54th of Season of Fire, 56th year of the 32nd imperial era

Newt wanted to protest, to say he wasn't ready to confront the heart demon, but he knew Magmin would have none of it.

"Can we test my Magmin Scales one last time before I advance a layer? Please?"

The serpent snorted, then spoke. "Fine. We can test it once."

Newt suppressed a grin, his heart beating faster, as he flooded his arm with mana and summoned his Magmin Scales to cover his hand. His excitement died as soon as he inspected the glowing scales with his third eye. They were exactly the same as the ones he had before going through all the trouble of reshaping his realm.

Magmin bit Newt's hand, its fangs blazing. The familiar pressure squeezed around Newt's skin, fangs held back so as not to cause an injury. A second passed, then another, then another.

Newt's heart once more started racing, a loud laugh escaping him as Magmin dismissed its technique an instant before the scales of Newt's hand shattered.

"You have gained some proficiency," Magmin said, downplaying Newt's success. "The amount of heat you can burn has nearly doubled. It is nowhere near my level, but not bad for an amphibian."

A moment's silence filled the cave, and Newt still smiled, satisfied with his achievement. He had doubled the efficiency with which he used his mana.

"Now, expand your realm so we can get started."

Newt got to work, regretting the lack of time to practice his abilities. He still wanted to find a way to use all three at the same time. The method almost certainly existed, assuming he was willing to invest hours or days into making it work. But he could do that later, inside the safety of his own realm, assuming he survived the battle with the sharpbeak heart demon.

No! I must survive. I will return to the clan, defeat Victor and force him to tell me what happened with Father and Mother. Victor signed a sealed contract that he wouldn't harm them, nor me, but I could have died in the mines, and the contract's magic wouldn't have registered it as a breach of conditions.

"Newt, start eating," Magmin snapped the youth from his thoughts, and Newt began consuming the manarium.

"What would happen if you ate these? Would it increase your realm?" Newt asked suddenly.

Magmin stared at him for a moment before answering. "I would waste them. They would dissipate, half into the ground, half into the air. The energy in the air would once more condense into a gem, merely wasting time. The other half would remain in the ground, making the mountain taller, essentially wasting the refined energy, since I do not want my mountain any taller. I have more earth energy than I like. Shedding it and replacing it with air energy will be a real chore once I evolve wings."

The serpent gazed into the dark with dreamy eyes before continuing. "Consume them. Confirm you have reached the sixth layer, and then we will move to the nearest lava flow to challenge the sharpbeak."

Newt wanted to ask another question, but Magmin slithered towards the exit, severing any chance for further stalling.

With a heavy heart, the youth consumed the manarium, wondering who would be the final opponent barring his exit from the secret realm - Magmin or the sharpbeak?

Based on what he had seen, he preferred his chances against the pterosaur, but that left the question of how to help the saurian defeat the treacherous serpent. And there was another, equally important question.

What if I'm imagining the whole thing? What if my uncle's betrayal three years ago made me think Magmin is treacherous? What if I betray him, when all he wanted was to release me after he broke through?

Newt struggled, wondering how to proceed. Trust a snake and risk death, or risk betraying an innocent and maybe stand a fighting chance? He thought of himself, of his father's relieved expression when his uncle showed the contract, of his mother's last loving gaze despite him being used against her.

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Newt felt his chin quiver and throat tighten. He missed his parents. He hated traitors. Hated evil people.

And yet, I'm thinking of becoming that vile traitor because Magmin might betray me.

"Hurry up," the serpent called out from the mouth of the cave, and Newt continued eating the manarium, certain about which path he should take. Even though the serpent was making it easy for Newt to distrust it, or even dislike it, it had still taught him mystical abilities, magic probably unknown to humans, certainly unknown to his family. It gave him enough mana to reach the sixth layer and revealed an original path to greatness and near-immortality. Which only raised the question of who or what had killed the dragon?

Newt shuddered as he consumed the final gem. How did the dragon die?

He wondered, but the said dragon's embryonic form awaited impatiently. New closed his eyes and checked his realm.

He summoned a new Magmin Pine, and it grew, reaching three hundred and thirty-three feet before hitting the barrier. Its bark was rough from the start, branded with Granite Crust's earth glyphs, since that was the way Newt willed it.

He opened his eyes and found Magmin an inch from his face. Newt yelped and fell over, bumping his head against the hard granite floor.

"Are you finally done?" the serpent hissed in impatience.

"Yes, yes, sorry." Newt rubbed the back of his head. "I had to make sure the sixth layer was complete."

Magmin stared at him quietly. He seemed ready to chide him, but eventually said nothing.

"Let us leave. We have a demon to slay," he said after the silence grew suffocating.

Newt let out the breath he did not even know he was holding and followed the serpent, who boldly slithered out of the crevice.

"The sharpbeak is on the other side of the volcano, searching for us while flying in a spiral. We have enough time to prepare. Follow me."

Newt obeyed, wondering how Magmin knew his heart demon's location. After an extended silence, he asked.

"It always follows the same pattern. Starting from the crater, it flies in an ever-expanding circle until it reaches the realm barrier and then returns to the crater in a straight line. Only a fool would not know the pattern after so many years. I even know how many heartbeats will pass until it returns to the crater."

Magmin turned around to face Newt. "This is the plan. We will stay at the outer edge of the crater, opposite of where the sharpbeak starts its circle. I created a small trickle of lava there so that you can grab some more easily. There is less heat near a smaller body of lava, so your Magmin Scales will hold out longer, consuming less energy, and giving you a better chance at survival. Do you understand?"

Newt nodded, and Magmin continued explaining the plan.

"Good. You will throw a ball of lava at the sharpbeak while it is above the crater's center. If your aim is true and you manage to hurt it, it will fall into the volcano and die immediately. Otherwise, you will have enough time to make another projectile and throw it before the sharpbeak crosses the lava-lake. Again, success is good, and failure means we fight it. I am confident I can crush it or bite it to death if you can hold it close to the ground long enough for me to get a good grip."

Magmin left Newt speechless. He struggled, trying to fathom how he was supposed to snatch a giant pterosaur mid-flight and immobilize it long enough for Magmin to do anything.

"All right," he finally said, the serpent seemingly oblivious to his lack of confidence.

The pair reached a river of lava and followed it upstream. The heat grew unbearable as they drew to the edge of the crater, but Magmin was unbothered, while Newt had streaks of sweat running down his bare skin.

"Do we have enough time for me to try making a lava snowball?"

"What is a—feel free. We have a while to wait."

Newt activated Magmin Scales, covering his entire body, and the unbearable heat disappeared. He scooped up a handful of lava, and his defense held. The molten rock in his hand felt like dense mud, almost clay. He easily shaped it into a slightly runny ball, then he threw it with all his might.

Facing air resistance, the molten blob lost tiny chunks, sending a shower of lava droplets. It flew forty feet, losing half its mass in the process, before it fell into the lake, making a dull gloop sound as it splashed into the lava.

Magmin stared at Newt for several moments before blinking.

"That is the special attack with which you defeated sharpbeakes? That pitiful blob?"

"I used a sling," Newt said in his defense. "I never threw rocks with my bare hand at sharpbeakes."

"You deceived me." Magmin's hiss turned deeper and lower than Newt ever heard, the scales of the serpent's neck shaking and bristling.

"No, wait," Newt blurted. "Even like this, I will have enough time to toss the lava at the sharpbeak once. Right? And it will inflict a wound if I hit it. It might even fall into lava. Right? And this is not something you can do on your own. Right?"

Magmin calmed, still glaring at Newt.

"If you lie to me one more time or try to cheat me, I will eat you, amphibian intruder."

Newt shuddered. Enraged, the small, silly snake seemed much more menacing than it did in the past few days. And it was afraid of the sharpbeak.

"I see you understand what I am saying," Magmin hissed with barely suppressed fury. "Now we wait. The sharpbeak will arrive soon."

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