Magma Dragon's Heir

41st of Season of Fire, Year 556 AL

Magmin’s ninth realm was much the same as the eighth; the dragon obviously a supporter of the philosophy of ‘don’t change what works.’

“I’m no less disappointed in you than I was ten minutes ago, Magmin.”

A heartbeat passed without response, then another. Newt started having a bad feeling.

“Yeah, you’re not the only one,” Magmin said, flying down the volcano. “It’s nice, and I can feel the power gathering in the realm, so it’s certainly not weak, but compared with what I have now, it’s… underwhelming.”

The words were identical, spoken with the exact same intonation, and that was the problem.

“You aren’t my Magmin, are you?”

“I am and I’m not. I guess repeating the answer when you were repeating the complaint was a bad choice. In my defense, I had to go through an entire life’s worth of memories and gauge the proper response.” Magmin lacked the humanity of his usual mannerism and was more like Magminion and the dragon exalt than the snake which Newt had nourished in his realm for centuries.

“So, I’m dead,” Magmin said without emotion, “But I already know that, since I didn’t draw you into my realm, and I have never seen your kind to form a heart demon. You’re an invader from another world and more than powerful enough to crush me where I stand. Unfortunately, we have a conflict of interest here.”

Magmin’s pupils were hostile vertical slits, studying Newt for weakness, even though he knew he would find none. Newt, on the other hand, was relaxed.

“What conflict of interest could we have? I wish you a long and happy life.”

“No, you wish the imposter a long and happy life; from me you wish knowledge and power to fuel both your growths.”

Newt wanted to argue that he didn’t really care about Magmin’s knowledge all that much, but stuck to the main topic. “You would live in his psyche. And you share the same origin. In fact, you are identical. You would live through him.”

“Empty words,” the dragon said.

“And what kind of compromise can we reach?” Newt asked, knowing he could slay Magmin and be done with it. He had done so before and it didn’t seem to have harmed his Magmin. “What do you want?”

Still, he would prefer to resolve matters peacefully if possible. Resorting to violence just because he could wasn’t the way he wanted to do things.

“I wish for you to draw me into your realm too, and to help me make a physical body.”

But violence was perfectly fine when an ancient dragon weaker than him was trying to scam him.

“That would result in a contest of wills between you and my Magmin, and since you’re a realm stronger, you would devour him and become the new Magmin.”

“He would live in my psyche,” the dragon threw Newt’s argument back in his face, “and we share the same origin. In fact, we are identical. He would live through me.”

Newt gave him a flat look.

“Empty words, but I see your point. Also, you’re doing a fine job rummaging through Magmin’s memories; that was the kind of joke the two of us often play on one another.” Newt sighed. “Now, since you have seen his memories, you know I won’t risk his life and that there’s no way you’re leaving this realm.”

“What’s so good about him?” Magmin asked. “He’s just a parasite sitting in your realm. You could have fought and slain all my previous incarnations without trouble, why keep a false copy of me in your realm?”

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The question wasn’t without merit. Why did two people become friends? Why did a farmer have a favorite trudger, or a huntsman a favorite raptor?

Newt considered the question for a flash, then countered with a question.

“With everything you know now, would you teach someone your secrets and techniques and let them live?

“Of course you wouldn’t.” Newt answered before the dragon could lie to him. “But Magmin taught me about the volcano, and the pines, and his techniques. From the height I stand on now, I see the most important thing he shared was trust. Whatever the reason he originally had to help me, he helped me, then I helped him, and he tried to help me. The series of random kindness and fairness growing into a deeper relationship.”

Newt stared at the Magminion lookalike. “But you don’t understand what I’m talking about, do you? Even now, you’re scanning Magmin’s memories, seeking a way to manipulate me into giving you a chance at survival. Aren’t you?”

“I won’t hide it—” the dragon started.

“You would hide it if you thought you could get away with it.” Newt smirked. “I might not care much about people and interacting with others, which you might see from Magmin’s memories, but I’m not stupid. I know your kind, and I know my kind’s cold-heartedness, which is more chilling than anything I’ve seen saurians do. The thing is, I don’t want things to be like that, even if it ultimately seems that cruelty is unavoidable. Just like weakness translates to lack of freedom and relying on the goodwill of others. And you’ve just used up my goodwill.”

Newt shot towards Magmin. The dragon roared, instinctively unleashing a breath of magma. The attack was an exercise in futility. Newt shot through the molten rock, blazing white, magma parting and evaporating before him. Then he flew through Magmin’s neck, and he was back in the darkness of the mines, the twin stars pulsating. Their glow was weaker, more desperate, but Newt ignored them and entered his realm.

“Magmin, you there?”

“I’m here. Thanks for not giving up on me.”

The dragon flew over from the other side of the volcano, and Newt could tell at a glance it was his Magmin. Somehow, his bearing and face, while no less reptilian than that of other dragons, felt familiar. Like when one recognized their friend in a sea of other people, Newt smiled.

“It’s good to have you back again.” He looked around his realm, spreading his mana sense. “Eighth layer, huh? Shame all of it is crap.”

It wasn’t crap, but the realm dimmed the further it got from the previous eight layers refined and saturated by sunfire. “I’ll need to focus completely on its tempering during my baptisms.”

“We should head back. There’s no need to risk your baptism where imperials might have spies.”

Newt gave Magmin the look. The empire was falling apart, and the imperials barely had the troops to mind their own lands. The odds of them having anyone so far outside the area they controlled were close to zero.

But they aren’t zero. Newt immediately remembered the Grand Scholar and his crazy schemes.

“We’re going back,” he agreed with Magmin’s suggestion. “By the way, do you know anything about storing matter in your realm? Your grandson said it would come naturally to me once I reached the ninth realm.”

“I do. I’ll explain it to you while we’re flying back home. And speaking of my grandson, what do you plan to do with him?”

“Nothing, we’re gonna have a chat with him before we leave.”

Newt opened his eyes and focused his will and mana. Magmin flowed out of his realm, into his body, then into a small body of mana roughly the size of Newt’s arm.

The tiny dragon floated a circle around Newt, then settled around his neck. While his form was tiny, and his reserve of mana next to nothing, Magmin still radiated the aura of an exalt.

They left the mines, and Magminion’s mana washed over them, crashing against the privacy barrier Newt kept around himself. Newt wrapped his own tendrils of mana around Magminion’s, then squeezed and shrank it until it pressed against the dragon himself.

The dragon that could have at least offered some resistance mere hours ago was helpless like a child before Newt. And Magminion knew it.

“Do you think this will be enough to crush your mother’s will to fight back?” Newt asked as he approached the dragon.

“No, your kind is better at manipulating mana than we are. Even if you can suppress her aura completely, she won’t give up. I am terrified because I know how strong your body is and how vast your supply of mana is, but the same won’t work on her.”

Newt nodded. It was unfortunate, but not unexpected.

“Will she shrink her form to fight me the way you did, or will she remain so huge?”

“We use our size to our advantage. As long as it’s an advantage, she will remain that big, but my mother has ample experience. She will soon realize the huge size is to her detriment. She will probably seek the optimal size to fight you and experiment with it until she finds what works.”

As if I’d let her do something like that.

“Do you want to stay here, or will you follow me back into the jungle?”

Magminion kept quiet. “What do you plan to do with me?”

“I will need competent assistants,” Newt said calmly, “and you’re my friend’s grandson. I would prefer to keep you alive and help you reach the tenth realm so you can better serve me.”

Newt grinned. “How does that sound to you?”