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Cornelius sighed and walked towards the door Janis had pointed at. He put his ear to the door and heard someone breathing inside, fast asleep. He wondered why it would bother the man if he interrupted his long sleep. Cornelius had been awakened from many slumbers in the past and most of the time this had not bothered him. He stepped away from the door and walked towards his own room twisting the handle as he reached it and stepping inside. "The one I want to be with is you possibly Janis." He told himself. She'd been far more than kind to him already and few girls in his life had been this way towards him.

The next morning Cornelius got up and walked out of the dark underground passageway. He headed towards the back of the house and when reached the door there he knocked on it. "Janis are you up?" he called out.

Cornelius licked his lips when he saw the eggs and said, "Okay," as a dragon he could not resist the taste of eggs. He followed her inside the house though knowing that if he waited he might get to eat them.

While Cornelius sat in the kitchen waiting for his food he looked at Janis and blushed. "I just had a crazy idea... How would you like to try being a dragon for a day? It'll help you understand how hard we dragons have it nowadays. That is if there are more of my kind around here somewhere."

He put his hands on his knees and said, "In my dragon book on mating rituals dragons have a way of turning humans into dragons. And, well, the good thing is the human can easily turn back. It's a very exhaustive ritual and a bit weird, but you might find it interesting." He touched a fork on the table in front of him and said, "I bet you find it boring being a hostess to strange travelers. I mean you're just a girl without much to go for here because you're never sure who'll show up at your door."

Janis raised an eyebrow. "Be a dragon?" she asked skeptically as she set a steaming plate of food in front of him. She sat down with her own plate as he explained.
Janis was silent for a long moment, picking at her food but not really eating it. She had to admit, it was an interesting idea. She wasn't sure exactly if she wanted to find out how how "weird" the process would be. She had a good knowlegde of magic and knew it would have to be a powerful spell. Finally she spoke her mind.
"I don't find it boring here. I'll admit, I get lonely sometimes. But seeing who comes to my door is always a pleasant surprise. I bought this place so I could be away from the ignorant fools living in Dunsworth and offer shelter to those in need. Not just anyone can find this place." she explained, still looking at her now mashed up food. "I went to great pains to make sure of that."
Janis shifted nervously in her seat. She'd always been eager to learn more, to be more, than others. To have her "freedom" she'd made this place. But even freedom could be empty. What would it be like to have the freedom of a dragon? Would such a thing be fulfilling?
"I think I would..." she gulped. "I think I would like to be a dragon.

"Okay, I'll help you become one then." He pulled out his book from yesterday and flipped through a few pages of it until he stopped at one and began to read. "My books says some rather odd things, so don't be surprised by them, "To be a dragon for one who is not one... One must be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. First, a person must bath with soap and water until all the dead skin on their body is gone and their body is as soft as a baby's bottom. Frankly, real dragons do not like being dirty so this is a step of utmost importance. Second, a user must eat ten times their weight in the span of a month. Dragons are large creatures and to even have chance of becoming one you must become as big and strong as one. Third, you must jump off of a tall ledge and hope you bounce. Dragons learn to fly by crashing into the ground many times. You will too. Good luck and if you follow these rules the next day you should be a dragon. If not please see the book vendor to ask for more information."

Cornelius stopped reading and looked up at Janis and wondered how she would respond. "It's an insane process... But I hope you're up to it. We can do the steps in any order as we go along, but you have to do all three. We'll need to know your weight and where there's a tall ledge around here at the very least."

Cornelius grabbed the book back from her, wagged his finger and said, "No, no... You're not crazy and this is not idiotic. It actually works, my mother, rest her soul... She went through this and had quite the time. The bathing is develop scales, the increased body weight bit is to determine how big you will actually be in your dragon form, some people gain more weight than their supposed to, and the last bit determines if you'll be able to fly or not. Essentially, at the end of this, before you hit the ground on that last step you'll either hit the ground and survive without injury, with a pretty big crater around you or you'll grow wings mid fall and fly gently to the ground. Also, if you're worried about getting fat I have a spell for that too. It will require an extra bath though since I'll have to sneeze on you. If you let me I can let you keep your body shape."

Cornelius hoped his words weren't disturbing her even more. It was pretty unbelievable and the only one in his life who he'd ever heard done this was his mother. He sighed in frustration.

Cornelius snapped his bookshut and said, "Good, I should tell you though... Once you're a dragon you won't be human again." Putting the book inside his cloak he added, "You'll need to follow the rules in my books, which I still need to get from my cave."

He turned away from her as he stood up and walked to the door. "I'll be gone for an hour to try and get my books in Fensworth. Stay here and eat breakfast and my breakfast too." He frowned and and looked at her. "Try to eat the deer, the entire thing, both of these sources should give you ten good meals."

When he breathed in a moment later he sneezed and a large coat of mucus came out of his nose. It covered the table, floor, and Janis and was very sticky. "You don't need to wash. This will dry in 30 minutes, give you the same appetite as a dragon, and or evaporate. Most of this will likely seep into your skin since it's magical dragon snot. Sometimes I used to hear it cleaned out one's pores on their skin if they got covered in it. That's why getting sneezed on by a dragon was considered good luck at one point. It brings one many benefits." He explained.