The beast was much larger than Ziggy was back in the cave, though that was the goal. Meriel of course repeated the process of implementing an enlarged mana-heart to source energy, and that was what formed first.

  After that, the torso started forming, filling the stall completely, the bodies of the oxes and birds turning into mush and then they were absorbed by the spell.

  [Dragonmancy - Level 18 - Activated]

  It leveled up then. That was good to know, for Meriel wasn’t sure if it would count as the same spell with all the changes he’d had to make, or whether would still progress this one. But a confirmation was good. At least he knew that creating even more dragons in the future would probably only progress his skills in this spell. Already, he felt his mana heart and the imprint on it responding vividly, dragging more and more mana from the surroundings and siphoning it through Meriel’s mana heart into the spell itself.

  The legs formed, the claws as large as Meriel’s feet, and the head began forming as well, the jaw far more scary than Ziggy’s. Size-wise, this dragon would be far larger than almost all animals in Lavarza, but still fairly small compared to the dragon of Mura. Maybe a third of its size?

  “So huge!” Ziggy giggled as he watched the dragon assemble, The Feathers started emerging from its wings, and though Meriel expected them to be colorful, they were dark grey instead. The rocky protrusions started forming all over its body, and finally, the glow of magic started dissipating, instead replaced by the form of the dragon.

  It was… gorgeous. Majestic, in a completely different way than either of the two dragons Meriel had seen before. While Ziggy had a strange cuteness to him, and the black dragon in Azbokeus was terrifying, this one seemed regal, as if it came from a completely different realm than these. Its face was sleek, and it looked at Meriel and the others with groggy eyes, almost as if she’d just woken up.

  Suddenly, however, she seemed to shake herself awake, and brought her head closer to Meriel. If he were any less confident in his spells and ability to bring the desired effect in his summons, he’d probably be scared, He even felt Mary grip onto his cloak suddenly, a bit pale in her face.

  Meriel giggled, and touched the face of his newest creation. She felt a bit rough to the touch, but not in an unpleasant way. He stroked her face slowly, and then nodded, happy with his work. The dragon’s eyes were brown, and she seemed to inspect Meriel as he looked her over. That was unsurprising. It was her first time alive, and though she was mentally an adult already, that didn’t change it was her first time for everything. Including seeing humans.

  “What’s her name going to be?” Mary asked, quietly. Meriel considered, but in the end he decided there was a better way to name her then just to give out the first thing that would pop up in his mind.

  “How about we ask her?” He winked at Mary playfully, and then turned towards the dragon, grabbing Ziggy with his good hand. “This is your brother, Ziggy. He, like you, is my creation, and a dragon. Like him, you should be able to transform into a human form. Can you?”

  The dragon lifted its head, inspecting Ziggy intensively for few moments, and then she nodded. Almost immediately, she began shifting, her form compressing. When Ziggy did this, it was a bit unnerving, but not as unnatural as what was happening now. The size difference between him and this new dragon was so large, after all, that what happened was just mind-boggling.

  It was as if someone squeezed clothes into a small drawer. It was also most likely the reason why the human in front of him ended up looking larger than he’d expected. Meriel was fairly tall, and he’d heard that Lavarzans were taller on average than most other ethnicities, and yet this woman that formed in front of him was almost as tall as he was.

  She had straight grey hair, cut off above her shoulders, and just like Ziggy, she already transformed clothed, though her clothing seemed less plant-like and more leathery compared to Ziggy, a tunic placed over what looked like a shirt and a long skirt. Just like in her dragon form, her eyes were dark brown, almost to the point of being pure black, and her face was completely neutral, as if she felt nothing at all.

  She was tall, yes, but also seemed a bit more muscular than Meriel expected. Not to the point where she’d look like a male warrior, but her arms were visibly toned, her shoulders wider than most ladies. It looked strangely fitting.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Greetings, Master.” She said, looking at Meriel, for a few moments, and then looking at his two apprentices, followed by a nod of her head at Ziggy. “Greetings, older brother.” She looked back at Meriel, and the corner of her mouth moved, ever so slightly. “I assume you made me take this form so I can choose my name, then?”

  “You’d be correct,” Meriel replied, trying his best to get used to the way she spoke and carried herself. It wasn’t that she sounded disinterested, but she seemed calmer than he had predicted. Almost as if the spell took effect to the extreme. “I didn’t know your kind could transform back when I made Ziggy, but now I do, and I thought you’d perhaps like doing this on your own.”

  She closed her eyes and made a short bow with her head. “I appreciate it, master. May I think upon it for a few moments? I’m afraid this is all quite a bit… new to me.”

  “Wow. She is so… lady-like!” Mary said, and stepped closer, not afraid now that the dragon took on a human form. She stepped closer, and offered her hand. “You’re so pretty! My name is Mary, and I hope we can be friends!”

  Meriel giggled as the upfront way Mary spoke made the dragon widen her eyes, but then she quickly put on her neutral mask on once again, though there was a hint of a smile there. She took the hand, and nodded. “Nice to meet you, Mary. I assume you’re my Master’s apprentice? Or a friend?”

  “Both!” Mary replied immediately.

  “More like a runt I have to take care of,” Meriel murmured as he smiled, though he didn’t mean it. He was beginning to get used to thinking of Mary as a younger sibling anyway.

  This whole scene almost made Meriel forget about the terrible events of that day, but not completely. But some reprieve was better than none at all, and so he let himself get lost to it, let Ziggy introduce himself as well, and answered some of the questions his two apprentices had about the magical circle he used to create this dragon.

  After a while, just when he was trying to explain the mana heart at the center, a voice interrupted him. “Master?”

  Meriel looked at the dragon, who sat on the ground, kneeling, her legs under her bottom. “Yes?”

  “What is this… mana coalescing that you speak of? I cannot quite imagine it, I’m afraid.”

  Meriel raised his eyebrow, looked around, and pointed to a mana cluster right above their heads. “See that? The blue lines, floating in the air?”

  She followed his finger, her eyes closing in concentration, but then she looked back and shook her head. “I do not know what you mean, Master.”

  Meriel looked at her for a few seconds, confused, but then it clicked. Shit. She doesn’t have the third eye. Now that he thought about it, why should she? Nobody quite understood what it truly was, and he hadn’t really made Ziggy with the intention of him having one. He just did, and Meriel took it for granted that this second dragon would as well.

  “Well, this sucks. But no matter. It appears that you cannot be a mage, I’m afraid.” Meriel finally said, and the dragon raised her eyebrows.

  “I… I am afraid that I wasn’t counting on being a mage either way, master. I am only made to serve. Apologies if my inability has disappointed you.”

  Meriel hastily waved her qualms away, holding her eyes. “That wasn’t my point. I just had a presumption that was proved to be incorrect. But it is no matter, and you definitely don’t need to apologize for it.”

  “Well, there is a problem of how we’re going to get her to live in the academy,” Ziggy said offhandedly.

  Meriel hadn’t even thought of that until now. If she didn’t have the third eye, she couldn’t go in as another initiate. He’d have to circumvent the rules somehow to get her in.

  Unless there already was a way that wouldn’t require that.

  “I.. I think some of my classmates had servants back when I studied for the first time. I’ll go visit the department head, to try to see if that’s still a possibility.”

  Ziggy nodded, and Mary audibly sighed. “Thank the Alighter! I thought our new friend would have to live somewhere else!”

  That wouldn’t do. Meriel created her, and she was his responsibility now. He’d not let her live worse than they did. “I’ll see what I can do. Anyway, dragon, I created you with a purpose. Your draconic form is larger than Ziggy’s, and that’s because of a simple reason. I’ll need you to fly me somewhere. Somewhere far away.”

  The dragon looked at him once again and nodded with her eyes closed. Why did she do that? “Of course, master. Your wish is my command.”

  By the taker, why was she this obedient? It was a bit unnerving. But at least it fit the cover of the servant she’d take. A maid, then. It would be very fitting.

  That was settled then. He’d sneak her into their room today, and then sort everything out tomorrow with the department head. He wanted to fly to the elven kingdom right away, but… he wouldn’t. There was something else he’d need to do first, something he should have begun doing already. No longer would he put this off.

  “Tomorrow, I want you two to go into your last set of history classes, and then meet me at our old house,” Meriel said to the two children and looked at them. “I’ll wait for you, with our new friend.”

  “Why?” Mary asked first.

  “Simple. I’ll finally teach you magic. It will be hard, and possibly go against what you learn in the academy, but I trust you two can be something great.” He turned away and met the dragon’s eyes again. “As for you, I’ll search for a mana-heart warrior to train you. You don’t have the third eye, but with a weapon, or maybe even without, you could be a serious threat either way. Unless… you don’t want to?” Meriel added quickly, not wanting to just order her outright.

  But she only nodded, just like before. “I will follow your wishes, master.”

  He didn’t want her to be just an obedient servant. But he hoped that she’d come out of her shell as days went by.

  “Master. I think I know what name I want.” The dragon said again, smiling this time.”

  “Oh? What is it?”

  “Aurelia.”