Dragonlord

Ep 33. You're A What? (3)

In the darkness of the lab, newborn pups powerlessly whimpered in the cold. Their bony mother covered them with what warmth she could offer, sharing what little life she had to her children. Families of all sorts of animals were scattered throughout the lab besides, though there was hardly any noise. A clowder of rats screeched louder and louder, hungry to feast on the next animal corpse that their owner would toss into their cage.

The only noise filling the lab besides them were occasional sounds of laughter.

“This, this is…t, t, this is it…!”

Within the darkness was a single candle that dimly lit the table it was on, and a scrawny man madly running his hand across the wood’s surface. Scattered about the table were series of bottles, vials, and syringes, and the man would soon take one of the needles into his hand.

He then violently grabbed one of the wolf pups, tearing him out of his mother’s embrace. She whimpered in resistance, but amounted to little as the doctor kicked her unconscious.

The syringe in his other hand was then immediately stabbed into the pup’s chest. Once its contents were injected into the animal’s heart, the puppy was tossed away, falling onto the cold floors as he whimpered in pain.

White streaks visibly bloated out of the puppy’s veins as his body began to expand. The small whimpers became lower and lower and pitch. Parts of the pup’s fur began to harden into white scales, eventually covering almost all of his body. A mound of flesh ripped out of his back into a shape of a torn wing, and the head became distorted and lengthened into a reptile’s jaw. A half-scaled tail stretched further and further until it was the same length of the rest of the animal’s body.

Soon, the whimpers had completely drowned out. Replacing the pup’s voice were low growls of a man-sized beast, its blue eyes glowing menacingly in the dark.

✧ ✧ ✧

“…Oh hey, what’s gotten into you? You’re not sleeping for once.”

“My dear brother has informed me that I should be paying attention if I want to pass the upcoming exam for this class.”

Several weeks had passed since Serenis began attending the Magic Institute as a supposed human named Zion. Most of her time here had been spent sleeping, especially during her first week when classes majorly consisted of magic theories and formulations which she couldn’t be bothered to listen to.

However, ever since that blasted advancement exam, her classes had completely changed – for the worse, as far as she was concerned.

If the stories about the deity of mana were true, then not only did she have to feign the identity of a “perfectly human student”, she had to stand out as an exceptional one. And doing so required the dragonlord to ace her exams…or at least not fail them. But that task had been so much easier in her first-year classes.

Serenis was blankly staring towards the front, where an instructor was busily explaining how different racial biologies affected individual mana circulation. She was listening, and somewhat attempting to register what she was hearing – but Light could tell that her friend wasn’t exactly being successful.

“Well, you can’t know everything…though, it’s weird you know so little about mana biology when you’re that good at using magic.”

Throughout their time in lectures together, Light had come to realize a few things about her odd peer. The most obvious was their unquestionable mastery over elemental magic; even in third-year level courses, theories and spell formulations were next to pointless before the genius that could best an archmage in a duel.

On the other hand – and the more shocking realization – was their lack of knowledge in almost everything else. Just the other day, Zion had asked her the name of the country they were living in. Or what the Mage Association did. Or what sort of nut a ‘donut’ was.

This lack of knowledge especially became evident in their mana biology class – mostly because the instructor tended to ask a lot of questions to the students in lecture at random.

Like now.

“So, here’s a question: how are first-generation halves born? Let’s see, how about…Zion? Do you know?”

“? Copulation.”

A number of students looked away in embarrassment, and another few rolled their eyes at the dragonlord’s answer.

At least the s-word wasn’t spoken out loud.

The instructor audibly laughed at the dragonlord’s response. She shook her head, wiping off her joyous tears.

“It’s a common misconception – unfortunately, incorrect. Ms. Torin, being a half yourself, perhaps you know the correct answer? How are first-generation halves born?”

When Serenis turned to face her neighboring peer, she noticed that the half girl’s body was shaking ever so slightly. Even though Light knew the answer, she found her voice stuck in her throat, making it a struggle to speak it out loud.

“Um…mana…evolution.”

The instructor beamed back a pleased smile towards the half girl, nodding her head several times as she turned to the chalkboard.

“That’s correct! Now, everyone pay attention, as this is an important part that will surely be on your exams.”

The instructor turned to her chalkboard, writing the phrase ‘Mana Evolution’ as she began her explanation.

“Mana evolution is a phenomenon that only occurs among animal species that possess a heart. As Ms. Torin has pointed out for us, it’s a form of evolution that’s induced by mana. Now, you might be wondering: if all that’s required is mana and a heart, wouldn’t this phenomenon be sweeping the world? The truth is, it’s not so simple.”

She then proceeded to write three bullet points underneath the phrase: ‘Heart,’ ‘Concentration,’ and ‘Compatibility.’

“Mana evolution requires three distinct conditions to be met by the mana in question. First, the consumed mana must reach the animal’s heart; second, it must be extremely concentrated; and finally, it must match the animal’s affinities and wavelength. The prevalence of this phenomenon is…”

The professor went on to explain additional details of the phenomenon for quite some time, but Serenis’ expression remained quizzical and doubtful.

‘…What in the world even is that?’

Halves, by her definition, were simply those born between two different races. She’d seen enough children between dragons and mankind during her era to know how they were born; she’d thought no different of the various other halves that roamed this human city today, like Karas and Light. To her, an animal ‘evolving’ into a half was unheard of.

Her thoughts remained fixated on questioning the validity of the topic as the lecture went on. In fact, even after the two hours of lecture, she couldn’t get her mind off of the phenomenon – and surprisingly, it seemed like someone else couldn’t get it off their mind either.

Light’s usual chattiness had completely vanished as they exited the lecture hall. They’d usually make their way over to Karas’ office together after a lecture, but today the trip had so far been dead silent. While Serenis was perfectly content with their lack of small talk, the dragonlord couldn’t help but notice the half girl’s trembling ever since answering the instructor in class.

“Child, is everything alright?”

“Huh? What? Who, me? Yeah, I’m okay, why?”

“Look at your arm.”

When Light looked to her own arm holding the bag strap across her shoulder, she finally realized its constant shaking. She tried to consciously stop it, but to no avail.

“Oh, uh…it’s nothing. I’m just a little cold.”

“We’re still indoors. The temperature hasn’t changed in weeks.”

“Uh, maybe I’m getting sick then. Come on, move along! You’re gonna do your research-thing again, right?”

“And you’re going to wait today as well?”

“Yep.”

Aside from the first day of Karas’ research with the dragonlord, Light had spent every single day in the libraries or nearby classrooms, waiting for the professor to accompany her on the way home. The half girl had claimed that she was just studying harder now that she was in her third year, but Serenis still found it odd; it just seemed like the half girl was refusing to head home by herself, even in broad daylight.

The shaking didn’t make it any better. If Light was in fact getting sick, then that should’ve been all the more reason to go home and rest.

‘Odd for a child who was wont to run straight to their nest before. What’s keeping her here?’

Minutes later when Serenis opened the door to Karas’ office, she could see a giant pile of papers on his office desk. His eyes were only half open, and he waved a weak greeting towards his students as they came in.

“Ah…Zion. Light. I appreciate you both coming again, but I’m afraid I’ll be quite occupied today.”

“What is all this?”

“Well, you see…another professor had to call in due to an injury, and I was tasked with marking some of the assignments their class had. I also have my own classes to care after, so they’ve been piling up a bit. Feel free to head home for today. I apologize for wasting your time.”

“Is that so? If you’d like, I can wait.”

“No, that won’t be necessary. It’ll be very late into the evening when I finish, if I even do finish within tonight.”

“Not a problem. I’ll be seeing you, then.”

Serenis closed the door without ever entering. She spared a glance to the half girl at her side, who was shaking a little more noticeably than before. And throughout that entire exchange, Light hadn’t said a single word – when she’d usually speak more than Serenis ever would.

“Child.”

“…Huh? Yeah?”

“If you’re afraid of going alone, would you like me to accompany you home?”

“Afraid? W, what’re you talking about? Why would I be afraid?”

“Then will you go home alone? If you’re ill, you’ll need the rest.”

Light’s gaze fell down to the floor. She had, in fact, been planning to stay however long it took until Karas was done with work. Even though she loathed the thought of having to stay on campus for so long, going home alone hadn’t even been an option she was considering.

But she didn’t want to let on that she was terrified of going home alone for whatever reason. Nobody could ever find out.

“You know, there’s a…small donut shop right next to where I live.”

“…?”

“…Wanna come try some? They’re really good.”

The default answer when offered food had always been an adamant ‘no’ for Serenis.

But on occasion, the dragonlord would make exceptions – usually for reasons that had nothing to do with the food itself. She nodded back to the half girl, not at all concerned about what the menu even was.

“I don’t see why not.”

The half girl’s shaking visibly lessened as her friend agreed to join her on their way home. After all, as far as Light was concerned, her friend was a genius that could apparently best an archmage in a duel; there weren’t many that could guarantee safety better.

Light led the way as they began to head home together in rushed steps. Serenis tried to remain indifferent, but two questions still nagged at her mind – the first being her curiosity as to why the half girl was so against going home alone.

And her second question, was…

‘Again, what kind of nut is a ‘donut’?’