Miss Kaed shook her head and clicked her tongue. "Dragons are inherently proud creatures. They disdain having anyone lord over them, even the benevolent ones would never willingly become a summon for a weaker being." Her icy blue eyes locked onto Diana's as she spoke.
Diana clenched her pencil case, her knuckles whitening while sweat trickled down her brow. Why was this crazy woman looking at her? Her hair stood on end, and goosebumps erupted along her arms.
A small smile played on her lips as she broke eye contact, before vanishing faster than it appeared.
"Which is why the summoners at Mount Fiolah hypothesized that there are no True dragons in the realm where summons originate." She paused, her eyes narrowing. "In an academy founded by a dragon, what is the next best thing? Wyverns." She waited for applause.
The students just stared at her.
She clicked her tongue. "Wyverns, their bloodlines are so diluted they're little more than flying lizards."
Miss Kaede waved her hand, summoning an illusion before her." Luckily for us, our gracious founder has a long-standing alliance with the wyvern clans living on Dragonspire peaks."
Transparent Wyverns wrestled and played with each other before dissipating.
"Fun." Her nose scrunched up. The chime from the ornate clock, right next to her cabinet, rang throughout the classroom.
She glanced at the clock and sighed. "Well, look at the time. Usually, there's far more preparation required for a summoning, but this will be simple enough. And if you're fortunate, you might even contract with a truly blessed wyvern." Her expression soured. "Don't embarrass me tomorrow. The other academies will be watching.
Diana scratched the top of her head. She had nearly forgotten that the dungeon would be a joint effort by the prestigious academies of the continent.
"Get out before I give demerit points," Miss Kaede barked at the students.
They gathered their belongings, eager to leave.
"Ah shit lets bail." The lingering students grabbed their belongings and bolted.
Diana put away her notes and her crushed pencil case with a soft sigh. Only for the princess to stand right beside her.
"Too bad our little summons can't be friends," Rias mused, tilting her head with a soft, fake smile.
Diana's lips pressed together. The Dragonhart empire, the one that her duchy belonged to, had always been ruled by a summoner. The crown heir's summon was passed down from generation to generation, an ancient golden wyrm, a creature said to have been employed by the founder himself, a gold dragon who made it watch over its descendants.
Of course, the golden wyrm wasn't currently outside of the heart of the empire; she merely had one of its many wyrm children, but as the crown heir, she always could summon it.
"Yeah. A Shame." Diana muttered before turning and heading to the golden, encrusted door without waiting. Her legs picked up the pace as she walked the cobblestone path to the carriage yard with urgency.
As the pinnacle of modern age summoning, the academies' attendees were mostly nobles or the obscenely wealthy. Commoners could attend, but only with either scholarships or if they could scrape together the tuition.
The academy didn't even try to hide it; she didn't know if it was because the founder was a gold dragon, but the academy was drenched in gold. Every platform, every building, had at least as much gold as a rural barony would see in its lifetime.
"Diana!"
The voice came from behind, breathless and exaggerated.
'Keep walking, Diana.' She whispered to herself as she increased her pace.
"Diana!" The voice was close enough that she couldn't pretend not to hear.
With a sigh, she turned around to see Rias hunched over, her cheeks flushed, or rather what Ria thought flushed cheeks would appear to look like.
The more Ria attempted to appear normal, the greater the dissonance happened.
"Where are you going?" The princess panted; her acting was unconvincing. "Did you forget? We have a lunch Date."
Diana exhaled through her nose, her lips tightening.
Diana, in her ever-growing wisdom, had indeed promised Ria lunch, even with how weird Ria was; she wasn't a horrible friend.
"Get lost." Ignis snapped from her shoulder.
Ignis, however, did not like Ria at all. According to her words, Ria gave her a suffocating feeling like a giant predator in a small body.
Ria's smile didn't falter. "Little bird, would you like to play with Karsux?" She reached out to pet Ignis, but the phoenix recoiled, fluttering to Diana's other shoulder.
"That's not very nice." Rias chided.
"You're not very nice." Ignis shot back.
Ria's eyes sparkled with amusement. "Now, now." She stretched out her hand again, but Ignis darted overhead, out of reach. The princess's smile flickered. "What a shame."
She rummaged through her bag and produced a small cylindrical vial, swirling the crimson liquid inside. "I brought a lava tear." She said, swiping a mock tear from her cheek. "My dear little worm has no use for it anymore, so I thought I'd gift it to your adorable bird."
Diana's fingers curled into her shirt.
"Enough." Diana glared at Ria.
Rias blinked innocently. "So? Where are we eating?"
Diana surrendered with a sigh. "John's Pizzeria."
They settled into a booth at John's Pizzeria.
It looked like a pizza chain she used to visit back on Gaia. Her eyes wandered around the pale wooden floors. No matter how many times Diana had come to this place, she couldn't help but feel right at home.
She inhaled the scent of freshly baked pizza and unconsciously smiled.
Even the mascot, John, a typical Italian man with a chief's hat and a mustache, made her feel like she wasn't in a completely different world.
It also didn't help that she liked pizza. And in her defense, who didn't?
Her eyes settled onto the menu, an assortment of different Italian dishes, before her eyes glanced at Ria, who was intently staring at her.
Rias twirled a strand of her blond hair around her finger, her gaze unusually sharp.
"We're friends, right?"
Diana didn't answer.
While it was more true than false, Diana didn't want to get closer.
"I mean, you don't have any others. I'm your only friend." She paused, "Alice doesn't count."
Ouch.
"Alice does count."
"She doesn't."
"She does."
Alice was her maid, whom Diana had grown close to.
"As much as I hate to say it, you, too, are my only friend." Her bright blue eyes, which resembled the sky, blinked repeatedly, as if she were sentimental.
Again, while they were friends, Diana wouldn't classify them as close.
Ria leaned in, her playful demeanor leaving. "Here's the thing, my other siblings will be at the dungeon tomorrow. Some still cling to the delusion that they will steal the inheritance rights." Her eyes bore into Diana's, her eyes steady and unblinking. "Which is why I need someone strong to take first place."
Diana scoffed. "Then why me?"
Ria laughed, her blonde hair bobbing up and down. "Like I said, you are my only friend." Her smile slowly faded, and like a switch was flipped, her face became blank.
"You can fool those idiots, but my eyes see everything." For a fleeting moment, Ria's pupils thinned into vertical slits before returning to normal.
Ignis reacted strongly to her eyes and started to hiss at Ria. Her feather coming alight, fire emanating from her body, melting the things around her.
Diana quickly embraced her and started to softly caress her to calm her down. Her eyes glared into Ria's
Her expression was full of amusement.
"My bad." She rummaged through her bag and handed her the vial of Lava tears.
"It's only fair." She mused, her hand outstretched, urging Diana to take it.
Diana reluctantly grabbed it and tucked it away in her bag. Her gaze softened slightly.
A waiter hurried over, alarmed by the loud noise.
"Is there some type of problem here, mi- Your h-highness?" The lady spoke trembling while her eyes widened, before bowing her head.
"I'm just a student here, no need for all the extra stuff," She flashed her a warm smile.
"There is no issue here. Can we get two waters, please?" The waiter with a red face quickly jotted it down.
"Right away, Your Highness." Her eyes never even looked at Diana's as she scurried off.
"Oh, my Lux, she said, please." The waiter whispered to herself in a giddy tone as she skipped towards the kitchen.
"Popular," Diana spoke with a pointed glance.
"It comes with the territory," She combed her hair. "Now where were we? Oh right." Her eyes narrowed, and she became serious again."
"And while I usually wouldn't humor those fools... there's something I need in the vault."
Diana's fingers twitched.
"What?"
"Oh, my Diana, I didn't know you were so nosy." She practically purred. "But for my dear friend, if you must know, I will tell you." She paused, her hand touching her chin.
"A drop of Gold dragons' blood. Not Daria's, of course, hers is too prestigious to be in a measly vault for freshmen, a normal dragon's blood. With it, Wormy has a strong chance to become a Dragon."
<><><><><><>
A flickering array of blue lights made me open my eyes. But when I came to be, I was surrounded by darkness.
In that darkness, my eyes were heavy, as if I were struggling to stay awake.
Oh, that's right, I fell asleep.
No, I was still asleep.
[You have reached a critical point in your evolution. Please choose what you evolve into.]
[1. Sun devouring Platinum Dragon.]
[You have consumed a portion of the essence of the sun, a road to becoming the god of the Sun.]
[2. Heavenly Punishment Platinum Dragon]
[You have consumed a portion of the lightning of the heavens, a road to becoming the god of heavenly lightning.]
How novel.