Chapter 62 - The Special Dragon Transfer Student (2)

[273 Days Remaining]

The next night when I was alone and out practicing half-nakedly, I was attacked by a dark form. My guard was up, however, so I instantly countered the dagger's thrust. I was beginning to tire of these constant assassins, so I did not waste any time in using my greater speed and strength to catch my attacker. Then I proceeded to slam the body of the assassin, pinning the assassin to the ground.

In the darkest and most indifferent voice I could muster, I asked the assassin a question. “Who are you.”

“Bastard,” the female voice spat out.

I recognized the voice. It was the voice of Veena, the fiery red-haired assassin I had faced in the tournament, and the one who had declared vengeance on me.

“Ah, Veena, eh?”

“Bastard,” she repeated again.

I ignored her insult, proceeding to ask Veena another question, a question which her life would depend on.

“Are you with Malice?” I asked, wanting to know if she belonged to the assassin organization that had connections to my human death.

I could tell that the assassin was stumped for a moment, trying to find the words to answer, or not answer, more likely.

“Why should I tell you anything!” she said defiantly.

“Because I will kill you if you do not,” I whispered, my hands still pinning her upper body and neck in a hold. Our faces were close to each other, almost touching, with the position I held her in.

“I suggest you not to spit at me and also stop trying to struggle. Otherwise, it will result in your death, Veena.”

The assassin remained motionless after that, but I could tell from her eyes that there was still fire within them. Even the night could not hide the fight in her golden-violet eyes. Though I must profess I cheated a bit, using my dragon eyes which could see better in the dark.

“You should answer soon, else I will slowly burn you alive.” To show her that I was not joking, I summoned a modicum of fire magic on my hands, which were pinning her to the ground.

Veena yelped a little in pain at the sudden heat, her eyes widening.

“You are a mage?” she half-shouted.

“That is where you are wrong, my dear assassin,” I confessed in a dark voice, growing dragon wings from my back, near my shoulders. Then I grew two dragon horns that jutted out from the sides of my head. Then I grew a dragon tail, with no spikes on it (I found that I could control up to that much during my practices).

I used this tail to tightly bound Veena's legs together to further frighten her. Then I whispered softly, “I am a monster, Veena, the likes of which you have never seen.”

“What are you?” she whispered back bravely, though I could sense the hidden fear in her voice. There was also defiance mixed with the fear.

“I grow tired of this, assassin. Answer me, or I shall kill you in the most painful ways I can imagine. And trust me, you mortal humans cannot even begin to know pain like I do. I suggest you do not lie to me also, for I can easily see through your lies.”

I was being dramatic and was lying through my “dragon-teeth,” but Veena did not necessarily knew that. It was also a little amusing to me to do so. She was most likely thinking that I was a monster out of her deepest nightmares.

Veena tried to take a deep breath, despite my hold on her body. The result was not good, but she spoke anyway. “No, I am not connected with Malice. In fact, I am its enemy. You could even say I am an outlaw assassin, in fact. Is it my turn to ask you questions now, monster?” Veena asked defiantly.

Perhaps I was a little impressed or perhaps seeing that she was going to die, anyway, I gave her a turn to ask me a question. “You may, assassin.”

“What does a monster like you have to do with Malice anyway?”

“I plan to obliterate it,” I said plainly.

At that, I could almost see Veena's mind working furiously, most likely trying to come to terms with my revelation.

“In return for sparing my life,” Veena slowly said, “I shall help you with your...revenge?”

“Why would I need you, anyway?”

Her lips became pursed rebelliously. “I know all of their locations.”

“Then what is to stop me from taking this information out of you, human.”

Her eyes and face hesitated a short second before determination became set in her eyes and face. “Nothing, except my promise that I shall help you.”

“The promises of humans are the stuff of fragility, assassin. I do not trust your word.”

Veena fell silent for a few seconds before finally opening her mouth. “Then let me bind myself to you, monster, though I am unsure whether it will work...”

“We shall see, mortal,” I said, intrigued by her idea.

-------------------

[272 Days Remaining]

The incident with Veena took a while to finish the previous night, but her idea had been satisfactory. The result of it had left her bound to me and her life well preserved. She would, for the moment, stay a distance away from me until I would call upon her.

Thus, it was on a hot afternoon the next day that we finally arrived at Shail Kingdom's Mage Academy. As far as the eyes could see, my eyes to be exact, the academy grounds were extensive. No, just calling it extensive would not do it justice. The scale of the Mage Academy was almost similar to Asolance, which was one of the largest city and home to hundreds of thousands of people.

I remembered hearing and reading much about this Mage Academy in my previous human life. There were about three thousand students attending this institution. There were also supposedly no distinctions made between commoners and nobles alike here. Every student was equal, for they were all mages. Well, novice mages to be exact.

Each of the student's education in the Mage Academy was also free, paid for by the kingdom's treasury, for magic was a precious commodity, mages even more so. In return, however, the students who graduated would serve in the kingdom's military doing all kinds of tasks as needed for three years. After finishing the term, the mage could also choose to continue serving in the military.

Students in the Mage Academy started from as young as age thirteen until they turned twenty-two. In other words, a student would need to attend the academy for nine years before they graduated.

Calina Serle, by the way, was a third year student, as I had found out in some of the conversations I had with her in the past few days.

Currently, Calina and I were standing at the southern quadrant of the Mage Academy, where the administration building was located at. There were others located at the northern, western, and eastern quadrant, as it would consume too much time to serve all three thousand students.

Surrounding us were hundreds of other students, whom I judged mostly to be newcomers, most likely first year students, as they all had looks of nervousness on their faces.

“Hey, you there!” a male voice shouted from behind us.

Calina turned to confront the voice, which seemed to be directed at us. Likewise, I did so too.

The voice, it turned out, belonged to a short, slim male student with an unnatural hair color. His hair was of a fierce pink color and his face looked delicate, almost more feminine than a bonafide female. The pink-haired student wore his hair long, the ends of it tied into a short ponytail, which hanged to the front of his right shoulder.

What was most interesting to me, however, was not the student's appearance. No, what caught my attention was the fact that the male student was riding atop the shoulder of a wooden puppet in the form of a human—except this wooden body was about twenty feet tall.

"Greetings, Calina Serle,” the pink-haired student said politely from above the wooden puppet, which had bent down on both knees. The student then jumped down from the puppet's shoulder and onto its hand, before finally landing on the ground.

“Ah, dog. It is you,” Calina replied in a monotone voice.

“My name is Phan Tsu, not dog! You, Calina Serle, seriously need to have some respect toward your peers.”

Calina turned her head toward me questioningly. “Do you hear some barking, slave?” she asked with just the slightest bit of inflected emotion.

“Seriously, don't just ignore me like that, Calina Serle,” Phan Tsu said in a pitiful voice, letting out a small sniffle.

“Do not address me by my full name, dog. Call me mistress.”

“But...but...Calina.” The pink-haired student's bright blue eyes finally noticed me standing beside Calina. “And who is this beside you, Calina!” Phan Tsu shouted excitedly. I could hear some aggression in his excited voice. Or was it rivalry?

“My slave,” Calina replied shortly.

“Your slave...”

“Yes, my slave, dog. He, by the way, has a higher rank than you.”

“...”

---------------------------------------

After two long hours of waiting in line, our turn finally came, with Phan Tsu glaring from behind me.

The administration desk we were at was manned by a young man in plain glasses, just like his average face.

It took only a few minutes before Calina and Phan Tsu were enrolled as third-year students and their statuses were verified in the academy records. My enrollment, however, took about half an hour or so, mostly due to Calina arguing with the administrator that she wanted my occupation to be changed to that of a slave, instead of a student / bodyguard.

It also seemed that the administration had been informed by Zor Alzeroth of my special circumstances.

The argument between Calina and the young administrator turned coldly heated, before Calina finally gave up.

Then I was asked to touch a glowing globe, from which I could sense magic emanating from. I wondered as to what its purpose was as I had seen other students touching this glowing globe. I placed my right hand on the globe, following the instructions of the administrator.

“Strange,” the young man in plain glasses said, “the globe cannot determine your four common magic affinities. How strange...”

At that point, I began to worry. Did it perhaps have to do with the fact that I am a dragon? I had not known that there was a difference between dragon magic and human magic. Were there even any differences?

“Hmm...I think I shall have to call my superior. I have never seen a case like yours happening. Just wait a brief moment and my superior shall arrive. Every student should have at least one of the four common affinities: Air, Fire, Water, and Earth.”

The young administrator muttered the last sentence under his breath, while Phan Tsu and Calina Serle looked curiously at me.

Well, shit, I thought. I had not expected this.