I Died and Became a Noble's Heir-Chapter 325: Collecting Materials

Jack stood outside the castle, massive doors sealing shut behind him with a resonant boom.

’Thunder Mantle,’ Jack thought, activating the skill.

Red electricity exploded across his body.

Lightning crackled over his arms, his chest, his legs, dancing across his skin like circuit boards etched into his skin. His hair stood on end, individual strands lifting as if gravity had stopped applying to them.

The power felt incredible. Like a charged hummingbird, humming with energy that begged to be released.

Jack grinned, feeling the lightning dance beneath his skin. ’Let’s see what this can do.’

He took off running.

The ground exploded beneath his feet.

Stone cracked and shattered as he launched forward, his speed so far beyond what he’d been capable of before that the difference felt absurd. The world blurred around him, becoming streaks of color as he accelerated.

Red lightning trailed behind him like a comet’s tail, crackling through the air in his wake. Each step left cracks in the earth, his enhanced strength and speed combining to turn simple running into destruction.

’Holy shit,’ Jack thought, exhilaration flooding through him.

The terrain shifted as he ran. What had been relatively flat ground near the castle gave way to rolling hills. His enhanced agility let him adjust mid-stride, correcting for uneven surfaces without conscious thought.

A stream cut across his path. Jack didn’t hesitate, didn’t slow, just kept running. His foot hit water for a fraction of a second before momentum carried him across. The red lightning trailing behind him caused the water to steam, droplets evaporating from the heat of the electrical current passing through him.

Trees appeared ahead. Jack weaved between them, his perception enhanced enough to track obstacles at this speed, his body responding faster than normal human reflexes.

The ground changed texture beneath his feet. Grass gave way to packed dirt, then to gravel, then to volcanic rock that radiated heat even from a distance.

Jack pushed harder, testing the limits of his new speed.

’This is insane,’ he thought, joy mixing with exhilaration. ’Before, I was fast. Now I’m...’

He didn’t have words for it.

The volcano loomed larger with each passing second. What should have taken an hour of travel at his previous pace was being covered in minutes. The mountain rose before him, black stone and billowing smoke, heat distorting the air around its peak.

Ten minutes after leaving the castle, Jack skidded to a stop at the volcano’s base, his boots digging trenches in black stone as momentum fought against the sudden deceleration. The red lightning trailing behind him caught up, crackling around his body like it was reluctant to let the motion end.

He stood there for a moment, chest heaving slightly, red electricity still dancing across his skin.

’That was incredible,’ Jack decided, his grin widening. ’And I wasn’t even pushing that hard. What happens if I really commit?’

But testing his top speed could wait. Right now, he had something important to do.

He activated Flawed Sight, his enhanced perception cutting through the distortions.

The volcano’s surface was covered in life. Not the kind of life you’d expect in such hostile conditions, but magical adaptations that thrived where normal organisms would burn.

Creatures made of living stone crawled along the mountainside, their bodies glowing faintly with a bright orange hue. Some were small, maybe the size of his fist, scuttling across rock faces with surprising speed. Others were larger, easily the size of dogs, moving more slowly.

Plants grew in clusters wherever enough ash had accumulated to form soil. They looked constructed from cooled magma, stems that were black and cracked, leaves that seemed more like hardened lava than organic matter. Some glowed faintly orange, as if embers still burned within their centers.

Steam vents dotted the slope, releasing superheated air in irregular bursts. The sound was a constant hissing and bubbling.

And there, perhaps thirty feet up on the slope, a patch of red flowers bloomed.

Jack’s eyes narrowed, focusing on the plants. They looked like lotus flowers, but made of flame, petals that flickered and danced despite having no fuel to consume.

He activated Flawed Sight more intensely, examining the flowers.

[Molten Lotus]

[Rare Magical Plant]

[Description: Fire-element lotus that grows exclusively in active volcanic environments. Produces Molten Lotus Pearls within its core, crystallized mana pearls that serve as a catalyst for alchemy]

[Harvest: One pearl per mature plant]

[Note: Plant will regenerate pearl after 1 month if not completely destroyed during harvest]

Jack began climbing. Heat increased with every foot gained, but his reinforced body handled it efficiently. Sweat beaded on his forehead, evaporating almost immediately from the temperature.

The stone beneath his hands was rough, porous volcanic rock that provided a good grip despite the heat. He moved efficiently, choosing handholds that would support his weight.

One of the stone creatures crawled past him, its body radiating heat that would have burned normal skin. Jack watched it scuttle by without concern.

He passed a steam vent that released superheated air with a hiss. The burst hit his side, hot enough to cook meat, but Jack just shifted slightly and kept climbing.

All the stats he gained made this journey easy by comparison. Most humans wouldn’t be able to climb an active volcano like this.

The first lotus waited thirty feet up. Jack reached it and knelt beside the flower, examining it more closely. Up close, the flame-like petals looked almost solid, like someone had frozen fire mid-flicker and turned it into a flower.

The heat radiating from the lotus was intense.

Something hard and smooth waited inside. The pearl came free with gentle pressure, warm against his palm but not burning. It glowed faintly red, pulsing with contained fire that felt alive.

[Molten Lotus Pearl acquired]

He stored it in his inventory and moved to the next plant. Then the next. Working methodically up the slope, harvesting ten pearls total from ten different lotuses scattered across the volcanic face.

’Two materials down,’ Jack thought, storing the final pearl. ’Five more to go.’

He stood, brushing volcanic ash from his trousers, and continued climbing. The volcano’s peak called to him, a sense that something worth finding and discovering waited up there, pulling at his instincts.

Heat intensified as he ascended. The air itself felt thick, each breath carrying the taste of sulfur and smoke that coated his throat.

Jack barely noticed. His enhanced endurance handled it.

He rounded an outcropping of stone and came to a halt.

A crater opened before him, perhaps fifty feet across, filled with magma that bubbled and churned. The heat radiating from it was immense, distorting the air around him.

But that wasn’t what caught his attention.

Something rising from the lava, pulling itself up onto solid ground with limbs made of living flame.

Jack activated Flawed Sight instantly.

[Fire Elemental]

[Level 32]

[Classification: Elemental]

[Description: Sentient manifestation of fire mana born from volcanic activity. Lacks true consciousness or self-awareness. Operates on pure instinct to attack anything that enters its territory. Drops Fire Elemental Ashes upon death, a rare material used in alchemy.]

[Combat Style: Ranged fire attacks, basic melee if forced into close combat]

[Weakness: Water or ice-based magic]

The elemental stood roughly human-shaped, with two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head, all constructed from flames that burned without consuming fuel. Where its face should be, just blank fire that somehow conveyed hostility despite having no features.

It raised one arm, flames coalescing into a sphere the size of Jack’s head.

The fireball screamed through the air, trailing smoke and heat, aimed directly at Jack’s chest with enough force to punch through stone.

Red lightning exploded from his fist. His knuckles collided with the fireball dead-center, and the competing energies tore the fire apart. The collision produced a shockwave that rippled outward, cracking stone beneath Jack’s feet.

He stood there, fist still extended, red electricity crackling up his arm, and stared at the Fire Elemental with growing excitement.

Jack’s lips curved into a menacing grin.

’Fire Elemental Ashes,’ he thought, his eyes fixed on the creature as it prepared another attack.

His grin widened further.

"This must be my lucky day."