Flavia was walking along the stone path that Led from academy towards the dragon farm his blond hair shimmering in sunlight with a rare smile on his face. Even his turquoise eyes were shining with delight. He was usually wery calm even dry person, but today he was ecstatic. If anyone were to ask him how he was feeling, he would likely be unable to remain calm and would force the other to listen to a long tirade about the wonderfulness of this day that would mark the beginning of his dream becoming reality.
No one would ask anything from him though. In fact, no one would speak to him. Not that he minded being alone. He had always separated himself from the people around him. Maybe it was the lack of interest towards other people or the tediousness of socializing. He had always enjoyed being alone, spending time with just his own thoughts. As soon as he was forced into a group with other people, things got difficult.
He never knew how to react or what answers to give when conversing with others. Of course, he had lived in the society for the sixteen years of his life, so he did have a general understanding of what was expected during human interactions. But just because he didn't say anything outrageous didn't mean he would be able to figure out what the other party wanted to hear. He thought of himself as a very rational person, but maybe because of that, his understanding of human emotions seemed to be somewhat lacking. Not just understanding of emotions but also the ability to detect the emotions of other people from their expressions or their tone of voice.
At the beginning, he wanted to give correct answers. He felt pressured to do so. After all, no one wants other people to feel negative emotions because of something they said without meaning to. But not only was he unable to figure out the right answer, he was also mostly unable to detect when he he had made a mistake. So he gave up. Although he had this urge to try and make conversations with him more pleasant to others, weirdly enough, he didn't have any urge to converse with others. He also wasn't particularly interested in other people's opinions of him. After he figured these out, he no longer felt any pressure to try and integrate into society.
He wasn't emotionless, though. He could be very passionate when it came to things he was interested in. And that would be dragons. He had always loved dragons. There wasn't any specific reason. He hadn't had any close encounters with dragons before. He also didn't know anyone who worked with dragons. No one had told him any enchanting stories of dragons. He had heard stories, but they were mostly negative. History of the century of fire and humans' arduous victory in the end. Dragons were depicted only as dangerous beasts that had finally been subdued successfully.
But Flavia found them beautiful. He had seen pictures of dragons in books and seen the dragon knights riding their dragons over the city. He would imagine how it would feel like to ride on a dragon in the sky. How it would feel like to be so close to such a powerful predator without any danger? How large would they feel up close? How would the dragon scales and nails feel? What would the personality of the dragon be like? Of course, dragons now are different from dragons before, with lower intelligence and less power. But they were still formidable enough.
He wanted to own a dragon, but he knew it was impossible. All the dragons belonged to the country, to the King. He wanted to ride a dragon, but that was also impossible. Dragon riders were the most prestigious knights in the kingdom. Rider school accepted noble sons, with those from more prestigious families having a higher probability of acceptance. Only a few exceptions were made for those who were able to buy their child's way in either with money or military merits. It wasn't a place a mere orphan would be able to enter.
The only way left to him was becoming a dragon keeper. Being a dragon keeper was also a prestigious job. Just not so much for nobles. They did not have the habit of finding pride in feeding, cleaning, or doing other menial tasks included in taking care of another living being. There were still a few people from lower-class aristocracy, but mostly the keepers were upper-class citizens.
It was still a bit of a stretch for Flavia, but he had made it. Thankfully, he was an orphan in an orphanage. There were also those children who were not taken in by any institutions and had to live out on the streets. Even poorer children with parents would sometimes have to stay at home and help with work instead of going to school. The country was encouraging people to get basic education, but that did not mean all people would listen.
He had been able to get admitted to school through the orphanage. The right to continue his studies in the Dragon Keeper Academy was something he painstakingly won through excellent grades at school. He had been the first in his class from the second year and first in the whole school from his third year, all the way to the sixth year when he graduated.
It was hard at the beginning. Orphanages are quite busy just taking care of the basic needs of the children, so there is no such thing as early education. Although there were no nobles in the school he went to, there were children of rich merchants and higher-class families. Their starting point was higher than that of the children from middle- and lower-class families, not to mention orphans. He used all his effort to catch up, surpass, and stay ahead of them, because he knew that was the only way.
It is said that students studying in a commoner school will be able to get many opportunities as long as their grades are excellent enough. It is not completely false, but usually wealth and connections with other wealthy families are much more likely to get opportunities than actual ability and grades. It is not easy to stick out amongst so many people. Only the few on top will actually be seen, and only the first one has the right to ask for the opportunity he wishes for. All the others will have to wait for someone to offer an olive branch, which they can graciously accept.
The right of the top student to place a request is given by the school as a reward, and the school will use its connections to grant that request. Usually, the request will be about their future workplace. Very few commoners will continue studying after graduating. There is no need for that. It is better to find a master to study a craft under or enter straight into the workforce. Dragon Keeper Academy was one of the few postgraduate study opportunities for commoners. Of course, after successfully winning the requesting right from the school, Flavia requested to be admitted to the Dragon Keeper Academy and it was granted smoothly.
First and second years of Dragon Keeper Academy were theoretical studies, and the final third year before graduation was practical study in an adjacent dragon farm. However, the top ten students in the first year would be able to start gaining practical experience already from the beginning of their second year, as long as their performance wouldn't drop. Naturally, this was what Flavia would aim for and what he succeeded in.
It was now the beginning of the second week of his second year in Dragon Keeper Academy, and he was heading to the dragon farm for his very first practical lesson.