Dead?

Instead of burning the skin clean off of his hand, something completely unexpected happened. Zac felt what seemed like an electric current run from his palm all the way to the Mana Core in his chest.

Again, Zac instinctively knew what he had to do next, and he focused on his Mana Core..

As soon as he did, the Mana Core turned a dull red, and sent strands of mana all throughout Zac's body.

As the mana spread, Zac felt as though he was ripped apart from the inside.

Meanwhile, the Magma Newt's broad, flat head slammed into Zac's torso, and snapped shut. Luckily, it failed to close on his body, and instead knocked him flying through the air.

As Zac was sent rolling through the air, the mana that had spread through his body was rewriting his genes completely.

Zac's skin changed from its pasty pale color to a dull red, covered in the same glowing red cracks as the Magma Newt. He felt extremely hot, but not uncomfortable, and wisps of steam escaped from his mouth as he breathed.

His hands became larger, webbing forming between his dark red, clawed fingers. His feet also grew, bursting through his shoes, appearing more like a pair of flippers than human feet.

From the back of his head, all the way along his back, a long fin burst out from his skin, ripping through his bright yellow shirt, forming a long dorsal fin.

His bright red pants had a whole ripped through them, as a flat tail grew rapidly, covered in the same dark red, moist skin that was now all over his body.

Zac's eyes changed from their vibrant green to the same dark color as the newt's.

As this change was happening, Zac was tumbling through the air, screaming at the top of his lungs, as his Mana Core changed the very genetic structure of his body, his bones cracking as his limbs grew thicker, his muscles and organs changing as they rearranged themselves.

The transformation finished as Zac was about to land, and he sighed, still confused and disoriented.

He opened his eyes, which had been shut tight in response to the pain, and found himself staring right at a pool of magma.

"Aagg- Zac started to scream, but the sound was cut short as he splashed into the magma.

Even until now, Zac hadn't fully realized the extent of what the mana had done to his body, only registering the extreme pain that he had felt.

'So, this is how it ends. Right after I get a Mana Core, I get knocked into a pool of magma by a stupid newt.:' Zac thought to himself, as he drifted down through the magma.

Accepting his fate, Zac completely relaxed, and so he continued to float inside the magma, he felt comfortably warm, as if he were wrapped in a wool blanket on a cold evening.

'Hold on, I don't feel much different, what the hell kind of afterlife is this?' Zac opened his eyes, filled with confusion. What he saw made no sense at all?

All he could see around him was an almost completely black darkness, looking down, the darkness only grew closer to black.

Zac was deep in thought, when he felt a strange tingling feeling all along the left side of his back. Zac didn't know this yet, but this was him altered body picking up on a set of vibrations.

He turned to the source of the strange feeling, and saw the clear, light colored silhouette of the Magma Newt against the darkness that was the rest of his vision.

Now everything started to fall into place in Zac's mind. His Mana Core had changed his body after he touched the newt, the fact he was still alive, and the strange vision was definitely due to that.

But before he could dwell on this for long, it became clear that the Magma Newt had not given up on having Zac as its lunch, he could see it approaching through the magma and the strange feeling in his skin grew stronger, as the vibrations caused by its swimming reached him.

Zac turned around, and began to swim, initially, he just swam freestyle, but as he moved through the magma, the instincts buried deep within his genes took over, and he swam effortlessly through the magma, his tail and webbed arms and legs working seamlessly together.

Within a few seconds, Zac had burst through the surface of the magma pool, the newt left behind, confused.

Now, as he looked around, Zac realized how much the core had changed him, rather than being able to see the detail and texture of the world around him, he could only see varying shades.

Zac climbed out onto the ground around the magma pool, a slapping noise coming from his feet, which he paid no attention to, still trying to make sense of his new vision.

'Oh! It's all based on how hot things are, the hotter something is, the darker it looks.' Zac realized, seeing that the magma was the darkest thing around, and the forest in the distance was a light gray.

"Ahhgggghhh! Euw, whawut ess that?" Zac yelled, the changes to his body making his words come out slurred and distorted. He had felt something slimy touch his left calf, and he looked between his legs but couldn't see much thanks to the heat sensitive newt eyes.

'Alright, stay calm, Zac. Surely the Mana core can reverse the changes it caused, surely I'll be able to see properly again!' Zac began to breathe heavily, and his panic only grew worse as he felt the steam escaping from his mouth, creating dark clouds as it crossed his vision.