Chapter28-Natural Elemental Medium

"Rest assured, everything I've said before is the truth. I can swear on my family's name!" 

"That's unnecessary. Your family's name doesn't carry much weight with me. I'll trust you this time, but from what I know, the Tower only has six floors. Where is this dark magus you're talking about hiding? Could it be on the sixth floor?" 

"Well..." 

Claire hesitated, then looked around to make sure no one was paying attention before lowering his voice to continue, "Actually, the Tower has a seventh floor, but unlocking it requires a special item." 

As he spoke, Claire took out a very ancient-looking jade token, bearing the insignia of the Claire family. 

"With this token, the passage to the seventh floor can be opened. As for how, my family has already informed me, so there's no need to worry." 

These revelations were something Owen had never heard of before. 

After all, the original work made no mention of a seventh floor in the Tower, which left Owen feeling quite perplexed. 

With more and more unfamiliar plot points appearing, Owen couldn't immediately determine whether Claire was telling the truth or trying to set a trap for him. 

After thinking it over, Owen exhaled deeply. 

"Meet me here in an hour—just you and me. No one else is allowed to participate." 

"No problem. Even if you hadn't said so, I would have suggested it myself. After all, this involves my family's secret, so the fewer people who know, the better. The more participants, the fewer treasures there will be to divide." 

"Prove to me that you're telling the truth first, then we'll discuss this further." 

Owen sneered before turning to leave. 

He couldn't even back up his own words, yet he was already trying to paint a rosy picture—how naive. 

What do you think Owen was in his previous life? He was a corporate drone! 

The various empty promises from bosses—Owen had heard too many. If he were still gullible enough to believe them, he would have lived in vain. 

After reuniting with Andrew and the others, Owen gave them some brief instructions. 

"In an hour, the Tower will open the passage to leave. At that time, it doesn't matter whether you choose to leave or stay. However, Emily, you must leave." 

Hearing this, Emily was instantly filled with confusion and asked, "Why?" 

"Because there's something I need to ask of you." 

With that, Owen took Emily's hand and pulled her aside. 

Seeing this, John's eyes widened in disbelief. 

This... isn't what he expected at all! 

Wasn't Owen supposed to have no feelings for Emily anymore? Why was he still acting so close to her, even pulling her aside to say something in private? 

Although Emily's attitude towards him had always been a bit harsh, John hadn't given up hope. After all, with his reputation at the academy, he wasn't exactly liked by everyone. If he couldn't connect with Emily and find a mentor, all his previous efforts would be in vain. 

But now, Owen's sudden closeness with Emily set off alarm bells for John! 

It could only be said that when a matter festers at the academy for so long, there must be a reason behind it. 

Owen clearly hasn't given up on Emily! 

At this thought, John's opinion of Owen dropped significantly. 

On the other side, Emily, whose hand was taken by Owen, felt her mind go blank. 

Come to think of it, this was the first time Owen had initiated physical contact with her. The warmth from his palm left her momentarily dazed. 

Such warm hands—just being held by him made her feel incredibly at ease... 

"Emily, what I'm about to say must not be mentioned to anyone, understand?" 

"What... what is it?" 

It was the first time Emily had seen Owen so serious. 

"In an hour, you must leave the Tower immediately. After you exit, contact the headmaster right away and personally tell them that before I leave the Tower, they must ensure Elaine's safety." 

Hearing this, the light in Emily's eyes dimmed slightly. 

She had thought it was something important, but in the end, it was still about Elaine... 

Of course, Owen noticed Emily's thoughts, so he explained, "Elaine is crucial to the academy. You might not understand now, but I'll explain it to you later. For now, just relay the message to the headmaster; they'll understand. 

"Also, there's one more thing—I meant to give it to you earlier, but better late than never." 

With that, Owen took out the [Scorching Fury of Sanks the Fire Dragon] and gently placed it in Emily's hand. 

Staring at the ring engraved with a fire dragon pattern, Emily was stunned and at a loss for words. 

"For... for me?" 

After a long pause, Emily finally looked at Owen with a mix of anxiety and hope. 

"Yes, you're a fire element mage; it's perfect for you." 

As he said this, Owen added silently in his heart, "I hesitated to give it to you before because I thought openly giving a ring might be inappropriate, but I don't care about those formalities anymore." 

As for the Dragonfire Sword... 

That one Owen was really reluctant to part with. 

Compared to the Dragonfire Sword, [Scorching Fury of Sanks the Fire Dragon] was simply not in the same league. Whether in terms of versatility or power, it was inferior by more than one grade. 

Of course, another reason was that the Dragonfire Sword was just so cool. By comparison, giving up this ring didn't matter. 

"Emily, can you help me?" 

Feeling the lingering warmth on the ring and hearing Owen's tentative request, meeting his sincere gaze, Emily was overwhelmed. 

She suddenly started to wonder if she was really foolish. Otherwise, why had she been so cold to Owen before? 

Just because of some baseless accusation, she almost missed out on Owen—wasn't that the behavior of a fool? 

At this moment, Emily had only one thought. 

She had to agree! 

If she couldn't even fulfill this small request, how could she call herself a human? 

"No problem, I promise you!" 

"Thank you..." 

Hearing this response, Owen finally breathed a sigh of relief. 

Luckily, Emily agreed. 

He couldn't quietly send Elaine away, and besides, the original work made it clear that living creatures couldn't be stored in a storage ring. 

Unlike various treasures, a dragon egg was too precious. It was arguably the only one of its kind, and for Owen, this dragon egg was of utmost importance. No mistakes could be allowed. To avoid any mishaps, not involving others was clearly the best solution. 

As for Andrew and the others, they were clearly used to Owen's way of doing things and wouldn't ask questions. They didn't have the right to intervene in what Owen decided to do. 

According to the original work, the dragon egg was hidden in the center of the highest volcano on the sixth floor, which was also guarded by the sixth-floor guardian beast, a diamond-tier level 9 Drake Lizard. 

However, despite its fearsome reputation, the Drake Lizard was just a lizard with a trace of dragon blood. Though stronger than ordinary spellbeasts, it was still no match for Owen. 

A gust of wind gathered, forming a vortex beneath Owen's feet. Within just a few breaths, it lifted Owen into the sky, propelling him swiftly toward the volcano! 

Soon, Owen arrived above the volcano, peering down at the rolling heat waves rising up to meet him. 

Judging by the surroundings, it was clear that this volcano hadn't erupted in a long time. The vegetation around it was lush, having grown to such heights that it couldn't have developed in a short time. 

But there was no doubt it was an active volcano—Owen could keenly sense the dense and overwhelming fire element within it. 

In the original work, such environments were referred to as natural elemental mediums. 

Simply put, a mage could use these natural elemental mediums to amplify the power of their corresponding elemental magic. 

For example, even if Owen cast only a high-level spell here, the resulting volcanic eruption would cause the fire element to push the spell's power to near forbidden-tier levels. 

In the original work, John and Emily used this method to kill the guardian beast and obtain the dragon egg, at the cost of many innocent lives, including Glena, who failed to make it out of the Tower due to the volcanic eruption.