Chapter 35
I’m not sure if I should be disappointed or not, Levi thought. He looked around a very normal office. Floor-to-ceiling book shelves, a big desk, a few chairs for people left in the waiting room cooling their heels—nothing to say a super-powerful magus was lurking within. He hadn’t even had to teleport to get here, just take a few hallways into the central part of the castle. Granted, seeing the Director floating behind the desk did prove that things were still weird. At least some things still strike me as odd, he thought.
His ruminations were cut short when the Director raised a gloved hand and motioned for him to sit. Levi dropped into one of the leather-bound seats and tried to will himself to relax. He had finally been able to get up without a pain in his side, so Silvia had cleared him to start going back to classes. He had been going crazy trapped in his rooms all the time, even with the company of his friends. He raised a hand to scratch the back of Flix’s scaled head as she peeked at the Director from over his shoulder. Zuzan let out a squeak and curled into a ball on the top of his head, her small paws clinging to his hair. He barely noticed the tugging anymore.
“Levi Walker, you did well on the mission to rescue Princess Veronica Gale,” the Director began in that eerie not-quite-telepathic voice. “However, reports from those who went with you present two very different interpretations of your actions. Members of the Academy have indicated that your control of your powers allowed you to destroy a number of threats that might have caused more serious casualties. They also reported that you repeatedly held your temper, despite instigation from Sir Alfred Chambers. They indicate that it was Princess Veronica Gale who ordered her knights to attack you without provocation.”
Levi shifted in his seat; he couldn’t help the idea that this could go very badly, depending on what the Director was about to say next. Flix trilled and let out a series of chimes until he scratched her head again.
“The imperial knights, strangely, all presented the same story as each other. Their recounting of the journey, which was recited near word for word, gave an account of a young man brimming with rage and bloodlust. Sir Alfred Chambers has claimed you led the group into a kirin ambush, and when you arrived at the crash site you protested attempting to save the injured sailors to the point the discussion nearly came to blows. Further, the Princess Veronica Gale was quite insistent that your crazed behavior forced her to demand her father’s men protect her,” the Director went on in their monotone voice. The lack of emotion or inflection made the accusations even harder for Levi to hear.
“That’s bullshit! I—” Levi started to say, but the Director raised a glove hand to silence him. The aura of power and purpose around the robed being pressed down on him and the leather under him hissed as his weight sunk farther into it.
“Allow me to finish, Levi Walker. As I said, the stories told by the imperials were nearly word-for-word identical, a clear sign their story was the result of practice and memorization. I have no need to rely on their verbal recounting of events that I witnessed for myself—the mission was never far from my awareness,” the strange being stated. “My own interpretation of events is far closer to that of the Academy, with one difference. You were not in solid control of your power. That is to be expected, given how recent your introduction to the magical world is. On more than one occasion you did harm to yourself, and it was only by chance that you survived the last encounter. You killed a Common Horror, something no student on your academic level has done. House mistress Tawny Goldenrod was capable of killing the creature, as was Sir Alfred Chambers, yet neither could do so you and the princess engaged in your scuffle. This is something for you to keep in mind. As a Demon Lord you possess a great well of power, but you are not prepared to use it. If you continue to use your abilities the way you have, you will manage to kill yourself before your enemies can.”
The blunt, emotionless dressing down hit Levi hard and he was left blinking. He took a moment to adjust his glasses as he absorbed the assessment. He couldn’t really fault the Director for their opinion—none of it was wrong.
“What do I do about the princess? She tried to have me killed, and now she’s a student here?” Levi finally asked. He continued to use his finger to rub the base of Flix’s horns, keeping the little dragonet calm.
“You treat her as you would any other student. The same rules apply to Princess Veronica Gale as yourself; you are not allowed to be overly combative in your interactions, and bullying cannot exceed the accepted level of pressure standard between age groups. She has been placed into Crane House and will be learning divine magic. It is unlikely you will be placed in similar classes, and if you are, control yourself,” came the flat reply. “Now, one last thing before you go.”
Levi had just started to rise from his chair when the Director spoke again; he paused in an awkward crouch before dropping back down into the chair. His focus remained locked on the Director.
“Powdered amethyst and sujavo root should be added to your dragon’s meals if you wish her to continue to grow beyond the hatchling state. It would be a shame to stunt such a lovely example of the species.”
Levi’s mouth dropped open and he looked down at Flix; the reptile just trilled at him and half closed her amber eyes. “Dragon…? Not dragonet?” he asked, wanting to be sure he had heard an intentional statement.
“Of course. Dragonets present a singular coloration in their scales. Dragons are a lesser cousin to the great wyrms. They are sentient and go through several life stages, often leaving their hatchlings within dragonet hives so the small beasts will tend their young. Once a dragon has amassed sufficient mana, they progress to their next life stage. Now, you may go.”
Levi wanted to ask more questions, but magic whisked him from the Director’s office to a corridor somewhere in Bear House before he could. He swayed as the disorienting jolt of being moved when he wasn’t ready hit him. Flix protested with an unhappy chime and Zuzan chittered in her sleep before rolling over to curl in the other direction.
Levi lifted Flix off his shoulder and cradled her in his arms. “A dragon, huh? That explains some of your secrets I suppose. We’re going to have to do more research in the library I think.” He scratched under her chin and she let out a soft, rhythmic trilling while she curled into his touch like a satisfied cat. She didn’t seem to be in a hurry to return to his shoulder and he decided to keep her like that as he started to walk toward Potions. He was going to be late for class, but the Director came first.
His cane had shrunk down and been slipped through the top of his satchel—he was glad he hadn’t worn his stasis lantern. He felt more relaxed in his uniform and lighter without the leather coat. Bad dreams about his leather coat trying to smother him had been bothering him since they got back from saving the princess. As he walked down the halls, he felt like things were starting to return to normal.
The sight of Professor Tanglewood with her head down on a book, lightly snoring as students brewed a potion in their cauldron, brought a smile to his face. “Yup, back to normal,” he said quietly to Flix. The dragon snorted, and blue sparks danced along her teeth as she rolled amber eyes at him. Then she climbed onto his shoulder and resumed draping herself across his neck with a tail looped around his bicep. Zuzan let out a soft squeak and climbed down to his shoulder to chitter in his ear. “No, I don’t think she’s irresponsible, I just think she knows things we don’t,” he said to Zuzan with a grin.
The squirrel chirped and squeaked, and all Levi could do was laugh while shaking his head. “We’ll go to lunch soon,” he said, and the squirrel squeaked in satisfaction. Zuzan started to curl back up on his shoulder, and then twisted to stare away from him at the front of the class. There stood two of the imperial knights and Princess Veronica; the young woman was stirring a cauldron that was bubbling with noxious green smoke. Levi sighed and shook his head. “So much for not seeing her often,” he muttered.
He moved to the front and stopped before the professor’s table. She looked comfortable and he didn’t want to disturb her, though he had a question. “Professor Tanglewood, do you have ground amethyst and sujavo root?” he asked. He stepped back in surprise when she sat bolt upright and her ears stood straight up. He thought she was going to scream for a moment, before she coughed while politely covering her mouth.
“Ah, you finally figured it out! Wonderful, yes. I have just what you need, already prepared,” she said—he swore he heard a purr in her voice. When she turned to look over the various bottles resting on the shelves behind her, he noticed a swish to the back of her robes. Questions on whether she had a tail were answered as the black-furred appendage brushed from side to side. “Here it is!” she said happily as she turned back to look at him. She held out a clear glass jar about the size of a soda can. Inside it were flakes of pearl and a purple powder all mixed together. “Now, only add a single spoonful of a number two spoon each morning, alright?”
“You… knew?” he asked. He felt like an idiot, but the fact that she was so casual about it and had the mixture prepared told him she must have. “If you knew Flix was a dragon and not a dragonet, why didn’t you tell me?”
She let out a laugh and clucked her tongue. Professor Tanglewood settled herself back into her seat and grinned at him. “Levi, seriously? I’m a teacher. You and your friend Glint chose to run off into the woods to attempt a rare bonding. What kind of educator would I be if I just gave you the answers when that situation proved poorly conceived? Fortunately, Flix was in no danger, and you were fine. Next time, perhaps consider doing a bit more research first, hmmm?”
“Right, fair point,” he said as he shook his head and looked at the jar in his hand. He raised an eyebrow at her. “I have a feeling there is more to it than that though.”
She let out a surprisingly husky laugh. “Mmm, well, I might have just won the teacher’s betting pool on how long it would take you to figure it out. The library said you were slowly getting closer with the books you were reading.”
Levi stared at the smug smile on her face and shook his head. “You know what, somehow I am not surprised to find out some of the teachers gamble on their students. I always thought teachers were screwing with me on Earth. It’s actually kind of a relief to finally know they were,” he said with a laugh. He couldn’t fault the fact that they expected him to learn from his own decisions. All she did was grin at him. Just like my grandma’s cat after it ate the neighbor’s parrot, he thought.
Once he was seated at his normal spot, he glanced over to find the knights glowering at him. Veronica—because he didn’t feel like thinking of her as a princess—had her back rigid as she stirred her cauldron. He snorted and turned to his book to see if he even had enough time to work on the current potion assignment. When he saw the page held a relatively simple assignment, he got to work. Zuzan as usual proved immensely helpful as she hopped down to mark which step he was on. He made sure to scratch her back while she sniffed at the paper. The iron pot was soon bubbling and producing a violently pink glow. A few ingredients later, the entire thing changed to a neon blue that swirled around him in a diffuse vapor. According to his book, that was normal, so he didn’t worry about it too much. He did lean back and let it steep. Flix chimed several times, watching him. He used a measuring spoon to get out a dose of the powdered mix, adding it to a few chunks of jerky from a pouch. The dragon began to devour the meal eagerly.
Zuzan let out an indignant squeak and he laughed. “Okay, here,” he said. Opening another pouch, he took out a small bag of nuts for her to crawl inside of. The crunching as she nibbled her way through the food seemed remarkably loud to him, but thankfully no one commented on it. Flix produced a rumbling sound he hadn’t heard before, so he glanced at her, worried he had done something wrong. She shook herself all over and a few small scales on her ribs popped off. He saw new scales were already present beneath them, and when he examined the ones that fell off, he noticed tiny scratches. “Hey, Flix, were these damaged in the fight against the kirin?” he asked her.
She let out a chime and her head bobbed in what he took as an agreement. He carefully gathered up the scales and put them into the empty jerky bag. I might be paranoid, but this is a world with actual wizards—no reason to leave her body parts sitting around, he thought. She sniffed the bag several times, and then crawled back up onto his shoulder so she could go back to sleep.
Levi turned his attention back to the brewing potion, and by the end of class he had a crystal bottle full of glowing blue… something. Professor Tanglewood assured him it was a potion that would help him focus on his studies. Apparently, the stuff lasted longer if it was kept in a larger container instead of broken up into smaller portions. He was just glad for his interdimensional satchel as he slid the bottle inside.
“Alright, Zuzan, let’s get some lunch,” he said. The squirrel chirped joyfully as she climbed back to her place on Levi’s shoulder.
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