Chapter 43

It erupted! It erupted! Over 8,300 words! A major eruption, I beg for your favorites! Gentlemen and ladies, this is the first major eruption of the new book. Please consider it, don't break my heart!

"Ah, it seems I have to go to the headquarters of the Mage Guild." Meng Qi sighed after a long while, looking in a certain direction.

"Sir, do you have something to do at the headquarters of the Mage Guild? Do you need me to...?" Meng Qi's male follower asked in confusion.

"No need. You two return to the imperial camp and protect Melif and Alice well." Meng Qi waved his hand, not caring about his subordinate's inquiry. These two followers had followed Meng Qi for over a hundred years, and they trusted each other deeply. They were not just master and follower but also partners, the kind who would entrust their backs to each other in life and death.

"Sir, is there any danger?" The female knight quickly asked.

"No, just a visit. I heard there are seers at the headquarters of the Mage Guild, I'll go and see." Meng Qi shook his head and replied.

"As for the war between the Roland Empire and the Ceylon Empire, you two should not get involved. After Cassi returns, let him stay in the mage tower. Without my permission, he is not allowed to come out." Meng Qi mentioned Cassi, and a hint of disappointment inadvertently showed on his face, clearly indicating that Cassi's performance fell far short of his expectations.

"Yes, Sir!" The two knights felt much more at ease after hearing Meng Qi's words and bowed in response.

"Let's go, I need to get there as soon as possible." Meng Qi waved his hand, and his mount flapped its wings, spiraling up and disappearing into the distance.

"Let's go! Sir must have some concerns!" The male knight looked at Meng Qi's disappearance and then said to the female knight.

"Hmph, everyone has concerns here. Let's go, Sir has entrusted the safety of the Melif couple to us." The female knight, after saying this, did not move at all, and her mount, the wind wolf, leaped a few times and disappeared into the dense forest.

"Ah! We've been busy for nothing these past few days." The six-headed griffin knight watched Meng Qi leave and then looked at the fifteen griffin knights watching them from a distance, sighing. He then ordered his griffin and disappeared into the sky.

Richard watched the griffin knight leave and sighed. The griffin knight beside him asked, "Captain, why didn't we stop them? This is a great opportunity!"

"Rubbish, if we had stopped them, the emperor would be happy, but Sir Meng Qi would be unhappy. Which one would you choose?" Richard asked irritably.

"Of course, I would choose not to stop them, but how do you explain it?" The knight hesitated and then asked in confusion.

"What are they here for? They are here to help Sir Meng Qi find someone. Do you think Sir Meng Qi would be happy if he knew?" Richard finished speaking and ordered his griffin to fly towards the Roland Empire camp.

"Captain, you're right. If I were in charge, I would have given the order. Being remembered by a Saint Mage is terrifying!" The griffin knight looked at Richard's back with admiration and muttered, "The emperor might be unhappy, but you can still serve in another empire. But being remembered by a Saint Mage is truly scary."

"Can't move anymore, are we safe now?" Mike plopped down on the ground, panting like a dead dog, and mumbled to Cook.

"Safe for now. Since we are underground, even if they break into the cave, they might not find us. Let's rest a bit!" Cook and his group had already passed many forks. In fact, it was quite easy to determine if there was a dead end in the underground river because there was air flow, and they were all drenched, making it easy to discern directions. Of course, it was all thanks to Cook, while the others were novices in this regard.

"Sir, be careful." Cook placed Loli on a dry spot in the cave. Although there was still a stream in the middle of the cave, it was not very large, and there were dry areas on both sides.

"Um!" Loli felt a strange sensation, as this was the first time she had been held by a strange man for over two hours. Initially, it was just about escaping, but later, Loli gradually became aware, and with her body drenched, a peculiar feeling arose in her heart.

"Mi Qi, how are you, are you tired?" To Loli's surprise, as soon as Cook put her down, he went to check on Mi Qi.

"Not tired, but a bit hungry." Mi Qi shook her head with a strange expression. Being a girl, she was more sensitive in certain aspects.

"Alright, I'll go find some food." Cook quickly said after hearing Mi Qi's words.

"But it's so dark down here, is there any food?" Mi Qi looked around the pitch-black surroundings and asked doubtfully.

"Hehe, Mi Qi, you don't know, life is everywhere." Cook said, taking off his leather hunter's helmet and rummaging inside. He then took out a gemstone wrapped in animal skin, similar to the glowing stone in Mi Qi's hand.

"Wow!" Everyone who saw this was surprised, as no one knew Cook had this item.

"The last one, the last one." Cook, seeing the strange looks from the four people and the direct gaze of Big Mouth and Little Bad, quickly said.

Cook left Kaka behind, while Big Mouth and Little Bad followed him. Cook held a magical knife and followed the stream upstream, both exploring the path and looking for food. Kaka had mentioned a large pond ahead, which was fortunate since Kaka, being a spider, was accustomed to living in the dark. Otherwise, this group would not have been able to travel so far so smoothly, as the underground river was quite complex.

"Hey, why is it getting warmer? Could it be a hot spring?" Cook felt a warm sensation after turning a large bend and said so, with Little Bad nodding vigorously.

"Um, the water here is indeed warmer than before. No wonder the cave has such strong winds. The hot air rises, and the cold air is drawn in from below." Cook figured out why the underground river, though not large, had such strong winds.

"This Kaka is fast. It's been almost half an hour, and we haven't arrived yet. Hey, speak of the devil, if he had mentioned it earlier, we would have arrived sooner." Cook muttered as the surrounding light suddenly spread out. He saw only darkness around him, and the water on the ground was no longer in the shape of a stream but the edge of a lake. Cook slowly squatted down and touched the water, finding it not very hot, indicating that the hot spring source here was not large.

Cook walked around the underground lake and found it to be quite large, but not excessively so, probably a few square kilometers. Most importantly, he discovered some fish in the lake, the largest being only the size of a thumb, with no scales and a large head and small body. However, there were quite a few of them, which made Cook very happy.

"Wow, this is coal, this world has coal too?" Cook then made a surprising discovery. At the edge of the lake, he found a black rock. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be coal, solving the fuel problem.

"Cook, how is it?" When Cook returned, the first to ask was Loli.

"Just hold on a bit longer, half an hour's journey, there's fuel and food there." Cook quickly replied.

"Alright! My stomach is already empty. Boss, I'll go ahead." Mike jumped up and said loudly.

"Cough, let's go together. If we take a wrong turn here, it might... ." Cook quickly said.

"Alright, let's go, Big Gray!" Mike kicked Big Gray and shouted loudly.

"Shut up, some places can't be shouted at." Cook quickly glared at Mike, not in a good mood, because in the underground, sound waves often have adverse effects, and sometimes hearing is more useful than sight in the underground caves.

"Bad news, she's running a fever." At this moment, Mi Qi pointed at Kangknie.

"Running a fever, this is troublesome. Let's hurry, everyone!" Cook had no other choice but to reach the destination first.

Cook spent half an hour on the journey, but this group took over an hour. Of course, Loli was still carried by Cook, while Kangknie was barely supported by Mi Qi. Upon reaching the destination, Cook first placed the two glowing gems on the side and began to build a simple coal-burning stove with stones and some soil.

"Cook, what are you doing?" Loli asked from the side.

"Sir, this is what they use in the countryside to cook. Sir, can you still cast a Fireball spell? Not too big, just enough to light this." Cook quickly built the stove and placed the black coal inside, then asked Loli.

"Right now, I can cast a Fireball spell at a higher level, so my mental energy is a bit drained. But lighting this shouldn't be a problem. But can these stones burn?" Loli asked in confusion.

"Um, no problem, no problem. Sir, just give it a try." Cook quickly nodded.

"Small Flame Spell!" Loli almost didn't chant the spell, just said three words, and a finger-sized orange flame attached to the black rock.

"Done! Done! With this fire, our safety here has increased significantly." Cook watched the coal crackle and burn, and a relaxed smile appeared on his face.

"Really, it can burn?" Mi Qi, Mike, the dazed Kangknie, and Loli all looked curiously at the black rock. After the coal started burning, Cook lit two more fires on either side of the makeshift camp, making the surroundings visible for at least a hundred meters.

Cook then used his fishing skills to catch many small fish and roasted them directly over the burning coal. The food crisis was temporarily resolved, but Cook was still worried. After finishing the last roasted fish, he whispered something in Loli's ear, and Loli's expression turned grim.

"Sir, you need to think carefully." Cook, seeing Loli's expression, couldn't help but say again.

"Ah, take a look around. If not, just do as you said." Loli sighed and said.

"Sir, there might be a way to treat Kangknie's condition." Cook, hearing Loli's words, nodded silently and then said again.

"What way? I don't have any healing potions left." Loli stared intently at Cook and said.

"That's the hot spring source over there. The nearby water is very hot but won't harm the skin. If we put her in and let her soak for a few hours, she should get better." Cook pointed to a distant spot.

"That's good, I was thinking of taking a bath too." Loli felt itchy all over when she heard this and looked at her dirty clothes.

"But your safety, who knows if there's any danger in the water?" Cook was hesitant.

"Hehe, you can send Kaka to keep watch." Loli said with a smile.

"Alright, we can also let Mi Qi go with her to wash the clothes." Cook said seriously.

"Actually, there's another way. You can try to meditate hard and aim to cast a healing spell soon. The wood element healing spell is even more effective than the light element." Loli nodded and said.

"But, is there wood element magic in the air here?" Cook looked around and asked in surprise.

"Hehe, I've already prepared it for you. This is a wood element magic core. Now, take it and meditate, aiming to cast a spell soon. By the way, martial arts are also about absorbing elements, just in a different way. In fact, your situation is best suited for a magic warrior, but I'm not very familiar with magic warriors." Loli took out a small, light green magic core from her mage robe and handed it to Cook.

"Magic warrior, so not a hunter anymore?" Cook asked in surprise.

"Magic warrior is just a title. A magic warrior can be a warrior, a thief, a hunter, or an archer. However, the lineage of magic warriors is very secretive and unknown to outsiders." Loli explained patiently.

"Oh! Then, Sir, let's go. I'll lead you. The two gems are for you, and Big Mouth will also keep watch." Cook said and helped Loli up.

When Mi Qi had helped Loli and Kangknie wash in a large stalactite behind the underground lake, Cook left Big Mouth there. Of course, Kaka had already gone over. Listening to the sounds of the three women bathing, Cook began to envy Big Mouth a bit.

After returning, Cook instructed Mike not to disturb him, but found that Mike was already sound asleep, clearly exhausted. Cook asked Little Bad to keep watch and to look after the little gray bear, which was still not opening its eyes but had calmed down after eating several small fish that Cook had cleaned. Cook didn't know if the little gray bear would survive, and Big Gray had gone with the three women to bathe.

Cook sat down and tried to clear his mind, as Mi Qi had said, his mental energy should be able to barely see the elements in the air. Cook tried for a while but saw nothing but darkness. He then took out the wood element magic core. Loli had instructed that if he couldn't sense anything the first time, he should place the magic core tightly on his forehead, where magic power is stored and elements are absorbed.

"Damn!" As soon as Cook placed the magic core tightly on his forehead and tried to meditate, he suddenly saw a green world, almost dropping the magic core in surprise.

Cook then steadied his breathing and placed the magic core tightly on his forehead again. This time, he was prepared and wasn't startled by the green world. He was amazed by the world of countless green light points before him.

"Grab?" Meditation also involves using mental energy to grab magic elements. Sensing is one thing, but grabbing is another.

Cook focused his attention on a magic element, but to his frustration, these elements moved slightly, making it difficult to focus. Cook didn't know that the movement of magic elements in the air was even greater.

Cook finally locked onto a wood element with his mental energy and concentrated hard, like catching a fish. Mental energy is the net, and the magic element is the fish. Once the element is locked, pulling it back is easy.

Finally, the gray mist in Cook's forehead turned into a bright green light point, moving back and forth. Cook knew this wasn't his magic power yet; some elements would disappear, and the remaining elements would become his magic power.

With the first success, the subsequent process became easier. Cook no longer satisfied with grabbing one at a time, he started grabbing two or three at once. Even so, he felt that there were still many wood elements in the magic core.

"Is