Overcoming the exhaustion in my body, I stood up, staring at the door. Everything spun as dizziness overwhelmed me, and this time I had no starpower to resist it. “Stupid moron… What am I even supposed to do?”

  As I patiently breathed, the dizziness subsided, and I stared at the door. I couldn’t waste a subordinate with such high potential – I must apologize… My steps were slow, but steady. I opened the door.

  A massive corridor lined up with numbered doors. Mine was 1134 – running through the mental map, I figured out this was the medical hall, one of the four in the station. Navigating from here would be easy… If only I weren’t so exhausted.

  “You should return to your room; your treatment isn’t complete.” I turned around. It was Melissa, the same one who healed me after the dungeon delve.

  I sighed. “You?” Looking closer at the woman, I noticed the black bags under her eyes. “When exactly can I leave?”

  “When you’re not a starless geist.” Melissa grabbed my hand, preventing my attempts to get away. “Kory transferred your care to me; You still have medicine to take, so make it easy for both of us. If you behave, you can leave by tomorrow’s breakfast.”

  I clenched my teeth, unable to remove her grasp. “I will if you can send a message to Kory.” My body was pushed hard enough already; it was difficult to stand, let alone move.

  “I’m not a courier. Get to your room.” She stared me in the eyes.

  I considered trying to sneak out, but her gaze left no argument to be had. “Fine.”

  The blank room was depressing. Melissa supposedly left to gather medicine for me, while I was forced to stay here. Alone with my thoughts and guilt. Wasn’t Kory trying to emotionally manipulate me? She’s smart; it’s not impossible for her to do that.

  I would’ve done the same if I were doomed to death. Was I being played with? It didn’t make sense. Nervously scratching my hand, I waited.

  My hands had already become slightly longer; I could see it. In just a year, I would reach adolescence. Tomorrow I will apologize to Kory and relax… Maybe I do need a rest.

  Melissa returned to the room, holding a tray of potions and pills. There was a calm smile on her face as she looked at me.

  “That’s a lot of medicine…” I scouted them. There was a glowing yellow energy restoration potion, pure black soul restitution pills, at least four different vials that were variations of brain vitamins and supplements, juvenile growth strain prevention fluid, and a whole load of other nutrition-related things.

  The healer-dragon nodded. “It’s your first visit to the medical hall. Usually, students visit at least once a week to get help with nutrition, exhaustion, but for some reason, you didn’t.” Her tone was strangely accusatory.

  “I didn’t know you’d give coffee drugs for free!”

  “How come?” She looked at me suspiciously. “Have you missed your briefings? Unfortunate.” Melissa approached the bed, placing the tray near me. “Drink left to right. Every last one of them.”

  “If it helps get out of here faster, sure.” I grabbed the first vial and drank it. All of them had that sweet, syrupy flavor, which tickled my tongue. I went through all the medicine. With each bottle, I felt my exhaustion evaporating and my body becoming lighter.

  “Your nutritional scouting was all over the place; you lacked vitamins, many amino acids, and your stress levels were high,” Melissa spoke sternly. “You must not push yourself too hard, or you risk stalling your growth.”

  “M-hm.” I nodded in affirmation, gulping the pills.

  “Since you are a human, I added additional medicine to make sure you are developing healthily. You should see a slight increase in bone density over the week.”

  Devouring the last drug, I let out a breath. “Cool. So, about the Archive-related injury, what is it and how long will it take to heal?”

  “Trying to send the information, the Archive has surpassed your surge tolerance, damaging your soul. It’s nothing too dangerous, since the Archive only affects the outer soul dimensions by design. You should’ve scouted the SE of the data, and compared it to your tolerance.” The calm way she told me the information was much better than every teacher I’ve met here. Straight answers to straight questions. It made me wish Melissa were a mentor.

  “Why the hell wasn’t that mentioned in the manuals?”

  She raised her eyebrow. “The manuals are older than the Great Noble Federation. At that point, the Archive was far too small to conduct enough SE.” She grabbed the empty tray. “When you get the opportunity, request Archive Surfing from the requisition hall.” Melissa looked at me in disappointment. “I knew onyxes were reckless, but this is another level.”

  “You can get books from the requisition hall? I thought it was only for weapons and stuff.” Now that I think about it, I’ve seen students walk around with data-pads.

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  “Yes…” She looked at the door. “Look, Magnus, I have other students to heal. Seek help from your curator.” And she left.

  “Dipshit jackass Varaxis… That damn bitch.” I punched the pillow. The dean didn’t tell me anything. No information about dungeon delving, nothing about requisition hall, not even a mention of the medical hall. Sure, there was information within the VITA, but it was nowhere near as detailed, only names! Once I become strong enough, I’ll curse her with something wicked. “Fucking snake whore, possession doll scum.” Taking my anger out on the pillow brought me little relief.

  Then the door opened. I snapped my head to look at whoever did that… My heart sank. Staring at me with silent anger was the object of my hatred.

  “What the fuck is wrong with my karma?!” I couldn’t help but scream. She wasn’t supposed to be here!? I was the one cursed.

  With calm steps that seemed to ring through the room like the tolling of the bell, she walked towards me. There was no crimson aura, no dramatic flair. Varaxis was holding a stack of papers. “In all my years, I haven’t seen a student as pathetic as you are, Magnus Glanzvoll.”

  I opened my mouth to respond, but her glare made me silent.

  “Failing the basic exam, breaking the order, searching through taboo data, inciting rebellion, having no draconic spirit – you are a disgrace to all dragon-kind.” She silently approached my bed and dropped the papers.

  “I have been assigned to the unripe class, specifically because of you.” Varaxis’s crimson tail swung around like a whip. “I thought preparing the information you have missed would’ve been helpful, but it seems I was mistaken. There is no hope for you.”

  I gulped, trying to muster the courage. “A-are you kidding me?”

  “I do not joke around, Magnus Glanzvoll. I am resigning from my position as your curator and the curator of the unripe class.” Staring right into my soul, she let a thin smile form on her lips. “Professor Siege has expressed interest in becoming a curator. I hope he can make you less of a disaster.” Varaxis turned around, walking towards the door. On her way, she gave me a last look. “Do not talk to me ever again.”

  The silence was overbearing. I didn’t know what to feel. Maybe it was disappointment? Regret? I was too weak to be burdened by such things.

  I quickly scanned the documents. It was an extremely dense source of information, an overview of draconic tradition, services that the school’s halls provide, and things that I should have known from the beginning.

  Massaging my skull, I let out a groan of internal pain and suffering. Of course, you could get healing pills in the requisition hall. Of course, you could find information about other students there. Of course, you could get personal training assistance at the gym.

  What a damn waste of everyone’s time. She could’ve just told me these things; anyone could’ve just told me these things, and I would’ve avoided so much trouble. But no, she had to be a stubborn bitch. Did she expect Avennture to tell me everything?

  I lay down, drowning in disappointment, frustration, and annoyance. “Close your eyes and focus on the now.” Siege’s grating voice replayed itself in my head. It was for the better that Varaxis left. She did nothing but cause problems for me.

  My body shook as I thought about the Siege’s generic cruelty… He was willing to cause immense pain, mind control people, and curse them. That was probably her way of getting back at me.

  Relaxing against the pillow, I tried letting go of my thoughts. Instead of meditation, sleep took me.

  When my eyes opened, I felt hungry. Stretching, I got out of bed. The time of my forced vacation started, and while Ivaldie was growing stronger, I had to laze around and do nothing.

  “Magnus. You must be feeling better?” She opened the door, holding another tray. “After this dose, you are free to go.”

  “Just what I wanted to hear. Give me.” It was largely the same thing as yesterday, just with more human-specific vials.

  She lowered herself, presenting the tray to me. “The efficiency will be diminished if you drink so fast.”

  I slowed down, curbing my enthusiasm. The vials ended quickly, but they did not help with my hunger.

  “I have received permission from biocrafter Avennture Rudolph to administer the growth panacea to you.” She pointed at the thing. Indeed, it was there.

  “I was worried I’d have to visit him.” I shook my head and ate the panacea. “Thanks for the care, Melissa. I hope there won’t be a need to see you again.”

  She tilted her head. “Not the proper thanks, but a healer takes what they can get.” Melissa nodded. “While you were sleeping, you were visited by Ivaldie and Steel. Take care, human.”

  “You too, dragon.” I chuckled and started walking out. “Actually, do you know where Kory is?”

  Melissa shook her head. It was a tough ask anyway.

  Moving through the decorated halls, I set my aim towards the cafeteria. Hopefully, Siege won’t kick me from the ELEVATE. I needed that course to surpass Ivaldie.

  Without starpower distracting me, I could soak in the artworks and the atmosphere. The whole station was a shrine of arrogance, not one art depicted anything but dragons and their multitudes of forms. Scouting them didn’t tell me any cultural significance, even though in Varaxis’s documents, it said that these were the paintings of the best graduates. The winners of the exam… It would be hilarious if there were one painting of me out here.

  The cafeteria was filled with ruckus. Tiny dragons devouring their monotone meals and talking about their training life. Nobody had anything to do but train… I should try painting again. Surely I can requisition some things. I grabbed two sandwiches and moved.

  I searched through the place carefully, trying to find at least one familiar face. Someone from the unripe class, maybe someone I saw in the dungeon. It was a failure – they weren’t in their usual places.

  Eventually, I found a familiar face – Louize. She didn’t notice me. Without her object of admiration around, eating those sandwiches all alone must have been lonely. I approached her. “Hey!” Waving, I sat down and put my tray.

  “Magnus?” Instead of contempt, there was a slight smile on her face. “I thought you finally died. Siege said you got seriously injured.”

  “Did the news spread that fast?” I sighed. “Why aren’t you with Ivaldie?”

  “Because Ivaldie is dungeon delving.” The copper-head groaned. “Despite being an ungrateful worm, you have given me a chance.” She smirked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Your classmate, Kory. She made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.” My eyes opened wide as she made a steeple. “Who would have thought that she could repair the genome for a pathetic price?”

  I messed up. “That must have been nice. What did she ask again?” I held my breath.

  “Just some things about Ivaldie. I would’ve told her for free! She’s a proper dragon, struggling against the odds.”

  “Proper dragon…” I looked down at my tray in disappointment. “Yeah, I guess she is.” I took a bite out of the sandwich. Despite the explosion of taste, I couldn’t properly enjoy the food.

  Louize nodded. “Would you like to train with me?” Her eyes glinted with something…