Dragon's life in college

Chapter 24

It was nice to get a break from classes and talk about normal dragon activities. Sometimes it felt like they spent all their time running from class to class trying to keep on top of assignments, or in Nigel’s case trying to pass Incineration class.

Currently he was failing, although so far the teacher had managed to avoid getting anymore body parts set on fire. Part of that might have been because he had started dragging an antique shield with him to class. A couple hundred new coats of fire-proofing had resulted in pretty good protection. And since the shield was from the war, it was designed to cover the entire body. It was odd though, Nigel thought, to see his full-grown teacher immediately duck behind an oversized metal sheet whenever he stepped up to try to hit the target. Although to be fair, it was less odd than his entire class immediately hiding behind any type of protection, even each other.

Even with Ryu’s help, his fire control hadn’t gotten much better. Ryu and Oceania both thought there was a slight improvement, but Nigel couldn’t see any. And, although Ryu was a highly skilled fire dragon, he wasn’t fireproof and so could only do so much to help Nigel. Oceania, as a water dragon, was slightly better off but she had less experience working with fire dragons so it wasn’t that much. Still, every little bit helped, as she said. Nigel still was certain that he wouldn’t be passing this class until the end of college, at best. He might be two hundred and still be trying to pass Incineration class. Ryu and Oceania were more optimistic though, Ryu especially. He was certain that they were just missing something to help Nigel gain control of his fire and once they figured out what it was, Nigel would have no trouble at all in Incineration class. But until then, he was more than happy to keep helping Nigel.

Even if helping Nigel meant that he had to be careful to avoid being burnt or accidentally singed. As he had quickly learned the first time he had given Nigel Incineration coaching, Nigel’s fire could be completely random. How in the world it had managed to almost burn him when he was standing directly behind Nigel and about twenty feet behind him, neither of them knew. Nigel had long given up on trying to understand how his fire could manage to burn everything except what it was meant to burn. The incident when he accidentally set Comet on fire had more than proven to him that his fire was the definition of unpredictable and impossible to control. In fact, he had tried using that excuse to convince Ryu that he shouldn’t return the next week to try to help him.

“Really, Ryu, I’m fine. I appreciate the thought but I don’t need your help trying to pass my class…” the end of his sentence broke off when Ryu grabbed him and started dragging him along.

“I said I was going to help you pass Incineration class so I’m going to help you pass Incineration class,” Ryu replied.

“But I almost set you on fire next week,” he protested.

“So,” Ryu said, not stopping.

“So why are you so willing to try again. My teacher almost quit when my fire singed his tail.”

“Your teacher is a wimp. What true fire dragon wants to quit just because he got a little too close to a fire once.”

“Technically he didn’t get to close, my fire did.”

“No matter.”

“But I can’t guarantee that I won’t accidentally set you on fire again.”

“That’s fine.”

“How is that fine? Even my younger siblings weren’t as cavalier about almost being set on fire.”

“You set your younger siblings on fire once?”

“Yes. I had a cold once while I was watching them, and I sneezed a little too close to them and my fire came out. The next thing I knew Nigel and Dragonfly had grabbed Comet and dunked him into the bowl of water he was using to clean his paintbrushes.”

“Well, I’m certain he enjoyed the chance to paint himself for once.”

Nigel dug his claws into the ground. “Do you not get the point?” He asked. He had to find a way out of this practice. If he almost set his little brother on fire once because of a cold, who knew what he could accidentally do to Ryu. Ryu might be the Evil Dragon Overlord in training, but he was still susceptible to fire damage.

“What point?” Ryu asked, stopping for once, mainly because he had been jerked backwards from Nigel’s sudden stop. “That your siblings know how to take care of each other?”

“No, that I have no control over my fire and can’t guarantee that I won’t accidentally set someone on fire.”

“Nigel,” Ryu said patiently, “I know that. I know that you have trouble controlling your fire, which is exactly why I want to go back and work on it. Because you’re not going to get anywhere with it if all you do is worry about it or stand out in the middle of the field by yourself. You need someone to help you and Oceania and I are more than willing to help. And, no, you aren’t allowed to tell us that you don’t want help. You’re getting if, even if you protest.”

Nigel stood there for a moment, processing the information. The only person to speak in such an authorative, you’re getting help no matter if you want it or not, manner was his Mother. So hearing it from his friend was a bit of a shock.

After a few moments, he dug his claws out of the ground and continued walking, this time not needing Ryu to drag him along. He figured that he might as well go along with it. If Ryu wanted to risk his tail that was on him, not like he hadn’t been warned. Still, Nigel couldn’t help but begin calculating how long it would take for Ryu’s tail to catch completely on fire.

“Nigel, stop,” Ryu said. “I can hear those math gears turning in your head right now.”

“How did you know?”

“Because I’m your friend. Don’t worry, I’m not going to get burnt. I’ve got faith in you.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t,” Nigel said. “Especially when it comes down to my fire.”

“Yes, I should. Besides, don’t your younger siblings still trust you to look after them even after accidentally setting Comet on fire.”

“They do, but part of that probably had to do with them not wanting my older siblings to look after them.”

“If they didn’t want your older siblings then it was because they only wanted you. By the way, what did they do after that incident.”

“As soon as Mother would leave, Ember would grab every bucket he could reach and fill them up and place them around the house to dunk someone in if I accidentally set them on fire again.”

“Were they ever needed?”

“A few times, mostly whenever I was sick though. It was funny to see Ember explain to Mother why he didn’t know why all the buckets were filled with water and one of his siblings was dripping wet. I think Mother always knew what really happened, though. It’s a wonder that she always trusted me to look after them.”

“Because your Mother has faith in you, just like I do. Now, come on, we have some work to do on your fire breathing skills. I’m certain you’re going to better at it by the end of the semester.”

And by the end of the semester, it was slightly better than it had been at the beginning of the semester, but only slightly. And with only a few weeks left before the winter break came, Nigel had very low expectations that he would pass the class. He had run a few estimations and had concluded, that at his current rate of progress, he would pass the class in about twenty-three years and two months. That wasn’t great. But still, maybe he could do it. Either way, he just wanted to get back home to his siblings