Magu examined the mark. Initially, its gaze was purely curious, but soon, its expression turned solemn, and its eyes grew increasingly profound.
As one of the longest-living fire lives in this region, Magu had witnessed many types of flames.
Yet in its memory, none of those varied flames had an energy level that surpassed this Flame Mark.
This is undoubtedly a mark left by a being far more powerful than all elemental life in the Region of Fire.
Just the mark alone was enough to astonish Magu. But what truly made Magu’s heart tremble was the faint fluctuation of flame within the mark. Though this fluctuation was so weak it was nearly imperceptible, it was a power beyond Magu’s imagination... like that of the ancestor of flames, powerful, ancient, and eternal.
"Teacher, did you sense it too? I can’t feel it anymore now, but earlier in the World’s Harmony, the sensation was particularly clear, and I felt very close to it..." said Dangross beside him, a look of fascination and yearning in its eyes.
Although Magu wasn’t certain what that fiery power was, it began to understand why the Muir of Magic Fire treated Angel with such courtesy.
Without being in the World’s Harmony now, it had sensed that power. When the Muir of Magic Fire met Angel, it was during the climax of the World’s Harmony, so the power fluctuations were undoubtedly more evident.
Magu was stunned for a while before regaining composure, taking a deep breath: "Mr. Pat, can you tell me what this power really is?"
"Teacher, you don’t know either?" Dangross questioned in surprise; it had wanted to ask Teacher Magu, only to find Teacher Magu’s reaction was the same as the New King’s?
Angel’s response was the same as what he told the Muir of Magic Fire, only informing of Odeclass’s existence. As for the Primeval Flame, Angel remained tight-lipped.
Magu felt regret over this, but it also understood that to make Angel speak, it might require force. And if Angel dared to step inside him, it meant he had a trump card. Going down the forced route might backfire.
Ultimately, Magu could only, like the Muir of Magic Fire, keep the regret in its heart, watching as Angel floated away.
...
Upon returning to the shore, Angel did not immediately choose to leave the Region of Fire.
He planned to stay a few more days to see if he could persuade a fire elemental creature to become a companion. After all, it’s rare to have a relatively friendly relationship with a fire monarch here; going to other domains might not be so fortuitous.
Moreover, compared to other elemental creatures, Angel had the highest expectations for fire elemental creatures, as fire lives could greatly aid him in alchemy.
However, as a human, and given his previous battles with powerful elemental creatures like Guluda, elemental creatures witnessing those scenes were all avoiding him; hence, persuasion was quite difficult.
But there was still a way.
Angel gazed at Dangross, who was following behind.
Dangross was currently hugging a frog-shaped elemental sprite, rubbing vigorously. It looked like it was savoring the frog, but in fact, it was implanting its fire into the frog’s body, recruiting a subordinate.
Once Dangross let the fire frog go, Angel finally spoke: "Congratulations, you’ve gained another subordinate."
Dangross proudly raised its head: "This fire frog is the young form of a Traveling Frog. In a few days, it will travel and bring me good things."
Angel: "...Bringing you postcards?"
"Gems! Gems! The Traveling Frog loves collecting various gems. By then, I can lay gems all over my room floor, just like Little Inba paves marble slabs in its room; it will surely be beautiful!"
Dangross was already envisioning a beautiful future, while Angel pondered, feeling his chin: "This fire frog sounds good, might as well be called Treasure-hunting Frog. But its flame energy is a bit lacking... Still, if there are no other options, it’s worth persuading."
After a long time, Dangross was the first to come back to his senses: "Mr. Pat, where do you plan to go next? If you’re not planning to leave, why not go to Teacher Magu’s place, there are many beautiful rooms there."
Angel: "No, I’m human, after all, not well-suited for high-temperature environments. You’re familiar with this place, help me find a more secluded spot; I’ll stay for a few days and then leave."
Dangross, not questioning further, nodded: "Okay, I know a place where the temperature is relatively low, and there are very few other fire lives."
While Dangross was leading Angel to a temporary resting place, Angel took the opportunity to say: "Didn’t you say before that you’d let me see your subordinates if given a chance?"
Dangross: "Huh?"
"Isn’t this a good opportunity now? Since I’ll be resting for a few days, why not let me meet those hundreds of subordinates of yours?"
Upon reaching the resting spot, a spirited Dangross hurriedly left.
Under Angel’s persuasion, Dangross decided, in a bid to showcase its prowess as a "big brother," to summon all its subordinates to meet Angel. However, its subordinates were too scattered, requiring them to be gathered one by one.
After Dangross left, Angel surveyed the temporary resting place.
He had merely come up with the excuse of "unaccustomed to high-temperature environments" offhandedly, not expecting Dangross to actually lead him to a much cooler place.
Now, even at the entrance of a small hill cave, Angel felt the temperature drop to that of a mild winter.
Deeper into the cave, the temperature dropped further, and even flecks of frost appeared on either side.
The reason for such a low-temperature spot in the Region of Fire was because this was once the territory of an ice flame creature.
Ice Flame, a very peculiar type of flame. Although it encompassed extremely contradictory attributes, as long as it was primarily flame, it’s considered part of the flame family.
Just like that magma-attribute flame whale Guluda, mixed with earth elements, but mainly high-temperature fire, it’s still a fire life.
Yet, creatures in the Region of Fire love high temperatures, so this area isn’t favored by fire lives, and very few other fire lives venture here.
According to Dangross, the ice flame creature was very proud and felt ostracized for not having other elemental creatures near it; it later left the Region of Fire, whereabouts unknown.
Though it left, this cave has been preserved.
Angel took a tour inside the cave. The innermost temperature already compared to the cold winters of the Pamiji Plateau, with even ice-made objects appearing.
Presumably, these were left by the ice flame creature.
Even though the ice flame creature is gone and may never return, this was its home, after all. Angel didn’t stay deep inside for long and eventually returned to the cave entrance.
Although it was empty, the temperature here was much more agreeable.
Angel set up an illusionary realm house and settled in.