The morning was quite noisy. I guess the ice statues got discovered. It wasn''t that warm here so they persisted through the night. The villagers thanked the mercenaries but they insisted that they didn''t do anything.


    “Hmm they got frozen but no traces of magic being used.” Scholar looked over at me. Maybe a natural phenomenon.


    “Right…”


    We continued our journey to Fernys after accepting a stupid amount of poison from the farmers as thanks.


    “Hey, didn''t you buy 60 liters of milk yesterday? Where did it all go?” It’s in a different dimension.


    “Come on, you can tell me!” I’m quite enjoying this; I can just tell the truth and nobody believes me. “Why are you like this?” That''s just how mythical creatures are.


    “I think this kid’s lost his mind; we need to keep an eye on him.” Scholar said while shaking his head.


    The scenery slowly transitioned to become quite rocky.


    “Seems we’re almost there.”


    I spotted some magma pits in the distance and a very big one close to the city we were heading to. Hey, isn''t it a bad idea to build a city that close to a magma pit?


    “Huh? Have you been here before? What magma pit?” I have very good eyes.


    “You must have been here before else there is no way you know that there''s a big magma pit in the middle of the city. The inhabitants have adjusted to it and it’s perfectly safe.” The scholar was being a smartass again.


    We slowly approached the city and everyone was feeling the heat and started to sweat. I was perfectly fine. I had to try and emulate human behaviour. How do I fake sweat? Magic is easy but that''s banned, illusions? Do I want to use illusions on something this silly? I decided to use it as a cosmetic illusion.


    Oof, yeh very hot indeed whoa! We passed by a magma pit and I took out some raw chicken, attached it to a wire and fried it over the magma pit.


    “What are you doing?” Lia asked as I reeled in the fried chicken. Frying chicken?


    “You really are an odd one, are you sure you’re not an alien or something?” Hmm, some people in Boshi Town used to say that too.


    “Ooh, you’re from Boshi town?! I heard that the barrier was lifted almost 5 years ago, so that''s where you''re from!”


    “Boshi Town? I’ve never heard about it.”


    The scholar started to give her a lecture about Boshi Town and how apparently, it''s Hjuva’s second largest producer of most types of ore and also high up in leather and lumber.


    Apparently, that''s what Boshi Town needed to stay afloat due to its unfortunate circumstances and remoteness.


    Scholar started to interrogate me.


    “How was living inside that barrier?”  Quite shit.


    “So, wait you were about 11 or 12 when the barrier got lifted.” Yes, I remember it very well… Anyways it seems we''re here!


    “We have to wait for the ID check.”


    We deviated from the main road leading toward the town and took what’s apparently called a ‘Merchants Entrance’ Unless there is a special occasion, only merchants get checked for their identity when entering a city.


    This is because traveling with merchants is the most efficient way to travel long distances unless you have a vehicle by yourself or can teleport. And merchants won''t allow passengers to leave the caravan within a certain radius from cities to make sure that shady characters can’t take advantage of this. That''s why most assassins tend to walk and run even though joining a merchant caravan might be more efficient overall. You''d need to be gutsy or know what you''re doing to take a caravan as an assassin or spy.


    It was our turn, I showed my adventurers ID and the guards gave me a short look before letting me in.


    “Be careful lad, water magic is quite useless here.” I know thank you.


    The humidity here was almost 0, using water magic here would be extremely hard indeed.


    Luckily Dragonvein doesn''t care. The ambient mana had elevated levels of fire in it and the air and underground leyline currents had a high tendency toward fire. The underground current also had a tendency toward earth but I don''t care about that.


    Alright, thank you guys cya! I dashed off toward the magma pit.


    “Hey wait!” Lia and scholar ran after me.


    I reached the magma pit and looked down at the magnificence of the magma falls. It looked similar to the waterfall basin near my home in the jungle but this one was made out of magma. Oh, this looks perfect!


    “Hey! Not so fast, oof you sure can run!” Scholar said while draging his feet. “Huff, puff, I’m dying…. Huff puff, I need… water!”


    I got closer and wanted to jump in when I got grabbed. “No, you mustn''t! You’re too young to die! Is this why you wanted to find a magma pit?! I won’t allow this!” Wait! Hey, what are you talking about? I just want to check the magma out up close!


    “Huff, this guy is insane! Stop him, Lia!” I tried to fight back but Lia easily picked me up.


    “Whoa Lia you really have monstrous strength!”


    “No... this guy is very light…” Hey, I''m not a pet let me down!


    “Do you even eat enough?”


    “Lia, you’ve seen how much he eats, you’re just too strong…”


    “Here, feel for yourself!” She tossed me at the scholar.


    Hey, I’m not an object! The scholar did a catching movement but missed, because he didn''t expect me to lose altitude so slowly.


    “What is going on with you? Are you cursed?” Well, yes, but that''s not causing this.


    “You are cursed?! We need to fix this! Let''s bring him to the Adventurer’s Association here! They might be able to help!”


    “Does anything this guy even make sense? In my 12 years of teaching, I’ve never been so confused!” Heh, so you got kicked out because you''re ignorant?!


    “I didn''t get kicked out! Lia let’s bring this guy to the Adventurers Association! Maybe we can find out if he’s really an alien!”


    “Maybe he’s from a different race.”


    Scholar looked at me. “He looks pretty human to me.”


    Lia carried me to the Adventurer’s Association. Just like the one in Ainahs, it looked like its interior was a different city on itself.


    The air inside here was cool, the humidity wasn''t 0 and the scholar reacted favorably to this. “Finally, some cool air.”


    “Hello, we picked up a C-rank adventurer Agnis, ehh what was your surname? I think he’s ill, can you do a check-up?”


    The clerk looked at me and went through her electromagical device called a tablet. “Hmm, let me see, ah Agnis Hourai, sure we’ll do a check-up, where and how did he get injured?”


    “He tried to jump into the magma pit and weighs almost nothing, show her, Lia!” Hey put me down, there’s nothing wrong with me!


    “He also said something about a curse.”


    The clerk dropped her tablet. She ran to the back. 2 men arrived 2 minutes later and dragged me to the 3rd floor. I say dragged but it wasn''t that dramatic, they could easily lift me… I should consider gravity magic…


    “The main healer from this city will be with you soon. Please… don’t leave, we find it important that our adventurers get the best healthcare.” The clerk said as she left the sickbay.  I’m not ill…


    A middle-aged lady appeared shortly after. “Good afternoon, I’m Sila, nice to meet a fellow water user.” Hello Sila, I’m Agnis, I’m not ill…


    “Let me decide that.” She did various tests, hit me with various water support skills, and wrote stuff down.


    “Hmm, your body has unusual properties but it seems fine besides the…” Sila looked down on her notes. “2618 curses you have on you… I’m surprised you’re still alive…”


    “So, he is cursed!” The scholar said as he crossed his arms.


    “Wait here for a bit while we prepare to remove as many as we can...” Look I know it''s hard to believe but I’m fine!


    Sila returned with 2 guys, one of the guys had a strange and annoying look on his face, as if I was his new test subject.


    “How did this guy even get this many curses on him? The most I''ve seen on someone is 5 and he was on the brink of death, this guy has the energy to snap back.”


    Nosy scholar pointed at me. “Hey, healers is it possible that this guy is an alien?” Scholar? Really?


    The newcomer male healer looked on his tablet. “Well from my tests he seems human, no matter how unbelievable that sounds… Maybe we should re-evaluate what makes a human…”


    Hey, rude! The healers spent an hour wasting time and attempting to get the curses off me, they only managed to get 3 curses off me


    “These are no ordinary curses, I’m sorry but I don’t think we can be of any help, we can only dispel up to 4th and 5th level curses, most of these are higher… How are you even alive?” The male healer said while shaking his head. If I’m not suffering under them then it''s all fine! I got up.


    Thanks for trying though.


    “I will open a record just in case.” Uhh, what does that mean?


    “That if you have problems and appear at different Adventurers Association branches the healers will know what state you’re in. Springing this on some healers might give them a heart attack… Also, it makes us aware of some high-risk adventurers.” I’m not high-risk!


    “Hmm let''s see.” The male healer with the annoying look pulled up something different. What’s that?


    “Your adventure log.” Uh oh. He listed all the events out of my reports that indicated risky and reckless behaviour.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    “So, as you can see, in our system you’re flagged as the second most likely adventurer to die next.” Oh, so I’m not number one! Who is number one?


    “Your teammate Raishin Torai…” Ah, I can''t say I’m surprised…


    “I would advise you to exercise caution, it always leaves a bad taste in our mouth if adventurers return with their dead allies, or even worse if we have to recover the bodies of dead adventurers, this will only get worse if we have to fetch the corpse of a teen…” I… I’ll try to be more careful.


    “Good, you’re dismissed, Don''t let me see you here in the sickbay again!”


    Don''t worry I’m immortal!


    Nobody seemed to believe me and we were back in the main hall of the adventurer’s association.


    I was looking for applications that requested water users. I guess most people here aren’t unreasonable. I found 2 unreasonable ones though they paid a lot but I’m not interested in gold. So, one that had gold as a reward was useless to me.


    This other one though, is a guide through the sewer system? I can see why nobody would pick this up even if they could fulfill this quest. But I’m curious, how does the sewer system work here where every drop of water instantly evaporates? Also, the sewer system will put me closer to the magma pits.


    It’s as if this quest was made for me! This brings another question. Is this a trap? But who would set a trap for me? I don''t have enemies… those that attacked Hourai flashed by. I took the request and the people at the register looked at me like I was mad. The person at the registry was trying to convince me to not take it.


    The elevator door opened and the male healer rushed out. “What did I tell you about being careful? And here you are 5 minutes later taking up this request! Mila, take the request down!”


    “Yes sir!”


    Healerguy frowned his brow. “Listen here, I know you’re a water user but water magic is very limited once you go outside this building. You may not know this, and even still it’s too risky to take alone.” So, it’s fine if I bring more people?


    “... that’s not the point… Anyway the request got taken down because it''s unreasonable and dangerous.” The Healerguy gestured to some woman cloaked in black. “Can you keep an eye out on this kid? He’s number 2 on our high-risk list, I will not charge you for your next 10 medical visits if you take this up.”


    “Is he that difficult?” This tall young woman looked at me with her pink purple eyes. I backed off a bit. Eyes of this color remind me of Hisui when her charm magic went out of control. It seems this is just the natural eye color of this chick. “Hmm interesting, you’re not a human either are you?”


    “Huh? All our tests confirmed that he is a human.” Healerguy said as he gave me another inspection.


    “Interesting, I’m sure he isn''t, I will take up the assignment.”


    The Healerguy nodded and walked away. I was stuck with another bodyguard...


    “My name is Sylvana.” She gestured me to come closer and widened her hood a bit and revealed her pointy ears. There didn’t seem many adventurers near or paying attention to her. It seemed like she wanted to keep this secret, I was wondering why she showed her ears to me though. Ah an elf, I thought they didn''t like to associate with humans.


    “Correct they don’t, I don''t particularly hate them but I also don’t like them either, that''s why I move solo, as you might have noticed I take a Silent Night role. But precisely because I don''t like humans, I can tell that you aren''t one.” I see but is that the reason you agreed to help me?


    “Hmm, not really but something else piqued my interest, you smell like fresh rain.” Hey, I keep hearing that, I don''t smell it, what does it mean? And can I hide it?


    “So, tell me who told you that?” Sylvana seemed quite interested. Uhh, just some people, my friend Vinny and ehh another friend Starbolt.


    “Ooh tell me were they human?” Uhm of course! Why wouldn''t they be human?


    “You do realize that you’re a terrible liar, right? Let''s go somewhere more private because this is not something for human ears.” We got into a private arena used for duels or practice battles but these couldn''t be spectated. She removed her hood and revealed her long blonde hair.


    “You look young and you probably are young so there is a chance that you don''t know this. There are certain traits specific races possess that aren''t noticeable by a wide variety of other races. For example, you backed off when you made eye contact with me, why was that?” Uh, because of your unusual eye color.


    “But blue eyes are quite common.“ I looked at her eyes and they were indeed blue.


    “Certain groups of races will see the eye color of elves as the color associated with the type of magic, they''re the weakest against. The types of races that this applies to are those that are either deeply connected to the planet or are aware of certain aspects of them and maintain them. Most of these races are very rare. Us elves are probably the least rare of them. So, since you saw my eye color differently means that you fall in that category. And you smell like fresh rain exactly because of this reason, that is why I asked what races your friends were because humans don''t fall in this category.” Uhm a dragon and a spirit.


    “A dragon and a spirit?” Sylvana paused. “Spirit?”


    Uhh, wait maybe he wasn''t a spirit! Sylvana got closer and activated something that looked like spirit magic. It was just a hand moving quite slowly but Sylvana already saw that I could see the hand.


    Ugh, I guess the fox is out of the bag.


    “I see so they still exist, that’s nice to know…” So, uh does me smelling like rain mean something?


    “Hmm the tailed beasts have some complicated things going on for them they either have a smell or sound to them but nothing is consistent. It does seem to indicate something about their personality but nobody knows for sure, in general, it’s more like if it''s a pleasant smell or sound they are generally good individuals.” So, is this mechanism in place to identify those races that are tied to the planet? And why haven’t I noticed them on some of my family or friends?


    “Yeah, you might not have noticed but most of the races in this category are either neutral or friendly with each other, also if you’re with them all the time you won’t notice it just as you don’t notice you’re wearing clothes as you’re so used to it”. Hmm, I guess that''s true.


    “I know your role but the role of the elves is maintaining the balance of the flora on the planet, we are quite friendly with the 4 tailed forest rabbits.” Hmm well, I can imagine not being fond of humans that keep chopping trees if that''s the case.


    “Besides that, they used to or still hunt whatever is different than them. Not realizing that there are some races that even the most aggressive races don''t mess with because they know the planet would be in trouble if they got killed off.” Hmm, I’m more shocked that dragons are also crucial.


    “They''re a weird bunch. They eat excess mana but their numbers are also getting close to the point where it''s hard for them to keep it up, the three-tailed shadow cats are also low in numbers.” This planet is doomed, no wonder Isi was crying for help.


    Syl was surprised and grabbed my shoulders. “You know about Isi?!” Uhh, 4-5 meters tall, 5 arms, white hair with braids, Only seen her once.


    “Wait what are you talking about? You saw her?” Can I trust you?


    I looked at Syl, an assassin and an elf, it’s quite hard to find a combination that''s more trustworthy than this.


    Never mind, of course, I can. I told her about what happened in the mental plane and about Dragonvein.


    Her face showed concern. “Hmm, I see unfortunately there is not much that can be done, besides the elves, six-tailed lightning tigers, and four-tailed forest rabbits, the other races are struggling hard with their numbers, your race being the most dire. This problem needs to be solved first because attempting to fix the current state of the planet. Otherwise it will just cause the few numbers they have to die out.” Yup, elves are way more useful than dragons.


    “Anyways, to hide this you just need to be aware of it. I would suggest turning it on when you meet another race like yours or mine. Could save a lot of trouble. Anyways your race explains a lot.” Hmm, right, did my smell disappear?


    “Yes.” Good so now that you know what I am you don''t need to babysit me any longer.


    “Now that I know what you are it became even more important…” Any chance I can convince you I''m a human?


    “Not a chance” Then want to jump in the magma pit with me?


    “I don''t have heat resistance like you do…” Then give up on bodyguarding me!


    “I will find a way, why do you need to jump in the magma pit? I knew you foxes were reckless but this…” It''s so I can get better at this. I connected with the underground currents and used [Fire dragon dance].


    “Looks pretty powerful to me, why do you need to practice this? It would turn an average human into ash.” Yes, but I most likely won''t be concerned with fighting humans, will I?


    “Hmm, I see. Alright, we’ll jump in the pit tomorrow, I need some preparations.” I''m starting to like elves more and more.


    We left the private practice room and encountered Lia and the scholar, “Hey who is this!” She’s my new mommy, at least she lets me jump into the firepit.


    “... do you not have a sense of responsibility?! You both will burn up!” Lia said while pointing at syl and displaying an accusing glare.


    Syl had her hood on again so she just looked like a regular human, albeit a bit tall, Silent Night. “Do you know these two?” I know that one, that’s Lia, I don’t know that other dude though.


    “Hey come on! It''s me Etienne!” Who? I have never called anyone that before in my life.


    “Wha?!”


    “He did always call you ''Scholar'' so he’s not wrong…”


    “Well, Agnis and I are jumping in the magma pit tomorrow. Now excuse me I have preparations to make.” Syl walked off and the scholar followed her with his eyes.


    Lia put her hands on her hips and sighed. “Who was that, you didn''t get into trouble again did you?” Oh no, she’s making sure I stay out of trouble. The healer assigned her as my bodyguard for some reason.


    “Oh, so you have 2 bodyguards now!” You don''t want to jump into the magma pit!


    “Why are you so obsessed with that magma pit?! How about... a hot spring?” … What if I told you that I have a very high heat resistance and I need to practice something in that pit?


    “Don’t be absurd! Nobody can survive a magma pit like that! Especially not a kid!” I appreciate that Lia tries to look out for me but this is unnecessary. How do I escape this...


    “So, who was that chick?” Oh, finally asking the correct question Scholar, that was Syl, her name was longer than that but I forgot. If you''re nice I can put in a word for you.


    “Oooh! So, when are we jumping in the magma pit?!” Uhh, maybe you should sit this one out I’m not sure you’ll be fine down there…


    “But I need to protect Syl!” I’m sure she could kick your ass with her eyes closed…


    Lia and the scholar kept being annoying. We got some rooms in the Adventurers Association to spend the night. Lia was trying to get to share a room with me to keep an eye out on me but a clerk helped me intervene and get my own room.


    I laid down in bed. These beds were super comfy and the rooms were extremely cheap only 50 bronze… how does this place even still stay standing. Almost any service or item acquired here is way cheaper than any alternative. Are the president and vice daddy that rich? Maybe they get sponsored.


    <hr>


    I woke up and brushed my tails. I found some grains of sand.


    Stupid sand… I left my room and went outside. I got met with the hot air. And walked to the magma pit.


    “Wait! Don''t jump yet!” Lia came running wearing protective gear against the heat.


    “Here, I bought some potions to boost heat resistance, why aren''t you wearing any protective clothing? here!” I chugged one of the potions but I refused to put on this uncomfy-looking magic vest. Look, I’m not sweating, does it look like I can’t take the heat?


    “Magma is different!”


    “So noisy early in the morning, are you ready?” Syl appeared out of nowhere and was wearing a dark red cloak instead of a black one. She also chugged one of those potions.


    “Show the way” I jumped and so did Syl.


    “Wait!” Lia took the long and safe route. I shifted stance and started [Tempest Step], I grabbed Syl and blew us onto a rock sticking out of the magma.


    “Have you mastered all the basic elements?” Ehh, besides earth, kinda. I’m here to master fire. Lia was stuck on the other side of the magma pool and couldn''t reach our rock.


    Be careful I might knock you over.


    “With your weight? I would fail as an elf if you could knock me over” Fair point. I shifted stance and used [Water dragon dance] and cooled off the magma between Lia and us, creating a rock bridge.


    Syl kept moving to the spot on the rock that had the most space while I was doing these movements while letting the leyline energy flow through my joints and in the correct sequence.


    “Those are quite elegant movements.” Not by choice…


    Lia came over after the path made of rock was made. “Thank you, you can even use water here? And you seem fine! What other secrets do you have?!” I can one-shot this whole city.


    “Haha, there you go again with your jokes.”


    Syl noticed what I was doing and flashed a subtle smile. “Interesting… I should try that too sometimes.”


    We walked into a magma cave and I kept creating a path by turning magma into rock with [Water Dragon Dance]. The weight of the water was still an issue and some movements are uncomfortable while hurling a massive body of water around. I will get used to this someday... My muscle aches are getting milder and more infrequent.


    “Hey, don’t you get tired?” Lia asked as if she noticed that I was thinking about how much of a pain in the ass Dragonvein is.


    I’ve been doing this for a while but I will eventually. We arrived at a magma chamber. I spotted some magma snakes and some other magma monsters. I located the coolest spot in the magma chamber and started [Drowning Pulse] and created a large spot where we could chill. Syl was using wind magic to get rid of the toxic gasses.


    “Give me 3 minutes and the whole magma chamber will be safe.”


    I created an enormous ice pillar to keep the safe spot a little bit cooler.


    “So, we’re here, what now?” I wait till Syl has cleared out all the toxic gasses and then I’m going to practice.


    “Practice what?” You’ll see. The only downside with Lia being here is that I can’t bring my tails out.


    “It is done” Thanks.


    I connected to the underground current and started [Fire Dragon Festival] and ran over the magma. Underground leyline currents respond better to the movements of my legs.


    I will have to pay attention to this. I prefer kicking over palm strikes or punching so this works for me. There is one problem though... leg muscle aches suck as it greatly hinders my mobility...


    It was time to practise, so I jumped on the magma and ran towards the nearest Magma Snake.


    “Wait! Oh, he can run over magma…” I spent the rest of the day trying different things with fire Dragonvein.