Chapter 134: A revelation and a good job
Cass was incredibly grateful when Draken slowly transformed back to his old form, the one he was familiar with, and took control of the magic lesson again. Instead of explaining principles again, he actually got around to showing Cass what he could do.
It was simple stuff, as if Draken was following along with the beginner book that Cass had read. Unlike with the book, he actually got to witness Draken doing the moves and speaking the words.
Draken’s moves were practised, elegant, and showed that he had a deep understanding of magic. One Cass shouldn’t have been as surprised about as he was. He had to police his face, because Lord Blackburn would not have been surprised by this. This was a full Cass emotion, and he didn’t need a visit from Lord Blackburn to tell him that.
It was...nice, actually, to learn that Draken wasn’t just all brawn, but had an intelligence to him. He was still reckless, and a dragon, but he had a delicate part to himself. Layers. The man had layers.
Cass almost felt like he couldn’t feel the pulsing bite mark on his shoulder.
Draken was a good teacher. He was patient, and he listened and watched, letting Cass repeat him even as Cass grew frustrated at his lack of results. Draken offered suggestions, and help where he could, but watched as Cass got more and more frustrated. Even his normal one, the water, was hard to get a response from.
He hadn’t really expected much from the others, but the water? That should have responded, even if he couldn’t move his fingers as much. Or at all. Draken had a concentrated look on his face, one of deep thought and consideration. Cass was ready to throw in the towel. The sun was sinking lower in the sky so the clearing was cooling and Cass was getting a little chilled.
"Alright, this doesn’t appear to be working." Draken said and Cass’ stomach lurched. Was he giving up? Understandable. They weren’t seeing any results. Even if it deeply disappointed Cass, he understood why. Why would you keep repeating the same thing over and over if nothing was coming from it?
"I understand." Cass said, swallowing down his disappointment. He shouldn’t have expected anything from him. This was-
"I’m not getting anywhere teaching you like a human understands magic. I wanted to start here because that’s what everyone learns, but I should have known better. Your ability to use magic has never really felt like the same way that Edgar and Ava use it. I just wanted to cover all grounds before we went off the deep end." Draken said. He glanced around the clearing, his face twisting as he sighed. "Still, it is getting late. I’ll just explain what I want you to do, and we’ll try it before we head back in. We’ll have to save it for the next lesson, tomorrow. Is that alright with you, Cassian?" Draken had surprised him. Twice.
He hadn’t given up on Cass, and he’d asked for permission. An old dog could learn new tricks.