POV Vesuvius:
The massive body of a dragon lying on the ground in a small magma pond stirred, the environment around him rumbling.
Finally, he opened his eyes. A golden light radiated out of them.
The mass of metal and stone-like material stood up, easily towering above trees. His golden eyes looked into the distance.
Vesuvius could feel almost as if he was reborn. The energy surging through his body constantly felt warm and comfortable, as if he were submerged in warm water. He could feel the immense force in his muscles.
He opened his mouth, grinding for the first time in a long time. A bluish light escaped out of the air around shifting and moving. The intense heat was constantly pulsing in his neck. He could already feel it fueling up his breath glands.
‘There is still only one problem to be solved.’ he thought. He focused his will on his own body. Immediately the bluish light of radiation around him subsided, only the light of his flames still glowing.
Finally, he breathed out in relief as he knew that he narrowly avoided a huge problem, ‘Just as I thought, I can really control it the same way that I can reduce heat and smoke emitted out of my body.’
Ding!
//
Evolution to [Noble Cursed Nuclear Volcano Catastrophe Runedragon] completed!
All innate racial abilities leveled up.
Chargeable Manareinforced Runic Noble Dragon Scales (LV 14) –> (LV 15)
Nuclear Noble Dragon Breath (LV 10) –> (LV 11) (Evolution available!)
Chargeable Manareinforced Runic Noble Dragon Scales (LV 11) –> (LV 12)
Manalife Noble Draconic Vitality (lv 10) –> (lv 11)
Draconic Fire of Might (LV 6) –> (LV 7)
Draconic Magic of Anger (LV 10) –> (LV 11)
Dragon Hoard (LV 6) –> (LV 7)
Fly (LV 6) –> (LV 7)
Erupting Pressure-Forged Corium Armour (LV 9) –> (LV 10) (Evolution available!)
Radioactive Charged Volcanic Gasses Glands (LV 5)–> (LV 6)
Dragon Eyes (LV 7) –> (LV 8)
Dragon Voice (LV 7) –> (LV 8)
Noble Dragon Aura (LV 7) –> (LV 8)
Volcano Controlling Horns (LV 7)–> (LV 8)
Volcanic Tail Canon (LV 2) –> (LV 3)
Acid-Toxin Glands (LV 2) –> (LV 3)
Draconic Curse Magic (LV 9) — > (LV 10) (Evolution available!)
All stats increased!
//
Vesuvius looked at all the freebies he got from the evolution that followed his metamorphosis and consolidated all of his changes.
‘Hopefully, I didn’t make a huge mistake.’ he still felt doubts about the presence of the nuclear element in his body, feeling like it went in weird directions, ‘We dragons are supposed to be incarnations of nature and live. But this feels like it goes in a different direction.’
He kept contemplating the problem, feeling unsettled by the weird direction that he took, ‘What was I thinking when I made these changes?’
He felt weird, almost as if he had taken a wrong turn; he could already see that he had made a wrong decision, but it was a one-way road, so there was no turning back.
‘I am a dragon, and I should be using the power of nature, not going against it.’
As he started to feel terrible, a ray of sunlight suddenly came from behind the clouds, bringing back the dragon’s hope, ‘Wait, is this really not natural or is it just my prejudice brought by living in a world where humans harnessed this power? Particles, radioactivity, and nuclear energy are all part of nature. Sun itself is a colossal reactor, just a fusion one! And without it, there would be no life!’
‘Radioactive elements are in the ground and soil too. They are a part of nature.’
All of his thoughts suddenly moved in this new direction, his last doubts quickly vanishing, ‘Yes, I have not gone astray! They killed dragons which were nature, so it is time for me to become the anger of nature. I will harness every catastrophe that nature can produce and gain more power than any dragon before me.’
With renewed vigour, Vesuvius noticed that the faint magical energy radiating in the distance became even more visible after he grew stronger.
‘First, I need to turn my magic back to vitality.’
The dragon closed his eyes and entered into his subconsciousness.
POV Thief:
The grey figure quickly descended the dark stairs, his steps so quiet that he made almost no sound. His eyes faintly glowed in the darkness after he drank a potion of night vision, allowing him to see in the dark corridor.
Everything around him was dark. Walls, ceilings, and floors are all made of dark material.
He stopped in his way suddenly, picking up a weird sound from behind a corner of the staircase. Something was quietly scratching at a stone, something sharp and hard.
‘Guard or a monster?’ to a professional like him. There was a huge difference between the two.
Monsters often had much more sensitive senses, but at the same time, they could be easily distracted or tricked as they were mostly mutated animals.
On the other side, guards lacked this supersense but, at the same time, were much smarter, making any attempt to distract them much harder.
‘It sounds like claws scratching on the ground, so it must be a monster. Maybe one of these burning animals that are running everywhere?’
He stilled his breathing and heartbeat, knowing that it wouldn’t be unusual for the monster to find him by these too. As a professional, he already took care of his smell, using alchemical potions that neutralised every body odour.
The sound of scratching kept getting louder and louder, with a faint red light glowing from behind the corner.
The thief gripped his dagger, ready to either fight or escape, depending on what would come from behind the corner.
The air started to become hotter and hotter, with an uncomfortable feeling seeping into his body, making him feel as if he didn’t sleep for days.
Only with his strong force of will, he managed to suppress unexplainable drowsiness that threatened him with him falling asleep.
The sound of scratching stopped, quiet breathing coming right from behind the corner and then… It started to move again, this time in an opposite direction, the feeling of tiredness and the red light quickly weakening.