The male protagonist of the book is poisonous

In this cave, tightly surrounded by the fire elves, the atmosphere around us was like a bowstring stretched to its limit, so taut it was almost suffocating. Luo Chen and I stood back to back, like two isolated islands in the center of a storm, warily watching these seemingly small yet dangerous fire elves. Though tiny, the intense heat radiating from their flaming swords was like a surging heat wave, assaulting us in waves, a force we couldn't afford to underestimate.

"These fire spirits seem to be specially assigned to guard this box. We must be careful," Luo Chen said in a low voice. His voice was steady and firm, and the sword in his hand was trembling slightly. It wasn't because of fear, but like a cheetah pouncing on its prey, its muscles ready to burst forth, each tremor containing the powerful force that was about to burst forth.

I nodded in agreement, my hands quickly preparing a defensive spell. My eyes were fixed on the fire elves, not daring to slack off. "I'll use magic to repel their attacks first, while you look for an opportunity to break through the defenses."

Suddenly, a fire elf let out a sharp cry, like the sound of breaking glass. It was like a horn of attack, instantly shattering the brief silence. Then, as if receiving a unified command, all the fire elves brandished their flaming swords and descended upon us like a swarm of angry wasps. Their flaming swords streaked through the air, leaving behind blazing trails. These trails burned like bright red lines, distorting the air around them.

I chanted the incantation quickly and clearly: "Water shield, condense into form, resist the flames, protect me." With the final syllable of the incantation, a transparent blue shield slowly rose around us. It seemed to be formed from countless crystal-clear blue water droplets, emitting a soft yet resolute blue light. The fire elves' swords pierced the shield, sending up showers of sparks that blossomed like brilliant fireworks. While the shield temporarily blocked the fire elves' attacks, their attacks were too intense. Every collision between sword and shield caused it to flicker, like a candle flickering in the wind, threatening to go out at any moment.

"We can't go on like this. The shield won't last much longer." I looked at the flashing shield anxiously, with a hint of worry in my voice.

Luo Chen's gaze remained as resolute as ever, like a bottomless pool. "I'll draw their attention. You find a way to strengthen your shields or find their weaknesses." With that, Luo Chen fearlessly charged towards the group of fire elves. His figure was as nimble as a cheetah, his sword wielding rapidly through the air, each swing slicing streaks of cold light through the air. These gleams, like twinkling stars in the night sky, collided with the fire elves' flaming swords, emitting a crisp and intense clang-dang-dang sound that echoed throughout the cave like a fierce metallic symphony.

I seized this opportunity and hastily pulled a magic crystal from my bag. It flickered faintly in my hand, like my last hope. I carefully fused it into the shield, chanting, "Power of water, infuse this shield, strengthen your defense, and resist attack." As the magic crystal merged, the shield seemed to be imbued with a powerful force, becoming even stronger. The originally soft blue light grew even brighter, like the blue sky at noon. It spread outward, enveloping us in a protective blue blanket.

As Luo Chen and the flame elves engaged in a fierce battle, I dared not relax even a moment, my eyes fixed on them, searching for their weaknesses. I discovered that while their attacks were as ferocious as a storm, they seemed to have a rhythm, like a passionate battle melody, each note following a fixed beat. Furthermore, an invisible connection existed between them, as if they were linked together by a mysterious force, attacking as one.

"Luo Chen, I've discovered something." I raised my voice, a hint of excitement in my voice, "These fire elves attack in a rhythmic pattern. We can use this rhythm to break their defenses."

While Luo Chen was struggling to resist the attacks of the fire elves, he took the time to respond, "How to do it?" There was no panic in his sword moves, and each sword accurately blocked the attack of the fire elves.

"I will cast a range-affecting freezing spell in between their attacks, and you will take the opportunity to rush to the stone platform." I explained quickly, my eyes fixed on the attack rhythm of the fire elves, silently calculating the timing in my mind.

Luo Chen nodded, and then, like a completely different person, his attacks intensified. His sword moves became sharper, each one carrying immense force, like surging waves crashing against rocks. His figure weaved freely among the fire elves, forcing them to concentrate on his attacks, their previously orderly attack rhythm beginning to become disrupted.

Finally, I had the perfect opportunity. In the brief pause between the fire elves' attacks, a fleeting yet precious moment, I swiftly cast my freezing spell: "Elemental of Ice, obey my command. Freeze all things, and create a realm of ice." As the spell rang out, a chill as cold as a polar glacier emanated from my hand. That aura quickly spread, and the surrounding temperature plummeted, as if instantly transitioning from a scorching summer to the bitter cold of winter. The fire elves, enveloped by this sudden chill, were instantly frozen in place. Their flaming swords, once ablaze with rage, were also frozen, as if frozen in time, unable to attack again.

"Now!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, my voice echoing in the cave.

Luo Chen seized this crucial opportunity and rushed towards the stone platform like a gust of wind. His speed was as fast as an arrow from a bow, and his feet made a slight sound of wind. However, just as he was about to reach the stone platform, a fire spirit hidden in the shadows suddenly appeared like a ghost. The flaming sword in its hand stabbed at Luo Chen, and the flames on the fire sword burned even more vigorously, as if to devour Luo Chen.

"Be careful!" I shouted in horror, my voice full of worry and anxiety.

Luo Chen was a battle-hardened warrior, his reflexes swift, like the agility of a cheetah. He dodged to the side, and the flaming sword grazed his clothes. The heat from the flames alone scorched a corner of his clothing. The scorched edge of his clothing emitted a pungent odor that permeated the cold air.

Luo Chen didn't hesitate. Like an enraged lion, he thrust his sword back at the flame spirit. His sword carried a powerful force, as if it were erupting from deep within his body. The flame spirit was repelled by his sword, flying backwards and falling heavily to the ground.

Luo Chen was not affected by this sudden situation. He quickly adjusted his state, then climbed onto the stone platform like an agile monkey and reached out to take the box emitting a faint blue light.

Just as Luo Chen's hand was about to touch the box, a magical barrier suddenly appeared on the stone platform. It was like a transparent wall, emitting a faint glow. The moment Luo Chen's hand touched the barrier, it was repelled, and the force caused him to step back a few steps.

"What's going on?" Luo Chen said with a frown, his eyes fixed on the magic barrier, with a hint of confusion and unwillingness in his eyes.

I hurried onto the stone platform, my eyes equally scrutinizing the magical barrier. "This must be the last line of defense. There must be a way to break it." My voice was calm, but inside I was like an ant on a hot pan, extremely anxious.

We began to carefully search for clues around the stone platform, leaving no corner untouched. Then, I discovered some words carved into the stone platform. Those words emitted a faint glow, like the twinkling stars in the night sky—faint but striking.

"Luo Chen, look at these words, maybe there is a way to crack them." I said, with a glimmer of hope in my eyes.

Like adventurers searching for treasure, we carefully studied the texts. The shapes of the characters were peculiar: some resembled winding snakes, others birds with outstretched wings, and still others resembled burning flames. Their arrangement seemed chaotic, yet upon closer inspection, it seemed to possess some underlying pattern. I gently traced the lines of the text with my finger, trying to sense the magical fluctuations within. Luo Chen, in turn, examined the text from various angles, his gaze focused and penetrating, as if he wanted to penetrate the surface of the words and uncover the secrets hidden beneath.

I tried to whisper the words, and the sound echoed in the cave with a mysterious rhythm. However, simply reciting the words did not produce any noticeable effect. Luo Chen pondered for a moment and said, "Perhaps these words need to be interpreted in a specific order, or require a special medium to trigger their effect."

We began to consider various possible combinations and interpretations of these texts. I pulled out an ancient magic book from my bag, which we had stumbled upon during a previous adventure. The pages of this magic book were yellowed, the edges a little worn, and it exuded an ancient and mysterious aura. I flipped through the book quickly, stirring up a light puff of dust with each page. I carefully examined the illustrations, symbols, and text descriptions in the book, hoping to find records similar to these texts. Luo Chen continued to search for other possible clues around the stone platform, his eyes never missing a single detail. He squatted down and carefully examined the bottom of the stone platform, gently touching the incisions and textures with his hands, hoping to find some hidden mechanism or clue.

Suddenly, Luo Chen discovered a small groove in a corner of the stone platform. The shape of the groove matched the magic crystal I had used before. "Look at this groove, could it be related to breaking the barrier?" Luo Chen asked.

I walked over to investigate, a glimmer of hope welling up in my heart. I took out the magic crystal again and placed it into the groove. As the magic crystal was inserted, the words on the stone platform suddenly became brighter and began to flash in a specific order.

"This must be the key to cracking the code!" I said excitedly.

We refocused our attention on the flashing words, and I tried to decipher them again, following the order they flashed. This time, as I finished reading the last word, a soft light emanated from the words, shooting directly towards the magical barrier. Under the light, tiny cracks began to appear on the barrier, like a shattered spider web.

However, these cracks did not continue to expand, and the magical barrier still stubbornly existed. We looked at each other in confusion, realizing that things were not that simple.

"Maybe something else is needed to completely break this barrier." Luo Chen said with a frown.

I reexamined the words and noticed that several of them flashed in slightly different colors. I carefully recalled some of the records I'd read in magic books before, and suddenly an idea came to me.

"Luo Chen, I think we need to find the elemental power corresponding to these special words." I said.

We began searching the cave for any elemental forces. I closed my eyes, trying to sense the elemental fluctuations around me. I could sense that the fire element was still very strong in the cave, but there were also faint auras of other elements.

Luo Chen discovered some special crystals on the cave wall. These crystals emitted a faint blue light and seemed to contain the power of water. He carefully removed a crystal and showed it to me.

"This crystal may be useful." Luo Chen said.

I took the crystal and placed it over the special characters. The water elemental power within the crystal seemed to be drawn to the characters, slowly flowing into them. With the infusion of water elemental power, the characters flickered more intensely, and the cracks in the magic barrier gradually widened.

However, just when we thought we were about to succeed, a powerful reaction force came from the magic barrier, shaking the crystal in our hands away and also knocking us back a few steps.

"It seems that it is not enough." I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth and said.

We didn't give up and continued searching the cave for other elemental powers. Deep in the cave, Luo Chen found a stone emitting an earthy yellow glow. He thought it might contain the power of the earth element. In a corner, I found a bead emitting a green glow. It seemed to contain the power of the wood element.

We returned to the stone platform with these discovered sources of elemental power. Following the correspondence between the special characters we had previously discovered and the elemental powers, we placed the earth element stones and wood element beads on top of the corresponding characters.

With the infusion of these elemental powers, the cracks on the magic barrier expanded rapidly, and finally with a "bang", the magic barrier was completely shattered, turning into countless points of light and disappearing into the air.

Seeing this, Luo Chen reached out again without hesitation for the box emitting a faint blue light. This time, his hand smoothly passed through the barrier and gripped the box tightly. The moment he picked up the box, the surrounding fire spirits, as if having completed their mission, transformed into streaks of flame and disappeared into thin air.

We successfully obtained the box, but we knew this was only the beginning. Whether the box truly contained artifact fragments remained to be determined. With a mixture of excitement and nervousness, we left the stone platform, ready to find a safe place to open this mysterious box.