“Was that to your liking?” she asked me.

“That was something else,” I answered. “I’ve never experienced anything quite like it. I always knew a dragon’s magic was instinctual, but casting such high level spells was as simple as breathing. It was amazing.”

“Dragons are formidable creatures, certainly. You would like to be a creature who soars above the heavens, clothed in scales, wielding some of the most powerful magic on earth?”

“I’m not ready to give an answer just yet,” I said.

“I can’t sustain the choosing magic for an indefinite amount of time. It will take me months to gather the required energy again. For this reason, I would prefer you to move along quickly.”

“I understand,” I said, “and I’m not going to need you to sustain it indefinitely. In fact, I need just one more try before I make my decision.”

A creature was already filling my imagination. I couldn’t help but think that giving me this experience was a fitting way for Kyrine to repay me for trying to kill me.

“Very well, I’ll allow one additional vision,” Kyrine said. “But no more.”

Chapter 11

My world faded, and I reached toward a deep sea existence. My vision was limited, but that didn’t matter. My surroundings were displayed to me through an enhanced form of touch, granted by small hair-like spines which ran the full length of my hundred foot serpentine body.

I had never seen a Leviathan, the primordial sea serpent who’d supposedly evolved from a humble eel somewhere in the Atlantic. Internet conspiracy theories abounded about the monster and its inception.

The most outlandish theory—and, surprisingly, the least contested one—said that the doomsday cult known as Ascension Gate was involved in the creation of the Leviathan, soon after Gateway Day. Ascension Gate had now dissolved, but at the height of their popularity they had built a city in the middle of the ocean, employing both cutting-edge technology and high level cultivators. The story went that in this underwater city, the expenditure of mana had been unprecedented, and the theory was that this had changed much of the aquatic life nearby, including the being that came to be known as the Leviathan.

I doubted that my being able to experience life through this creature confirmed its existence. Either way, real or make believe, in this pocket dimension created by Kyrine's magic, the Leviathan was a real creature.

My serpent-like tail, larger than an aircraft carrier, undulated in the water. The powerful motion sent me coursing toward my target, a luxury cruise ship, the disturbance of its wake drawing me like a bull to a rag.

As the serpent, I experienced fierce satisfaction as my armored skull smashed into the vessel’s bow like a battering ram, punching a hole in its metal exterior. Water gushed into the newly formed cavity, and I curved around so I was facing the sinking ship.