After lunch, the training was more of the same, but with different partners, as the students from the practical morning classes had theory and basic education in the afternoon. Some of the Elites didn’t focus too much on education beyond their skills, but for the ones who were going to be taking on professional jobs, proper advanced education was a vital part of their Academy experience.
Karl hadn’t really thought about that, and while he was doing a lot of studying, it was all on plants, beasts and other relevant topics. There were no physics, advanced Literature, Social Studies or other core subjects in his education.
That wasn’t entirely uncommon for the Golden Dragon Nation. If you were entering a trade or family industry, you generally would have done it at the same age, with only the brightest going on to finish school and go for university education.
But at dinner, the complaints of the alchemists about the calculations needed to get the proportions right in their new elixir projects reminded Karl that he had it good with his training regimen. Though his body was tired, at least his brain didn’t hurt from trying to work out the change in relative volumes due to differing evaporation rates at a specified temperature.
Though the warriors often derided the mages as the nerds of the Elite Academy, the true nerds were in the Alchemy and magical item crafting courses.
“Look at Karl there, he doesn’t need to use math at all. Just feed the Hawk, pat the Cerro.” One of the Alchemists was complaining.
Karl laughed. “Hey, I do need math. I use it to calculate where a ranged attack will hit a moving object.”
The mages laughed bitterly at the reminder, as that particular bit of math had become the bane of their existence today, as Hawk tormented them with his ever improving skills. If that wasn’t conclusive evidence that math was evil, then they didn’t know what was.
When Karl got back to his dorm room, he found a note on the door, informing him that he, along with the rest of the mission team, were being summoned the next morning for a meeting with the alchemy professor. It included an absence note for all classes the next day, and a reminder to show up promptly at nine in the morning.
That was likely confusing and concerning for the rest of the team, but Karl was more startled that they had managed to get all the potions made in a single day, when there was so much more going on around the Academy.
So, when Karl arrived at the designated meeting point the next morning, he was the only one who wasn’t completely confused, as Dana was not yet there, probably finishing her morning meditation session.
Sergeant Rita addressed the group, flanked by Daniel and Alice. “Good morning everyone. I am certain that you can guess by your present company what the criteria for the morning summons was. We have one more student still on her way, and once Dana is here, we will be making the official announcement.
Ah, there she is. Dana, please take a seat and we will get started. Karl managed to collect some drake scales while you were on your mission together, and while just how he obtained them is confidential and not to be spoken of, he did donate a number of them to have potions made for everyone.
For the warriors, we have a Drake Scale potion of durability, which should increase your body’s constitution and resistance to damage. For the mages, we have a Drake Scale potion of insight, which will help you with your mana.
These potions are very precious, and required a fairly steep bribe to get the alchemy professor to create personally, as the regular potion makers are not trained in such a rare concoction. They are not diluted in any way, and can be considered peak Commander Rank potion, despite only using high Awakened Rank ingredients.”
That was more than enough for all the students to understand jut how good of a resource this was going to be. They had all fought against the Drakes, but none of them had thought to claim scales as loot.
Thankfully for them, Karl had, and now they all got to reap the rewards of what they thought was his impartiality.
The teams from the Bureau of Elite Development passed out the stoppered vials to all the students, who held them with a reverence somewhere between that reserved for infants and live hand grenades.
Rita smiled as the last of them was handed to Rae, who was hiding in the corner of the room behind all the students.
“Bottoms up everyone. I am told the taste is a bit awful, but you do not want to accidentally spit it back up.” Rita informed them.
Karl downed the potion in a single shot, noting that it tasted like burnt meat and blood. She hadn’t been lying about it being an awful combination, but he could feel the power flowing into his body with the potion.
But Rita wasn’t done with him, and while the others were recovering from their dosage, she slipped him a second vial, which smelled more like campfire and morning breath. Not a better option, but it marked the potion as the other variant.
He downed that as well, and then watched as the others began to absorb the energy stored in their rewards.
The first thing he noticed was that they all had their lucky dragon scale charms around their necks for the occasion, and possibly all the time, just in case.
The second thing he noticed was the way that the warriors were filling out. Being a bunch of thirteen and fourteen-year-old kids, depending on when their birthday was, they hadn’t arrived as particularly mature male specimens, but most of the warriors were now sporting short but full beards, while the lone female warrior in the group looked much more mature and curvaceous in an athletic way than she had a few days earlier.
But the major changes weren’t restricted to the warriors. Though the mage group hadn’t filled out with muscles the way that the warriors had, they had changed. Their appearances seemed a bit more ageless. Less definable as early teens, and more of an eternally youthful impression. One in particular had gained slotted eyes like a drake, and Karl thought that there was a chance she either gained a new spell or heightened eyesight.
Karl was more interested in how his partners had done, but Hawk had gotten distracted by all the people doing strange things, and he still hadn’t taken his, while Rae was hidden in the corner of the room making disgusted faces at the empty vial.
Thor’s scales were gleaming, and had gained a bit more of a golden shimmer in the deep emerald green. If he touched them, Karl knew that they wouldn’t be as smooth as they looked. They would be more like Drake scales, with the surface of a fine grit sandpaper, but from a distance, they sparkled like gems.
Then, Hawk remembered that he was supposed to be doing things other than people watching, and downed the increased dosage of his potion.
The effect began the same as before, his feathers began to turn from mottled brown to a deep red and gold. But this time, his claws turned to a translucent Onyx, and his beak turned deep bronze, while his eyes shifted shades of brown to match.
But his feathers weren’t changing back. They were getting darker, toward the dark auburn of partially dried blood, with light golden undertones that would blend in well with the long dry grass of the steppes in the south.
His size remained unchanged, but Karl could feel the power coming from him as the Windspeed Hawk changed, and settled into his new form.
He would probably be called a Dragon Hawk now, but Karl got the feeling that wasn’t quite what he was. The colour of his feathers wasn’t so bright, while his beak and claws were the colour of an Ascended Rank Windspeed Hawk.
“Looking good, Ladies and Gentlemen.” Karl congratulated his partners.
Most of the people in the room thought that he meant everyone in general, which Rae found hilarious. She was not happy about having to try that awful potion again, but the changes in the students were interesting enough that she didn’t voice her displeasure yet.
