Reincarnated as an Orphaned Dragon!

Chapter 5 - "Ria"

--- Ria

Ria was eager to visit the city renowned for its magic, and to learn, no less.
Yet despite that she was going to be a magician, she felt like something was missing.
She knew what it was, and she turned gloomy.

'I miss Lava!' She thought, 'I miss her beautiful scales and radiating warmth...'
Ria started to cry longingly at what she missed, staring at the scale Lava gave her a full year ago even though it hasn't even been that long since they were apart.

On the bright side, for the first time she was given quality clothes.
It's not like Grandpa made her wear tatters, but it had to be kept basic for financial reasons.

The entrance to the academy was incredible, with a well maintained lawn and decorative ferns to stifle any doubts of its prestige.

It was rather clear to the other students that Ria was not a noble, even if they disregarded that Ria knew almost no etiquette.

"Now they're letting country bumpkins in? I bet a gold coin she's worse than Litz!" One group gossips and chuckles.

Ria was too cheerful to hear or be brought down by such verbal attacks.
She could hear Lava in her head telling her that she should be strong.

In reality, she was almost at their level already even though she was younger than most of them.
The first class began soon after her arrival.

She sat in the classroom, anticipating her new teacher meeting the mass gathering of young mages.
Eventually after a few moments of staring, a skinny man with a short robe stepped through the door.

"Greetings, all of you! I am going to be your instructor. Some of you may already know who I am, but in this academy you are to address me as Master Pierre." He announced with a loud authoritative voice, betraying his appearance.

No one interrupted, even the strongest nobles knew their place here.

"Alright, first of all, let's go over the rules. Violations of any of these may be punished with immediate expulsion from this academy, so pay attention!" He said, looking slightly annoyed to be reciting them once again, but he continued.

"First, no attacking other students! Unless it's an agreed upon duel supervised by a teacher or two other students chosen by the participants, there will be no fighting! Of course, you aren't allowed to cause serious harm in a duel either!" He commanded,
"Second, no making up spells within vicinity of other people, you'll need a supervisor if you want to try them with incantations. You'll learn why very soon... Those are the only two you have to remember, but that doesn't mean there aren't more, so have some common sense and don't be fools."

"Understood!" Everyone shouts in unison as if forced to do so.

Finally, the class truly begins.

"Alright, let's begin with the first thing every mage has to know, what is magic?" He asked, but before anyone could answer he continued on,
"Now, if you were going to answer along the lines of power or energy, you're only half right. Magic is knowledge, and knowledge is power."

He had continued on his informal parade for an entire minute before someone in front of Ria finally asked, "Why can't we just make up spells whenever we want?"

"Even accomplished mages are careful with new spells, when things go wrong, at best you'll just be out of strength, but at worst you could harm yourself or others. That's why you should NEVER make a spell out of words you don't completely understand. Think of the spell as the literal command you are giving to the world, and your mental image being your own personal view on how it should be achieved. If they conflict or your focus wavers, the result will not be what you intended." Master Pierre answered.