Teachings of a Dragon [2]

Friday had arrived, and we were currently sitting in our homeroom waiting for our teacher.

Yesterday, after practicing with the principal, had gone by like the rest of my weeknights with no difference. Instead of meditating after practicing my [Lightning Step] in the time capsule, I had been doing some combat against Sir. Blockalot in the gorilla's training room. The reason being, it felt like a waste after six hours of mana honing to continue meditating.

This week had passed quickly for me, with me fully focused on getting stronger as fast as possible. Now, taking a look in the classroom, I noticed a difference. It seemed like my classmates weren't as cautious of me as before, with only Bayyan sending out negative signals toward me, in the form of a glare as he entered the room.

Other than that, nothing. Suzuka, Akane, and Arthur had all stopped minding my presence, with Akane even greeting me one time. Maybe I had gotten stuck in the past a bit, but I had been certain that I would be having to deal with classmates finding me disgusting for being weak, but I had been wrong.

Maybe it was because of a change of personality, or the fact that no one seemed to mind my eyes anymore, but after the fusion of my souls, people didn't have the same reaction to me anymore. That is not to say they seemed to respect me, they most likely saw me as useless anyway.

This hadn't stopped in the classroom, as most students around me didn't look at me like they did other students. There was no mutual respect, nor was there disdain, only indifference with the occasional girl that thought I was cute. Unfortunately in the same way Sarah did, with not an ounce of romantic interest.

Our teacher entered and walked to his podium with confidence, and started the lesson.

"Good morning! This has been your first week of lessons, and I hope you all have already started to take things seriously."

Continuing, he pulled up a small presentation on the digital whiteboard behind him.

"Just to make sure you all aren't taking things for granted and slacking off, I have prepared an artificial dungeon excursion next Friday. By using our man-made dungeon at the academy, you will have to fight and survive in the F-rank part of it. This also means that your lessons for the day will be canceled."

Some small whispers started to go around the room, as everyone was surprised at the announcement.

"Sir?"

A nervous hand was raised, with Akane having a question.

"Yes?"

"Isn't it a policy to not enter any dungeons before the rankings? We haven't even seen each other in combat before?"

Mike's expression sharpened, not pleased with the complaint.

"Policies are idiotic. Don't rely on hearsay about what sequence of events will occur in the academy, it will get you killed before you know it."

Taking two steps two get in front of the podium, he started to spread a subtle pressure in the room.

"There will be no more complaints or questions regarding the validity of the dive. Also, I have already made the parties that you will do it with."

Suddenly, the screen showing the map and general info of the academy dungeon changed. Instead, a list showing the three different parties we would be making showed up.

==========

Party 1:

James, Arthur, and Suzuka

Party 2:

Lindsey, Akane, and Brad

Party 3:

Bayyan, Sarah and Miren

==========

'Is this for real, am I really going to have to party with the only one who hates my guts?'

It was not only me who was dejected, as another hand was raised.

"Yes?"

Bayyan stood up, talking aloud as if to make sure he made a mark, "I do not agree with this distribution."

"Hmm, what is it that you disagree with?"

Making sure to glance backward in my direction, he explained, "Even if me and Sarah could probably get by ourselves, it seems a bit unfair that we would have to carry Miren through the dungeon. Even without seeing him in combat, I can only assume that he would have a lot of trouble piercing the skin of even goblins with his stats."

'He sure does hate me, doesn't he? I wonder what I did to make him act like this?'

I had gotten quite angry at his words in the time capsule room before, but after thinking about it, it was quite obvious that he was either just a kid, or he was somehow ingrained with the notion that strength equals status. In both cases, I couldn't care less what he thought, he was just a brat.

"I think you are misunderstanding something."

My teacher started to speak in defense of the groups he had made.

"Even if Miren is physically weak and vulnerable, he holds a different kind of talent than all the rest of you. Now hopefully, you will get to witness it yourself, because I will not be changing the groups. Class dismissed."

Because Mike had ended the class early, we still had some time before Mr. Johnson would arrive, and with that, Bayyan took his chance to walk up to me.

Standing in front of my desk, I suddenly felt incredibly small sitting on my little cushion on the chair. Looking down at me, with his rugged face he started to speak.

"So, your parents have paid off Mike as well, huh? How much did they pay? One million? Two million?"

*Bang!*

Slamming his fists down on the desk, he let out his killing intent, making my body prepare for a fight.

"I don't know what way you blackmailed or bribed your way into the A-class, but after this excursion, you will be exposed."

Turning his back on me, he walked back to Arthur and sat down.

****

"I can't believe he accused you of bribing the principal and Mr. Borr! How could he even start to talk about your pa.."

"Please stop, I'm fine."

With an exasperated Sarah at my side, I was trying to focus on forcing down the nutrients on my tray. Both because I wanted to diffuse the situation to get to enjoy a calm mealtime, but also because I still held enough pride to not need someone to stand up for me, I spoke,

"I'm also an adult, as well as an A-class student. I don't need a woman to stand up for me."

The look on the succubus's face changed, from exasperated to unable to contain her excitement. With her arms, she forced my face into her massive chest.

"Miren! How can you be so, so, so like that!"

'Huh, she didn't say the c-word this time. I guess that's progress.'

Already used to her hugs, even my boyish hormones had stopped having an extreme reaction to her softness. This was not to say that I hadn't also developed the self-control of a monk.

"But Miren, are you sure you don't want me to talk to him? As we attend the same courses I could easily find an opportunity to talk to him."

My shining knight of a friend brought out a pretty reasonable way to dissolve the situation, but it would still deal a blow to my self-respect. Not to mention, I had a feeling that it might even escalate the situation, with him thinking I had somehow used money or connection to get the star kid James to defend me.

I turned my head from facing directly into heaven and told him sternly, as to conclude the conversation, "I don't want you guys to do anything. This is my problem and I will deal with it myself. Even if we are friends, it's annoying that you still look at my stature and think that I'm helpless. I'm not. Now, let me concentrate on this mountain of food so I'm not late for class."

With that, I got released from Sarah's grasp. Both of them looked down in shame, probably embarrassed to admit that they had continued to view me as a kid, disregarding my actual age and position as a student.

****

Me and the principal had arrived at the dojo, and I had already gotten into a position to circulate my mana and keep opening new channels. It was the exact same procedure as before, opening them one at a time, each one corresponding to one revolution of energy.

When the time was up, the old dragon sitting in his comfy chair with a cup of tea told me to stop.

"We will proceed with mana control now, starting from where we left off, but today I want you to try and shape your lightning as well"

A bit confused, I asked, "Shape my lightning? Meaning swords or daggers? Or spears?"

He let out a chuckle and gave me the answer I did not want, "To anything you'd like, or more like, to any shape you feel responds to you and your inner self."

Knowing I wouldn't get more guidance than that, I let my purple orb out of my hand once again. Already having difficulties letting it just float in its natural state, it felt like an impossibility to mold it into something else.

That being said, I still made an attempt. As my first instinct had been a sword, that was the shape I chose to attempt to create. My little sparking friend started to elongate, becoming slightly slimmer and longer, but after just a second of the change, my connection disappeared.

I had already made an assumption as to why this was good practice, it was just an extension of the training I had been doing yesterday, but it was incredibly difficult. It sort of felt like playing two games of chess at the same time, having to not only concentrate on my flow of mana, the connection to my external lightning but also trying to shape it.

'This will take a long time...'