Minglings - Book 3 chapter 18: Magic

"You can take this cave! Unless it's too hot?" Clankrin said before laughing and pounding his shoulder against Mason's.

This guy is one odd duck, Mason thought as he pushed back hard enough to keep the other from toppling him over.

"Hotter is better," he said as he stomped into the large cave. With two entrances, one that looked out across a small lava puddle and another in the high ceiling, he could easily get out if he had to.

He scanned for anything that might pose a problem, and when finding nothing, he turned back to Clankrin. Who had been waiting, sitting on his haunches and his red-scaled arms crossed before his chest in an oddly human pose.

"I totally agree! I can't wait til I'm strong enough to swim in the magma," he said. "Now, go rest. I'll have someone come get you in the morning! I'm sure Sandra told you some things, but I wanna give you my ideas too!"

Mason almost choked at the sudden intelligent glint in the burly red dragon's eyes. Wasn't this guy some dull buffoon?

"Alright. Bring me some food too," he managed.

Clankrin laughed as he walked away. "Get some yourself. There are plenty of Sharwigs in the lava! Just look for the slow-moving black bumps."

Sharwigs? Mason thought as he watched the red dragon jump up and fly away.

He looked around, hesitating if he should rest first. Then his stomach rumbled slowly.

You just got food, you bottomless pit, he thought as he turned to the lower exit.

"Fine, let's see what Sharwigs are…"

–

"Die, you blasted rock," Mason roared as his body slammed into the six-legged monster before it could clamp down on him.

It felt like he'd slammed into a solid wall, but luckily this wall was flung back and crashed into the rocky outcrop just beyond the lava.

I knew I should have asked what these were first, Mason thought again as he roared and rushed after what he'd hoped would have been easy prey.

A thing resembling a cross between a shark, a rock, and a lizard scrambled up, opening a gaping maw.

"No you don't," Mason snarled as he jumped up and slammed his clawed hands down on the top of the thing's head, aiming for the eyes.

The monster, smaller than him but far bulkier, let out a piercing cry of pain. As it opened its mouth, Mason spat a stream of fire inside.

The sliced-apart eyes shot back open as a strangled grunt came. Then the Sharwig stumbled and began throwing up dark matted goop.

Taking a side step, Mason battered it atop the head with his tail. As it slumped down, he shouldered it to its back, jumped on top, and began slashing and stomping at its throat and belly.

It took him a few minutes until he finally managed to dig through the thick gray throat, and by then, the Sharwig wasn't moving anymore. Mason let out a weak victory roar, more for the form, then began slashing its throat apart, searching for the meat.

A loud bustle of ticking came from the side.

Mason looked up, afraid of another of the monsters. Instead, he saw a dozen dragons in various shades of red, orange, and black stare at him while they rattled their nails on the stone. When they saw him look up, they lowered their heads before jumping up and flying away without even a word.

Why do I have the feeling that hunting Sharwig isn't really what they do down here, Mason thought sarcastically.

Focusing on the rocky monster, he continued cutting through a hand length of stony armored plating until he reached pale red flesh. Thick, viscous blood oozed out while a sweet smell wafted up.

As he carefully took a bite, a spicy and sweet taste filled his mouth, and his stomach rumbled louder. Licking his lips, he began ripping out more flesh, devouring it as a dull heat began emanating from his stomach. Mason's mind began to fog over as an intense hunger filled him, and he ripped out more and more flesh.

He had no idea how long it took when there was a loud sound of his claws striking something hard.

Mason blinked, staring at the emptied remnants of the Sharwig without seeing it. He was fully focused on himself as he felt his muscles and bones glowing with heat while twitching and-

"I'm growing," Mason whispered incredulously.

He stared in shock at his hand, then at the Sharwig. It did look smaller. He had eaten many things before, and he did grow from some, but after his time hunting Bigbird and the others, he'd not grown much on a single meal. As he rose higher, he tried to get a better read of the increase, but due to the damage done to the Sharwig it was pretty hard.

Perhaps he shouldn't be angry with Clankrin after all. Trying to ignore the constant mild twitching of his muscles, he focused on what remained of the Sharwig.

It looked almost like he'd removed the insides of a lobster, with just the massively armored back remaining. One of his hands was drilled deep inside gray, slimy matter. It took him only a fraction of a second to release it was the thing's brain!

A year ago, before his change, he would have probably been nauseated, but that was then.

Now he just sighed and spread out his clawed fingers, trying to find what he'd touched. He felt something hard and round inside the mash of brain matter.

A pearl?

Curious, he tried ripping it out, but there seemed to be thin tendons wrapped around it. Grinding his teeth and swallowing the remnant slivers of meat between them, he punched his second claw inside and began cutting them away until he felt the object loosen enough to pull free. A dark orb that shone slightly red lay on the palm of his hand. There were markings where the thin tendons had attached to it, but beyond that, there was no damage. Not even where he'd stabbed it with his claws.

What the hell is this? Mason thought as he raised the small orb to his face.

He vaguely remembered a Japanese game he'd played long ago, which had orbs inside monsters' heads. He tried to recall what those did, but all he could recall was that they had been a way to grow his in-game character stronger.

"If you don't want it, I'll take it," a deep grunt said from behind.

Mason turned around to see Clankrin stare at the object in his hand while licking his narrow scaly lips. Although he was a few dozen feet away, Mason blinked as he saw how much smaller Clankrin seemed. If they had been human, he would have guessed he'd grown by a head taller. Clankrin was still burlier then him, though.

"Have you actually ever killed one of these things?" he asked, letting some of his anger shimmer through.

"Of course I have! And I'm glad there's finally someone else who can," Clankrin said, seemingly tearing his eyes from the shimmering red orb.

"Only ever got one of those, though."

"What are they?"

"Don't know, don't care," Clankrin said as he scratched at his jaw and peeled away a loose scale which he flicked into the nearby lava. The new scale below was a much darker, vibrant red than the one he'd just removed.

"And what do they do?" Mason asked, holding the orb up to inspect it some more.

"Eat it and find out," Clankrin said with a laugh. "Or don't, and give it to me, and I'll show you!"

Yeah, just like you told me to hunt these things, Mason thought as he sniffed.

"Don't have to believe me," Clankrin said as he laughed uproariously. "Just go ask Sandra!"

Before Mason could come up with a response, Clankrin jumped up and flew away, skidding across the lava.

"Weird ass," Mason muttered. He was about to leave for his new cave when he saw Clankrin angle to the side toward a dark hump moving through the lava.

He wasn't going to...

Clankrin breathed a stream of dark fire atop the hump, causing a Sharwig head to burst out of the lava. The monstrous thing was even slightly bigger than the one Mason had just killed and roared in a challenge.

Clankrin roared back, and Mason's mouth fell open as he saw the red dragon turn around and head straight for the Sharwig. Claws forward, Clankrin nimbly spun around a bite, grabbed the Sharwig behind its head, and continued on. The monster's massive weight and the drag of the lava caused Clankrin to slide sideways for a moment, then he began flapping his wings and carrying his prey up.

"You are kidding me," Mason grunted as he watched the inflexible Sharwig try and bite at the hind legs but unable to even reach halfway.

When Clankrin reached high in the air, he turned until he was away from the lava, then dropped the Sharwig. It fell like a cannonball while Clankrin dove after it.

Its back is heavier, Mason thought as he saw the Sharwig topple over and fall down with thick paws flailing in the air.

The Sharwig slammed into the ground, causing a shudder that Mason felt from where he stood. Then Clankrin pounced down on its head and began slashing, gauging, and breathing fire in what Mason imagined was the same way he had just done.

Curious, Mason continued watching until the Sharwig finally stopped moving, and Clankrin let out a victory roar before turning to stare at Mason. Seeing the red dragon's triumphantly glowing eyes, and a wide grin on his red maw, Mason smirked back before turning around.

Right, so I just have to drop them and crack them like a nut, he thought as he decided to try again tomorrow.

When he reached his cave, he lay down in the center and inspected the round bauble. If Clankrin had spoken the truth about those monsters, then perhaps he'd been right about this being something to eat as well?

Curious, Mason sniffed the round sphere, noting a hint of the same spiciness the flesh had. Taking a quick look around and glad nobody was there to watch, he licked the sphere.

A thrum came from the muscle in his stomach, and a near-insatiable hunger coursed through him. His mind seemed to freeze, and before he realized what he was doing, he threw the sphere in his mouth. Heat burned his cheeks, snapping him out of it. He was about to spit it back out when he felt the heat ebb away, and warmth flowed through his body, heading straight to the muscle in his stomach.

A flicker of movement made him look up, and with the sphere in his mouth, Mason stupidly looked at a massive torrent of red mana lits stream towards him. Although he'd seen just as many of the pale ones back in the desert, those had been spread out, and he'd never seen as many as were beginning to swirl around him.

"Fine. Some kind of dragon steroids," he muttered with a shrug. "Lets see what it does."

Hoping he wasn't being an idiot, he swallowed the round sphere.

An explosion of heat came from his stomach, and his body stood erect in a single move, shivering and shaking.

The last thing he saw was a whirlpool of red mana lits surge towards him. Then all he knew was heat and fire.

–

"You really saw her?" Emma shouted again, walking after Jake.

"Yes," he said again.

Emma let out a suppressed shout, which drew his attention away from the curious sight of seeing streams, rivers, and pools running below a magical barrier deep under the sea.

Jake looked around, observing again that it was becoming dark and shadowy as the city's lights darkened. Emma had told him it signaled the approaching nighttime.

"And you talked with her?"

"Yes, but quiet about that, remember?"

"Yes… yes… what did she look like?" Emma cried as she hopped and jumped around him like some young and excited puppy.

"Very big and blue," Jake said with a grin.

"Boo! That's such a bad explanation," Emma said as she mockingly cried at him.

"I'll tell you more later. How about you focus on where we are going?"

Emma blinked, then seemed to recall what they were doing and turned back ahead.

"I can't believe they are giving you your own house. You only just got here and didn't even do anything yet," she said.

Jake's sighed. "Yes, well. I'm going to have to help them with a few things in return," he said as he recalled the final conversation with the rulers of Azurill.

"Help them? With what? Making ice?" Emma asked, grinning.

"Something like that."

Jake followed Emma, who kept bantering, but he barely caught any of it. Instead, he looked around the massive city of coral while his mind wandered.

"Jake!"

Jake snapped out of it and saw Emma staring at him, eyes wide.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine," Jake said, turning around and noting they were standing beside a towering building with open balconies on many ends.

"We are here. Let's go up," Emma said, giving him another look.

"Show me where it is," Jake said, forcing himself to smile.

Emma frowned and seemed ready to ask him something. Then she seemed to decide against it. She turned and jumped up, flying along the side of the coral building.

Jake looked around, noting that the building was situated beside a rather bustling street filled with kobolds. It was wide enough for dragons of his size and even larger to move through, though he guessed if he wanted to buy something, he'd have to shout because none of the shops were that big.

Or perhaps there are other shops for dragons? he thought as he spread his wings and began flying after Emma. As he shot along the building, he wondered what dragons even needed besides food.

I hope I can learn to change into my kobold shape again, he thought as he recalled how Lady Libuxeria had morphed. As cool as flying around was, he'd seen some intriguing shops, places that looked like tiny libraries, and a great many restaurants nearby. Sadly all of those catered to kobolds.

He followed Emma up to the sixth floor, where a large symbol sat on the thick edge of the nearby balcony. Though he knew it represented the number forty-two, the writing reminded him of old Norse runes, and he had no idea how he could even read it.

Emma landed on the right of three balconies, a thick white and teal-colored slab. Nail scratches across it showed they weren't the first one there, but as they walked inside, Jake couldn't help but hum in appreciation.

A spacious, well-lit room with beautiful carvings in the farewell, a massive cobalt slab on one side near a narrow window, and four smaller ones on the other side give the impression of a cozy flat. Two teal-colored crystal growths sat on the ceiling, providing soft, soothing light.

"It's so big!" Emma shouted as she ran to the bed slab and jumped atop, lying down in the center.

Jake's eyes widened as he saw the slab slump slightly under her weight, and as she moved, she let out content sighs.

Not a rock?

"So, do you think I can sleep here?" Emma asked as she looked up at him with what he imagined were her version of puppy eyes.

"We are pretty far from your school," Jake said as he frowned.

Perhaps it was because of what had happened down below the city, but a tiny bit of his old human mind seemed to float up, telling him it wasn't done to have a young girl sleep in his bed. Then his draconic self swooped in, shoving the ideas away as ridiculous, leaving him with some slightly jarring feelings. Emma was a good hatchling and way too young for any breeding. Besides, she was the wrong type for him for now… whatever that meant.

"I'll be really quiet, and this bed is way too big for you!" Emma said.

The barely concealed fright in her voice made Jake look up to see her stare at him. He realized she had spoken before. Something about it becoming dark soon. Was she afraid he'd leave without telling her?

"Fine," he said. "But if you roll in your sleep, I'm shoving you over the edge."

There was a moment of immense relief on Emma's face, then she giggled.

"Noooo," she shouted, rolling across the bed that was definitely four sizes too large for her.

Don't worry. I'll be here for a while longer, Jake thought as he watched her roll about. He knew he wasn't going to enjoy telling her he'd eventually have to go somewhere dangerous while she had to remain here. But that was still some time away.

After another inspection of the room, Jake found that as beautiful as it was, it was also incredibly sparse. There were no chests, cabins, or shelves. Just the beautiful decorations, the set of what he guessed was supposed to be chairs, and the bed.

As he lay down on the bed that dented and formed around his body, he wondered what material it was made of. The soft snoring of Emma mixed with the dying-out chatter from outside.

She must have been tired and stressed, he thought as he took a look at her before taking a quick look at the window and the balcony. Neither had shutters or doors, but with nothing here, he guessed at least he didn't have to worry about things being stolen.

As everything around him calmed, he thought back to something Libuxeria had told him.

"If Lauruna told you to head too frozen south, you should do that," the ancient female dragon had said. "But I'd wait until you learn some more things. Although you seem to draw in mana lits easily enough, you have no proper schooling in how to use it. Although we can't teach you the ice magics of old, you should pick up as much water magic as you can. You also need to learn how to fight against Hydra and large groups of Hydraci."

Yeah, because that's what I wanna do. Fight giant hydras, he thought with a weary sight.

What he wanted to do was find Mason… but that seemed to be becoming more and more difficult. Libuxeria had told him to go to the library and look at maps of the surrounding areas to understand how massive even this part of the world was and how many areas with volcanoes.

With a weary sigh, he went over the rest of the conversation.

Most had dealt with the practical aspects of him staying here and what they wanted of him. He'd worried they would have asked odd things like the Antraci had, but in the end, Libuxeria mostly just wanted information. She wanted to know everything about the island they had started at to see if they could locate it and some things about Earth. None of which seemed like a problem to him. No, the only thing he wasn't sure about was when she had asked to study his ice magic.

Still, the prospect of learning water magic made even his weary mind excited, and in the end, it took him a long time to fall asleep.

–

"Incredible… an ice dragon. I never thought I'd see one of you!"

Jake looked at the old kobold that stood before him, still slightly confused that he wasn't going to be taught by another dragon. They were standing in a large open area next to a building near the school, which Emma had told him was meant for special tutoring.

"Can you create some more ice for me?" the kobold asked excitedly as he walked towards the shattered ice that lay to the side.

Jake quietly pulled in some blue mana lits, drew it in, and transformed it to ice. As he did, he felt the muscle in his stomach clench softly while his mind turned calm and collected.

As a shard of ice appeared where he wanted it, shattering on the ground below, he watched the kobold croon as he shook his head.

"So…" Jake finally said. "I'm Jake?"

"Are you?" the kobold asked as he looked up in surprise.

"Yes," Jake said with a grin. "And you are?"

"Oh! Right! I'm Balzirduran'calips, sorry!"

Jake blinked, the grin on his face cracking. "What?" Wait, was sorry part of his name? The kobold had spoken so fast...

"Most people just call me Calips," the kobold said, poking in the ice fragments again.

"Alright, Calips," Jake said, relieved. "So… Lady Talia said that you were going to teach me magic?"

As he spoke, Jake could feel the excitement bubble below the icy calm. If he didn't have it, he'd probably be fidgeting like a schoolboy.

"I am? Wait… of course I am!" Calips said as he looked at Jake.

"Right… right. So, I presume you have gone through the basics? What do you want to start with, Greater Wave Control? Pressured Bubble? Something more esoteric like slowing down your enemy's blood flow?"

Dumbfounded, Jake looked at Calips before slowly shaking his head. "I haven't learned any magic yet… just what I managed to work out on my own," he said.

Calips nodded as he poked in the ice. "Yes, yes, Pressured Bubble is- wait? What?" He looked up in surprise. "You haven't… didn't learn… not anything?" he muttered.

He's like some nutty professor, Jake thought as he couldn't hold back a snorted laugh.

"No. I have no idea how to do anything besides move the water around me and create ice."

Calips crossed his arms, seeming to ignore his laughter, instead shaking his head. "Incredibly… truly incredible. Pulling in mana lits for which you have only a small amount of bloodline and actually using it without any teaching? It's like the ancient stories!"

Jake lay down, cocking his head. "Ancient stories? About the first dragons?" he asked, making an educated guess.

"Yes! Yes, yes! Those that came before… well, before everyone else evidently," Calips said.

"How about you tell me about that sometime," Jake said, before quickly continuing when he saw a gleam appear in Calips muddled green eyes. "After you teach me some magic?"

Calips blinked. "What? Well… Yes, of course. So... No knowledge? Not even…" he fell quiet as Jake shook his head.

"Well… let's start by seeing how your control over water is then," the odd kobold said. He moved towards a large pool of water that was fed by a small stream from deeper in the city.

"Let's start by you moving some of this!"

Jake followed the old kobold as he focused on pulling in blue mana lits. As he released his ice control, he felt a wave of excitement flood him as he stared at the pool.

Let's do this!

Focusing on the water and his mana muscle, he spread his senses until he felt the water before him. He couldn't exactly explain how he did it, it came as natural as changing water to ice. Now what should he do?

Remembering an old movie he once saw, he grinned as he willed the water up.

There was a surging sound, then a surprised yelp of surprise as the entire body of water shot up a dozen feet in the air. Jake felt his energy leave him almost as fast, and he stumbled.

"Let go, let it go!" Calips shouted panicky just as Jake released his control over the water.

It surged back down, blasting the now empty and muddy lake bed, spraying and sloshing across the edges, and creating streams and rivulets.

Jake stood to the side, gasping as he looked at Calips, who was shaking his head.

"Alright... I think we might need to start with some theory first," the kobold said. "Before you kill both of us."