Two days passed in a blink.

The Stride became several degrees more pleasant for Ginger even though he was still the talk of the school - mainly because of his background, and the fact that he was a hybrid.

Ira's surprising encouragement rejuvenated Ginger, for a start. The gatekeeper had an Ancor-esque way of speaking that made Ginger wonder who among them inspired the other. Given Ancor's extra self-destructive antics though, Ginger concluded that the Shaman learned a lot more from Ira.

After sleeping on the conversation he had with the gatekeeper, Ginger had found himself feeling even lighter. This was in part also because he had someone to help him with ordeals that Ira couldn't actively help with – Reiss.

The super midget had become something of a portable happiness device for Ginger, causing him to almost gleam bright, and become immune to the long stares he often got wherever he went.

Having Reiss as a friend was redeeming, and the small dragonling felt the same. The two seemed to grow closer and more comfortable in their own bubble of mutual understanding.

A great advance in the trust the two had in each other showed when Ginger told some details about his conversation with Ira to Reiss – barring sensitive information, like how he had two souls – which Reiss responded to with "Good grief! Really? Some dragons here know humans from the Wild personally?!"

Reiss, on the other hand, removed his scarf and showed the dull silver cast of his scales which Ginger didn't react that oddly to since he had seen the kind of flame Reiss could produce during the Second Burning.

The dwarfish dragonling had a cast that matched the Argent Dragon's, the weakest among the five most potent ones. Reiss felt a little embarrassed about it. According to him, dragon society wasn't too hot on the argent cast and its variants.

Some extremists even took the cast as being no different from the miscellaneous ones past it.

In any case, revealing his cast to Ginger meant a lot to Reiss who wasn't willing to walk around with his scarf loose, showing a gingery-orange cast like his plump counterpart.

Naturally, both dragonlings appreciated the transparency from either side, even though both clearly had darker secrets reserved for later stages of trust. Their relationship grew despite this, as they complemented each other a little too well.

Reiss cherished the idea of expressing his intelligence to Ginger who took it all in greedily while providing spectacularly thrilling reactions. It was rare to find this in someone who didn't fixate on his size.

Reiss had wondered though: Were there many short, smaller-than-usual children among the humans perhaps? That wasn't the case for dragons. They usually had robust bodies that developed quickly, unless of course, they were hybrids. Reiss had as much dragon blood as any other dragonling in the same year, however.

As for Ginger, he was extremely thankful for having someone to teach him nuances in both dragon society, and the general language. Reading through the ancient library books got more enlightening with a friend who was willing to explain even the slightest detail, albeit with a few infuriated bursts of "Good grief, Ginger!" here and there.

Besides that, the plump dragonling had been ever so glad to finally be able to sleep in his bed at night.

Reiss had said before that he would watch over him to make sure he didn't walk out again – which wasn't too tall of a favor since Reiss began reading past his usual latest hours last Stride, on account of their courses truly beginning in kind.

Speaking of courses, the gears changed in an utterly brutal manner.

The usually carefree environment from First Blue which had sustained gossip, giggles, and gallivanting, was burned to oblivion.

It all started with Professor Edelman – straight-backed, aloof, and with sleek, deep indigo hair.

He began piling on stacks of atrociously unappealing history for the students to study and absorb: the result of the various, intensive draconic policies during the 103rd Tally of the Azure Dragon; Leander Sopphira's stance in response to the Great Rising of the 231st Tally of the Violet Dragon; the formation of the Coalition of Non-Dragons against the spread of the Condemned in 111th Tally of the Azure Dragon and so much more.

Ginger found no pleasure in some of these topics.

Having to write ostensibly complex essays on histories that were completely new to him would have had him jumping out a window on the fifth floor if not for Reiss.

The fact that Alcaeus and Fillys had been too busy to mess with Ginger was telling of how terribly effective the educational aura in Expired Times and Diluted Histories was.

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Not everything was uninteresting though.

Ginger knew to pay attention here and there once Professor Edelman actually began talking about things that weren't too rich. He grew to learn a lot more about the Cinder-Born in general – the history of how Qin Asha, Olarmanders, Blighted, and Condemned came to be.

"Our values?" Professor Edelman said. "They are based on how our ancestors were birthed. The vast volcanic mountain Burmrag, said to now be buried under five hundred thousand tonnes of hard crust, birthed the first Cinder-Born to walk this continent. Millions of us crawled from the deep, scorching lava; Qin Asha and the Olarmanders, which served as our companions and messengers."

The Professor smiled proudly, his pacing around the class being the only thing to be heard beside his voice.

"As Qin Asha, we stood – well, we still do – as bastions of courage, might, and nature. We were to grow and give praises to Burmrag as our god. I imagine it wasn't a burden. Even the earliest Olarmanders needed no training to maintain the sanctity of the great mountain, but some among us Qin Asha, chose to refuse Burmrag its due praise. Some of us chose instead, to wander from the mountain, and enslave other races after learning to Denature, setting loose mighty bursts of flame that devoured scores of innocent non-dragons."

"Burmrag was displeased, our ancient texts say, and it cursed the ungrateful rebels, turning them into mindless mutants and plagued monsters that lusted with fierce instinct for carnage – the flesh of other Cinder-Born – and gold. These are what we known as Blighted and Condemned. Unlike us, they stand for greed, war, adverse fertility, and evil. They have bred themselves into countless species over the millennia, increasing their numbers atrociously."

"However, Burmrag made it so that putting them down offers reward, especially for the Condemned. I believe it was to allow the loyal among us to grow stronger, and this still applies to this day."

After the lesson, Ginger had been smitten with several questions that carried over from Professor Lyall's explanation of how Kardia grew after the Second Burning.

Certainly, the origin of dragons left him intrigued, but because the predicament of his lacking Kardia was still afoot, his mind desperately sought an answer in everything he learned.

"So killing Blighted and Condemned gives you something else besides their Kardia?" he asked Reiss while opening his palm and closing it continuously.

"Of course," the short dragonling said matter-of-factly, also following the same hand motion. "I've read about some famous dragons acquiring powerful weapons and artefacts after killing stronger Condemned. Families like Avecsalot and Draggard-Phoenix probably have them as heirlooms for hundreds of generations!"

Ginger grimaced.

Just thinking about Vassilis having some kind of super powerful tool that he could threaten anyone who dared to speak against him with, irked his very soul. Souls?

Well, maybe the young dragonling didn't have something like that. After all, Ginger had stood his ground against him not too long ago, and nothing happened to him.

"But don't Blighted and Condemned have different Kardia types like us? What if you kill a Blighted that has Pooling-type Kardia when you have Affix-type? Doesn't that mess up your stok?"

Reiss gave Ginger an odd look.

"I guess you missed the answer in Universal Knowledge of Unnatural Creatures, huh? Professor Rotten mentioned it in her class last Stride. Olarmanders, Blighted, and Condemned have something like Totality-type Kardia. Seems dangerous, doesn't it? It's not much of an advantage though, since most of them aren't that intelligent. Still, it must have been Burmrag's way of giving us a bit more of a challenge. In any case, once the Kardia filters into you, it doesn't change your Kardia type."

Soon, the duo exited the Frost Mount's Tooth and walked alongside their classmates who were oddly opening their palms and closing them while flexing the youthful muscles of their arms continuously.

They were mixed in with the students from First Red today, which Ginger and Reiss weren't pleased with. In preparation for the event this coming Breather, several Professors - those with what were deemed priority classes where the event was concerned - had decided to do joint classes today, but since the schedules for each class differed, it seemed only First Blue and First Red were able to learn at once.

There was apparently some butting of heads between Professors that taught all three classes in the First Year, and those that did not.

As a disjointed group, the students reached a building opposite the Frost Mount's Tooth, with half the height and only a quarter of the width. Its bright red blocks looked worn, with some of them jutting out purposely in a display that now, with the building's apparent age, only suggested its decline; but that was far from true.

Several chimneys rose from the top of the building, pumping out soot and smoke that vanished mysteriously as soon as it reached a certain height.

This building was called the Ample Forge, a building that facilitated classes in Equipped Armament Creation and Usage.

Before long, the First Years of First Blue and First Red were seated in a spacious room with an obscene number of small windows – one of the many in the seven hot floors within the Ample Forge. Even for dragons, the heat that bore in from below and above in this room seemed a bit too unbearable, as several of the students had taken off their jerseys, though their scarves remained as nooses around their necks.

The stern, appealing face of Professor Mara stood before the class within the clean space littered with neat wooden racks that stowed tens of different weapons on each side of the room.

"I would appreciate a bit more brisk added to your steps for my course. You have shaved away five minutes already," Professor Mara said with his signature stone face and pulled on the sleeves of his blue, Professorial coat.

The class didn't bother offering any form of explanation.

Almost every instructor had said the same thing in the past two days. Admitting 'pressure' as the reason for their tardiness just wouldn't cut it, unfortunately.

"You were given a brief reprieve to familiarise yourself with your Kardia by Professor Lyall. I was so generous as to oblige for the last two days, and thus I expect every Affixer from both your classes to wow me," the young-looking dragon said as his green eyes scrolled across the room.

Ginger felt Reiss shiver beside him.

"That is not to say I have no expectations for non-Affixers, however. We learned basic forms when handling a variety of weapons last Stride up to yesterday. So, since you should undoubtedly have a good grasp on what style of combat you wish to pursue by now, I give you all the chance to choose a weapon of choice from the ones presented around you."

The students grew tense.

The sheen of the polished weapons around them, most of which they had handled, had never seemed more ominous.

"The weapon you choose today will be what you will focus on for the rest of the year, so do not take this choice lightly."

Like everyone else, Ginger looked around.

The assortment was vast, but luckily, he had fewer options.

This allowed him to advance on his weapon of choice rather quickly.