NOVEL NEXT Chapter 14 - Heart Demons
55th of Season of Fire, 56th year of the 32nd cycle
Common velociraptors, often shortened to simply raptors, were small dinosaurs humans had tamed for hunting and as pets. The real, non-spirit beasts barely reached Newt’s knees. Snout to tail they measured around six feet and rarely weighed more than thirty-five pounds.
The monsters charging towards Newt had nothing to do with reality. They were packed with sinewy muscles, five feet tall, and weighed at least three hundred pounds. Their scales ranged from light brown to dark green, their softer bellies the light-yellow shade of sand, just as Newt remembered them. But his eyes were trained on their thin arms, and claws longer and sharper than daggers.
Newt gaped in a daze, gasping for breath, his heart trying to escape his chest, as the velociraptor swiped its claw towards his neck and face and woke up. He grabbed his jugular and kept feeling it until he confirmed no blood gushed from the lethal wound. The youth was about to speak, when he clenched his mouth shut, strangling the ramification of extended solitude.
Those heart demons are from when I was a child, when father’s hounds rushed in front of me as they headed out to hunt. He blushed recalling his terrified screams and panic at seeing an entire pack of dinosaurs just a bit shorter than him, rushing towards him. When the incident took place, Newt was certain the velociraptors would tear him to shreds, and his terrified tears built the foundations for his poor reputation. In less than a day, everyone in the clan knew he was a coward and a weakling, too dumb to flee from that which scared him.
Newt shook his head, driving away the ugly memory, and focused on what lay ahead. I have at least three heart demons; Uncle, his powers unknown, Borhem wielding a training spear, and the pack of six human-sized velociraptors. I must rid myself of them before I can continue cultivating.
Newt closed his eyes and reentered meditation. He once more found himself in a different region of his realm, close to the border between the fifth and the sixth layer.
No sign of dinosaurs or humans anywhere.
Newt once more considered erecting a Magmin Pine, but again discarded the thought. The disturbance would last at least half an hour, and it was guaranteed to attract attention from all Newt’s heart demons. Instead, he quietly worked on his earth techniques. Turning his body into living granite was certain to defeat both the velociraptors and Borhem, who wielded nothing but a mock spear.
The technique came naturally, a flex of an incorporeal muscle which seemingly transmuted Newt’s entire body save for his eyes. He was about to summon another training dummy when he realized that was how the velociraptors had found him.
My heart demons were omnipresent when they did not have physical bodies, but now that they do, they can’t be everywhere at once. Just like the pterodactylus, they must find me to harm me.
Since that was the case, Newt jumped straight to the second part of his plan. He conjured Magmin Scales atop his granite body, feeling a slight mental strain. It was like the trick his mother had shown him when he was a child, rubbing his tummy while patting his head. Initially, Newt felt clumsy, but within minutes the unease disappeared and he could properly use both techniques.
Now for the last detail.
Newt willed Magmin Flame to cover his Magmin Scales. It felt like running into a tripwire while sprinting. The leap from dividing his focus into three directions rather than two proved too much. Magmin Scales flickered out of existence, and Newt screamed in pain as Magmin’s prophecy came true. In a flash of flames, Newt became a human torch and burned to cinders.
The young man awoke with a scream, patting his arms and torso, no sign of scorching wounds. He took another moment to confirm his flesh was not charred before relaxing and staring at the faint swirls drifting in the pitch darkness.
I need to figure this out. Can I merge Magmin Scales and Magmin Flames into a single skill?
Newt closed his eyes again and appeared a dozen feet away from the volcano’s scorching crater. He looked around, and even though he found no trace of his heart demons, he withdrew to the safety of the Magmin Pines.
The first step of merging the two techniques was obvious, feeding each a half of his fire-attributed spiritual energy. It would weaken both, and offer no protection against enemy flames, but the technique Newt was trying to develop was offensive in nature. He wanted to punch his enemy and burn them at the same time, hoping two types of energy would increase the chance of piercing enemy defenses.
The simple, obvious merger took over a hundred attempts and nearly an hour of Newt’s time, but he completed the technique. Newt hoped that with enough practice he would reduce the amount of mental tasks when trying to set himself ablaze.
“Watch out, Young Master,” a familiar voice shouted, and Newt turned to face it. He watched the training spear approach in slow motion. He jumped left to dodge, but the padded bag followed him and struck him square in the face without error.
Newt smacked his head against the ground and woke up in the dark mine.
“Son-of-a—” he cursed and stopped himself from checking whether the heart demon had broken his nose.
I should’ve just turned myself into granite and shattered the spear. Silently grumbling, he rubbed his nose despite himself, but pointedly did not check whether his hand was bloody.
Again!
Newt opened his eyes in his realm, finding himself even closer to the crater.
“Watch out, Young Master,” the shadow of a servant called Borhem said behind Newt’s back.
For some inexplicable reason, the unprepared youth turned around and saw the bag of padding crawling towards his face.
Oh, for the love of… Newt turned his flesh into granite, the practice spear struck his nose, chipping it, and the young man fell into the pool of lava.
He opened his eyes with a scream.
“This is annoying,” he said after collecting himself, then slapped his mouth shut.
I should get away from the lava as soon as I appear within my realm. Even harmless attacks can be fatal around a giant pool of molten rock.
Newt closed his eyes yet again, ready to follow his own advice, but there was no need. He was nowhere near the flaming pit. Instead, he found himself far from the cover of Magmin Pines, in one of his new, uncultivated layers.
I need to find out what layer I am at now. Unfortunately, Newt still had no way of knowing. People rarely skipped stages of their cultivation and knew when their previous layer had stabilized.
Newt willed a hole to open in the ground, confirming that this distant layer was stable and that he could shape it.
Hours passed as Newt practiced his new hybrid ability, turning the complex process into muscle memory. Once he could use it as easily as breathing, Newt decided it was time to try using it together with his new granite body.
The feeling of doing two unrelated things at the same time was back, the discomfort of multitasking much greater than before, but it was manageable. Newt did not feel like juggling one ball too many, and achieved what he had wanted.
Flames rose from his skin, which remained as tough as rock.
What if I only set my fists ablaze, but shield the rest of my body with Magmin Scales?
Newt’s focus slipped immediately followed by his techniques. Searing granite burned his flesh, but Newt concentrated and managed to salvage the situation and spare himself another awakening.
To protect himself from the scorching granite, Newt summoned Magmin Scales beneath the Granite Crust part of his transformation. There were no open flames, and the layer of granite shielding Newt’s body slowly turned to glowing lava.
Wait! This is even better.
Newt examined his accidental discovery with greater scrutiny. He touched the wall of his burrow and got disappointed when the blazing lava did not stick to the surface. He frowned, but quickly realized what was happening.
This lava is not a physical substance. It’s just an amalgamation of earth and fire aligned spiritual energies. In order to stick lava to my targets, I need to melt physical rock, or conjure it through spiritual energy.
Newt wanted to test his theory immediately, but realized a problem. The environment in his realm obeyed his will, unlike the matter in the real world. Training in his realm would produce no result at best, and might even cripple his progress with the technique in the real world because of all the wrong assumptions he might make.
Newt was in the middle of considering how to use earth-aligned spiritual energy to draw rock when he heard the familiar bark.
The pack of velociraptors was drawing closer, and since the monsters were trained for hunting and tracking, it was almost certain they would find him.
Good, Newt thought. Time to get rid of my first heart demons and increase my hold over my realm.