76. Walking on fire

Mack kept walking over the magma, the palm of his feet already burned so much that the smell of rosted pork even stopped.

Walking a few meters Mack noticed the 'magma lake' started to go deeper as he walked.

When the magma covered his feet he stopped walking and stood still.

He needed to give himself time to adapt.

Cold sweat dripped from his body and made crisping sounds when touching the magma.

If a person looked at this, they would think that Mack was insane, and apart from that, that he had no pain receptors in his body.

But Mack felt pain, he just didn't let any pain rule over him, rule over his actions.

Mack would only show that he felt pain when he wanted to.

That's how strong Mack will had come to be over the years in the tower.

Every single thing he made since touching the book demanded him a stronger will.

Mack looked to the horizon seeing only bulbing lava and felt that it was one of the craziest moments in his life.

"That must be one of the best scenery I ever saw"

For a moment he thought everything he learned in the tower, and indeed he needed to feel a little grateful for all.

"Heck, i can even fly. Well... its not flying but ... it's almost the same."

Time flyed but Mack stood there over the thin layer of lava, thinking of several subjects one after another.

Talking to himself, talking to no one and even talking with the Arcane.

That was the daily routine of solitude of Mack.

One that almost made him go crazy over the years.

For some people is easy to endure physical pain if they know they will receive something worth it later. But the kind of psychological pain that Mack had to endure was something no one should experience in life.

Mack looked below to his feet and indeed they seemed a little better then before.

His passive healing plus his will adapting to the new environment was finally starting to overtake the effects caused by the extreme heat of the lava under his feet.

A few hours later and still in the same place, Mack finally took a step foward.

And another one.

Walking on fire, going further and further.

The lava touched his skin but no more crisping noises came.

As Mack walked the lava lake got deeper until it reaches his knees.

Mack raised his leg a bit and noticed the hair over his leg didn't burn.

~sigh~

Mack was delighted, he was worried that he may become bald if some lava splashed over his head.

"Maybe it's because even my hair has my DNA"

Thinking of that and seeing that the lava could not harm him anymore Mack had a crazy idea.

"Well, its been ages since last time i swum"

Saying that, Mack jumped head first in the sea of lava.

The strength of his body made effortless for him to swim in the lava, as if it was just normal water.

If a mage ever saw that they would probably puke of envy, because for them to be able do the same they would need a very powerful spell to protect their bodies.

Diving deeper in the lava Mack again felt the strange urge of something calling for him and observing him.

The strange feeling made Mack stop and return to the surface of the lava.

When his head went out of the lava the feeling disappeared.

'Something is fishy in this waters'

Mack dived again in the lava and the feeling returned.

The more deep he dived the more the weird feeling intensified.

Mack made his mind, he would go as deep as he could and discover what made him felt so odd.

But when reaching the bottom he discovered that he was too much at the edge of the sea of lava.

He would need to go deeper and deeper.

Mack came back to surface and took a deep breath.

The sulfuric smell still burned his lungs but had enought air for him to live.

Mack then looked to the horizon and already could not see where he came from. But he knew where he came because he could see a small trail made by his swim over the lava lake.

He would need to keep his back to the same side or he may lose himself in there. Just like he did before.

Thinking of that Mack went swimming to the center of the lake.

A few hours later Mack stopped and thought was enought. He had no way to find the middle of the lake just by guessing. But one thing made all clear for him. A small island apperead to him, and above that island a huge portal.

That was the end of the trial.

But Mack didn't felt satisfied, he needed to know what was the thing that kept bugging him since he entered this gate.

Mack dove in the lava lake and went straight to the bottom, and again the moment he went down, the creepy feeling came again.

This time the feeling was way more intense fhan before.

Now Mack could almost feel as if it was someone calling for him, but in his mind.

The deeper he went the stronger the feeling got but also the heat.

Mack started to feel uncomfortable because of that, not matter what it was it seemed to be at the core region of the lava lake.

After a few hours of diving Mack seemed to have reached the bottom of the lava lake and thr thing calling for him was just a few meters in front of him, he could now pinpoint the exact location.

But he could not see it due to the lava.

Mack touched his two palms and activated his domain runespell.

He was being cautions he didn't knew what it was.

With a few thoughts of Mack the lava all around him started to leave and a dome of 1 mile around Mack was formed without lava inside.

As the lava left the area Mack could finally see what it was that kept annoyng him for days, it was round black with a tinge of red and the size of a thumb.

"Whats that? A amber?"

Said Mack approaching the thing, while at the same time reading the info that came from his retina.

[Fire Amber, Rare, A parasitism lifeform that is born only in extreme heat environments]