260 The Tempting Condition
“Your Majesty, I know you are powerful,” said the Fire Elemental Lord. “I beg you to go to the deepest part of this ruin, straight to the Arcana Hall. The key to releasing the seal is in the warehouse where the magic materials are stored.”
“If you can help me find the key, I will give a generous reward,” said the Fire Elemental Lord. It spoke in a special language that was different from the usual human language.
Xu Yuan could understand the language. Meanwhile, Su Wan could only make out some keywords. She pieced it together to understand what the Fire Elemental Lord wanted.
“Your seal can only be opened with a key that is in the Arcana Hall?” asked Su wan.
The flames on the Fire Elemental Lord’s body surged.
“How is it that the mages didn’t destroy the key or take it with them?” asked Xu Yuan. “You have so many underlings. Why haven’t you sent them in search of the key already?”
“The area forbids all elemental creatures,” said the Fire Elemental Lord. “Believe me, I have tried more times than you can imagine.”
The Fire Elemental Lord would never seek help from the humans and the Dark-Types that it hated so much if there was any other way.
“Although we sympathize with your plight and are more than willing to help you, how do we know you won’t attack us the moment you are free?” Su Wan asked.
Su Wan knew that Xu Yuan was far too powerful for her to be afraid of the Fire Elemental Lord. However, she didn’t want the creature to hurt her companions. Besides, she wanted the reward it promised. She was not naïve enough to assume that the Fire Elemental Lord would abide by its promise after being trapped for a hundred thousand years.
“Under the gaze of the Elemental God, I swear I won’t do something like that,” said the Fire Elemental Lord solemnly. “I vow to uphold my promise and reward you. If I try to harm you, my soul will turn to ashes and I will face death without the possibility of resurrection.”
The flames on its body surged, and the whole space was enveloped in a strange fluctuation of energy. Xu Yuan examined the energy and found nothing wrong with it. He allowed it to envelop them.
Su Wan felt the strange power around her. This was a contract. A deal. If the Fire Elemental Lord betrayed them, he would die, and his soul would be destroyed.
Su Wan received a notification informing her of the contract that was in place. She was excited and curious about the reward now.
“Could I ask what kind of reward you promise?” asked Su Wan.
“I know of many spells that are of benefit to you. I am sure you know how precious knowledge like that can be, I can teach you powerful A-grade spells. I obtained those spells from powerful mages in this Magic Tower ages ago, especially from the Sacred Fire Mage. The spells can help you change your class and become a mage.”
Lin Yao especially was very well-versed in spells. She was excited about the reward.
“We can help you in exchange for three S-class spells and 300 Fire Elemental Cores.” Su Wan was not easy to bargain with. She wanted to maximize the reward to all their benefits.
“Impossible! First, teaching the spell and imparting it to you will consume too much of my soul vitality. Also, I don’t know any S-class spells. I can only teach you A-grade spells. But I can give you the 300 Fire Elemental Cores.”
“If you don’t have so many spells, then we’ll make it 500 Fire Elemental Cores.”
“Deal.”
“Wait… I need two special treasures in exchange for my help.”
“Deal. But this is the final condition.” The Fire Elemental Lord did not dare refuse the Dark Demon Dragon. It realized that although Su Wan was the Lord, the Dark Demon Dragon was the real authority in the group.
The deal was made. Three A-grade spells, 500 Fire Elemental Cores, and two special treasures in exchange for freedom.
Su Wan was in a good mood. The rewards far exceeded her expectations. Moreover, they had wanted to go to the Arcana Hall in the first place. Xu Yuan was powerful enough for it. The Fire Elemental Lord’s request gave them a nice excuse to go through with it.
Furthermore, there was no restriction for the team. It wasn’t like they would be punished for failing. With Xu Yuan with them, the Fire Elemental Lord wouldn’t dare attack them.
The Fire Elemental Lord was also glad that it finally had a glimmer of hope. Although hope had come with an awful lot of conditions, he felt that there was nothing more important than freedom.
“So, where exactly is the key located in the Arcana Hall?” asked Su Wan.
“It is stored in the deepest part of the hall. It is the core that controls all of Arcana Hall. Magical creatures can’t enter. There are magic puppets inside. They need to be eliminated first. The Arcana Hall Core is a fist-sized crystal that was filled with potent magic. Once you remove the core, the hall will collapse in ten minutes. You need to escape immediately.”
The Fire Elemental Lord’s voice was very solemn. “The collapse will not destroy the seal even if the key is buried under rubble. It is my last chance to regain freedom.”
Su Wan took out the map and looked at it. “Are there any special treasures in there?”
“Not that I know of,” said the Fire Elemental Lord. “I occasionally sent the Fire Elemental Lifeforms to explore the area, but they found nothing.”
When the mages left, they had taken almost everything important. The remaining few items were for the Fire Elemental Lord to do as it pleased.
Su Wan asked a couple of questions more to get all the details. Then she led her troops into the next passageway.
She was excited to receive the promised rewards. Meanwhile, Lin Yao thought about becoming a Sacred Fire Mage.
The group stepped over the corpses of the magic puppets and made their way toward the deeper part of the ruin. They came to the warehouse where the magic puppets were stored. Everything was like a dilapidated and abandoned factory. Given enough time, everything seemed to die and decay.