Unlike Luxinna, who soloed her way to innovation, Melody and Hikma teamed together in their journey of self-discovery.

The majestic reason for such a combo: they were clueless. Yes, the duo drew a blank. They mulligan on creativity. Inventiveness in the cerebral cortex of both demon/human buddies curled up and died. Any aspect of innovation ceased to exist the moment they picked up the pen.

“My ability is transforming into a bloody dragon!” Melody screeched to the uncaring sky. “How the fuck does he expect me to take that forward.”

“He won’t ask us the impossible,” Hikma calmly assessed the situation.

“What on earth with his convolution?” Melody’s complaint flowed out of the crack dam. “Just tell us the damn direction. At least Scathach have the clue how to guide people. Rem tosses us to the wood and expects us to make it back.”

“I believe that was his point,” Hikma stated. “Rem is a staunch believer in MTG black. He wants us to be self-sufficient above all. I think Rem wants our answer to be ours, not his.”

“Wow, thanks for a vote of confidence, Rem! Didn’t stop me from getting smack around by — OWW!”

Melody made the wrong turn during her rant and ended up re-opening her internal injuries. She fell on the floor clutching her abdomen in pain. Hikma reacted immediately and cast a healing Arcane.

“Don’t move too much. You are still healing.”

“Oww,” Melody mumbled. “You and your flexibility—cheaters.”

“Yeah,” Hikma agreed. “Hey, Mel, why did our mages are so gob smack about my Arcane? I heard they say something about affinities behind my back.”

Melody snorted.

“First, don’t call me Mel. Second, most mages only few element affinities they excel. Shyme, for example, excelled in Wind and Fire. Some like Chuang Tianshang have overpowering strength in one element. But in rare cases like Lux’s sister, Magnolia Drakokia, they hit as high as four or five. No one but you — Hikma — in the history of Phantasia uses over six. I saw you used Holy, Dark, Fire, Ice, Water, Wind, Earth, Nature, some weird mind stuff and you keep pulling out more. Those mages are thankful you are on our side because they are afraid of a monster with no upper limit on attributes range.”

Hikma blinked. He didn’t realize how impressive he was until Melody spelled it out loud.

“What about you?” Hikma asked. “Fire and Dragon?”

Melody laughed.

“Hikma, dragon is not an element. They are freaking monsters.”

It was at that moment Hikma’s metaphorical foot stubbed the treasure chest.

“Mel, listen to me,” Hikma chose his words with care. “Dragon is a separate universe of affinities?”

“What?” Mel blinked.

“Mel,” Hikma treaded on the path Rem waited for them to discover. “What species of dragon do you transform into?”

…

Enma Shyme stood flabbergasted.

Earth-quarter burnt around her. Shyme’s barely existing conscience ached at the thought of leaving Chamomile and Kruger to rally the Fire-quarter. But she needed to be sure. She must know what happened to Cytortia. Shyme’s mission was simple — find whoever caused Cytortia’s life-stele to break and tore him apart. No one hurt her friend and escaped in a single piece. Shyme seated firmly on her warpath with Orwell Mehest right on top of her hit-list.

Hence, Shyme fought her way past an army of undead, constructs and abominations Orwell deployed across the Earth-quarter to reach her mansion and her entire arsenal of magical tools. Hours for future consideration vanished the moment Cytortia’s life was in danger. The divine fox-girl hurled a burning Amalgam War-machine into a pack of hunting hounds made of Spiritium, sank every flying unit Orwell deployed, and fought past enough Skeleton to build a mountain. Her designer clothes were dirty, ragged from her battle across the urban war-zone.

But to her shock, her house was pristine.

Charon Sol — her brainwash maid — greeted her with a smile.

“Welcome home, Mistress,” Charon bowed. “You look exhausted. Do you need the change of cloth?”

Shyme could never get used to an accommodating Chuang Tianshang.

“Yes, why is the house not burning,” Shyme cried.

Charon blinked.

“I don’t exactly remember, Mistress, but I believe a certain mage arrived to defend the house. She burns the invaders down and left.”

Shyme blinked.

“What?”

That was the moment Waiter arrived.

“Lady Shyme!” Waiter huffed. “What a relief to see you safe and sound.”

“Lancaster,” Shyme asked her Waiter. “What the hell is going on?”

Lancaster sighed.

“To sum its short, I believe our friend gave Chuang Tianshang more than a mind-wipe. They gave her something ridiculous.”

…

Melody was inside a pitch-dark corridor. She slashed her finger before the void, creating a gate of fire in the bleak blackness. Melody Solarmaria walked past the door of majestic flames and into another world she was so familiar with.

The town of Millian was in flames. Her childhood home was aflame, washed in the smell of soot and arid inferno.

“This aesthetic sucks.”

“Dragons are not famous for pretty buildings or majestic architecture,” said a familiar woman. “Deal with it, Melody Solarmaria.”

“You are my Legend,” Melody turned toward the woman she was expecting to see. “From Luxinna's account, you choose the form of the significant event in our life. I can’t remember my father and I had a decent childhood — that left my mother as the only form you can take.”

The visage of Ebony Solarmaria clapped.

“That is my girl. Smart. But sadly, as your friend Rem can attest, intelligence isn’t an indicator of wisdom. I mean, you only reach this local thank to your bro Hikma.”

“To the business,” Melody sternly brought forth the issue. “My trail. That is the reason you cut my access to the Multiverse Consciousness.”

False Ebony shrugged.

“Yep, guilty as charge. But in fairness, your mind will collapse if you access the Astral Realm at your mental capacity. You don’t have the WIS of your friends to navigate the memories. Worst, your affinity is far too difficult to handle compare to that elves’ lightning. The lore of dragon — of our royal-blood — isn't for the faint of heart.”

Melody cut to the chase.

“But it can give me a boost, right?”

“Totally,” Ebony clapped. “With that perception you receive through this trail, you might finally get rid of Ma’s Skill-blocker.”

Melody recalled the tattoo on her back and growled. Her mother ultimate technique was a sore spot for her.

“You mean [Anima Enchanting] is on the table.”

“Who knows?” Ebony grinned. “But we both know you won’t back down. Not after getting your ass kick by Mr. Broken. Your draconic spirit loathes defeat. We thirst for victory. You will not rest until you crush that humiliation.”

“Come.”

“Very well,” Ebony transformed into a wall of flames. “Bare it well, Solarmaria.”

The flames engulfed her.

…

Melody Solarmaria floated in the ashen void. The grey ashes surrounding her alighted with million sparks. She witnessed the various sizes of glowing embers shone like kindle of hope in that grey space.

Behold, our histories, each kindle of fires represent our past, present and futures. From the lowest worm to the king of the sky, the dragon’s blood remembers it all. Now, choose which branches in our grand heritage will you climb. Pick well, Melody Solarmaria. This choice decides your destiny. You must navigate through the trap and lies and learn the lesson of the World.

Melody floated in that space. She gazed into the flames. In that glow of sparks, she witnessed a behemoth rising out of the ocean. She glimpsed the unrivaled king of the sky, whose speed surpassed the sound barrier. In one spark, a massive winged serpentine emerged from the depth of a planet’s molten core and roared, shattering the landscape.

By witnessing these grand images first hand, Melody understood how badly she underestimated her True Magic. Never once did she ask what type of dragon she was transforming into. The term dragon covered so many myths, species and genome that grouping them in a generic subcategory was a display of unbelievable ignorance.

“This isn’t a test I can fail, is it?” Melody asked

Bingo. No matter what happens, you will walk away with something, but your draconic pride won’t bear with regret. This might not be the test you fail, but it is the one you can regret. Regret is a worst blemish compares to a measly failure for us who stand at the apex.

Melody looked among the floating embers. The Melody few months ago would already elected the most powerful dragon of the bunch, but the current Melody was sharper. That response was too obvious. It was a trap weaved for the restless Princess’ lust for power. However, this Melody learned the virtue of patience.

She couldn’t fail this test, but that meant that the World was confident in stifling the result. From what she gathered, the lesson of the World focused around humility and self-growth. Satiating lust for power was the last objective of this test.

“It is a trick,” Melody stated her guess. “You said branches. This means the dragon’s species exists as a family tree. The question isn’t which species I pick, but the genome — my evolution path. These selections are a smoke-trick. The more powerful the dragon shown in the ember, the weaker its potential growth.”

Melody delivered the truth.

“The lesson you want to teach is to never judge the object by its current value, but in what it can be.”

Silence…

All accomplishment is a fruit of failures. Communities built metropolis on flat earth. Dragon ruling the sky was once an egg. Those who only see the surface and mock weakness should wield only surface shallow power. Only through growth an effort can one wisely use an awe-inspiring might. You have grasped the simple test of vision, but what do you plan to do with it.

Melody reached out with her mind and searched through all the embers.

She needed o go beyond her predecessor. If she were to triumph in her rematch with Wayward, she must set her goal higher than the throne of Demonic Continent. She needed to aim higher than the sky and mastered the heritage her mother left behind.

Melody filtered out every option, leaving her only one choice. Flames around her extinguished, leaving only one plume of glowing ember behind.

My lord. Among all our heritage you pick that, do you? Do you realize how arduous it is to grow that baby to adulthood and attain atavism?

“I understand the price is steep,” Melody replied. “The climb must be immense, but I am certain I won’t regret this.”

Spoken like a true Dragon. Very well. You pass Melody Solarmaria.

The glowing ember in Melody’s palm transformed into a black dragon the size of a poodle. Its scales were blacker than night with a speck of white, as if the very cosmos clocked the dragon. The dragon breathed an azure glowed of raw plasma.

...

Melody woke up from her meditation in her [Dragon Manifestation]. The illusory scale around her body faded, replaced with armor of black scale. Her eyes changed color from golden to fiery orange. Two black-wings spanned from her back and bladed tail materialized in a glowed of flames. Melody’s demon horn fused and shifted into a crown of bones. It was a final merging of True Magic with Melody.

Her [Heavenly Eyes] gazed at the World’s Mana. Her Dragon's blood allowed her to comprehend the world like ever before. She immersed herself, absorbing the aspect of that unknown world to her soul and submerged her mind to the movement of light spectrum, Mana, and atomic makeup of materials — committing them to her heart. After a full hour of intense submersion, the demoness reached for the wiry armband she had with her ever since she learned how to forge and ripped off the Skill-blocker Ebony put on her. The time had arrived to claim her birthright.

She focused herself on that light-spectrum. Her mother blocked her ability to master [Enchanting] or [Advance Enchanting] for one reason. It will slow down her ability to learn Ebony Solarmaria’s signature technique and Magnum opus — [Anima-Enchanting]. The special enchanting technique invented by Ebony, earning her the title of Duchess of the Craft.

Enchanting requires knowledge of spells, sigils and raw material, but [Anima Enchanting] takes the comprehension of soul. You need to interact with the material Mana to the point you can recall its internal signature and composition to augment them with your own. To master my theory, I have to train alone in the wild for years for a result to bear fruit. But I believe that your [Heavenly Eyes] will be big enough of a catalyst. Until your eyes reached the level where it comprehend those ‘souls’ of enchanting, do not take this Skill-blocker off and learn [Enchanting]. That skill will only tempt you to use it as a crutch to stifle your learning.

That was what her mother said when she forbade Melody from learning [Enchanting]. From that day forward, Melody Solarmaria made enchanted weapon by hand. She painstakingly carved each enchantment line when normal forger used Mana to draw the line for them. Her struggle of the last decade — the sweat, toils, blisters and enormous self-control — they all paid off at this last moment.

In that form of humanoid dragon, the second Duchess of the Craft emerged. From that moment, none in her generation had qualifications to match her in crafting. Even ancient monsters in the craft needed to give her the same respect they gave her mother.

Melody flipped back to her base-form. Her scale, wing and tail vanished, shifting Melody back into a demoness.

…

Melody Solarmaria

Star Forger

Str: 1520 [A]

End: 1700 [A]

Mag: 850 [B]

Wis: 200 [D]

Dex: 420 [C]

Skill

Active

Void Surfer Manifestation [A]

Radioactive Fire [B]

Heavenly Eye [A]

Forging [A]

Passive

Draconic Essence [B]

Martial Art [A]

Anima Enchanting [D]

…

Melody’s skill underwent a change. Aside from minor stat increase, [Material Sensory] was no longer necessary for those who attained an instinctive understanding of materials’ soul. But most of her change stemmed from her new ancestry with Void Surfer Dragon.

Void Surfer was a rarely seen a dragon in the Multiverse — attribute to its habitat being the void of outer space. From all the history of dragons, Melody picked a space faring species infamous for their aloofness, mystery and illusiveness. Her self-healing [Regeneration] passive and active Mana refilling [Recovery] merged into [Draconic Essence], granting her even greater regenerative power, physical and magical resistance. Her flames transformed into a radioactive plasma found at the heart of stars.

It was the largest increase in power of the last four hours of training.