A system notification popped up again.

[Ding! Contract confirmed: Goldy, Fire Sprite (Fledgeling)]

[Ding! Fire essence required for evolution: 50/1000,000]

Damon sucked in a big breath of air as he saw the evolution condition. He then shifted his gaze and looked at the egg that was still stuck to his chest. Now he had two gluttons to feed!

He sat back down and kept playing and experimenting with Goldy. He had been half expecting the little spark to vanish. Elemental sprites were fickle. They usually flickered away when the summoner left the perfect spot.

But Goldy stayed. It flitted around his shoulder like a living ember and darted here and there curiously. It didn't really communicate with him that much, except for the occasional giggles.

It was understandable considering it was just a fledgling, something similar to a newborn baby. It was already shocking that it could do so much.

"Hey Goldy, can you fly around and see if there is more hellfire essence for you to eat up?" Damon curiously asked, wondering if it would understand him.

And it looked like it did.

The little sprite immediately bounced up and down and started darting away. However, it headed over to a region that was cut off by a thick wall, probably a mountain wall or something like that.

Goldy buzzed around there, bobbing up and down. Clearly, there was something on the other side, maybe a tunnel? Damon frowned. Could he maybe attack the wall and create a path for the little sprite?

Goldy was faster than Damon. After all, it did not think of any consequences. It did not care if its actions were too bombastic and if it would attract the attention of something stronger. It looked like it wanted to eat what was on the other side of the wall, and it decided to go for it.

Goldy started shooting small motes of hellfire at the wall. Damon observed it curiously for a moment, wanting to see the effect of the skill. The next second, a frightening damage number appeared.

-5000

In reality, this was not much, but considering the size of the attack and the frequency with which it was coming, it was truly a lot. The sprite was shooting hellfire bullets at the wall continuously like a paintball gun.

At first, nothing happened, but quickly the thin cracks spidered out from Goldy's tiny shots. Stone dust flew. The wall shuddered. Big chunks fell away.

Goldy didn't stop. It kept firing, steady as a metronome. Each hit flashed a small number above the rubble.

-5000

-5000

-5000

The hits came faster and faster. The wall began to cave in. A narrow tunnel opened where the rubble fell. Warm air rushed out, hot and full of ash.

Goldy zipped inside without a second thought. The little spark was gone before Damon could say anything. He couldn't follow. The curse still held him like glue. He could only watch as the sprite's tiny light bobbed deeper into the tunnel.

"Wait and watch where you are going. There might be danger in there."

For a long moment, he heard nothing but the soft hiss of lava and the faint pop of falling rock. Then came another childish giggling sound in his head as if he had said a very funny joke.

Damon sighed and then immediately summoned his shadow clone, sending it in right after the sprite. But he quickly ordered it to stop as another system notification popped in front of him.

[Ding! Goldy: Fire essence required for evolution: 100/1000,000]

It did not stop there. A few more notifications appeared in quick succession.

[Ding! Goldy: Fire essence required for evolution: 150/1000,000]

[Ding! Goldy: Fire essence required for evolution: 200/1000,000]

[Ding! Goldy: Fire essence required for evolution: 250/1000,000]

Damon couldn't help but gulp. Just how intense the hellfire essence must be that the fire sprite managed to eat so much of it in such a short time? Just where did this tunnel lead to?

He made sure to stop his shadow clone for a good five minutes untill the system notifications eventually slowed down. The shadow clone then proceeded forward cautiously, walking down the tunnel. Even though a huge chunk of heat should have been absorbed by Goldy, a blast of hot air still hit the clone, straight away taking 10% of its health.

To make matters worse, a second later the notifications started appearing once again.

[Ding! Goldy: Fire essence required for evolution: 1050/1000,000]

[Ding! Goldy: Fire essence required for evolution: 1200/1000,000]

[Ding! Goldy: Fire essence required for evolution: 1350/1000,000]

Damon was completely speechless. Just where the hell were they. Why was there such a rich hellfire region smackdab in the middle of vampire zone?

"Damn it." He cursed under his breath, feeling a bit frustrated.

For all he knew, he could potentially be in grave danger or a huge opportunity and he was fucking stuck to the same spot. And he had a feeling that it was the latter here and not the former. He was sitting right next to a big golden opportunity. His gut feeling told him.

There was no guarantee that he would still be in this region after a few hours when the shuffling happened again. If he left here right now, he might never be able to get back here again. Some opportunities were just gone if they were missed the first time around.

Damon gritted his teeth and tried reaching for his soul again. He tried for a few minutes without any result but in the meantime, his shadow clone stumbled onto something very interesting.

The tunnel lead to another and then another, followed by another, ending in a narrow passageway which had torches of hellfire on the wall. This was the essence Goldy had been absorbing left and right.

The fire sprite had already gone in and absorbed quite a bit so the shadow clone was able to enter the area freely. However, the moment it stepped inside, a system notification chimed in front of Damon.

***

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