Vesuvius was lying on top of his hoard inside of his private lair. He gave one last look at massive bottles filled with red glowing liquid. Luckily for him, one of his minions was an alchemist, and the most fundamental skill they learned was preserving stuff from spoiling.
Then he finally confirmed the start of his evolution; his body was tense and excited.
//Evolution
Do you wish to start?
//
‘Of course!’
//Evolution options
Effect of blessing activated, all evolution options will be replaced with stronger variants.
The effect of [Last Dragon] is activated, and an additional evolution option will be generated.
….
[Great Volcano Dragon] —> [Greater Volcano Dragon] (Natural Evolution):
Description: The natural evolution of Volcano Dragons that is larger, stronger, more armoured and can produce a larger amount of magma in a short period. A large amount of lava is oozing out of their bodies. Their massive physical strength and bulky armour are extremely deadly in melee brawls, while they also keep deadliness during ranged combat. However, their greater size and much stronger armour make them even slower than their lesser brothers. Turning them into slowly moving tanks of fire and magma.
Primary affinities: Fire, Lava
Secondary affinities: Earth
Tertiary affinities: Wind
[Thermal Volcano Dragon] —> [Hydrothermal Volcano Dragon] (Special Evolution):
Description: The evolution of Volcano Dragons is capable of producing flames and magma with a much higher temperature than other variants of Volcano Dragons of its level, on top of their basic abilities getting stronger. As the next step in their evolution towards harnessing all powers of volcanoes, they gained the power to harness water elements. Giving them a high affinity towards water element together with the ability to breathe under the water. Like their lesser brothers, their whole body is covered in super hot black armour with cracks leaking magma and hot water, causing thick steam to rise from their body, mixing with thick volcanic smoke. They can easily combine both elements to create violent thermal explosions.
Primary affinities: Fire, Lava, Water
Secondary affinities: Earth, Steam
Tertiary affinities: Wind
[Electrical Volcano Dragon] —> [Lightning Volcano Dragon] (Special Evolution):
Description: The evolution of Volcano Dragons that, on top of the standard volcano dragon powers getting stronger, learned how to use ash to create an electrical charge, giving them additional affinity towards lightning and electricity. They look in a similar way to their lesser brothers Volcano Dragons. However, the thick smoke around them is filled with electrical sparks paralysing enemies trying to approach them. Their black volcanic armour is also charged with electricity allowing them to discharge it into a small nova, shocking enemies in a large radius around them or shocking enemies that attack them with melee. Then as advanced evolution, they gained the ability to charge their horns with electricity to release powerful lightning attacks independently from their breath attacks. They can either naturally wait for the electrical charge to build up or use their mana as the fuel to skip cooldown.
Primary affinities: Fire, Lava, Lightning
Secondary affinities: Earth, Electricity
Tertiary affinities: Wind
Bonus option:
[Toxic Volcano Dragon] —> [Chemical Volcano Dragon] (Special Evolution) (System warning: Very Stinky):
Description: Volcano Dragons’ evolution that gained additional powers above the concept of toxic volcanic gases and acid on top of their basic Volcano Dragon abilities getting stronger. They are no longer emitting a thick volcanic smoke out of their bodies but thick clouds of toxic and acidic volcanic gasses that can cause chemical burns and poisoning. They can also boost the explosive power of their breath with methane, which they can also use to create large capsules of methane that they can later detonate, making them strongest when defending small and enclosed spaces.
Primary affinities: Fire, Lava
Secondary affinities: Earth, Acid, Toxin, Wind
//
The higher-tier dragons often gained access to higher-tier elements such as magma, steam, metal, and so on. That made the working of elemental resistances and immunities much more complex. The resistance to one specific element also affected resistance towards the affiliated elements. A good example of that was fire resistance. It had full effects on the fire damage, but it also gave protection towards affiliated elements such as magma or steam but to a lesser extent. The same applied in reverse with magma resistance boosting protection against fire but to a greater extent as it was higher tier. However, its effect on the steam damage was diminished even more than that of fire resistance as it was further on an elemental chart.
Vesuvius quickly started thinking about his options, ‘Greater Volcano Dragon isn’t for me. I will be like a walking target if I get slower. On top of that, I don’t want to actively participate in close combat… only as a last resort.’
He quickly crossed out his first option and looked at the Chemical Volcano Dragon, ‘Honestly, this option isn’t bad, but as it’s hard to build a high enough concentration of toxins and gasses, I would need to fight in enclosed spaces. That would eliminate one of my greatest strengths, the ability to fly.’ Then he frowned, imagining a situation that would likely happen if he chose that.
Imagined scenario:
A player with nametag Johny above his head enters a cave, happy to join a secret organisation.
He sniffs and frowns, “What is this foul smell? Did someone fart?”
A player in a golden dragon mask walks toward him and whispers, “No, that is our master!”
Johny quits the game!
End of scenario!
‘I am a dragon. I can’t smell like a fart… So this one is off the table too.’
Then he looked at the geothermal option thinking about all cons and pros, ‘This one really looks great. Strong boosts to my fire and magma would greatly increase my firepower. Also, a high affinity toward the water would give me immunity against water-based attacks. Then, the ability to breathe under the water would open plenty of new options for me. But, large enough bodies of water to support me would be filled with powerful underwater monsters, so I think I will avoid them for now. Hmmm, a classical combo of opposite elements of water and fire to create strong explosions that sound great. I will keep this on the table, but I will check the last one before making a decision.’
He intently read through the last option that he didn’t check, ‘This one also looks great. I would eliminate one of my greatest weaknesses. My head can be turned only to one side simultaneously, but the ability to disperse electricity around me and launch lightning attacks from my horns would allow me to unleash elemental attacks in all directions. That will increase my firepower and survivability at the same time. Contrary to a geothermal dragon that would only boost my firepower and give me some utilities.’
Then his mouth opened wide in a grin as he remembered one study from the earth. It was about the conductivity of magma. Scientists found out that magma in the earth’s mantle was highly conductive due to its large percentage of carbon impurities. And carbon at large temperatures becomes superconductive, ‘If I could send lightning through my magma as a conduit, that would be a strong combo. I can’t be sure that it will work, but even without that, it is an excellent option. In that case, it is decided.’
Vesuvius confirmed his choice of Lightning Volcano Dragon and closed his eyes.