---D-Day+44, Glenic 15th---

"Dragon?"

*wack*

"Ow.  Frankie, you are going to give me a concussion one of these days."

"Well master, whatever that is, I'm sure you will deserve it."

My priest-wife is standing over me with a stick in her hand.  Of course this is my fault.  Got distracted when Frosty came in all overexcited like a stereotypical anime loli.

Finished morning combat training so now its afternoon magic training.  Starting off with mana cultivation.  We've been given room 152 on the second floor but its not like the big ones with the raised stepped student seating.  Those are on the first floor.

This one looks like a typical classroom you can find everywhere.  Even has chalkboards on three walls with windows on the fourth. The boards covered with notes and spells written in magic languages.

This is where we've been simplifying my [Recovery Magic] and studying the [Half-Dead].

We'll work on those later but right now?  I'm sitting cross legged in the middle of the room with dozens forming circles around me.  Frankie, Red, Blue, Silvie, Val, her sisters, half-deads, students, even some deans, professors, and lecturers.

Yep.  We are 'cultivating.'  Using certain meditation techniques to exercise our mana by moving it around our bodies and trying to expand our internal mana reservoirs.

These techniques also help 'clean' your mana so there is less waste when you use it and giving your spells have more power.

Well.  Turns out?  I have so much mana, it 'splashes' while meditating.  While exercising.  Kind of gets all over everybody around me and 'floods' the room.  Whew.  Thank god that doesn't sound dirty at all.

And if you are also meditating while I'm, uh, 'splashing,' you?  It sort of soaks... In... And fills your... Hole... Stretching... ...  God!  I can't even inner monologue this!

It took hours for Frankie to finish explaining it.  Couldn't stop myself from interrupting her.  Over and over again.  Who knew meditation could be so hot!

If I had known this during my first kidhood?  I would have never left the house!

So, uh, 'cultivating' with me?  Apparently leaves all other 'splashless' methods, in the dust.  Meaning that every afternoon, six days an eight-week, when I walk in?  The room is already full.

I just close my eyes and pretend the dudes, are not here.  Inner peace, bitch.

Well I only 'cultivate' for an eight-hour.  Therefore, Ushi has taken it upon herself to keep me on task for magic training like Edel does for my combat training.

Whenever I start screwing around too much?  Like talking to Frosty who came flying into the room?  Stick to the head.

Of course Frosty enjoys the 'enemy of women' getting whacked with a stick as much as the next girl.  But is soon dodging as Ushi starts aiming for her too.

Naturally Frosty timed her sneak attack for the end of the session so I send out a mana pulse as a thank you for the company and wrap it up.

Some leave.  Others stay to experiment with [Recovery Magic] or [Half-Dead].  Senior senior citizen and I prefer a relaxed atmosphere.

A couple of weeks to go before exams to pick the new first years, so the campus is still mostly abandoned.  The exams occur a month before the school year starts and last for an eight-week.

Its like a festival and Pearlden overflows with hopefuls, and their relatives.  There is only a hundred to a hundred and fifty slots for new first years.  And two to three times that number show up to compete.

I'm already admitted.  Shit, I pretty much already have a 'do whatever I want and get away with it' badge.  But I've been thinking about taking the exams.  Seems unfair to others not too.

Still, if I do really badly or really well?  Both may do more harm than good for other students.  End up discouraging instead of encouraging them.  Maybe I can take them privately?

Well, back to the matter at hand.  Or loli at hand since she's jumped into my lap before I could stand and is busily nibbling on my neck or ears.  Somehow dodging Ushi's stick the entire time.

Of course every swing that misses?  Hits me instead.  Something which both Frankie and Frosty seem perfectly fine with.  In fact, everyone seems a-okay with me getting a beating.  Even Red and Blue are sitting quietly, watching, with the most innocent smiles on their faces.

"You said-"

*wack*

"-there is-"

*wack*

"-a dragon-"

*wack*

"-sighting-"

*wack*

"-Frosty?"

*wack*

Ouch, Ushi put some extra pepper into that last swing.  These two have become like oil and water.  Even when sharing me they act uninterested in, or opposed to, each other.  Hmm...  Is a great lesbo romance being kept on the down low?

*WACK*

Ow!  Guess she sensed that.

Okay okay.  I get it.  Scoop up Frankie and Frosty with an arm each and drop them on Red and Blue to restrain them.  Our standard loli containment procedure at this point.

Of course I already know about the dragon.  Juli is not mine but her father worries so I agreed to give her 'extra' protection.  So I knew soon after she did.  They are still days away but are heading back.

Bird postage spread the word as soon as they got to another village.  The entire Tourin-Granya frontier is fearfully watching the skies right now.

Alex was thrilled and quickly hunted them down.  Yes.  Them.  There isn't one dragon.  There's four.  And they had already destroyed a Granyan village before Lostglen.  Two more Tourinese villages have also been consumed.

Four dragons is a lot of stomach to fill.

Now dragons in Ipra are the typical western fantasy ones.  Four legs, two big wings, long tail, long neck, big body, horns, breathes fire.  Sleep for a long long time.  Wake up.  Eat a bunch of anything they can find.  Go back to sleep.

Supposedly very smart and occasionally extorts tribute, treasure and food, from the 'lesser' races.

~Your will?~

With barely a thought, Alex forms in front of me. While some of my minions have formed bonds becoming half-deads?  Most prefer to remain just shadows, like Alex.  Half-deads have pretty distinct advantages and disadvantages.

My Shadow High Inquisitor loves to travel through the shadows and his speed.  Half-deads sacrifice both of those.

"Where are they?"

~Erienberg.~

"Path?"

~One, they should cross the frontier and consume Filostin next.~

That catches Silvie's attention.

"No."

The high elf priestess is on her knees before me in a flash.

"Please lord.  Please save Filostin."

"Why?"

Wow, never seen Silvie go shy before.

"S-someone, important, t-to me is th-there."

The reverse harem queen has a soft spot?  Damn, still no popcorn!  I turn back to Alex and find Rowl has appeared next to him.

"Do we have their vector, Victor?  Clearance, Clarence?"  Not even the undead appreciate my comedic genius.  Huh.  They don't even have eyes but I can tell they're rolling them.  "Can we intercept before they reach Filostin?"

~If we leave soon.~

Look at Ushi and Edel while wearing a wicked grin.

"Lets go dragon hunting."