NOVEL WEB Ch.18: Roasted Papers
“Today class you will group up with the intent of figuring out each other’s needs! You have to compile a list of different attributes you see physically on your partner and write about how you believe they handle them! This also includes anything that may display their personality! Afterwards you will discuss your findings to your group and then ask which ones were correct or wrong!” Mr. Minnow said as he drew a picture of four students while the board screamed in pain at the force he was exerting on it. “We will do this again in the future when more students converged and those that have already become monsters learned more about themselves! Now go group up in groups no smaller than four!” he said he sat down to open another book with bees on it.
“Wanna be in a group together? I got lots of cool things!” said Belle as he pumped out his chest like a super hero.
“Sure! I was wondering how you got your super powers.” I said giving him a huge smile. This made Belle give a big toothy grin as he rubbed the back of his head.
“Oh you know, you just get lucky. Get bitten by a radiance cat, become god and live like a normal guy!” he replied like it was just a humble backstory. I couldn’t help but shake my head at his grand backstory, it wouldn’t surprise me of he ended up being a writer or an actor.
While we were joking, Steph and Emily came up to us, Emily hid behind Steph like a scared puppy though.
“Hey guys! I see you’re missing two people so why not make it a quartet.” Steph said as she waved her tail in a w motion at me. That reminds me, I need to ask her what all the tail motions mean.
“Pfft!” Her suggestion seemed to make Emily giggle which made her seem more relaxed.
“Sure I don’t mind. It gives me a chance to learn a few things. I don’t want to leave you hanging if you say something with your tail.” I said with a friendly non-toothy smile. I didn’t want to spook Emily with my sharp teeth.
“Yeah! The more the merrier!” Belle cheered. He already got up and turned his desk to face mine. Everyone else did the same until we all faced each other.
“Before we start. Emily this is Oliver and Oliver this is Emily.” Steph said with an excited voice. I waved at Emily, who gave me a small smile. “She wanted to meet you Oliver, she was super excited about it too. She even asked how you felt about your convergence.” Steph said much to the embarrassment of Emily who waved her hands in shock.
“Steph! You weren’t supposed to say that!” Emily whined. Steph only gave her a face saying, ‘well you did’.
“Oh, my convergence was really confusing for me, especially not knowing what I’d become until it happened. I’m still trying to get a handle on it though.” I answered with a thoughtful look. Emily stopped flailing at Steph and looked super happy to hear my response. Her eyes glowed as if she had stars for pupils.
“I don’t see you writing about your classmates! Get to observing or you’ll write a paper on everyone here!” Mr. Minnow said which made Emily’s head snap to him with a face of pure desire, I think she was even drooling. “Uh, not you Emily, you’ll clean the classroom!” Mr. Minnow said almost panicking at her excitement. This made Emily puff out her cheeks in anger as she turned back to our group.
I decided to start with Emily because I didn’t know her too well and I wondered if I still remembered what it was to be human. Let’s see… she was a rather skinny girl, so either she didn’t eat a lot or her body didn’t hold onto fat. But judging how she wants to do research, I think she just forgets to feed herself maybe. Since she doesn’t look like very muscular either, it’s easier to rule out Emily from being someone athletic. Her clothes are form fitting but also baggy, her pants were bellbottoms that looked like it was made from a soft material. She wore a V-neck that didn’t show anything past her collar bone and a baggy button down flannel that looked more like her dads then her own. She was definitely the comfortable type, probably cared little for fashion? No, maybe she only dressed up for important things?
Next was Steph, the lamia of our class who I’d say is the friendliest girl I’ve met, even going past her fear of my dragon body and my leaking mana… I wonder why she seems more relaxed around me though, maybe there’s some magic involved? Anyway, I’ve noticed that she uses her hips to pull her body along, using the sway of her hips to direct where she goes. She doesn’t follow the same movement like a normal snake, otherwise she would be laying on her belly. I’ve noticed that she uses her tail when talking, the same way people use hand gestures. I guess it’s a new way of talking? She’s wearing a navy blue sweater with a white collar folded over the sweater’s collar and white skirt to match and she’s also humming a… rock, maybe a heavy metal song? I guess personality wise she’s comfortable being herself.
Finally there’s Belle, my first new friend in this class or this world even, I guess you could say I owe the little guy a lot for sticking by me when he could’ve easily hid in the crowd. Even my mind told me I owed him my respect, something about that felt very important for some reason. On to Belle himself, he expresses himself in a playful manner and is really easy to talk to. He’s like a kid brother who’s really excited about the world around him. And he has a white shirt with pink roses print on it and a pair of light red pants. He kinda reminds me of a girl I saw running around my old school in my original world. Something about her made me feel sad for her? Um… Belle’s tail is really fluffy like a fox or one of those big housecats, I think he puts a lot of effort to maintain it. Probably brushing it every day and sleeping with it a certain way?
After we finished writing our observations, Belle went first as he sat straight like he was doing a meeting with everyone here. ”I think everyone here is very cool and super pretty!” Belle said with big starry eyes. “Steph with your shiny scales and glossy skin, I can tell you put a lot of effort into looking your best! Even your makeup is super artistic and I wanna learn your technique!” he said sounding a little bashful. “Oliver tries to hide it but I think he has some good fashion sense, maybe we could pick out a few clothes together! I really want to look cute and beautiful like you!” Belle said while blushing, he was hoping his best friend wouldn’t judge him. I really didn’t care too much, if he wanted to look cute then we shall experiment with increasing it toget- um…yeah I’ll help.
“Emily has a very focused gaze and an adorable pouting face!” Belle said trying to mimic her puffed out cheeks only to look like a hamster that ate too much. “I think I could learn a thing or two from how focused you are, maybe I could become a better student like you are!” he finished. He really only pointed out things that he found interesting, barely anything about our physical traits. Maybe he’s trying to be considerate?
I went next and decided to mention how Steph uses her hips to move her lower half and how I think she has a chill personality. She nodded at my observations but seemed to look off to the side when I mentioned her personality. Then I explained how Emily seems to not care too much about fancy clothes but more for what is comfortable, meaning she had other focuses and didn’t want to be in something restricting. Emily nodded almost agreeing with everything and even took notes of her own as if she hadn’t realized some of it. Finally, for Belle, I explained how he was very excitable and watching his reactions were always fun. Also that he probably puts a lot of effort into brushing his fluffy tail to keep knots out of it. Belle was super happy about my observations that his tail swished back and forth like a wild whip.
“Hmm…I noticed how Belle seems to dance in his seat when he wrote certain things and how he smiles at everyone. He also seems very aware of his actions, I think Belle wants us to like him. Too bad I already like him.” Steph said with smug smile as her tail pointed forward before pulling back for a few times like a bobble head. “Emily seems focused on how quickly she writes then how neatly she does it. Which tells me that she places importance on the info she learns or notices. She dresses in a nice relaxed way that I would personally have trouble moving in.” Steph said seeming to be sad about that aspect of her life. I guess she likes baggy clothes, probably misses pants too.
I looked at my tail, I didn’t feel naked with it being out in the open but if your lower half was all tail, I could definitely feel like I was naked… wait if she’s a snake from the waist down then where was her butt? She never sat down like she had one, she always coiled her body or turned it into a pillow to lay on. I looked at the tip of her tail. She wasn’t waving at people with her butt… right? The thought made me blush.
“I didn’t think my observation on how warm your mana is would make you that yellow.” Steph said with a giggle.
Huh? Oh… “Yeah you got me, I like things being warm like a blanket.” I chuckled as I played off my earlier thoughts. It’s not a butt it’s just a tail- wait but don’t snakes only have one hole! Um…
At that moment Emily organized her papers- uh was that a whole note book of observations!
“Hey Emi, maybe just give us the foot notes of your observations?” Steph suggested to her. Emily seemed to take her opinion with great importance as she pulled out a blank sheet of paper before pulling out a stick with several gems attached to it and pointing it at the pile of papers and then at the blank papers. Wait! This was magic! I watched her super closely trying to learn anything from her actions. She held her wand (?) with her pointer and thumb like a pencil.
“Liquid{TtNL} NL[apap] Knowledge{TtNL} Liquid{NLd} H-&-#########*” Emily spoke like she was saying some type of coding language and seemed to repeat it several times. All while her wand started producing a light and drawing three circles in the air and connecting them together before pulling away her wand. The circle above the pile of papers filled with a blue color before moving along the line to the second circle positioned where Emily’s head was, filling with purple. Then it moved into the last line and circle sitting above the blank paper. It took a few seconds before the paper glowed as the circle filed up with a green color, once it filled completely the paper stopped glowing. It was completely filled with info like Emily wrote it herself, after she finished she circled all three circles before poking it with her wand which absorbed the floating drawings.
Was I going to have to speak this coding language to do magic too? Was there a reason why she sucked in the drawings, did they not disappear when you finished using it? Was it a different reason why she did that?
“Subject, Belle. It appears subject twitches their ears whenever secondary subjects, Steph and Oliver take deep breaths. Upon further observation, both Secondary subjects release small amounts of neutral mana when exhaling and breathe in mana waste. Assumption, Subject has a keen mana sense, possibly due to the fine hairs within the subject’s ears. Subject’s tail seems to constantly emit plasma mana residue, possibly due to subject’s race as a Nya-Jin holding a natural affinity for Plasma based magic. Suggestion, obtain flame or plasma resistant clothing to keep self clothed.” Emily said with an excited smile. She really payed attention to Belle.
“Subject, Stephanie. It appears subject’s scales are becoming denser due to observing the darker yellow scales. Upon further observation, subject’s body is absorbing neutral mana at an accelerated rate. Assumption, subject is reaching sexual maturity and is preparing to molt their first skin in preparation, becoming sexually active. Suggestion, Subject should prepare themselves, using mana rich ointments and find a partner to properly help with urges.” She said, making Steph blush and stare down at her tail.
“Subject, Oliver. It appears subject releases large amounts of mana that are quite dense, possibly due to dragon race. Observation, this mana is similar in complexity to that of a lord but carries an unknown variable within it. Assumption, subject’s race may be that of a lord class dragon. Counter, observer has very little information on dragons as a whole considering their secretive nature. Thus making a proper observation difficult as what is considered on an individual level and as a race average will be difficult to separate. It appears the subject’s mana acts differently around secondary subjects, Belle and Steph. It is unknown if this is a dragon specific trait or unique to the subject. Observation, secondary subjects can move with ease within subject’s mana and show no signs of fear. Assumption, subject’s has some ability to allow certain individuals to act unhindered.” She said looking really excited at me. She wasn’t going to follow me home right? I looked at her, she was drooling again… I think I’ll look out for anything missing at home.
I didn’t get any suggestions from Emily, I guess being a dragon meant she couldn’t really suggest anything. That was a little sad, I was hoping she’d give me some advice but at least I know my mana isn’t hurting my two friends or making them uncomfortable. Now I needed to figure out how my mana is letting them relax in it or to control it.
“Wow! You figured out I can feel mana movement!” Belle said happily.
“well I didn’t know my thinking face was cute.” Emily said blushing.
“I guess my mana feeling warm has something to do with what Emily said,” I said half out loud and half to myself.
“Thanks for catching my coming molting Emi. I wasn’t sure when it’d be coming up but now I know and can prepare for it.” Steph said to Emily while hugging her. Emily seemed to smile bigger at the contact.
After lunch I went to get some training with Jaque where we did more of the same, slashing at his mana barrier for a while before practicing the breathing he taught me for a short while.
“Jaque?” I called him, he opened an eye in response.
“Yes wise Oliver? What knowledge do you seek!” he said with an excited smile.
“Is there a way to control my mana? Maybe stop its release?” I asked uncertain if doing so might bloat me up until I exploded.
“Well that is what we’re doing here. Did you think we were just working out?” he said turning his head in confusion. “The more aware you are of your mana then the closer you are to being its master!” He said with a proud laugh. “Now come my disciple! There is much more you need to do with your training!” he said jumping onto his hands before throwing himself backwards in a spin, landing in a fighting stance. “Feel the heat your body releases and build it in your gut! Then push it out. I am ready!” he said with a serious face.
Getting up I took a deep breath, trying to move the heat on my shoulders down but it didn’t listen to me. Instead it built up until the area around me started heating up, my shoulders felt like they were going to explode. My scales glowed and flickered like they held a fire within them, that’s when my lungs started to burn and squeeze, making me open my mouth. The air started to be sucked into my mouth, looking like a tornado as the air moved faster into my lungs, my body felt like it was filling up like I was eating a heavy meal. Finally my heat moved to my gut, it began twisting and spinning wildly within my stomach and before I knew what was happening, my stomach squeezed making something super heated start racing up my throat.
I realized what was going to happen, even Jaque started mumbling something as he drew a circle in front of himself. I didn’t want to roast my only teacher who could possibly help with my mana so… I shut my mouth and cocooned myself in my wings. The fire began to pour into my mouth making my cheeks puff out, I strained against it trying to keep my mouth closed but like a yawn my jaws were gradually pulled opened. I tried covering my mouth with my hands but they were blasted away.
While preparing for Oliver’s first magical attack, Jaque had made a vacuum portal, ready for anything Oliver could dish out. But what he didn’t prepare for was Oliver trying to protect Jaque himself. Upon seeing this made Jaque’s eyes water, his first disciple in years was trying to protect him! Only to realize that Oliver was directing the blast at himself. But it was too late as a huge pulse erupted from the cocooned dragon, blasting into a pillar of white and orange fire. All Jaque could do was raise a barrier around the Pillar of blasting heat, to keep damages to a minimum. Jaque hoped Oliver was ok but he desperately wanted to rush in to aid him!
That’s when a black silhouette stood several meters tall within the pillar. All Jaque could hear was soft hissing sound before the flames were swallowed in on itself. The floor was melting where the pillar was and in the middle stood Oliver, completely fine.
“Um…. I think I’m gonna need some new clothes.” He said.
