Chapter 806: I Came, I Saw

The island was indeed boundless.

Liszt rode the fire drake Rio to an altitude of several thousand meters, yet still couldn't see the island's boundaries. It was as if the forest stretched endlessly, and the land had no edges.

"The bigger, the better!"

Liszt was in high spirits and felt the urge to burst into song.

However, he ultimately didn’t sing, as he couldn’t find a song that matched the atmosphere. Instead, he dove straight down, descending toward the forest. Soon, he located the wreckage sites of the Discovery and the new sailing ship, which were quite conspicuous in the untamed jungle—vast stretches of trees lay flattened, leaving behind massive wreckage.

Just before the Fire Dragon crashed,

Rio suddenly spread its wings, kicking up gusts and halting its momentum, hovering steadily just a few meters above the ground before landing gently, letting out a fierce roar: "Raaah!"

This journey through the great whirlpool had been a thrilling new experience for it.

Giving Rio’s scales an affectionate pat, Liszt dismounted. At that moment, Cross Shaji, Gernier Treebark Roundshield, and others hurried over, bowing deeply to Liszt in unison: "My Lord!"

Liszt nodded at Cross. "Well done, Cross. You’ve shown me your bravery. From today onward, I name you Earl... As for your fief and title, we’ll discuss them after the kingdom is established."

"Thank you, My Lord, for bestowing this honor upon me. Cross is willing to charge into battle for My Lord!" Cross knelt on one knee.

Liszt drew the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword and tapped Cross’s shoulders twice with the blade, completing the simple knighting ceremony. But for Cross, this was no small thing—it was the crucial step from minor nobility to high nobility. From now on, his duty was to strengthen the Shaji family.

Ignoring Cross’s excitement,

Liszt turned to Gernier. "Captain Gernier, your performance has impressed me. Though your lack of caution led us into the great whirlpool, costing the lives of most of the crew, voyages are fraught with danger at every turn. The fact that you discovered the whirlpool and brought us to this island is a sign of knighthood’s glory!"

Gernier knelt on the ground, overwhelmed with emotion.

Liszt smiled faintly and announced plainly, "From today onward, I shall promote you to Viscount. Your fief and title will be decided after the kingdom is established!"

"Thank you, My Lord, for this honor! Gernier swears to serve My Lord to the death, charging into battle for you!"

Liszt then turned his gaze to the remaining crew of the Discovery.

Aside from Captain Gernier and the two mages, Granny and another, there were twenty-five men.

Among them, seven Land Knights had been granted the rank of Baronet after the last great sea battle, while thirteen knights held no titles, along with five civilian sailors.

"Knights, you all share the merit of discovering the great whirlpool and this new island. The Baronets shall be promoted to Barons, and the untitled knights and civilian sailors shall all be knighted as Baronets."

With the knighting decree issued,

the twenty-plus knights and sailors all knelt on the ground, eagerly swearing their loyalty to charge into battle for their Lord.

Liszt’s gaze then fell upon the two mages. He recognized only one of them—Granny Truth. This was the first mage he had ever dealt with. Though stubborn in temperament, Granny was highly skilled in crafting magical equipment and had contributed greatly to repairing the Discovery’s arcane platform.

"As for your rewards, they will be decided later by the Magic Guild."

The Magic Guild’s autonomy in managing mages was a power he had granted to Acheronides, Cris, Kenli, and others. Thus, he avoided overstepping them to directly issue rewards.

...

Instructing Granny and the other mage to continue operating the arcane platform to maintain contact with the Flame near the great whirlpool,

Liszt didn’t linger long at the makeshift camp. After ordering everyone to quickly use the sextant to determine their bearings, he mounted Rio and flew back toward the looming waterfall-crowned mountain.

The mountain stood alone, though shrouded in lush greenery. From its appearance, one could vaguely discern that it was part of a fractured mountain range. The broken side formed a not-too-steep cliff, from which the great waterfall plunged down with a thunderous roar.

The source of the waterfall was near the mountaintop—a pitch-black cave.

The entrance was vast, spanning over a hundred meters in width.

Liszt quickly flew near the cave entrance, his Dragon Eye Trajectory scanning the cave but detecting no complex magic power lines, as if it were merely an ordinary mountain stream.

He and Leo cautiously flew into the cave, prepared to plunge into another Magic Teleportation Circle at any moment.

However, after flying nearly fifty meters deep, they still hadn’t encountered the Magic Teleportation Circle. "This doesn’t add up. When I emerged from the wormhole space, I felt like I was right near the entrance—there’s no way it could be fifty meters deep… Is the wormhole space in another dimension, unreachable from this cave?"

Peering at the narrowing tunnel where they could go no further, Liszt could only speculate.

Then, he retraced his path.

Having Leo land on a jutting boulder by the waterfall, he gazed at the ceaseless rush of water, mulling over the secrets of the great vortex’s Magic Teleportation Circle.

Before he knew it, a line of smoke in curling script appeared before his eyes: "Objective complete. Reward: Deeper insight into the Magic Teleportation Circle."

The task was finished.

Then, the smoke shifted, forming a new line of smoke in curling script.

"Mission: Standing amidst the Flaming Isles, a new nation shall rise here. As its future ruler, you must gain a clear understanding of the Flaming Isles. Why not map out the approximate distribution of islands and the sea area for future plans? Reward: A wayward old friend."

Without a doubt,

Liszt now possessed a deep comprehension of the Magic Teleportation Circle. Yet, the theory behind it and how the magic works remained unclear. He would have to wait for Acheronides to arrive and share all his discoveries, relying on her expertise for further study.

Shaking off his thoughts, he examined the new smoke mission.

Mapping the Flaming Isles was an obvious necessity.

But the reward delighted him: "Just as I thought—when I long for an old friend, fate nudges them my way… Though this year’s reward isn’t ‘an old friend’s lingering’ but ‘a wayward old friend.’ Could the invisible dragon have gotten lost?"

Upon reflection, it was entirely possible.

Both encounters with the invisible dragon had been lured by the scent of Smokegrass. The second time, the dragon took its sweet time before arriving at Black Horse Island. It clearly knew Smokegrass was here but had forgotten where Flower Town was, only arriving belatedly after Liszt laid out the feast.

Perhaps this fellow was simply hopeless with directions.

"Still, this old friend of mine wields the power of space—could there be a connection to the Magic Teleportation Circle?"

Too few clues made it hard to judge.

But there was no rush. By slowly mapping the Flaming Isles, his old friend would inevitably be led by fate’s hand right to him.

He stretched, feeling the power coursing through him, buzzing with excitement for the future.

As his strength continued to grow, so too did the force of fate behind the smoke missions. Whether the smoke dragon was truly dead or not, he increasingly felt like a smoke dragon in human form: "The power of fate is now in my hands, ready to bend to my will!"