Combat Maid Harem

Everywhere as far as the eye could see, there was lava. There was barely any mana from the other elements in the area except for fire and earth manas. The radiated heat made Lawrend feel as if someone was trying to grill him.

"We're in the inner region of the Ignis Clan's backyard. A little bit more, and we will enter the living region of the clan. The environment there is calmer compared to here," Ember said.

"This is a good place to practice fire magic," Lawrend replied.

He was curious about this place. He wanted to try practicing magic here to see the difference that it would make.

"Heh. This place is nothing like the Ignis Clan's Central Region. You will be able to practice fire magic ten times faster in there," Ember said proudly. A smug smile was visible on her face.

"That's interesting. Let's fly faster," Lawrend replied.

He urged them on, and they flew slightly faster than before. In a few days, the environment around them drastically changed. The lava ocean below was similar to liquid water in consistency, and it glowed a blinding and bright red color.

"This is really big."

Lawrend was shocked at this. He looked at their front, and it still looked similar to before. There seemed to be endless lava everywhere.

"A little bit more, and we will arrive at Eridanus City. It's one of the ten cities in the Ignis Clan."

"How many lives there?" Lawrend curiously asked.

"About a million in each city. There are more members, but those weaklings prefer to start their own branch clans far from the clan," Ember said with disdain in her voice.

"Ehem." Lawrend faked a cough and glanced at her awkwardly.

He was from one of those branch clans she had just dissed. It felt uncomfortable hearing her say that straightly without any sugarcoating in her words.

"Ah! I didn't mean to offend you, Master!"

Ember quickly realized her mistake when she saw the face he was making. Her arrogance unknowingly showed up again. She had lived here all her life so returning here made her suppressed arrogant personality come alive again.

"It's fine. I don't disagree with you."

Lawrend could understand it from her perspective. The Ignis Clan groomed these people, but they left the clan instead. Anyone who wanted to become the next Clan Head would see that these people were ingrates.

After a few more hours of travel, a black dot appeared on the horizon.

"We are close, Master. The black part in front is the Central Region. It's made of solid rock that floats above the flowing lava ocean."

"Wow!" Eina exclaimed.

She stared at the new sight in front of her with great curiosity. She had been seeing the same scenery for several days now. It was boring, and there was not enough stimulus for her young and curious mind.

"Father, I won't disappoint you," Inferno suddenly said.

His young voice had a depth of tone in it. He took this whole competition very seriously. With his speed of improvement, he believed that he was only worse than his father when it came to talent.

"Do your best," Lawrend replied.

He didn't have anything better to say in reply. His son was too impressive. If Lawrend weren't unaware of how strong Inferno's opponents were, he would be 100000% confident that his son would win.

He couldn't be confident because there was a huge possibility that the Ignis Clan managed to groom a talent better than his son. It was one of the three great clans, after all. They had Heaven Mages, while he did not.

"Fu, fu, fu! If you disappoint Father, I won't," Veronica chimed in with a wide grin on her face.

She was still so young, yet she was already inheriting a lot of her mother's mannerisms. She was destined to be a succubus-like woman in the future.

Inferno looked back at Veronica and raised his head. He didn't say anything in return, but his bodily movements told Veronica that he wouldn't let that happen.

A faint smile formed on Veronica's face, and she stared straight toward the Central Region. Her goal was to impress her father again. It was addicting each time Lawrend gave her compliments.

Lawrend's other children glanced at each other. None of them could compete against the two. At the moment, the battle for the greatest descendant was between Veronica and Inferno.

Lawrend didn't say anything about the heated competition between his children. He would let them trash-talk each other as long as they didn't go overboard. He believed that competition fosters improvement.

Because of the distance, it took them an hour before they finally arrived at the Central Region. The air around here immediately cooled several times. The farther they went in, the cooler it got.

It was unusual since the opposite should be happening.

Lawrend looked around and stared at the ground. He could faintly sense a magic formation working hard under the solid rock. It must be the reason why it was cooler here.

And even though it was cooler, the density of the fire mana in the air increased by several times. It was almost impossible to practice magic from the other elements now. It would be very slow here and not worth it.

This also affects the earth mana that accompanied the fire mana earlier. It was as if something was suppressing the other elements and increasing the density of the fire element.

"That's Eridanus City." Ember pointed at the front

A city was faintly visible over the horizon. Black walls surrounded its exterior, and the ground around it was unusually cooler and darker than the surroundings.

"That place... I can sense a powerful magic formation in there," Lawrend said.

"There is a legend that the whole Ignis Clan is a powerful volcano that the ancestors forcefully suppressed. These cities were said to be established as nodes to contain that power and channel it to the Phoenix Main Hall," Ember explained.