The Odd Dragon Out: Reckoning of the Cinder-Born

Ginger and Reiss left the building, which, because of its lack of multiple floors, compensated by having a vast number of learning spaces of various sizes and heights.

It was called the Huddling Fury and was the only one of its kind. Aside from Dragon Biology and Kardia Studies, it served as the venue for Mortal Conflict classes, which had started to involve actual – but controlled – sparring sessions between students this Stride.

Quite a heated discussion was brewing between Ginger and Reiss as they walked into the pathway that led back towards the enormous cubical mansion - the Frost Mount's Tooth.

Their differing experiences with the Custos Zoe gave them much to talk about. After Professor Lyall dismissed them, they had been itching to discuss every detail about it with each other.

"I don't get why I started with gauntlets, honestly. I've actually never much thought about armor. I guess no dragon of our generation has. Gauntlets seemed easier to manifest because well... I can at least see the vision for how my hands can get useful in defense," Reiss said while looking at his small limbs.

"Affixers have the option to just wear a suit of armor and enhance it, right? Which would be better? Using Custos Zoe or getting yourself armor that fits you?" Ginger asked.

Reiss thought about it a little and then flung his hands out.

"I don't think I prefer one or the other. We've only been learning basic Pieyro, Ginger. They mostly work when you're in a pinch, and when you're young and useless like us. Stronger dragons don't have to resort to this. But who knows? Maybe I'll be wearing real armor with another set of armor – a Custos – right beneath it," he said with a greedy smile.

Ginger laughed.

"I'm definitely getting armor. A Custos for Poolers covers a small area that you can use to defend. The rest of me will be left wide open. It still seems sturdy though," he said while looking at his arm.

He wanted to conjure up his newly acquired Custos again, but it took a lot of focus, something he couldn't afford to do while simultaneously navigating where he was going and talking to Reiss too.

Reiss peeked at Ginger's palm. The plump dragonling had shown him what his Custos Zoe looked like, and he had been quite intrigued.

"That makes sense. Professor Lyall did say that different Kardias are better than others at one specific thing. Creating a Custos Zoe differs from Kardia type to Kardia type, but I think Poolers can absorb damage the best with their Custos Zoe. It's not easy though, is it? How many Poolers from our classes even managed to make their own?" he said.

"Very few," Ginger said with a complicated expression.

Somehow the thought of being lumped in with Poolers made him feel sullen.

"I discovered today that I really like Alien-type Kardia, but I'm better at Pooling for now. Getting better at the two is really hard. I kind of wish Professor Lyall hadn't said she couldn't give me some pointers on how to draw my Kardia in just—"

"Hey! Don't you start sulking again. I've told you already, unlike someone with Totality type Kardia, your own is probably conflicting against itself. It will take longer for you to learn," Reiss rebuked with a nasty squint to his eyes.

"But Caron doesn't seem to having any problems. She's doing well in both—"

"Don't compare yourself to THAT!" Reiss fumed, spraying at Ginger's pewter grey jersey with his emphasis on the last word.

"What about me?" a voice suddenly said from behind the two dragonlings.

Reiss grumbled audibly.

Caron was wearing a soft smile as she alternated her gaze between the two dubiously.

"Nothing," Reiss said while pulling a half-unwilling Ginger along.

Caron followed briskly.

"I was wondering if I could join you for Mana Essence Mechanisms and Manipulation. We've got it first thing tomorrow morning, right?" she asked, and forcefully made room for herself between Reiss and Ginger, the former of which made a bewildered face at the audacity.

Rather than committing to a simple 'no' though, Reiss, who spoke over Ginger's "I guess so," went for a less aggressive approach.

"Why specifically for this class?" he asked.

Caron turned to Ginger.

"Because of him," she said.

"What?" Ginger asked, confused. "I didn't know about Mana Essence before a Stride ago."

"Yeah!" Reiss supported.

"I thought so," Caron said as they reached the last intersection of pathways before the ten-meter stretch to the mouth of the Frost Mount's Tooth. "But, I figured you'd be the sort to quickly learn how to manipulate energy different from Kardia. I don't know much about the Wild, but since living things there don't use Kardia or Mana Essence, they must know other forms of essence, right?"

Ginger was taken aback.

Not only had he not been expecting Caron to say something like this, but he was also surprised that she didn't seem to shun the Wild.

Their conversation two days ago only established to him that she was willing to work with him, but he was still guarded against her having a subconscious bias against the Wild, like every other dragonling except Reiss.

Reiss' face lit up and dimmed at the same. Ginger had told him about Fetid Essence before, but because the plump dragonling dismissed it quickly in favor of Mana Essence, which he said felt like a cool, flowing stream, he hadn't even thought to ask if he had some experience with manipulating it.

Ginger's eyes ran from one side to the next as he considered how to answer Caron.

Unlike how he felt with Reiss, he didn't know what the redhead's deal was exactly. It wasn't wise to just trust her with everything.

He was even holding out on some stuff from Reiss.

"Well, it's not as you think. Unlike Mana Essence, Fetid Essence is very hard to sense. It only gets harder when you try to make it do as you say. I was just starting to learn before I came here, but I wasn't able to do much with it," Ginger said.

A part of him berated him for being too modest, but for now, this would suffice.

Both Caron and Reiss were paying rapt attention to his words at this moment, and contrary to what Ginger expected, neither showed the slightest sign of disappointment.

Caron nodded thoughtfully.

"I still want to see how you perform. You grew up with humans, right? Some of them must have been the sort to be very good at using this... Fetid Essence," she said, hopefully.

"Yeah," Ginger said with a shallow smile.

Reiss smiled to himself for some reason before looking at Ginger.

"Good grief. I don't know why I wasn't excited about this before," he said and then turned to Caron, his expression changing drastically, "You're really not going to stop following us, are you?"

Caron shook her head.

"You agreed to let me tag me along, remember?" she said.

"And why haven't you been 'tagging along' since then?" Reiss snorted.

"Because I wanted to get a grasp on what I can do with my Kardia so far, and give you enough time to learn things you could teach me before I return the favor."

Reiss sighed.

Just now, his shallow animosity for Caron had dwindled, but her maintaining that she would still be able to give them returns on their investment in three Strides, irked him.

He let it slide this time though.

Caron asked Ginger some details about Fetid Essence and Reiss listened while asking a few questions for clarification.

Before the trio knew it, the cubical castle's face was just ahead, its large entrance spewing out students and instructors alike.

The redhead had switched to inquiring from Ginger how his experience with his dual-natured Kardia was so far, when a figure adorned in the same pewter grey they all wore jumped out in front of them.

"Freshlings! Freshlings! Please give me a moment of your time, would you?"

It was a tall dragon with fuzzy brown hair that flew every which way. He had sallow skin, a small nose, and more personality than actual physical mass. His pants were practically empty given how the light breeze made them violently rustle.

"Have you registered for any Out Courses yet? The looks on your faces say you haven't. Can I interest you in Kartile? Trust me, it's fun and easy to get a good grade in. Better yet, it's open to Alien-types AND Affixers! How great is that?!"

Before the trio could reject or ask questions, the tall upperclassman forcefully gave them little handouts and dashed over to another group of First Years before they entered the Frost Mount's Tooth.

"Kartile?" Ginger said, puzzled.

"The name of the Out Course. If I'm not mistaken it's a play on the words Kardia and Projectile," Reiss said with a laugh.

"It looks fun," Caron said while pointing at the handouts.

There was a caricature of a fat-headed student shooting a bright blue projectile from their palm with a hilariously 'cool' expression. The target of the projectile was a large, exaggeratedly evil-looking creature with dark skin barring its fang and claws against the valiant student.

Block texts with interesting effects to draw attention caged in the depiction, giving the names of the Professors who would be teaching the Out Course at the very end.

Ginger was rather amused.

Firing projectiles?

This didn't seem half bad.

The image of Ancor spawned in his mind. Perhaps this Out Course would help him master how to use his Alien-type Kardia productively.