9 Tourists Should not Feed the Lava Snakes

"YES! After a century, I have finally stepped into the lands of great mages! Nothing on this world can proclaim to be better than me!" Shouted Blake, elated to have something new to play with… er, train next since they arrived.

It should be noted that the "Magic for Beginners" handbook had a recommended reading age of about 10-13. After several months of practice, a youngster could obtain 2-3 basic elemental skills like Blake. To be fair, the scale of manipulation would be tiny in comparison. A teacup's worth of manipulation would have been considered an above average amount of talent for an otherworldly beginner mage. Still, a rock that was a century old having the same accomplishments of a pre-teen probably shouldn't be considered peerless.

Taking stock of their mana after creating the floating steppingstone, Blake could see that there was plenty of room to make more and start moving across. However, it would best to really test the limits of this little experiment. First, Blake continued to create floating stones of the same size until they were out of mana. At the same time, the Advanced Watch Module had two timers set. This would record the amount of time needed to regenerate all the lost mana and how long it would take for the steppingstones to melt back down into lava. Unlike regular lava, which can keep solid crusts atop of it forever due to the lava cooling as it travels, this lake managed to stay liquid for a century. Some sort of phenomena was keeping the rock in the melted form, almost like an oven without a top.

As the hours ticked by, Blake tried out a few more things. One was to drop a ball of magma atop of them. Feeling no pain, the perks that kept them alive didn't rise in level either. This lack of change continued even when completely submerged near the shore. Since normal lava also didn't harm their stony form, something else was keeping this lake alive. Something deeper into the impact zone. Sensing the mystery, Blake started to feel excited. While the rest of the planet was now conquered, there was just one last secret to find.

Thankfully, the experiments had finished. The time to regenerate lost mana was faster than a stone melting back into the sea of red. With this, Blake could start going towards the center without worry. Within the Magic Vision, the dull pulse from before was much stronger closer to the lake. Had Magic Vision not been upgraded over the years, Blake couldn't see the faint wave that the pulse made over the magic particles representing the elements. In the beginning, the replacement for regular sight was closer to a colorblindness test. As it upgraded, the images became more and more clear. Now, the world was in HD but still in red and brown hues with spots of green.

With all foreseeable issues taken care of new steppingstones were made one at a time. As the hours went on, the distance traveled was some of the slowest that Blake had in decades. Creating the next stone in addition to a small break for mana regeneration took sometimes more than 30 minutes. When it grew dark, the light from the sea of lava kept the area almost as bright as early morning. However, Magic Vision didn't really care about that. All that would change would be the flow of fire and wind dots would speed up and slow down during the 24 hour periods.

On the dawn of the next day, a splash could be heard. Not the bubbling of lava belching trapped air. But a distinctive wet slap like a stone falling on soaked sand. Confused, Blake wondered what the sound could have been. They didn't need to wait long though. Soon, a golden red tube moved at the edge of Magic Vision. Not the movement of falling, flowing, or any other natural action. But something that went against the flow. In Blake's eyes, the closer the densely packed elemental cylinder came, the more details could be made out.

From the limited bits that broke the surface, there were definitely scales, fins, and spikes on the object. The gold came from flame elements that had been compacted together that gave off the impression of heated steel fresh from a forge. This allowed more details to be etched into what normally where formless elements. As appendages jutted out from the center mass, they took a duller red whenever they broke the surface. Eventually, the Inspection Module popped out a screen that was wholly new to Blake.

[ Lava Snake (Handsome)]

Species: Fire Elemental

Level: 20

HP: 1,000/1,000

Mana: 500/500

Strength (STR): 30

Intelligence (INT): 9

Wisdom (WIZ): 8

Dexterity (DEX): 23

Constitution (CON): 25

Charisma (CAR): 20

Luck (LUK): 10

Current Perks: Elemental Body, Extreme Heat Resistance (Lv.1), Swift Swim

Skills: Advanced Fire Elemental Manipulation (Lv. 1) (Racial), Bite (Lv. 5), Fireball (Lv. 15)

"A type of elemental, this Lava Snake is an excellent example of the species and is more charismatic than its counterparts. Weak against water-based skills."

The System seemed to be excited to be describing something else other than drab landscape for the first time in a century. Blake, on the other hand, was terrified. A grinding sound could be heard beneath them as they used Telekinesis subconsciously to tremble in fear.

"What is that thing! And why are they so much better than me stats wise? No one has called me handsome before. I can't just sit here. I need to figure out a way to survive!"

Once the decision to live was formed, Focused Mind seemed to take over. All the nervous energy of seeing a real-life monster for the first time became channeled into getting through this situation. Instantly, Blake quickly made three large spheres of lava hoping to chuck them at the creature when it got too close. At the same time, they began to cool one of the balls from the side. This way it would remain partially hidden by the other two balls for a sneak attack should the Lava Snake dodge the first two.

Not entirely confident that throwing glorified rocks would do much, Blake also splashed lava atop the rock they were currently sitting on. Quickly removing the fire element, their tiny stone body was fused to the makeshift platform. Now, it was time to fight. The Lava Snake felt so too as it emerged from the molten lake and spit a Fireball at the black rock.

Using Telekinesis to move the first of the three spheres to block the attack, an explosion rocked beyond it. Compared to what Blake had experienced before, the blast felt more like a hair dryer than an inferno. As the skill was blocked, the two remaining spheres were thrown out. Just as expected, the first one was dodged by the monster, but the second hit after being readjusted. If Blake ever wanted to try becoming a baseball pitcher, becoming a professional would be a piece of cake for them. For the snake however, getting hit with a semisolid boulder right in the face did a considerable amount of damage.

Diving into the crimson waves, Blake could see that the Inspection module was updated in real time. That trick they used did 300 damage to the beast! But now it was beyond hitting with a big bulky attack like that. Before they could solve this issue, the serpent turned around and came right at them directly underneath the platform! Panicking, Blake moved the entire platform away toward their goal just before the headbutt landed.

Bursting forth, the Lava Snake easily was 10 meters (32 feet) long and as thick as a tree. Being this close, the golden details made the scene almost look majestic if it weren't for the deadly circumstances.

"Was I almost charmed by a snake!? You trickster, let me see how you like having some of those fire elements pulled out of your body!"

Using the same trick to create the boulder, a long dark red line appeared on the snake as Blake yanked the elements into their control. A hissing screech came from the Lava Snake as it dashed away from the strange stone that seemed to feel the same as the one in the center of the sea. Breathing a sigh of relief, a rest was required before moving on. There were a lot of things that had been learned from this encounter. Inexperience, lack of attack-based skills, effect of environmental advantages. But the question that needed to be answered bust forth to the front of Blake's mind.

"How in the world does that handsome snake have a level?!"