Angele watched on as the wizard walked to him, then he glanced at the surrounding people.
"Well, I will leave things to you in dealing with the wizard we have captured. Let us just mind our own business," he ordered.
"All right." Nodding in response, Liv retrieved a few crystal bones from her pouch. She formed a large circle as she placed the bones on the ground.
Hakeem drew his sword and walked to the side in order to make sure that no one was spying on their group.
The female captain was waiting for her subordinates to report back. She immediately raised her head upon receiving the report.
"We have successfully captured Flame Scorpions, master Angele."
"Bring them here." Angele slightly nodded.
"Yes."
The female captain then passed on the message to her subordinates and deactivated the communication rune afterward.
"They will be here in ten minutes." She looked at Angele.
Angele stood by the deep pit as he patiently waited for their arrival.
The chilling wind at the peak of the mountain continuously blew across his long black robe, but the intense heatwaves coming from the river never stopped either.
The experience was similar to being in an open-air hot spring during winter.
The subordinate wizards returned precisely ten minutes after, coming from three different directions. The Flame Scorpions they had captured had all been tied up with glowing red ropes.
Meanwhile, one of them was carrying two burnt corpses of human-like shape.
They bowed to Angele altogether when they arrived.
"Master, we have captured a total of eleven Flame Scorpions. Please take a look," one of the black robes reported.
After responding with a nod, Angele walked to these scorpions, crouching as he began to inspect their shells.
These Flame Scorpions looked identical to a typical red scorpion. However, it was much larger and better-looking. Its shell looked similar to a neat set of red metal armor.
They were neither struggling nor moving in the slightest bit, as it seemed as if their strength had been sapped by the red ropes.
Angele pressed on the shell of one with a certain amount of force; it was harder than he thought. His strength should be great, yet he failed to cause the shell to crack with his bare hand.
Furthermore, when he approached these scorpions, he could smell a strange fragrance in the air.
The subordinate wizards had all the scorpions lined up in front of Angele. Each of them was more than one and a half meters long.
"Wake them up." Angele stood up.
"By all means." One wizard stepped forth and took out a tiny black bottle filled with gray dust, then he slowly sprinkled the dust over the scorpions.
The dust’s stench was that of chili powder’s.
After several seconds, the Flame Scorpions started moving around again.
"Hiss…Hisssss…" They began making noises right after being awoken.
"Are they sentient?" Angele creased his forehead upon asking.
"They should not be but perhaps they have their own means of communication," Liv explained.
"Well, do any of you knows how to communicate with them?" Angele trailed his eyes over his surroundings.
No one answered. Wizards of the Watchers were all elites. None of them would stoop so low just to learn how to communicate with low-level creatures. For them, learning the language used by these low-level creatures was but a waste of time and effort.
"I am sorry, but…" Hakeem stepped forward and spoke with a voice filled with contempt, "since we are wizards, those creatures are not worth our time. I would rather spend the time communicating with a mortal."
"Fine." Angele nodded. "Let me just slay them and then…"
"Wait!" A weak male voice came interrupting from one side.
The man’s voice drew everyone’s attention.
It belonged to the formerly unconscious wizard that had been brought back by one of the Watchers.
He was wearing gray clothes with luxurious decorations and looked like a noble belonging to a decent family. His blonde hair, however, was messy due to him having been carried to this place without any prior knowledge.
The man looked at Angele with a nervous expression.
"Master! I can communicate with those Flame Scorpions!"
"You?" Angele was initially planning on questioning the man later, yet the man woke up earlier than he had expected.
"I have a favor to ask of you, then. Tell them to do my bidding and to release a flame breath. Can you do that?" he asked.
"Sure…no problem…" The man’s face soon turned pale but still responded immediately, "My name is Lance, by the way, Lance Spender."
"I am not interested in your name, but if you can indeed communicate with the scorpions for me…" Angele interrupted him while walking to the river. "Well, I will return later."
One of the Watchers sprinkled some black liquid on Lance and merely left him together with the scorpions. Angele then soon headed to the volcanic river quickly. His group continued to follow after him.
They arrived at the river after several minutes.
The rippling water was clear; Angele could even see a school of small red fish swimming between the green watergrass underwater.
Angele could feel the heatwaves brushing over his face and notice the dense, sulfuric stench coming from the steam.
He narrowed his eyes and crouched beside the river. The dark mud under his feet was also smoking hot.
He could feel the intense heat coming from beneath his boots.
Angele stayed calm, then he placed his right hand into the water from the river and scooped some of it.
Countless tiny green specks of light were floating on the water surface, of which they looked similar to that of strange spores.
Blue dots of light flashed in front of Angele’s eyes. Several seconds later, the color of the light-dots had been replaced by red color.
*CHI*
Every green spore in the water soon amassed into the center of his palm then sank into his skin with but a few seconds, like a swarm of terrifying insects burrowing deep into one’s own skin.
Angele’s expression immediately changed. He quickly swung his hand in order to get rid of the river’s water. He then pursed his lips as soon as Zero reported back.
"Build a camp here and guard me for three days. Arrange the time and food yourselves. I will be staying in the river!" he suddenly bellowed.
"Master, there might be dangerous creatures underwater. Lizards and scorpions could live in the river due to them knowing how to swim." The female captain took a step forward and advised him, "We can instead create a safe zone by the river. Then you can stay in the water within the safe zone. What do you think?"
"Sure, sounds great." Angele nodded.
"All right."
She nodded as well and walked to the river.
"Vegas…" She suddenly raised her hands and pointed at the water.
Countless red energy particles gathered between her hands and formed into a bird made of red energy.
*Twitter*
The bird’s voice was clear and cute-sounding. It left the female captain’s hands and started flying around above the river, leaving a trail of red energy particles behind.
The energy particles soon accumulated altogether within the area and formed a semicircle-shaped encirclement beside the shore. After finishing its job, the red bird returned to the female captain. It landed on her left shoulder while beginning to groom itself with its beak.
"It is done, master," the captain politely reported to Angele.
"Thanks." Angele looked at the surface of the volcanic river.
Three Watchers stayed above the deep pit to build their camp. Meanwhile, the remaining five Watchers were just standing behind the female captain. Nearby the river there was no plantation of any sort, only dark mud.
"All right, you can start patrolling the area now." Once Angele finished his words, he stepped forth.
*Blop*
He jumped into the river soaking nearly every part of his body, except for his head which stayed above the water.
The white steam which contained sulfur was making Angele’s eyes ache, so he had to close them. The temperature of the water and his mouth becoming dry was making him nervous.
The green spores in the river continuously seeped into his skin. They looked similar to tiny insects and they never stopped moving.
Angele breathed deeply to calm down. He stood in the water silently, which nearly looked like he was merely taking a bath.
Liv stood beside the safe zone and yawned.
"I have seen someone else utilize water which contained fire particles to assist in their meditation, yet Angele decides to use the poisonous water in the volcanic river instead…The green dots in the water is the live poison and will try to infect his body. Well, if he can handle the pain, this will help to further hasten his progression greatly."
"Master Liv, are you perhaps referring to master Shozo? I think he did something similar before." Hakeem was sitting on a boulder behind Liv. "Master Angele’s mentality wave is relatively weak for his rank. It seems he is using a technique to shroud his true power."
"Angele is attempting to complete the first stage, I think. Ha, he should have comprehended the runes not so long ago. He must have acquired this type of method from master Vivian." Liv shook her head. "All right, let us just wait patiently. Three days will pass in a blink of an eye."
Hakeem chuckled, and closing his eyes, he started meditating.
Three days flew by quickly.
Wizards had a long life expectancy, so they did not usually bother too much with the time they had spent.
*****************************
Three days later.
*Rumble*
Lightning crackled in the sky and illuminated the peak of the mountain, followed by the booming sound of thunder.
The entire time, the sky was blanketed by thick clouds. The only source of light was the lightning which occasionally struck from time to time.
The howling wind, combined with the noises coming from the dancing trees from the other side, generated a terrifying sound.
In the safe zone of the volcanic river.
Angele soon opened his eyes gradually. Dots of red light were constantly flashing around his forehead.
He could feel that his body had been filled with strange energy, which was simultaneously hot and cold.
Angele opened his mouth and exhaled once slowly.
*Ha*
His breath seemed to contain the stench of the dense sulfur.
*Splash*
Angele started moving toward the shore slowly.