[SP-F9] Guardian of Fire

[Azide 0]

He leaned against the railing and peered out over the side of the rusted structure. It was hot to the touch, but not quite the near-molten temperatures he'd otherwise expect from a metal platform that dangled precariously over the open mouth of a volcano. "No matter how many times I come to this floor, I will never understand the thought process behind this place."

If he ever met the architects that'd designed this village, it would be far too soon for both parties. Then again- it Kayaba who was responsible for all of this. Perhaps the day he met him, he'd simply throw the man overboard and be done with it.

He sighed, and watched as the moisture from his breath evaporated in front of him. Azide stepped back and straightened himself up before lifting up the top flap of his jacket. "Looks like it's time to hit the road, Lucifer."

The creature hissed a muffled hiss from within the folds of his coat. Word on the street was that a three-headed dog had been spotted around the area- with 'around' being used in the loosest sense of the word. "Two days of walking, to be exact." And what would await him there?

"Three-headed dog, huh? If I'm not mistaken, sounds like I'll be hunting Cerberus." He backed away from the heated railing, then made his way for Vulcan's central gate.

[Azide 0]

A tap of his finger marked his destination; it was a place known as Inferno Cavern- and from what he'd heard, the name wasn't just for show either. It would be roughly a two day journey, factoring in a bit of rest- or more exactly, roughly four hours between the first and second days. Since entering Aincrad, he'd been starting to get more sleep than his previous two to three hours per night, so these four hours would be good for him.

Within a few minutes, he'd exited the village of Vulcan and made his way past the bridge that allowed one to leave the mouth of the volcano and journey onwards. As he made his way down the soot-covered mountain, he turned back to gaze upon the top- where Vulcan lay hidden from view. The floor was much more massive than people tended to realize, and the smallness of the village from here put that in the forefront of his mind.

"Two days, huh?" He shook his head. "But once I get there, there'll be hell to pay for Cerebus and whatever else might get in my way." With that guiding thought and a blinking red dot on his map, he carried on, heading to a place far beyond his view.

[Azide 0]

He raised the sleeve of his coat to cover his mouth and coughed against the dyed leather, which served to muffle the noise. "Geeze, this place is like a desert of ash and soot," said Azide. It crossed his mind that the phrase would make for a decent album title: Desert of Ash and Soot. Perhaps he'd bringing up the idea to Xanatos at some point, and he could put in some work with that violin of his. What had he called it? "Garanzia?"

In any case, the journey had been long and dull, thus far. The ninth floor, being filled with still-active volcanoes, wasn't exactly a bustling metropolis. With all of the dust, soot and ashes- not to mention the constant billows of smoke and toxic gases- there was no wonder that it wasn't a very popular place for other players. In the solid day of traveling he'd done thus far, he hadn't come across even a single player walking across this desolate wasteland.

In the real world, perhaps this sort of area would instead be filled with life- volcanic ash was, after all, quite fertile. But in this game, nothing was allowed to grow- the area simply remained too heated to allow for it.

He came to a stop at an abandoned stone den and took a seat against the smooth, cold wall. "Limestone?" he wondered. Either way, it was about time he stopped for the day. There would be more time for progress tomorrow. He removed himself from view and closed his eyes, keeping a hand clasped around the grip of his blade.

[Azide 0]

He'd woken several times that night, but it hadn't bothered him much. In fact, he was glad to have gotten any sleep at all. Under normal circumstances, he would've simply burned the midnight oil and gone without- it wouldn't exactly have been breaking new ground at this point. Several times, his eyes had flicked open and his fingers clasped around the grip of Quantum Slicer, but he'd lulled himself back to sleep upon deeming them false alarms.

Roughly four hours later, he awakened for a final time. There was no need for an alarm- this was, after all, the amount that he was accustomed to nowadays. As he stepped from out of the small cave, he could see that the sun had not yet risen. "The early bird catches the worm, I suppose.'

Lucifer poked its head out from one of his coat pockets and looked at him with wide eyes, and he soothed the creature with soft strokes of his fingers. Perhaps he himself would be fine with the paltry amount of sleep, he wasn't about to drag his companion down that road as well.

[Azide 0]

I continued trudging through the volcanic wasteland for as long as my legs would carry me. When I'd taken off this morning, the sun still had yet to peek out from over the horizon- now it gazed down upon me from above, where it stood proud and tall. Even so, its light didn't scorch me nearly as badly as I expected Inferno Cave would; I'd heard rumors floating around that the cave was a hostile, unrelenting environment. I'd trekked through the deserved and survived in spite of its harsh winds and unforgiving temperatures, so I wasn't too worried. Perhaps I was just confident.

My boots plodded against the ashy ground ad nauseum. Every step of my feet made gentle taps against the stony ground, and I was almost sure that it consisted of hardened lava. "Perhaps if the volcanos ever came to rest, all of this would someday become full of life," he mused. But for the time being, it was monotonous. A field of black, with so much dust and smoke in the air that the sun's rays couldn't penetrate well enough to even heat the floor any further.