That eyeball rotated once, then locked directly onto Sterling and shot out a brilliant purple-red beam of light.
Seeing that Maleficent didn't intervene to stop it, Sterling allowed the mysterious beam to scan him thoroughly from head to toe. After the light extinguished completely, the eyeball sank back into the cover, and only then did the book open from its centre.
"Excellent. Your Heart of the Hero hasn't fully formed yet. Otherwise, I would have been completely powerless to help you."
She handed the ancient book to Sterling. When he accepted it and peered inside, he discovered a pool of pitch-black blood covering the pages.
The blood pulsed with a rhythmic, hypnotic beat. Sterling stared into its dark surface and seemed to glimpse a vivid vision. He saw himself standing triumphantly on a high stage, surrounded by fairy tale books stacked like towering mountains, with fans of every skin colour below celebrating as "Andersen's" books topped worldwide sales charts...
Sterling gazed at this enticing scene in complete fascination, his head lowering further as the pulsing blood rose higher, about to slip past his lips and into his mouth.
SNAP! The book fell heavily to the ground and slammed shut.
Sterling looked absolutely terrified. If he hadn't noticed something was fundamentally wrong and snapped out of the trance, that unknown substance would have touched his lips with unknown consequences.
As for what had revealed the deception... there were no magical world people present.
The cheering crowd below contained exclusively Muggles. Not a single person from the magical world appeared anywhere. This wasn't what Sterling truly wanted for his future.
He wanted to defeat Muggle world fairy tale writers with his own talent, surpass Beedle the Bard's collection through superior storytelling, and reign supreme in both worlds. No, if possible, he wanted to dominate the dream world as well, conquering all of them...
"...That was essentially cheating," Maleficent said with obvious helplessness, summoning thorns to lift the book from the ground and carefully dusting off the side that had touched the floor.
"The learning method for Mourning the Demon Dragon follows the most traditional approach. When your will is properly prepared and you possess this inheritance, you can master it. So unlike the Heart of the Hero, there's no written explanation or theory, just the most direct tempering of one's will through trials."
"Just now... you were supposed to resist the overwhelming temptation of greed, but instead you discovered the deliberate anomaly in the illusion... This might indicate exceptional natural talent in illusion magic, but regardless of whether it constituted cheating, you passed the first trial of inheritance and are qualified to learn this magic."
With Maleficent's confirmation, the eye on the cover surfaced again, projecting a detailed dragon head pattern onto Sterling's right hand. The pattern flashed once brilliantly on his skin before hiding beneath the surface.
"Will this override my Heart of the Hero abilities?"
"More precisely, it will completely 'devour' them. These two magical systems, Heart of the Hero and Mourning the Demon Dragon, cannot coexist within the same person. If you had already mastered the Heart of the Hero, Mourning the Demon Dragon wouldn't acknowledge you as worthy. Similarly, once you learn Mourning the Demon Dragon, even a self-awakened Heart of the Hero will fall permanently silent."
Maleficent extended her pale hand, and a cluster of purple-red flame rose from her slender, jade-like fingers. This flame was completely different from the life magic flame Sterling had learnt. Simply looking at it filled one with tremendous, primal fear.
"Mourning the Demon Dragon... You might assume this is the magic I use to transform into a dragon... It is and it isn't. The Heart of the Hero doesn't create a true hero, and naturally, Mourning the Demon Dragon doesn't create a genuine dragon."
"Dragons are greedy, dragons are selfish, dragons are magical creatures beyond normal human understanding. Mourning the terror of demon dragons, ancient archmages created this magic to gain power that even demon dragons would fear."
"It can extract raw power directly from your desires. Greed, sloth, envy... all can serve as its fuel, and its primary function is to develop everything about you toward the draconic."
"I call this process the Draconic Phenomenon."
Her fingernail ignited with a life magic flame, then a touch of purple-red appeared in the flame's core, instantly transforming it into the fearsome fire that had frightened Sterling moments before.
Sterling understood immediately. This was like an infectious magical virus that would transform normal magic into something leaning toward darkness and power.
"So Maleficent, your ability to transform into a dragon... was that also obtained after ordinary magic underwent this draconification process?"
"Exactly correct. Let me think... That magic is quite ancient, something I learnt long ago. By now it's become no different from my natural instincts... I believe it was called... Animagus?"
"Animagus?" Sterling was genuinely shocked.
After witnessing the stark differences between the dream world and the waking world Transfiguration, he hadn't yet sought out Vivian, planning to first gather more comprehensive library knowledge about Transfiguration theory. During this research, he had naturally learnt about this particular magic.
The crown jewel of Transfiguration: Animagus.
Its effect was to transform a person completely into an animal, a transformation so perfect that even those with the most powerful magical knowledge could hardly detect the deception.
Sterling had initially thought this magic's practical effects weren't particularly impressive. The preparation was extremely troublesome, and the result... becoming a small animal made one significantly weaker, didn't it?
But later he discovered the magic's true purpose was to familiarise the learner with complete self-transformation. People with such experience would naturally understand the most profound knowledge of Transfiguration, which is why it was called the "crown jewel".
Wearing the crown meant gaining the qualification to challenge the absolute peak of Transfiguration mastery.
Now, Maleficent claimed she had learnt Animagus... This revelation exposed a huge underlying issue.
Transfiguration in the waking world and dream world seemed to share the exact same fundamental origin.
Too bizarre. These two worlds appeared full of similarities at first glance, but closer inspection revealed numerous crucial differences. Potions were seemingly completely different, Transfiguration roughly the same, and other magical branches hadn't been specifically compared yet.
However, from the few spells he'd practised during summer break, they seemed similar yet distinctly different. Both required the wizard's will to actively participate, but the waking world demanded unchanging incantation pronunciation and precise wand movements, while the dream world only needed a focused thought once the magic was properly learnt.
But one thing was absolutely certain: these two worlds didn't exist independently of each other. There must be deep connections between them... That knowledge was sufficient for now.
Sterling would have a very long time to explore these fascinating secrets.
"So once I learn Animagus, I can also transform into a giant dragon like you?"
"Of course. Animagus and flame magic are the most suitable magical foundations for transformation by Mourning the Demon Dragon," Maleficent nodded with certainty.
That statement was more than enough. Sterling decided to become Professor McGonagall's most obedient and dedicated student.
That was a dragon! Standing tall enough to trample mountains underfoot, spreading wings wide enough to block forest sunlight completely, existing unrestrained in countless minstrels' epic verses!
No one could refuse such magnificent temptation. Absolutely no one.
"Then let's begin learning immediately!" Sterling urged with obvious excitement.
Learning Animagus from Professor McGonagall in the waking world, learning Mourning the Demon Dragon from Lady Maleficent in the dream world. Dragon transformation was finally within reach!
"Don't rush ahead so quickly. Mourning the Demon Dragon will also significantly affect your personality. Let me explain this clearly first. If you can't accept these changes, I'll remove the inheritance mark and have Vivian find another solution."
Maleficent stopped Sterling, who was about to open the book immediately and begin studying.
"Greed. You'll develop an incomparable desire for whatever you currently love most. This desire generally won't affect your normal judgement, but correspondingly, if this greed remains unsatisfied for extended periods... your spirit will completely undergo draconification."
"The demon dragon Fafnir that Siegfried eventually killed was the original creator who developed Mourning the Demon Dragon."
Maleficent gazed intently at Sterling. After careful consideration, he nodded with determination.
"I don't reject controllable greed... Besides, I'm already a naturally greedy person."
"My greed is probably centred on experiencing stories. In that case, if I never encounter interesting stories again, becoming a story myself wouldn't be such a terrible result."
In Maleficent's enhanced perception, Sterling seemed to sprout snow-white dragon horns from his temples.
She smiled with complete satisfaction.
Mourning the Demon Dragon. He had successfully passed the initiation trial.