The Odd Dragon Out: Reckoning of the Cinder-Born

The ghostly golden flame burning in the massive hollow leaped lightly behind Professor Lyall, which prompted a few students to quiver.

Ginger was among them.

True to what he had learned in the past Stride, he got the impression that this flame did not conform to what Professor Alexandros had said about its smaller ghostly golden counterpart in his office.

This flame truly seemed as though it would burn whoever stepped into it. Worse yet, it could probably reduce anyone who got too close, to ash. At least Ginger imagined so.

The argent-colored scales branded to the walls, only made Ginger even more nervous. The wafting heat they rebounded, consciously intensifying for reasons unknown to the plump dragonling, rescued Ginger's doubt from the growing hope he had been attaining from having someone to talk to.

'Was Fillys actually right? Will I...?' Ginger thought, greatly distraught.

Reiss, on the other hand, looked absolutely excited.

He held the sides of his head, as though intending to catch the explosion that was about to erupt from his brain.

Professor Lyall gave a short pause after her introductory statement just now, then she continued.

"The Rebounding Seether is the source of all the flames you have seen in different offices within the Frost Mount's Tooth."

A loud voice that didn't match the little effort she was exerting into addressing the crowd left the portly dragon's taut lips.

"One of the Five Ancient Elders, the Argent Dragon, Sopphira, met her end on this mountain. She carved this cavern with her claws and lit this fire millennia ago. It has burned vibrantly ever since, and it has found great purpose: quickly awakening the potent powers that lie in all of us, and bringing to an end the cumbersome customs that came with grooming strength – the olden ways of our ancestors."

As Professor Lyall spoke, Ginger felt hurtful pinches from within. His head turned to the statue of the Argent Dragon. Her seemingly weaker physical body, and her less threatening face.

As Ginger learned from Professor Edelman's class, Sopphira was regarded as the weakest among the Five Ancient Elders, as represented by her cast. Yet she did indeed contribute to dragon society in a profound way.

That should have cheered Ginger up, but...

Reiss bumped an elbow into his side, his eyes still locked onto Professor Lyall.

"I've read something about this before in some ancient texts that my dad had. He didn't like that I rummaged through his stuff, but I found an interesting story. It's probably a lie, but well..." Reiss said with a shrug. "Apparently Sopphira fell in love with this man from another race. I don't remember what species he was, but this man rejected her six times, and she supposedly went ballistic and hunted the poor man down to this mountain where she torched him alive. It's said that's how this thing really came to be."

Ginger's face spun.

"What?" he said with a withered tone.

"I know right? And that's only one of the dark tales from ancient times about Sopphira. You never know with that stuff. I think Professor Lyall's source is much more accurate though."

Ginger couldn't get the image of a massive dragon burning a man as he screamed out of his head now.

Well, if it was just a story, it wouldn't be too outlandish for other races – even though he had seen very little of them up to this point – to paint horrible stories about dragons.

From what Ginger had learned so far, not all creatures were happy about having dragons rule Ravi, after all.

Professor Lyall hadn't stopped speaking throughout his interaction with Reiss.

"...so this flame – in case you haven't noticed – is different from the gentle versions you've seen before. What it will do to you isn't so simple. Don't be afraid, it will not kill you, however, in determining which type of Kardia you have, it may turn aggressive, and you have to remain still. If you feel discomfort, bear with it for at most twenty seconds, otherwise, you may harm your second heart," she said strictly.

The students' loud, nervous whispers instantly rose.

Hurt the second heart?

The instant the possibility of danger was introduced, chaos sprang out, but Professor Lyall was ready for it.

She stomped her foot on the scale-plastered ground, and it was as though a tremor had suddenly coursed through the entire mountain. A raging burst of cold blasted from the woman's foot and slammed into every student without exception.

At once, all the First Years froze, shock stuck in their eyes.

Their eyes were the only parts of them allowed to move, and they subconsciously fell on Professor Lyall's round-rimmed glasses, behind which were her brown eyes turned hazel with a ferocious glow.

"Calm down. Even if you do sustain damage, it can be repaired, but prevention is infinitely better than cure. In any case, have a little faith in your teachers," the thick woman said.

Ginger felt the cold sensation that had just turned him stiff dissolve. The same happened to everyone around him.

Reiss blinked excitedly.

"That was incredible! I wonder what she did to us!" he said.

Ginger smiled sheepishly. He was intrigued by what Professor Lyall had done too, but not to the point of geeking out about it. Ancor could do something similar with Fetid Essence, after all.

"I will use volunteers to demonstrate the process, and how the flasks will indicate your Kardia type. It's better to show and tell at the same time, isn't it?" Professor Lyall said, and she received murmurs of anxiety in return.

Who would want to be a volunteer for this?

Ginger immediately ducked his head.

No, no. If Professor Lyall saw him, he would no doubt be picked.

He was sure of it.

However, just a moment later, Ginger heard gasps of surprise.

It seemed like someone had volunteered without much hesitation.

He scrambled to look up, and his expression immediately turned sour.

'Of course, it's him,' Ginger thought.

The one and only Vassilis had stepped out from the crowd, well-tended caramel hair, tall stature, blue scale cast, confidence, and all. His prominent hazel eyes didn't show an ounce of doubt or fear as he stared at the golden flame behind Professor Lyall.

Ginger wasn't impressed by the dashing young dragonling. Or maybe he forced himself not to appear so. It was the complete opposite for the other students all around him though.

"I wish I had confidence like that."

"Does having Elder blood in your veins just make you cool or something?"

"I bet he's going to get Totality-type Kardia. I mean, why not, right?"

Reiss scoffed.

"Good grief! If it worked that way, Principal Phoenix would be the thousandth Ebony Dragon to ever live, wouldn't she?" he yelled, trying to add some reason to the things he heard.

Everyone ignored him.

Ginger smiled.

Vassilis, with his flask in hand, got a favorable nod from Professor Lyall who had him face the crowd.

"In case some of you get so frightened you forget, I will emphasize the basics. There are four types of Kardia behavior. The first three types I will explain have the best effect for what they represent, regardless of what the fourth type is capable of," she said quickly.

"Alien-type Kardia thrives outside the body, which is why it naturally attempts to sweep itself out the moment it is produced. It retains its potency and may even become stronger the longer it stays outside your body."

"There's Pooling type Kardia. It draws on itself – condenses in fact – and covers a small portion of the body which it then enhances severalfold. The degree of this enhancement depends on the quality of Kardia."

"Affix-type Kardia gravitates to objects close or in contact with the body and augments them. At times, these objects may even awaken special properties. Last but not least, is Totality type Kardia, a kind of Kardia that does what Affix, Pooling, and Alien can do. The degree of efficiency depends on Kardia quality, but it usually can never compete with Kardia types of the same level."

Professor Lyall sighed.

She then pointed at Vassilis' flask.

"This flask will show four different kinds of flame within it after you walk into the fire, all of which represent a different kind of Kardia. These flames will also either rise to the top of the flask or plummet to the bottom, indicating whether your Kardia is Surging or Collapsing. For now, just take note of which of these two you have. It won't be as important until later."

After the lengthy explanation, Professor Lyall beckoned Vassilis towards the great fire. The young dragonling entered without much hesitation and disappeared within its glow.

Professor kept her eyes on the flame, as did the other Professors, in case something happened.

"Unlike your First Burning, which inflated the stok in your body, and enabled your Kardia to manifest, the Second burns the Kardia in your stok, and charts a path to your second heart where the heated Kardia will be stored. It is all just to teach your Kardia where to go after it has manifested. It can only be used throughout the rest of your body when it has settled into your heart, after all."

Ginger gulped and grew tense.

He still sucked in what Professor Lyall said though.

She had mentioned in class before that the stok in a dragon's body had already existed before his First Burning, and was like a paper sack that shrunk if it didn't have anything in it.

Everything else she said was new.

Ginger did his best to stare into the fire while squinting, as Professor Lyall seemed to.

A few seconds later, Vassilis walked out with the same stern, but confident look he had entered with.

He held onto his flask and was keenly paying attention to what was glowing within it.

The other students focused on it too while murmuring amongst themselves.

A thin, tall candle flame of vibrant white with barely any flicker or sway to it could be seen in the flask. It stuck close to the neck of the glassy object, as if intent on escaping, only bobbing low with Vassilis' movements.

Gasps echoed from the spectators, as well as praise.

"Wow! Look at that! Is it supposed to do that? The flame is white!" a student called.

Professor Lyall's lips drew wide and she gave a nod to Vassilis before turning to everyone else.

"Look closely at the flask. It is reacting to Vassilis' Kardia, and showing its designation in the shape of a flame. A candle flame like this represents Affix-type Kardia, and as you can see, it is rising up the flask. This is a sign that Vassilis' Kardia Surges."

Ginger kept his eyes on Vassilis' flask. As did Reiss.

The two were very fascinated and excited but for different reasons.

Like everyone else, Vassilis' courage to step forward first, made them eager, but they weren't up for going next just yet.

Professor Lyall sent Vassilis back with his flask, and he was welcomed like a hero by most of the students, most of whom gave him a lot of congratulations.

Almost at the same time, Alcaeus shot out from the crowd with a desperate skip before Professor Lyall asked for another volunteer.

Ginger and Reiss almost laughed, which garnered them a cross look from Fillys who happened to draw near to where they stood.

The two moved away.

Professor Lyall gave Alcaeus a few words before sending him into the great golden fire. Unlike Vassilis, Alcaeus hesitated a little before sinking into the vast rise of heat.

Seconds later, he emerged, squinting at his flask. It seemed hard to see its contents in the flood of gold.

Professor Lyall nodded at him and directed the already sizable attention of the crowd to Alcaeus' flask.

Within it, what looked like three tiny dots of yellow flame showed. They then suddenly started sputtering, spitting bright sparks against the wall of the flask incessantly. They battled against each other at the neck of the flask, some of the sparks they released shooting from the mouth.

"Take note. This is a designation for Alien-type Kardia, and quite obviously, it is Surging," the portly Professor indicated before sending a half-excited Alcaeus back to his peers.

Immediately, Fillys rushed out of the crowd so quickly that she stumbled barely managing to avoid kissing the ground. She then pushed back her hair and walked with whatever grace she had left towards Professor Lyall.

Seconds later, she had emerged from the giant flame.

"Collapsing Affix type," Professor Lyall mentioned while gesturing at the orange candle flame sitting at the bottom of her flask.

Fillys also wore a strange look on her face, as if not entirely satisfied with her result. The crowd made way for her as she went to her brother.

"What's wrong with them?" Ginger asked.

"They probably wanted to get Totality-type Kardia. Hmph! A good cast doesn't always reward you with the most unique result," Reiss scoffed.

Several other students went forth, emboldened by Vassilis, Alcaeus, Fillys.

A new designation was finally given.

A scrawny-looking boy with a bowl cut had in his flask an orange flame sitting at the bottom. It looked vastly different from the other shapes seen so far, as from a distance, it looked like a small pool of lava sitting at the bottom of the boy's flask. Yet it was just fire spread over a larger space.

"This is how Pooling type Kardia will be represented by the flask," Professor Lyall addressed.

Reiss showed signs of disgust on his face.

"I better not get that one," he said. Ginger looked at him with a funny smile. Reiss really hated Pooling-type Kardia.

"What if you get Totality-type?" Ginger asked.

"I'll be fine if it just happens to be bad at pooling," Reiss replied.

Speaking of Totality type, of the next sixteen students to go up, none could demonstrate to everyone else what a designation for Totality-type would look like.

Most of them had Pooling-type and the others were split evenly for Alien and Affix type.

A question as to whether or not this batch of First Years would have someone with Totality type Kardia already became a hot topic among the Professors gathered.

Even if there wasn't, it wouldn't be a big deal. After all, it was rare.

"Oh, she's going up," Ginger said to Reiss who had been trying to calculate his odds.

A familiar student was going for her turn.

It was the bushy-browed girl Ginger had met during his First Burning in Professor Alexandros' office.

Oddly enough, Ginger got the feeling that she was going to show something special.