Who are you? The little dragon asks.

  I feel a tug in my soul, almost as though it is asking me to respond to it. “Hi there, I am Maka. Nice to meet you, little one.”

  I am not an ‘it’ I am a she. But wait, what does ‘she’ even mean? Does it relate to the meaning of this ‘name’ Maka? Such a thing seems meaningless, yet not.

  I have no clue what it is asking, but I try to answer anyway. “Hmm, I am unsure. I think most people use names to define themselves. Though perhaps it is meaningless.”

  That sounds nice. I would like a name. Will you give me one?

  “Oh damn, uh.. A name… how about Agril?”

  I don’t like that name. Try again.

  What's the point of asking me to pick a name if she is just going to reject it? “Hmm, how about Lipan?”

  Rejected. I do not understand what constitutes a name. Yet I still desire one. Thus I need you to come up with one that feels right.

  Wait, is she reading my mind? That’s a little bit creepy.

  Is this mind reading? I can simply tell what you are in every manner. Is that not how you perceive this connection?

  “Not exactly, to me it's more like you are speaking.”

  Intriguing.

  “So Agril and Lipan are no gos.” I thought for a moment. Perhaps something to do with her yellow eyes? “How about Lemon?”

  That feels.. Nice. Lemon. I am Lemon. I feel strange just saying that. Is this the meaning of a name?

  “I guess so. So uh, what now?”

  The elder speaks again, Now, young ones, you go forth into the world. Achieve that which you desire most, no matter the cost.

  With that, the dragon seems to sink into some form of sleep and the room goes quiet.

  I try communicating with Lemon without speaking. It seems like a useful skill. Lemon, can you move?

  I can. So, let us venture forth into this ‘world’, it seems we will be stuck together.

  Stuck together indeed. With that, Lemon and I leave through a smaller door to the side of the chamber.

  When we leave the chamber we enter a large garden room, full of trees and flowers. It is like some sort of park. I spot Stephen, Moxie and Liv huddled up together. Strangely, they still seem to be in their uniforms and not armor.

  We start walking over and I catch sight of their dragons, all identical to my own, aside from the eye color. Moxie’s dragon has bright green eyes. Liv’s dragon has brown eyes. While Stephen’s dragon has red eyes. If I recall correctly, the eye color corresponds to some sort of type of dragon and they are somehow different.

  “Heya guys.” I say, walking up to them. Lemon trails a bit behind me, she is a bit unsteady on her legs, but given the fact she was just hatched, I am surprised she can even walk. Dragons are awesome.

  Liv is the first one to turn to me, “Maka! What took you so lon- wait where the fuck did you get that awesome armor?” A shocked expression appears on her face, and is similarly mirrored on the others’.

  “Didnt the elder fella give you guys armor too?”

  “Heck no dude. Why would they give us armor?” Stephen seems to be really eyeing my armor, like he wants to hit me to test how strong it is. “The elder just asks a bunch of cryptic questions that don't really mean anything, then gives you an egg and bond thingy.”

  “Wait did you guys get the whole thing about desires and dragonkin and whatnot?”

  “Maka, genuinely what the fuck are you on?” Liv places her hand on my shoulder, though I think she just wanted to touch the armor. “Is that what took you so damn long? You were gone for three hours, we were about to leave.”

  “No way, that was like, 30 minutes tops.” I say in disbelief.

  It was indeed several hours, I could see from inside my egg. I have also conferred with their partners, and they say the others had a far different experience to you. Lemon says. Great so I'm some sort of freak. Also for some reason, it seems the other dragons are far less… intelligent than I am. I just thought I should make you aware. Oh great, so Lemon might also be some sort of freak.

  “Nope. So what, are you some sort of super guard?” Stephen asks.

  “Maka strange?” Moxie asks. She seems far more interested in Lemon than my armor.

  Thankfully at that moment, Professor Dirge enters the garden and starts to walk over towards us. “Maka, I am sure you have many questions. But first let me state that while extremely rare, this is not an unheard of situation.”

  “So uh, what am I?” It is good to know that I am not some unheard of thing. Just an extremely rare thing.

  “I am sure you know of the heroes. But what you likely do not know is that they were not normal beings once they made the choice to bond with the dragons. Very simply, it changed them. Into what, we are not quite certain, and that is likely something you have to figure out yourself. But we refer to them as dragonkin.” he pauses for a second, seemingly gathering himself. Then he walks over and places his hand on my shoulder. “Cadet, you have been given a grand power. That armor is but a small part of that power. Something about the dragonkin is different. I have never met one myself, but they are often known to use innovative techniques to say the least.”

  “So, I'm no longer human?”

  “I am unsure. But it is my belief that you are at least partially something else. Some scholars suggest that the dragonkin undergo some transformation that makes a part of themselves inherently draconic. I look forward to seeing what you will become, Cadet Ilemon. I am sure that I am not the only one that will be keeping a close eye on you.” He sighs and then turns to the others. “As for the rest of you, don't be too hard on Cadet Ilemon. He is just a bit different. Though, if my suspicions are correct, he is not the only one.”

  As if on cue, a massive explosion shakes the room, seemingly coming from the elder’s chamber.

  Maka, I am detecting a massive surge of aether energy from the chamber. Similar to when you underwent your own transformation. However, this one feels a bit different, stronger.

  Just what the fuck is happening today? I thought we were just going to get our dragons, have a bit of fun and that's that. But, it seems like I will gain some sort of power. Power that will allow me to defeat the monsters.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  “Woah, it happened again!” Liv shouts. “Maka, that same thing happened not long ago when you were in there. Did Violet do something crazy too? Figures, that girl just screams ‘special’.”

  Dirge’s forehead scrunches up and he seems to think for a moment. “I don’t think I am paid enough to deal with this shit.” he mumbles, though we can all hear him.

  We decide to table the Violet thing until she emerges. So naturally, the others want to show off their dragons to me.

  “Everyone, this is Lemon. Lemon, this is everyone.” I say, pushing Lemon forward.

  “Wait, you named your dragon already? We were supposed to do that?” Stephen asks.

  “She asked, so I did.”

  “Wait, you can speak to your dragon already?” Dirge asks.

  “Uh yeah, is that not normal?”

  “Cadet, what type is your dragon? Now that I think of it, I've never seen one with yellow eyes.”

  “How do I figure that out?” I ask

  “You should've got a bunch of system messages when you bonded. You all should probably check those out.” Dirge explains.

  I check my system notifications and surely enough, there is one. It must've gone unnoticed due to all the other shit that was happening.

  [Dragon Bond Formed]

  Lemon [Lvl 0 Exchange Dragon]

  Age: Infant (250 levels to reach Juvenile)

  Type: (yellow) Exchange; This dragon can manipulate the nature and balance of reality itself. Even the strings of fate may be altered, for the right price.

  Partner Bond Affinity: 1%

  Abilities

  Dragon Ability 1: Spatial Exchange; The dragon can bargain with the nature of space in exchange for various effects. Energy cost scales with desired result.

  Dragon Ability 2: Requires level 1000

  Dragon Ability 3: Requires level 2000

  Dragon Ultimate Ability: Requires level 3000

  Augments

  Augment Slot: Free

  Augment Slot: Requires Juvenile dragon

  Augment Slot: Requires Juvenile dragon

  Augment Slot: Requires Adolescent dragon

  Augment Slot: Requires Adolescent dragon

  Augment Slot: Requires Adolescent dragon

  Augment Slot: Requires Adult Dragon

  Large Augment Slot: Requires Adolescent dragon

  Large Augment Slot: Requires Stage 1 Adult dragon

  Large Augment Slot: Requires Stage 2 Adult dragon

  Ultimate Augment Slot: Requires Stage 3 Adult dragon

  Dragon Skills are unlocked upon reaching Juvenile

  [Path Leveling and Path Skills Now Available]

  Woah. Lemon, you are awesome. I say through our bond.

  Am I really? What's so special about this stuff, and what are augments? Lemon asks.

  Well, you seem awesome. I've got no clue what augments are, let me ask.

  “Okay, I checked it out. It says she is an ‘Exchange’ dragon, whatever that is. By the way, what are augments for?”

  “Wait, did you just say exchange?” Dirge says, “That is the type of dragon Asteria had. It is the source of her moniker, weaver of stars. To have it show up again…” he starts grumbling under his breath.

  “My dragon is super cool too!” Liv says, “it says she is a space dragon, something about manipulating gravity and stuff too. This is gonna be so awesome.”

  “Yes, that is a far more reasonable dragon type to have, though still somewhat rare.” Dirge explains. “Space can be quite powerful when used well. So be sure to train with it well, Cadet Rampe. Now Cadet Ilemon, if that type is what I remember from the archives, you must be very careful when practicing with those abilities. In fact, we might need to get you a special testing place, scholars will want to study it, with your permission of course.

  Oh, and about your augment question. Well, once you start fissure diving – which involves taking back space that is fully under monster control – you can loot augments. Then you can slot those into your dragon to gain abilities, bonuses and other such things. They are quite integral to any Guard’s arsenal.” Neat. I now can’t wait to go fissure diving. It does sound a bit dangerous, but that just means it will be full of rewards.

  “Got it, equivalent exchange does seem like it has a lot of places to go wrong. I’ll have to check with Lemon, but helping with research sounds like fun.” I shift my attention to Moxie, who has been quiet as usual. “Moxie, what is your dragon’s type?”

  “He Spirit.” Is all she says.

  Luckily Dirge is ready to help her out. “That is quite a rare one, but pretty fitting for a healer. I am sure it will be quite useful to your squadmates. How about you, Cadet Ingram?”

  “It says he is a ‘self’ dragon. But the description is very vague and the ability doesn't seem to do anything at all.” Stephen says, sounding disappointed.

  “Ah, a conceptual type then, they are somewhat rare. Those are quite strange indeed, and it might take you some time to figure out how to properly tap its potential. But if you can figure it out, it can be quite powerful.” Dirge explains. “By the primes, this is an interesting bunch. All of your dragons have rare types. But that is going to make it hard to teach, you cadets are gonna be a real handful for me. But If I can get you to work together properly in time, we might actually win the tournament this year.”

  “What tournament are you talking about? Do we get to punch people? Please say we get to punch people.” Liv says.

  “Hmm, I guess I can tell you. At the end of every school year a large tournament is held, known as The Mocks. Each squadron will compete within their year’s cadets. It is mostly for prestige and bragging rights, but there are some monetary rewards as well.”

  “Sounds neat.” Stephen says, “We are gonna train super hard and win that thing, no problem.” Moxie and Liv nod their agreement. It sounds like fun, I cannot wait to show off what we all can do.

  After that, we chatted for a while about various things. Dirge answers some of our questions. Like the fact that dragons’ levels are determined by how much they contribute to slaying monsters. Though the bond affinity stat can give bonus experience gained from normal path leveling.

  He also told us about what the eye colors mean. Apparently each color is a specific category. For instance, Moxie’s green eyed dragon is a part of the elemental category. While Stephen’s red eyed dragon is a part of the conceptual category. Liv’s brown eyed dragon is a part of the fundamental forces category. There are also blue eyed dragons, which are known as the enhancement category.

  Professor Dirge’s dragon is of the enhancement category, physical boost to be precise. It basically allows him and his dragon to temporarily improve their physical abilities vastly. It sounds quite useful, but difficult to master.

  Dirge says he doesn't actually know what the yellow category is called, considering they are so rare. But we decided to name it the special category. We try asking about dragon skills, but he merely says to save that for another day.

  Dirge also gives us special capture orbs. Apparently they can be used to store our dragons for easier transport. Though they stop working once they become an adolescent. I am sure they will come in quite useful. He gives me an extra for Violet, though I have no clue why he gave it to me specifically. He tells us that we shouldn't have our dragons out unless we are in our quarters or training, which makes sense. If everyone kept their dragons out, the hallways would get quite crowded.

  After a while, the doors to the chamber open and out emerges Violet. She is wearing armor, which hugs her curves wonderfully and really shows off all of her beautiful muscles. Her dragon trails behind her, and it has yellow eyes. “Why is everyone staring at me like that?”

  “‘Cause apparently you and I are some super special dragonkin thing that no one knows anything about.” I answer.

  “Fuck. Why you of all people?” Her face turns into a scowl, seemingly directed right at me. I don't think she realizes it, but her scowl is quite cute.

  “Cause I am just that cool.” I say, flashing her a smile. “So, what cool type did your dragon friend get?”

  “Why the fuck would I tell you that?”

  Then, unexpectedly Moxie swoops in out of nowhere. “I want, know too.” Moxie to the rescue. It seems like she has gotten a bit better at speaking lately. She must have studied quite hard.

  “Well I will tell you, Moxie.” Violet says, specifically avoiding my gaze. I really wonder why she hates me so much, I need to figure it out soon. “His type apparently is spatial annihilation. The description is only a single line, ‘make that which is into that which is not.’ Oh, and his name is Apple.” She laughs lightly at the last part. Apple is a great name for a dragon after all.

  “Hmm, I think I've heard of that one before.” Dirge says. “I think it was the commander of the Hero’s party. Uqin, the voidbringer. He was said to be the strongest of all the heroes, but it never explained how.” He scratches his head and lets out a long sigh. “For fucks sake, what are the odds of two dragonkin with special dragon types in the same year. Let alone the same squadron. The paperwork is going to be monumental. But, that is not something you cadets have to worry about, leave it all to me. For now, why don't you all head home and get some rest, the bond can be quite tiring. Wait, before you go, I almost forgot to mention the Induction Ceremony is in two days. So be prepared, since after that classes will start and you cadets will be quite busy I imagine.”

  Without saying anything else, we take him up on that offer and head back home. On the way back, I catch Violet up on all the information Professor Dirge told us. I also give her the extra dragon orb Dirge gave me. Surprisingly, she actually thanks me and I nearly die of shock right in the middle of the hallway.

  Next Chapter: The Paths

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