Master Of None

"Whoa there! Keep calm. Let the guests off and you can go and play in the lava for a while!" The tamers that helped the party off of the back of the lava diving bats were struggling to calm them. They were too happy to be home and wanted to rush off toward the lava already.

Walker looked around. He had watched as the landscape changed below them while holding on to the bats. The fields gave way to mountains and the mountains to rolling hills of lava spread out between large volcanoes. The height they were at allowed the party to see that they could potentially pass through this area and back to the oceans.

The tamer's outpost was much larger than Elise had made it sound. There were sturdy stone buildings with many tamers moving around to prepare food ton delivery or even training their tamed beasts. It was a fire elemental monster paradise.

Even the fact that the temperature was high seemed to be forgotten. The tamer's around had specialized gear that allowed them to further resist the heat. The entire party had assumed that they would encounter a bunch of tough and sweating tamers. The reality was different though, some appeared as if they were basking in a cool harvest breeze.

"This place is very interesting. I have already seen multiple tamed monsters that I have never imagined. But look, they also have a building to breaking down hunted monsters." Alma pointed out the large eel monster being broken down outside and hauled within the building. Not many would be able to hunt such a monster.

"I'm just glad we aren't melting in the what. The bracelets and the necklaces are perfect. Well, Midnight seems more comfortable without them though." Gil pointed out M midnight who was rolling in the small hot stones on the ground. She seemed to have found love in life. It was warmer than the fireplace, the perfect napping place for any dragon with even the smallest fire elemental affinity.

"Come on. Let's get out of the way. We should get everything situated. I have a map so we can better prepare our routes after asking around about current events." Walker knew that a map was just a map. He wouldn't know of any changes in the landscape or dangerous monsters without asking the tamers that lived here.

"Did I hear you right? You want to catch up on what's going on? That's easy. Check the board over there. It has things to watch out for and closed trails. The lava flow changes throughout the day so some are more recently cleared or blocked." The guidance from the tamer handling the lava diving bats was very welcome. Everyone said their thank you's to him before following the advice.

"It says there is a lava flow here, two pits here, and lava slimes here." Gil was checking everything over comparing to the planned pathways that he and Alma had decided to take. "We should be safe overall. Nothing too crazy."

"That's good for you. The pathways we planned to take are a little more of a mess." Walker saw that two routes he had chosen were covered in a lava flow.

"Can't you use your skills to make the pathways safer? I bet you can solidify the lava by cooling it in to stone." Gil tried to be helpful but knew it was a longshot.

"I don't want to ruin the environment. Plus, I don't know what monsters are hiding away in the lava. If I cool it I could anger them and we could be sitting targets for them." Walker knew that the monsters within the lava would be tough to handle. On top of that, they were also monsters that the group was not used to hunting.

"Well, Onyx and I will stay nearby here. We are after things that grow near lava and hot places but nothing too dangerous." Remey and Onyx left the rest of the group behind. They seemed too driven to stop for an explanation.

"It's not just me that thinks it's a little odd that Remey and Onyx are suddenly so close." Su felt that this was out of the blue.

"I agree, but Onyx seems to feel very driven by their goals. Whatever they need, Remey and she are working together so I will support it." Walker didn't have any ill will for this. He liked that Onyx was getting more independent and that Remey was not locked in an office somewhere.

"Midnight, what are you thinking? Want to skirt around these areas and push toward the volcanoes? I doubt we will miss the fire dragon villages." Walker had a general idea of where the fire dragon villages were, he would be able to sniff it out with Midnight once they were closer.

The approving huff from Midnight made them all nod and prepare to separate. "Wait! I forgot to give everyone this. These are dried jing tree bark. It's good to chew on when in these places. The fumes from burning rocks can be toxic and this counters them." Remey rushed over and handed out sticks of the dried jing tree bark to everyone. "Alright, now I am leaving!" Remey was gone again.

"Huh, I didn't even think that would be a problem." Gil was a little shocked. Even Alma was kicking herself since she had forgotten such an important fact.

"Remey came through on this. I think we would have been in rough shape. I didn't do enough research." Walker felt he had missed something important.

"She cares a lot and knows better about things like this. Herbs that grow here need to tolerate the toxic fumes too. Remey is the best at learning such things." Su reassured Walker and made a mental note to thank Remey. With this, they were all ready to split off.

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