Rolus knew the truth of magic, that every mage in their splendor is no more than an intelligent wand, a conduit for the mana to move as it makes changes to the realm, whether they be divine or malicious, that all depends on the mage. — Rolus, the first archmage

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I stood still in surprise as I stared at the thing in front of me. Right there, a few meters ahead was a desolate spot where the purple grass seemed to have avoided.

In the middle of the said spot was what appeared to be a burgundy-colored crystal with various veins visibly moving underneath it. The crystal was about twice the size of my claw, which was quite big considering my recent growth spur.

'This should be where the heart was located, but what Is that crystal?' I muttered. I was tempted to go and get a closer look, yet I still had some apprehensions about the entire strangeness of the situation.

An ominous veined crystal in the middle of a giant dragon corpse? 'Ah, what's the worse that could happen...right?' I gulped. 'Besides, isn't this the part where I get a random power-up?' I mumbled trying to reassure myself that everything was alright as I slowly approached the crystal.

Once I was within an arm's reach of it, the crystal suddenly released a blinding light forcing me to shield my eyes as it began to float in the air. The purple grass in my surrounding area quickly began to wither and died within a matter of seconds.

Panic filled me as a sharp pain forced me back a few steps. I glanced at my claws only to be shocked at what I saw, my scales were tainted purple with a few white spots, it appeared like some sort of infection as it rapidly spread to my upperparts. I hastily retreated away from the crystal in an attempt to neutralize the effects.

'Is it poison?!' I thought as I hurriedly reached out to the water mana in my surroundings, asking for help.

A familiar water bubble suddenly appeared with me inside of it. I quickly closed my eyes and steadied my mind, breathing in and out. With every breath I took, water mana rushed inside my body moving in a strange cycle before it left as I exhaled.

Slowly but surely, I was able to feel the poison as it stopped spreading. Inhale, exhale...I continued letting the water mana work its magic which seemed to clear out my body from the toxin as it completed its cycle.

It must have taken a few minutes before I finally felt better. I opened my eyes and looked at my claws, my scales, they were back to their previous shining blue color, and there was no purple nor white spots to be found.

'That was too close for comfort,' I inwardly complained as I breathed a sigh of relief.

'Now what the hell is that thing?' I mentally frowned as I observed the crystal from what I assumed to be a safe distance.

It was no longer floating in the air but was back on the ground instead. The blinding light that shone from it had already disappeared as well. 'Is that like the core or something? It seems it got an area type of attack, which makes it difficult to approach,'

'Hmm?' two huge shadows suddenly passed by in the sky as they made their way towards our mountain.

'That looked like father and...a new dragon?' I thought in surprise. I wasn't able to catch a good glimpse of the stranger, but I was quite sure he had the same striking crimson scales as my father.

A ridiculous thought made its way into my mind. 'That can't be...' I hurriedly shook my head at the strange notion before I shot the poisonous crystal one final look.

'I'll be back...' I muttered before I turned around to leave. There was no point in me sticking around when I obviously had no strength to get closer to that thing, and the last thing I would do is risk my life over it. This was real life, and I wasn't going to blow it because I thought I would get a random power-up that will enable me to somehow magically get that crystal and grow stronger.

'Shit, if only it was that easy...' For a small second, I entertained the idea of me trying to unlock whatever random power-up by forcing myself closer to the crystal before I hurriedly shook my head. 'Let's not be stupid, the crystal has obviously been here for a long time, and nothing happened to it. I'll come back for it when I'm ready,' I reassured myself with a nod before I turned and walk away reluctantly.

The journey back was uneventful, and I soon found myself standing outside of the enormous skeleton. I shot It one last glimpse before I offered a silent prayer to the void for Amanita's soul.

I then raised my head and squinted my eyes as I tried to spot Green in the air, 'She probably got back to the mountain when father arrived, I guess I should go as well,' I muttered as I peeked at the sky above.

The day was soon to be over, and I did NOT want to be out here in the dark. With that thought in mind, I jumped to the air using my back limbs and flapped my wings easily taking off this time.

A satisfied grin made its way onto my face. I was finally able to take off properly without the help of magic, the increase in the size of my body and wings seemed to help.

Once in the air, I circled the ancient battlefield one last time as I imagined the final stand of one mighty dragon against the gods before I turned around and made my way back home.

'Let's see who's the newcomer is,' I thought as I landed near our cave just in time to see my mother with her head lowered in respect towards the unfamiliar red dragon.

Father was the same as he took a step back, and lowered his head in submission. It was my first time seeing my parents behave in such a way, which only served to make me grow more nervous.

'He can't be who I think he is...'