The Odd Dragon Out: Reckoning of the Cinder-Born

"Sleepwalking, ey?" Ira said while folding his arms over his chest and looking to contemplate deeply.

Of everything that Ginger had explained in the last six minutes, this particular detail seemed to have stuck out to him the most, which was fair, but Ginger had expected more of a reaction to how he explained his Kardia to have grown to inflate his stok so much that he had felt he would burst during his First Burning.

In any case, contrary to how he felt on that day, Ginger felt a great sense of freedom, as though the sack full of heavy rocks which he had been forced to carry somewhere in the modest pockets of fat around his body, had vanished the moment he confided in Ira.

It hadn't been that long since Ginger arrived here, but the burden of his secrets had been growing heavier and heavier until yesterday, when he reconciled with Reiss. Even then though, there were things he couldn't tell Reiss yet, but he had managed to tell them to Ira.

If Ancor told the gatekeeper everything there was about Ginger's personal life – things he kept close to his heart, fuelling his motivation to power through the unfamiliar, and unfriendly environment of the school so far – then there was no reason to foolishly keep his concerns. For all he knew, Ira had the answers as an experienced, mature dragon.

Right now, Ginger felt both relaxed and anxious.

Ira was shockingly similar to Professor Mara in his ability to hide what he was thinking, at least when he wasn't wearing the abrasive alter ego Ginger had met before. Ginger had slowly begun to realize that it was just a front.

"How odd..." Ira said after mulling things over.

"What?" Ginger said apprehensively. He was praying that he wouldn't be left with more concern than he walked in here with.

"You see, little imp, I'm torn between two inferences. Ancor contradicted a thought I immediately had after he explained your circumstances. Your birth... while it is plausible that you have two souls, I had thought that it was also natural for you to also have a body comprised of the elements of two."

Ginger was alarmed.

"Like two bodies... in one?"

"Yes. Well, this is coming from someone who doesn't have the best understanding of souls and bodies, but I'm not completely ignorant. Unless your other soul is docile, I imagined you would need a body capable of housing two souls. Ancor debated heavily against it, since, according to him, your body is as ordinary as it could be," Ira explained with a light, wet cough.

Ginger considered.

He had never really encountered circumstances that would give him the impression that his body was... odd.

Ginger had always known that he was a dragon, so he knew he was different from humans, but that was it. In that, Ancor was right.

"I'm not entirely convinced, but it makes sense if you truly haven't noticed anything strange. If anything, at least you seem more dragon than you are human."

Ira saw the confusion on Ginger's face from what he had just said and elaborated.

"Your father was a dragon, and your mother was human, right? Even if they were to bear twins, I couldn't imagine one to be human and the other to be a dragon. No. They would both likely share draconic traits, with one being more dragon-like than the other. It's impossible to tell which kind you were, but it's undeniable that you are more dragon right now. If you weren't, you would have looked more like human children with your age. You've noticed, right? You don't look that different from your peers despite being 'younger'."

It was true.

Ginger had thought about this. He was supposed to be nine years old, but his body proportions didn't differ that much from the fourteen years old dragonlings in the school – his slight advantage in body weight aside.

From the little he had seen of human children in the Wild, this disparity was also confirmed.

Ginger nodded at Ira's words with a bit of a sullen look.

"I have noticed. Why is that?" he asked, though a little sure the answer he had thought of before was correct.

"Your father came from Ravi. That much is certain. It is also certain that anything from Ravi carries the time and reality from here. Ravi has been given the moniker, Possessive Island, many times throughout history. Dragons were born of Ravi and it considers us its pride. In that way, all dragons, no matter where they are, live in the flow of time here. For inst... Not that hard to understand, right, little imp?"

Ira chuckled mysteriously.

Ginger nodded, though a bit unsure of how exactly that worked.

"So, your sleepwalking. If I were you, I wouldn't let it bother me too much. As I said earlier, the First Burning sparked the unique aspects about you to life. If you do have a second soul, I don't think it is mature or capable of complex decisions. My guess is that it pulled your body to the fire in old Alexandros' office just out of curiosity. In a way, the fire from the Seether gave it some form of freedom, so it was enticed. You haven't had instances where your body reacted in such a way before, right?"

Ginger looked strained. Just thinking that his body moved on its own because he had something else in him seemed more unnerving than before. Ira casually confirming this did help him accept it as fact though.

"Well, I have sometimes felt so hungry that I could die back in the Wild, even after eating. When it happened, it didn't feel... physical. It happened often and Ancor would have to cast a Charm on me each time... but it hasn't happened since I came here..." he said.

Ira nodded.

"Hunger, is it?" he said while narrowing his eyes. "I suppose sleepwalking is an upgrade from feeling starvation for no reason. If it hasn't happened since your Burning, then perhaps your other soul has found a better way to express itself. Like I said, don't be too concerned about it. Keep note of it, but do not repress it. Your other soul may function on instinct, but that's not to say it is stupid. Foolishly restraining it may cause problems."

Ginger slowly nodded.

He wondered whether his hunger, as he explained, gave more credence to Ira's insistence that his body was an exaggerated example of two in one.

The fact that it wasn't a kind of hunger tied to his stomach made him doubt it though.

In any case, Ginger was sure Ira was right about not concerning himself too much with the sleepwalking. If he did have a part of himself attempting to express itself, he didn't want to crush it.

Since he had the nocturnal Reiss to keep watch over him most of the time, he had some semblance of assurance, but better than that was what Professor Lyall had explained. Ginger asked Ira about it.

"She's right. Unless you're an exception among exceptions, there is no way you can harm a Professor in this school as a student. Especially if you don't know the three fundamental applications of Kardia. Lyall is sure to teach them to you soon. She's one of the few with my respect. She never writes letters to address me at least, and even visits for the occasional catch-up," Ira said with a salty tone.

"Speaking of Lyall, or rather the course she is obsessed with, she's likely to have you draw better conclusions about the strange reaction of your Kardia."

"You don't know what it means?" Ginger asked, his sullen tone deepening.

"I would like to say it is because of your body, but well, this subject has me and Ancor seeing it differently. I don't want to give you false hope with shaky evidence, little imp. It could subconsciously ruin you. If the volume of your Kardia is so low that it doesn't even qualify for the basic standard in one moment, and then so much it could fill your entire body in the next... yeah, that's something only Lyall could explain perhaps."

Ginger deflated.

'Another non-answer...' he thought.

There were too many ifs and maybes. To be fair though, there wasn't much information to work with. But still...

Ira gave Ginger a light whack on the face with his hand, bringing the plump dragonling back to reality with a slight burst of fury.

"Don't give me that look. It isn't all bad news. Ancor told me that you are used to facing strange monsters and fighting other humans. Is that true?"

Ginger rubbed his cheek and gave a modest nod.

"A little."

"A little? Have you lost confidence since meeting dragons?" Ira said with a boisterous laugh. "Let me tell you, Ginger, the fact that you have been on many whimsical, and dangerous adventures with that fool Ancor is the very same reason why you're going to be a match for those fancy-born dragonlings you'll meet. It's also why you're more or less as mature as them despite being younger. So don't look down on yourself."

An encouraging pat fell on Ginger's shoulder.

He did feel a bit better from hearing that.

He had a lot of experience fighting monsters and being in straining situations. It hadn't showed yet here in Ravi because of the difference in the sort of danger he had been in.

Ira leaned closer to him and grinned.

"Tell you what? Let me throw you a golden scale, free of charge - for Ancor's sake. You've likely already been told of this more times than you can count, but this school is highly practical. During every Breather, you are allowed to sign up for Hunts with authorized organizations in nearby cities and towns."

Ginger had heard about this in passing from Professor Lyall, but she seemed to have expanded on it during the last Breather to the rest of the class when he and Reiss when paying for loitering after curfew. His other classmates were probably shown the locations of these organizations as well.

"Here's something most of your peers don't know. The most unimpressive organizations you'll see aren't always going to have some surprise hidden quality, but some of them do. Explore the lesser-known ones with bad reputations rather than flocking where everyone else is going. I assure you, you'll learn faster that way."

Ginger perked up.

"What will we be doing in these places?"

"Hunting Blighted of course!" Ira yelled.

Ginger immediately looked excited. This is what Professor Lyall had been talking about earlier. Killing Blighted to refine Kardia!

"If you want to solve the matter of your awfully low Kardia quantity, this is the way. You might just be able to improve your stok's capacity. It's not guaranteed, but if you're anything like Ancor, and if you're even half as competent as he wrote you to be, you'll be fine. Some things don't require too much thought. You just need to go crazy."