Trapped With My Ice Dragon Professor Until I Won

With the Dragon Trials coming up, I secretly cast a dark spell to take first place. The spell would bind me to a random top-tier powerhouse to coach me in combat magic. It wouldn't break until I moved up in the rankings. The next instant, I was teleported into the [Can't Leave Until You Rank Up] room. The Academy's coldest professor got pulled in with me: Marcel Thorne, an ice dragon. A screen of light flickered on in midair. [Student Cordelia must take first place in the Dragon Trials. Until then, she will be locked in this room every night.] [Failure to rank up will result in the ultimate punishment.] A whip cracked a few times, followed by moans. Then the System displayed a message. [Punishment footage has been censored.] Marcel's usually icy face went bright red. "Don't even think about it! "I'll get you to first place. Whatever it takes." Chapter 1 I'd never had much self-control. Whenever I sat down to study, I wanted to slack off halfway through. I was a quick learner, though, so my grades were always decent. But I was a runt whose dragon soul had never awakened. To learn the ancient magic that could fix my body, I needed to take first place in the Trials. Ugh. So I had no choice but to use a little dark magic. If only I had a cold, aloof professor to make me practice. Someone who'd whip me and drip hot candle wax on me any time I didn't listen... The next second, I was in the [Can't Leave Until You Rank Up] room. Inside stood a dragon professor so handsome he was almost intimidating. He stared at me like he was wondering who the hell I was. "So," I asked him, "what exactly is the punishment?" Marcel looked as if he'd been teleported straight out of the shower. His hair was still damp, and everything about him said keep your distance. He was too aloof to answer me. I thought about the censored punishment footage. I could still faintly hear the crack of that whip. "Oh!" It hit me. "So if I don't rank up, my teacher canes me?" Marcel gave me an odd look and didn't explain. He only told me to get moving. "Work through the problems." He probably couldn't be bothered wasting words on a runt dragon. He picked up the notebook where I logged my mistakes and flipped through it to see where I was struggling. Then he stopped. He'd spotted another guy's handwriting in my notebook. It was Jason Reed's. Jason and I had been inseparable since we were kids. Everyone around us assumed we'd end up together. So did I. He loved combat drills, which made him a great sparring partner for me. He used to offer to help me practice my magic. But with the Dragon Trials coming up, he suddenly dropped me and started coaching Rebecca Lyle instead. I'd already climbed to second place, and he still turned me down. His exact words? "Rebecca's already awakened her fire dragon soul. She's got way more potential than a half-baked runt like you. From now on, I'm only coaching her." I asked him, "Didn't we promise we'd pass the Trials together and get assigned to the same territory?" He looked annoyed. "Yeah, well, I don't want that anymore. "She's my girlfriend. You're not." His girlfriend had once dumped a pile of dead rats she'd used for potion-making at my feet, then sneered at me. "Cordelia, your chances of passing the Trials are as dead as these rats." Right then and there, I'd used a teleportation spell to send every one of those rotting, stinking rats to my secret hideout. Someday, I'm going to give every last one of them back! Just remembering it made me furious. Because I only had a few scales on my arms, everyone assumed I was lizard-kin and looked down on me for it. I needed first place badly. I wanted to crush Jason and Rebecca, but even more, I wanted to overcome the weakness I'd been born with. But before any of that, there was the monthly exam. Thinking about the ultimate punishment, I tensed up. "Professor, I'll do my best to move up. As for the ultimate punishment..." Marcel gave me a long, meaningful look and cut me off. "None of that is going to happen. "Pay attention. I'm only going over your mistakes once." Chapter 2 That wasn't the first time Marcel and I had met. On the last exam, Rebecca had improved so much with Jason coaching her that she'd overtaken me and taken second place. Everyone in class talked about it, loudly enough for me to hear. "Wow, Cordelia got knocked down fast." "Well, she doesn't have a boyfriend like Jason. Hard to win without one." "Maybe I'll try passing her next time too." A few days later, Professor Hale, my advisor, called me in for a talk. "Cordelia, the Dragon Trials are right around the corner. Where's your head at? "I hear you got your heart broken? Right now, the most important thing is building up your combat experience. Can you please get your priorities straight?" I didn't bother arguing. I'd let the results do the talking. Just then, a bunch of guys came into the office to turn in their homework, joking around as they went. One of them must have heard the professor lecturing me, because somebody snickered. Very quietly. I knew what they thought of me: one of those unpopular girls who skipped magic practice to chase boys. Marcel had clearly heard it too. He gave me a lazy glance, then went back to grading papers as if none of it had anything to do with him. As I was leaving, I could just make out Professor Hale complaining to Marcel. "I swear, I don't know what goes on in these girls' heads. Is dating really that important?" Marcel didn't even look up when he answered. "I'm not interested in finding out." Nobody could have seen what came next. That very night, he and I got locked in the same room. Chapter 3 I pulled myself out of the memory. After a few nights, I'd figured out how the room worked. I got pulled in every night as soon as I fell asleep, and I could bring things with me. Once I'd studied as much as I could, I'd leave. The next time I fell asleep, I'd be back. To break the loop and leave the room for good, I had to reach my target rank. The room judged me by my real exams. If my score didn't improve, I'd be punished. If I didn't take first place on the big exam, the ultimate punishment would kick in. I buried my face in my hands. The monthly exam was tomorrow. The professor across from me, who didn't talk much to begin with, had gone completely silent. I tried to make him feel better. "At least it's only a caning. I can handle a little pain." He was quiet for a few seconds, then gave me a look of pure suffering. "No! No! No! Absolutely not!" I'm the one who's getting caned. Why is he so against it? Marcel lit a cluster of floating flames around the room. My job was to take them out one by one. It went fine at first. Then the flames kept multiplying, and he mixed in illusion fire. I was way out of my depth. I looked up at Marcel. He'd moved his desk and chair a little farther away from me and was casually flicking his wand. No. I need to get everything I can out of him while I have the chance. "Professor, I have a question." He stopped and elegantly wiped down his wand. Then he looked into my mind. One glance was all he needed to find the answer. "You're approaching this the wrong way. Focus on what matters. "Use all five senses. Figure out which flames are real, then take them out one at a time." As Marcel sketched a spell diagram on scratch paper, I caught the cold, clean scent of an ice dragon on him. Once I noticed that, I wanted to lean back every time he got close. I'd barely eased back an inch when, without even looking up, he put his left hand on the back of my chair and stopped me. "Did that make sense?" I shook my head honestly, expecting him to get mad. When Jason coached me, he rambled and lost his temper. I could never figure out what mattered. Marcel didn't. He patiently explained it all over again. I lost track of how long I practiced, but I finally beat the illusion fire. The satisfaction washed away my fatigue and brought out my competitive side. Marcel looked thoughtful. "Your dragon soul hasn't even awakened, and you still ranked second on the spellcasting exam. That means you're smart. Have a little faith in yourself. "From here on, we'll focus on building up your combat skills." I nodded. "Thank you." He looked away, and his reply was cool. "Don't thank me. I just want out of this room." Chapter 4 A week later, the monthly exam results came out. On the written exam, I beat Rebecca by two points and took back second place. Jason was still in first place. After class, Jason came over and spoke to me coolly. "Sure, that's all thanks to the groundwork I laid back when I was coaching you. You won't pull it off next time, though." He smirked. "Doesn't feel great having nobody to teach you, huh?" That was always his way of giving me an opening to come back to him. He'd been like that since we were kids. He was allowed to not like me, but I wasn't allowed to stop liking him. This time, I ignored him and studied harder. Practiced harder. That night, the moment Marcel appeared, I told him the good news. "I moved up in the rankings!" He looked down at me, and a small smile tugged at his lips. "Oh." He handed me a notebook filled with notes on every weak spot in my magic. As I took it, I said, "I'm so glad I don't have to be punished." He paused, and that cool, untouchable air settled right back over him. "Yeah. Thank god for that." The words were barely out of his mouth when the System chimed. [Congratulations on raising your score! Reward unlocked: Hold hands with your fingers laced for one full minute to encourage each other!] I froze. "Why would a normal magic practice system give out a reward like that?" Marcel scoffed. "It was never normal." "What do you mean, not normal?" He wouldn't tell me. He only said, flatly, "It's just a reward. We don't have to do it." Fair enough. I went back to studying. The System didn't make another sound the rest of the night. The next day, the Academy sent us into the Enchanted Forest to gather potion ingredients. Partway through, I ran right into Marcel. Our eyes met for a second. Then he walked past me like a stranger. Great. That meant I didn't have to agonize over whether to say hi, and I could focus on gathering ingredients. I'd just filled my bag when Jason and Rebecca cornered me deep in the forest. "Your bag's stuffed. Hand over what you found." I clutched my bag. "No way." Jason sighed. "How can you keep it all for yourself? You need to learn to share. We're teaching you how to make people like you." Rebecca held out her hand. "There's no way you can take both me and Jason. Just be a good girl and hand it over." Then she tried to trip me by using earth magic to collapse the ground under my feet. Jason backed her up by casting an attack spell at me too. I fought back right away. Worst case, all three of us would get hurt. I was ready for that. But I wasn't giving up. I braced myself. But their attacks suddenly vanished in midair. Startled, Jason looked all around. "Who's there?" Rebecca glared at me, still unwilling to let it go. "Hmph. Lucky you. We'll let you off this time." Jason and Rebecca hurried off, rattled. I looked around and thought I caught a glimpse of Marcel walking away. Did he just step in to help me? I could hear the classmates who'd been hiding nearby talking. "Rebecca's got Jason looking out for her. Cordelia doesn't stand a chance." "That's what she gets for being a stupid lizard. She won't be this lucky next time." I knew Marcel didn't want anyone to know we knew each other. So I just kept my head down and quietly sorted the ingredients in my bag. [Ding!] The System suddenly spoke up. [Please complete your 'hold hands for one minute' reward within the time limit!] [Time remaining: five minutes.] Wait. Here? I spotted him at once. Marcel was hard to miss. Sure enough, he was looking my way at the same moment. My heart skipped, and I ducked my head. With students walking by every second, how are we supposed to hold hands? The System's voice rang in my head. [It's not mandatory.] [You don't have to do it.] I let out a breath. Marcel must have been talking to it, but I couldn't hear what he said. Then the System added something else. [It's just that if you don't, the ultimate punishment will kick in tonight in the room. That's all.] Looks like I'm getting caned, then. There's no way Marcel will agree to something this ridiculous in public. The next second, a gale whipped up around us, and swarms of bloodthirsty bats flew in. The bats weren't deadly, but they were a serious nuisance. Everyone scrambled to swat bats and protect the ingredients they'd gathered. I got ready to fight them off, then realized not a single bat was coming near me. The System reminded me again. [Time remaining: two minutes.] Something moved beside me. I turned, ready to defend myself, and found myself staring into Marcel's eyes. Suddenly, someone caught my fingers. Before I could react, a big, warm hand had swallowed mine completely. His palm pressed against mine, bold and possessive. His long, strong fingers slid between mine and locked tight. His dragon aura wrapped around me, and my mind went blank. It was Marcel. How can he do that? If anyone so much as glanced over, they'd see him standing right next to me. Not far away, my classmates were yelling to each other. "Where did this wind and all these bats come from? This is so weird. I can't see a thing." "Isn't the Academy supposed to have a professor watching us? He should be helping us." "Who knows what he's busy with? It's not like he's off on a date." What on earth is going on? The gale, the bats, and Marcel, of all people, going along with the reward. The System's voice rang out. [Reward complete!] [Great job. Teachers and students should always encourage each other. Good luck on your next exam!] Just like that, he let go of my hand. His dragon aura faded, and he was gone. Like holding my hand hadn't affected him at all. But the warmth of his touch lingered. My fingertips tingled. It hardly felt real. I shook out my hand until every trace of him was gone. The gale died down fast, and the bats suddenly scattered. Everyone else looked like a total mess. That's strange. Why didn't the bats attack me? I need to look this up at the Great Library. As far as I know, bloodthirsty bats only avoid purebred dragons. So what's going on? I followed the noisy crowd out. Marcel brought up the rear. So quickly that I almost missed it, he glanced down at his hand and flexed his fingers a few times.