Chapter 32: Ice Fireworks and Desert Encounters

“Hah—ah~”

Elara yawned deeply.

Her features, softened by the firelight, betrayed a certain weariness.

‘Eating always makes me sleepy. How utterly boring~’

Without Hilvyn’s constant chatter, and coupled with the pervasive darkness, the boredom became even more profound.

She suddenly found herself unable to comprehend how she had ever managed to live alone before, how she had endured such days.

“I’ll just count the stars…”

Elara tilted her head back, gazing at the sky. One, two… twenty-one, twenty-two…

****

Suddenly, the ground began to tremble without any warning.

Elara’s drowsiness vanished instantly. She rose to her feet, observing her surroundings with sharp vigilance, contemplating whether to rouse Hilvyn.

“Master, what’s happening?”

Hilvyn was already awake, emerging from the tent to stand beside Elara.

“I don’t know.”

The tremors quickly subsided, and the ground returned to its tranquil state.

“Is it over?”

“Perhaps.”

“Are monsters moving?” Hilvyn inquired.

Elara suddenly realized her oversight. She had initially assumed it was an underground earthquake, forgetting about a specific inhabitant of the desert layer.

“It should be a Desert Worm.”

Hilvyn paused, astonished. “Are Desert Worms really that formidable?”

In her understanding, worms were typically small creatures.

“The guild records state that they can grow to be thirty or forty meters long, as wide as a city gate. They are truly gigantic monsters.”

“That big!”

These particular monsters channeled all their magical energy into their sheer size, possessing no means of magical attack and lacking significant defensive capabilities.

However, when lurking beneath the sand, their magical aura was barely perceptible. The thousands of teeth within their mouths were more than enough to deliver a fatal blow to any creature they ambushed.

“You should get some more sleep.”

Elara glanced at her wristband; barely five hours had passed.

“I’m not tired anymore, Master. Why don’t you go rest instead?”

The suggestion was certainly tempting, especially since this layer represented their last chance for a peaceful respite.

“Alright.”

This time, Hilvyn stood guard outside while Elara enjoyed a sound nap for over two hours.

****

“Let’s go.” Elara pulled back the tent flap, preparing to pack up and continue their journey.

“Master, while you were sleeping, I researched a new magic.”

Upon hearing this, Elara’s delicate brows arched in surprise.

A new magic? In just over two hours?

“What kind of magic?”

“Watch this.”

Hilvyn turned, and a head-sized orb of ice condensed in her hand. She then aimed it at an empty patch of ground.

The ice orb shot forth like a cannonball, landing on the distant sand and excavating a small crater.

‘That’s it?’

No sooner had Elara’s question formed than the ice orb exploded with a resounding “bang,” scattering countless ice shards in all directions.

“I can control its explosion, anytime, anywhere,” Hilvyn explained, placing her hands on her hips.

Elara picked up a sharp ice shard that had landed near her feet, a single word forming in her mind: ‘timed bomb.’

“You used wind? But how did you manage it?”

“That’s right.” Hilvyn nodded. “I combined many ice shards into a ball, trapping tightly compressed wind at its center. Then I can control that wind, and *snap*—it explodes.”

Elara was genuinely astonished. “Hilvyn, you’re a genius.”

This fusion magic was likely Hilvyn’s original creation.

“Eheheh~ Not really.”

As always, the praise delighted her. She then explained, “Actually, it’s all thanks to you, Master.”

“I had a hand in it?”

“Master, when it explodes, doesn’t it look like fireworks?”

Elara understood immediately. She hadn’t realized that her previous description of fireworks had become the catalyst for this new fusion magic’s creation.

“So, what’s this magic called?”

Hilvyn had already decided on a name for it.

“I’ll call it ‘Ice Fireworks.’”

Almost every form of fusion magic originated from individuals with innate dual-elemental affinities, as only they could precisely control the ratios of two different magical energies.

While creating a new fusion magic was not as unattainable as one might imagine, it still required a genius-level capacity for creativity and imagination.

****

The two packed up their tent and continued their journey.

Two lamps slowly moved through the inky blackness of the desert.

“How much longer, Master?”

This feeling of seeing nothing but sand in every direction was truly unpleasant.

“Soon, I think.”

Elara was confident she hadn’t taken a wrong turn. The barely discernible sand dunes that served as landmarks, and the occasional boulders, were consistently changing.

Her spatial perception range had remained clear of any anomalies, almost suspiciously safe.

“Master, it looks like there’s something up ahead.”

Hilvyn’s lantern illuminated a color that wasn’t the monotonous yellow of the sand, but rather a reddish-brown hue.

As they drew closer, a worm corpse, as large as a small mountain, lay sprawled before them.

Two massive gashes marred its rough, dried skin, from which internal organs and some rather unpleasant fluids oozed.

It appeared to have died not long ago.

Perhaps the tremors from earlier had been caused by this very worm.

“Master, this worm is so huge. What parts of its body are valuable?”

Elara glanced at the corpse and shook her head. “It has no value. If I had to say, its meat seems non-toxic.”

She looked at Hilvyn with a mischievous grin. “Do you want to eat it?”

Hilvyn looked at the corpse, imagined it, and felt a slight churn in her stomach.

“I think I’ll pass…”

As for the team that killed the worm, Elara could only hope they suffered no casualties.

****

Underground City, 50th Floor.

The environment of the 50th floor reverted to that of a typical cavern, a massive hall with numerous entrances in its surrounding rock walls—each corresponding to the endpoint of a specific route from the 49th floor.

Elara and Hilvyn emerged from one such entrance.

Several adventurer teams had already passed through here, leaving behind items and forming a small outpost with those still present.

“Hey there, you two young ladies.”

A burly bald man called out to Elara and Hilvyn.

“Master, what should we do?”

“Let’s go over.” They had nothing to hide, and it was a good opportunity to gather information.

Elara and Hilvyn approached.

The team consisted of two men and two women, all gathered around a campfire, boiling stew. The bald leader, seeing the two approach, lowered his voice.

“I perfectly understand the feeling of losing teammates. We could join forces and head up together.”

“Our team has always just been two people,” Hilvyn interjected, correcting him.

“Huh?” The leader stared blankly for two seconds, before a female teammate delivered a heavy punch to the back of his head.

“That’s what you get for not asking about their team composition first.”

“Who would’ve thought two young ladies could be so strong?” The burly man rubbed his head, grumbling indignantly as he argued with his teammate.

The other two team members also chuckled, contributing to the amiable atmosphere.

However, after their brief squabble, he immediately apologized to Elara and Hilvyn.

“My apologies, I didn’t realize how formidable you two are.”

Elara waved her hand dismissively.

Through their subsequent conversation, Elara learned that this was a B-rank team from another region, preparing to return to the surface after this meal.

As for the number of A-rank teams Elara wanted to inquire about, those who had entered the deeper ten layers—they had only seen two.

“Those two young ladies are A-rank adventurers, I’m so envious.”

“That’s what you get for not working hard enough.”

“This is my talent, why don’t you criticize yourself?”

“Hah? Talking back now?”

“…”

The four watched as Elara and Hilvyn proceeded to the next floor.

“Captain, we forgot to mention that an A-rank team was forced to retreat earlier.”

“Hey! We really did forget.”