After having gotten the pangolin out of the way, Kenneth and his siblings were once again on the move.
The mist did its best effort to try to stop them from moving. Over the span of a few minutes, countless monsters had attacked the siblings.
And worst of all, the heat had started to get to them. At one point it had gotten so hot that Kenneth had thought his whole body would burn up right then and there.
It was as if they were being cooked on a hot pan. And in this case the chef, who was the volcano, had kept the fire on the high setting the whole time.
Eventually there was an increasing sign of everyone wanting to leave the place. It was evident in their faces.
But Kenneth did not want to pull back for fear of wasting time. They still only had half of what they needed, and if they had started from the beginning again, Lena would most likely not have enough mana anymore.
Instead, he had Aurelia conjure a light drizzle over a small area. A light drizzle of cool rain water.
In just a small area, rain had begun to fall. Everybody had crowded into the small space in order to cool themselves down.
During this, Kenneth also stopped Lena from shining her light. Any mana wasted was not good, even if mana was everywhere.
And without the constant shine radiating on the area, the mist was free to expand again. It soon covered the area, and no one was able to see far anymore.
Yet Kenneth judged that the benefits outweighed the risks, and just kept on going with it.
Soon everyone was cooled down, hydrated, and ready to move once again.
So it was left once again to Aurelia and Lena, who both started shining their light around the group once again.
A layer of water had still surrounded everyone's skin, and so they were free to move around without having to face any problems for a few minutes.
But eventually that boiled off too, and they were back to the same burning pan that followed them everywhere.
"With this, we should have enough Hellnite to fulfill the mission. Place it in my storage, and it should automatically send it to the Guild."
After a bit more of exploring, the Karman Krew had come across multiple veins of Hellnite around the volcano, and were able to successfully mine them all.
The hot gem fragments were instantly kept in the Dimensional Storage, and after reaching the required amount, the quest was immediately designated as completed.
Soon Lena had gotten tired, even after using multiple Mana Stones.
Even if her mana pool wasn't low by any means, the feeling of weakness would eventually get higher.
Fatigue had already built up in her body, and Kenneth was worried that they wouldn't have enough light to get back to the forest.
So he had Catalyn, who was up in the sky along with Lena, bring his older sister back to the edge of the forest, where Thanatos and Gwyar was.
The problem was quickly solved, however. Even if Lena had run out of mana, it was still possible to see a few meters ahead.
With Aurelia's Leaf Blowers and with the power of the sunlight, they were still able to keep a sizable distance in front and around them, although not as big as when Lena was there.
"Don't you think it's weird? How the animals seem to all be ganging up on us, even if they would generally be against each other via the food chain?" Kenneth asked Aurelia, who was also looking confused.
"I do as well. But perhaps the animals have evolved to a point where they have drastically shifted the course of nature. Maybe the prey have turned into the predators."
"That sounds very weird."
"I agree as well, my lord."
The two kept on talking. They didn't speak about it, but all of them knew that they were searching for ways to get their mind away from the heat.
They had already established that there was nothing to be done against the heat. So they had to do something to cope with it.
"He-he-help!"
"It's not everyday I hear someone's voice in the middle of an active volcano. Maybe the heat is getting to me." Kenneth said aloud.
"You are not alone, my lord. I also heard it. I believe it came from the direction of the forest."
"Oh, you too, little bro? I thought I was going bananas from the heat." Lucas also seemed to have heard the plea for help.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get going!"
____________
The calls for help eventually got louder as they got closer.
Oddly enough, the voice's accent deeply resembled that of a Scottish or Irish from Kenneth's world.
"Get off me, you dookledough! I'll have you know, old Andvari here once slayed a wyvern! So don't be thinking you can lay your nasty fings on me!"
But his language said otherwise. It didn't seem like he needed help in the least.
"That's right! And don't come back, you romberson! Andgari never gives up!"
As they got closer they noticed the figure of the person in question.
Short, stubby. A bit chubby in appearance.
"A dwarf? I don't think I recall any dwarven settlements having been built around here." Kenneth scratched his head at the sight of the dwarf, who was slamming his hammer onto the pangolin's forehead.
Somehow the hammer managed to make the occasional comedic "pow!" and "wack!" everytime it was slammed onto the pangolin.
"Whoa, whoa. Take it easy there. I think the pangolin is already dead." Kenneth spoke to the dwarf, who looked like he wasn't stopping anytime soon.
"Ay! Another one of those yuglerocks? Don't you get any closer, you hear?!" The dwarf swung his hammer in front of him, retreating backwards.
Except the dwarf did not bother to look at where he actually was.
Too focused on retreating backwards, the dwarf was unable to see that the ground behind him... wasn't ground.
He was on the edge of a cliff, and... oh. He fell, didn't he?
Oh wait, he didn't. Just as the dwarf had tipped over the edge, Lucas' hand reached for the man's bulky limb, before pulling him back up.
"So... could you calm down, and tell us who you are?"
"I'm Andvari. The greatest blacksmith known to dwarvenkind! Don't you little jiggybagles forget that!"
