章 198: The Outer Edges

My first objective, was to check whenever the Flaming Horses were edible or not. 'For that, I need to kill one first' I thought. My speed was alright, especially if I utilised the Natural Path skill, but I had no clue, how fast these horses could be. There was only one way to find out. I moved forwards, towards the group of Flaming Horses, that ran around in the distance.

It took me a while to get there, and the temperature was getting hotter. 'No wonder these animals need a lot of heat, in order to live. With the temperatures in this part of the Obsidian Mountains this high, I wonder how hot it must be next to the Volcano?' I thought. It was hot, but to me it was summer hot. My body was now much stronger, and I could take a bit of heat.

The horses noticed me a while ago, but didn't really care about me. 'Are they just like those Lava Sludges? They will not attack, until I do so? Let's see then' I thought and ran at the group. The horses gathered into a pack and waited for me. When I was about 50 metres away, the horses charged as well. They were much faster than me. 'No wonder, these creatures have four legs, they are also more adapt to running' I thought. The horses didn't have any special abilities, or at least, they didn't show any, as they simply charged at me. I also used my fists as weapons. I wanted to test out the strength of those creatures.

When we clashed, I didn't expect such a force behind their charge. The impact made me slide backwards a few good metres. The horse that I managed to punch, didn't survive. I somehow managed to stop their advancements, but I wasn't without any damage either. 'My balance is affected and my hand hurts like hell. Fortunately, it's not broken again' I thought, as I stumbled back and forth.

This charge seemed weird, but I had no time to analyze it, because the group advanced again. This time, I wasn't stupid enough to face them head on. I chose to throw my daggers. With the added strength, after I broke through the Half Step, my daggers almost created screeching sounds, when I released them. The few daggers, were aimed each for one horse.

Although those Flaming Horses were fast and had some strength, their bodies were not that tough. My daggers passed right through some of the horses, and killed them instantly. While some managed to survive, due to injuries, they lost all the speed. I finished off the remaining horses, and looked at the dead creatures.

'Their attack was weird. The charge was too strong, for their bodies to be able to sustain such damage. The horse I killed with my fist, was killed due to impact, but its head didn't explode or break badly. This must be their ability. They can somehow combine forces, and attack as one. This would explain, why they could stand their ground, even though one of them died. Besides, their bodies are not that though' I thought.

When I checked the carcases in details, I noticed that the creatures possessed no blood, or rather, it didn't look like blood. It was orange and hot. 'This is obviously not lava, but this blood is different as well. I will collect some for the future' I thought. The orange blood, was not that easy to handle. When I say hot, I mean very hot. I could start a fire, with that orange blood. Fortunately, the glass containers that I had, were quite resilient, and the heat didn't seem to affect my Storage Feather either.

I then cut open one of the horses. The meat inside, was not red, but deep grey. It was also very hot to touch, but it was not cooked. I cut out some parts of the meat as well, and stored it. 'I will have to check the orange blood and meat later. For now, I will try to go around that huge Volcano' I thought.

It took me awhile, to travel around the Volcano. When I finally got there, I understood why this place was called Obsidian Mountains. 'The name contains "Mountains", which is a plural form of that word, but so far, I could only see that huge Volcano' I thought. When I arrived at the other side of the Volcano, I saw other Volcanoes, but not as big as the first one. They were much smaller, and spewed out little or no lava.

'These Volcanoes should be much more approachable. Although it's still hot in here, the heat doesn't rise as much as it did next to the large Volcano' I thought. This would be the place, to start my proper exploration. I could see more Lava Sludges in that area, but also more Flaming Horses. Before, I moved any further, I took out my Beast Scriptures, and noted the new creatures inside.

'I almost forgot to do this' I thought to myself, as I added new entries. With that done, I walked towards the smallest Volcano, I could see. I didn't bother the Lava Sludges and simply walked past them. The Flaming Horses were a bit different. Although they wouldn't attack, when they saw me from far away, this would change, when I entered what they considered their territory.

I had to fight couple groups, in order to figure that out. 'They seem to consider an area of about 150 metres, as their own territory. As long as I don't cross that distance, I can just walk past them' I thought. A long walk later, I stood in front of the smallest Volcano. Although it was the smallest, it was nowhere near small. It was still the size of a decent mountain. There was no Lava spewing out of it, but the temperature in the area, was still hot.

When I examined the Volcano in greater details, I noticed some caves, littered around the Volcano. 'Those things are either natural, created when lava flowed out through them, and are simply old inactive channels. Or, they are not natural' I thought. The obvious question would be, if they are not natural, what made them? The other question would be, if they are natural, was there something inside?

These questions occupied my mind, and I was eager to find out. But to make sure, I called out toward Frosty. "Come out for a moment". Frosty changed to its corporeal form, and seemed a bit weak. I asked "Are you alright? If you are hungry, you should say so". Frosty shook its head, and pointed at the volcano, Lava and whatnot. I got the meaning. It was saying that the environment was too hot for it. I said "Take some Extract, maybe you will feel better".

Frosty didn't seem to have anything against that, and nodded its head. I gave it a small dose of an Extract, that contained the water element. Frosty drank that, but seemed a bit sceptical. What happened next, stunned me. Frosty's face changed, and it started spewing out water from its mouth. 'What the?' I thought, and asked "Are you alright?".

Frosty nodded and seemed quite excited. While spewing out water, it quickly jumped onto my shoulder and changed back into the tattoo. 'What was this all about? Whatever, I will just have a look. If it's too dangerous, I will leave' I thought and moved towards the caves.