Yara shook her head again with even more conviction, her expression absolutely resolute. "No. I’m staying with you regardless of the risks."
She turned sharply toward the four Savi warriors and began issuing commands in their language, clearly ordering them to retreat to safety.
But the warriors imdiately shook their heads in refusal, responding with what were obviously protests. Their body language made their position clear, they couldn’t possibly abandon their maiden and their honored guests to fight while they cowered safely at the mountain’s base. They were the strongest warriors their clan possessed.
As Yara and the warriors argued intensely in their native tongue, Moon took the opportunity to check his skill progression.
[Elental Body]
[Rank: Epic]
[Proficiency: 39%]
[Details: Your body has been tempered by the four elents: water, fire, earth, and wind. You gain exceptionally strong affinity with all four elents, granting significantly superior control and power. 30% Elental Control. 30% Resistance to the four elents.]
Moon’s eyes widened briefly as a thought struck him like lightning.
’Wait. This extre temperature... it’s actively tempering my body right now. What better environnt exists for accelerating Elental Body’s developnt than prolonged exposure to this volcanic heat?’
The harsh conditions that were incapacitating his companions would benefit his skill progression. Every minute spent in this environnt was training his body’s fire resistance.
"Yara," Moon interrupted their heated discussion, his firm voice imdiately making himself the center of attention.
Before she could protest further, Moon began removing his Cloak of the Two Extres, the enchanted garnt he’d specifically purchased for extre environntal protection after experiencing extre coldness in the hidden realm alongside Selene.
"Here. Wear this," Moon said, approaching Yara and draping the cloak around her shoulders before she could refuse.
The oppressive heat that had been overwhelming her suddenly beca manageable. Her excessive sweating began slowing to normal levels, and visible relief crossed her face as the enchanted cloak regulated her body’s temperature almost instantly.
"Wow... this clothing feels incredibly cooling against my skin," Yara said with genuine amazent, running her fingers along the cloak’s material. "The heat is still present, but it’s no longer unbearable."
"The enchantnt will help significantly with extre temperatures. But you still need to make a critical decision right now. Only one person can wear this cloak, I don’t possess multiple protection items. I’m not taking more than one companion at most to the summit."
His expression beca absolutely serious, his gaze hardening, "I’m sorry to be blunt, but if you’re barely able to stand upright from the heat, you won’t help us in combat. Worse, you’ll beco a dangerous liability that makes the fight significantly more difficult because we’ll have to actively protect you while simultaneously engaging the Magma King. So choose carefully and realistically: either one person cos with adequate heat protection, or none of you co at all."
The ultimatum hung heavily in the hot air between them. It was abundantly clear that Moon wasn’t going to sabotage his critical mission simply to accommodate their well-intentioned stubbornness.
Yara looked visibly torn between her desire to witness such a fight, to break her fear and her reluctant understanding of Moon’s undeniable logic.
The four Savi warriors exchanged uncertain glances among themselves, clearly understanding the essential situation even through the language barrier based on tone and body language alone.
Finally, the eldest warrior among them decided to intervene. "He says... he says that only two of us will accompany you to the summit. Gratis is the oldest and strongest among our warriors. He will follow alongside us while the others retreat to safety." Yara translated.
Moon’s gaze moved to assess Gratis directly—the eldest Savi warrior who’d just volunteered. The clan mber was indeed noticeably more robust than his companions. Moon had observed him fighting during previous engagents, and even here in this punishing heat, Gratis appeared affected the least among all the warriors, his breathing more stable, but still a problem none the less.
Just like the others, he was going to struggle at the summit.
Before Moon could make his decision, Selene interjected helpfully, "Yeah, that arrangent works well. Moon, I actually have a spare protection cloak that provides good heat resistance. Gratis can use it for the ascent. This way, the four of us can proceed together safely, and having an additional experienced warrior increases our chances in case anything unexpected arises."
She withdrew a cloak from her spatial storage. The garnt was visually distinct from Moon’s Cloak of the Two Extres. She offered it to Gratis with an encouraging gesture.
The Savi warrior accepted the protective equipnt graciously, nodded his head in thanks to Selene, who simply smiled warmly in return.
Looking more carefully at the specific cloak Selene had just provided, Moon’s eyes flashed with interest and mild surprise.
’This cloak... it’s an A rank enchanted item. Considerably higher quality than my own version.’
The thought was fleeting but notable. Selene clearly possessed more resources and high-grade equipnt than her relatively modest persona suggested.
"Alright then, that works." Moon confird with a decisive nod. "The other two warriors should descend to safer altitude imdiately, establish a concealed observation position, and await our return."
The remaining warriors’ expressions showed they absolutely hated being forced to retreat while others faced danger, but they recognized the necessity of the decision. Pride demanded they fight; wisdom demanded they survive.
One of the warriors designated to descend spoke hesitantly in the Savi language: "Sh’sat crast mas?"
Yara turned toward Moon to translate, her expression troubled. "They’re asking ... what should they do if we don’t co back? If the mission fails or we take long to return?"
Moon turned to face the warriors directly, before a cold, confident smile broke out on his face.
"We will co back, even if I have to drag the Magma King’s corpse down this mountain with my bare hands and carry all three of you on my back simultaneously, we’re returning." His eyes blazed with hunger that seed to rival the heat surrounding them.
The warriors stood speechless for a mont, clearly affected by the sheer force of Moon’s presence and absolute refusal to even consider failure as a possibility. Then they nodded with conviction, as if Moon’s confidence had infected them too.
Yara stared at Moon in awe mixed with disbelief at his audacious words. Selene just shook her head with a slight smile.
The two warriors who would remain behind began their descent to establish their observation post, occasionally glancing back with expressions mixing concern and hope.
Moon, Selene, Yara, and Gratis continued their ascent toward the volcanic peak where the temperature would beco truly lethal and the Magma King awaited in its domain of molten stone.
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