Chapter 5 - Theodore

I've been forcibly paired up with a witch.

Her mark gives away that she's a witch, but she seems pretty clueless about how marks work—she's just reading my face to figure out if she's been exposed.

Watching her breathe a sigh of relief, I find it kind of funny.

Dragons have always been loners.

That's what Dad told me when I was little.

People always talk about dragons with careful respect. On Faeoria news channels, you sometimes hear stories about dragon shifters losing control of their transformations, wrecking local areas and starting forest fires.

Before I came to Arlo University, I was basically alone. I'd gotten used to it.

Lonely? Come on, there are so many treasures in the world waiting for me to find. My lifelong dream is to lie in a shiny golden room counting coins. How could that be lonely?

My classmates keeping their distance saves me the trouble of having to deal with them.

Crowds move aside wherever I go. Perfect. This means I'm never late to class.

I get two empty rows of seats all to myself in the back of every classroom. School-required group activities? I'm excused.

But this easy life didn't last long.

Because I'm a dragon shifter, I need weekly bone-age growth checks at the president's office. Every stage has to be carefully recorded to prevent campus incidents.

After logging my data, President Duncan tells me about this assignment like he's talking about lunch plans—I'm supposed to be an upperclassman mentor.

I immediately use dragon shifter instability as my excuse to say no.

But President Duncan sees right through me with his all-knowing stare. "Little Theodore, you are the most stable dragon on record. Stop hiding in your dorm counting gold. Join some group activities for once."

Seeing there's no way out, I shrug like I don't care.

"Fine. It's just going through the motions anyway. No one's going to choose to team up with me."

I'm already used to being alone. I can't even imagine what it would be like having a freshman following me around.

Besides, people avoid me like the plague. Who would actually seek me out for a team?

Flames flicker from my palm, burning up the notification letter. I head toward the dorm, watching classmates scatter to the sides as usual. One cat shifter doesn't get away in time and jumps straight into a fountain.

I hold back my smile, reminding myself to act like a gentleman in public.

My room takes up an entire floor by itself, with several fire-resistant dark-iron chains on the door. These are specially made arrays for dragon shifters, designed to contain any destruction inside the dorm if a dragon loses control.

Can't help it. Our predecessors left quite a mess behind. President Duncan once complained tearfully that every dragon shifter destroys at least one building, costing him a fortune in repairs each time.

On this point, I feel pretty proud. So far, I've caused zero destruction, because my magical energy is way beyond that of previous dragon shifters.

Become the academy's greatest mage-sorcerer in history.

Whenever the slightest hint of instability shows up, I immediately activate the array to lock myself in, preventing countless incidents.

I toss a handful of gold coins into the air, listening to their beautiful clinking sound. Lying on top of my treasure mountain of gold, silver, and jade, I settle in comfortably with my favorite reading material, planning to completely forget about this mentor thing.

Then the beautiful text turns into President Duncan's face.

"Little Theodore, if you don't go, the treasure in your dorm might mysteriously disappear."

While the amount here isn't enough to affect my overall wealth, for a dragon, having your treasure stolen is the ultimate insult. My rage starts to build—then I immediately hear the dark-iron chains slowly moving.

My pupils turn to slits. "You would steal my treasure," I say to him word by word.

Before things get out of control, the president quickly backs off. "No one can take your treasure." He starts loudly going on about everything he's done for dragon shifters over the years.

The time and resources he's put into dragon shifter transformation stability.

He's been researching this since my dad's generation. President Duncan really has dedicated decades to dragon shifter stability.

My pupils gradually go back to normal. My dragon breath stabilizes.

"Don't joke with a dragon about such things, President." The heat from my array cloak and the president's quick backtracking calm me down. I finally agree to the mentor assignment. I'm genuinely grateful to the president. That's the main reason I let it go so easily.

When I arrive at the Observatory, the moment I step a bit closer to the group of freshmen, they huddle together like scared deer. I can sense their nerves wound tight as piano wires.

Several shifters can't even keep their animal traits hidden.

I move a few steps to the side.

Only then do I hear them all breathe out in relief.

I keep a straight face, though inside, I find it kind of funny.

Time drags on second by second. Professor Cora introduces the mentors one by one. When she gets to me, she pauses, making a big deal about my dragon shifter identity.

As expected, no one picks me.

But group activities always bring complications. Being alone actually lets me focus better on my interests, putting all my attention on myself.

Shifter hearing is sharp. I hear them huddling together, chatting excitedly about shared topics—laughter, complaints, exclamations. These sounds get louder and louder, reaching my ears.

I can't tell if what I'm feeling is annoyance or something else.

Did the president specifically send me here just to play the part of a rejected fool?

Dragon shifter vision lets me see my "competitors" perfectly clearly.

That wolf shifter can't even pull her ears back in. The bear shifter's magical aura is completely average. Can a mer-shapeshifter mentor even leave the water?

Look at this earth shapeshifter—can't even make a dirt mound with natural elements.

I realize I'm getting more and more bitter. This isn't how a gentleman acts. I force myself to stop thinking like that.

I start my usual practice of clearing my mind, blocking out everyone around me. Until the air actually goes quiet.

"Hey, aren't you going to fight for yourself?"

I almost think I'm hearing things.

I recognize her. When she first got to campus, the little wolf beside her kept sharing those rumors about me, and she said hi to me directly.

The little wolf rushes forward, trying to change her mind. Even the professor joins in trying to talk her out of it.

I figure she'll back down from the pressure.

"But I checked the campus network. In his two years here, there hasn't been a single incident of him losing control of his power or beast form that hurt anyone."

Those words hit my ears, making me look up right away, meeting her determined gaze.

She's wearing a cat-paw hair clip, her frame small and thin, her brown curls hanging softly at her sides like her gentle appearance. But the words she speaks, the actions she takes—they show surprising strength.

Even as we sign the contract, I can barely believe it. For the next week, I'll be tied to her.

A huge dragon pattern covers her entire forearm. For the first time, someone else's mark appears on my arm.

A witch hat. A flying broom. How interesting.

So she's a little witch pretending to be a raccoon.

Witches are supposed to be mysterious and weird in personality. This one in front of me is cheerful and outgoing—the complete opposite of those stories.

"I'm Murphy Davide, raccoon shifter, healing apothecary major, freshman. I think the next step is getting to know campus." So she isn't totally calm either—she stumbles over her words at the end. "Starting tomorrow, you apparently need to walk me to class."

These are standard duties for an upperclassman mentor.

Because of the magical academy's unique setup, upperclassman mentors go to the first week of classes with their freshmen, helping them adjust to school quickly.

I haven't talked to anyone besides dragon shifters in a really long time. And Murphy has this habit of looking straight into people's eyes when she talks. Those green cat-like eyes are like bright emeralds—focused and mysterious.

Like you're the most important thing in her world right now.

"I'm Theodore Williams, dragon shifter, combat sorcery major, sophomore. I'll wait for you outside your dorm building tomorrow." I follow her introduction style, and it makes her laugh.

Her smile is so bright. I trace the little raccoon mark on my arm.

I'm filled with excitement for what comes next.

Her personality. Her identity. Her. Truly fascinating.