Chapter 131: Premeditation

The difference between a Body of Flame and a Body Bathed in Fire is immense.

If Greem’s physical form could still be considered flesh and blood during the Body Bathed in Fire stage, then now, after being transformed into a Body of Flame, he has truly achieved complete fire immunity. Even without the augmentation of the Staff of the Fire Lord, he can bathe and frolic in the sea of molten lava at will, no longer fearing harm from high temperatures or intense heat.

After all, the so-called fire immunity provided by external enhancements only negates low-level fire damage; once elemental flames exceed a certain threshold, one must still endure a degree of burning. Previously, during the strengthening process of the Body Bathed in Fire, his body was frequently damaged by the overly violent transformation of fire energy, primarily because the intensity of the fire energy exceeded the limits of his fire resistance.

Now, transformed into a Body of Flame, he can elementalize parts of his body at any time to nullify all fire-based damage. Even a Second-Grade wizard would find it impossible to harm him with elemental fireballs. However, this damage immunity is limited to fire; should he encounter mutated fire-based sorcery, he would likely still sustain damage.

For example, a Lava Fireball combines fire damage with physical impact. Greem might be able to nullify the fire damage, but he cannot negate the physical force. Such mutated fire sorcery accounts for more than half of all spells, as wizards deliberately craft them to prevent their elemental attacks from being countered by enemies.

Take the current Sea of Lava: previously, if Greem ventured too deep into the magma, there was a risk of suffering fire damage. Now, with his Body of Flame, any area where fire elements gather becomes his home court; no matter how high the temperature of the elemental flames, they can no longer harm him in the slightest. On the contrary, they serve as his greatest source of nourishment.

At the very least, within the Sea of Lava, the terrain advantage held by the Lava Giants has been neutralized.

If his previous manipulation of elemental flames was a display of advanced sorcerous technique, controlling them now is a physical instinct for Greem. From now on, Greem no longer needs to run naked to enter or exit the sea of fire, for he is fire, and fire is him. The elemental flames under his control will never again damage the clothing on his body.

Beyond this, the greatest benefit the Body of Flame brings Greem is Fire Specialization. The power of all fire-based spells is doubled, incantation time is halved, and mental energy consumption is halved. In any area rich in fire elements, his mental energy recovery rate is doubled, and his Body of Flame automatically repairs his injuries.

However, there are trade-offs.

The Body of Flame is not entirely beneficial. At the very least, when Greem encounters water or ice-based damage, his injuries are doubled. In areas rich in water elements, his self-healing and mental energy recovery are suppressed.

Greem had long since accounted for these factors, so he was not surprised. He was now more concerned with his current strength. After a careful scan by the Chip, his latest combat data was projected.

Name: Greem
Race: Human (Semi-Elementalized)
Attributes: Strength 9.24 (+1), Agility 7.87 (+1), Constitution 13.22 (+1), Mental Energy 20
Profession: Wizard Apprentice (Quasi-Wizard)
Health: 62/62 (Healthy)
Career Experience: 927/1000

Career Skills: Scroll Transcription, Spell Reading, Magic Puppet Creation (Intermediate), Fire Specialization
Personal Skills: Body of Flame (Passive), Burning Hands, Flame Dart, Flame Spear, Flame Shield, Flame Counter-Damage (Close-combat passive), High-Temperature Force Field
Sorcerous Equipment: Staff of the Fire Lord, Storage Belt, Voodoo Grimoire, Boots of Speed (Agility +1), Amulet of Brute Force (Constitution/Strength +1), Dispel Wand, Healing Wand, Prophecy Wand, Green Sprite (Curse Resistance +5), Screaming Branch

Looking at the latest data compiled by the Chip, Greem’s steady and resolute heart could not help but stir. He had finally become a quasi-wizard! From this moment on, he was no longer a rookie apprentice to be slaughtered at will.

Regrettably, once his mental energy jumped from 16 to 20, the Aristocratic Circlet (+1 Mental Energy) and the Purple Ioun Stone (+2 Mental Energy) lost their auxiliary benefits. His mental energy had reached the 20-point cap for a wizard apprentice. To improve further, he would need to comprehend the power of laws and undergo the necessary advancement rituals.

But that was a matter for another time. For now, the greatest significance of becoming a quasi-wizard was that his long-planned scheme could finally be implemented.

With the Body of Flame, his human scent had faded significantly. As long as he disguised himself carefully, given the harsh and cruel environment of the Sea of Lava, it would be extremely difficult for the Lava Giants to track him.

Greem returned to the shore, armed himself with his sorcerous equipment, and plunged back into the Sea of Lava, vanishing without a trace.

...

Elder Nimur had been restless for the past few days.

As the chieftain of this remnant tribe of Lava Giants, he had to use his wisdom and life to protect and sustain the existence of his kin.

This world did not belong to them.

Although Lava Giants possessed formidable bodies and great individual strength, as a unique race unable to survive independently outside the volcanic world, they could only guard their territory to prevent incursions by outsiders.

This world belonged to human wizards.

He had known this from the moment the first Lava Giant was born in the depths of the earth's core. Human wizards tolerated their existence only to enslave and exploit them.

The volcanic world belonged to them, but they belonged to the Jubel family.

By virtue of a sorcerous contract signed a thousand years ago, the great Lava Giant tribe had become the local human wizard family's unconventional miners, required to submit a long list of resources every five years. The quantity of these resources was enough to cause even these children of the fire sea to suffer immense headaches.

As a proud and powerful race, they had once plotted rebellion, but the power of human wizards was something they could not resist. No one who hadn't experienced it could understand the terror of a Third-Grade Great Wizard. The most direct consequence of that uprising was the loss of one-third of the tribe's population. This grievous wound took three or four hundred years of recuperation to barely heal.

Before the uprising, although human wizards were oppressive, they did not intrude upon their living territory. But for the past few hundred years, the Jubel wizard family had grown increasingly excessive, frequently sending wizard apprentices down to "train" during the volcanic dormant periods.

For human apprentices, this might be life experience, but for the Lava Giants, it was the slaughter of their subordinate beasts. Sometimes, they would even swarm and attack solitary Lava Giant juveniles, which only fueled the giants' rage.

However, each time Elder Nimur negotiated with the Third-Grade Great Wizard of the Jubel family, he was sternly warned not to harm the apprentices sent by the family. Outside apprentices, however, were not included in this protection.

Unfortunately, to the eyes of a Lava Giant, it was difficult to distinguish one human apprentice from another. Thus, they had to swallow their anger and organize patrols, strictly forbidding any human apprentices from approaching their habitat. Fortunately, the human apprentices coming for trials had limited strength, and with the Lava Giants intentionally using fire creatures to block the perimeter, few could break into the Sea of Lava to disturb their lives.

But this year was clearly different from the past.

Among the human wizard apprentices this time, there was a mysterious individual who had broken into the edge of the Sea of Lava repeatedly, seemingly studying some unknown sorcery. Because this person was extremely cunning and elusive, even sending two or three patrol squads was not enough to intercept him. Nimur had to order the giants to be on high alert, forbidding any of the young ones from leaving their dwellings alone.

To prevent outsiders from coveting the collected gems and materials, Nimur had even dispatched two powerful warriors to guard the family treasury. Yet, even so, as he soaked comfortably in the lava pool, a chill would occasionally flicker through his heart, as if something of grave importance had been overlooked.

Nimur was a large Lava Giant standing seven meters tall and was the longest-lived elder of the tribe, having lived for 1815 years. His strength had reached the peak of the Lava Giants, which, in the terms of human wizards, was at least at the peak of the Second Grade.

However, as a unique race that relied on a formidable body and innate talent for combat, the number of powerful fire abilities he could master could be counted on his fingers. A human wizard of the same grade would have nearly a hundred powerful spells to choose from.

Without the nearly ten thousand years of profound knowledge accumulated by human wizards, without their endless array of strange equipment, and without their vast numbers, the Lava Giants—relying solely on innate talents bestowed by the plane's consciousness—would never escape the fate of being enslaved and driven by human wizards.

With his strength, as long as the terrifying Third-Grade Great Wizard of the Jubel family did not arrive in person, Nimur feared no opponent of the same grade on his home turf of the Sea of Lava. Yet, throughout these days, he still felt a chill passing through his heart from time to time, as if something evil were about to descend upon their tribe.

He was unable to sleep or eat in peace, constantly urging his tribesmen to patrol their designated areas and inspect the entire island regularly, leaving everyone exhausted and miserable. However, what comforted him was that after all this hardship, the three-month volcanic dormant period was finally coming to an end. Sensing the increasingly loud, rumbling thunder from the depths of the earth's core, his heart felt a little more at ease.

But the closer it got to that moment, the more fearful he felt.

Today, the unease in Nimur's heart had reached its peak, making it impossible for him to sleep in the lava pool within the stone cave. He could only step out of his dwelling and stand at the edge of the small island where he lived, scanning for any movement in the surroundings.