Upon returning home the whirlpool of lava is still churning but is now belching a cloud of smoke reaching high in the sky but dissipating not long after. Flying towards the smoke I can smell the foul stench of sulfur mixed into the ash and within that is a small bit of the power I've grown familiar with.

Heading towards the center of the caldera I feel the intensity of my surroundings. The place is just as dense as when I left and the lava pool is still in a whirlpool and drinking in energy. Leaving it be I head into my den to sleep and feel the increased pressure of the power in here that hits me once again.

Unlike last time I'm able to stand it and when breathing it in I find it only fuels to heat the burning in my chest.

The next morning when I wake the temperature of the volcano has risen. Not a lot but enough to be noticeable, with it only helping me to want to go back to sleep. Pushing though I make my way outside and the heat rises to a more extreme level. The whirlpool has calmed down now, moving in lazy circles and when I get closer the temperature is only growing higher and higher. When I reach the pool I spot small light red crystals growing along the edge.

Treasure

Forcing myself not to rip them out and hoard them is a herculean effort but for the next several hours I would spend my time just sitting here and waiting them grow. Right now they are only the size of a grain of sand but at the rate they are growing I'm sure they will grow into pebbles within a couple months time!

Rewarding myself for not ripping them out and instead figuring out how long they will grow I decide to reward myself and take a quick dip in the pool. The force of the lava moving makes it so that I only feel safe staying by the shore where I can only stick my lower body in but that is enough and I am soon dozing off.

When I stir it is too another itching session, looking at the source I notice that it is that gunk again forcing its way out from between my plates. Quickly scrubbing and burning it off I start to feel a little better until my plates start to loosen forcing me out of the pool so I can properly shed them.

When they come off I throw them into the pool and make my way over to my den irritated that I am weakened once again so soon! Usually I only shed once every couple of mouths as I grow, but twice so soon! The gunk is new too, Mother never mentioned that I would start gooping all over the place when I got older so I'm fairly sure that this is something that only happens in this strange world.

Settling in for a nap I focus on my breathing to distract me, taking it into my lungs until they cannot hold anymore and holding it, only letting it out once it reached a high enough temp. After a while I'm able to feel minutely the power stored in my lungs reaching the heat in my chest. Focusing on it I notice that the heat is similar to my hearts in that they beat, But the beat is all it's own not following any rhythm that they beat too. It is also similar in that it is connected by veins reaching well into my body flowing like blood.

Following the veins I'm soon stopped as it hits a wall preventing it from going forward and making the energy stagnate and cool. Upset by this I force along more power to increase the pressure and break the clog like the previous ones. Unfortunately it still remains in place without even a budge. starting to get angry now I make the power plough into the blockage like a battering ram slamming into a castle gate making it buckle but not breaking.

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Slamming into it again and I can feel it start to give and hitting for the third time does the trick and like a rushing river the power starts to flow though my back and around my abdomen and slowly make its way back into the heat in my chest.

Curious I explore the ones around my limbs and notice that most of them are blocked but for one vein on each limb is free and flowing back into the heat.

Traveling along each of the open veins and on every path the power is restricted by so many clots that they can only travel back in a slow loop. Trying the battering ram technique on one of the clogs along my right forearm I'm soon though and the power is able to rush faster and stronger though my limb my a small amount.

'If I were to open a couple on each limb I I could increase the efficiency use of each ability along with its strength.'

Before I work on that I channel the power though the opened blockage in my chest. Immediately I feel a roiling in my gut squirming its way out into my chest and out though my plates in a blaze of heat and fire turning myself into a living furnace.

Cutting off the power I'm left exhausted by the amount of energy used in such quick succession and the heat in my chest is left cool. Breathing in power I can feel the heat in the room has risen substantially making the floor beneath me slightly molten and making me sink slowly into it.

Shifting onto one of the walls I lay against it and rest, recovering until I'm nice and hot again.

After a few hours I'm feeling comfortable again and soon I start opening a blockage along each of my limbs and chest. By the end of it I can feel the resistance and on the last blockage along my tail I'm forced to use almost all of my power to crack a small opening waiting for the rush of power to slowly whittle away and erode until it collapses entirely.

Taking a break I decide to head outside and stretch my wings. When I reach sunlight I soon notice the whirlpool has flooded over and the lava has created two channels to flow into the trench filling it entirely with it's molten liquid.

Looking closer I notice that it's swirling in the same direction as the whirlpool and that it's improved the trench a small bit while creating a tunnel to flow under the entrance of my den! Inspired I settle on making a bridge.

At first I'm stumped, until I decide to heat part of the slope until it's malleable carve away a chuck of rock from it. Placing it at the edge I start to heat it up until it melts slightly into the ground beneath it. Repeating the process I'm left with a thin bridge that should make it more appealing for invaders to use instead of using the slope that my den is at.

Thinking about it I should raise part of the caldera slope above my den so that coming down from that angle isn't desirable or possible.

Settling into the idea I spend the next few weeks melting, moving and planting stone creating a mighty cliff that ends with a point and is almost vertical rising to about three times the height of the rest of the slopes. Of course to support this the back of the cliff is much thicker and slightly curvy at the top giving the impression that its an over hang.

Most of the stone that was used came from the pillars where the cliff is now and the other side of the caldera where the bridge is. Now in front of the bridge is a wide opening flacked on both sides with near vertical walls just wide enough to allow three men side by side to step though.

During this time the power surrounding the volcano has been slowly increasing as well as increasing the local temperature in height as well. it's only a couple hills over that the power in the air slowly starts to decrease.

On these hills I've also been noticing the ground becoming craggier and treacherous to the flatfooted. The trees have also started changing as well! Becoming warped with their leaves turning dry and crumply but still helping them as they continue creating more.

Above the volcano is most interesting because there is a perpetual smoke cloud hanging over it swirling in the same direction as the whirlpool where it originates from comes.

Happy with how my new home is coming along I lay comfortably on top of the cliff above my den with my tail wrapped about the base of it, my head resting between my arms and elbow and my wings spread wide and kept aloft by the heat coming from below me.

Never have I been more content.