I finish my quick summary to the group, and suggest that we should either leave and close the door behind us, wait here, or go and meet them. Sensei argues that if we leave, “That door cannot be opened again” and the boyfriend points out that we should probably not leave behind the only way we know to get home, so option B it is.

Except, after waiting for a couple minutes we see no trace of them, so it is decided that Leda (in puppet form) and I should go and meet them, as our magic gives us the best chance to GTFO if we need it.

And so, without further ado, we levitate around the corner and towards the group of unknown people. They seem to be human, at least, and while there’s a lot of variation, their clothes look pretty modern (for the most part).

And then one of them points at us and blows away most of my worries with a heavily accented “Lars!”

We land next to the group, which seems to come from all corners of the globe, and soon we have a friendly discussion where I am the center of attention. Leda informs the others, who join us, while her main body remains guarding the door, just in case.

With so disparate groups, communication is a bit clunky. Well, some of the groups can speak just fine. For example, we can speak English just fine with the Canadian group, who in turn can also speak French with two of the people from Congo.

The issue, really, is that the biggest group has exactly one person who can speak english. Or rather, they can barely communicate in extremely limited english. We have established that they’re from Bangladesh, and apparently they were the first to get here, but that’s about it.

Thankfully, insert triple question mark here, there’s a common topic, as at least one person in each group recognize me, by which I mean I had no idea there was a Bollywood B-movie about me, and I’m not sure if I should be flattered or insulted.

I will have to look it up, but I suspect the answer will be a combination of both. The movie can’t be anything other than hastily made, and while it’s amusing that it apparently became a blockbuster to the point where even those who didn’t watch the movie know the general plot, yes, I can turn into a dragon, and no, I’m not some avatar of a god, they really took some… artistic liberties.

I will check it out when I get back to my computer. Until then, there’s apparently a second level below this ‘top floor’, which is accessed via the two elevators at the ‘back’ of each of the… branches? The places we came from. The branches each have an entrance to what seems to be a housing/dormitory unit, accessed directly from the plaza, as the floor does not have the outer ring and bridges to it. The only dry places on this level are the central plaza and the buildings.

There’s nothing interesting in the dorms, but out of curiosity I send an orb of light down the big hole in the middle, to see if there’s anything further- oh.

“Leda, could you light up the area below us?” I ask, painting a picture of what I mean via the bond.

The sudden light scares away some fish, but also reveal that the five branches are built inside pillars, which is honestly a pretty clever design. A little distance below us, however, are more structures, looking like something you might get by crossing Zelda water temples and some underwater sci-fi dome city, just completely filled with water.

I check that the seals on my bag is fine, then do a quick shapeshift to give myself a short, but dense fur covering, flippers, and the rest of the changes I use for diving, before diving straight in.

As expected, the water isn’t quite tropical beach temperature, but my fur will keep me warm enough. I spread out my mana, both to light up my general vicinity and to get an early warning of anything that might be around here.

It doesn’t take long to reach the platform below, and I note that it, too, has a center hole, as if for that big elevator. I have Leda illuminate the depths below, showing a fantastical palatial complex on a mountaintop, with a large tower thataway. It honestly looks out of place underwater, though I suppose the atlantis vibe is pretty cool. While stuff has started collecting on top, it’s not thick enough to really give that sunken city feeling.

Looking around, I pick a nearby semi-important looking building and go that way. There’ no doors in any of these buildings, instead they have air barriers. I have to wonder how, if at all, they purify the air, but it seems breathable, at least, so I can get some fresh(?) air while exploring this place.

Leda informs me that some of the others have dived into the water as well, but from the images she sends, it looks like they give up getting all the way down here, so I have her tell them there’s air in the buildings, if they can dive that deep.

I seem to have hit the jackpot, as beyond the first room are three more, each with several shelves filled with scrolls and tablets. Upon closer inspection I find the scrolls to have pretty well-made illustrations of what I assume to be ki techniques, and they’re made of some rubber-like material, possibly from some sea-plant, rolled around more of that white stuff. It’s pretty light, actually, could be some kinda bone or shell.

The tablets come in several varieties, both in terms of content, which range from similar instructions, just in fewer numbers, to patterns and illustrations of plants, of which at least one might be some kinda pill refining recipe, and materials, which I find both some green crystal (probably jade), more of the white stuff, and a milky white crystal (probably ‘white’ jade).

I take out my phone to take some pictures of a couple of the tablets and scrolls, then put them back exactly where I found. I would rather not trigger some kinda anti-theft measure, after all.

Just as I exit the building and look around to choose another place to explore, I both hear and feel a deep rumble, and feel my body enter high alert.

Where? I demand from Leda, even as I take control of as much of her mana as possible and rapidly extend a sensory net in my own direction. I offer no resistance when she tries to figure out what put me, and by extension herself, on the edge, and with her control it expands much more efficiently.

There’s something big and fast coming from below, and it has, unsurprisingly, ki.

For now, I retreat back into the building, as it seems to big to enter and I don’t fancy my chances trying to run away. Inside, in relative safety, I turn my attention to the signatures of the two people who dove to this level, and manipulate Leda’s mana to form (I hope) a blinking red up-arrow and a non-blinking skull with an arrow pointing in the direction of the thing.

Whatever it is, it makes another roar, which I barely hear with the air barrier between me and the water. And then it reaches this height, turning towards the others.

On one hand, yay, on the other, shit.

I dispel the illusion and instead make red lines across the door they came from, though with the thing right outside that might be a bit redundant. They should very much be able to see it if they look in that direction.

At least, I hope so, we only sense it by the ‘hole’ it makes in Leda’s mana, and now that it’s still it feels like a sphere with tendrils of- ah! It cut our connections!

Well, shait.

I form several orbs of light between me and it, and while it dispels the ones closest to itself, the others stay. That’s a good sign, right? Should I…? Maybe not, so let’s caaaarefully just peek our head out and-

Ohshititsawme!

Wait, that was a dragon, wasn’t it? Like, asian serpentine dragon?

I pop my head out again, and our eyes meet, before it turns to the red-lit door. Is it uninterested in me? And is that good or bad for the poor souls it has decided to give attention to?

Hmm, at any rate, let’s see if it cares if I exit the building… nope, it doesn’t. And if I move towards- eek, no, let’s not go towards it. Was that… killing intent? Hoooly- uhm, nevermind. Either way, let’s just…

Lalala, don’t mind me I’m an insignificant sea creature who isn’t bothering anyone and going away, lalala.

Should I…? If I get underneath or to the side of one of the walls of the building they’re in, I should be able to create a puppet and at least talk to them, but… Will the dragon ignore that? I-

I don’t even know who’s in there; for all I know it might be some strangers from the opposite side of the world, I’m not potentially endangering my life for that. Screw this, I’m outta here.

I do a full-body shake as I revert it to normal, after which Leda hugs me.

“What happened? You disappeared!”

“Uh, it just cut the mana link and m- the bond.”

“Yes, I couldn’t sense you at all!”

“Not even through the compan…” I find myself staring far into nothing.

No, now that I think about it, even that was gone. Or suppressed, at least, since it’s back now.

“Anyway, who got trapped by the dragon?”

“Dragon?”

“Yeah, it’s a great serpent kinda dragon. Eastern dragon. Whatever you wanna call it. But who’s down there?”

“The couple.”

Oh. So it is people I know. That- doesn’t actually change anything; I’m not fighting that thing.

Having reformed the bond I get Leda’s alert of it moving just in time for it to explode out of the water in the middle.

I hear at least two people use what sounds distinctly curse-like, and can’t help but feel the same, but also that thing is majestic and if I’m gonna die here, I’m at least gonna pretend to put up a fight and this close I can detect its aspect so fuck it, I’m wanna try being a proper dragon before I die.

With trained motions I untie my belt, letting it -and the attached bag- drop to the floor as I start shapeshifting using the aspects I already know. It’s not like I haven’t tried becoming a serpent dragon before, and with a live example in front of me, I change the form as I shift into it.

I am vaguely aware that Leda moves her main body this way, charging up both of our magical defences. My legs have merged and my skin forms Wyvern-based scales before I apply the Great Serpent aspect, first to the scales, then moving inwards.

It seems to have an affinity for water, and is blue, and if my understanding of the chinese five elements are correct (and they apply here), Wood should be strong against, or rather get stronger, from Water. Or was that Earth? Uh, let’s go with Wood.

The dragon exerts that pressure again, a lot weaker but growing, and stares into what feels like the depths of my soul. Relating aspects to others is definitely the best way of learning or understanding them quickly, and this form feels so good that, once I finish the shapeshifting, I turn my head skywards and let out a roar.

And that’s when the pressure truly descends.

It strips away the mana I use to levitate myself (Great Serpents ought to levitate, like it does), so I pump more mana into the spell to resist that. It pushes me down, but I just use more mana to stay airborne. It makes me feel like I should fall to the ground, like both of Leda’s forms and everyone but the couple have done, but I recognize the effect on my mind and protect myself.

Unfortunately I can’t spare the mana to help Leda, but while her puppet looks lifeless, her main body rises with a shudder.I’m proud of you, Dame! Sensei, too, seems to resist the effect for a moment, getting off his knees… Only to sit down in a meditation pose, looking like he has barely exerted himself. A few others take his example, and soon the vast majority sit or lie in a vaguely comfortable-looking positions.

Then the damn thing further increases the pressure, all while staring at me. Yeah, yeah, I took on an appearance similar to yours, stop bullying me! I don’t want my life to be some kinda chinese face-slapping murderfest xianxia, and to begin with, I can’t exactly cultivate!

I hear a low rumble, only to realize it’s my own growl. Ugh, pick on someone you own size!

Oh, I actually hit it. I did not expect a headbutt to work.

“Pressure’s gone, too.”

Is what I try to say, but functional vocal cords was not part of the form, so it comes out as a growl.

And then the dragon slams into me, pushing me to the ground, where it starts wrapping around me.

…I should probably not have attacked it. Ahh, I close my eyes and relax, being acutely aware of my now exposed neck. Uppermost body? Whatever it’s called, the coup de grâce never comes, but it keeps wrapping us into a tangle.

Wait?

Is it-

Nope. No. Nope, nope, nope. Get off of me! I do not-

I freeze.

With its teeth on my ‘neck’ all I can do is to slightly twist my head and turn my eyes as I raise as many defenses as I can in the area.

“Please put him down!”

It relaxes the grip slightly at the girlfriend’s… order?

“You should’ve listened to it, it wouldn’t have done this if you listened.”

Is she talking me me? Uh, with the pressure I can’t use my external magic, and I’d rather not turn back to my comparably squishy human form, but as long as I stay in physical contact, I should be able to summon and control a puppet.

Ugh, the pressure hurts it.

“You- ugh…” I grit my teeth, “talking to-me?”

“It did’nng seh, any-thing.”

“What?”

“I sub-mit al-ready. Pre-ssure, aw-ay, then, talk.”

Gaah.

“If it removes its teeth I can return to my base form, too.”

“It won’t do that.”

“Sigh, I’ll just be a limp magical danger noodle over there in the meanwhile, then. How do you speak with it?”

“It’s… telepathy, isn’t that’s what it’s called?”

“Huh. Well, clearly it works on a ki basis, because I haven’t had any signs of communication from it aside from glaring- oi, don’t tail swipe me, you did gla-aiaiai don’t bite me! … Thank you, o’gracious one.”

“Really? It’s… It’s not like talking, more like… you know, when you’re thinking and it’s not like actual words, but you can make it into words?”

“Yeah, sounds like the mind bond I use with Leda. I’m guessing the issue is incompatibility between ki and mana. Or more like, it has diffused this entire area with ki for a complete domain that’s stronger than what Leda makes, and my internal mana is doing its best to keep all ki out.”

“You need to let it in, then.”

“Dude, let me in, I’m a fairy! Haha, nope. It’s clearly in the position of power, so if anything I should be the one to control the bond, as it can clearly not only dispel my mana, but it could just bite my head off, which would suck.”

“You would die!”

“Err, I think I could survive a decapitation actually, but I’m not keen on testing that hypothesis.”

The pressure finally relents, and it even drops my limp noodle body to the ground, upon which I retrieve the puppet and return to normal.

I tentatively and very slowly and carefully reach out with a tendril of mana, and it feel like an eternity before it touches the head of the dragon.

And then it gets no further.

“Err, did it want to let me form a mind bond or not?”

Ah, there we go. Slowly- no, but also not quickly, and steadily I form the spell, and while I’m at it I also link up to Leda, who has regained control of her puppet, judging by the headache I feel from it.

CURIOUS. STRONG. //NOT//DRAGON DRAGON.

WOAH, WOah, that thing is loud.

POWER. NOT POWER. ORDER: PLEDGE.

“OWW, IS IT SUPER- err, super loud to you guys to?”

“Huh?”

“No, then. And it ‘speaks’ in broken-up concepts.”

PLEDGE.

｢{Confused}I//Lars//I//Leda//we do not understand. Pledge: what, how?｣

POWER.

｢We do not have ki//POWER, that is impossible.｣

…

TRUTH.

Ng!

I stagger backwards and rub my forehead from the backlash of the sudden break, keeping an eye out on the extra-dangerous mystical floaty danger noodle. I mean, it is graceful and majestic, but brain please don’t focus on the fact that this is a trick to not have a panic. Instead-

“Oh thank the gods, I thought my heart was gonna stop!”

“Hey, Lars.”

I turn halfway to Jasper “Hm?”

“So it didn’t just… speak to you but in… ideas?”

“Nope, and if you lower your defences I can demonstrate the kind of telepathy I’m used to.”

“Uhm, that’s mind magic, right?”

“Yep.”

“No thanks, then. Are you cold?”

“Why?”

“You’re shivering.”

“Oh.” I look at my hand. “That’d be the aftereffects of adrenaline and who knows what else after being is flight or seriously-just-flee mode.”

“Anyway, it said we can read the manuals and train and some other stuff in the buildings in the water below, but if we pledge ourselves to the temple and to it, we can get access to advanced techniques and it will even teach us directly.”

“Seriously?”

The couple walks up, and I see that the other groups have also gathered to talk, while the dragon just floats in the air, slowly shifting its body around.

“We also got that offer, but, like, it would also make us the leaders of this place.”

“And you declined?”

“What? Of course not!”

“But-” I sigh and shake my head, flinching when the dragon snorts and turn to me. “err, why do I expect people to strictly adhere to semantic rules and non-ambiguity…”

“Jasper and Sensei, did you guys accept?”

“Yeah.” “No.”

Everyone turns to Sensei.

“I will not commit to any Way until I have seen more of my own. And perhaps, other Ways.”

“That makes sense, if you can make the choice later, why not see what it has to offer it the free package before getting the lifetime subscription? And its competitors. I mean, there oughta be other Temples for other elements, too.”

“Lars,” the girlfriend chuckles, “why would you compare this to apps?”

“Well, I guess it’s more like a binding legal contract, or maybe a gang affiliation. You could break it, but then it’ll break you.”

I will ignore that look like I’m some mix of idiot and genius. I mean, statistically, I’m somewhere between those, but based on existing data I can deny neither of them. Nor both.

“Anyway, does that mean you guys are gonna live here? Or just train here?”

“Oh crap, I didn’t think of that!”

“Well maybe you should ask mister- err, miss, no it’s a hermaphrodite, so-”

“How do you know that?”

“Huh? Well, it- I- ehm, I wouldn’t be able to copy it without studying it, now would I- don’t look at me like that when your boyfriend is right next to us! Or at all, please.”

Said boyfriend grabs her and kisses her, then turn to my ‘I’m not sure how to emote about this’ face.

“Hypothetically speaking could you turn either of us…”

Wow, for someone who so boldly kissed his girlfriend, that made him blush hard.

“You mean futa or dragon?”

The couple look at each other with a worrisome grin, but at least they have the grace to both turn red when they synchronously turn to me and nod.

“Gee, ain’t you…” I throw my arms into the air, “I don’t even know. Something-something couple.”

“That can’t possibly be the weirdest thing you’ve been asked!”

“No, it’s not, not by a long shot. But usually those kinda requests come from loners, requests from couples are usually a lot more… err… vanilla.”

I roll my eyes.

“As for an actual answer, you know how hard it has become for me to even apply an aspect to your skin, but if you pay for my time I could happily try. No guarantees, though.”

By the mutual smiles they make as they stare in each other’s eyes, I already regret using ‘happily’, but oh well. I’ve had worse requests, and it’ll be a good experiment.

“Uhm, before you guys start making out, can you ask the dragon if we have to stay here or something?”

“Oh, it said we could decide, since we’re the leaders. So you’re free to come and go.”

And that’s that.

…a bit jealous of them having a clearly high-level teacher and manuals.