Magma Dragon's Heir

43rd of Season of Earth, 56th year of the 32nd imperial era

It was like a dam bursting. At first, mana trickled out of Newt's heartcore, nourishing the body. Then it flowed like a river returning to a dry bed, saturating Newt's flesh, before it became a flood, drenching everything, bone, cartilage, tendons, muscles, and organs.

Knightly transformation sounded terrifying, but felt like a sudden whole-body itch.

Despite growing four times as strong as an adult man, Newt remained scrawny. His skeletal figure had improved in the past moons, but there was a limit to what ten weeks of slightly better diet could do. Knightly transformation, for all the power it granted, didn't change his body's shape. Quite the opposite, mana cemented it, making it difficult to physically change, slowing even the ravages of time.

The one thing heartcore's mana hardly interacted with was the nervous system. Only a trickle reinforced it, boosting it slightly, but Newt's mindcore erupted, feeding Newt's brain, eyes, and nerves. The world grew sharper, and Newt more focused. Mages weren't necessarily smarter than knights or even commoners, but they had unique advantages of faster reactions and better processing of everything happening around them.

Thanks to that, Newt better caught the changes in his body, and the several seconds of metamorphosis stretched into what could have passed a full minute.

Finally, his advancement ended, and Newt understood why Magmin referred to it as evolution. With how much his body and senses had changed, he could have considered himself an evolved human. He was also eligible to enter Magmin's second realm, where the serpent might teach him some new tricks, assuming it was still friendly.

Newt doubted the second realm's guardian spirit would remember what happened in the first realm, since it didn't experience the incident and didn't forge a friendship with Newt. Its realm was also haunted by the evolved sharpbeak, and given Newt's initial second realm state, the creature could kill him on sight.

Then there was the matter of the flickering Magmin inside Newt's realm.

Newt had briefly encountered the serpent several times while sculpting his realm, and it was definitely no heart demon. Newt's realm was easy to shape even with Magmin around, and it never maliciously distracted him while he worked.

Newt looked at the ghostly stars floating in the cave next to a massive pile of manarium. Newt had mined twelve hundred first realm crystals, and even found a pair of second realm ones. He had walked the entire length of the tunnels, searching for meals and resources for his realm expansion, and he had taken every last drop of mana the old mine had to offer. He had well and truly depleted it.

Newt estimated the pile would see him to the peak of the second realm's second layer. Anything beyond that was wishful thinking. With the second layer of the second realm fully shaped, Newt stood a chance against his uncle. He had the element of surprise on his side, while Victor had a higher realm and greater experience.

Newt had considered the matter a dozen times already, but failed to find better solutions to his situation. He had learned three abilities from Magmin, two of which defensive and the only offensive option came with a miserable range of one inch.

The Salamandras had their own heritage, their centuries of experience resulting in a humble library of spells and experiences about realm sculpting, expansion, and combat. All of which Victor knew. The one thing Newt had going for him was the physical power of mageknights. Newt could stake it all on a single attack, believing in the power of catching your enemy unprepared.

Unable to decide, Newt closed his eyes and entered his realm.

He walked down the calcified forest, heading downhill, until he reached the clearing. Like with the individual layers, there was no visible border separating Newt's second realm from the first. The only clue was the lack of Magmin Pines, as the vast expanse of dust ahead had nothing but the stream of lava flowing towards the realm barrier.

The empty space of the second realm was unusable until he completed the first layer, but even then, Newt didn't know what to do with it. The best he could think of was reinforcing it with earth and fire glyphs. But there was a question gnawing at him. Should I focus on one element?

Newt's tutor had mentioned awakened with two elemental affinities, and said that honing two elements required much more time than advancing with a single specialty. Newt had legendary options, peace, and a realm to explore and shape, but lacked courage, and most importantly, he lacked information or mentorship. The only tutor fit to teach him was Magmin, but that option was far from safe even on the first accidental visit, and there was no reason to risk his life intentionally.

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In the best-case scenario, Newt would have to face the evolved sharpbeak. He wouldn't start such a battle unarmed, unarmored, and an entire realm weaker than the awaiting monster.

Newt sighed. The path forward was clear — he just didn't want to take it. First, he had to consume the manarium, increase his realm as much as possible, then sculpt it, and finally face his uncle.

Then, he could arm and armor himself, learn some of his family's magical abilities, and then, only then, explore Magmin's realm and face its dangers. Preferably once he was close to the peak of the second realm.

"What are you doing, shedding newt?" Magmin hissed behind Newt's back and the youth jumped.

He spun around, his hand clenching his chest, as he glared at Magmin.

"I'm thinking about a problem."

Magmin ignored Newt's scowl, and seemed quite animated that Newt had a problem. "I love this. How about I help you solve your problem, and you give me a reward, for instance, several thousand of those delicious gems? Then we can go back to my realm. It was much better there, even though I can fly here."

Newt frowned at the serpent.

"You gave me two, and threatened to bite me if I took any without asking."

"Circumstances change, snakes grow, evolve. Who knows, maybe when we return to my realm, I will once again give you a pair of shiny gems as a reward."

Newt opened his mouth and closed it. There was no point arguing with a winged snake's ghost.

"Fine, my problem is my uncle, he has trapped me here…" Newt explained his delicate situation, and Magmin nodded, patiently listening to the amphibian's problem.

"You attack when he sleeps and bite him to death." Magmin solved the problem the moment Newt stopped talking. "First expand your realm as far as you can, then, when you're as strong as you're going to be, bite him dead in his sleep and eat him to gain a portion of his energy. I will accept your two thousand gems, and once you're done, we can go back to my realm, please."

"That's not a solution," Newt shouted in exasperation. "I told you I'm not sure whether I should kill him or imprison him. He's my uncle. He didn't kill me, nor my parents, he merely imprisoned us."

"And I told you to bite him dead," Magmin hissed mockingly. "I solved your problem."

"Do you have any idea how I'm supposed to shape my realm now? That would be actual help." Newt changed the subject, realizing that the architect of Magmin's success and the realm which had once reached the peak stood right before him. Maybe the snake already had plans on how to achieve immortality.

Unfortunately, Magmin looked away. "I haven't considered it yet. I could have accidentally evolved poison instead of wings or grown long and fat, but I'm certain I can come up with something. Right, you never told me why your lava runs in squiggly shapes instead of flowing straight."

Newt explained the nature of runes he had found on Magmin Pines and Magmin Scales, and how he incorporated them into his realm.

"Well, aren't you a clever little Newt? I didn't know squiggles could do that." Magmin looked at Newt, perfectly serious. "In that case, draw as many squiggles as you can and you will become stronger. You are welcome. I will accept the two thousand gems now."

Newt wanted to slap the snake. They were both in the second realm, both their realms fresh and undeveloped, but unlike before, Newt was the one with infinite mana, control over the terrain, and impossibly fast regeneration.

"Why are you looking at me like a sharpbeak? I'm helping, I'm helping!" Magmin took off, flying in circles ten feet above Newt.

"You're messing with me and trying to exploit me because you think I'm stupid."

"I would never." Magmin sailed through the air high enough above the ground. "No wonder you look the same as you did in the first realm. You used all your potential to evolve your brain. What a smart choice."

Gritting his teeth, Newt jumped. Magmin must have thought the ten feet an impossible distance for land-bound creatures to leap, but Newt snatched him out of thin air in an instant. Reflexively, the serpent coated itself in flames, but Newt's Magmin Scales sprang up, burning away the heat before it harmed him.

"Why are you crushing me? I thought we were friends?" Granite Crust surrounded the snake, but then it covered Newt's body. Helpless, Magmin flapped his wings impotently. "I just offered you a compliment."

Newt released him, and the snake flew fifty feet up.

"And I was only messing with you. I have no intention of harming you, but why are you trying so hard to exploit me? Was I such a bad guest in your realm? Didn't I help you and you even rewarded me?"

Calling two gems a reward felt like a joke, but Newt still said it, and Magmin spiraled down, so they didn't need to shout.

"What does that have to do with anything?" The serpent gazed into Newt's eyes with confusion. "That was then, this is now, and you need my help. It's the law of the jungle, you give what you have to, you take what you can, nothing more important than evolution. I mean, I'm certainly a charming snake, but you shouldn't put my interests before yours, you know?"

Newt stared at the snake gliding around his head, unsure how to feel about it.

He's decent enough to tell me he doesn't have a single decent bone in his body…