From what Liam could tell, it was clearly the egg that was kind of refining the fire essence from the lava and he was stealing bits and pieces of it.
This gave him an idea.
Liam lifted the egg and sat down on the rock, then placed the egg on his lap. After which, he continued absorbing whatever essence that he could steal from it.
He carried on with this for several minutes without any disturbance.
However, as time passed, the lava started bubbling and gurgling more and a hissing sound echoed in the pool of molten rocks and fire.
Liam quickly placed the egg back on the rock and stood up. Surrounding him on four sides were four lava mambas.
"Hmmm. Did you guys show up because we were stealing your essence?" He grinned and made his move.
After absorbing a little of the fire essence, he was beginning to feel a bit more comfortable in the lava filled hellish place but he was not a fool to think that this would be of any help.
These snakes held the absolute advantage as they were standing in their domain. Moreover, they were also Level 25 just like the lava salamanders.
Liam cautiously went all out from the very beginning and cast a [lightning bolt] before slashing his sword at the red scaled reptile.
-150
A huge damage number popped out, blood spurted from the injury but the very next second the health drop was replenished and the blood dried up.
The mamba's health went back up leaving behind only 30 residual damage. Liam then watched this as well disappear as the mamba dipped its head in the lava and hissed proudly once again.
As if this wasn't enough, the other three snakes all attacked at the same time and not him. They aimed for the egg that was silently collecting the fire essence.
"Fuck!" Liam quickly backed up and stood in front of the egg. He suddenly found himself in the same position as that of the twin-tailed wind ripper, trying to protect his egg like a mother bird.
He waved his sword, parrying the advances of the four mambas from the four sides, but he only successfully blocked them. Dealing them damage seemed almost impossible at this rate.
He didn't even get a chance to think of a better strategy as the four lava mambas continued hissing and coming at the egg relentlessly.
Liam started sweating. Considering his skills and abilities, it looked like he had still acted overconfidently.
He could have dealt with these snakes in a more relaxed manner if he had leveled just a bit more, but then again Liam did not regret it.
He had dealt with worse before. This sticky situation was nothing more than a golden training opportunity for him or rather he decided to look at it that way.
"So I cannot deal any damage and I have to keep blocking their attacks at least until the egg hatches. Alright. Bring it on."
Just like he tried to combine mana with his forging technique, he once again started practicing mana with his sword moves.
The damage numbers instantly went up.
-230
-190
-220
-240
However, the four mambas easily took care of it by taking another dip in the lava pool.
Hisssss! Hisssss! Hissssss! They came back at him with the same strength and vigor and the cycle once again started without any change.
Liam smiled bitterly at this frustrating sight and continued fighting back patiently. Time ticked by slowly and every minute felt like an hour.
His reserves of mana potions, health potions, and stamina berries were also slowly dwindling one at a time.
In reality, it was harmful to use these supplements as every time anyone used these things unless it was of the highest grade quality, a certain amount of residual impurities remained behind.
Liam only ignored this part as he was eventually going to fully cleanse his body. Otherwise, even this wouldn't have been an option.
But even so, it was slowly becoming more and more difficult to keep up as there was also the mental fatigue that came into the picture.
Liam could only hope that it would be the same for the four mambas but unfortunately, before he could find out if that was true or not, something else happened.
All of a sudden, the amount of fire essence seeping out of the lava increased and it looked like more and more wisps were swirling around the egg.
The eggshell as well was glowing brightly and radiating some sort of strange energy. "Haaaa… is this finally over?" Liam tiredly exhaled as he swung his sword again.
As if answering him, the lava surrounding them gurgled again, and adding to his misery, another four lava mambas arose from the bed of magma.
His face instantly darkened seeing all eight snakes coming at him or rather the egg at the same time. "Motherfucker! I am screwed!"
He slashed his sword around in a frenzy trying to block and parry with all eight snakes but that quickly drained his reserves in the blink of an eye.
All eight of them took a dip in the lava pool, replenished their reserves, and came back hissing angrily.
They looked determined to break open the egg and take out all the fire essences that had gone inside. Liam only needed a second to know that this was going to end badly.
He was going to die and at the same time lose the egg as well. While the former was not absolutely irreversible, the latter would set him back quite a bit.
"Huff. It looks like there is no other way. I will have to use that." Liam sighed and then calmed down and composed himself for a moment before closing his eyes.
"This better work."
He was no longer looking at the eight mambas or their movements. He looked like he had given up completely.
And as the eight snakes came hissing at the egg, just when they were about to shatter it open, Liam finally moved.