Wizard Umo took his leave. Merlin had now become the member of Fort Udon and possessed the gold-lined robe that brought great prestige to him.

Merlin's first thought was to obtain the map of volcanoes that Wizard Gerson had mentioned, which was only provided to the member of Fort Udon.

The map of volcanoes was a piece of combined information that Fort Udon had spent many years of observations to collect, so it was highly credible. Should Merlin wanted to search for Lava Soil in the volcanoes, he would need the map.

There were many Spell Casters coming in and out of Fort Udon since it was a large castle. This was the only place that the members of Fort Udon could trade among themselves.

In addition, there was also a large marketplace in Fort Udon; the place was rich in resources.

There might be spells, alchemy, and potions. Due to the inheriting nature, Fort Udon's resources could not be compared to the Dark Magic Region's even after a few centuries. However, since they had fought sea beasts all year round and survived in the middle of the vast sea, they had collected all sorts of strange materials and treasures.

Thus, some things such as potion materials, alchemy materials, special potions, and magical casting tools were not something the Dark Magic Region was capable of possessing.

"Give me a map of volcanoes. It needs to specify the characteristics of the volcanoes."

Merlin said to a young female Spell Caster who was about the age of fifteen.

This young female Wizard was naive-looking. For some reason, she had joined Fort Udon. Even though she was young, she was already a First-level Spell Caster.

After noticing the gold-lined robe on Merlin, the young female Wizard immediately appeared nervous and anxious. She did not react to his words after a long moment as she stared blank-eyed at Merlin.

Merlin frowned, then assumed a heavier tone. "Give me a map of the volcanoes!"

Upon hearing Merlin's impatient tone, the young female Wizard came to her senses and her face flushed pale as she quickly went into her room.

Then, the female Wizard held a large map and approached Merlin. She tried hard to explain what happened. "I'm terribly sorry. It's my first time seeing a gold-lined Spell Caster, so I was nervous…"

Merlin smiled but did not say anything. He now understood a little better of the status of "gold-lined robe" in Fort Udon.

When he came here wearing his gold-lined robe, almost all Spell Casters he met along the way showed admiration and respect from the depth of their hearts.

Merlin took the map and inspected it closely. As expected, the map recorded many volcanoes with their respective characteristics. The details were quite specific such as whether the volcanoes were active, when they had exploded in the past, and the time between successive explosions.

This was the map which Merlin needed the most!

"Right, how many elemental crystal stones are needed for this map?"

Merlin asked the female Wizard. He knew that the precious resources of Fort Udon were only made available to the members of Fort Udon, and it required elemental crystal stones to buy the item.

"Wizard Merlin, you have a gold-lined robe. According to the rules of Fort Udon, you have a limit of ten thousand elemental crystal stones. Even though this map costs three thousand elemental crystal stones, it hasn't exceeded your limit, so you can just take it directly."

"Oh? I can do that?"

Merlin was surprised. Wizard Umo and Wizard Sakvara might have forgotten to tell him that. The limit of ten thousand elemental crystal stones was not a small amount to have.

An average member of Fort Udon surely did not have such prestige; it was unique to those who had the gold-lined robe.

When Merlin kept the map and was about to leave, he suddenly saw a black-robed Spell Caster beside him buying a bubble-like spherical object.

Merlin inquired curiously, "What is this?"

The young female Wizard quickly explained. "This is a precious item obtained from the body of a deep-sea beast named blue dolphin. This bubble is also known as the blue dolphin's bubble. Since the Kurdmansla Islands is surrounded by sea, we always encounter many strong sea beasts. In addition, there are many precious materials in the vast sea. The function of a blue dolphin's bubble is to allow us to go under the sea.

"With a blue dolphin's bubble, you can stay in water for up to eight hours. As long as you're not in the deeper regions of the sea, you can completely roam around under the sea easily!"

Merlin was rather astonished at the blue dolphin's bubble. To be able to stay in the water for eight hours proved that the blue dolphin's bubble was indeed a good item to have. After considering that he still had a few thousands of elemental crystal stones, he said to the young female Wizard, "Alright, give me a blue dolphin's bubble!"

"Sure, please give me a minute!"

Thereafter, the young female Wizard held a fist-sized bubble and handed it to Merlin. She explained, "The blue dolphin's bubble can be stored for a long time, up to a few years. It's also easy to use. Just reach your hand into the bubble lightly, then the bubble will expand and enlarge, encompassing the Spell Caster. One can enter the sea after that. However, you must ensure not to damage the bubble when you cast a spell. Otherwise, the immense pressure under the sea can easily crush the Spell Caster should the bubble bursts."

Merlin nodded. He had known since his previous life that the pressure under the sea was immensely large. Even the toughest metal alloy would be crushed easily under the deep sea, not to mention the Spell Casters who had a weak body.

The blue dolphin's bubble cost Merlin about three thousand elemental crystal stones. Even if Merlin possessed the gold-lined robe, he only had four thousand elemental crystal stones now.

Luckily, Merlin had many elemental crystal stones in his ring, so he was not concerned about using up his limit.

After getting the map and the blue dolphin's bubble, Merlin turned around and left.

Upon returning to his room, Merlin quickly opened the map and searched carefully. There were too many volcanoes recorded on the map; most of them were active volcanoes. Only a small number of them were completely inactive or did not explode often.

Firstly, Merlin looked for the volcanoes which were completely inactive because it would be safer for him to search for Lava Soil there.

"Yeah, I'll choose this island!"

Merlin finally picked an island called the Violet Flame Island. Merlin found that the dead volcanoes were more concentrated on this island. Hence, it was most suitable for him to search for Lava Soil there.

The only downside to this was that the island was too far from the main island. It was located at the outermost region of the Kurdmansla Islands.

Merlin was completely free now and could move around with ease in Fort Udon. This was also one of his rights as a Spell Caster with a gold-lined robe.

However, Merlin had decided. He quickly left his room and approached the Violet Flame Island according to the route written on the map.

…

"It has been so many days since sea beasts last came. We can finally relax for a little. Sadly, our third brother has died."

A black-robed Wizard shook his head as he heaved a deep sigh.

"Yeah, it wasn't just our third brother. Crook as well. As soon as the sea beasts attacks the island, we must guard the island with our lives. However, if we do that, someone has to die."

A few black-robed Wizards revealed a helpless expression. Since the first day they had joined Fort Udon, they had received many benefits. From First-level to Third-level Spell Caster, they had enjoyed the rich resources available in Fort Udon.

Most of all, every Wizard in Fort Udon were like brothers to them, giving them family warmth in which they had not felt for a long time as roaming Wizards.

Thus, they were contented with their lives. When the sea beasts attacked the island, they willingly came to the most dangerous outer islands to stand against the powerful sea beasts.

However, the few months of killing had slowly tired them out. These sea beasts seemed to be endless. Every attack would end up in a massive number of deaths among the Spell Casters. They were even concerned about what might happen to the island should they fail in protecting it. They did not want to leave Fort Udon, so they had sworn to protect it.

"Hmm? Someone's coming. Is it the Wizards who were sent here by Fort Udon?"

A black-haired Wizard with a black robe looked far ahead and, in a blur, he could see a figure that was slowly approaching the Violet Flame Island.

In the past few months, they had lost too many Spell Casters on the Violet Flame Island, so Fort Udon would usually send more Spell Casters here as replacements.

"Let me check it out. From what I see, I don't think so. If he's the Wizard sent by Fort Udon as a replacement, why is he alone?"

Among the black-robed Wizards, a gray-robed Wizard appeared quite flashy. He squinted his eyes. He thought that this was not a Spell Caster sent by Fort Udon, so he was immediately on guard.

It was important to note that they must be careful around the other two forces – Gray Wing Alliance and Wizard's Tower when they fought the sea beasts on the Kurdmansla Islands.

It was slightly better with Wizard's Tower since they only took control of the largest islands with rich resources. They would not be interested in the poor and dangerous island like the Violet Flame Island.

However, the case was different with Gray Wing Alliance. They always watched Fort Udon closely. They even wanted to fight for a poor and dangerous island like the Violet Flame Island.

These three forces were in a heated competition, so the Spell Casters on the Violet Flame Island did not dare to lower their guard.

"Wizard Bayton, you're being too cautious. Do you think that the people of Gray Wing Alliance dare to make a move now? Wasn't the lesson last time enough to teach them? Hehe, if it is really them, we can directly eliminate them. I've long been annoyed at the bastards of Gray Wing Alliance!"

The black-haired Spell Caster gave off an intense killing aura when the Gray Wing Alliance was mentioned. His expression gave others a chill down their spine.

"We should still be careful. I'll check it out!"

After saying that, the gray-robed Wizard Bayton walked toward the blurred figure.