Rogue Villain-Chapter 224: Drifted Far

With the strength from his martial body and from getting his skills back, Ackster made quick work of the ocean. It also helped that he had his training and Mio’s company to pass the time. So, in a time that felt neither long nor short, Ackster arrived at a landmass.

He wasn’t sure where he was, just that he hadn’t been there before. But not being there didn’t mean he didn’t know what it was.

"The Land of Dragons...?"

Ackster wasn’t sure. But the fact that the first being he saw after setting foot on the dark and hot rocky shore was a wyvern hinted that his feeling when he spotted the signature stone around was accurate.

"I guess I drifted further than I first thought."

The Land of Dragons was a smaller continent far south. And while it had a grand name, the continent wasn’t that grand, nor were its inhabitants. Lizards and reptiles were the primary inhabitants of the continent, which was where it had gotten its name from. It also housed somewhat intelligent species, such as advanced southern kobolds and lizardmen.

As far as Ackster knew, there were a couple of true dragons on the island as well. But the rulers of the island weren’t the dragons since they lived lives of seclusion and sleep. No, the true rulers of the Land of Dragons and the dominant intelligent species are dragonlings, humanoid reptiles, basically.

"This is actually pretty good."

Ackster hadn’t expected to arrive at the Land of Dragons at all during his journey since he had nothing to do there. Kargas was forbidden entry, and the dragon of life didn’t live there. He hadn’t planned for anything or anyone other than those two that could possibly be related to the Land of Dragons.

But Ackster had the Sun God Token, and if he wanted it to be useful in more than eight years, he needed to supercharge it. Moreover, if he wanted to be able to handle the Sun God Token and eliminate as many weaknesses as possible, he would need to train his fire and magic resistance.

The Land of Dragons, home to both magic and fire, was the perfect location.

The question that remained, however, was how he should go about his training. It would be nice if he could also further his martial arts. But the natives of the Land of Dragons weren’t necessarily hospitable to foreigners, especially not of what they consider lesser races.

But the dragonling civilization was still a civilization. And just like any civilization, they had non-combatants who needed protection from the hostile monsters and beasts of the land. They dedicated security troops, of course. But they also had at least one branch of the Adventurer’s Guild. If it came to it, Ackster could look for help there, even if the employees were likely to be dragonlings themselves.

"How’s the heat treating you, Mio?"

For now, Ackster decided to stop admiring the view and confirm that he was actually in the Land of Dragons and not some other place with a similar coast and a wyvern population. After that, he might as well start looking for an active volcano to start charging the Sun God Token and train his fire resistance.

After walking and running for a while, Ackster encountered a sleeping volcano that was large enough to give him the vantage point he needed to see that he wasn’t mistaken. There was no way another continent had so much black and naturally hot stone as the volcanic continent belonging to the Land of Dragons.

"Do you think I can wake this bad boy up?"

Ackster turned to Mio, who shook the top of its body. Ackster sighed and felt that it was a shame. While volcanoes weren’t rare in the Land of Dragons, they also weren’t hidden around every corner.

He would need to continue running before he could start his intensive training. But at least the food on the way was delicious and surprisingly non-spicy. Considering that the beasts and monsters he met and ate on the way were literally hot, Ackster had expected their natural taste also to be gastronomically hot. But it seemed that would not be the case. If he wanted spicy food, he would need seasoning.

As he ran, Ackster started wondering if maybe tempering his body with heat would lead to another evolution in Iron Body now that it had changed. It wasn’t impossible, but he doubted it would be that simple. He would most likely need another set of skills and some kind of threshold or metamorphosis to induce another evolution in his unique skill.

The only question was whether he could get the right skills and experience the right metamorphosis or transformation. Stereotypically, skills got harder to evolve and rank up the more they did just that. And Strong Body had already been the most challenging skill in his repertoire to do that with. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

However, he could still strengthen the skill with training that pushed him to his limit. So, while accumulating skills, Ackster would just have to continue training, pushing his limits, and breaking his body down so it could regrow stronger.

With how much Ackster had done it, pushing his limits was like breathing to him.

Finally, without encountering any overly challenging opponents Ackster found another volcano, this one active. The cone-like volcano poured out a steady stream of lava and black smoke that created an ominous cloud clinging to the air above the volcano, unaffected by the buffeting winds.

Ackster and Mio felt the heat rise as they got closer. Ackster was too strong to be affected by the heat unless he stood within kissing distance of the lava streams pouring down the mountain. But Mio felt their limits and wasn’t masochistic enough to try and break through them for the sake of it, so the slime left Ackster’s shoulder after dying his hair black and changing his facial structure just a little with a weird transparent gel that glued itself to his face.

While Mio didn’t want to push their limits, they did want to try out a new ability they acquired after feasting on the tonic that was Ackster.

Ackster stored Mio in a safe location close to the volcano but not so close the slime would get burned. After that, he made his way to the closest lava stream. Since he didn’t even have any kind of elemental or heat resistance, there was no need to go to the top of the volcano at once.