Master Of None

Chapter 2797: 2797. Off Limits For Now

It became even more evident as Walker began to follow the yellow streaks in rocks where the sulfur mosses were growing. He also spotted deeper black rocks that had once been magma, yet they had been broken down by winds and saltwater over time. Not that it was hard to track that since he had seen other islands and locations affected by time similarly.

Yet, the issue he found biggest of all was the fact that if this was a volcano once upon a time, it might have been snuffed out due to the change in the water around the mountain range. If that was the case then the stronger flow of mana and the very fact that the world was changing majorly again might cause this entire area to become a range of islands becoming mountain again.

The high amount of danger in that for anyone exploring was already clear. But the even riskier aspect of exploring caverns while that risk hung over the explorerʼs heads was there too.

Yes, it was normal for the dwarves or others who went in to caves normally to worry about many dangers.

Flooded cavers, crumbling caverns, and even the risk of finding lava flow were always present. These risks were just part of mining and exploring. However, it was even greater if there was a situation like this one where something that caused this area to become radically different occurred and a similar event was happening again.

”Brother, can you just check it?” Midnight placed a hand on a larger boulder wrapped in a few tree roots. She could tell what he was thinking about and why he was following the rocks so closely. She could also feel the anxiety that came with his discovery.

”I could try and see if there is fire mana moving through the deeper earth manas, but I donʼt know if I can sense it as clearly in practice as theory.” This wasnʼt something Walker had tried to do before. To be honest, he was sure that he could figure it out since his mana senses were so focused and pure now. The issue was how long it would take him to differentiate between moving magma, normal magma flow, and volcanic magma flow.

All of this was sure to be manas mixed in different variations causing other changes in mana all around them. There was also the potential for him to need to learn how to sense the changes that would signal which was happening and why. It was a lot of information to gather and translate in to a solid theory.

”I think someone with a specialized skill set for it would be better. I would need more time and theory to make a proper guess. Someone else might be able to do it in shorter time with more certainty.” Midnight deflated slightly thinking that Walker was just doubting himself. But he was right.

It was better if Walker were to focus on his priority goals in this expedition. He should allow those with certain skills to focus on what they could learn and help others with. He knew there were mages and other related classes who could track volcanic movements. They had been working with Ignus to develop the fire and earth dragon territories around Genesis along with moving some monsters away from areas in the lava fields.

Those people had the experience and time to keep pursuing goals like this and would be valuable to the expansion of the exploration in the area. It just depended on when they could get here and when they would be able to start helping out.

”We will be fine for now. There shouldnʼt be any major changes until we have some time to get camps and teleportation formations on the main lands. From there we can worry about how this might affect the exploration of caverns or living in the area.” Walker thought to the merfolk and made a mental note to share his worries openly. That way if they began to get ahead of themselves, they would be able to keep themselves realistic instead.

The slightly disappointed huff from Midnight only lasted a few moments as she realized they could climb above the trees now and start to get nearer to the highest point on the island. For anyone normal, they would struggle with the sudden change to more uphill terrain, but for Walker and Midnight it was still just a casual walk.

Both were examining the bushes growing out of the rock crevices. Some were unique and others familiar. Walker stopped to look at one small bush the size of his fist that had sharp leaves which deterred monsters from nesting within it. But that also kept it protecting the small ant monsters that lived inside of the dead roots it lost every time the seasons would shift.

It was a plant and monster pair that had survived since ancient times without getting stronger or weaker, they were symbiotic and valuable in that respect to one another. No real other predators or prey to worry about. Just their own small ecosystem within one another. A very interesting perspective to take since there was so much about the world that changed and here, something had remained the same.

A small huff of surprise escaped Midnightʼs voice making Walker turn sharply. When he saw that her hands had accidentally dug in to the rocks that they had begun to climb, he wondered how that could have happened. The rocks shouldnʼt be so soft and her hands in dragonkin form were not as sharp as her talons when she was in dragon form.

Testing out the toughness, he found that with a little more force, he could push his own hands in to the stone as well and pull out chunks. It was why he started to use his all around appraisal skill.

ʼVolcanic cap stone

After years of being part of an active volcano, the sudden change in environment, while not having the same effects as on other aspects of the ecosystem, this and multiple other mountains lost their ability to spill molten magma out of them consistently. This left out larger bubbles of stone that hardened and held back unstable volcanic stone.

The properties are all radically different causing a strange amalgamation of different stones and materials to form. It is very useful for aspiring miners to experiment with since they can use it to train their knowledge on what each stone does and how to differentiate the parts of the mixed amalgamation.

It is also very dangerous due to the fact that it can crumble much more easily than other stones and often is not entirely covering the open space beneath or around it. This had caused some mountain collapses and leading to larger issues such as rockslides or other similar issues.

In this case, there is a larger potential for flooding underground magma tunnels or causing a mass change in water currents leading to small tsunamis…ʼ

Walker halted Midnight with a single look. She understood that his glance was not one that said they were in the best position. It was the same look that he had when they had gotten in to a precarious situation which could cause more issues than good if they did not tread carefully.

”This entire upward area of stone is volcanic cap stone. Itʼs not stable and could all crumble away at any second. It could cause a huge problem for the exploration of this area and we need to warn everyone about it. Many of the underwater areas might have similar stone too so we canʼt even explore caverns connected to this area without better scouting and appraisal abilities.”

Flapping her wings, Midnight removed her weight from the equation and Walker stepped in to the air using some wind magic. He was stuck on the fact that he and everyone else would need to deal with this in special ways.

They couldnʼt treat this like a normal area, they would need to treat it like a caved in mine rather than a solid mountain with potential mine areas to be used for their exploration. It would need miners and mages with special skills related to delicate materials. ”It will be like when they harvest dangerous materials that cause damage if sparks come off the stones or if the dust gets in the air.”

It added some stress to Walkerʼs plate and meant that he would have to make certain islands and areas entirely off limits until more people could teleport over and begin creating a better plan for the future. But this also would produce some solid jobs. Materials from areas that used to be volcanic were always abundant. So growth and work were hand in hand despite the delicate and risky terrain here.

…..

….

….

If you are not reading this at , then sorry the content youʼre reading is stolen!

Please say no to piracy! Donʼt take part in crime! Donʼt patronize thieves!

Repent now and go here, http://wbnv.in/a/ccfhAus

Drop those golden tickets!