The Odd Dragon Out: Reckoning of the Cinder-Born

"Ginger, you can't possibly think Kartile is all about shooting projectiles of Kardia, right? That's just advertising for dum-... ignorant students. Like us, First Years. Or so they all think," Reiss caught himself as he said.

It seemed only Caron caught what he had been about to say, as Ginger only frowned at the idea that he might have gotten his hopes too high.

"So it's not?" he asked as they were swallowed into the Frost Mount's Tooth enclosure.

"Well, it is," Reiss said with a complicated face, "but there's more to it than that. It's not just about the projectiles. It's about everything you can do when you have the ability to project your Kardia outside your body."

For the past two days, many students, mainly upperclassmen had been on a recruiting streak, invading the First Years' dormitory and explaining the respective Out Courses they participated in.

There were five Out Courses in total, and some had complex details that led Ginger to try by all means to avoid meeting more than one of the enthusiastic students. If he was ever trapped, he wouldn't be able to escape. While it was great that some of these recruiters seemed to not mind who or what he was, Ginger didn't let himself get whisked away by hope, not to mention the enticing words each recruiter came with.

He knew the allure of empty promises all too well.

"You sound like you're recruiting," Caron said to Reiss with a smirk.

The dwarfish dragonling narrowed his eyes and shot back.

"And you look like you've finally got a good night's rest. Why do you sleep so much anyway?" he said with a smirk of his own.

Caron looked stumped. She opened her mouth to speak and closed it immediately. She then latched onto a change of subject that worked rather well.

"There's a free Waiting Furnace."

Immediately Ginger and Reiss, along with Caron herself stormed towards one of the numerous massive pillars ahead – one to the far right – which had gaped open while the rest had closed up.

Waiting Furnaces, the common form of transportation in the Draggard-Phoenix Institute for the Cinder-Born, tended to get crowded during learning hours. Even though they traveled quickly to and fro, the short delays were a hassle for students still, since instructors fumed about every minute lost per lesson as though it was a chunk of their salary.

Several students hurtled in along with the trio when they entered, leaving the Furnace a bit crowded.

Thankfully, given what hour it was, everyone was headed to the same place.

As soon as the entrance to the Waiting Furnace closed shut, one of the students closest to the wall extended his hand out and spun his finger in the air. Bits of his Kardia could be seen making a coarse, looped shape – neither circlular nor ovular – as he then said, "Fourth."

At once, it was as though the interior of the Waiting Furnace was torched by a torrent of flame, turning blinding gold for a moment. In the next instance, an exit opened for the students leading into the Fourth Floor.

After learning to control Kardia, the First Years no longer needed their Monitors like Fotini to help them move about, which a few First Year boys were extremely ecstatic about.

Apparently, the Third Year's energy was not only infectious but exhausting. His constant looming had been an object of cringe among the dragonlings.

Ginger and Caron exited the Waiting Furnace. The latter was surprised to see when she turned, that Reiss was not with them.

"Where did Midget go? Isn't he going for lunch?" she asked curiously.

"He is. It's just... his bowl," Ginger replied with a complex twist of the face.

"Bowl?"

"You'll see when he comes back."

The two joined the throng of other First Years past the Gathering Hall, which was empty, towards the Feeding Hall. Turning right at a corner, they faced the entrance to the latter space, which invited all in with a box-shaped entrance.

A series of tables populated the massively vast Hall, all adorned with checkered red and white cloths that were cleaned each day and changed each week.

To the farthest side from the entrance, a long line of large, neat glass-paned stalls was erected, stowed within them an assortment of foods that the students, who formed a rapidly moving queue along the stalls, chose from with excruciating levels of consideration.

Several female dragons who looked as old as Madam Agathe, the Warden, were the servers, and Ginger quite liked their temperament, which was so soft he thought it might have been tempered under pillows.

They were rather patient.

Caron and Ginger didn't converse much as they joined the line. Rather, Ginger didn't know how to start a conversation with the girl. He wasn't flustered around her, but that didn't take away the fact that aside from Reiss, he really didn't know how to talk to others, especially girls. Recalling how the fairer sex had reacted to seeing him in his shabby clothing on that first day...

Ginger shuddered.

A scar was etched onto him that day.

In lighter news, Ginger picked much of the same food that he normally did at lunch since last Stride. There was no limit to how much each student chose to eat, so he helped himself well. With the specialized feeding trays crafted to handle hefty sums of food – set with multiple, clean pockets on them – the sky might as well have been the limit. The tall drinking cups promised the same.

Ginger had discovered last Stride that animals and plants in Ravi were hardly any different from those in the Wild – well at least the normal ones left.

There were some creatures that looked like weird hybrids though, having features from pairs of animals he had known, such as the Dollybai, which was a half-sheep, half... cow. Ginger had been immensely surprised when he first saw the creature in a textbook. Its meat was incredibly delicious though.

Ginger's favorite food so far – for lunch – was steamed gerbil balls and spiked Slay Snake.

Caron was modest in terms of eating. Seeing the vast difference in the quantity of food between her and Ginger, a concerned soul would have thought one of them had a season of hibernation that began tomorrow.

When the two found a spot to sit, Ginger decided to pretend as though he wasn't raised to eat first and run later by crafting a subject for conversation. He did so with quite some difficulty.

"So, I saw how you did in Professor Mara's class... and also in Professor Lyall's class. You're really good at using your Kardia already. Why do you need us to help you?" he said.

Caron looked up from her tray where she had begun to elegantly scoop up a spoonful of a thick, rich vegetable soup. She had a taste and then answered him.

"It only looks like I'm doing well," she said with a twinkle in her eyes. The soup was better than she had expected. "My Kardia is a bit biased. Or maybe it's just me. In both classes, my Kardia was leaning towards Affixing. In Lyall's, I was only able to summon a shield close to my body, like an Affixer. I'm the sort to not learn broadly unless I have someone to work with. People, I suppose."

Ginger slowly nodded while subconsciously breaking a bone off his Slay Snake violently and getting immensely embarrassed when some of its juices sprayed his nose.

"I... I see," he tried to maintain composure. "But do Reiss and I look like the people you want? I mean, Reiss can't use his Affixing Kardia well yet and I... well, I still have some work to do."

Ginger using his jersey to rub off the stains on his nose gave a dark kind of credence to his first question, something that made him grimace internally.

"I don't want competitors. I want partners that give me close references and pointers that I can see constantly. I pick up things faster that way – from what others feel when they use their Kardia, to their personal tricks," Caron said and she ate what looked like rice with a subtle green twist, swallowed, and then continued. "Most of the girls in our class favor Fillys and her opinions. She's made me look like an outcast ever since the Second Burning. My cast is a problem for her. Apparently, I'm the sort that 'spent all their lifelong luck in the Rebounding Seether,' as she said."

"That's a cruel thing to say," Ginger said with a mouthful of gerbil ball, a frown on his face.

"That's the least cruel thing she's had to say. But I don't really mind. It annoyed me at first, but I got used to it. Some people have said I'm the sort to excel at forgetting the world exists."

A smile etched itself on Caron's face as she spoke.

Ginger smiled too.

Caron was a little like Reiss.

"Good grief! They are everywhere!"

The little devil suddenly popped into view. He made a phenomenal effort to climb onto the bench and sit on his knees, actions that attracted the attention of students from other tables. "They are preying on anyone, anytime, Ginger!"

"Who?" Ginger asked.

"Those Out Course hounds! They are getting desperate! They chased me all the way over here! We shouldn't be too quick to go back to the dormitories later. The library will be safe... for a while."

Ginger shivered. Those guys just wouldn't quit. It wasn't like the deadline for registration was coming up. There was a full Stride left till everyone needed to have joined at least one Out Course.

"Umm. What's that?" Caron asked, pointing with a spoon towards a large bowl on the table. It had a subdued blue hue on its exterior that almost looked grey, with a dark ring of meaningless text around it. Within it were the meal options Reiss had chosen for the afternoon.

"It's my bowl," the dwarfish dragonling answered succinctly.

Caron wore a dumb look and turned to Ginger, evidently asking for a better explanation.

"Uh..." he stammered.

Reiss shot him a sharp look that had him sow his mouth shut before turning back to Caron.

"It's my bowl."

Caron sighed dejectedly, realizing that she couldn't pry any more answers despite a burning desire to know why someone who stood out so much already, would go out of their way to make themselves a target for ugly nicknames.

Still, she powered through the urge and instead addressed the two boys on their supposed dilemma.

"You should just join an Out Course. They will leave you alone after that, especially if you show it," she said matter-of-factly.

"What?" Reiss asked.

"The Out Course hounds. Just join an Out Course and they won't bother you."

Reiss gave her a fierce gaze.

"You picked one?"

"Yeah."

"Which one?"

"Phantoms."

Reiss narrowed his eyes.

"The illusion one?" Ginger said.

Of all the noise that rocked their dorms, he had managed to both understand and appreciate the simplicity propounded by the representatives of this particular Out Course. It was as simple as the name suggested.

"I didn't think you'd be the type for illusions," Reiss judged, his eyes on the redhead as he stabbed the fried white meat in his bowl with a fork.

"I didn't either, but I figured it would work best for me when paired with another course better at offense," Caron said and she sipped the cool juice in her tall cup.

"Another course?" Ginger raised his brows.

"You're picking two?" Reiss gaped.

"Yeah, why not?"

"Because Professor Lyall said to only pick one!"

"I remember Lyall only encouraging us to choose one. In any case, at the end of the day, I'm the one who knows what I want. If I start now, even if it's hard to do two extra courses, I'll be good at it with time."

"Why not just perfect one thing now, and learn something else later?" Reiss argued with aggression.

"Too slow. Besides, I'm the impatient sort," Caron said before wincing pitifully at having bit her lip while trying to chew her greenish rice.

"Clearly," Reiss said with narrowed eyes.

Ginger watched the two butt heads over the topic without laying forth some input of his own.

Two Out Courses?

Maybe some were easier to learn than others, but given the great burden that was the six main courses already suffocating him, he understood why Professor Lyall insisted that one was enough for a start.

After lunch, the string of lessons for the day continued until the second sun began to dip.

As Reiss suggested, the two boys rushed to the library after supper in an effort to not be bothered by the many cult-like Out Course recruiters.

Unfortunately, this did not go in their favor.