Pioneer Lord: A Leisurely Imperial Life

Chapter 207 New Magic Skills

Having conquered the seventy-ninth floor, the mining team is now diligently excavating the ore to search for the next staircase. During this break, the team members are taking a rest.

Richard sat on a clean cashmere carpet, surrounded by maids. His head felt like a hornet's nest had been disturbed, buzzing and throbbing.

Lina knelt behind him, gently massaging his temples with her fingers. Nicole carefully wiped the dust from his forehead with a soft cloth, while Celia held a glass of honeyed ale to quench his thirst.

Only Betty was sprawled out on the cashmere carpet, her head resting on Richard's lap, fast asleep, completely unlike her usual quiet and sweet self.

This was the first time Richard had fought continuously with all his might since he transmigrated. Three days of high-intensity attacks had already exhausted his usual composure.

The first day went well. With Betty, the human jukebox, there, her rousing battle songs made the entire assault team feel like they were on steroids, killing monsters who howled in terror.

But it didn't work for the next two days.

He then realized that using magic continuously at high intensity required a high level of concentration.

Over time, the nerves will become tense, and this mental fatigue is far more torturous than physical exhaustion.

Betty was the same; the angelic songstress needed to sing constantly and expend her magic, so she too was exhausted.

In their condition, even the life light of the apostle of life had no effect.

The other maids were in much better condition than them; Celia and Nicole's Flower Language Sword Maidens were melee magic users.

Even when magic is depleted, you can still fight in close combat. It's tiring, but mainly the muscles are sore. A good night's sleep will help.

Xueyue's [Beauty's Curse] is a "staring attack," which most of the time only requires a single glare at crucial moments and consumes little energy.

Martha's job was the easiest. The Life Apostle class had no gender restrictions, and there were twenty of them in the legion, so she had plenty of rest and was always full of energy.

Of all the people, only the Chiffon Guards have the most vigorous energy. When they merge with the unicorns, they can even inherit the spiritual power of the divine beasts!

After three days of intense fighting, their eyes remained sharp, making them look like a group of tireless human beasts.

...

Despite the exhaustion, the rewards of this arduous task far exceeded expectations. This morning, in a moment of mental daze, Richard casually unleashed a thunderous blast from the sky.

Hey!

The lightning bolt, as thick as a bucket, actually split in half in mid-air!

Good guy!

Richard was stunned and even subconsciously wondered if he had gone mad.

But after repeated exploration and experimentation, he actually comprehended a completely new battlefield lightning magic on his own!

—A chain of lightning strikes!

This skill is interesting!

Although he had already mastered a large-area spell, Ice Storm, this skill was not suitable for use in the mine.

Because besides monsters, there are also many ores here, which will be smashed to pieces under the indiscriminate attack of the magic ice cones.

That would mean losing the game's attributes, and ultimately, the only way to collect resources in reality would be through non-game methods.

But Chain Lightning doesn't have this problem; it can sense the presence of monsters within its range and accurately lock onto targets to unleash electric shocks.

Although the power is not enough to directly kill high-level monsters, the leaping lightning will make those monsters hiding in the corners and trying to ambush you emit blue light, like a light bulb suddenly turning on in the dark!

This makes it convenient for the Chiffon Guards in mid-air to lock onto targets and kill them from a distance, saving time, effort, and ensuring safety.

This is also the key reason why the team was able to go straight from the 72nd floor to the 79th floor on the third day, even when they were extremely exhausted.

As Richard enjoyed Lina's massage, he savored the wonderful use of his new skill and couldn't help but think to himself, "Sure enough, you don't know your limits until you push yourself."

However, he was not the first person to comprehend derivative magic on his own; Nicole was.

Ever since she figured out the technique of using magic to condense flower petals a few days ago, she has been unstoppable.

Now, the petals she conjures can not only be thrown like darts, but also trigger a violent magical explosion upon hitting a target, like a grenade launcher.

Richard gave this derivative magic of hers a name: "Flower-Picking Finger".

Interestingly, no matter how patiently Nicole taught her, Celia could never learn the trick; the magical petals she conjured were limp and lifeless, like rotten cabbage leaves.

Nicole was so angry that she exclaimed that her brain was as small as her breasts.

Nobody's perfect!

This girl, who possesses terrifyingly extraordinary talent, has a fatal weakness in her comprehension of magic.

Just as Richard was lost in thought and closing his eyes to rest, the excited shouts of the mining team's serfs suddenly came from deep within the mine.

"My lord! We've found the staircase to the next floor! The entrance to the eightieth floor is right here!"

A serf from a gathering team came running up, stumbling and crawling, to report loudly.

Richard's spirits lifted, and most of the weariness in his eyes faded. He carefully moved his body, gently picked up Betty, who was fast asleep with her head on his lap, and laid her flat in the center of the cashmere carpet.

"Martha, Susan, you two stay here and look after Betty. Don't let anyone disturb her rest."

"Yes, sir."

Richard stood up and gestured for the team to regroup. Although he was still tired, he felt he had to take a look before he felt at ease, since he was already there.

The Chiffon Guards were the first to take to the air, illuminating their radiant rings, and flew in an orderly fashion towards the lower cave entrance.

After receiving a safe signal, Richard led the maids down slowly, and a completely different atmosphere rushed towards them from the cave entrance.

heat!

Accompanied by the sweltering air, a sulfurous smell resembling rotten eggs filled the nostrils; the temperature was comparable to that of a desolate wilderness at midday in the height of summer.

However, Richard knew very well that this was just an appetizer. Just as the ice prison gets colder the deeper you go, the magma layer only gets hotter the deeper you go. Without extraordinary means, you simply cannot stay there for long.

...

Looking around, deep darkness still dominates the scene, but unlike the ice prison, here the darkness is dotted with faint, dark red lights.

Those must be the [Fire Crystal] and [Crimson Stone] produced only in the magma layer, strategic resources that are the complete opposite of [Tear Crystal] and [Ice Marrow Stone].

"Set up a light source!" Richard ordered.

The collection team sprang into action, and several warm white lampposts were quickly erected. The light, larger than the Radiant Ring, dispelled the surrounding darkness and illuminated the nearby terrain clearly.

The topography of this layer is quite similar to that of the Pinghe layer, with the ground covered with reddish-brown soil, but the surrounding rock walls are quite peculiar, resembling waxy rock walls formed after magma solidifies.

Embedded on it are fist-sized minerals, which are the fire crystals and crimson stones that Richard has been longing for.

Just as he was about to have someone get a piece, a low and violent growl suddenly came from nearby.

Richard narrowed his eyes, raised his hand and waved, signaling everyone to enter battle mode.

A figure shrouded in black mist slowly emerged from the darkness!