Mia

"The origin of the elements is shrouded in mystery. Some say they were created by the gods, others say they were born from chaos, and others say they have always existed. No one knows for sure, but there are some clues and legends that hint at their origin. One of the most ancient and widely accepted legends is the legend of the Elemental Dragon."

Logan's eyes widened. He had never heard of the Elemental Dragon before, so he didn't know about it. He read on:

"The Elemental Dragon was said to be the first and the greatest of all dragons, the progenitor of all dragon kind. It was said to have existed before the creation of the world and to have witnessed the birth of the elements. It was said to have a body that spanned the sky and the earth and to have scales that shone with all the colors of the rainbow. It was said to have the power to control all the elements, and to create new ones with its breath. It was said to be the guardian of nature and the ruler of magic."

Logan was awed by the description. He imagined what it would be like to see such a magnificent creature and to feel its presence. He read on:

"The legend of the Elemental Dragon is not only a story but also a prophecy. It is said that the Elemental Dragon was once the ruler of the world, no one knows how it met its demise but some believe it still lives till this day, slumbering, waiting for when it shall awaken"

Logan felt a surge of excitement. He wondered if he could be the successor, the one who could awaken the Elemental Dragon.

'Maybe this is the reason that little girl brought me here? To find the elemental dragon!' He wondered if he could find the Elemental Dragon, and perhaps bond with it.

He closed the book and looked around. He realized that he had spent hours reading and that the library was almost empty. He decided to return the book and leave. As he walked towards the librarian, he saw a familiar face.

It was Annabelle, the beautiful blonde girl with crescent moon eyes who had talked to him yesterday. She was holding a book in her hand, and she smiled sweetly when she saw him.

"Hey, Logan. Fancy meeting you here," she said with a warm smile.

"Hi, Annabelle. What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm just looking for some books on light magic. I'm a light mage, you know. What about you? What are you reading?" she asked, pointing at the book in his hand.

"Oh, this? It's just a book about the elements. Nothing special," he said, trying to sound casual.

"Really? Can I see it?" she asked, reaching for the book.

"Maybe another time, I'm almost done you know!" Logan said with an awkward smile on his face.

Annabelle looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Okay, then. Well, it was nice seeing you again. Maybe we can talk more later," she said as she turned around to leave.

"Sure, maybe," he said.

He walked past her and handed the book to the librarian. He thanked him and left the library.

***

On his way to his room, he kept thinking about the book and could not wait till the next day to borrow it again. In the end, he decided to back to the library after he was sure that Anabelle had gone just to stealthily borrow the book.

While he was reading he heard a knock on his door. He quickly closed the book and hid it under his pillow. He opened the door and saw his roommate, Jason, standing there.

"Hey, Logan, are you ready for dinner?" Jason asked.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Just give me a minute," Logan said as he stood up from his bed and stretched as though he was tired. 

"Okay, hurry up. The food here is not that great, but it's better than nothing," Jason said scratching the back of his head.

Logan quickly changed his clothes after Jason has gone out, he wore the faction wear which was a green robe with some yellow stripes at the edges, he straightened his hat to cover his golden hair, after he was done changing his clothes he went out to meet Jason standing by the door and followed him to the cafeteria.

When they reached the cafeteria they joined the other students in the long queue for food.

While he was waiting Logan looked around and saw the different faces and uniforms of the students. The school was divided into ten houses, each representing one of the elements: fire, water, earth, wind, etc. The students wore badges and ties with the colors of their respective houses. Jason and Logan both wore a red badge and tie which belonged to the firehouse. The other houses were water (blue), earth (brown), and wind (green), etc.

The students were also divided into different levels, according to their cultivation level.

Logan and Jason were in the first level, which was for students ranked between the elementary realm and intermediate realm.

The second level was for students ranked between the late stages of the intermediate realm and the advanced realm.

The third level was for students ranked between the late stages of the advanced realm and the master realm, and the last level was for students ranked between the late stages of the master realm and the grandmaster realm.

The levels were indicated by the number of stars on the badges. Logan and Jason had one star each, while the second-level students had two stars, the third-level students had three stars and so on.

Logan and Jason got their food and sat down at a table with some of their classmates, the food looked like a pottage with multiple leaves.

"What the hell is this?" Logan screamed as he spat out the food he had just tasted.

"I thought I told you it wasn't good but quite manageable, everything in it is filled with herbs that air in cultivation." Jason said bursting into laughter.

"Even a dog won't find this food manageable, it's unlike the food at home!"

"Except you want to break into the master realm, you'll have to manage this," Jason said mockingly.

Normally people at the masters realm and above require little to no food as they can absorb the essence of nature, using its energy to fill themselves up and strengthen themselves.

"Dude you know I'm something of a late bloomer! Wait until I start cultivating, hehe, you will not be spared." Logan said, cracking his knuckles.

"Yo bro, look towards your right!" Jason said in a whisper.

Logan immediately turned to his right as he saw a fair lady with blue hair and grey eyes, her skin silky smooth. She was clad in light blue with a two-star badge at the left side of her slightly big chest cough cough…

"Don't look like a creep!"Jason muttered seeing Logan looking straight at her without turning back.

"That's Mia she is in the advanced realm already, you don't want to mess with her because of her monstrous control over the ice element," Jason said in a barely audible voice as he pretended to munch some more food.

"If she's dangerous then why did you tell me to look at her?!"Logan inquired.

"Well, not at her! Look below her pretty face a little. Hehe, she has a c-cu... cough cough" Jason said but as he was about to finish his speech Mia immediately turned to look at them with a creepy smile on her face.

***

A few minutes later

Logan and Jason could be seen cleaning the dishes, with none of them possessing the water element they could only scrub it with their bare hands.

One could not help but wonder why they were doing this but looking at the lady with blue hair and grey eyes standing behind them, the answer seems to be already known.

"Bro! Why do you keep forgetting the enhanced perception and hearing of cultivators!" Logan could not help but be frustrated by Jason's talkativeness.

"Dude don't blame me! We both know that her chest is quite…"

'Cough cough' Jason heard a cough behind him.

'Oh f**k me!!' was what Jason thought as he saw Logan shifting slowly away from him noticing the fuming Mia.

***

Logan heard discussions from the table ahead about an ongoing fight between the ninth and tenth strongest of the second class. It was said that the person ranked tenth had refused to agree that he had lost.

He continued to say that he had been cheated despite them fighting a couple of times and him losing. He couldn't help but find this funny because the guy had obviously lost but was reluctant to agree to losing fair and square.

He hoped to get strength soon, he wondered if it was because he was from another world and that was why he wasn't compatible with the essence of nature, he couldn't help but hope that he could meet the Elemental Dragon, the embodiment of the essence of nature itself and that it could perhaps grant him some ability.

"Hey Jason speaking of which. What's this so-called ranking they are talking about?"