3 - Magicule exhaustion

Shame she didn't specify how much. As soon as she initiates the sacrifice, the wispy flames snake their way out from the inside of the crystal in front of her, the crystal dissipating without a trace. Swiftly spreading from crystal to crystal in a violent fashion.

In a very short time, at least half of the crystals in the current vicinity were evaporated, some of the flames even spread to the crystal her little lizard friend was eating- the little lizard remained unharmed, without a scratch. Still, it was trembling in fear.

Her little lizard friend instantly warped away to where they came from and scuttled off in terror. Eva felt kind of bad... but she quickly had other issues. Suddenly, she started to feel a sharp jolt of pain.

The instant half the crystals in the area were evaporated, the flame spread to her. It began to viciously tear off her scales, rip them to shreds like a rabid dog. She grunted in pain- something she was not used to... but somehow she held strong.

That's when she realized, 'Wait.... oh- I remember! I got pain resistance... but if it hurts this bad now... how would it have felt if I didn't have that?'

The thought mortified her. She wasn't writhing in agony at the moment, but the pain was not something she could tolerate for much longer. With all of her scales being ripped off, it was akin to a human being stripped of their skin.

Slowly but surely, the scales she once had were replaced by a similarly dark set of scales- but this time they felt very dense. They also had a plethora of colors instead of simple blacks and whites. Instead of being a basic night sky, now she looked like a galaxy.

Observing the changes in her scales she thought, 'This reminds me.... of those crystals? Wait, doesn't that mean my scales were weaker than those crystals?'

While she thought about the durability of her scales, the cavern she was currently in suddenly was filled with a pulse of powerful, dense, magical feeling air. She once again felt the urge to go towards the source. It was as if she was being called for- by something lonely.

Whatever it was though... she didn't want to mess with it- but as a naturally curious person, she could only last so long without checking it out. Setting that aside, She admired her new scales and their awe-inspiring design.

The small interlocking scales, layered over each other. The jet black shade with the starry and colorful strip just made Eva admire her looks a bit. But now that she noticed it... she felt a tinge of hunger. She burned away the crystals mid-meal.

Sighing, she shook her head in disappointment at herself and thought, 'In the end... it seems the usage for this sacrifice skill is overly specific... But what about relativity?'

She was thinking to herself... how was she supposed to use it? She knew what the theory of relativity was. It was a very interesting concept, one of her favorites even. She studied it in depth because of how much it intrigued her.

Deciding she wanted to test it out, she thought to herself, 'Perhaps the skill has to do with that... Hmm.....' and she, full of intent to activate the skill, thought, 'Relativity'

In a flash, she immediately felt very tired. Almost as if she was fully drained of something. She couldn't tell what exactly it was, but it felt like she expended a lot of it just to activate relativity.

What she now noticed, though, was everything seemed to be swirling and shifting around her. It was a very strange sight to behold. Shifting in an almost fourth dimensional fashion- she soon realized this wasn't her ability.

Shortly after she realized that- she passed out. Magicule exhaustion. 

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Her eyes shot open, as she regained consciousness, she could barely think of anything other than the raging hunger she felt. 'How long has it been... how long was I out?'

As her stomach roared in fury, she began to seek out something to eat. All thoughts pushed away, focusing only on finding food. Honing in on one of the crystals, she began savagely ripping chunks out.

So much that it was a mystery how she could fit all of that in her little body. As the hunger subsided, Eva couldn't help but feel a little confused.

She thought to herself, 'I... I used the relativity skill and what? Immediately passed out? Really? What's the point of it then?..... so much for the theory of relativity....'

Her tongue began prying small pieces of the crystals out from between her teeth. It felt annoying how it got caught in her mouth, but she put her main focus on thinking about what exactly happened.

Her skill, she wanted to understand how it worked. Not only did she think this would be important to know, but she was curious too. She was aimlessly wandering the cave. Unknowingly following the powerful, lonely aura to its source.

As she continued closer, she noticed the abundance of these crystals she ate for food. Becoming more conscious of the fact that she was walking towards the source, after seeing the extra food she felt a little better about it.

More food is always good. With that, though, she did notice how there were a lot of flowers... funny looking ones but flowers nonetheless. She ignored them. They had no use to her after all, she probably wasn't even able to eat them either.

But at the current moment, she was walking towards the source of all the energy. After probably a day of just walking, she finally understood why nothing wanted anything to do with being in the vicinity.

As she crept out into the space, resembling that of a hall. She walked towards the end, which had a shimmering see-through wall separating her and... an insurmountable foe.

She felt fear, just from its presence alone. The massive true dragon which loomed above her. Veldora, the Storm Dragon.