Vesuvius rested in a massive valley. He felt rumbling under the ground as the magma kept climbing up, slowly transforming the land into a volcanically active area, changing the whole valley into a massive volcano.
‘So they are vampires, no wonder that the kingdom was so aggressive. I am giving my blood, offering immortality. Isn’t it like stealing jobs from vampires?’ Vesuvius grinned with his golden eyes slightly glowing.
The massive black dragon stirred, comfortably lying on the ground that was melting under him, turning into a large lake of lava.
‘Time to evolve another ability. This one is important, very important.’
Ding!
//
Evolution options:
[Domain Manipulating Horns] —> [Domain Controlling Horns] (Natural Evolution):
Description: The higher version of Volcano Controlling Horns evolved to accommodate the dragon domain to a greater degree while preserving all of its old capabilities.
They allow a dragon much easier, faster and more effective manipulation of their domains while also allowing their sub-brain to manage it automatically.
[Mental Relay Volcano Horns] —> [Psychic Relay Volcano Horns] (Special Evolution) :
Description: The better version of Volcano Controlling Horns has evolved to work as arrays for mental powers, such as telepathy or telekinesis, at a large scale while also preserving all of its old capabilities.
[Spell Array Volcano Horns] —> [Spellweaving Volcano Horns] (Special Evolution):
Description: The evolved version of Volcano Controlling Horns evolved to accommodate to work as magical focuses to cast magical attacks with boosted force the same ways as magical staffs of mages. They also managed to preserve all of their old abilities.
The sub-brain connected to the horns can be used to auto-cast fully mastered spells using the horns as the focus.
Bonus option:
[Element Forging Horns] —> [Element Origin Horns] (Special Evolution):
Description: The evolved and improved version of Volcano Controlling Horns that gained the ability to freely transform mana flowing through them into any element that belongs under the dragon’s affinity and control these elements with absolute freedom, rivalling that of a domain.
//
Vesuvius looked at the four options before him; his mind was confused as he felt most of them were excellent and powerful choices.
‘Nah, I can cross the mental array. I don’t have enough time to master my current powers, so I definitely don’t have time to mess with another set of them. It will also not create any powerful synergy or combo.’
The dragon read again through the three remaining options, “The first one is strong, very strong, as it would make it easier to manipulate my domain. But is that really necessary? I feel like I can already control it with minimal effort as long as I don’t want to do anything too hard, like extracting gold from magma. And there is no need to do it in battle. I can do it after when I have enough time.’
Vesuvius didn’t cross it out and continued analyzing the other two options.
‘Hmm, the third option is also powerful. It would be like having legendary rank staffs on my head with autopilot, giving me extreme versatility to cast various spells. There should be a nice collection of spells for me to use. It would be like having a co-pilot casting spells without me needing to care.’
The dragon’s eyes stopped on the last option, his heart conflicted as he felt like it had potential, but at the same time, it felt underwhelming to him.
‘Ahhh, here we go, the last option. It is strong, but is it necessary again? Can’t I just replicate its effects with magic and my domain? Do I really need such power when my domain would make it almost redundant?’
He frowned, his golden eyes slightly glowing.
‘No, that is wrong. I could easly produce any element and then control it with my domain. That would largely cut the deficiency of the domain needing the right environment for the most optimal power. No, it is useless. I can probably do the same with magic, maybe just less effective, but with my absurd amount of mana and its recovery, it is not a problem.’
No matter how much he looked at it, he felt like all of them had something good, hurting his greedy heart as he was forced to make a decision.
‘This is wrong. All of these options feel like something essential. They would all be perfect together as they would perfectly combine. Well, maybe in the next evolution?’
Finally, the dragon’s eyes stopped at one specific option, feeling like it was the most versatile option for him.
‘Yes, magic is most versatile. I should be able to use it and replicate so many powers at a high enough level. Yes, that is a good path. It is good for both defence and offence, even mobility.’
His eyes brightly glowed as he thought about all of its possibilities.
The dragon made his choice and confirmed it.
Immediately a hot feeling spread through his horns as they disintegrated into glittering crystalline dust.
Vesuvius immediately moved winds around him, catching the dust, feeling lit it could have an immense value.𝓞𝑣xt.𝐜𝒪𝐌
New horns started to sprout on his head, quickly growing in size and length. They were made of beautiful red crystal with golden webbing.
They kept quickly growing, becoming longer and longer, even longer than his original horns.
Blue glowing sprouted in them, growing through them like roots in the soil, each and every vein pulsing in slight blue light that refracted in the red crystal.
Ding!
//
Volcano Controlling Horns (LV 13) –> Spellweaving Volcano Horns (LV 13)
//
He moved, turning his neck towards the distant mountains.
The horns in his head glowed brightly, with the mana veins growing through them pulsing in the faint light.
Magical symbols floated above each of his horns, quickly arranging into seven large triple-layered circles above his head, forming a beautiful crown of magic pulsing in orange light.
Mana quickly flowed through the horns, and the most outer part of the circles glowed.
Magma started to form out of thin air in their centres. Then the second layer of the circles pulsed, and the magma quickly started creating massive levitating magma orbs floating above the dragon’s head, each as large as a van.
All of them brightly shone, surrounded by the triple-layered magical circle looking like magic suns in the dragon’s crown, reflecting in the black and gold surface of the dragon’s armored helmet.
Finally, the third layer of the circles pulsed, and magical symbols started to flare up out of thin air, orbiting around the massive spheres of magma.
They were one of the spells he learned a long time ago, but he never found it helpful as he had his breath, which was much more destructive and mana effective as they were complex three-layered spells that needed one extra layer to produce the fire.
‘Now, they will finally be useful if my sub-brain can summon a whole swarm of them without any effort. Also, now with my railguns and horns, they should turn into a powerful secondary weapon against small and fast enough to hit small and fast targets.’
The dragon moved his hand, the seven spheres immediately deforming under the influence of his domain, turning into long lances of magma.
‘Why combine only magic and science when I can combine it also with my body and domain to create even more powerful effects.’
The dragon symbolically moved his hand, all seven massive lances of magma shooting forwards, lightning channels forming around them, throwing blue arcs and sparks around them.
Instantly, the lances of magma accelerated even further, turning into orange blurs.
Loud sonic bangs shook with the entire valley, the lances looking like small orange dots flying towards a nearby peak.
Vesuvius focused his keen golden eyes into the distance, zooming towards the distant peak as the seven missiles closed towards it.
The seven sharp spikes glowing in orange light hit the peak, drilling through the stone with immense speed and heat behind them, the stone cracking and sparks flying everywhere.
Then the orbiting symbols around them triggered and exploded with seven shockwaves shaking the peak and seven flashes of light brightly shining.
Massive cracks spread through the stone, avalanches of boulders falling, crashing the trees in its path with thundering noise.
The clouds of dust rose from the glowing craters in the stone cliff, its whole side collapsing.
The dragon looked at the explosions with a grin, his horns still glowing with the residual mana, ‘They are really like missiles. They combine the best of science, magic and my domain to achieve great effects effectively. This is the proper way. Combining my powers together will reach better results than using them separately.’
The dragon looked at the destruction caused by his improved magma railgun attack but shook his head in the end, ‘It still lacks when compared to my breath, but it is definitely a very versatile and good secondary weapon.’
Vesuvius flapped his wings, the massive mass of black armour and purple magma rising towards the sky, throwing its massive shadow on the ground under him.
His eyes looked towards the large city growing under the volcano in the distance, ‘If I am really going against vampires, then I need to increase the security of my base. I will not be surprised if they try to assassinate my key minions to paralyse my kingdom.’