"Ugh..... I'm full..... I guess I'll head out now. Everyone should be gathering in one place I think, if Avarco has done his job."

Sitting at a table with a massive white insectoid beast on the table before her was a woman whose body was made from flames and magmatic rock.

The woman stood up quickly, the flames of her body crackling with excitement.

She walked through the room filled with pillars of pressurized flames, exiting her own mansion.

On leaving the mansion, the world opened up to an enormous city that was underground- located inside a volcano.

There was a rocky roof above the city, and in this roof was a single hole which led to the surface. The foundation of the city was made from plates of cooled magma, and the buildings seemed to float on these rafts which sloshed back and forth on the liquid rock underneath them.

Even though there was a hole which led to the surface, not a single beam of light entered it.

The city of Volaciophus was located in the realm of darkness, just to the South of the city of devils.

As Envidia exited her own mansion of magma into the city, it was obvious that nobody was around.

'It seems that Avarco managed to gather everyone. I guess he's useful for at least that much.', Envidia thought.

Envidia walked through the town with a smug grin before closing her eyes.

'Then I guess I better head out? After all.... I am the ruler of this city.'

In an instant Envidia sped through the town with the appearance of a red-orange beam of light.

'I never realized just how..... lucky I was that sister had so much more than me. Envy..... it is truly a wonderful thing. Hahaha.... I wonder if there is anyone else in this world who would be happy to see that someone has something which they are jealous of?'

Envidia appeared in front of the gathered crowd of people, quickly looking around to see that many had gathered.

'And now the antiheroes have become another object of my jealousy..... hahaha.... things just keep getting better, don't they? The more that others have.... the more there is to be jealous of..... and the more there is to obtain for myself.'

----

"Morning, people!"

Envidia casually addressed the crowd before her, inciting smiles across the crowd.

"Lady Envidia!!!!"

"Good morning!!!"

Many people energetically responded, happy to see their ruler.

Despite the fact that the sun did not shine, the magma of the city completely ignored this, lighting up each and every corner of the area.

"Did Avarco already tell you what's going on?"

"He did, Lady Envidia.", one man responded.

With a smile, Envidia stood forward with excitement.

"Great! That makes things easier on me. So? Are you all interested in taking the people of Iciclaris as our own slaves?"

"If that is what you desire, Lady Envidia!!!"

"We will obtain them for you!!!"

"We will ensure that the antiheroes do not exceed you in possession or power!!! There will be nothing to be jealous of!!!!"

"We will satisfy you, Lady Envidia!!!"

Envidia smiled at the people with a nod.

"That's great!!! I look forward to this then."

It was at this moment that a man seemed to show himself from the shadows, walking up onto the stage.

"You certainly did take your time, you did. Indeed indeed. How do you do, Envidia? I have explained the situation to the people, and they seem to be thrilled, thrilled I say to perform such an expedition. There is so much profit to be made now that we are allowing ourselves to expand to this market. It fills me with joy, it does indeed."

"Yeah yeah. Keep your fancy words to yourself. I'm just trying to make sure that nobody gains anything greater than what I have..... and if they do, then I'll obtain that and even more."

"Agree to disagree as always, Envidia."

The man wore a tophat and a kingly robe made from quartz, and walked with a cane as he tapped it to the ground with each step.

"Now now..... is it not about time that we set out? What do you think, people of Volaciophus? Is it not time that we begin this expenditure?"

"Of course!!!"

"Lady Envidia, Sir Avarco!!!! We will always give our all for your wishes!!!"

"We will make you the richest and most powerful people on this planet!!! There will be none who hold more than you!!! There will be nothing to be jealous of!!! We will fight for you!!!"

"Excellent I say, excellent indeed.", Avarco commented.

"Hahaha!!! That's what I like to hear. Then, lets get going!!", Envidia shouted, pointing towards the hole in the ceiling of the volcanic city.

The people surrounding Envidia and Avarco were all either flame or earth elementals. As such, they took flight. The ones who were made from flames relied on their own flames to boost themselves upwards, whereas the ones composed of earth or rock seemed to grow wings from their respective materials.

How exactly these rock figures were aerodynamic was a mystery- however they quickly took flight, heading in masses towards the one and only entrance and exit to this city.

Envidia and Avarco of course took the lead, taking flight before their soldiers and leading them forth.

"Hahaha.... things are gonna become very interesting, aren't they? I always wanted to lead some troops into battle. Yet.... I settled for simply leading the people of a city. After all, I suppose I wasn't exactly jealous of the fact that sister was the Captain of a group of Knights.... but rather that she was respected and looked up to by everyone around her. I guess I didn't realize my own feelings?"

"That is certainly insightful, Envidia. It would seem that perhaps even to this date you are growing? Although, I will not besmirch your suffering. I understand well that you went through no small deal of suffering."

The two continued flying forth, at which the woman of flames made a crooked smile, cringing as she recalled her own past.

"Hahaha..... it really is such a stupid story... it kinda pisses me off just remembering it. She had more than me, and I hated her for it. How jealous I was..... but that was back at the time where Envy could've destroyed me."

"Destroy you, as opposed to building you up?"

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"You seem to know me well, merchant. Jealousy is a horrible thing you know. Ah ah.... I remember those days where I wallowed in my own jealousy..... how laughable, isn't it? Maybe it was for exactly that reason which I stumbled upon that stone."

"Oh ho? Indeed, that is likely the case, Envidia."

"Tch. Kinda pisses me off that I have to confide in an old man like you."

Looking away with annoyance, Envidia continued flying through the skies, now entering the realm of darkness with the armies behind the two.

"Don't speak like that. After all, I do not look so old, no? Or at least, that is what the ladies of this city tell me."

"Haha! You're so full of yourself. Whatever."

"That I may be. But it is for good reason, no? After all, if I were truly nothing more than an old man, then perhaps I would not be received so well even considering my status."

"Bullshit. The only reason we're at the head is our status and you know it. But that's fine. It's because of that.... that I can obtain things which I never before would have been able to."

----

157 years ago.

Inside the city of Volaciophus, in the palace of flames, a flame elemental stood bowing his head in front of two seated men.

These two men sat side by side in their thrones. The one on the right was composed of a mix of magma and cooled rock, and he wore a kingly cape and a tophat- both made from quartz. This young man didn't seem particularly interested in the one before him, and instead was focused on scribbling down figures on a tablet.

The other man who sat in a throne was completely made from pure magma, which flowed about his body as if it were attracted to him through some sort of gravitational force. This man stared down the man before him, who was looking up with fervor.

"My kings..... I have decided that I would like to explore the world. I've spent my entire life in this city, however I have a craving desire which I simply cannot fulfill by staying here. I would like to see what else is out there."

The one who said this was a being who was made from flames which surrounded molten chunks of rock which made up his humanoid figure.

Bowing his head, he closed his eyes and pleased.

"Please allow me to leave this city, my Kings."

The one scribbling on the paper glanced up with a sigh.

"How troublesome it is. Jorris, you understand that you are one of our greatest warriors, no? Indeed it would be quite a blow to our own economy if you were to simply leave on us. Indeed it would."

The man in the tophat spoke with a British accent, clearly disappointed.

"Avarco is correct. After all, if you leave then what will happen with our current standings? I cannot allow the other cities to gain more power than us. I would certainly become jealous of them if such a thing were to happen. Do you understand the difficult position you are putting us in?"

The man bowed his head further and began to plead with the two before him.

"King Leroy, King Avarco, I beg of you!!! I understand that this is my own selfishness!!! I understand that very well!!!! But even so, I cannot go against my own heart in this matter!!! I simply must leave this place to travel!!! It is my passion!!"

The man known as Leroy sighed, tapping his own seat.

"How envious I am of you to be able to so shamelessly beg for such a thing. I care not anymore. After all.... if the power of our city dips below the others, then I suppose my own jealousy will bring us back to the same level one way or another."

"I suppose I could alter the supply of able warriors in order to accommodate for your loss..... however you have certainly disappointed me, Jorris. Indeed, I cannot embrace your decision.... but I suppose I will allow it. Yes, I will."

The men spoke with reluctance, waving the man off.

"My kings!!!"

Choking up with emotions, the man looked up at them with a delighted expression.

"T.... thank you..... thank you for indulging me like this!!! If I ever have a chance to return I will surely pay you back for the trouble I've caused you!!!!"

"I will hold you to that, indeed I will.", Avarco stated. "As a matter of fact, even if it is not you who repays me then I will hold it to your descendants to do so. Is that acceptable?"

"I cannot guarantee you that there will be any descendants of mine to collect from, but that is acceptable!"

The man bowed even further in gratitude.

"Enough of this. Do you not understand how it hurts me to see one of my men bowing in submission after such a shameless act? Leave my sight.", Leroy stated with the wave of his flowing magmatic hand.

"I will do so! Thank you!!!!"

The man rushed out of the room, the flames of his heart spurred even more so than the ones which formed his body.

----

'I'll definitely return, my Kings.... I'll return after I've explored the world, and when that time comes I will repay you a hundred times over for my selfishness right now.'

The man walked through the city of lava with a spring in his step. The buildings seemed to float on their own miniature tectonic plates, which would occasionally click and clack into one another. Even so, the buildings which were made from cooled magmatic rock were extremely stable and able to handle such loads.

The man used his own flames to fly into the air, propelling himself upwards towards the exit of the volcanic city.

'I'm so excited.... I wonder just what is out there? Where should I head first? Oh!! I know! I have heard that there exists a land to the West where there is a ball of fire in the sky for a portion of the day which lights up the world! How interesting! I would love to see that first, so I will head West!'

Having decided on his course, the man flew out of the Volcanic city and headed in that direction.

From the base of the volcano, it appeared that there were many holes in which lava poured out of. The entire landscape was completely covered in flames, and it would be almost impossible to traverse this land if one were not an elemental, resistant to the physical properties of any and all elements which didn't contain magical energy.

To a normal person this would look like the abyss of hell, yet to an elemental of flame or earth this was home.

Flying across the landscape, eventually the sea of lava became a land of stone, and eventually Jorris came upon a large range of mountains.

'Oh!! This is so different from my home!!! There isn't any fire anywhere, and look at this landscape!! Instead of a mountain filled with fire, these ones have ice and snow on their tops!! It's crazy!! Is everywhere in the world so much different from my home!?'

The man couldn't help but to beam with excitement at seeing the mountains, and took it upon himself to fly up to the top of the mountain.

As he approached the top, he landed on the snow which began to melt as it came into contact with his flames.

Even though the snow melted into water, it didn't douse his flames, for this was merely a physical element which did not effect the bodies of elementals.

"Oh.... this is ice and snow!! How interesting!!! It turns into water when I touch it..... it's so much different from my own home!"

The man began to trek through the mountain, leaving a path of melted snow where he walked.

"Hahaha! This is the life! Climbing a mountain with no tools, no supplies, and nothing to eat! I've gotto survive completely on my own out here in this unknown landscape!! This is the life of adventure!!!"

As this man thought this, he wondered something.

"Hmm.... can I control my own flames to not melt this snow?"

As he imagined this, the snow around him ceased it's melting.

His flames did not die down, but they ceased their effects on the objects around him.

"Oh.... so this is what it means to control elemental reactions caused by my own body? It feels.... strange, but I won't have to worry about setting everything on fire anymore. That would be a bit dangerous if I lit everything on fire around me.... haha...."

The man continued his walk up the mountain, eventually reaching a forested area near the tip.

"A real forest.... I'm truly out here in the wilderness, aren't I?"

It was at this moment that an arrow flew by the head of the man.

This arrow was not a physical arrow but rather a blade of wind which had been released from a spell.

It passed the face of Jorris and hit a rabbit which seemed to jump out from the bushes before being pierced and dying.

"A bit cold for a flame elemental to be out here, don't you think? What are you doing in this place?"

Jorris turned to see a man who was a wind elemental, and in his hands he wielded a bow made from wind magic.

"Oh!!! I've met my first person!!! Hello! My name is Jorris. I was a warrior serving the Host of Envy and the Host of Greed in Volaciophus, however I've left that life behind in order to explore the world! And you?"

"An explorer? From Volaciophus? And a former warrior of those two kings? That must be a bad joke, 'Jorris'. Do you understand how many people will spit at you if they hear the name of the Head of Envy?"

The man spoke with a disturbed tone, not allowing his guard up as he eyeballed Jorris.

"Eh?"

Jorris looked at the man confused.

"What do you mean?"

The man seemed to sigh, however approached Jorris.

"Whatever. I don't sense any ill intent from you, so I'll just pretend I didn't hear anything. You.... seem to be telling the truth. My name is Berstil. I'm a hermit who lives out here in the mountains because I didn't really like the hustle and bustle of the city. Why don't you come to my place for the night and we can talk? I'll even offer you half of that rabbit."

Jorris nodded with a smile.

"Oh, that would be great! Thank you, Berstil. This is great.... on the first day of exploration I've already met a new person!"

"You're really exited about everything, aren't you?"

The wind elemental walked past Jorris, picking up the rabbit and hanging it over his shoulder.

"Ohh.... and to have that for dinner.... is that meat? I've never had that before. In Volaciophus we gain our energy from the flames and the lava."

"Is that so? I guess that's how there are so many of you there."

Berstil walked past Jorris without stopping, and as Jorris noticed that the man held no intention to slow down for him, he took off running to catch up.

"Ah, wait up man! So cold! I want to ask you so many things."

"And I have a lot of questions for you as well. Let's wait till we get back to my shack, alright?"

Jorris nodded.

"Sounds good. I can't wait to learn all about the world!"

As the two walked, the darkness of the night surrounded them.

The area which they currently traversed was the mountain range known as 'The line between light and dark.'

On one side of the range was the part of the world that was eternally enveloped in darkness, where the light of the sun would never shine.

On the other side of the mountain was the very first place in which the sun's light would reach. Even if the days were short in this area, the people who lived here still understood the concept of day and night which was foreign to those from the land of darkness.

The two walked, eventually reaching a wooden shack in the middle of the forest. Berstil hung the rabbit up on a spit over a firepit, and invited Jorris to sit on a log next to him.

"Come over here. I have a whole lot of things to ask you, flame elemental."