Claws Out

Despite how it seems from the blurb, the bulk of this book takes place prior to the magic academy. The journey there drags, especially since teleportation magic exists and the adventurers have a high level mage.

The book is mostly first person, from Nico's point of view. The tone shifts between a believably inhuman dragon to extremely human, including some modern slang. It made it difficult getting into the story. Some chapters change to third person limited, from the perspective of Cami or one of the adventurers. These often rewind the action to overlap with what we've already seen from Nico's perspective.

Be warned, this book ends on a mild cliffhanger.