Dragon Sorcerer 2- Chapter 88 (Patreon)

Chapter 88- Birthday

I thought about a gift for Cami as long as I could. The problem came that I really didn’t know what she needed or wanted. I could buy her something, but that would require spending my gold. That was a problem for me. Really, if I could do something for the bears, I thought she would appreciate them. She seemed quite fond of them and if they could be evolved to the point where she could speak to them, then that would be good. Right? I seemed to remember seeing some human children with small stuffed bear dolls. So a real one would be so much better.

Lisella and I went over the training schedule which would start tomorrow. She insisted that each morning I spend an hour with her reading magical theory, but said that sometimes Serius would come and join in. Then she wanted me to spend two hours learning divine magic. One would be with her on a discussion of buffing and healing. The second hour would be with Galbrecht on practical applications.

Since I liked to sleep in, that would be all the time that I’d get with her. Then after that, I would go to this mysterious monk master that she had recommended. I would spend five of six hours with him each afternoon training my monk skills and learning the so-called dragon style. Although, what any human could teach me about that was baffling.

Then she and Modessa were both insisting that Cami and I practice fighting together and learn more about our bond each night and the ways in which it could empower us. When I told her the best way to empower, us would be for us to go into the dungeon the academy was built on top of, she insisted that only the Adventurer’s Guild could admit us to that and wouldn’t until we had two years of training at the university. Apparently, it wasn’t about levels about being perceived as knowledgeable and experienced.

It was beyond frustrating.

Then, after a month of that, I would shift to only have two hours with the monk, assuming that we both felt I was making satisfactory progress. She mentioned something about him accepting me as a disciple, but I wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean. Who wouldn’t want me? I could certainly teach him a thing or two about how dragons fight.

The other three to four hours in the afternoon would be spent with a storm-mage she had hired as a trainer. I would have to spend a month focused on that and then once again, if we were satisfied with the progress, I would cut down to just a couple of hours with him and add on a couple of hours. She had suggested that she find an illusion specialist, but I wanted to spend the extra time working with old alchemist. She was one of the least annoying humans I had met so far.

Lisella was apparently still working on getting that lined up but thought that it would work out. With the rest of my time, I needed to make contact with an enchanter and find some time to work with Daggin. I’d brought the half-dwarf blacksmith here so that I’d have access to him and had invested in him setting up a shop. Then I’d neglected him.

To be fair to myself, it wasn’t very draconic to check up on people. Lesser races either did as they were told or they were discarded. At least, that is how my ancestors treated them. I was learning that I needed to improve on that, but certainly didn’t want to completely change it.

I ended up getting most of the rest of the day to myself. I should have trained or thought about magic or done something I’m sure but just hearing about the training schedule Lisella had in mind for me left me tired. So I took another nap for the rest of the afternoon until we were supposed to meet for dinner at one of the inns in town to celebrate Cami’s birthday. I needed my beauty sleep, after all.

When I woke up, I almost thought that I had overslept. I had the oddest impression that Cami had been trying to reach me, but I must have slept through her telepathic message. I had a sense of panic from her, but as I felt for the bond now, she seemed confused and annoyed but was not in any danger.

The sun was starting to set, but they had insisted on not meeting till 7 pm, so I guess this was the right time. I got dressed in the same uniform I wore every day and then headed over to the inn.

Upon arriving, I was in for something of a shock. The inn was packed to the point that just to get through the door, I actually had to touch humans. It wasn’t like I hadn’t been around other humans. I knew there were hundreds of other students here at the university maybe even more than a thousand. I just never had to make physical contact with them. The most contact I had with a human other when Cami rode upon my back was while sparring.

This was entirely unacceptable. Now, with my enhanced senses, I could smell the sweat on their bodies. They reeked like the monkeys their ancestors were, and clearly this was not an upscale inn because the air was filled with a strange, pungent scent. It was almost like barley or grain product, but smelled a little off.

A human stumbled into me. She was dressed in some type of gown which clearly had no value as armor for it left too much of her exposed. She looked up at me as she pulled back.

“Ohhh… yourr a bigg one aren’t you?” Her voice was strangely slurred almost like she had been drugged or debuffed.

When I didn’t respond right away, she asked, “Can you believe it?” Then she shook her head. “Of course you can. Why else would you be here but to celebrate?”

I was thoroughly confused. I didn’t know this human and had never seen her with Cami. Certainly, it wasn’t as though I kept tabs on her all the time, but I had trouble believing this woman knew her. So much so that I cast Identify.

Tasha Little Student: Imperial University

Age: 19 Level: 4th

Pursuit: Elemental Water

Status: Intoxicated 3

She was a weakling. By the ancestors, what use would Cami have for her? And she was debuffed. That much, at least, I had expected. I just didn’t know what intoxicated was. The word tickled the back of my mind, but the common room was so full and loud that it was difficult to hear myself thinking.

“How do you know Cami?” I demanded. Answers were needed.

“Cami?” She slurred her words even worse as she took another drink out of the cup she was carrying. The brown liquid inside smelled revolting. “Oh, is that her name? Are you friend with the new dragon rider? Can you believe it? A real dragon rider after all this time and she’s only 16 today. Oh, are you her fiancé or something?”

Then she looked me up and down and shook her head. “What a shame. Well, you better get over there. Since the university found out that there is a new dragon rider, the word has spread everywhere. Every eligible bachelor, even a few nobles is trying to catch her eye.”

I was confused by the turn of phrase. It was a human expression I had not heard yet. My initial impression was that Cami was being attacked by someone trying to rip out her eye, but that couldn’t be right. She was annoyed but not fighting. And I saw her sitting against the bar of the inn with Modessa next to her. She must not be in any danger. It was simply that there was a crowd of male students all around her.

Then it hit me. This must be another human expression, which meant something other than what it sounded like. I was sure that given time, I could reason it out, but why bother? I quickly stepped around this Tasha person.

I pushed my way through the crowd. None of them were a match for my strength. Very few of them were wearing uniforms, and most seemed to be wearing highly impractical clothing. I was mindful though of my promise not to intentionally hurt student if it wasn’t necessary.

It took me a couple of minutes to work my way through the room, but I finally made it up to the bar where she was sitting. When she saw me, her eyes got wide, and I saw what I thought was an expression of hope on her face. It was almost like she was asking me to rescue her.

I felt an urge to transform right then and there regardless of how many humans I crushed and to then carry Cami away to safety.

Lisella suddenly appeared next to me. “Calm down Nico.”

“I am calm.”

“Is that why your hands are turned into claws?” She asked very softly.

I looked down. I hadn’t even realized that I’d partially transformed.

“That’s what I thought. You actually do care about Cami; you just don’t know how to express it. Don’t worry. This was inevitable. We talked about it a bit, remember? Once word got out that she was a dragon rider, she was going to be the talk of the university. Well, it happened today and because it’s her birthday, this turned into the biggest bash around.”

Modessa waved us over and her glare parted the males who were pestering Cami. I realized I did have a draconic memory which fit with this. One of my female ancestors had decided to mate, and she had three male suitors who she made compete for the privilege of siring her clutch. Because she was more powerful than any of them they had little choice but to do as she demanded.

That must be what was happening here, but in a twisted human fashion. These fools recognized Cami as a powerful female and were drawn to her. Well, she was my rider, my bonded companion, and the one who I had decided would manage my lair for me. So, they just needed to be dissuaded.

I shifted my hands back and prepared to pommel them. Non-lethal combat should still be within my promise about not harming the students. Modessa put her hand on me though and said, “Whatever you’re thinking, don’t do it.” Then she leaned in and whispered into my ear. “Lisella still has the misguided notion that you have some type of romantic feelings towards Cami, but I’ve got you figured out.”

I pulled back enough to make eye contact with her, but then she pulled me in to whisper again. “You’re a dragon, not a man. We keep forgetting that simple fact. You don’t think like us. To us, Cami is a dragon rider, but to you, she’s what? A minion? Your property? Part of your treasure?”

I looked at her. It seemed shocking that of all the adventurers, Modessa would be the one to make the most sense. Then she said. “Never mind, we can talk about this tomorrow. The party has sort of gotten out of hand. Just have a drink and stand next to Cami. That should be enough to keep anyone from getting handsy with her.”

Something about how she said the words gave me the sense that she wasn’t talking about sipping water of some of the fruit juices I had come to enjoy. “A drink?”

Then she got a wicked grin. “Oh right, you’ve probably never drank whiskey. Well, we better get you some of the strong stuff. This might turn out to be a fun night after all.”