Chapter 31: Midterms

Dave's POV

The new week arrived to me, like a delivery truck. I wasn't sure whether I was fully prepared or not for the midterms. Ringo gave me the same wonderful smile she always did. "You ready for this shit?" She asked me. "As ready as I can be, I guess." I replied. We got ready, then left for Suzuran High. We met Lemres, Feli, and Risukuma on the way. Us as a team, reassured ourselves that we can pass these things. "I have faith that we can do this." Feli said. "Let's see if that faith sticks like glue, Feli." I added. "Hm… wouldn't sticky sugar be a better adhesive for our faith, dude?" Lemres wondered. "That's not important, man. What matters is us showing the school how smart we all are." I responded to his question. "Heh. Yeah, you're right." He smiled, then retracted. "Intelligence is one of the biggest strengths a human can have… and I suppose squirrel bears count too in this instance." Risukuma spoke true. "Mhm. Of course, Ris." Ringo nodded. "Although, I'm still a bit worried about the things we struggle in…" Feli brought up. I stopped walking for a moment and the others followed suit. "Hey, this is what we've been working towards. We all worked hard to get to this point of no return. Doubting ourselves now could kill our chances to succeed. It's all or nothing here… placing in the academic bets right here, right now. We won't yield to arduous questions and whatnot. Instead, we keep going no matter how rough they get. It's like people say… "When the going gets tough, the tough get going". Think of these as battles of sorts… except, you don't use power or magic. We need to use our brains effectively and efficiently. In other words, figure things out as you go along… but don't meander. Of course, we don't have a whole lot of time in these classes to finish the midterms. So we have to really manage our time in a meaningful way. Who's ready to have their brain handle that kind of stress?" I threw my hand into the middle of everyone. Ringo placed her hand on mine first, then Feli, third was Lemres, and Risukuma put down his paw last. "Let's ace 'em all!" Lemres hollered. "Yeah!" We all came in. That provided everybody with the needed motivation.

Fast forward to biochemistry, me and Risukuma wished each other the best of luck. The test began and the room was silent. Every student had their eyes glued to the papers they were given. Honestly, this one wasn't bad. I felt rather confident with answering the questions correctly. One of them asked about how a Puyo's anatomy was structured. I clearly remembered that one, at least. It was the first thing that I learned in this school, so I found it to be memorable. I didn't really struggle with many of the stuff in it, but the test itself took me a while. This was only because of the question amount being high. I finished ten minutes before class ended, so I waited for the teacher to end the session. We handed her the papers, then they went into an automatic grading system. The machine graded the test papers stupidly fast. The scores were then presented on a screen. It turned out that I got an eighty-seven percent, and Risukuma had ninety-eight percent. I wasn't too shocked by his score because I expected him to do exceedingly well. As for mine, I accepted for what it was. Going into calculus, I knew that this class' midterm was going to be by far the hardest for me. "Dave, just remember that I'll be with you in spirit for this." Ringo smiled at me. "... Alright." I nodded. This test was almost an utter nightmare to trudge through. I say "almost" because at least it had the decency to have every problem be multiple-choice. At least I was able to guess on anything I did not have an answer for. Besides that, any work that I did to solve these problems, was on a blank sheet of paper. When I finished all of it, I was relieved. Getting to the score process, I had a solid seventy-six percent, which I was perfectly happy with. In fact, it was better than I anticipated it would be. It might have still been in the C range, but that was a well-fought win for me. Ringo congratulated me for my score. "See? You pulled through. I'm so proud of you, Dave." She hugged me. "Thanks, Ringo." I chuckled. She got a perfect on hers, which I still found it crazy that she was a math whiz of the highest degree.

On to English, I had every right to feel like the most confident young man in the world. I wished the best of luck for Feli and Lemres This one, as I thought, was the easiest for me. I knew that I was getting into at least the mid 90's range. My score came in as ninety-nine percent. Even I was impressed with myself for that. Feli had eighty-four percent, then Lemres got ninety-nine too. "Yo, nice job, Lemres. I'm shocked that you scored that high." I smiled. "Hey, I've been workin' hard, Dave. It's only natural that I get results like this. Could ya maybe... give me more credit next time?" He admitted. "Ha. Yeah, certainly. It's just that you have once again, exceeded my expectations." I said to him. "What about me, Dave?" Feli felt like she was being left out. "Don't worry, I wasn't ignoring you, Feli. You did well too, my precious little badass." I buttered her up. "G-God… you're embarrassing me…" She blushed. "So uh… how did you guys do with the ones from the earlier classes?" I wondered. "I pretty much aced 'em too, ninety-four and ninety-six." Lemres told me. "Eighty-three and eighty-five for me." Feli followed. "Niiiiiice. Now, it's just history's midterm and we'll be done with the testing. Let's just hope Ringo and Ris can manage too." I gave them a high-five. I told them about my breakthrough victory, concerning the calculus midterm. Feli hugged me after hearing it and I did the same. We left English for history and this one was moderately challenging, in retrospect. It was probably the second hardest for me, but still not nearly as bad as calculus'. After I finished this last one, my results came in at eighty-two percent. I was always someone who would hover around the B grade range for social studies classes, so this was standard. Feli's was ninety, and Lemres had ninety-seven. I knew at this point, the three of us kept our overall grade C or higher.

All of us were joyful of this outcome. We had the absolute freedom at long last, to talk a good deal at lunch. "So what are ya gonna do in Ms. Accord's class for today, Dave?" Lemres came over to me. "It's hard to say precisely what, Lemres. With a looming threat closing in on us, we might not have the time for normal lessons. This leaves it up to one option… training. There are problems though… I'm too strong for my own good and the others have yet to substantially increase their power. This is the main one I'm concerned with. Dude, you've seen me as a dragon. You saw how I lost control and laid waste to Vyle, mercilessly. Never do I want that to happen again. I almost killed one of my greatest allies in cold blood... Ex. How can I save people if I'm a burden like this?" I felt depressed for that minute. "Dave… I understand your frustration. You're predictin' that you'll only cause trouble for those around you. That assumption may not be wrong… but there are variables that you can alter." Lemres told me. "Exactly, I'm sure you will find a way to cope with the dragon form. If you can learn how to control it, we may have a chance." Feli came to sit. "I dunno... This is the dragon of the demons we're talking about here. I may be full of good heart and intent, but not while I'm in that form. It's full of dark and evil energy that flows more than a river. It can be summed up like a storm on the ocean, chaotic and wicked might… Let's face the facts, I turned into a hellish beast that day and it wasn't myself. The only reason why all but one of us survived, was that Ex came through for me. For that reason, I wish that I'd be stronger without being a dragon. I don't need that negative energy to kick major ass. I'm not sure what it does to me, it's… like corruption. That's the best way I can describe it." I sulked.

An announcement then came in after a minute of us not talking. "Attention to all half-students, the special vehicle is now working properly again. You now don't have to manually travel to Primp Magic School any longer." The voice then goes away. "Jesus, finally… What took them so long?" Feli wondered. "Hey, at least we don't have to travel there by ourselves." Lemres smiled. "I do find it odd though…" I thought. "What's odd about the fixing of the vehicle, besides the fact that it took so long?" She asked me. "That's exactly it though, Feli… "Why did it take so long?". That's the question in my mind right now. If they knew how it functions, then why did it take over a month to fix? A week? Maybe, but certainly not a month. Something strange is going on here… and I'm not sure if I like it." I told them. "I agree. There's somethin' that the school's not tellin' us." Lemres nodded. A couple of minutes pass by without us saying another word. "Where's Jace? I need to find him." I begin looking about. "There's no need to get up from where you are, Dave. I am already here." I heard his voice. "...! J-Jace? What are you doing here?" I asked him.

He still had this serious expression that he always kept. "As soon as I heard that announcement, I became suspicious and felt like I needed to alert you… but, it looks like you are thinking the same thing as me." He said. "Yeah, they should have addressed what took them so long to do it… They're keeping that reason in the dark, whatever it is." I nodded. "This is out of my authority to do, but I'm going to find out what the reason is. Gilbert will help me out with this mystery. We'll eavesdrop on the staff's conversations, then relay the information back to you." He promised. "Why me though?" I scratched my head. "Because, I trust you. It is as simple as that." Jace explained to me. "Okay… Well, if you happen to get anything out of place from that, let me know." I told him. "Consider that bit done. Let's make sure that we have contact with each other on the phone… and I'll come back to you as soon as I can. I am a busy guy, so I can't always just be doing this. Plus, me and Gilbert doing our jobs will divert the staff's attention away from us. It'll be beneficial just to take this slow, but not too slow." He ran off. The bell rang after that conversation and we left. "As long as we can ride our way to Primp, I'm satisfied for now." I sighed. "Yeah, we'll just get on over to potions class, and it'll be good." Lemres put his hands over my shoulders. The vehicle comes and we enter in with the other half-students. Traveling there, Feli squeezed my arm tightly. She likely wanted to slip in her love on me. Lemres enjoyed me and her showing affection to one another. We exited the vehicle and came into the potions class.

The bell clapped a couple of minutes later. "Okay class, it's about time that we get back on track. Last time when I went on with the current lesson, I was taken by a vampire lord. Thankfully, this guy is dead now so we don't have to look out anymore. Anyway, I briefly mentioned how you need to stay calm with creating a mixture. I say this because it's absolutely essential for maintaining the best possible quality. The richest potions come from minds that are the most eased. Keeping tranquil thoughts in your heads and staying positive is great for this. Worrying will only worsen the way you go about making a potion. So today, it'll be less on actually making the mixture, and more about keeping your cool. Any questions before we start?" Witch lectured. I and the rest of the class remained silent. "... Huh, that's weird… expected at least a question or so…" She rested her head on her right hand. "*cough* Alrighty then… I do have to say, there is gonna be a caveat to this. Dave, I know that you are unfit to do this right now. I can tell there's a lot on your mind… and it would be unfair to have you do this like everyone else. I'll have you do something… special for me. Class, I won't be here to watch over you for this period. Lemres, could you watch for me? If you do great, I'll have you excused from the assignment all together~." She proposed. "Uh... certainly, Instructor." He nodded. "Hey! Why do those guys get off easy?!" An angry student asked. "Child, if you knew what happened during the day that I was KIDNAPPED… you would understand." She glared at them. That seemed to have shut them up real good. Witch led me outside, where she brought out a broom. "Witch, where are we going?" "Dave, don't ask questions when you may not be prepared for the answers." "Well… then, could you tell me what's going on?" "*sigh* I brought you with me because I figured out how you can control that dragon form and go complete with it. Can you fly?" "I can, with this. Hrah! I'll follow wherever you take us." "Just try and keep up with me." We flew for quite a while we arrive at an unfamiliar place. "We're coming in for a landing." She told me. "Alright." I nodded.

We landed softly on the ground, then Witch told me to disengage, to which I did. I continued to follow her where we came up to a house. She knocked on the door and a few seconds later, a familiar face showed. "D-Draco?!" I looked up. "Oh hey, Dave! … And… Witch…? What is this?" She wondered. She didn't tell Draco beforehand why I came with her? I questioned in my mind. "Draco, y'know how Dave lost control that day as an incomplete dragon?" "Yeah… what about it?""I figured out a solution to fix that." "Oh! Well that's something. Lemme guess, you need me for it?" "Yup." Witch is really talking more… casual. I noticed. We went inside the house, then I saw living room. It looked comfy, I will admit. "Dave, sit down and put out one of your arms. I'll hold on to it in the meantime." She told me to. "Sure…?" I complied. "Draco, use your fangs to bite into his arm." "W-what?! I'm not a vampire!" "*sigh* Do you want to make Dave better or not." "W-well, of course I do." "Then do it." The dragon girl sank her fangs into me and my arm began to bleed. "Agh-!" I winced. "Stay still, idiot!" Witch zoomed in close to me. "... Okay... what's the next step?" I asked. "I sprinkle some temporary magic on Draco… and her fire will be enhanced. What I'm trying to accomplish is to dispel the evil deep inside and convert it into valor. How this'll be done is by making Draco's fire go through your veins. Therefore, it can travel to every part of your body. I basically made the fire a purification method. It's strong enough to burn that hidden wickedness, but not your body. If you were worried about your body burning up from the inside, don't. Just take in the burns like a champ, 'kay? It'll all be fine~." She explained. "That doesn't exactly sound reassuring, especially considering that I'm already in PAIN!" I complained. "Hush, boy. … Draco go ahead and LET 'ER RIP!" She grinned. The fire came and I was dying. "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" I screamed. This went on for what seemed to be an eternity. Me feeling the burn… and screaming constantly. It finally stopped when a blue puff of smoke appeared. "*cough cough* Okay Draco, that's enough. It looks as though it worked like a charm." Witch stopped her. "... … … Oh thank God… *cough cough*" I breathed in and out. I passed out from all that screaming and internal trauma.

Witch's POV

Dave's mind conked out completely from the purification process. His arm was still bleeding, so I decided to whip out a bandage roll. I remembered to keep one with me for this. I did the obvious thing and covered up the fang punctures. "There, he should be fine now." I said. "It hurts me to see him in so much agony…" Draco held on to his hand. "Why do you care about him so much?" "Because, I love him. Didn't you know?" "No. I've never seen him fawnin' over any girl in the past while I taught him." "You're his teacher? … Anyway, he thinks I'm lovable in my own way." After she said that, it kind of flipped my switch. "That's infuriating, what about me? Doesn't he think I'm a treat?" "Witch, you're too old for him, that's prolly why…" "Bitch please, I'm only a couple of years older than you... it's honestly not that bad!" "You admitted it yourself, you run a class with him in it. Student and teach relationships are taboo for a reason. Also, you should know that he is in on an affair with another girl too, that I will say for the record… is fifteen. It would be even stranger if he had lovers that filled out an age discrepancy of at least five years." "Wh-?! How many girls are in it with him?!" "Three. That would be me, Feli... and this other girl, Ringo." "Th-that's an entire harem! Oooh...! It's unfair! I thought Dave was cute, and then you and those two come in and steal the love. I was gonna seduce him one of these days." "Witch, I never thought that you would be such a harlot..." "What?! Y-you take that back! 'Sides, that ain't even the right term to use anyway!" My speech broke out into an unprofessional mess.

That happens whenever I lose myself from time to time. My vocab switches drastically as a heavy speaker. "There you go again, your speech is going down the drain, Witchy." "Argh! Nevermind about that, Draco! I'm gonna sit on him until he wakes up. Let's see how he will react to that..." "W-wait, you can't! Definitely not in MY house!" "Sleep, beast!" I blasted her with dust that made her fall asleep. I caught her body before it could hit the floor, then rested it on a nearby chair. "Alright… let's move you to that couch…" I dragged Dave's body and laid it there. I made sure to have his wounded arm hanging by the open side of the furniture. This is to insure that no blood would gush out. I took off his shoes, as well my own boots. I at last, remained on top of him for I would say twenty minutes. I couldn't say for sure precisely how long. During that time, I felt his wonderful body. I took a grab at his firm abdomen and rubbed my body against his. I licked his partially opened lips, eventually transitioning into a kiss. This made me want him more for myself. However, I knew that I would constantly fight against three girls for his sexy body. I sighed at my unfortunate issue shining with prevalence. Dave started to open his eyes and jumped a little.

Dave's POV

"! W-Witch?! What are you doing on top of me?!" I exclaimed. "Isn't it obvious, Dave? I waited for you to wake up." She smiled. "Then you should be sitting in a… chair…" I looked off to the side, seeing that Draco was asleep. "Why is Draco asleep now?" "Oh child, worry not about the little things. Ohohoho~!" "I'm being serious, what happened while I was passed out?" "Jeez, you don't have to be so serious with that, hun." "Tell. Me. Witch." "*sigh* Alright. Looks like I'm not going to have anymore fun today…" She discussed with me about this "almost" lovers quarrel and all that while I put my shoes back on. I was unsure on how to feel about Witch thinking that I look irresistible to her. I didn't want to know what she did to my body while my brain was shut off, but I ended up learning the what anyhow. I didn't feel the same love for her and she was an instructor on top of that. It just… felt wrong to me. "I'm sorry about this, but your love is going to have to be unrequited, Witch. I like you as an instructor, but no more than that. Do you understand? Besides, we have already done what we came here to do, let's go back." I tried getting through her head. "Very well, Dave…" She sighed and slipped on her boots, saddened from my words. We left Draco's house and closed the door behind us. While flying back to the school, Witch didn't say anything. I kind of felt bad about rejecting her "love", but it was the right thing to do.

Coming back to the ground, I get a text message from Ringo. "Hey, I passed the other midterms, Dave. Thanks for the knowledge I needed in English. Love ya! Later!" My heart felt better from that after it nearly burnt to a crisp. We enter back in the class where Lemres and Feli came to me. "Yo man, where've you been?" Lemres wondered. "We were at-" I say before Witch covers my mouth. "I was just having him do a task that is not worth talking about." She obscured the truth. This move of hers made me furious. I wanted to tell the truth to Feli right then and there, but Witch denied me of that. She walked me over to a remote corner and whispered to me. "If you tell them about what went on between us, you are DEAD, ya hear me?" She forcefully pushed her finger against my chest, twice. Her tone scared me a little bit, so I nodded and promised not to tell. "Alright Lemres, how have things been over here?" She went over and asked him. "Well Instructor, things were smooth sailin' the whole time. I kept my eye on 'em without a problem." "Great! Nicely done, you are excused from the assignment." "Suh-weet!" Lemres did his own little dance as like a showoff. "Heh. That goofball…" I commented. For a split second, Witch looked at me and made that "I'm watching you" sign. Unbeknownst to her, Feli saw the very motion directed to me. This of course seemed to make the purple-haired lover of mine curious. Class ended with the bell clapping and I made my way to Accord's classroom.

Author's Notes: Dave and his friends get through all the midterm exams and passed. During the time that the potions class goes on, he is taken by Witch to Draco's house. She figured out and was able to rid Dave's body of evil deep inside. That's not all she did though… Witch attempted to woo Dave after putting Draco to sleep. Our guy rejected her love, and they returned to Primp Magic a bit before the class ended. Next chapter, Chapter 32: One-on-One.