As soon as the teacher left, and the door latch clicked I looked at Ethan with a smile.
"Dude," I shouted throwing my arms up as if we'd won some big match, "That was awesome. Could you always do that? I wish I could've seen it."
"Sort of," Ethan smiled hesitantly, "I've never been able to draw out my full strength around people before. You did something when you looked at me."
"Yeah," I dropped my arms looking down a little guilty, "I didn't meant to, but I think I hypnotized you to be calmer."
"Really?" Ethan looked around slowly, "Could you do it again?"
"Wait?" I was confused, "You want me to do it again."
"Yes," Ethan smiled more willingly this time, "I've always panicked around people, and you made me calm. The only person I haven't panicked around was my mom."
"I don't think you can rely on it Ethan," I didn't want to dash his hopes, but I couldn't be staring him in the eye twenty-four seven, "It only worked because I was looking you in the eye."
"Oh," Ethan looked crestfallen.
"If I can figure out a way to make it work without looking you in the eye all the time," I smiled hesitantly, "Then I'll try to help you out, but it's not a permanent fix. You need to work through your fears on your own eventually."
"Yeah I guess you're right," Ethan looked down as he fell back into his shell.
"Let's get this done so we can go back to our room," I got to work.
Ethan handled most of the heavy lifted with his telekinesis so I got to work on the paperwork. They were pain in the ass work forms that the teacher was probably supposed to fill out. System current xp
10/200 xp until level 4
Ethan had done most the fighting with Luke, and the others so I didn't get any xp. Luke, and his buddies wouldn't come after us while we were together. Not now that he knew I could draw out Ethan's full power, but that didn't mean he'd leave us alone. He wasn't the type that took losses very well. Leveling up was my best option for getting strong enough to handle him on my own, but that was a double edged sword.
If my next level up went like the last one then I would size up again. If I sized up again sneaking out of the dorms would become much harder than it already was. At the same time I might be able to scale the walls if I got bigger, and sneak around that way. My main problem right now was stamina. Transforming in the morning sapped most of my stamina.
So it didn't matter how strong I was because I spent the whole day exhausted. I needed to up my stamina to the point that transforming didn't practically disable me every morning. It was like a permanent handicap. I couldn't just go to classes without transforming either so I just had to get my stamina up. My mana absorption had leveled up so now I didn't lose any mana throughout the day but I still didn't generate mana while using my physical camouflage.
Which, as I finished filling out the forms, I realized brought me back to leveling up. There was no guarantee that leveling up would let me regenerate mana while I was using it, but it was my best bet right now. I sighed as we finished up.
"Lets head back," I was practically asleep on my feet after doing that paperwork, "I don't have enough energy to screw around tonight."
I stretched slowly trying to get a little energy back so maybe we could chat a little more before I fell asleep. Ethan wanted me to use my hypnotism skill on him. If I used it there was a possibility it would level up like murderous intent, and mana absorption. Since it was an eye ability it might level up similar to how murderous intent had leveled up. Maybe I'd be able to use it in different ways.
Like hypnotizing people into thinking they didn't see me, or making those three jerks cluck like chickens. At the same time the ability said it calmed my allies. It might only work on people who were my friends. Since I didn't have many friends it would be kind of disappointing if it only worked on my friends. If it helped Ethan push down his fears it would help him function around people.
The ability didn't use mana so there wasn't any cost to me to use it, but I couldn't have Ethan become completely dependent on it either. I would have to try to keep it as more of a tool when it came to helping Ethan. Something that wasn't to be used unless completely necessary. The jump from level one to level two was significant, but I didn't know how the abilities I had now would evolve as I used them. They might all become like beast abilities.
Lethal extensions of myself. I worried a little that my new dragon form made me more like a beast. My temper flared easily when I was irritated, but it wasn't beyond what I could keep under control right now. What would happen if I lost it completely? Raged out.
Would I go into a berserker state again just because I got angry enough to set it off. Berserker mode seemed to be limited to when I was getting hurt badly. Would that skill change, and evolve too? It was the only skill I had that didn't level up like the others. Ethan opened the dorm door ahead of me, and walked in.
Wait. I felt exhaustion clouding my thoughts. How long was I standing in front of the dorm just thinking? As soon as the door closed I went into my room, and threw my clothes off so I could get back into my real form. I wandered into the shared area to see if Ethan wanted to chat, but he seemed lost in thought.
It was the first time I'd taken my dragon form, and had Ethan not talk to me. I laid down on the floor watching him lazily as my eyes slowly closed, and my head drooped. Ethan scooted over next to me, and started stroking me like I was a big cat. I was too tired to move away, and I liked the way it felt so I just let him. I let my head settle on the floor as I purred myself to sleep.