True to his word, Adam led them deeper. The familiar chill of the caverns gave way to a stifling, dry heat. The stone underfoot grew warm, and the air shimmered with waves of thermal energy.

Soon, they saw the source far below, rivers of incandescent orange lava snaked through a colossal new cavern, the Molten Deeps. The very air tasted of sulfur and ash.

Adam's Heat Resistance, bolstered by Draconic Affinity, allowed him to endure the sweltering environment, though it was still uncomfortable. He was surprised to see Alice seemingly unbothered, her sleek fur not even looking singed.

"The heat doesn't affect you?" he asked.

Alice trotted along a heated rock, her paws seemingly insulated. "The void is cold. It is... part of me. This heat is like a warm breeze. It does not touch the cold inside." Her unique nature continued to reveal itself.

They ventured cautiously along a wide, obsidian ledge overlooking a lava river. It wasn't long before the river itself seemed to boil. A creature heaved itself onto the bank, its body a patchwork of cracked, black igneous rock with glowing red fissures. Molten lava dripped from its form. It was a Magma Ooze (Lvl 26), a semi-solid entity that pulsed with intense heat.

"Hit and run," Adam strategized instantly. "It's slower than us. Alice, bind it if it gets too close."

Adam took to the air, the Aerial Dominance skill making his flight in the turbulent, heat-riddled air remarkably stable. He dove, unleashing a Gale Slash. The blade of wind sliced into the ooze, carving a deep gash. Instead of blood, molten rock splattered out, and the ooze let out a gurgling roar. It retaliated by spewing a glob of lava. Adam was already gone, having used a single dash of Phantom Onslaught to veer sharply away.

He repeated the process, using Crystal Shard Shots to pepper it from a distance. The shards did little damage, but they annoyed the creature, keeping its attention on him. Alice, from the safety of the ledge, waited for her moment.

When the ooze began to gather itself for a larger lava spray, she used Void Bind. The spatial tethers snapped around its main body, causing the gathered lava to sputter and collapse back onto itself, dealing internal damage.

The fight was a marathon of attrition. Adam's Mantis Slash was the most effective, the sheer force of it carving off chunks of the creature's body. He had to be constantly mindful of the splattering lava and the ooze's surprisingly long-range attacks. After a long, grueling battle, the Magma Ooze finally stilled, its core cooling into a lump of inert, black rock.

[ Defeated: Magma Ooze (Lvl 26) ]

[ +140 EXP | +210 EP ]

The energy that flooded into him was immense, the final push he needed.

[ Ding! Level Up! ]

[ You are now Level 30! ]

[ Next Level: 5/155 ]

[ Skill Point: +1 ]

[ Evolution Points: 2147 -> 2357/2500 ]

He had done it. Level 30. And he was only 143 EP away from his next evolution. The final threshold was within touching distance.

He consumed the Magma Ooze, the taste of ash and minerals filling his mouth. He felt a new resistance to fire cementing within him, but no new fragment emerged.

He looked at Alice, then down into the searing, deadly beauty of the Molten Deeps.

"We're almost there, Alice," he said, his voice a low thrum of anticipation. "Just a little more."

The victory over the Magma Ooze was a fleeting triumph. Before Adam could even plan their next move, the lava river ahead of them began to churn violently.

A massive shape, darker than the surrounding molten rock, began to rise. It was colossal, a behemoth of cooled black basalt and glowing red fissures, its form vaguely humanoid with arms of dripping stone and a head that was little more than a faceless mound. A name, burning with the same intensity as the lava, seared into Adam's vision.

[ The Magma Lord ]

This wasn't on the same nightmarish level as the Arachnowyrm, but it was a true Area Boss, a force of nature that dominated this entire domain. It didn't move towards them. Instead, it slammed a fist into the lava, sending a wave of the incandescent liquid crashing against the ledge they were on, forcing them to retreat. It was herding them, cutting off an easy escape.

"Alice, stay back! Far back!" Adam commanded, his mind racing. "This one is playing with the environment."

He had to test its defenses. Using his aerial superiority, he dove in, unleashing a full-power Mantis Slash against its leg. The sound was a deafening clang, like a sword striking an anvil. A few chips of rock flew off, but the damage was superficial. The Magma Lord didn't even flinch.

"Damn it, its armor is too thick!" Adam hissed internally. But he noticed something. The monster was slow. Its movements were ponderous, like a mountain shifting. His agility was his advantage. Maybe he could whittle it down.

"New plan, Alice! I'll keep it distracted. You look for a weak point. Its eyes, its mouth, anything that looks different!"

He began a relentless aerial assault, using Gale Slash and Crystal Shard Shot to pepper its body, staying constantly on the move. The Magma Lord swiped at him with its massive arms, but Adam's Aerial Dominance and Phantom Onslaught made him an impossible target to pin down. It seemed like his strategy was working; he was too fast for the brute.

But he had gravely misjudged its capabilities.

Growing frustrated with the elusive fly, the Magma Lord stopped its swiping. Its faceless head swiveled towards Adam, and a deep, rumbling sound built within its chest. A fissure on its "face" split open, revealing a maw of pure, white-hot energy.

Adam's instincts screamed. He was mid-dash, committed to an evasive maneuver. There was no time to use Phantom Onslaught again.

A concentrated beam of plasma, hotter than the surrounding lava, shot from the creature's maw. It wasn't a wide-area attack; it was a precise, lancing spear of annihilation aimed directly at him.

He threw himself to the side with all his might, but the edge of the beam grazed his wing. The pain was instantaneous and excruciating. The tough, leathery membrane of his Glidewing blackened and crisped, and the supporting bones screamed in agony.

[ Health: 105/150 ]

[ Status Effect: Severe Wing Burn - Flight capabilities impaired.]

He crashed onto the obsidian ledge, tumbling painfully. The smell of his own scorched flesh filled his nostrils.

The Magma Lord let out a ground-shaking roar of triumph and began to lumber towards him, its slow, deliberate steps now sounding like a death knell.

'Shit!', his primary advantage now crippled.

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