Twisting black smoke rose above a land of exposed, pitch-black rock, where scalding lava flowed through the cracks.
Orange-red and black were the primary colors of this hellish landscape.
The scorching air, thick with drifting ash, permeated every inch of this infernal ground, licking at the skin of every living thing here.
This roiling, constant heat was something no normal creature’s fur or hide could endure, save for the beings native to this region.
Caiman passed through the downward stone passage and arrived in this zone filled with destructive heat.
A blistering wind hit him head-on as a scene reminiscent of hell from an ancient oil painting slowly unfolded at the end of the cavern.
Breathing in the searing air, Caiman felt as if his lungs were being scorched.
Although he had expected it, the sight before him still made his heart skip a beat.
What kind of hell is this?
It’s entirely filled with lava.
Though the Well of Eternal Imprisonment had only revealed ten floors so far, the terrain had included caverns, forests, and deserts.
After those three distinct environments, the next area was actually the Lava Stratum.
Other dungeons rarely functioned this way; a small-scale dungeon usually only had two primary environments.
Even a medium-scale dungeon like the Gray Mist Valley only contained terrain such as caverns, mountains, forests, and swamps.
Yet the environmental shifts in the Well of Eternal Imprisonment were staggeringly extreme.
The heat of the Desert Stratum had already deterred many low-level adventurers, forcing them to wait until they could purchase heat-resistant equipment before they could continue their exploration.
Of course, the lower levels of the Desert Stratum eventually transitioned into the cold of the Eternal Night Desert.
But those adventurers likely never imagined that beneath the Desert Stratum lay an even more terrifying heat.
The difficulty of conquering the Well of Eternal Imprisonment exceeded any dungeon Caiman had ever seen.
This applied not only to the terrain but to the monsters and bosses as well.
“How are we supposed to explore this… I must ask the family to send a batch of equipment capable of withstanding lava zones.”
After his initial shock and the onset of a headache, Caiman’s first thought was to quickly request aid from his family.
At the same time, he began to form an estimate of the Well of Eternal Imprisonment’s true value and depth.
Even if the Well of Eternal Imprisonment wasn’t a medium-scale dungeon, it was certainly a high-quality small-scale dungeon with more than twenty floors.
The Grey family’s valuation of this place had to be adjusted upward.
Caiman quickly composed himself, checked his supplies, and prepared to begin his exploration of the lava region on the eleventh floor.
To be safe, he left special markers on the rock walls near the passage.
By following these markers, the members of the knight order entering the dungeon would be able to find and regroup with him quickly.
He needed to scout the surrounding area and establish a temporary base before the knight order arrived.
...
Elsewhere on the eleventh floor, within the Lava Stratum.
Purple Hammer, the purple-skinned blacksmith with the Purple Treasure Mallet on his back, sat by the lava river, organizing his gear.
He had accumulated a fair amount of equipment from killing adventurers in the palace labyrinth.
Items like alchemical potions, adventurer satchels, knives, and money pouches were piled up.
The reason he was waiting by this lava river was that it was the mandatory route for the monster merchant, Hongye Mane, who traveled to the purple-skinned blacksmith tribe’s lands on the eleventh floor to hawk his wares.
To adventurers, monster merchants were naturally elusive and difficult to track.
But as colleagues, Purple Hammer was well aware of the trade routes used by certain monster merchants who traveled between specific locations.
After waiting by the lava river for about half a day, Purple Hammer finally spotted Hongye Mane passing through.
“Mr. Purple Hammer, seeing you here, it seems you have successfully met with a guardian from the upper floors.”
“I’ve kept you waiting.”
Hongye, passing by, was slightly surprised to see Purple Hammer and greeted him politely.
“How did you know the guardian granted my request?”
Hongye smiled and adjusted the monocle on his face.
Currently, these monocles were becoming a trend among monster merchants.
It was said to be based on the Lord’s noble aesthetic and was meant to display the prestige of a ‘capitalist’.
Hongye didn’t know what a ‘capitalist’ was, but since it was the Lord’s aesthetic, it had to be something grand.
However, judging by the context, the ‘capitalist’ the Lord mentioned didn’t seem like a very good person.
“The power you carry is fundamentally different from the last time we met.”
“You’ve grown much stronger. That great aura of a guardian you carry is as conspicuous as a bright moon in the night sky to a monster merchant.”
Hongye looked up, the orange-red glow of the lava reflecting off his monocle.
“As you can see, I have received the blessings of those two masters.”
Purple Hammer shifted his four arms, making the blessings from the two guardians particularly prominent.
“This shows that those two masters hold you in high regard.”
“It is my honor.”
Purple Hammer lowered his arms and then took off a large bundle he had been carrying. It hit the ground with a heavy metallic clatter.
That crisp sound made Hongye instinctively adjust his monocle once more.
“These are all spoils I obtained from adventurers. I hope to exchange them for some coins.”
“In my pursuit of the Forbidden Fire, I need power now. No matter what, even if I have to risk my life, I cannot let those two masters down.”
As Purple Hammer spoke, he opened the bundle, revealing a pile of various equipment imbued with mana.
“They are all mana-imbued items. They can indeed fetch a decent price.”
Hongye barely needed to look. Relying on his keen sense for treasure, he could quickly judge the value of the pile of equipment.
The corners of Purple Hammer’s mouth couldn’t help but turn up.
But then, Hongye’s tone shifted.
“However, the signs of use are a bit too obvious. As a blacksmith, you should know this.”
“These goods will have to be sent to your purple-skinned blacksmith tribe for adjustments and repairs before they can be sold again.”
Purple Hammer knew Hongye was right.
But he knew even better that the Mane family of monster merchants were all little rascals who had greed etched into their very bones.
Sure enough, Hongye quoted an incredibly suppressed low price.
“Hongye, since you know I’m a purple-skinned blacksmith, you should understand how outrageous your offer is.”
“Isn’t everything negotiable, Mr. Purple Hammer? That price was for others. For you, I’m willing to increase it by thirty percent on that basis.”
“Seventy percent!”
“Forty percent.”
“Forty-five percent. That’s my final offer, Mr. Purple Hammer. You know how hard it is for me to travel between floors.”
“Fifty percent, Hongye. It might be hard to travel, but our tribe’s lands aren’t that far from here…”
Rate on N.U.
