The Odd Dragon Out: Reckoning of the Cinder-Born

The behemoth that ignited the hellfire from its large maw was clearly an aspiring herald of death. It instilled an odd sort of chill in the two boys' bones that threatened to fry their bone marrow well.

It too was laced in green scales, but the caliber and quality of them were thicker, rougher, and more scarred.

It too had bulging golden eyes with pronounced black slits for pupils, but the size of them was much more intimidating than it was funny, a deep, sharp awareness livid within them. Ginger almost thought it was staring at him and no one else.

He almost jumped back when the beast took a step forward, its large legs seeming to explode as they stomped down, though, that might have been the editing done by the fear he was pushing back in his mind.

'No one said there would be three of these things,' Ginger said. He wanted to be angry that this hadn't been announced in the description of the exercise, but well, him not knowing was the point.

He gulped.

Despite his fear, none of his limbs shook. His hand remained steady with the dagger's hilt not slipping from his tight clutch. Anything less than this, in the Wild, was a sure application for a swift, stupid death.

'It's just a different creature this time. I can do it,' Ginger told himself. 'It has a green cast too. They all do. That means they aren't anything special. On top of that…'

On top of this, Ginger wasn't fighting mundanely anymore.

Kardia raced from his stok, into his second heart and spread like fire through his body. It was still a pitiful amount when compared to what someone like Vassilis could produce, but it would have to do. Beyond that, that little Kardia he had was unique.

Ginger had Collapsing Alien and Pooling-type Kardia. His Kardia was the only one among those of other First Years – excluding Caron – that adopted two behaviors. He wasn't sure what the significance of whether it was Collapsing or Surging was, but that wasn't too important at the moment.

Ginger looked at Alcaeus. The handsome boy looked composed too. Mostly.

Alcaeus had Alien-type Kardia and seemed to be quite proficient at using it.

None of the First Years were supposed to be able to use their Kardia's characteristic too well at this point according to Professor Lyall. That could take the whole year. However, that didn't mean they all hadn't learned a thing or two.

Ginger half hoped that Alcaeus was all talk and no substance, but that didn't seem to be the case. To shed that opinion even further from Ginger's head, Alcaeus acted first, lunging at the smaller Blighted directly ahead of him.

The creature, as though offended by Alcaeus attacking it first, roared furiously while shaking its head in burning madness, an equal lack of sanity drawn within its huge eyes. It thrashed its way towards Ginger's partner in a vicious charge.

The plump dragonling shook. He saw Alcaeus waver just a little at the sight of the approaching opponent, but he didn't lose his momentum.

He had a clear goal in mind, made obvious by how, with a tight grip on his saber, he drew it back and stabbed forth with it. He was aiming for the eyes as Professor Aarons had stressed.

The plump dragonling was forced to stop spectating as the other of the two smaller Blighted dashed towards him with a vicious roar that sent against him a truly foul storm of its breath.

While Ginger didn't like the smell, he didn't let it stop him from rushing towards the Blighted like Alcaeus. As the image of the Blighted got closer and closer, he steadily focused on the area below it and decelerated in his sprint.

When the Blighted's snout was only a meter and a half away, and close to rising in order to more properly reveal a wretched maw, Ginger dropped and slid below the beast; between its four legs!

He had hoped that his Light Gear wouldn't allow for too much friction, and he was right. His momentum didn't suffer much.

The green Blighted's underbelly was also filled with scales, albeit smaller ones, but it hadn't been Ginger's intention to strike it. His goal was to safely get behind the creature.

The large beast was stunned at how its prey had suddenly disappeared. There was a visible lag in its thoughts as it then started to make a turn. Unfortunately, the chamber wasn't large enough for it to do that quickly, not to mention smoothly.

…And that was what Ginger was banking on.

Right when the Blighted's left eye appeared as it turned its head, he dashed at it.

'Pooling! Pooling! Pooling!' Ginger chanted in his mind while summoning his Kardia and forcing it down to his legs.

Pooling-type Kardia allowed one to strengthen themselves because it usually clumped in a small section of the body. To make the effect even better, one would have to Saturate Kardia in the blood vessels, which was what Ginger was attempting, however poorly the results were.

Unfortunately, Ginger found to his dismay that his scant Kardia, once he attempted to pool it, only gathered in one leg.

'Shunting… Shamans!' he groaned in surprise.

At this point, the Blighted was already opening its maw, a terrifying glow accompanied by a pungent smell reaching from within it.

Ginger made a decision right then without any hesitation. It was do or die as far as he was concerned. His instincts which had been muddled by the school life cast away the fact that this was a monitored exercise out the window.

Hardening the muscles in the leg that his Kardia rushed into, Ginger used it to leap forth!

Unfortunately, this action turned out to have been muddied by a grave miscalculation.

Ginger severely underestimated how much power was built up and released from that one leg because of his Kardia.

"Whoooa!" Ginger spun as his body exploded high and fast towards the Blighted's head. He found himself soaring upside down with barely any awareness of where was what.

A moment later, Ginger collided with the side of the Blighted's head and a hoarse impact ensued. The Blighted grunted in annoyance, its head forced back… but not before Ginger viciously stabbed its left eye with his dagger!

ROOAAAR!

The creature screamed in agony.

The moment Ginger slammed into its head, he had celebrated the halt in momentum, which allowed him to see, even if only for a second, his large, golden target. He hadn't hesitated to strike.

Blood splashed out of the Blighted's eye in absurd volumes, much of it splattering on Ginger and his Light Gear. The plump dragonling kept applying as much pressure as he could.

The Blighted thrashed around in both fury and pain, and Ginger was swung this way and that viciously.

'No, no, no!' Ginger cried in his mind. There was a problem here, and it wasn't him being spun and twirled like a ragdoll.

While his dagger went in successfully, it didn't go deep enough. Professor Aarons' advice was sound, but she neglected to mention how tough the Blighteds' eyes were. Ginger had and could feel the resistance even now. He had applied all the might he could, and barely two inches of his dagger had sunken into his target.

'Urgh… If I was an Affixer, I probably wouldn't be having this problem!' he thought, and with great, strenuous effort, he pulled out his dagger and rolled away.

Right as he thudded onto the ground, Ginger saw the other gleaming eye of the Blighted he had stabbed, snap in his direction.

'Shunting Sha—'

Before he could finish the rare curse, something long and hard blasted toward him from above with a force akin to that of a hurricane. It was the Blighted's tail!

Ginger could have sworn it had enough force to crush his torso into bony, red dough. He eagerly rolled out of the way and felt the ground get a generous share of crushing punishment.

'I need to add Mana Essence to my dagger. Qin Steel conducts Mana Essence and grows stronger because of it,' Ginger thought while scrambling to stand, and he rushed to the Blighted's blind spot, where it now couldn't see with its damaged eye.

Imbuing Mana Essence into a Qin Steel weapon was one of the basics that Ginger and everyone else had been learning with Professor Mara. This was why Mana Essence Mechanisms and Manipulation was a course they needed to go through.

Ginger had already gained the acknowledgment of Mana Essence, and as for imbuing his weapon with it…

The plump dragonling took a swift breath and attempted to grasp at the cool, smooth-flowing energy.

However, something tore his concentration immediately.

Three vibrant booms like miniature explosions signaled the approach of a larger beast than the one he was currently fighting. Ginger's eyes snapped to the source, and he found the larger rendition of the smaller, poison-green Blighted dashing his way from right behind his partially blinded foe.

He saw Alcaeus dive out of the way, his chosen Blighted dropping to its belly to allow its elder to pass by leaping over it…on its way toward Ginger.

'What…Is it… Is it looking at me?' Ginger shuddered. The large eyes of the beast were locked onto him and him alone indeed.

But why?

Was it because he had dealt damage to its kin or something? Wouldn't that be a bit of a delayed reaction?

And what about Alcaeus?

Ginger found no answers to these questions.

All he got was furious hate that blasted from the giant enemy both literally and metaphorically.

The large Blighted opened its vicious maw so wide its eyes became hidden by the ceiling of its mouth, and with one of the scariest hisses Ginger had heard, a jet of brilliant reddish-orange flame sprayed his way violently, drowning him and his bleeding foe.