Magma Tree

Devro's headless corpse collapsed on the ground, his death signaling the end of the battle.

Minos turned back and looked at Beetus, who at this point was overwhelmed by an aura of fear. He thought for certain that Minos was going to kill him too, his shivering body pushing against the cave wall as he curled up, trying to protect himself.

"No need to be afraid, I killed them only because they wanted to do the same to me. You, on the other hand, are innocent. You can leave." Minos said as he picked up the torch that was still ignited, heading deeper into the cave.

Beetus watched as Minos headed into the depth of the tunnel. He couldn't help but go limp as the sense of relief overwhelmed him.

Before Minos vanished completely, Beetus suddenly felt a courage bubble into his body. He steadied his shaky legs, and shouted out towards Minos.

"Wait, my momma always said I wasn't the smartest, so I should find someone smart to work for. I want to work for you boss!"

Minos suddenly stopped, turning back with a slight smile on his face. "If you want to join me, go to Underwood City and find a little girl called Rubella. Stay with her until I'm back."

"But boss, I want to follow you now!" Beetus responded.

"Am I the boss?" Minos suddenly asked.

"Of course!"

"Then you just need to listen to me." Minos said.

Beetus wanted to argue some more, but before he could even react, Minos had disappeared into the cave. The words he left behind were still fresh in Beetus's mind, and he decided to go and try to go to Underwood City and find the Rubella he was speaking about.

…

With Beetus having been dealt with, Minos no longer had any worries. Walking in silence, he headed into the abyss that was the inner caverns of the mountainous caverns.

As he got deeper, he noticed a light from the end of the tunnel. Soon enough, it was so bright he didn't even need the torch.

Putting it away, he exited from the tunnel, entering into a massive cave that was the inside of the volcano.

Looking up, Minos could see the volcano's opening, the sky at this point being completely covered by clouds of ash and dust.

Looking down, Minos could see the dense lava at the bottom of the pit. As most of the lava had already been expelled through the top, the lava levels were significantly lower, making it possible for one to head deeper into the cavity of the volcano.

The thing of most interest to Minos were the Magma Trees kept hearing about. With a quick sweep of his eyes, he quickly found a tree with its roots deeply embedded into the side of the cave as it hung off the wall.

The tree was a deep red, with bright orange leaves. Hanging from the side were a few apple-sized fruits a black-red color.

The fruits were covered in coats of lava, which they seemed to be absorbing with excitement. As the fruits absorbed the lava, their color got brighter, and their size got larger.

There were no obvious path's to the tree, with the only real way of getting towards them either climbing or flying.

Of course flying was naturally impossible to most people given their realms, but for Minos, and his Levitation Talisman, it was no problem.

The fruits were still unripe at this point, and so Minos could only wait as he looked up at the other groups and individuals that were closer to the opening of the volcano.

These groups and individuals had to use ropes as they slowly climbed down the side of the volcano opening.

Minos was currently the one at the lowest depth, thanks to the secret entrance he had used. He couldn't help but feel fortunate that he didn't have to try to come in through the top like the rest.

Occasionally, one group would attack the other with bows or other ranged weapons, causing the person hanging off the rope to twist around in an attempt to avoid the attacks.

Sometimes they weren't lucky, and directly took a shot to the body. Minos even saw one poor fellow who had his rope directly shot off, causing him to fall directly into the massive magma pit at the bottom of the volcano.

If seeing a man being shot by a lava bullet was horrific enough, you could barely begin to imagine what it was like to see a man's entire body being slowly eaten by it.

Minos ignored the screams of agony, having long since gotten used to the cries of death. He instead focused his full attention on the Magma Fruit, ready for it to ripen.

He had to choose the perfect moment to strike, if he went too early, he would be shot down by the competitors.

There were only four Magma Trees inside the cave, each on different points of the volcano's walls. They had between three to five fruits a piece, with the one closest to Minos having a very lucky five

At this point, no one had noticed Minos, he took advantage of the darkness, ready to strike. Someone had already gotten close to the tree near Minos, but they were constantly assaulted by other competitors, making their journey treacherous.

The Magma Fruit started getting plumper and brighter, flames occasionally flickering off it. Minos didn't know when the Magma Fruit was ready, nor did he know how to properly store it.

For the first problem, he could only guess, as for the second, with the spatial ring Minos shouldn't have too many problems, but it still exposed a new weakness of his.

He still knew too little of the natural world, both the beasts and the plants. In the future he would take time to learn about these things, since you never know when a situation like today might happen.

He could only hope that the spatial ring could properly store the Magma Fruits, otherwise he'd be out of luck.

As Minos was thinking, one Magma Fruit seemed to reach a peak. Its flesh was shining, as if it had turned into a little sun.

Soon after, the bright light was internalized, once again revealing a bright orange Magma Fruit with a jewel like brilliance to it.

As the people saw the fruit undergo its final metamorphosis, everyone began climbing down their ropes even faster.

It's as if everyone suddenly hit the accelerate button, going full speed to try and claim a Magma Fruit for themselves.

Minos didn't know what a ripe Magma Fruit was like, but even an idiot could tell that it was ready by now.

But Minos didn't attack right away, rather he waited a little longer. The inner volcano had become completely chaotic at this point, with attacks being pelted all around, leaving no one safe.

Slowly, the other Magma Fruit's began to ripen, and soon the tree that Minos was right under was completely ready, all five fruits sparkling with a brilliant glow.

The one closest to the tree at this point was constantly stopped in his tracks by the assault of his enemies, making his pace as slow as a snail.

Minos noticed the gap, and without a moment's delay, he slapped a levitation talisman on himself.

At the same time, he put a quick disguise on, hiding his iconic white hair and pale skin. He even put on custom made shoes that raised his height from about 170 cm to 180 cm.

With all that prepared, Minos activated the Levitation Talisman. Bending down, he fully compressed his legs like springs, before exploding out with his full strength.

Minos's action created a loud booming sound, which quickly caught the attention of everyone else in the cave, but he was traveling far too fast for anyone to react.

With a blade in hand, Minos quickly reached the Magma Tree. Using the tremendous speed plus his own strength, he swung down at the branch that held all the Magma Fruit's connected.

All his powers exploded out a single swing, cutting through the branch like a hot knife through butter. Without a moment's delay, Minos quickly put the branch into his space ring.

Having got what he came for, he used the Magma Tree to renew his momentum, exploding up into the dark clouds hovering above the volcano's opening.

The man right above the Magma Tree hadn't even reacted yet. He could only watch with a slack jaw as Minos flew deep into the ash-clouds, disappearing into the heavens.

The room suddenly went silent as the realization of what just happened was setting in, everyone standing around with confusion and shock in their eyes.

Suddenly the crowd exploded with even more aggression. Now that one Magma Tree had been completely pillaged, only three were left.

The fight became even more hectic, and a few groups even split up their teams in an attempt to track Minos.

Some lone wolves gave up completely, deciding to take the same route of attempting to track down Minos.

While he had moved extremely fast, the stronger cultivators managed to catch a glimpse of him due to their advanced eyesight.

The island was ultimately closed off, with only a single port to escape with. As long as they blocked off the port and checked anyone who came through, they could get their hands on a full five Magma Fruits.

With that knowledge in mind, a few people who didn't stand much chance gave up the fight completely, instead redirecting their goals.

At this point, Minos was still traveling amongst the ash-clouds, shielding his eyes and mouth with his robe.