Melinda finally concluded the class after each of them had proven capable of conjuring several small objects in a row. She gave Mike a rather serious glare when he started participating effectively, showing that he was capable of using conjuration despite the spell he'd used to summon Red. He wasn't surprised when she had him stay after class.
She stared at him for a good minute before speaking. "I've decided that I don't want to know any more information about you, so I'm going to pretend our conversation from earlier never happened. For now, I think we should concentrate on figuring out what to do with your dragon. Keeping him here any longer will only make others suspicious."
"Are you done experimenting already?" Mike asked, surprised that she was willing to let her valuable research subject go like that.
"No, but I've learned about as much as I can without knowing the specific chant you used. Since you seem to have forgotten it," She gave him an exasperated look, "I'm going to have to figure something else out."
"Anyway, I believe your best bet is to have him hide outside of the University. There are some woods to the northwest that would be a good fit. Since he can fly, it will be a simple matter to get him across the bay. Of course, I would like a chance to study him every so often. Maybe you could call him back once a week. I need to track his progress in self manifestation, after all."
"That should be fine, but aren't there defenses that will trigger with him just flying over the wall?"
"As a summoned creature, your dragon shares your mana signature, so you might have to answer a few questions if you have him come back too often, but overall, it should be fine."
Mike nodded, "Sounds like a plan then." He paused to consider a couple of possibilities. "How should I go about contacting him if I need him?"
Miranda blinked, before laughing. "Sorry, sometimes it's hard to remember that you're still a newbie when it comes to Summoning Magic. As a conjured creature, you should have a mental link with him, allowing you to give him commands from a distance. It should work a bit like your familiar bond, but more informational and less emotional."
[Right…. There was that. I don't remember having any kind of mental connection to Audra, at least that I could feel. Do I just…think at him?]
Mike tried to mentally tell Red to look at him. He felt accomplished when the dragon regarded him questioningly.
"I would suggest having him move at night, that way we can avoid any problems that might arise from him being seen." Melinda commented after watching the proceedings.
"I'll take care of it tonight, then."
Mike said his farewells, and after recalling Audra, who had gotten tired and spent most of the last half of the lesson curled up into a ball on Red's back, headed to his next class.
He sat through another round of excruciatingly painful pronunciation practice in Chanting, before heading over to Alchemy.
It was a little less crowded this time. From the sounds of the muttering going on around him, if a student failed to unlock the skill in the last class, the University would forcefully kick them out of the class. Apparently it was considered a waste of resources to try and teach individuals without the talent for the skill.
The course of instruction today was on making Crystal Salt, an alchemical material that saw high demand among blacksmiths. It could dramatically increase the durability of steel when mixed with it during the forging process. As such it was another staple alchemical product.
He quickly succeeded in making a bowlful of the substance, which mainly involved mixing the blood of an Ironhide Boar with the diluted resin of the Crystalshard Tree. The resulting solution formed a pinkish sediment that, once dried and heated, formed into Crystal Salt.
The whole process reminded Mike of chemistry class, and he had genuine fun mixing the fantasy materials, but he wondered when they would be allowed to choose their own projects. He had a feeling that, given the chance to do a little experimentation, he could come up with some interesting things.
Lily, of course, barely succeeded in creating the Crystal Salt, after going through four separate flasks. Two of them exploded in her usual fashion, but the third actually imploded, creating a vaguely condensed block of pinkish material with shards of glass embedded in it. Mike was so confused by this process he used Appraise on the product, in an effort to figure out what happened.
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Sedimentary Crystal
Material (Tier 1, Rank 1)
A byproduct of a failed alchemical process. Has no intrinsic value, but may function as a paperweight.
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[I always wondered if the System had a sense of humor. Now I know.]
Mike spent the rest of the class quietly practicing his Air Magic under the table. It proved more difficult than he originally intended to keep the small swirl of wind both contained and silent, but he managed to do so. Before the class was over, he felt the familiar clicking sensation as the skill finally ranked up.
Feeling quite pleased with himself, he returned to the dormitory. He'd initially planned on finishing the history book, but decided to take a break from the author's dry writing style. He briefly flipped through the tome on magic theory and found it to be more or less what he was learning in class, so lacking any better options, he picked up "Monsters of the Central Continent."
Ever since he summoned a Lesser Fire Dragon, he'd been curious about what other types were out there. An entire chapter was dedicated to draconic creatures, starting with 'True' dragons, and working into draconically influenced monsters. Unfortunately, the section dedicated to dragons was relatively short. According to the author, while dragons had been fairly common on the central continent in the past, the Day of Ashes changed that.
The hostile environment which currently encased the Ash Mountains drove the dragons living there to other continents. Only a few species remained, specifically those who made their homes in Forest of Shadows, and along the coastline of the central continent. That said, the author was able to determine a few basic facts that seemed prevalent across all of the various species.
All 'true' dragons are elementally attuned, magical in nature, and can gain access to a range of magical abilities as they develop. While the most basic of these is flight, since it would be impossible to create enough lift for the creatures with muscle power alone, almost every variety can perform a number of unusual feats involving their attuned elements. For instance flame dragons are known to breathe fire and utilize rudimentary Fire Elemental Magic.
The remaining details were scant, but the author included some secondary sources of questionable veracity, to pad the section a little. He went on to explain that dragon physiology is not well understood, but most accounts agree that they are pretty much the most advanced kind of life form on the planet.
Apparently dragons are capable of eating just about anything, are functionally immune to disease, can live for thousands of years, heal at a significantly faster rate than other creatures, have abnormally dense and resilient tissue that render them far more durable than most living beings, and have innately higher attributes. All this combined with their incredible intellects means that an angry dragon is on par with a natural disaster in terms of destructive force.
Thanks to the efficiency of their digestive systems, they didn't even need to expel biological waste. A fact that Mike had been worrying about for some time, having noticed the tendency in Audra.
Thankfully, the majority of dragon varieties are known for their sluggish and easy-going natures. So long as they are provided regular food supplies, they generally won't engage in violence unless threatened.
Mike skimmed through the rest of the book, taking note of some interesting monsters. When he had the time, he was planning on trying his hand at summoning some of the draconic creatures listed within. While not as powerful as an actual dragon, they could prove useful in certain circumstances, especially if he could find a way of summoning multiple creatures at the same time.
When he heard the bell tower ring ten times, he went down and got a quick dinner before heading over to the summoning pavilion. The others hadn't returned yet, and Mike figured they must still be training hard.
When he arrived, Red was already up and waiting for him. With a great deal of care, Mike was able to direct him through the support pillars without causing any serious damage. There were a few scrapes that would be hard to explain, but considering the alternative, he called it a win.
As quietly as he could manage while leading a multi-ton creature, Mike headed towards the eastern wall, past the Elemental Magic building. When the wall was finally in sight, he turned and looked at Red, ensuring that he had the dragon's full attention.
"Alright buddy, I know this is a little cruel, but I'm going to need to you to go hide in the woods for a while. Can you do that?"
Red nodded his head solemnly.
[I wonder if he can understand me because he's a conjured creature, or because of my Communication Magic. Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter.]
"Take care of yourself while you're out there, make sure to eat regularly, and don't get into too many fights with the other monsters."
The dragon rubbed his head affectionately against Mike.
Mike felt an odd sense of loneliness. [Is this what it feels like when your child leaves home? Parenting must suck.]
A female voice broke his reverie. "What.....what is this?"
[...crap...]