Book 11: Chapter 4: Magma Overlord

“If it’s a cult, our plan needs to change!” Qin Lun said cautiously. “Let me investigate this underground stronghold first.”

They originally planned for Hill and Rand to infiltrate the carriage house and create chaos to draw attention, so Qin Lun could return to the surface from underground. In this regard, Rand, who had a second-order class change as “Magma Overlord,” had a natural advantage.

Firecracker Rand had the least cooperation with the other serial killers. Before he seriously considered joining Qin Lun’s small team, the others knew very little about his profession. They only learned more information later.

So-called unconventional paths referred to people like Rand. Because he was unsociable early on and didn’t have as many sources of information as Qin Lun and the others, he actually changed his initial class once.

Originally, before Qin Lun experienced the Hunter World, Rand had changed his class to a fire mage. However, before Firecracker became an apostle, he was a fire chief, physically strong and more like a warrior, unused to hiding behind the battlefield casting spells.

Thus, the combat profession of fire mage didn’t suit him. If things continued that way, he certainly couldn’t progress far on the mage path.

However, in the Hunter World, Rand got a great opportunity to revise his combat profession—a Side Mission given by Shattered Starry Sky: to seize the Zoroastrian relic, the Ahura Mazda Bronze Statue.

The Ahura Mazda Bronze Statue was precisely a hidden profession credential hinted at by Shattered Starry Sky. Combined with the Nen Ability Rand obtained in the Hunter World, he acquired an initial class called “Fire Manipulator.”

This combat profession was somewhat similar to the Bomb Devil in the Hunter World. It allowed him to use skills to create explosives and give the bombs a weak consciousness, enabling remote control.

The “Fire Manipulator” profession limited the types of fire magic, but it gave Rand a foundation to practice both magic and martial arts, better suiting his temperament. This was also the main reason why, out of gratitude, Rand gave Qin Lun a pair of Scarlet Eyes and an Accompany Card.

When Rand advanced to the second order, he transformed more towards the warrior system, basically not improving the magic skills from his fire mage days. His new combat profession was called “Magma Overlord.”

This second-order profession was extremely niche. It could be said that aside from fire-elemental Sapient Races, almost no one in Shattered Starry Sky changed to this profession. Indeed, it was only after Rand obtained the fire spirit bloodline that he could advance to “Magma Overlord.”

This profession transformed his fire-based abilities from Shattered Starry Sky into a bloodline talent. Rand no longer sensed and manipulated fire elements like a magic-system profession; he became a fire spirit warrior capable of constructing fire elements and magma out of thin air.

Ordinary warriors, like martial artists, fighters, and boxers such as Kelly, mostly used aura-based martial techniques. However, the Magma Overlord abandoned the aura system, replacing it with high-temperature magma, becoming an extremely unconventional magic-martial hybrid.

Qin Lun hadn’t witnessed Rand’s combat, but according to Hansen and Hill, who teamed up with Firecracker in the last Quest World, that guy’s combat power was very strong, with Explosive Power ranking first among the five serial killers.

Of course, this profession had two flaws. One was that the magma ability was limited by Rand’s own Mana Value, making it unsuitable for prolonged battles. The other was that the magma ability was constrained by the combat environment; he couldn’t fight in places with strong water elements, such as rivers, lakes, oceans, etc.

Naturally, if Rand could continue to advance and gain abilities similar to the Legendary Domain, the limitations of the combat environment on him would greatly diminish.

“Alright, be careful!” Hill and Rand quickly agreed.

The Toril World had many pantheons with well-defined divine roles, such as the elves’ Seldarine pantheon, the Underdark’s Dark Seldarine pantheon, the humans’ Faerûn pantheon (also called the Light pantheon), the dwarves’ Moradin pantheon, etc.

Besides these major pantheons with many deities, there were also the Zandalari pantheon worshipped by trolls and Lizardfolk, the storm pantheon revered by ocean and island creatures, the Fury pantheon, and the Ocean pantheon.

Additionally, there were scattered deities outside the main pantheons, like the Maiden of Pain, the God of Suffering, the God of Shadows, the God of Ascetics, the God of Thieves, and the primitive Druid sects, among others.

This world was too vast, with too many deities. Some evil gods and their fanatical followers possessed unbelievable divine spells and abilities.

The strength of Qin Lun’s trio wasn’t bad, but after all, they hadn’t even reached High Rank. Rashly entering the nest of some evil god’s church was really not a wise choice, so they naturally had to be extremely cautious.

Thinking of this, Qin Lun quietly retreated and climbed back down the ladder. After moving far away from the Antanari Chamber’s underground stronghold, he came to a quiet corner.

Qin Lun raised his hand and snapped his fingers. A Hexagram Array with complex patterns suddenly lit up in the passage. A shadowy figure appeared at the center of the array. It seemed to have just woken from sleep, warily lifting its head. Its amber eyes looked at Qin Lun, then it nimbly stepped on the array and landed silently before the young man.

The shadowy figure was none other than Venus, the high-rank magical beast Qin Lun had contracted during his last visit to the Toril World—a seventh-order Shadow Gale Panther.

Originally a physical creature, the Shadow Gale Panther had become a law-based entity after being turned into a summoned pet. All summoned creatures, when not following their master’s commands, existed as spiritual forms in a summoning plane, which was also an independent pet paradise.

Summoned creatures lived, hunted, and fed in the summoning plane; they weren’t always dormant. This was why some summoned creatures advanced on their own after a period of time. However, Venus was already a high-rank mature specimen, and unless it encountered special opportunities, it was unlikely to advance further.

After appearing, Venus sniffed, and its feline face showed a human-like expression of disgust, clearly disliking the foul smell of the sewer environment.

“Alright, it’s rare to be back in your hometown; don’t be moody. We’ll go out soon!” Qin Lun crouched down, patted the big cat’s head, and pointed forward.

Venus let out a low growl, crouched, and scurried up the ladder, reaching the upper water channel in a few moves. Its large yet agile body made no sound during this process, quickly blending into the darkness and disappearing at the end of the passage.

The Shadow Gale Panther possessed a shadow talent, and its stealth ability was no less than that of a Rogue, making it well-suited for reconnaissance in such an environment. After releasing Venus, Qin Lun activated his Staring Aura again and followed behind the summoned beast.

Venus could avoid guards but couldn’t detect traps and mechanisms on its own. Qin Lun needed to find the magic traps set up by the enemy in the stronghold.

Through Venus’s scouting, Qin Lun avoided several patrols along the way. A short while later, the man and the beast approached the central part of the chamber’s stronghold.

Qin Lun’s earlier judgment was correct. The area ahead was indeed no longer a straightforward sewer but a hidden stronghold built between the sewer and the ground structures.

The structure of this stronghold resembled a circular maze with large rings enclosing smaller ones. Fortunately, the overall area wasn’t too large, so Qin Lun wouldn’t get lost.

However, the closer he got to the center of the stronghold, the higher his alertness became. If the threat he felt were turned into bells, his mind would surely be filled with loud alarm bells now.

Along the way, the patrol guards that Venus bypassed didn’t seem very powerful to Qin Lun. But the stronghold was consistently shrouded in an ominous, evil aura, like a dark castle hidden in thick fog, making him instinctively sense danger.

By this point, Qin Lun could confirm that the Antanari Chamber wasn’t just a smuggling chamber on the surface but a genuine chaotic-evil organization. However, whether it was a cult organization, he couldn’t yet determine as he hadn’t observed any sacrificial items.

“No way forward!” When Venus conveyed an obscure thought, Qin Lun realized they couldn’t infiltrate further ahead.

At the corner of this passage, there were two branching paths. The Shadow Gale Panther had already scouted both. The ends of both branches had guards stationed, not patrolling ones. Due to limited vision, Venus couldn’t see what was behind the guards, nor did it know which branch had a secret passage leading to the surface.

The guarded passage entrances were relatively narrow, and Venus’s size made it impossible to slip past. At this moment, Qin Lun couldn’t retreat either, or he might run into the returning patrols.

“I have to gamble!” Qin Lun’s eyes flashed sharply. A Weapon Case resembling a Medical Kit, covered in a layer of pure white frost, quietly appeared before him.

As soon as the Weapon Case appeared, the temperature in the passage dropped slightly. Qin Lun reached out, grabbed the handle of the “Frostwind Chaser Weapon Case,” and gave it a sharp shake. The case transformed into pieces of metal feather-like panels, spreading open at both ends like a peacock displaying its tail, forming a dark green ice bow.

Since the Ayala Weapon Casket transformed into the Frostwind Chaser Weapon Case, the World Tree Longbow also underwent some changes in appearance. The bow body was mainly composed of intertwined ancient dark green World Tree vines. The bow limbs were studded with feather-shaped metal plates, resembling the spread wings of an eagle.

Because the dominant Artifact Spirit of the World Tree Longbow changed from the Dryad Ayala to the Frostwind Chaser’s great frost spirit. Thus, the entire longbow gained an ice attribute and was covered in a layer of crystalline frost.

Qin Lun turned his palm, his right thumb wearing a ring made from the World Tree’s heart. Between his index, middle, and ring fingers, he held two silver Fine Iron Long Arrows—these were powerful magic Mithril Arrows.

Since they had to force their way through, the faster the action, the better. Ideally, he would break through and escape before the enemy could react.

After sending a message to Hill and Rand, Qin Lun took a deep breath. He drew the World Tree Longbow into a full moon shape, simultaneously nocking two magic Mithril Arrows. He aimed at the stone wall of the passage before him at an angle close to thirty degrees. Simultaneously, a Yin-Yang Fish Pattern intertwined with icy flames and ancient vines appeared in his left eye.

“Twang!” With a light sound from the bowstring, two white lights flashed and disappeared in the passage. Two finger-width holes quietly appeared in the stone wall before Qin Lun. Crushed stone powder from the Mithril Arrows trickled down from the holes.