In addition to being an odd, human-shaped firecracker, Basilia might have been a virus incarnated into draconic flesh. She was extremely contagious, or rather, her vigor and cheer were. She spread it with a nigh-animalistic roar and “Hu-hu!” while propping up the surprisingly toned muscles on her arms. Only Zale and the other Third Years were immune to her antics.

They only partook of her when she produced crates of drinks that she began passing to everyone with special priority to the First Years at rapid speed. They were celebratory drinks that she bought over the Breather to make an occasion of the maturing of all the First Years that joined Kartile.

“Before we kick the violence into full swing, we should be a little energized, don’t you think?” she said as she passed Ginger a drink with a big, demented smile and mussed up his hair.

The plump dragonling wasn’t bothered in the least. He found himself grinning at the Third Year as she passed on to Reiss, treating him the same.

The drinks she had bought were packaged in glass bottles branded with a bolt, fun print that read Grizzly Red.

It was a popular brand of drink in Proin, Ginger came to know from conversations he overheard. The large demand for the drink had hiked up its price recently. Some of the older students said it was a feat and a half that Basilia managed to get so many of them.

This warmed Ginger’s heart. He drank his Grizzly Red with a smile. One sip told him all he needed to know about why it was so popular. It was a strangely perfect blend of sweet and sour. It frothed and caused the tongue to coil in pleasure. A series of fruits Ginger had never tasted before had been blended to produce this surprising nectar. He wished he knew all of them. Unfortunately, whoever produced Grizzly Red refused to mention the ingredients on the bottle. His or her popularity must have allowed that privilege.

There was another fun thing about Grizzly Red besides its flavor.

After his first gulp, Ginger found himself burping fire. It streamed from his nose too. He wasn’t the only one, however. The other First Years in Kartile, even those that had just joined today, experienced the same. Abela Mires, the bushy-browed girl Ginger knew from his first Burning, turned ripe pink when smoke snorted from her as though she was a train.

The older students had a good laugh at the First Years. Ginger and Reiss made fun of each other’s reactions.

It was the first time Ginger acknowledged that he was starting to show the more generic dragon-like qualities like snorting flames and smoke. Just like Nicolas, who had been whisked away by Professor Edelman earlier, he had flared tongues of flame during his confrontation with Vassilis and it was happening again now.

Apparently, Grizzly Red was a drink that riled dragons up in an age-appropriate manner. Besides being one of the best-selling beverages in Proin, it had a reputation as a drink that allowed dragons and other races to share tables. It seemed to have different side effects for different races as well.

“We got our local maniac to thank for those twenty or so minutes of our lives we will never get back,” Zale said once the excitement started dying down. He sipped the last bits of his drink just as Basilia attacked him for his comment. “But of course, we’re not just here to make merry. We want to see how strong our new recruits really are now that their training wheels are off.”

A few of the older students set up the man-shaped dark plates – the target dummies – near the end of the room while a few others juggled the silver balls that were used to hit the targets.

Reiss groaned at the sight of the balls.

“What’s wrong?” Ginger asked him.

“Have you forgotten how heavy those balls are?” Reiss hissed. “Oh, right. You didn’t have much trouble throwing them last time.”

“We’re different now, Reiss. That’s why Zale and Basilia are making us try again. They want to boost our confidence,” Ginger said with a wide smile of suspicious optimism. Reiss gave him a warranted suspicious look.

“Where did that cloud which was hovering over your head go?”

“What cloud?”

“The drab cloud of negativity you had around all day. ‘Oh, this Stride is already off to a bad start.’ Weren’t you the one fussing like that earlier?”

“Oh, shut up. I’m allowed to change my opinion, alright?”

Right then, Abela Mires approached the two friends. She pulled Ginger by the shoulder, a frown on her face.

“What?” Ginger said to her, surprised that she approached him.

“I heard you barged into my class earlier and caused a scene. What was that all about?” she asked.

Ginger’s spirits plummeted ten thousand meters.

“Uh…” he stammered. How was he supposed to improvise a reply when he was coming out of such a brilliant change in mood? Luckily, Reiss was there for him.

“What’s it to you?” he asked Abela, furrowing his brows.

“If you must know, our Prime Instructor, as of today, has appointed me as something of a Monitor for First Red. I report to her everything that goes on – any problems I see. You” – she glared at Ginger – “caused a disturbance in my class and I want to know why.”

“You were appointed?” Reiss asked a tone of disbelief in his voice.

“Yes!” Abela responded staunchly.

“You, and not Vassilis?”

“Status isn’t everything. There are far more valuable things than that. I happen to have them all,” said Abela proudly.

The girl’s tone and air of superiority irked Reiss. She sounded like a smarter Fillys. The dwarfish dragonling was about to give her a piece of his mind when Ginger quickly spoke before him.

“It was just a misunderstanding. I got carried away and I almost took out my frustration on Vassilis,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

Both Reiss and Abela were taken aback. The latter was especially left speechless.

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She hadn’t been present in class because she had gone to ask their Prime Instructor why their professor for the first lesson of the day hadn’t shown up. The accounts she had heard about Ginger storming into their class had led her to believe that he would still be very abrasive and defensive about the whole issue.

Apparently, that wasn’t the case.

She took a deep breath and swallowed all her practiced, superior replies to how she imagined Ginger would respond.

“F-fine. But next time you pull something like that, I’ll report it immediately, no matter how much you apologize,” she said and didn’t give Ginger a chance to retort.

The plump dragonling sighed.

Reiss poked his leg.

“What was that?” he asked.

“What was what?”

“‘I apologize?’”

“Yeah. I was in the wrong. Like you said. What’s wrong?”

Reiss looked exasperated and relieved at the same time.

“You know, sometimes I wonder what shape your spine is,” he said.

Ginger reeled. He was about to ask what he meant when Zale addressed them all.

“Alright. Let’s have the First Years over here,” he said, gesturing towards his side. The First Years did so. So far, only twenty-three had joined Kartile. The numbers made Zale sigh. He couldn’t help but admit that on the surface, Out Courses like Marvellous Impediments and Subjugation in particular sounded more interesting than Kartile when pitched. “Let’s have nine of you to try first.”

The nine First Years who responded first were given the silver balls. Abela was one of them.

“Are those still heavy?” Zale asked them all. There were mixed reactions.

Kartile called on Affixers and Alien-type Kardia users and not Poolers. Unfortunately, only Poolers would have next to zero trouble picking up the balls. But that said, the First Years did their best to use Saturation to strengthen their limbs so that they could handle the balls. It was not really effective, of course. Saturation, and the strengthening Pieyro, Supplemetum Soma weren’t the same thing.

The sallow-faced Third Year laughed at the dragonlings. The strain on them was clear.

“Don’t worry. The more you get used to your Kardia, the easier lifting these balls will become,” Zale said. “For now, try hitting those targets. Affixers, you have to infuse your Kardia into the balls. Alien-types, you shroud them with your Kardia. Go.”

The First Years wore determined faces and did as Zale instructed. Everyone else watched expectantly.

Abela – naturally – was the first to try. She drew a deep breath, coated the Qin Steel ball with Kardia, cocked back her arm, aimed, and threw with all her might.

The result exceeded her expectations by leagues.

The silver ball crossed the roughly twenty meters between Abela and the dummy in a flash, rising in altitude with each second it flew. It ended up missing the target, but it hit the wall on the other end of the room with a light duum!

While the other First Years gaped, Zale and Basilia smirked.

“Good grief!” Reiss cried. “What was that?”

Ginger had no answer for it. Abela hadn’t even been able to throw the ball last Stride when they tried the exercise. Heck, she was having trouble holding it just now.

Zale clapped as he walked up to Abela and patted her shoulder.

She looked at him, dumbfounded.

“Now that’s a pleasant surprise, isn’t it?” the Third Year said to her before turning to the other First Years. “I think Lyall… ahem, Professor Lyall taught you about this during the Breather, right? When you experienced the pedestal?”

The First Years reeled. What Zale was referring to was clear.

Most of the First Years had experienced the detonation that occurred when Kardia of Surging and Collapsing type met. The memory was vivid to Ginger. He and Alcaeus had taken down the large Blighted they were facing off against with one blast of their combined Kardia.

But Professor Lyall had explained that this phenomenon didn’t just happen whenever two dragons with Surging and Collapsing Kardia made contact. There had to be a powerful intent between them.

“Kardia responds to strong emotion and resolve. When you are driven, basics like Saturation and Permeation, and in some cases, even Pieyro themselves become easier to execute, even if only for a fraction of a second,” Zale explained.

Basilia confirmed with an unneeded “Yup, yup!”

Ginger and Reiss swallowed the lesson greedily.

Intent, was it?

Ginger suddenly remembered how he had sent forth his Kardia in a concentrated bolt that bore a hole through the Blighted he fought. He wondered…

‘I joined Kartile because I thought it would make me more like Ancor. I’d really like to fire off Charms like him,’ he thought. ‘I shouldn’t have been able to shoot off that large amount of Kardia like I did in the Beginner’s Den.’

The heart of the plump dragonling’s wonder was clear, but the rush of excitement that suddenly surged around him buried his thoughts.

At Zale’s little tip, the First Years were emboldened. The other eight beside Abela threw their balls with vigor. None of them managed to quite throw them as far as Abela did, but for those that had been here last Stride, the improvement was as blatant as a dragon’s scales. They rejoiced in that.

Three out of them even managed to hit their targets. Of course, the dummies didn’t so much as twitch because the force behind their throws was modest at best, but that did not discourage them at all.

The upperclassmen were especially encouraging even to those who showed the least improvements from last Strides. Talent remained a factor; it seemed some dragonlings improved more than others. Still, no one was left feeling somber.

Reiss charged on to join the next nine to try their throws. He managed to wiggle his way through while Ginger failed to push past the others itching for a turn. And thus, the plump halfling was forced to be part of the next nine.

Quite surprisingly, Reiss had no trouble holding his silver ball. Perhaps just to flex, or to relish in the ease, he even tossed the ball from one hand to another before giving it a hard throw. The ball flew at the same speed as Abela’s, but it ultimately missed the target as well.

Everyone expressed their shock in one way or another. Abela made known her fury at being matched with a frown that made her brows seem larger.

Ginger was flabbergasted.

‘Shunting Shamans! Is it because he’s been using with that damned hammer of his?’ he thought, a weak smirk on his face.

Basilia gave a roar of excitement and high-fived a grinning, blushing Reiss. Zale gave a nod of approval. The rest of the First Years in the same line-up were eager not to be outdone. A few managed to match the power in Reiss’ throw, but the dwarfish dragonling didn’t care at all. He was more than satisfied with his own result.

He beamed when he saw Ginger.

“How’d you like that?” he said.

“Impressive,” Ginger said. He couldn’t have found more words to say. It was his turn next, after all.

When he held the silver ball, the weight of it threatened to affect his swing. But…

‘What if I…’ he thought as he made his Kardia adopt Pooling qualities and concentrated it into his right arm. Suddenly, the ball became lighter! ‘Now all I need to do is give it Alien qualities before I—’

“No cheating,” Zale interrupted his thoughts with a whisper. Ginger shuddered and turned to him. The Third Year had on a lazy smile. Smoke sifted from his nostrils. “Just one Kardia type this time.”

Ginger gave a sheepish smile.

He had almost forgotten that the whole school knew more about him than just his halfling nature.

“Right,” he said and turned back to the dummy. The others had already started throwing and their results were remarkable.

Ginger gulped. He wasn’t going to fall behind.

He tapped onto the fresh memory of his Kardia condensing and firing at the great Blighted he fought.

‘I can do it even if I’m not in that state, right?’ he thought, and before he could even consciously drive himself to do it, his scant Kardia rushed to the silver ball in his hand, shrouding it.

Once it did, Ginger didn’t waste time pondering over why.

He released a sharp breath and gave the greatest throw of his life.