Bear School Astartes

The reason it was confirmed to be at sea was because, aside from the booming sound of the volcanic eruption, Lann also heard the roaring waves crashing against rocks.

But these waves... aren’t they a bit too wild?

The smoke was so heavy that Lann couldn’t even tell if it was daytime or nighttime in this world now.

Suddenly, the black rocky ground underfoot shook violently. Lann felt his footing give way, and then, under the protection of the Quen Rune, he performed a defensive roll all the way to the edge of the volcano.

Where he originally stood, a chunk of lava the size of an adult smashed onto the black rocky ground.

The lava’s texture was like gelatin, but the high temperature caused the air around it to distort, and it emitted a high-energy red glow, like the molten iron in a blacksmith’s furnace.

A large mass of lava, under the influence of gravity, was collapsing into a large puddle.

During this process, its heat began to dissipate, and its fiery red glow gradually dimmed, turned black, becoming a new layer of black rocky ground.

Lann twitched at the corner of his eye as he watched this scene, then glanced elsewhere.

The surging waves were crashing against the volcano fiercely, and even from the perspective of earthquakes caused by volcanic eruptions, these waves were unusually aggressive.

”...That’s not the waves...”

Lann slightly opened his mouth, looking at the abnormal movement of seawater at the foot of the ’volcano’.

The surging waves were not caused by the movement of seawater; instead, it was more like... someone walking in water, causing waves because of their movements!

”This volcano is ’alive’?!”

About half a minute after stepping onto the ’volcano’ of the new world, Lann finally confirmed: he seemed to have landed on something extraordinary.

In fact, Mentos had already speculated this in the environmental analysis, but both the biological intelligence and Lann himself thought the possibility was low, hence the ranking order didn’t prioritize it.

As if to prove Lann’s point, from somewhere atop the ’volcano’, a roar, vast like muffled thunder, emerged, undistinguishable from any specific location.

”Woo~~”

The body structure of the gigantic creature allowed its voice to resonate within itself, possessing an echo-like ethereal, distant, and unfathomable feeling.

”Hey!!!”

Just as Lann was marveling at the existence of such an extraordinary creature, a woman’s voice, anxious yet tinged with excitement, shouted from another obsidian rock face of the ’living volcano’.

Lann turned his head to look.

The distance wasn’t far; excluding the height difference and the ravine between, it was only about twenty meters in a straight line.

Although the ’living volcano’s’ high heat distorted the air, and the dark red lava dazzled the eyes, with rolling black smoke in between.

But the Demon Hunter’s vision still allowed Lann to see clearly.

Over there were actually two people.

A female who shouted, looking young, in her early twenties.

Wearing an earthy yellow outfit that seemed well suited for outdoor activities. She carried a very large hardcover book slung across like a shoulder bag and wore a special observation telescope on her head.

The telescope had three lenses of different lengths, with base rotation to switch focal lengths, should be equipment for researchers or observers.

The other was a man dressed in simple leather hunting attire, just gesturing towards this side behind the woman, seemingly enthusiastic too.

”Quickly come here! We have to get to the top of the Molten Mountain Dragon’s head to escape!”

Molten Mountain Dragon... is that the name of this incredible creature?

In an unfamiliar place, and considering the ’ground’ itself was a giant creature, Lann was very receptive to the advice from this girl who seemed knowledgeable.

He pressed on his shoulder, focused his gaze in the direction of the two.

”To be safe, Mentos, plan a route.”

This ’living volcano’ was constantly moving, and the lava was ceaselessly being ejected.

Some obsidian rocks looked stable one second, and the next second were crushed, with lava beneath swiftly engulfing the area.

Mentos rapidly evaluated the safety of the route, and finally marked it on Lann’s retina with green arrows on the ground.

Almost simultaneously, Lann’s body moved.

The Grandmaster Bear School Armor made even the sound of its components colliding heavy.

But for Lann’s enhanced muscles and bones, the burden felt well-suited.

He swiftly traversed the ground spewing lava, then dodged the falling lava chunks from the sky.

On the back of the Molten Mountain Dragon, he became a shadowy figure.

Only his hair, like melting silver, still stood out under the black smoke and dark red light.

”What amazing agility! Partner, did you see that?”

The girl in the earthy yellow hunting outfit exclaimed, patting the boy next to her.

”The high-temperature secretion from the Molten Mountain Dragon’s eruption hasn’t even touched his armor!”

They were now standing on a steep platform with a height difference close to seven meters.

And Lann had already arrived beneath the platform.

The rocks solidified and formed from cooling magma left many grooves and cracks during solidification.

So if one’s arm strength and coordination were good enough, they could climb up in a rock-climbing manner.

The two people initially thought Lann would take at least ten seconds to climb the more than seven-meter-high rock wall, despite his tall stature.

After all, he was clad in armor.

So the male among them squatted, preparing to pull Lann up over the last distance.

But to their amazed eyes...

”Tap, tap, swoosh!”

The tall and robust man seemed to merely sprint on the rock wall and lightly stepped twice, then swiftly leaped up!

”Hello, how do we proceed now?”

After coming up, Lann’s breath was steady, without panting.

”Oh...”

The two looked at Lann’s stature and then his face and were visibly startled.

But it seemed they weren’t much concerned with appearances, so it was only that.

”Hello to you too. Come quickly with me.”

The girl snapped back from staring at Lann’s appearance and promptly greeted him, then jogged ahead to lead the way.

Although the three were now atop a erupting ’living volcano’, Lann felt the excitement in this girl’s demeanor likely exceeded her fear by several times.

... She’s so brave!

”I’m Aibo, and he’s Wende. Don’t mind his silence now; that’s just because his throat was irritated by the Molten Mountain Dragon’s smoke earlier, not out of rudeness!”

While following Aibo at a jog, Lann and Wende politely smiled at each other, shook hands, introducing themselves to each other.