However, just as I am reaching for the gem there is another rumble which makes me freeze. This one lasts even longer than the last one, which has me extremely worried. I hurry up and pick up the gem, then I stand there holding it for a minute to see if anything happens.

When nothing happens I decide to risk it and drop shapeshift before tossing it into my mouth. The gem melts as soon as it enters my mouth and I can feel a surge of heat going throughout my body. It is a very pleasant feeling for me, but others would probably be turned into ashes instantly.

*DING*

Racial Evolution Triggered!

New Race: Magma & Lightning Alpha Beast!

Fire Resist: Ultimate Immunity! All Stats: +50!

That is totally not what I was expecting to happen, but I will definitely take it! I think that this means that my actual race is alpha beast and the fire and lightning are just aspects. When I take a look at myself, my fur has turned red making me look even more like a drake.

Seeing that I use mana to create a mirror so that I can look for any other changes. My muzzle has elongated a bit, it still looks like a cat's, but it is longer like a dragon's. Other than that, I can't see any other changes to my body, but I feel fantastic.

Just as I am about to go back to mining, there is another rumble and it doesn't stop. I start getting worried that the lava tube is going to collapse so I rush back to the main shaft. However, when I get back to the shaft all I see is a wall of white rushing upwards.

It is steam, an absolutely massive amount of steam, and it is moving really fast. I finally understand what the rumbling was, this volcano has become active! The steam must be from the huge lake down below evaporating.

The amount of heat required to evaporate that much water has to be terrifying. I am not worried for myself, no amount of heat can hurt me, but the others are on the island too. Thinking of them, I jump straight out into the steam and let it shoot me high into the sky.

It feels like I am riding a rocket, but it doesn't hurt, if anything the heat feels good. Once the momentum wears off a bit, I spread my wings and glide towards the cave. The steam threw me so high that I don't even have to flap my wings once to get to the cave.

From the air I can tell that the rumble is still going on, all the trees are shaking. It looks like the entire island is moving, I definitely need to get everyone off the island. When I enter the cave Lin, Nala, and Albion are all surrounding the fire where the babies are.

Lin says "Ash! What's going on?!"

"The volcano has gone active."

Lin says "How bad is it?"

"Bad enough that I am going to send all of you back to the ship. Just to be safe."

Lin says "Are you not coming with us?"

"No, I plan to stay here."

Lin says "Alright. Be careful. By the way, you look different, did something happen? Does it have to do with the volcano going active?"

"I found a gem that helped me evolve. Getting the gem may have done something to the volcano, or it could be a coincidence."

Lin says "That would be a huge coincidence, but how could a gem affect the volcano?"

"The only thing I can think of would be if the gem was created to control the volcano. There used to be a small city down at the bottom of the volcano. That isn't the kind of place you would build a city without some assurance that it wouldn't erupt."

Lin says "That makes sense."

With the conversation over at that point, I focus my mind, locate the ship, and open a gate. Lin picks up the babies and heads through with Nala and Albion right behind her. As beasts their instincts are probably screaming at them to flee as fast as they can.

My instincts are completely silent, but a volcano can't really hurt me unless I get hit by a flying rock. Even if I do get hurt, I can just jump in the lava or magma and it will heal me. If I wanted to, I could probably swim down into the planet's core and still be fine.

However, that would probably take quite a lot of time and I don't have time to waste right now. Although, I could probably find all sorts of interesting things in the core. That is something I might do later if I find myself with some time to kill.

For now I close the gate and head back outside to see what is going on. The sky is covered in clouds, probably because of all the steam shooting up and cooling off. It will probably rain for the next few days, but that is only if the volcano doesn't erupt.

If it does, then ash will mix with the clouds and who knows what will happen then. I want to mine more gems while I still can, but when I return to the shaft the steam is still coming. The heat doesn't bother me, but the pressure is something I can't fight against.

Crawling down the side of the shaft with the steam pushing against me would take forever. Just as I am thinking of other options, the steam suddenly stops and things go quiet. After all the noise the sudden silence is pretty creepy, but that doesn't deter me.

As soon as the wind pressure is gone I jump into the shaft and fly straight down. I pass all the lava tubes and continue down until I reach the massive cavern below. Where the massive lake of water used to be is now an ocean of orange, red, and gold.

The island where the ice used to be is gone, there is nothing but lava everywhere. The lava is not still, it is surging and bubbling, but there is also some strange movement. There are living things moving around in the lava, they look a lot like giant eels.

When I fly down to take a closer look, one of them surfaces and then spits lava at me. Of course, it doesn't hurt me at all, but it gives me the chance to drop down and grab the eel. When I pull it out of the lava I find that it is about twenty feet long, but very thin.

Holding it by the back of its neck the eel is unable to do anything to me. Other than biting or spitting lava it doesn't seem to have any way to attack me. Since I am feeling a little hungry, I rip the eel's head off and start eating the rest.

1 Rank 5 Lava Eel defeated! 50,000 Exp gained!

Not only is the eel delicious, but it is also good exp, so I decide to hunt some more. All I have to do is fly around close to the lava and the eels come up to attack me. After eating two more I feel full, but I hunt a few more to put into my pouch.

6 Rank 5 Laval Eels defeated! 300,000 Exp gained!