Speaking of which. I have never even seen our principal yet. This reminded Cyril of this fact.
"So it's killing three birds with one stone; how about it?"
Cyril seriously thought about the feasibility of such an idea.
Worth a try, I suppose... Some time later. In the end he postponed it for now.
There was still the Heavenly Dragon's Judgement he needed to practice.
The name's a bit long; let's call it Dragon Art instead.
"...Let's call the first part of the technique that," Rhamn said with reluctance.
Today he was going to try the first part of the scroll. Tempering one's own flesh.
He wanted to find out if it could indeed enhance his strength. After all, it was already impressive enough.
Cyril sat in a recommended lotus position on the floor and started calming down his breath.
Next he cast a spell and put his hands closely together.
This way Cyril started to slowly manipulate mana to 'rebuild' his flesh.
It was a bit awkward. It seemed the technique required a good understanding of one's own body and a delicate control over mana.
"Yes! I should be able to help," Rhamn said excitedly after making sure of something.
Cyril agreed to her idea without any fear.
Soon he felt that the spell started working more efficiently.
His flesh became more susceptible to it, more malleable.
Cyril practiced like this under the precise instructions from the scroll, losing the sense of time.
By the time he finished, it was already late into the night.
Cyril got up from the ground somewhat unsteadily and stretched.
During this time he managed to improve the outer layer of skin on his left hand.
According to the scroll, this was supposed to be the result after half a month of practice, but he achieved it in one evening.
Quite slow... Let's not be too greedy. Cyril denied his thought of experimenting with the spell to speed up the process.
Unlike the time when he turned his hand into a claw, this was a more subtle transformation.
According to the scroll the change in appearance reflects the degree of tempering skin.
He observed his transformed hand in detail.
It didn't look any different from normal. But there was still a change that could be felt.
It's like the 'quality' of my body has increased.
Cyril went to the kitchen and grabbed a knife.
Under the concerned eyes of Morpho and Tigris, Cyril slashed down at his left arm.
Despite him using quite a bit of strength there was only a barely noticeable reddish mark. Pretty good.
There was no increase in strength just yet; for that he would have to enhance his muscles.
"This spell indeed has a very high compatibility with us." Rhamn nodded in satisfaction.
With her support, Cyril would be able to practice this technique with half the effort.
At this moment Morpho flew in Cyril's face, flapping her wings in urgency.
"She also wants to try," Rhamn explained with a smile.
I guessed as much...
Cyril let her land on his hand and started speaking in a consoling voice: "It's already quite late. Let's practice after the zoo trip tomorrow, alright? And don't try it on your own."
Morpho lowered her wings in a pitiful manner. This attack dealt a lot of damage to Cyril's heart.
"I am really sorry; please, try to be patient."
After a bit more consoling, the impatient Morpho finally calmed down and landed on the bed in preparation for sleep.
Tigris couldn't understand his sibling's behavior. He lazily lay on the bed from the beginning, completely uninterested in learning the spell.
...
The next day, Cyril met Ophelia on the way to lessons. She was cleaning the area around dormitory A, still wearing her maid uniform.
By her side was a small black cat. It seems she brought it with her.
Ophelia didn't say anything about the duel that just happened, only making sure that her master was doing alright and reminding her that she was ready to help.
Maybe I should bring Tigris to meet the cat?
"Why? Tigris is no animal; he would find the cat boring."
But it would be very amusing.
"...That's true."
Cyril sat in the classroom, thinking about the Dragon Art, while half-listening to their Spell Making professor.
Today Richard mostly wanted to consolidate the knowledge gained in preparation for the exam on Monday.
Every student was quite excited about what it could be. But at the same time, a certain layer of gloom hung over the people.
They inevitably thought that they would probably have to fight against Cyril.
Lately he has garnered quite the reputation.
Cyril wasn't concerned with any of that, however. Eventually his mind switched to today's trip.
Everyone in his home was very excited about it.
The lessons today passed especially slowly, but eventually it was over.
The was still a bit of time left before he was supposed to meet his friends.
In the morning, Moproh relentlessly pestered him to use this time for practice, so Cyril went back to his dorm.
When he opened the door to his room, he was greeted with a slightly unusual sight.
A butterfly was striking a training mannequin again and again with increasing proficiency.
Nearby sat a small tiger, obsessively watching this display of skill, cheering with a meow occasionally.
Cyril locked the door behind him and slowly walked closer, careful not to disturb Morpho's focus.
"I never expected Morpho would become so... dedicated to the sport?" Rhamn didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Somehow the figure of a butterfly martial artist was hard to imagine.
I think she's on the right path. Cyril, however, was very satisfied with the path she had chosen.
On the other hand, Tigris is overly lazy, I would say, thought Cyril while noticing the slight crumbs of snacks left on the fur of Tigris.
"He doesn't need to fight. All he needs is to be happy," Rhamn defended the kitten.
"Besides, Tigris was born just recently. Let him enjoy the world a bit more."
Maybe so.
In the end, Cyril decided against taking action for now.
When Morpho was done, she wobbly landed on the ground, too tired to even fly.
"Good job. Rest up, and we'll begin learning the Dragon Art." Cyril said with satisfaction.
Hearing his voice, Morpho excitedly ran up to him on her legs and twitched her antennae a few times.
With a smile, Cyril picked her up and let her rest on his shoulder.
Tigris also lazily walked closer and lay down on the back, exposing his belly.
Cyril had no choice but to pet the beast for a few moments.
While Morpho was recovering, Cyril decided to not waste any time and began sharing his impressions of the technique.
It was a special study session to let her learn how to enhance her body.
Cyril wasn't familiar with how Morpho's body worked, but there was someone else who knew it very well.
So Morpho once again was spending time listening to both Rhamn and Cyril.
It wasn't that long since Moproh herself was born. But she was already capable of fighting on a similar level to some of the students in class I.
This had something to do with her unquenchable spirit for training, of course.
But aside from that, some of the experience Cyril had accumulated over his whole life managed to transfer to Morpho through their unique connection.
One time Morpho described to Rhamn how she had a vague 'intuition' of where to strike and how, giving her the necessary edge to improve with leaps and bounds.
This gave Cyril hope that even without doing any training, Tigris would be able to defend himself at least.
When Morpho recovered, they finally started the main training.
Cyril and Rhamn surrounded Morpho, who was staying still, focusing on the spell.
Her magic circle still looked a bit crude, but it was slightly better than before.
Cyril focused as well, manipulating his own mana, letting it pass to Morpho.
With Rhamn's help, she slowly and carefully applied magic to her body, attempting to strengthen it.
Cyril didn't think that Selene expected her technique to be used on butterflies.
This didn't stop the Dragon Art from producing results.
Thanks to her smaller body size, Morpho was able to increase the quality of her body slightly faster.
Unfortunately they didn't have enough time to produce any big results.
"Let's end here for today." Cyril stopped supplying mana when he noticed the time.
Morpho finished her technique and excitedly landed on Cyril's shoulder.
Tigris ran up to Cyril in small but quick steps and pawed his leg to capture his attention.
Quickly understanding his intention, Cyril picked up Tigris and placed him on his other shoulder.
"Very cute."
Like this, Cyril left his dorm and went to the agreed meeting location.
The students he met on the way were all distracted by the unusual-looking animals on his shoulders.
Tigris greeted whoever was close with a cheerful meow, but Morpho ignored all.
Without any issues, they reached the academy gates.
There was no one else there at the moment, so Cyril began waiting.