Tipping the Scales

Holy crap. If I still had any doubts about being a fantasy world this would end them. A large dragon peers through the hole in the ceiling with its amber eyes. With a mighty tremble, more of the ceiling is torn off, ripped in an instant by massive claws.

I look around the room or what remains of it, and everyone seems incredibly calm. Magic users are preparing spells and valiant fighters are grabbing the swords they left by the door. It really bothers me how surprisingly calm everyone is! Am I the only one freaking out?!

“Hi dear...” a soothing voice careens through the room (again, what’s left of it). “Since it’s your first day here, feel free to hide for a bit until this blows over.”

It’s Minerva the tiny gnome lady. Oh no, if that dragon gets to her she’ll be squashed like a bug! I make a motion to get up to protect her, but she puts her hand out encouraging me to stay still.

With immense concentration, she grips her wooden staff tightly and focuses on a spear lying on the ground. The spear gently hovers over the ground for a bit. Then, with all her might she flings forward her staff in the dragon’s direction. The spear following the spell’s command speeds through the air piercing the dragon’s eye. The once amber eye now turns a deep crimson as blood quickly pools and drops to the floor below.

The gentle gnome Minerva turns around from the carnage she created, blood dripping down on her directly. She looks at me directly and says, “Oh and if you need anything please be sure to let me know!”

I REALLY want to go home!

In the commotion of the fight I try to find a corner to hide in. Everyone else though is geared up and ready for action. I watch in horror my eyes following the fury of blows the warriors unleashed upon the green dragon. In return, the beast unleashes a spew of corrosive liquid that instantly melts the swords of fighters in the front lines. Great, the giant dragon even spits acid. Oh God, and smells horrible!

“I’m out of ammo!” one woman with a crossbow yells.

“Hold your fire!” shouts the girl Maddie who spoke earlier. “Wait until the dragon turns its neck!”

She commands such authority I wonder how long she’s been here? Just as I begin to ponder, a sudden haze seems to start affecting my vision. Is the acid making me dizzy? I look over as the shape of the mage named Maddie begins to change form. Instead of the long shimmering robes of a wizard, she dons a simple white lab coat and safety goggles instead.

“Maddie!” I call out to her from the one remaining corner of the room. “Did you just change clothes?”

“What?” her eyes widen in confusion, but her attention is focused elsewhere.

Did she not hear me? It is a bit loud in here given the dragon and all. I’ll raise my voice and ask again. “Maddie, why did you change into a lab coat? There’s a dragon here… now’s not the time for a fashion show… unless… does the coat make you stronger??”

Maddie drops her staff to her side and looks me dead in the eyes. She looks like a deer in the headlights. Did I say something stupid? Oh God am I hallucinating?? If this world was based on one of those silly fantasy videogames like Boulder’s Fence 3 with goofy skins and modded equipment I’d understand the odd clothes, but this is the world of Emperor of the Lantern. What’s going on here?

Just as I begin to ponder, the dragon lets out an enormous roar. I’ve got to get out of here. I turn to open the door and leave the cottage. Just as I do, I hear the clamor of the warriors in the room.

“Good idea! Let’s take this fight outside!!” A voice shouts out.

Please God, don’t follow me. I’m trying to run away!!

Despite my wishes, the rest of the group follows my lead and heads out the door. Well, at the very least the rest of the Isekai House won’t get damaged.

CRUNCH.

I stand corrected. The house will very much get destroyed. Damn. I should buy a reverse lottery ticket.

Right as we left the dragon’s foot plunged all the way through the roof to the floor below. The dragon lifts up his claw and lets out a frightening yelp of pain. On the underside of his foot, I see a spear stuck vertically in his sole. Oh God, that must be ten times worse than stepping on those plastic toy bricks.

In a fit of rage, the dragon lifts to the sky ready to make it rain acid for the unfortunate people below. If there’s anything I learned from renaissance combat in books, it’s that having the higher ground is a major advantage. Looking up the dragon has a weak spot on its neck sure, but I think the wings are its true achille’s heel. If we can bring him down to us, we can tip the scales back in our favor, so to speak.

“I think we need to ground it!” I shout out to the others around me.

A few head nods from the others seem to agree. Wait, why did I even open my mouth? I’m no leader! Besides, it’s not like we have a way to bring this beast down without a catapult. That dragon is probably a hundred feet in the air! There’s no chance we’ll be able to get our attacks close enough.

“Spector, do you think you can get up there?” The man nicknamed “Jet” gestures to a spot in the sky, calling out to a guy positioned behind him.

Spector. Minerva mentioned that name! She said that Spector was an expert on the Emperor of the Lantern books! I've got to chat them up when I have the time. Not now though of course. I wonder who that could be?

A gray elf in a mysterious dark cloak nods his head in response to Jet. Wait a minute! That’s the guy who brought me here to the Isekai House in the first place!! So that’s what they call him. Why Spector though? Is it short for ‘in’ spector?? Surely that can’t be his real name.

In a stunning display of teamwork, Spector and Jet ready themselves to attack the dragon. Spector transforms into his flurry of moths while the wizards Minerva and Maddie lift Jet off of the ground. Then, the two guys propel forward towards the dragon at the same time. Spector fires a crossbow mid air at the dragon’s right wing. Simultaneously, Jet is flung in the sky with the help of levitation magic. He pierces his sword at the top of the dragon’s left wing and continuously slides down, lengthening the tear.

The dragon cries out before crashing to the ground below. Spector becomes a wave of moths once again to safely reappear while Jet tucks and rolls out narrowly avoiding being crushed underneath the dragon’s weight. They continue to walk towards us without even bothering to look back at the wreckage. It’s like watching two heroes in an action movie walk away from a car explosion. Except this time, it’s medieval and metal AF.

The wizards Minerva and Maddie run forward to look at the damage. They carefully pull the spear out of the dragon’s foot and the crossbow bolt in the wing with levitation magic. I’m amazed they’re getting so close to that dragon!

Sure enough the dragon is still alive and yelps in pain as the weapons are removed from its body. Though much to my surprise, the big beast seems content now that he has been defeated. He huffs in disappointment, but almost seems to bow his head to the kind magicians before him.

The dragon gets up, slowly turns his body around, and walks towards the setting sun. But before he goes, he leaves one last parting gift. One swish of his mighty tail knocks through the only wall that was still in good condition on the Isekai House. Well this will really lower their property value huh?

Admittedly though, I can’t help but feel a little worried for the dragon. I know he did break into our meeting unannounced which was totally uncool, but we did do a lot of damage to his body. I’ve got to ask.

I walk over to the magic users and clear my throat before speaking. “Hey. Do you think that the dragon is going to be okay?”

“Yeah.” The wizard Maddie responds. “I hope he learns his lesson not to mess with us again, but he’ll be fine in a few weeks.”

“How do you know that?”

“Well I’ve tried to do some research on magical creatures with the time I’ve spent here. It turns out, dragons' wings can heal sorta like some bat species back in the real world. Although Jet might have gone a little overboard on his left wing.”

In the distance I hear the knight in his shiny golden armor call out to say “sorry”. He seemed sincere about it too. Never thought I’d hear the day when a knight apologized for slaying a dragon. I bet the guy doesn’t know his own strength.

“Anyways, I’m a biology major back at my university. So mythical biology in this world has sorta become my passion while I’m away!” Maddie replies.

“So that’s why I saw you in a lab coat...”

So she’s definitely worn lab coats before, but that doesn’t explain what I saw does it? I don’t think they have modern science clothes in this world so it’s not clothing she has here. So how did I see her wearing an outfit she no longer owns? Wait, do I have magic powers?! HELL YEAH!

Maddie replies, “That is so strange. How were you able to see me in a lab coat? That’s what I was wearing the day I got isekai’d here. OH! You must have a special gift with magic! June, that’s amazing!!”

Alright June, humble yourself or she’s going to get the wrong idea.

“I don’t know about ‘amazing’ but…”

Maddie continued, “Y’know with talent like that you may have other magic powers yet to awaken. You could be a wizard like me! Come meet me at my observation tower this Friday at seven o’clock sharp if you’d like some magic lessons.”

“Oh I don’t know, I'm really not that talented…”

“You should take Maddie up on her offer. If you do, we can provide you lodging free of charge.” Minerva chimes in. “There’s an innkeeper down the road who is an isekai like us. He’s willing to provide free stays for folks from the real world as long as they meet his ‘NEET’ requirement.”

“Neat requirement?”

Maddie excitedly explains, “No, not neat, as in tidy. NEET. It’s an acronym. It stands for Not in Employment Education or Training. Basically, as long as you’re doing something productive and not a ‘NEET’ he’ll let you stay for free. So come on, train with me! It’ll be fun…”

Her voice trails off in a sing-songy manner. I don’t want to disappoint her. Although, she’s going to have a heck of a time trying to train me. Then again, I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to learn spells like the lightning trick Grandof used to halt the invading Emperor Xaban’s army! Eeek I’m absolutely geeking out right now, and I get a place to stay instead of that smelly old barn? Sounds like a win-win.

“Alright then!” I respond.

“Yay! I’ll see you on Friday June!” Maddie replies with equal enthusiasm.

I wave back to the wizard as she leaves the Isekai House. Y’know, or what’s left of it. I’m really happy to have found a group like this. I now have a place to stay and I’ll get to actually study magic. Although again, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. I’m not very talented in real school, let alone magic school. At the very least I can give it my best shot while I’m here! Just like Grandof or Fern the Fearless, I’m going to learn to be a hero!