Dragons and contractors (1)

Soon it was time for lunch. As it turned out, Levris herself had prepared the lunch for her students, and what she had cooked was enough not only for them but also for the casually invited members of the Storm Glaive guild and the suspicious girl in red. To our surprise, after Grain's assistance, she decided to skip her training and chose to stay with us to observe the magic of the earth. All this time, she quietly sat in the shade under the house on a folding chair, taken from who knows where. The students had set up a long stone table for everyone and invited us to sit.

Even considering that there were 21 of us, the amount of food Levris had prepared was too much.

"Teacher, won't you go broke cooking for so many people?" I couldn't help but feel like I was taking advantage.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Levris warmly smiled. "By the way, the Academy allocates some money for the lessons, so organized groups with instructors can get enough money for lunch. Although many teachers ignore it and either finish the lessons before lunch or treat them in the canteen. But I just like taking care of my students."

"Ah, how wonderful it is that there are such kind people in the academy," I thought with a happy smile. "But wait! Wasn't there just twice as much food on the table?"

And then, at the end of the long table, I noticed a small pile of food, around which little black horns were playfully dancing. My goodness! This dragoness has no idea how to behave at the table!!

Taking a portion from each dish, Ragni arranged them around herself and continued to eat with delight. I understand that dragon metabolism is serious business, but how does all of that fit inside her? Katrina and Kurone watched with wild embarrassment, while the red-eyed girl, though sitting nearby, pretended as if nothing was happening.

Hastily finishing their own meals, several earth mage students gathered around Ragni.

"Wow, she's so adorable."

"It's amazing how she eats so much and still keeps herself in great shape."

"I envy her. I want to be like that too."

The girls resumed besieging the dragoness with enthusiastic exclamations, and only then did Ragni notice the crowd around her.

"What? Couldn't I take so much food?" Ragni leisurely looked around, cautiously pulling the plates closer to herself.

"Oh no, don't worry. This is probably the first time everything I've cooked will be eaten," the teacher seemed to be immensely pleased with this sight.

"Well then, thank you, I'll continue," Ragni said and resumed eating, glancing at the students gathered around.

"Hmph, why are you so surprised? She's just a dragon, it's only natural for them to eat so much without gaining weight," the red-eyed girl's tone contained hints of envy.

However, her attempts to cool down the students only excited them even more.

"So, are you really a dragon? Can you fly?"

"Is it true that you live in caves and hunt wild animals?"

And I thought that only Katrina had such shallow knowledge about dragon behavior.

"Ahem, what rudeness! We don't live in caves at all, and how could you not realize that I'm a dragon, I have horns!" Ragni pouted discontentedly, visibly adjusting her hair to better display her horns.

"Forgive my students; it's just that there's not much known about dragons since you rarely interact with people," Levris bowed deeply, apologizing for her students.

"It all depends on the person," the red-eyed girl interjected with a sharp comment, casting a glance at me.

"Well, I guess we do lead quite a closed lifestyle, which may explain your limited knowledge about us," Ragni calmed down after the teacher's words.

"I have a great idea! Since we're all gathered here, maybe you could tell us about dragons; I'm sure my students would find it interesting."

"Ehhh, I don't know. I doubt I can tell you anything significant, and what if you use that knowledge to hunt dragons?"

"No, no, we don't need such details. But maybe you could share some dragon history or interesting stories?"

Ragni hesitated - these people seemed kind, but there might be a war with the empire in the near future, and any knowledge about dragons could have consequences.

"If you don't want to tell us outright, you can ask something in return," unexpectedly, the girl in red made a logical suggestion.

Ragni pondered for a moment.

"Well, okay, I know almost nothing about your contracts with spirits and summoners. I'm willing to exchange information with you."

So unexpectedly, the second half of the day turned into a history lesson.

The students and we, having nestled ourselves among the group, sat around Ragni on the same makeshift chairs. Ragni felt awkward; it seemed she had never received such attention before.

"Uhm, so what would you like to hear?" The dragoness's voice trembled slightly, but she decided to start first.

"Is it true that there are many types of dragons? I heard there are some rare ones that even other dragons rarely encounter."

After thinking a bit about her answer, Ragni decided to give a little speech.

"You simply know very little about dragons. Have you all heard the story of the black dragon-god, Nihelim?"

"Yes, he was a tyrant who ruled over Verania five thousand years ago and was overthrown by the first summoner."

"Well, in general, that's correct. But he wasn't such a terrible tyrant; he always treated all living beings with love, especially his fellow dragons. However, at some point, he developed a hatred for humans for something," Ragni lowered her gaze slightly. "I don't know the entire story, and my mom never told me about it, but that's not what I want to talk about now. In reality, there were five dragon-gods; our legends say that they traveled between worlds until they found this world and decided to call it their home. Each of them contributed something to the creation of the world and left their descendants behind. Each dragon-god created ten offspring, five males and five females, and they gave rise to the five great dragon clans."

The students listened with bated breath, and Ragni, completely forgetting her nervousness, recounted with her eyes closed.

"Four dragon-gods perished under different circumstances even before Nihelim's rule and the birth of the first summoner. The secret of their demise is guarded by ancient dragons, their direct descendants. Each dragon clan knows the full truth only about their own god, so besides Nihelim, I can't tell you anything about the other gods except their names. Miras was the dragon-god of lightning, giving birth to golden or yellow dragons. I've heard that he died after bestowing life upon this world, but how true that is, it's hard to say, as I don't know how powerful my ancestors were. Yellow dragons are the most reclusive, even more so than others. Very few, even among dragons, have encountered them, except for the ancient dragons. They command lightning and live high in the sky. There are even rumors that a true yellow dragon is only seen on land twice: when hatched from an egg and when dying. I think that's impossible, but who knows."

"I've heard that the large horizontal lightning during storms is a reflection of the breath of golden dragons."

"Hmm, it's quite possible. After all, they not only breathe out lightning but can also nourish themselves with it. Probably a spectacular sight. By the way, I forgot to mention that the human form is a gift of ancient magic given to all dragons by the dragon-god Nihelim, but dragons differ from each other both in their true form and in their human form. They say that the horns of yellow dragons in their human form are made of pure gold. I remember in my childhood, I asked my mom to saw off a couple of yellow dragon horns, just out of curiosity," Ragni dreamily rolled her eyes.

"And what about other dragons, how are they different?"

"Well, there are also blue dragons, or sea-dwellers, descendants of the dragon-god Sephris. Very beautiful dragons, probably the only ones with small blue horns on their heads while the rest of their bodies take on a more streamlined form. They don't fly very well, but that's because they live underwater. They can breathe underwater and swim beautifully. They are rightfully considered the masters of the seas, at least in terms of abilities, but not in character. My mother once introduced me to the family of the sea dragon queen; they were all so beautiful, with blue hair and eyes, and unlike my mother, they were not taller than two meters."

"They must look stunning. Interesting, can one meet them?"

"Meeting them is quite easy. You've probably heard stories about encounters with 'Mermaids', right?" Ragni smirked mischievously. "Beauties that swim in the open sea. Of course, they exaggerated with fish tails, but they are often blue dragons sunbathing in the sunlight."

"Wow, that's fascinating! Do you know any other interesting facts about dragons?"

"Well, then there are the red dragons, masters of flame, descendants of the dragon-god Saraz. Very peculiar dragons; unlike other dragons, they actively interfere in human life. I've even heard that they established an impressive business in Leran and make a good living from it. Unlike other dragons, they value only strength and power. I never understood them."

"Heh, what's wrong with that? At least they're honest about their desires, while other dragons isolate themselves from people, cling to traditions; it's all nonsense," the red-eyed girl's words struck the pride of the black dragon painfully.

"What do you even know about dragons? Traditions are very important to us!" Ragni angrily jumped up from her chair. "And who do you think you are?"

"What? Me? Hmmm, just a simple, humble resident of Leran. If your story interests me, maybe I'll even tell you my name," her sarcastic smirk annoyed Ragni even more.

"How dare you!"

"Calm down, Ragni. Maybe you should continue your story," we had to calm Ragni down before she scared away all the students.

"Um, okay, I'll calm down. But she better not disturb me anymore."

The red-eyed girl theatrically spread her arms apart.