A Daily Life of a Fire Dragon

23.The Lan clan library

“A dragon?” GrandMaster Lan asks. The man looks pale, but lucid. At least he didn’t ask if he’s a demon.

“Yes. I’m close to a thousand years old,” Shi Lang nods. With his glamour gone, he doesn’t dare to smile.

“I read about dragons, but I never thought they were real,” GrandMaster Lan tells him.

“Well, you gave me the key. Can your frail human heart take the excitement? I would hate to be blamed for your early demise,” Shi Lang looks at the GrandMaster with suspicion. What if he kills the man by mistake?

“What do you plan to do with me?” GrandMaster Lan inquires. The fear is back. It tastes so good. Like the best dessert one could buy. Shi Lang inhales deeply to savour the taste. He has to be careful. If he loses his mind to pleasure, he might kill the man.

“Nothing. You just gave me a treat without knowing,” he bows slightly. “I’ll show you my true form. Then I’m going to read all the books in your library. In silence.”

“You really only care about books?” GrandMaster Lan sighs. “Is that how you cultivate your strength?”

“Knowledge is power. My cultivation is mostly magic. I don’t have to use spells or talismans. I think about it and it’s done,” Shi Lang explains. He never did that before, but he has the feeling that he can trust the GrandMaster.

He takes in their surroundings. It will be just enough space without ruining anything. The stones for the formation will survive. The trees as well. The small pond might be a problem. His dragon form radiates heat. Vaporising the water might kill the GrandMaster. That is something he needs to work on more to get it under control. Fire and water don’t go together. Maybe he should learn a few water tricks? But, that is something to ponder over later. He’s losing time here. And the human is not getting any younger.

“Stand by the trees. I need you to be as far away from the water as you can get without actually leaving,” Shi Lang instructs. “I’m fire by nature, water doesn’t like me.”

“What if someone sees you?” GrandMaster Lan wonders.

“There is no one else here. The birds don’t count,” Shi Lang shrugs. He can sense that the closest human is all the way back at the mansion. Keeping his eyes on the one in front of him, Shi Lang lets go of his human form. The change is instantaneous. A huge fire red dragon with a back mane stands in his place. He was right about the water. Steam is rising up in the air behind him. His body heat needs some time to regulate. He was in human form too long, but it’s just much more convenient for what he does.

GrandMaster Lan slips behind the tree and only peeks at him. Fear has been replaced by discomfort. It’s too hot for humans to be so close to him. The fire is raging in anger, because it was caged for so long. Shi Lang shoots up into the sky to cool off. The clouds will disperse and he will cause rain. But, that is a good thing for the trees below. They suffered from his heat. His body turns invisible just to make sure nobody sees him. Then he returns back down with the raindrops.

He mastered transformation at a young age. His clothes are still there when he returns to human form. Shi Lang nods to Grandmaster Lan and conjures an umbrella: “I don’t want to shock you even more.”

“Impossible,” the GrandMaster whispers. The man is clearly in shock, but he holds himself sternly in place.

“I know you write a journal. Please keep it as vague as possible when you write about me,” Shi Lang pleads.

“I’m not allowed to write any details? But this magnificent sight has to be recorded,” GrandMaster Lan sighs.

“You can write about my dragon form in detail. The fire and heat, too. I only ask you to leave out some details about my human form. Keeping the glamour up is tiring, I mostly don’t bother with it. Anyone who meets me, sees the real me,” Shi Lang explains on their way back to the mansion.

“You don’t age,” GrandMaster Lan makes it a statement rather than a question.

“No. I have been stuck looking seventeen for the past five hundred years,” he nods. It’s inconvenient sometimes, but he doesn’t venture out much. He prefers solitude with good books.

They stop in front of the library building. Shi Lang pulls the key from his sleeve pocket. He enters the first room with reverence. Libraries are temples of knowledge. The scrolls are neatly arranged on shelves. He looks over the tags hanging on each scroll. There are several books he wants to read at first glance. He makes a mental note on their position before he moves on to the next shelf. The library is built in three levels. He has seen the stairs to the upper level, but he will leave that for another day. Bending the corner, he takes the stairs down. The seating arrangement is a surprise. It looks like a lounge. A seven string guqin is placed on the low table. It looks like it’s made from ice, but the room is not cold at all.

“That is an amazing guqin,” Shi Lang says for the first time since entering the library.

“Do you play?” GrandMaster Lan inquires.

“I haven’t tried before,” he tells him. “Listening to music is a distraction.”

“Who said that? Music can ease one’s mind. It can help with meditation,” GrandMaster Lan responds. He sits by the guqin and flexes his fingers. “Music is a form of meditation.”

Shi Lang sits on the opposite side and listens to the music. The guqin has a nice ring to it. The melody is soothing. Was Master Ling mistaken about it? Maybe it’s important who plays it? He closes his eyes and opens his other senses. The vibrations feel like a caress. A gentle hand that cups his face tenderly. He feels calm and grounded. His mind wanders the library for more exclusive books. It will take him at least half a year to read most of what he sees. Sitting through classes was worth it, but those take almost all day.

“May I be excused from classes?” Shi Lang asks the GrandMaster.

“Why? Do we bore you?” Grandmaster Lan inquires.

“Not really. It will take too long to read all the books if I have to be in class all day,” Shi Lang opens his eyes. The Grandmaster has stopped playing.

“Fine,” GrandMaster Lan nods. “But, you have to write one essay a week. You can choose the topic from any book you read that week.”

“Deal,” Shi Lang chuckles. He didn’t expect that he would actually be excused from classes. Has the Grandmaster changed since he knows what Shi Lang really is? He can feel warmth and affection from the man.

Shortly after that, the Grandmaster leaves and Shi Lang is left alone in the library. He browses the shelves for a book to read. Many are interesting, but nothing draws him in right now. Forging? Very unusual to see a manual for physical labour here, but why not? There is still ample time before dinner. Even if he misses it, it will be fine. The cook here has no imagination whatsoever. It’s always the same. Rice and vegetables. The food tastes the same, too. His eyes land on a book about forging swords. This might be interesting. He did make his own sword and bow. The shield is still unfinished. He can return to that after he’s done with this library.

Sitting back down with his book, he makes himself comfortable. The sitting pillows are surprisingly soft, but he forgets all about it when he dives into the book. The writing style is simple and to the fact. The pictures are drawn with precision. Each step of the forging process is carefully described. He thinks about what steps he took when he was forging his sword. There might be a slight difference in the process. Water was not a thing to have at the volcano. Could he finish his shield in a normal forge? Maybe not. Changing the process in the middle might cause structural damage. But, he can try to make a sword the way they described it.