piece of ice that I targeted.

Which means that divine power affects the ice, now the question is why? As I am pondering I watch the crack slowly seal itself back up, meaning the ice can repair itself. After a few more experiments I start to get the feeling that this is something I have seen before.

It takes me over an hour before I remember where I saw it, the ice that Drog was sealed in. That ice also was hard to affect and could repair itself, but this ice is much stronger. If it is the same kind of ice that would mean it is sealing something, but what?

Does the fact that only divine power affects it mean that this ice is a sealing ability used by a god? If that is the case then if I start messing around with it I could end up pissing off a god. I know that there are several different pantheons of gods on the mainland, but I never asked any details.

For all I know there are dozens of gods and goddesses on the mainland. Maybe I should be responsible and talk to Seronia and Krenocia about this before I do anything more. Before my curiosity gets the better of me I quickly create a soulscape and invite the two of them.

Seronia appears first and immediately grabs me and starts cuddling her face against my fur. Now that I have grown she can basically rub her entire body against me. If I had known this was going to happen I might have waited a while before inviting Krenocia.

Krenocia appears and says "Sister, behave!"

Seronia says "But he is so soft and fuzzy!"

Krenocia sighs and says "Alright, Ash, what have you done this time?"

"Nothing! At least not yet! I found something and wanted to talk to you about it."

Seronia says "It's not another gem is it?"

"No. It is an area of ice that is immune to mana. I think it was created using divine power. So I figured I would ask about it before I got myself into trouble."

Krenocia says "Meaning you already tried to mess with it and failed?"

"Uh, no!"

Seronia laughs and says "Could you sound more guilty?"

"Anyway, can you verify my theory?"

Krenocia says "Show us what you saw."

At her request I change the soulscape to the island, making sure to copy every detail I can. I make sure that the three of us are standing close to the mountain of ice at the center of the island. After all, that is probably the source of all the ice and what I am the most curious about.

Krenocia says "I can't be sure, but it does seem to be a sealing spell."

"Can you tell what is sealed inside?"

Krenocia says "Not from an illusion."

Seronia says "You would have to summon one of us to the actual location for us to find out anything. Since there are undead around, my sister is probably the better choice."

Krenocia says "Agreed. I am a little curious about these ancient undead."

"Oh? You are curious?"

Krenocia says "Don't you dare!"

Seronia starts laughing but stops when her sister turns and glares at her. Then the two of them leave and I end the soulscape, then I kneel down and start praying to Krenocia. It takes a few minutes for Krenocia to materialize, but she is solid when she does.

"Wait, are you physically here? I was expecting a projection."