"Step back," I gasped, my back hitting the cold edge of the mahogany desk.
Vance—no, Aurelius inside Vance's skin—only smiled.
His fingers, cool and elegant, traced a slow path up my throat, settling right over my racing pulse.
"Why should I?" the dragon purred through the professor’s lips.
"Your heart is singing such a lovely, panicked song for me, little tamer."
Shivering, I tried to swat his hand away.
My wrists were pinned against the wood before I could even blink.
Strength in this body was terrifying, amplified by the primordial spirit pulling the strings.
"Let go of me," I whispered, glancing toward the locked heavy oak doors.
"If someone walks in and sees the Head Professor pinning a zero-tier student to his desk, they'll expel me."
Aurelius let out a low, vibrating laugh that rattled my teeth.
"Let them try. I own this academy now, if I so wish. But I must admit, this vessel is remarkably sturdy."
He flexed Vance’s long, pale fingers, admiring the way the light caught the silver rings on his knuckles.
"A high-tier mage body. It accommodates my essence far better than those fragile little birds I usually command."
"You can't just steal his life!" My voice cracked, betraying my mounting panic.
"I am not stealing it," Aurelius countered, leaning down until his breath brushed my ear, sending a jolt of pure heat straight down my spine.
"We have a compromise, your dear professor and I. Though, I find myself wanting to keep this shell on a semi-permanent basis. Just for you."
My eyes widened. "What?"
"Think of the possibilities," he whispered, his lips grazing the shell of my ear.
"We could spend entire nights together. I could show you exactly what a dragon does to his mate. We wouldn't need to sleep at all. Just hours and hours of absolute, exquisite fun."
Heat rushed to my face, turning my cheeks a violent scarlet.
"You—you absolute pervert! Absolutely not!"
Chuckling, he nipped gently at my earlobe, making me squeak.
"Do not worry, my sweet. I am a gentleman. I won't completely ruin his little academic schedule if it truly makes you uncomfortable. But whenever you attend your magic lessons..."
His eyes flashed a dangerous, liquid gold.
"I will be right there, watching you through his eyes. Protecting what is mine."
Swallowing hard, I muttered, "I don't need your protection."
All my life, back in my old world, I had been the invisible one.
People walked past me.
They used me, discarded me, and left me alone in the dark.
My ex-boyfriend had packed his bags without a single word, leaving me with a half-empty apartment and a crushing sense of worthlessness.
I learned to cling to anyone who showed me a shred of affection, a desperate habit that now made me incredibly vulnerable to this ancient beast.
"You crave this," Aurelius whispered, his golden eyes searching my soul.
"But you pretend to fight me, even though you have never had anyone look at you like you are the only thing that matters in the entire universe. I see the hunger in you, Isaac."
Silently, I squeezed my eyes shut, refusing to let him see how deeply those words cut into my defenses.
Releasing my wrists, he stepped back, the intense pressure in the room lifting just enough for me to draw a ragged breath.
"Go to your next class," Aurelius ordered softly, adjusting Vance's immaculate collar.
"But remember who you belong to."
---
Stumbling out of the headmaster's study, my knees felt like wet paper.
I pressed a hand against my chest, feeling the faint, rhythmic pulsing of the dragon's crest beneath my shirt.
A deep, heavy weight rested in my chest.
Hurrying down the echoing stone corridors, I ignored the curious looks from passing students.
My mind was a chaotic mess of embarrassment and fear.
How was I supposed to learn magic when my professor was literally possessed by a horny, overprotective dragon?
Wiping a hand over my hot face, I tried to focus on the task at hand.
Herbology.
Magic in Solaris was governed by nine elemental cores.
Most mages were born with at least one active core, allowing them to channel basic elements like fire, water, or wind.
Having zero cores made you a cosmic mistake.
I was trapped in the body of a boy who had spent his entire life being treated like a broken tool.
Building a life for myself without needing to sell my soul was my only hope.
Pushing open the heavy iron-reinforced doors of the grand greenhouse, I was hit by a wall of warm, humid air.
Steam rose from the damp soil, carrying the heavy, choking scent of decaying vegetation and sweet, rotting nectar.
Giant, luminous ferns hung from the high iron rafters, their leaves gently dripping condensation onto the stone floor.
I kept my head down, pulling my oversized uniform sleeves over my trembling hands.
Everyone else in the class huddled in tight, whispering cliques, casting occasional sneering glances my way.
"Look at him," someone muttered nearby.
"The trash of the academy."
"Surprised he hasn't been expelled yet," another whispered, snickering.
Fingering the hem of my tunic, I swallowed the lump in my throat and moved toward the very back of the humid room.
I needed to prove I belonged here.
"Quiet down, class," a sharp voice echoed from the front.
Professor Vance walked into the greenhouse, his posture upright and commanding.
He looked entirely normal, his dark hair perfectly styled, his spectacles catching the pale light filtering through the glass ceiling.
My heart did a violent flip in my chest.
Was it Vance, or was it him?
As if sensing my gaze, Vance's eyes swept across the room, locking instantly onto me.
Wickedness flickered in his gaze as a knowing smirk tugged at his lips.
For a fraction of a second, his eyes burned with a blinding gold.
My breath hitched.
He was here.
"Today, we will be harvesting the essence of Nocturnal Briars," Vance announced, his voice smooth and professional, completely masking the monster lurking beneath his skin.
"Aggressive and hungry, they feed on magical energy and human flesh. One wrong move, and they will drain you dry. Approach with extreme caution."
Murmurs of anxiety rippled through the students.
Beside me, a tall, broad-shouldered boy named Roger let out a loud, mocking scoff.
"Please. Only a total idiot would get caught by a low-tier weed."
Roger was a second-year noble who had made it his personal mission to make my life a living hell.
He possessed a decent fire-core affinity and never let anyone forget it.
"Move, zero," Roger sneered, shoving past me to reach the harvesting table.
Stumbling slightly, I gripped the edge of the wooden bench to steady myself.
"I'm just trying to do my work, Roger."
"Your work?" Roger laughed, a nasty, sharp sound.
"A zero-tier trash like you doesn't even have enough mana to light a candle. You're a stain on this academy's reputation. Why don't you just crawl back to whatever gutter you came from?"
Ignoring him, I picked up a pair of heavy leather gloves and a bronze shearing knife.
Letting him bait me would be a disaster.
Walking over to the designated containment soil beds, I stared at the Nocturnal Briars.
Nocturnal Briars were infamous for their predatory nature.
They didn't just grow; they hunted.
Their roots could sense the vibrations of approaching prey, and their vines would whip outward with terrifying speed.
Inside their jagged thorns lay hollow channels designed to pump a paralyzing neurotoxin directly into the bloodstream.
Once paralyzed, the victim could only watch as the plant slowly liquefied their flesh to absorb the nutrients.
Thick, black vines writhed slowly in the dirt like nesting snakes.
Sharp, jagged thorns jutted out from the dark wood, dripping with a thick, purple sap that hissed whenever it touched the stone floor.
Carefully, I reached out with the shears, my hands shaking slightly.
"What's the matter, coward?" Roger's voice hissed right behind my ear.
"Too scared to touch a little plant?"
"Leave me alone," I said, keeping my focus on the vine.
Suddenly, Roger's heavy boot shot out, hooking behind my ankle with brutal force.
Losing my balance, I gasped as my feet slipped on the wet moss.
Directly ahead of me lay the massive, writhing cluster of Nocturnal Briars, their thorns flexing outward like hungry teeth, sensing the approaching meal.
"Have a nice trip, trash!" Roger jeered.
Screaming, I pitched forward, my hands instinctively flying out to protect my face as I plunged headfirst into the deadly patch of black thorns.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl.
I braced for the agonizing pain of a hundred thorns tearing into my flesh, the terrifying sensation of my meager life force being drained away.
Instead, a sudden, blinding heat erupted from the center of my chest.
Right where the dragon's marriage crest was branded onto my skin, a wave of ancient, suffocating power surged outward.
A brilliant, incandescent golden barrier flared into existence around my body, radiating a heat so intense the air itself began to shimmer.
Once the black vines touched the golden light, they didn't pierce me.
Instantly, the flesh-eating briars turned a pale, brittle white.
A soft, crackling sound filled the greenhouse as the entire patch of Nocturnal Briars—vines, thorns, and poison sap—withered into fine, sparkling gold ash.
Silence descended upon the entire room.
Every single student stood frozen, their eyes wide with absolute disbelief. Even the assistant teachers had stopped in their tracks, staring at the empty, smoking soil bed.
I fell onto my hands and knees, completely unharmed, gasping for breath as the golden barrier slowly receded back into my chest, leaving only a lingering warmth.
Roger stares in absolute horror at the golden ash at Isaac's feet, pointing a trembling finger as he gasps, "That... that isn't zero-tier magic. What monster did you summon?"