Stepping into dangerous territory

Kurt could hear the sound of the other kids chatting amongst themselves as he walked down his path.

Around fifty boys and girls matching his age, somewhere between twenty and thirty that were two or three years older, and an even smaller number for those even further in the age gap.

He noticed a few glances directed at him, but that could be because he was the son of the emperor, because he was a new student just joining in, or, and that's probably the most likely reason, because of the owl making a nest above his head.

Once he arrived at the front doors of the school after spending this whole time walking down the entrance road, he lifted his head to stare up the three-floor building and sighed to himself.

"What the hell am I doing here...?" he mumbled.

It had been ten years since the encounter with the black knight lady and her small group of kidnappers.

Sabiri, Kurt's mother and the wife of the emperor, decided to follow her son whenever he went ever since that day to make sure he would always stay safe.

Be it walk around the mansion, explore the city, or simply venture through the forests of the kingdom, the two of them would always be together, as she constantly feared that he might be attacked again.

Naturally, the emperor couldn't have his wife act as his son's bodyguard forever, so he decided to enlist him in a school that would teach him how to develop his abilities and become a real dragon so he could defend himself.

Kurt, holding a dream of finally being the son that could bring pride to his parents, was naturally excited upon hearing the news of being able to give one step further into his goal.

There was only one problem though...

"This is gonna suuuuuck..." he whispered.

'Well... Aren't you a fun guy to invite to parties...' Dorothy commented while trying to make herself comfortable.

"Sorry, Dory... School just brings back a lot of bad memories..."

'Oh!? Were you one of those victims of bullying that I always hear so much about by any chance?'

"I wish... At least if I was bullied people would have interacted with me... Most of my classmates were scared of my eyes and would just stay away as if I was going to eat them..."

'Were you?'

"Huh!? Wh- Wha- Of course not!! What kind of question is that??"

'I'm just saying... Quiet guys are usually the ones we should look out for...'

"Ugh... I'm talking about a past trauma of my life, could you be a least a little nicer?" he begged, "For someone that claims to hate people that don't consider the feelings of others, you sure do enjoy mocking my feelings a lot..."

'In my defense, we have already established that I'm a huge hypocrite... Plus, you're a really easy target!'

"That doesn't mean it's okay to- Oh..."

Kurt was about to go into a rant with his pet owl but he suddenly began to realize that many students were giving him weird looks.

He nearly forgot that right now the two of them were talking with the use of telepathy and the former language from his old world. Kurt enjoyed doing that since it allowed him to have private conversations with Dorothy, but it sadly made people around him think he had a few screws loose.

[Maybe we should stop talking so much...] he wondered, now using the new language from this world that he worked so hard to learn.

'You sure you not gonna cry without your best friend to talk to?'

[We are best friends...?]

'Correction! I am your best friend! Anyone would be lucky to have me as a friend. You, on the other hand, is more of a free ride for me to go sightseeing...'

[I see...] he replied, not trying to think too much about it.

He wasn't really sure how Dorothy felt about their relationship, but he couldn't deny that he was glad to have her around.

That said, he knew that now that he was back in school, he needed to take the chance to make actual friends with kids of his age. He was finally about to reach the age of fifteen, the same age he had before restarting his life. Soon, he would have spent more time in this new world than in the previous one.

He knew he needed to develop some connections before he was left behind... Again...

______________

______________

After a short greeting from the school's director announcing all their slogans to the students, things such as enjoying this as a place to learn and mature, making new friends, and walking towards your dreams, the kids quickly began to divide themselves and move to their own classes.

The first day was very important, so Kurt began to twitch with uneasiness wondering what he should do to not mess up right out of the gate.

Dorothy noticed that and tried to take his mind out of things with some small talk, 'So... What's the first lesson?'

The two were climbing up the stair of the building since Kurt had found out his first lesson would be in the second floor.

"Let's see..." the red-haired boy replied while taking out a piece of paper that had all the lessons scheduled, "First we will be having history class. Things like how our nation was founded, the formation of the royal families, and something about a war between the different dragon races..."

'Ah! A bit of culture for the young minds! Much appreciated!'

"After that, we will have Biology class... It says we will learn about the many different types of dragons and how each of them work. Ice dragons, armor dragons, defense dragons, warrior dragons... There is like, twenty-seven of these..."

Dorothy began to shake her head left and right like a pendulum, 'Mmmmm... Sounds like a pain... Are there any owl dragons by any chance? That would be more my alley!'

"Doesn't seem so..."

'Oh, well...'

"After that, we will have a study of different types of dragon flames, a bit of discussion on how to unlock your talents, and after all that, we will conclude with some combat training."

The small grey owl noticed that the boy didn't seem very excited after finishing up the list, 'What's wrong?'

"There is nothing on how to unlock your dragon form..." he sighed, "Nothing at all..."

'Mmmm... Strange...'

Dorothy wanted to talk about this a little more, but she assumed Kurt would have trouble making friends if people kept seeing him talking with himself while carrying a bird in his head.

'Let's talk more after school, okay? Don't forget you have a job to do!'

"Okay..." he mumbled, but still looking a little down.

Kurt tried many times to talk with his parents about how to unlock a dragon form, but both of them continued to say that he would only need to worry about that when he was older.

He wasn't sure how old he needed to be, but waiting so much did very little to appease his curiosity.

After finally reaching his class he gave a look inside before entering and started feeling rather nostalgic. It looked just like a classroom from his old world, except much more expensive. Four lined up rows of desks that would rise in a diagonal ground aimed at a large whiteboard positioned behind a desk for the teacher.

There were a small number of spots open so he just picked the one positioned at the very center. In his old life, Kurt would always sit next to the windows since he didn't care much about paying attention to class, but since he was trying to take a different route this time, he decided to pick a place that would allow the words of the teacher to flow in more smoothly.

'Nerd...' Dorothy whispered.

"Shut up..." he replied.

[Hey!] someone called him out just as he was about to make himself comfortable.

"Eh...?" he lifted his head and noticed a girl with curly short purple hair wearing glasses glaring down at him, [Uuhh... Hello...?]

She was carrying three books under her arm and was holding an expression as if she had just been invited to a fight and was more than ready to go, [You're in my seat!]

[Your seat...?], Kurt was glad that he had practiced his Dragonese, he could finally understand people around him with no problem, [Isn't today the first day? None of the seats are taken... Right?]

[I always sit in the center! It's the best spot to pick up the lesson! Go sit somewhere else!]

[Wha...?]

Dorothy began to giggle to herself, 'Looks like you managed to make your first friend!'

"More like first enemy... She looks like she wants to bite my head of- Oohhh... So That's what it feels like... I see..."

[Hey, the heck are you mumbling?? If you get the point, then get lost!] the girl ordered while slamming her books in front of him, as if declaring that this was where she was going to sit.

Kurt couldn't help but notice what she was reading, 'World's most dangerous poisonous dragons', 'How to treat a toxic dragon's bite for dummies', 'Living with venom inside your body for twenty-five days.'

"What the heck are these books...? Is she planning to kill someone?"

'Or maybe, she's planning to heal someone...' Dorothy considered.

Kurt took another look at the girl. He realized that she acted brave but she was honestly really short compared to him. She was probably just acting tough.

[Okay... I'll pick another place...] he announced while standing up and trying to find somewhere else to seat.

The only place left was sadly all the way in the back, making it very hard for him to listen to the lecture.

"Ugh..." he groaned.

'Why did you give up your seat...? She had no right to kick you out like that...'

Kurt finally sat down and took a peek at the girl's face as she prepared all of her notes before the class even started. It almost looked like she had fire in those orange eyes.

"I don't know... It just seemed like it mattered for her more than me..."

'Sigh... You keep putting yourself below others... You shouldn't put what you want after what others want! You matter just as much as anyone!'

"I know, I know..." he replied.

[Hey! Psst!] someone on his left called him out while he was distracted.

It was a short black-haired boy around his age with a very chubby physique offering a piece of chocolate to him.

[Oh! Thanks!] Kurt whispered as he picked up a piece, [I'm Kurt!]

[I'm Trevor!] the boy replied, [And don't let Gaby bother you. She's like that to everyone.]

[Who's Gaby?]

[The weird girl that glared you away from your seat... She did the same thing to me on my first day last year...]

[Ah!] Kurt finally realized what was happening, [So we are fellow 'kicked out from our seat' mates!]

[Hehe. Guess so!]

The teacher finally arrived inside the classroom and began his lesson.

At that moment, Kurt couldn't help but think that maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all considering he already had interacted with people way more in these last few minutes than he ever did during most of his previous school life.

"Guess I'm here to stay after all..."