Chapter 388 - 362: A Fire in the Swamp

It was spring once again, and Wubei Territory welcomed another season of spring plowing.

It was already a busy and lively season, but this year was even more so with the influx of a large number of workers to build the port.

In contrast, Ronin, the Lord, found himself with some relatively leisurely time.

He spent most of his days studying Magic and Combat Skills. Only when he felt bored would he leave the castle to walk around and inspect his territory.

WHOOM—

A pale flame brought an extreme temperature, baking the entire courtyard as if it were the height of a hot summer.

In the center of the flame, several pieces of wrought iron turned red and softened at a speed visible to the naked eye, then melted into a pool of molten iron.

’The temperature of the Seventh-level Magic, Earth Core Fire, really shouldn’t be underestimated.’

Ronin once again marveled at the miraculous nature of Extraordinary Power.

No fuel, no preheating—all it took was Spiritual Power and Magic Power to conjure such a high-temperature flame out of thin air. This was far more convenient than the iron-smelting blast furnaces in Chishan Town.

The only regret was that the number of Fire Mages was too small. Besides, having a noble Great Mage specialize in smelting iron seemed somewhat inappropriate.

As he pondered, the sound of urgent running came from outside, followed by a tall figure appearing in the courtyard.

"It’s bad, Sir Elron! Something’s happened!"

The panicked voice drew Ronin out from the inner courtyard. Just then, Elron and several other Mages poked their heads out of the castle laboratory.

"What’s going on, Damon? Didn’t I tell you not to cause a commotion in the castle?"

Elron frowned slightly. A quiet environment was crucial for creating Magic Potions, and he didn’t want a failure at a critical moment because of such disturbances.

Damon was an Advanced Level Knight who had recently joined the territory, and he was something of a squad leader.

"My apologies, sir. It’s just that the situation is too strange and urgent."

Damon apologized as he reported, "A huge fire has broken out in the swamplands! It not only consumed more than a dozen farmers who were cultivating the land, but it’s also spreading rapidly. Captain Rig and I have tried everything to put it out, but we can’t do a thing!"

Hearing such sudden news, the color drained from the faces of Elron and the others.

This was indeed a major issue. Setting aside the potential threat to the town, the deaths of over a dozen farmers already constituted a catastrophic accident.

Elron didn’t dare hesitate. "Let’s go, we’ll take a look!"

He ordered, "Damon, go and gather all the other Knights and Infantry."

"Right!"

With that, the group hurried away.

When Ronin came out, he could only see their retreating backs.

’A fire in the swamplands?’

Peat fires had occurred before during the development of the swamplands, but they had always been well-controlled, with no casualties.

A fire this large was rather unexpected.

’I should go take a look, too.’

He quickly cast Wind’s Wings and rose into the air. A quick scan revealed thick black smoke to the northeast.

His Wind’s Wings trembled slightly, and he appeared above the blaze in an instant.

The fire was enormous, like a wildfire in the mountains. Even a professional firefighting team would have a hard time extinguishing it.

Organizing the people from Swamp Town, who lacked firefighting knowledge and professional skills, to fight the fire would undoubtedly lead to even greater casualties.

’Looks like it’s all up to you.’

Ronin no longer hesitated. He directly contacted Carlos through their soul connection, telling him to come as quickly as possible.

In the swamplands, Rig stood with his Knights outside the inferno.

When the fire first broke out, he had thought about summoning an Earth Wall to contain it, but he hadn’t expected the flames to spread so quickly.

WHOOSH!

A gust of strong wind swept past as Ronin landed beside Rig.

Rig was startled by the Lord who had descended from the sky. Staring at the delicate, cicada-like wings on Ronin’s back, he was dazed. ’Is the Lord not only a powerful Knight but also a powerful Great Mage?’

The Knights beside him all wore looks of shock. ’The Lord can fly?’

But the farmers standing not far away cheered loudly.

In their eyes, the Lord was omnipotent, so it seemed only natural that he could fly.

Now that the Lord had arrived, the fire could be extinguished.

The relatives of the farmers who had been consumed by the flames were wailing and pleading, hoping Ronin would quickly put out the fire.

"What’s the situation now?"

Ronin asked, "I just saw from the air, it looks like a giant crater collapsed over there?"

"Yes, my Lord!"

Rig snapped back to his senses. "We were fighting the fire near the crater earlier, but we never expected the ground to suddenly tremble, then crack and collapse. If we hadn’t run fast enough, we would have fallen into the pit."

As he spoke, a look of lingering fear crossed his face. "My Lord, what should we do?"

They couldn’t use water to fight the fire; they had no containers to carry it.

The best way would be to have a powerful Water Attribute Mage control a flow of water to extinguish it.

But there were only two Water Mages in the territory, and the most powerful one, Jenny, was only a Senior Mage. She couldn’t control that much water.

Just then, a clear dragon’s roar pierced through the clouds and sky!

Rig felt his very soul tremble as an oppressive pressure enveloped him.

"What is that?"

He followed the sound with his eyes and was utterly terrified!

A huge black shadow descended from the sky. Its wings were like a dark cloud, obscuring the view above, and its enormous body and ferocious head sent a chill down the spine of anyone who saw it.

"Gods, it’s a Magical Beast! A Magical Beast!"

"Why is there a Magical Beast in Swamp Town?"

"Are we going to die?"

"Run! Run for your lives! Run!"

In an instant, the crowd descended into chaos. Some of the more timid ones fainted from fright.

To be honest, if the Lord weren’t standing right next to him, Rig would have fled too.

This unknown Magical Beast was too terrifying. In its presence, he felt as weak as an ant, completely unable to resist.

"Do not panic. This is my Magical Beast."

At this point, it didn’t matter whether Ronin kept his Giant Dragon hidden or not. To prevent the fire from causing greater casualties and losses, bringing it out to act as a firefighter seemed like a good idea.

He leaped up and landed on the Giant Dragon’s back. "Carlos, this fire is all up to you."

Carlos let out a happy cry. It was in a very cheerful mood. It finally didn’t have to hide anymore and could appear openly before everyone, basking in the worship and fear of Mortals.

Rig’s eyes went wide as he stared at the Lord who had landed on the Magical Beast’s back. His fragile mind was dealt a massive shock.

Those who had been fleeing also stopped in their tracks, watching in shock as their Lord rode the Dragon in the sky.

They finally realized—that’s right, the Lord was here. Why were they running?

"Long live the Lord!"

"The Lord is invincible!"

Everyone fell to their knees one after another, shouting loudly as if they were worshipping a god.

Regardless of the crowd’s reaction, Carlos had already started working.

A breath of frost descended from the sky, aiming to extinguish the great fire in the crater. But this one breath had no effect; instead, the flames seemed to explode outward.

"This crater..."

Ronin frowned. His intuition told him that something about this crater was not normal.

"Use more power."

Carlos was angry, too. Failing to extinguish the fire with a single breath was a bit of a blow to its pride.

If it couldn’t put out this fire, it might as well drop the "Frost" from its title of Frostfire Wings.

The Giant Dragon raised its head high. The surrounding Water Elements fluctuated violently, gathering toward its mouth.

As it lowered its head, a torrent of frost descended from the sky.

Even with the raging inferno below, a cool breeze swept through the area the moment this breath was unleashed.

Although the fire in the huge crater burned fiercely, it only held out against the frosty breath for a few seconds before being suppressed. Soon, the flames were extinguished.

Ronin had Carlos extinguish the surrounding fires while he himself flew down from the sky to observe the giant crater up close.

It was about two hundred square meters in area and twenty to thirty meters deep.

After being scorched by the flames, the surroundings were pitch black.

’The top layer is peat, mostly burned away.’

Ronin picked up a piece of black earth. "What’s this?"

He instantly cast a Flame Skill, and the black solid in his palm began to burn.

"This is coal!"

Ronin said in shock.

Although it was possible for coal mines to exist in swamplands, he had never expected to actually find one.

The crater had collapsed in just the right way, exposing the coal mine below.

"No wonder. No wonder the fire here got so big."

The importance of a coal resource was self-evident. Not only could it burn at a higher temperature than firewood, but it could also be used to produce more chemical products.

For Wubei Territory, Ronin could use it to smelt metal, no longer needing to make charcoal from firewood to achieve higher temperatures.

Ronin rubbed the burnt-out cinders in his hand.

If he really managed to create a steam engine later on, this coal mine would solve his fuel problem.

"This is like someone handing me a pillow just as I was getting drowsy. Heaven is on my side!"