《Beast Taming? Nah, Dragon Herding is Way Better!》 Chapter 1: A Fate Changing Encounter Chapter 1: A Fate Changing EncounterInside a forest somewhere, a relatively loud rustling as foliage of leaves move around causes the entirety of the wildlife here to flee in surprise and terror, thinking that the creature hiding behind those thick gathering of grass and leaves is a predator about to pounce on them. As the rustling and moving of the greeneries all around becomes more apparent to everyone''s senses, the animals and other little critters running around goes even farther away from the source of the sound, proving reality couldn''t be even more disappointing as the origin of the sounds appears out of the bushes. "Haaah!!! Finally!! Looks like I''m out of here!!!" using his forearms to wipe the beads of sweat forming on his forehead, a young man shouts, his appearance being obscured by the thick adventure gear he''s wearing, a cloak covering the entirety of his figure, partnered with a hood that hides even his facial features, the only thing that can identify him is the particularly manly, upbeat and youthful voice. After celebrating a bit too early to his comfort, the young man starts scanning the surroundings, making him feel extremely dumb as he saw wads of trees surrounding the place he''s standing on, the little creatures failing to run away from the supposed predator looking curiously at the seemingly brainless biped standing in front of them. Feeling the gaze of the critters around him, the young man couldn''t help but feel a bit frustrated and annoyed, cursing at himself for being weak with directions, but refusing to let his frustration take over and harm said critters as he knows that any creature in the forest, no matter how big or small they are can be a terrifying predator especially in these times. Opting to avoid the creatures and walking around away from them, the upbeat young man starts climbing the trees, leaping from branch to branch swiftly and effortlessly, as if this is something he''s already so used to doing. "Man really feels nice with the wind caressing your face huh?" moving swiftly from tree to tree, the upbeat young man mutters to himself as he starts enjoying the experience he''s currently having, the refreshing scent of the woods along with the relaxing green surrounding making him nod in satisfaction, the only regret he has being the fact that he''s currently lost in this place. "This forest seems to be enchanted with space type magic..." what annoys him the most is the fact that he''s already traversing all across this forest for almost a week now, the supply on his spatial pouch already running out, forcing him to hunt the creatures in the forest without care for to which is the dangerous ones and which her can really kill due to the shortage of his food supply. "Damn!! Here again!!!" landing on a familiar place again, the upbeat young man''s voice starts getting tinged by a bit of annoyance, seeing a mark that he placed on a tree ever since he found himself seemingly just circling around this place, a mark that he saw for the hundredth times already ever since he starts going on a straight line. "This place shouldn''t be messing with my sense of direction, after all, if that''s the case, I won''t see these marks in the same order as I place them" analyzing the mark on the tree, the young man said to himself while looking at the singular slash left on said tree, marking the first one of the ''pathfinders'' he leaves along the way, something that clearly fails to serve its purpose as he comes back to it time and time again. After mulling at his situation for a while, the upbeat young man got disturbed as loud screeching sound erupted from the air, followed by the sound of metal hitting metal, the force clearly strong enough to destroy the surroundings given how loud it is despite being in the air. Wondering what causes such sounds, the upbeat young man directs his gaze towards the skies, seeing two giant birds both bearing the same metallic wings, claws and beaks, one of them clearly an eagle given the size of its wingspan and its hook shaped beak, and the other one a hawk, apparent from the hoarse screeching sound coming out of it. As the two terrifying predators with bodies spanning meters soar unhindered through the skies, the upbeat young man just stares at them with desire in his eyes while clenching his fist, something weighing his mind making him unable to focus at the majestic match between the two predators. ''Must be nice having one of those flying monsters as a contracted beast'' watching the two creatures battling it out in the skies, the upbeat young man thinks to himself before shaking his head and wryly smiling, knowing that such hopeful circumstances is merely a pipe dream for an orphan like him. "Kiiiieeekk!!!!" Hearing the loud scream from the birds fighting in the air, the upbeat young man snaps out of his lamenting thoughts, looking up once again only to see both the birds plummeting towards the grounds, the two of them clearly hurt from fighting each other, their severe wounds visible despite the two of them being dozens of meters up in the air. As the two barely living creatures falls into the ground, they produced a loud thud resounding all across their surroundings, said thud can also be clearly heard by the upbeat young man, making him sure that those two birds fall somewhere near him. ''This is a chance'' with one thing running though his mind, the upbeat young man starts rushing towards the direction of the sound, immediately climbing through the trees and leaping from branch to branch, his legs still shaking from the mixture of excitement and terror coursing through his entire body, excitement at the fact that this might be his chance to leap towards the dragons gate in one step, and terror at the fact that one wrong move in front of these two large predators will irrefutably spell his certain death. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''No tigers outside the tiger''s den'' braving his terror though, the upbeat young man thinks to himself that there''s no safe opportunity, as they always coexist with the danger in the surroundings and given how life threatening the thing he is about to attempt, it only means that succeeding on this means that the opportunity he will acquire is something really great. Finally arriving at the place where the two massive creatures fell, the upbeat young man first investigates the area for other dangers, his eyes widening in surprise as he saw the trees felled and scattered away from the impact of the fall, a small, desolate crater holding the two giant metallic birds in the middle, the two of them still struggling despite the clear loss of the blood in their body. Watching the two birds now weakly struggling to get away from death''s door, the upbeat young man decides to gather his courage and close in on the two, readying something that he takes out from his bag, a sort of parchment paper rolled into a small scroll and tied by a translucent thread, a candle wax seal preventing the thread from loosening. ''I heard that flying monsters are great contracted beasts, it might even land me in a good job in the military...'' looking up at the massive figures overshadowing his own, the upbeat young man thought to himself as he walks even closer with shaking knees, extremely careful as he doesn''t want to make the two birds aware of his feeble existence. ''...I should get that eagle, that must be the Soaring Steel Eagle from the compendium'' looking at the metallic eagle clearly a bit more vigorous than the hawk after their fight, the upbeat young man thought to himself as he remembers the description of the Soaring Steel Eagle in a must have book for all aspiring beast tamers of the kingdom, the Myriad Beast Compendium. Standing at a height nearing dozen meters, the Soaring Steel Eagle is something with a potential high enough for a beast tamer be a partner with, a beast that is well sought after by noble clans of the kingdom, and now, a beast that is most possible going to be the upbeat young man''s companion for a long period in his life. ''Calm down, calm down...'' opening the parchment paper, the upbeat young man saw a circular seal drawn in the middle of it, something that not only him, but nearly all, if not every person in this world knows, a binding seal, this one intended to establish a contract between a person and a beast. One of the prerequisites of said process are the blood of both the person and the target beast, something that the young man has in abundance given the serious injuries the Soaring Steel Eagle sustains, having one of the keys to the contract secured prompting him to take out a knife from his spatial pouch then proceeding to cut his hands, a fatal mistake about to drive him into a grave danger. Chapter 2: Dragon Herding System Chapter 2: Dragon Herding SystemAmidst all of the advantage of contracting a Soaring Steel Eagle, there is one fatal flaw that might make a beast tamer unable to acquire it, and that is the fact that human blood, more often than not, is something that acts as a catalyst to make said type of bird monster far more aggressive than they already do, even going as far as abandoning their own lives just to devour the origin of the blood. Despite the clear weakness of this Soaring Snake Eagle, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse, and this case, even if the bird monster is just a skeleton, it is still way bigger than the upbeat young man, making it way too easy for it to take the life of this fresh prey in front of it. Now looking at the Soaring Steel Eagle''s sharp bloodied eyes, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but flinch and take a step back, but immediately regaining reason as he knows that this creature, despite being severely wounded is something that he can''t hope to face in his current state, making the only choice for him being forcing the contract with the bird monster, something he can only achieve if the blood of the Soaring Steel Eagle lands on the binding seal. Setting his mind to achieve his goal or even just to survive, the upbeat young man actively finds an opening both for the chance of contracting this monster and his chance for escape, both chances being minimal as the reach of the Soaring Steel Eagle makes it way harder for him to approach him, as well as create distance between the two of them. As they continue dancing around with the eagle relentlessly sending in attacks, claws, beaks and feathers alike and the upbeat young man barely dodging each of said assault, it becomes more and more apparent that the upbeat young man is quite skilled with his footwork, sparing little effort to dodge the Soaring Steel Eagle''s attack every time. Dodging around and moving like a leaf flowing with the wind as it falls, the upbeat young man starts gaining more and more confidence that he can either approach close distance with the Soaring Steel Eagle or in the worst case scenario, even escape it, the second fatal mistake that he committed as he fails to take into account the cunning of such species of monster, the eagle looking at him with a peculiar light in its eyes as it purposely reveals an opening, something that the upbeat young man immediately jumps on. Shrieking as if it achieves victory against this fly-like opponent, the Soaring Steel Eagle flaps its wings and rises a bit to the sky, making the upbeat young man''s target miss by quite a lot, his body falling into the Soaring Steel Eagle''s claws, the power from its grips crushing his inside. "Damn it... Am I going to die here?" feeling his organs being crushed, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but start filling his mind with dreading thoughts while still thinking of ways to try and escape the cunning bird''s clutches, something that he fails to do as air starts to vacate his lungs. ---------- The Soaring Steel Eagle has a peculiar habit of keeping its prey alive before it starts feasting on it, this particular fact apparent from how the hawk it''s carrying with its beak is still somehow struggling, making it quite annoyed as it repeatedly hit the human in his claws already, a creature that its kind find quite delectable, having taste more than satisfying enough to sacrifice themselves for it. Directing its attention to the young human male it captured previously, the still bleeding Soaring Steel Eagle couldn''t help but feel disappointed as the human seemingly already draws his last breath, his unmoving body already cold, probably from the wind or from other things, making the eagle frown in disdain as even though it is a human, it wouldn''t eat something no longer alive, as to them, it is similar to human eating rotten food. So despite aching for the loss of such delicacy, the Soaring Steel Eagle opens its claw and let the young human go, his body falling down all the way though the vast river underneath them, its impact to the water producing a simple plop as his body falls towards the river feet first. After watching its supposed dinner falling deeper into the flowing river, the Soaring Steel Eagle continues dashing to a certain direction, trying to forget what a wasted encounter it had today. ---------- After falling from the Soaring Steel Eagle''s grasp, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but feel quite lucky as he prolongs his life even if it''s just for a bit more, a bonus since the greatest prize he has right now is the comfort of not being eaten by such brutal bird species, probably only being consumed some strong sea creatures should he fail to survive in the river, something he thought is so much better than the Soaring Steel Eagle. Using a technique he brought from someone in order to safely move on the water without swimming, he eventually find himself quite far away from where the Soaring Steel Eagle drops him, prompting him to urge himself to reach the riverbank. "Cough!!! Cough!!! Aghhh... it fucking hurts... good thing that shit really works." Being washed on the riverbank, the upbeat young man complains as he feels his entire body hurting, the internal bleedings clearly something that he needs to deal with immediately, but his limbs being injured and his left leg even broken prevents him from doing so, forcing him to limp towards the nearby clearings to try and find somewhere safe pass on peacefully. As he reaches the clearings, the upbeat young man starts lying himself on the ground, placing whatever is left on the spatial pouch he has in order to cover his rapidly cooling self, smiling in mockery as he never expected that his death will be due to the fact that he recklessly tries to establish a contract with a ruthless bird monster with strength way out of his league. ''A leap to the dragon''s gate huh... fuck, what a misfortune'' wryly smiling to himself as he thinks of just how foolish his previous actions are, the upbeat young man starts laughing to himself, thinking that given the chance, he will still risk it all for the opportunity to establish a contract with such sought after flying monster, only this time, he will be more careful with his approach. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Hmm? An earthqua©¤" feeling the ground underneath himself trembling with such intensity, the upbeat young man forces himself to sit, looking around and seeing nothing that might cause such trembling around him, no signs of moving life and only trees around, making him wonder why an earthquake is happening now. Before he can fully realize what is happening though, a crater forms underneath him, swallowing him whole and making him fall into the deep, dark underground, running through the names of all gods, goddesses and deities he knows and cursing all of them simultaneously, mockingly asking them why they won''t just let him die in piece, his falling body about to die in pieces. Water seemingly loves him really well though, as falling into the underground, the soft and gentle water once again cushions him from his fall, prompting him to think of something that is completely irrelevant to how he will deal with this situation. "I take one of my words back, I''m sorry god or goddess of water, if ever you are real, for doubting you and your good intentions" joking to himself to alleviate his pain, both mentally and physically as the happenings just got more and more absurd, the upbeat young man said before laughing once again, his loud laughter abruptly being stopped as he feels something in his lungs being teared. "Damn... if there''s a god or goddess of pain, I give the words I take from the god or goddess of water to you" holding his chest as if it can help with alleviating the pain, the upbeat young man curses once again before forcing himself to stand up, only now realizing that the surroundings is something of a dome, the perfectly hemispherical structure being lit by luminescent stones stuck within its walls, and on the very center of the water, a pedestal is standing upright, a stalactite and a stalagmite nearly touching each other, seemingly holding at their very tip the brightest light source in this place, a floating speck of light with its color constantly going around the visual spectrum, from red to yellow to blue and all the colors in between, then disappearing and returning to red once again. Despite the constantly changing color of the light source though, it always shines a gentle, bluish light all across the dome, making the upbeat young man wonder about it even more. Carefully approaching the light source, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but enter a trance as he comes into a close distance with it as he feels inexplicable attraction to it, prompting him to reach his fingers to try and touch it, his current course of action becoming the very moment that will change the course of his entire life, for better or worse, no one knows, however, it is definitely going to be way grander than it currently is. [Detected the existence of a life form that is compatible to the rule of the draconic realm, now establishing connection with the life form...] [Connection established, Dragon Herding System now active] Chapter 3: The Draconic Realm Chapter 3: The Draconic Realm[Detected the existence of a life form that is compatible with the rule of the draconic realm, now establishing a connection with the life form...] [Connection established, Dragon Herding System now active] Hearing such words in his mind, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but wonder just what in the world is this thing that he recklessly touches once again, a tinge of regret in his mind for always exploring and trying to interact with things that pique his curiosity, something that he develops really well from when he''s still a child. After waiting for a while in wariness though, nothing that seems to be even remotely dangerous comes out, making him wonder just what it is that suddenly happens to him, checking his severely injured body for something that changes, disappointed once he sees nothing. "What the hell is that? Compatible? Draconic realm? Dragon Herding System?" thinking about the words he heard running in his mind previously, the upbeat young man mutters to himself, his last words seemingly triggering something as a gray floating screen appears in front of him, the simple design incomparable to those projection screens in the city, but this one having a more mysterious feel to it. In the screen, the upbeat young man saw information about himself, as well as some combinations of words that is when together, completely unfamiliar to him, making the thing that piques his curiosity the most being the fact that this gray floating screen completely compiles basic information about him. [Diluc Leonhart] [Race: Human] [Age: 16] [Realm Gold: 0] [Cultivations] [Magic: Solid Red Core (Combat power at Light Red Core)] [Body Tempering: Mortal] [Elemental Affinity: Wind] [Overall Combat Power: Half-star (Each level that an individual can cross increases the overall combat power by one star] [Draconic Realm] [Missions] [Shop] Reading the basic information, the young man, Diluc couldn''t help but nod as it perfectly reflected his strength, the only thing making him wonder was the fact that despite his combat power being above his current strength when it came to magic, this gray floating screen still deemed him as someone with only half star combat power, something that his mind doesn''t dwell on so much as he checks the other features as well, now without any wariness on him as he thinks about one thing. ''Whatever, I''m slowly dying now anyways, so what''s the worst that can happen?'' he thought to himself as he reached for the screen, trying to interact with it and clicking on one of the things written on it, that is the words, [Draconic Realm]. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After clicking on those words, he was surprised as a small, black spatial door appeared in front of him, the unassuming design being just a vertical ellipse that was just slightly taller than him. Braving everything else as if there''s no longer anything to lose, the upbeat young man takes a step forward towards the spatial door, his entire body disappearing from the dome structure within just a few steps, his mind completely unaware that the light he just touched previously is no longer inside the structure as well. ---------- Coming out on the other side of the spatial door, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but have his eyes widen due to what he saw, the tall green grass reaching nearly to his knees moving around calmly as the cool wind blew all across it, the tall grass spanning all across the entire field reaching all through what the young man''s eyes can see, the astonishment apparent on his face particularly on his eyes as he saw something more absurd. This land, despite its massive size, is still something with borders, hence why when he struggles to run in a straight direction to see what the edge of this land looks like, he is even more surprised as he discovers that this entire field is floating up in the sky, making him all the more excited to know what more is in this floating island. Before he can start exploring though, the floating gray screen appears in front of him once again, a word of greetings on it, along with some instructions that he seemingly needs to follow. [Welcome to the Draconic Realm, new ruler, here, you must do your best to nurture the next generation of True Dragons, and the way you are raising them will affect how they think and how strong they will be] [Please start incubating the first dragon egg now] Reading the words on the screen, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but think of something so absurd, his mind returning to the time that he tried to establish a contract with the Soaring Steel Eagle, looking at this encounter as his life turning fortune rather than an unfortunate accident in his mind. "T-these dragons... can I contract them?" thinking of something absurd in his mind, the upbeat young man subconsciously blurted the question out, causing the display on the gray floating screen to change, answering his question. [You are now the ruler of this realm, ancestral origin of all the dragons that will grow here, hence there''s no need for a contract between you and the dragons, as they will all unconditionally follow all your orders, even extreme one so long as you have a valid reason for it] [In addition to that, being the ruler of this realm gives you the benefit of the dragons'' blessing, your strength will be growing in proportion to the strength of the dragons you are taking care of, and the same strength will be added on top of your own individual strength] After reading the explanations of the Dragon Herding System, the young man couldn''t help but get even more excited, prompting him to ask how he could nurture his first-ever dragon, the system responding by bringing him into the mission tab of the interface, a mission already completed and its prize ready to be claimed. [Enter the Draconic Realm for the first time] [Reward: Wood Dragon Egg (1), 10,000 Realm Gold] Reading the description and the rewards for it, the upbeat young man starts smiling even more as claims the egg, a green, vitality-filled large spheroid the size of his entire torso appearing on the ground, the excitement coursing through his entire body making the pain of his injuries go away, even having the strength to carry the large egg all the way to the tree in the very middle of the floating island, a large tree with branches spanning over hundreds of meters, its description appearing once he focuses on it. [True Dragon Nourishing Tree] [Description: A magical tree that speeds up the incubation period of a dragon, as well as blesses them with a body far stronger than a dragon incubated in a normal way. This is also a good nest for two dragons about to engage in acts of procreation to be in.] After reading the description of said tree, the upbeat young man was surprised since as soon as he entered close proximity of the tree, the life-filled egg on his hands disappeared all of a sudden, his surprise and building up panic only lasting for a few seconds as the floating gray screen states that the dragon''s egg is in the middle of all the branches, a spot where the mystical energy being constantly emitted by the tree comes out the most, the system also explaining that the place can only hold and nourish five eggs at most. "How long until the young one comes out?" already looking at the egg like his child, the upbeat young man asks, the gray floating screen appearing in front of him with a timer stating that it is just a bit less than ten minutes until the young dragon comes out of its shell. After that then, he decides to open the shop, checking if there''s something that he can use to feed the wood dragon about to emerge from its shell, also searching for things that can help in creating a better environment for the youngling to reside in. [Shop] [Eggs (Locked)] [Farms] [Habitats] [Structures (Locked)] [Draw (Locked)] Seeing that there are only two features available for him now, he first clicks on the farm to search for something that the young dragon can eat, being met with a thing that makes him quite pleasantly surprised. [Farms] [Magic Fruit Farm (1,000 Realm Gold)] [Description: Finish constructing in a minute and ready for harvest within four minutes, yielding 4~6 fruits per harvest. Only required to water once a day. Providing a young dragon with this as its meals will continuously nourish its body to the highest degree until the adolescent stage. Provides high level of filling and satisfaction to young dragons with just a single fruit.] [Level up dragons to unlock more food farms] Reading the display on the floating gray screen, the young man smiles in satisfaction as he clicks on the display of the Magic Fruit Farm, an aerial display of the entire floating island appearing on the screen surprising him, on it a semi-transparent image of the farm hovering over the land, waiting for him to just place it somewhere. Chapter 4: Farm and Habitat Chapter 4: Farm and Habitat"Hm? This is really convenient" Moving the display of the farm around, the young man deduced that he could place it anywhere he wanted so long as it didn''t overlap with any other object within the floating island, after this deduction making him think about where he can place it. "Once I place it in a specific location, can I still move it around?" still wondering where he should place it, Diluc asks towards the Dragon Herding System, prompting another floating gray screen to appear in front of him once again, explaining the mechanics of the layout arrangement feature. [You can still move it and all the objects around once you placed it, and you can also store the objects inside the internal realm space, but you can no longer sell the things already purchased] After reading the text on the floating gray screen, the young man nods in understanding as he places the Magic Fruit Farm near the True Dragon Nourishing Tree, making it so that he can immediately bring the fruit to his first dragon once it hatches. After selecting a place for the farm to be constructed, a magical veil of thick fog and mist surrounds the target area, something that the upbeat young man fails to see through, and within just a minute, the fog already starts disappearing, revealing the fully constructed Magic Fruit Farm inside. Being vines, the fruits cling onto the strong wooden structure of the farm, the vivid, life-filled green vines and leaves of the plant making it appear extremely magical, partnered with the delicious-looking smooth purple fruit hanging on one of its vines, making it look all the more attractive to anyone''s eyes. Despite the fruits still not ready for harvest, it''s already a bit more than a fist in terms of size, their shiny coating reflecting some of the sun''s rays and making them look mysterious especially with its purple color, making Diluc wonder how this fruit will taste. [Since this is a magical fruit that can properly nurture even dragons, it is recommended that you also take some of this for yourself, but only one per day as the human body can''t properly absorb anything and any more than that and might even cause a problem] Almost as if being able to read his mind, the Dragon Herding System once again shows a floating gray screen in front of him, the answer to the thing he is wondering about being displayed on said screen, the words making him smile as he starts looking forward to the harvest of these fruits even more. In the meantime, while waiting for it to mature, he starts looking for a place where the wood dragon can settle, clicking on the [Habitats] section of the shop, seeing only one option with the reminder of him acquiring more types of dragons to unlock more habitats. [Wood Floating Island (5,000 Realm Gold)] [Description: A floating island brimming with vitality, filled with woods and rivers, providing an extremely comfortable place for Wood Dragons and any other dragon with the wood attribute to live in. Currently able to house five dragons simultaneously, can be upgraded] Reading the description of the only choice of habitat he can build, the young man purchases it without a trace of hesitation in his action, thinking for the better of his first dragon as he reminds himself that if he''s going to do something, then he must do it right, hence why he spares no effort and money to make the still incubating wood dragon comfortable once it comes out. After clicking on the [Wood Floating Island], he hears trembling from the ground, making him quite wary as such trembling already brings him much trauma already, only for this to last only a couple of seconds, ending as a gigantic spatial rift appears from near the floating island, such grand sight causing the young man''s body tremble as he watches the movements in the spatial rift, the power of space emanating from it causing some ideas to pop into his mind, something so vague yet seemingly so profound that he needs to enter meditation in order to comprehend. Being someone with a sharp and extremely good memory though, he opted not to focus on this as he watched the majestic movements of the spatial rift, from it emerged a large plot of vitality-filled floating island, waters flowing out and falling down from some areas of it, a river flowing down from the singular lush green mountain peak in the middle of it, the surface of the island covered with waters and woods, rivers flowing through and dividing five areas in the island. Knowing that he can''t miss being there once his first ever dragon comes out, Diluc still refuses to ponder on the enlightenment of space as he watches it disappear while the new floating island settles in, asking the Dragon Herding System whether he can climb at the True Dragon Nourishing Tree to witness the wood dragon''s emergence as well. Agreeing with his request, the system teleports him to the top of the tree, just in the middle of all the large branches crowning it, at the very middle of those branches a green dragon egg pulsates with life, the egg now giving off a vibrant green glow as if something magical is happening inside, making the upbeat young man look forward to it even more. "Come to think of it, how am I supposed to focus on anything else if I have to harvest the Magic Fruits once every four minutes?" thinking about feeding this young one once it breaks out of its shell, the young man''s thoughts are directed to the Magic Fruit Farm, prompting a seemingly serious question to pop into his mind, a question that is easily answered by the Dragon Herding System. [Any resources coming from farms will be automatically harvested through the help of the arrays installed in them, and then immediately stored in the internal realm space for prolonged storage] After reading the explanation from the floating gray screen, he nods once again, now just waiting for the little dragon to pop out of its shell, the pain his body is currently experiencing as his organs start to churn more and more no longer something that he feels in pain for, something in the air around the Draconic Realm making him not only sustain his life for longer time but also making him heal faster, an unexpected boon that he has yet to realize. Just relaxedly humming a tune as he watches the Wood Dragon Egg continue pulsating the vibrant green light out of it, the upbeat young man ignores the notification of the Magic Fruit already being harvested twice, meaning that any moment now, the young wood dragon is already about to emerge from the egg. Snapping him out of his daze, the young man abruptly stood up as he heard cracking sounds from nearby, the shell covering the dragon gradually losing its structural integrity as cracks start to form all around it, the larger ones converging in a certain point that repeatedly produces even more crack, as if something hard is hitting it from the insides. After a few more seconds of struggling, a small, cute reptilian head emerges out of the spot, the little innocent eyes of the creature coming out looking single-mindedly at the biped standing in front of it, the sight of such a large creature making the young dragon all the more curious, forcing itself to break the rest of the shell covering it with its limbs, the already sharp claw tearing through the strong layer of the egg from the insides, completely breaking it out. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Coming out of it, the young dragon already seems so big compared to normal animals, standing on its four limbs with its head reaching in the middle part of the upbeat young man''s thighs already, the young dragon only looking at the young man for a while before it turns around and starts eating its own shell. While the young wood dragon takes its first meal, the upbeat young man just stood there in excitement, observing and appreciating the majestic, albeit modest form of the hatchling, its folded wings seemingly not ready to fly yet, but its already standing strong on its limbs, appearing extremely well built and great, the scales covering its body appearing like a sort of tree bark that serves to make it look all the more regal, the little horns already sprouting on the side of its head like a crown deserving to an apex species, the long tail ending along with the small wooden spikes in its back. Witnessing the birth of such a creature, the young man couldn''t help but feel quite proud, not to mention the fact that this young hatchling is going to be his companion in the future, something that no one would ever believe should he tell them that due to how prideful and mysterious the kingdom he''s in, and even the entire continent views the dragons and even just its lower species. Chapter 5: Combat Power and Potential Chapter 5: Combat Power and PotentialOnce the young wood dragon finished consuming the shell it come out from, it immediately redirected its attention to the upbeat young man still gazing at it, the innocent, curious stare clearly that of something that wonders what the creature in front of them is. While still maintaining that curious look, the young wood dragon starts taking little steps towards the upbeat young man, the wariness that is previously detectable in its eyes now completely gone as it feels like the young man doesn''t mean it any harm. Eventually getting closer to the upbeat young man, the little dragon lets out a low growl that surprises the young man, unaware that even just newborn dragons are capable enough of letting out sounds despite just coming out of their shell. The upbeat young man didn''t dwell on it too much though as seeing how the hatchling looks at him, he couldn''t help but smile wide as he feels like this little one has quite the affinity with him, this thought being amplified even further as the young dragon''s body closes on him, wrapping its long neck around his legs before once again gently growling while looking at him. Unable to stop himself, the upbeat young man reaches out with his hand towards the head of the hatchling looking at him, the young dragon then responding by extending its neck, allowing the young man to touch it on top of its neck, an act that dragon''s only reserves for those they truly respect in their hearts. Shaking as he plunged in excitement, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but take out a purple-colored fruit from the Dragon Herding System''s internal realm space, the fruit emanating a mystical aura that entrances not only him, but the young dragon as well, the two of them looking at the ripe fruit with fascination and craving filling their eyes. Both seeing each other take a gulp, the two of them then looks at each other, the hatchling pushing its head to the hand holding the fruit, urging the young man to take the fruit first, such action causing the young man to appreciate the young dragon even more, making him smile as he shakes his head and pushes the fruit back to it, not accepting whenever it tries to return it. Just for the sake of comforting the young dragon from thinking that it is eating alone, he takes another Magic Fruit from the internal realm space, the young dragon looking in curiosity as it wonders just how things suddenly come out from the upbeat young man''s hands. Despite the two of them understanding each other through gestures well enough to establish basic communications with each other though, the hatchling still couldn''t find a way for it to ask about this thing, causing it to not dwell too much on this subject, proceeding to gobble on the purple fruit in front of it with such fervor in its eyes. Seeing his first ever dragon consuming the Magic Fruit, the upbeat young man also starts eating the piece in his hand, the first bite surprising him as he never experienced something like this just from eating. Once the first bite enters his mouth, it immediately turns into a sweet liquid that floods his mouth with its mellow flavor, before then transforming into a misty substance as he swallows it, the liquid turning into air substance the moment it goes pass his throat. What makes it more mystical is the fact that the moment he ingested it, the fruit starts sending warm stream of energy coursing across his entire body, the core containing all his mana revolving at a speed he never witnessed before, making him doubt his own potential as even just a single one of this fruit seems to be more than enough for him to nurture himself to a high level, yet dragons eat this everyday just to set themselves for a greater adulthood. This thought lasted in his mind for quite a while before he managed to get rid of it, once he do so, he then starts focusing on detecting all the miniscule changes happening inside his body, his once injured self already starting to regain most of its former glory, the strings of muscles all across his body feeling stronger than ever, and even the mana circuit that connects his core through his entire body appears to improve significantly as well. Marveling at this holistic improvement that makes him feel reborn, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but tremble in joy as he clenches his fist, feeling the newfound power coursing through his entire body, feeling like he never felt this light and powerful before. In fact, he truly never felt that way, as before, he''s just a normal mage of his age with a bit stronger combat power than the rest of his peers in the city, something that is of no major concern as almost all of the nobles there are competent enough to match him evenly. The fact that the nobles can do this though still makes him, and his acquaintances take quite a pride to him as there is still a major difference between then, that being the nobles receiving great training and resources since young, while an orphan like him needs to risk himself just to get a chance to have a better environment to temper himself. ''That''s no longer the case now'' looking around at this blessed, magical land that seemingly land on his hand through sheer dumb luck, the upbeat young man smiles while thinking so, knowing that this is definitely the chance that he is waiting for if he wants to change his current standings, if he wants to change his own fate. ''Of course, I need to figure out how the entire Dragon Herding System work first'' not thinking too much of himself though, the upbeat young man starts planning for the future, how he can utilize the blessing he obtained to the utmost, how it can bring the greatest benefit to him, and the door to that path, seems to be something already slightly opened for him. Finishing the sumptuous meal that is the purple-colored Magic Fruit, the young wooden dragon burps in satisfaction, a wave of vitality-filled air coming out of its mouth, breathing life to the True Dragon Nourishing Tree causing some small new branches to come out of the original ones, such visuals of a part of the large tree growing near instantaneously surprising the upbeat young man quite a bit. Now looking at the hatching once again and intently observing it, the upbeat young man starts seeing the gray floating screen appearing in front of him again, the words displayed on the screen clearly showing the basic information of the dragon hatchling. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Unnamed] [Race: Dragon (Wood)] [Infancy Stage] [Cultivations] [Magic: Vague Red Core (Combat power at Vague Orange Core)] [Body Tempering: Early Skin Refining (Combat power at Early Muscle Conditioning)] [Elemental Affinity: Wood] [Overall Combat Power: 4-star] Having seen the young wood dragon''s cultivation, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but feel depressed at the comparison, this hatchling only being born just a few minutes ago and yet, despite its level still being lower than him, its combat power is already way stronger than his, making him wonder whether he''s deserving to be the master of such great creature. [You are deemed as the new master of the draconic realm, hence it is only right for you to be the master of all the dragons that will grow here. There''s no need to be conscious about your current combat power as well, since the compounded blessing you will receive from all the dragon you will nurture will grant you immense potential and combat power as well] "So that means the more dragon I grow and the better potential they have., the better it will be for me right?" with eyes filled with hope as he starts speaking once again, the upbeat young man asks, prompting the gray floating screen to change the words on it once again, explaining something that makes the young man all the more looking forward to the future. [Indeed, in addition to that, you will gradually acquire a draconic body unique to yourself from the culmination of all the blessings you will receive in the future, blessings that will grant you innate abilities similar to the dragon who gave you the blessing] [In addition to that, consuming the products from the farm is also a good way for you to increase your combat power/potential] Reading the words, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but nod in satisfaction, patting the head of the young wood dragon now clinging to him once again, the young dragon seemingly enjoying this as it looks at the young man in reverence, as if looking at a divine figure that blesses it with something that only great dragons deserve. Meanwhile, the upbeat young man starts to get distracted once again as he joyfully reads his improved stats shown in the system. Chapter 6: A Dragon’s Blessing Chapter 6: A Dragon''s BlessingMages and Martial Artists, the two kinds of people who wields superhuman power in the world that the upbeat young man lives in, people who trains themselves to death, either by beating their bodies up repeatedly through daily physical training or beating their minds up repeatedly through daily research and memorization of magic circle formulas. While it is true that they differ in the path they take, the two schools of acquiring strength for oneself both possesses a similar way of classifying the difference in strength between each practitioners, a system that divides their level of strength to nine levels, each level having four sub-level to further define them, a classification of strength and power that circulates the entire world for countless years already, its origin, whether the place it come from or the people who created it already fading and disappearing in the annals of time. For the Mages, the major division of their power level are the color of their cores, nine different color representing nine levels of power, the colors from weakest to strongest being; red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, indigo, violet and white, each of these levels then divided to the intensity of the specific color that a mage''s core is currently in, said division for each level from weakest to strongest as well, being; vague, solid, light and then bright, reaching the bright sub-level signifying a mage''s imminent ascension to the next core level. For the Martial Artist on the other hand, the division of their strength is measured on their progress of body refining, the act of repeated intentional hurting of the entire body in order to temper it, a crazy and painful act that often makes Martial Artist turn into two extremes, being either too volatile and easy to enrage or too calm that they are so hard to trigger, the division of said body refining being: Skin Refining, Muscle Conditioning, Blood Vessel Widening, Organ Strengthening, Bone Tempering, Marrow Activation, Meridian Awakening, Eight Gates Establishment and then finally the Nine Stars Opening, each of this sublevels then divided into the early, intermediate, late and peak sub-levels. One tempering the body and one tempering the mind, making everyone, even the greatest geniuses that this world gave birth to wonder why they can not just cultivate the using the two system at the same time, something that only a select few can achieve due to the intricate design of the human body. Being creatures of such small stature compared to the great beasts and monsters that can often be seen outside city walls, humans do have a problem and that is their limited capacity for the pathways of mana in their body, some of the humans being born with meridians that can affect and channel the mana around them better, while some humans are only capable of utilizing mana to enhance their own physical body. That is why it is just that much of a surprise for the upbeat young man, Diluc, to see his new status on the Dragon Herding System''s screen, the words displayed making him even try and slap himself to check if he''s dreaming, only being stopped as a gray floating screen once again reminded him that everything is real. [Diluc Leonhart] [Race: Human] [Age: 16] [Realm Gold: 4,000] S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Cultivations] [Magic: Vague Red Core (Combat power at Light Red Core)] [Body Tempering: Early Skin Refining (Combat power at Late Skin Refining)] [Elemental Affinity: Wind, Wood] [Overall Combat Power: 2-stars] [Draconic Realm] [Missions] [Shop] Reading the information displayed on his status screen, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but start laughing in joy, celebrating as just one Magic fruit is already bearing a great effect enough for him to increase his combat power, not even concerning himself by the degradation of his magic level and only celebrating the fact that he can still fight with opponents he can fight with previously despite being one sub-level lower now. "I should be able to aim higher now, maybe I can get admitted in that academy" thinking of a certain place, the upbeat young man starts shaking his head, reminding himself that the current power he has might not even be equivalent to those extremely gifted and well nurtured nobles who have all the resources they want and need being handed to them, this way of thinking making him a bit more careful as he now has a secret that he needs to keep, something that might endanger his life once revealed without him having enough power yet. "Forget it, let''s take one step at a time" thinking that there''s no way he can hide it forever though, the upbeat young man just decided to take a go with the flow approach, trying his best not to reveal his secrets but not really actively try not utilizing it especially when the situation deems it necessary. "You still need to grow for those plans to work, little guy" once again patting the head of the wooden dragon hatchling, the little guy growling in satisfaction as it looks at him like some sort of leader, or even a king. "Don''t look at me like that, we''re equals from now on" smiling at the hatchling as it continues to gaze at him curiously, the upbeat young man said before starting to get lost on his own thought, wondering just what kind of things did he do in his past lives for him to acquire such life changing blessing such as this, a blessing that starts with just a single dragon for now but will definitely grow in number in the future. Before he got more and more dazed at all the blessings he is currently receiving the upbeat young man got snapped out of his thoughts as he starts feeling the emotion of the little guy coiling around him, the feeling as if there''s a mental connection appearing in his mind. Having this peculiar feeling, the young man couldn''t help himself from closing his eyes, his attention being pulled into something that just makes him feel stupefied. Looking down, he sees a corporeal version of his hands, responding properly to his thoughts whether he wants it to clench or move around, as if it''s just his physical body. Different from his physical body though, there is something that feels connected to him in this corporeal body, like an invisible thread that bridges him to another individual, an individual that he will see at the other end of this invisible thread. Walking across this empty realm with seemingly just him and that individual, the upbeat young man starts getting quite bored as the walk takes so long, feeling like an entire eternity passed in his mind before finally meeting whoever it is that is holding the other end of the thread. A small, yet majestic body also formed from the same corporeal material, the hatchling just stands there with its eyes seemingly smiling at the upbeat young man, one of its claws pointing towards the location where the seemingly invisible thread connecting them is, near its forehead, the same location where the young man feels the thread is. "This is... amazing" knowing that this is some sort of beast contract yet also being completely different from the normal one, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but get dazed as he never heard of two beings being connected like this due to the contract being established between them, meaning that whatever it is that happened, it is something that is possibly unique to the dragon species. "Could it be the blessing that the system is talking about?" now playing around with the young wood dragon, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but wonder, his question being answered as the hatchling sounded with a positive growl, nodding its head in repeated motion as if it''s agreeing with its words, making the young man surprised again as he wonders whether he''s really talking to a creature that is just an egg a few minutes ago. "Thanks little guy, you don''t know how much it means to me" expressing his gratitude as he continues to play around with the young dragon, the upbeat young man said causing the young dragon to shake its head, before once again growling at him. For some reason unknown, probably due to them being connected to each other, the upbeat young man clearly knows what the wood dragon is talking about, making him smile as he really feels like a father when he''s with this hatchling. "You want a name for yourself huh?" asking towards the corporeal form of the dragon, the upbeat young man starts smiling once again as the hatchling eagerly nods to his words, causing him to start focusing and thinking hard as he deems names especially towards companions that will be with him in the future to be particularly important, causing the two of them, dragon and man, to just sit within whatever void they are currently in for a while, the silence lasting for quite a long time before the upbeat young man finally speaks again. Chapter 7: Yggdrasil Chapter 7: YggdrasilSince you''re a dragon with wood elemental affinity..." pausing for a while as he scans the dragon hatchling with his eyes for a while, the upbeat young man said, then nodding once something snaps in his mind, smiling as he thought that there''s no other better name for this little guy than what he thought. Looking at him with anticipation in its eyes, the young dragon waits for the name that it will bear for his life to come, hoping that it will get something befitting of a powerful creature such as itself. "... I will give you a name related to trees, the greatest one in some legends, Yggdrasil." Looking at the young wood dragon while thinking of the legend of the world tree that connect numerous realms using its own body, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but nod to himself for thinking of such thing, the young hatchling seemingly acknowledging his naming skills as well given how celebratory its acts is after he gave it its name, growling joyously as it starts prancing around him excitedly. Seeing how the young dragon reacts, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but shake his head for a bit, thinking that even such majestic creatures like this are still quite gullible as a child, contrary to the human belief that they are existences born with the knowledge of the world already. After they play around for a while, they are eventually pulled out of the mysterious place, once again returning to their physical body, the two of them looking at each other for a while before the young man decided to break the silence. "Let''s go to a good place, little one" thinking of moving the young wood dragon to the habitat he purchased for it, the upbeat young man reaches out his hand, which in turn the young hatchling reaches as well using its head, looking at him innocently while it waits for whatever happens, the two of them disappearing from the top of the True Dragon Nourishing Tree, emerging in a large plot of vitality filled floating island. In the island, the waters flow out and fall down from some areas of it, particularly the edge that seems to just drop into nowhere, a river flowing down from the singular lush green mountain peak in the middle of it, the surface of the island covered with waters and woods, rivers flowing through and dividing five areas in the island. Looking around the area that it is suddenly transported in, the young dragon couldn''t help but growl around in excitement, the feeling it currently has is clearly stronger than that of those it previously felt, the evidence of such fact apparent from the glowing light coming out of its eyes as it gleefully observes everything that it encounters. Seeing just how much the hatchling appreciates the place, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but think that it is only worth it that he brought this place for the young one, already planning about finding a task to search for another dragon, so that this one won''t be alone when he''s not inside the draconic realm. As he thinks about it, the upbeat young man is quite surprised that the floating gray screen appears in front of him once again, the screen already on the [Mission] tab, showing a mission that seems particularly tailored for the thing he just thought of. [Take Revenge] [Description: The ruler of the Draconic Realm is not someone to be trifled with!!! Take revenge to the grievances dealt to you by the beasts of the wild and reclaim your reputation as the sole ruler of the Draconic Realm. Obliterate the Soaring Steel Eagle that currently brings you to a near death encounter.] [Rewards: Completion of the mission awards you with a single Metal Dragon Egg, 10,000 Realm Gold] Seeing the rewards of the mission, the upbeat young man, Diluc, couldn''t help but smile in joy as he thought of how simple this task is right now, knowing that the Soaring Steel Eagle is merely a beast that has a cultivation of Bright Red Core, and a combat power that is slightly stronger than normal at most, something that Yggdrasil can easily deal with right now. "Is there a time limit to this mission?" asking the most important part of the mission, the upbeat young man speaks as he plays around with the young wood dragon, the Dragon Herding System immediately replying to his question with a definitive answer. [There is never a time limit set for the you to complete your mission, however, the system urges you to complete the current mission as soon as possible as no new missions will arrive as long as you don''t complete the current mission, this applies for the succeeding missions as well] Reading the words written on the floating grey screen, the upbeat young man nods to himself as he thinks that this is good, however in his mind, he is already planning about how to find, as well as how to deal with the Soaring Steel Eagle without getting his hatchling hurt. ''I guess I''ll take my time to watch Yggdrasil to grow first, I read that dragons quickly grows into adolescent age as long as they have enough nourishment and good environment to live in'' thinking about this, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but think about the authenticity of this fact, speaking up as he waits the seemingly all-knowing Dragon Herding System to answer his question. "How long will it take for Yggdrasil to grow into an adolescent form?" watching the young dragon swimming on the shallow depth of the river with its neck and head poking out and growling happily at him, the upbeat young man asked while smiling and waving at the hatchling, the system''s gray screen giving him his answer within just a moment. [The Draconic Realm provides the highest level of nourishment and care for the dragons living on it, even the least talented dragon in the Draconic Realm grows into its adolescent age within the first two weeks of it breaking out from its shell, with the most talented reaching such form within just a week] Reading the reply he got, the upbeat young man smiles as he starts planning on how to track the Soaring Steel Eagle already, his attention not leaving the young hatchling as he takes caution, not wanting the young wood dragon to go too deep into the water as he thinks that it is too dangerous for it. [You should allow Yggdrasil to explore itself, a dragon isn''t a dragon if it grows in a greenhouse environment] "Isn''t the Draconic Realm already the ultimate greenhouse?" asking as he thought that this place is already something of a paradise to the dragon race, the upbeat young man asks without any intention to mock, which is also picked up by the system, prompting its gray screen to appear in front of him once again, the explanation for the thing he''s asking about emerging in front of him once again. [That is because you can''t unlock the other higher-level features of the Dragon Herding System, meaning that the current Draconic Realm is not yet functioning at its fullest] "Then how much of the functions of the Dragon Herding System and the Draconic Realm am I able to use right now?" hearing something that piques his interest, the upbeat young man couldn''t stop his curious nature from asking, the reply from the Dragon Herding System knocking his confidence quite a bit. [Right now, you are only utilizing less than one percent of the System and the Draconic Realm''s full functions and the other functions are locked since your strength is still too low] "Is that so... then how high of a cultivation do I need to have before I can unlock and use the other functions?" after lamenting at his weak strength for a while, the upbeat young man recovers once more as he asks, the next reply of the system being a good one right now. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Every time your cultivation increases by one major level, a function of the system will be unlocked, each having different use from each other, but all serves the purpose of strengthening not only the dragons residing inside the realm but also to improve you, the ruler of the Draconic Realm''s strength and power] "Great, I''m looking forward to it" once he finished reading the Dragon Herding System''s last reply, the upbeat young man smiles as he stops asking the system all sorts of things, knowing that it can always answer him, but the time with the young dragon is something that he will never get back. As he approaches the area where the young wood dragon is currently swimming on, the young man shouts as he gets closer to the hatchling, the hatchling growling back at the young man as soon as he saw him, excitedly rushing towards him as if it just saw someone to play with. Chapter 8: Growth Chapter 8: GrowthGrowling happily at the first creature that it saw since it hatched from its egg, the young wood dragon swipes its tails in order to splash water on the approaching upbeat young man, its attack effectively hitting the young man as waters splashes all over his body, drenching his entire being. As the upbeat young man falls into the water, he couldn''t help but shake his head while looking at the young hatchling clearly laughing at him, prompting him to swim towards it before tackling it as well, the two of them playing around without any care in the world, this state lasting for quite a while before the upbeat young man decided to stop due to exhaustion. Tiredly cleaning his body, the upbeat young man removes all the clothes and garments around his body, his appearance finally revealing to himself as everything is removed, causing him to nod in admiration as he appreciates his current form. Albeit leaning on a bit thinner build, the upbeat young man has quite the body, standing at a tall height all while having broad shoulders, a good V-shaped torso and long slightly muscular legs, probably from how much he is exploring all year round. His body, while lacking the buff, is still extremely streamlined and fit, with its shape being more pronounced as water flow down from it. Looking at his own face, the upbeat young man nods once again as he takes something from his spatial pouch, a scissor that has cutting his hair as its sole purpose, the young man proceeds to trim a bit of his hair, already falling down below his shoulders, cutting it just enough to let it fall to hide his ears, the wavy hair flowing along with the air blowing out of nowhere in the Draconic Realm. After pulling the hair covering his face towards the top of his head, his face is finally revealed in the water, the reflection showing a slightly filthy, yet youthful and handsome face void of any imperfections, the only thing staining his appearance being the dirt on his face. What stands out the most to the young man though is his eyes filled with life, the brightness from his gaze feeling like someone who had never encountered a single bad thing in his entire time alive, like someone who was never out and never experienced the tragic game that is life. Rubbing on his straight tall nose that is stained by the most dirt, the upbeat young man starts cleaning himself, the water of the habitat magically dissolves all the dirt he is expunging in it, making him marvel on its magical property, his curiosity starting again but just refusing to ask it to the Dragon Herding System as it feels like this is just too irrelevant and unimportant thing to ask. While the hatchling and the human continues playing around and cleaning themselves in the water, time passed as they enjoy the happy moments, the passing of time causing the upbeat young man to realize that the magical Draconic Realm is also capable of simulating a day and night cycle, testament to that fact the starry skies him and his first dragon, Yggdrasil, is watching together, the young creature lying flat on its back, exposing his belly in the air in an attempt to mimic the upbeat young man. Spending time like this, just playing, lazing around and eating the Magic Fruit whenever they can, days quickly passed and the new week already arrive, the first thing that the upbeat young man saw in the morning being the young hatchling encased in a massive chrysalis, clearly facilitating its growth to an adolescent form, causing the young man to smile in joy as he remembered the thing that the Dragon Herding System once told him. "This means that Yggdrasil is among the more talented dragons even with the Draconic Realm''s standards, right?" the upbeat young man asked towards the air, causing a floating gray screen to appear right in front of him, showing an answer that he pretty much expected already as he saw the growing Yggdrasil. [Indeed, the wood dragon Yggdrasil seems to be one of the really talented ones given the days it took for it to acquire an adolescent form, however, you must be reminded that talent is only one factor of a dragon, and even any creature''s growth, one must still temper themselves through countless challenges to grow into a bona fide expert] Reading the answer to his question pasted along with a good intentioned yet demoralizing advice, the upbeat young man nods towards the floating gray screen, he himself knowing the validity of its claim as he''s among the people who can fight against those talented nobles in his city since he put efforts far harder than what anyone else can imagine. ''Now that I have the talent as well, it is only a matter of time...'' as he thinks about something else, the upbeat young man got a bit distracted, causing him to be caught in a surprise as he feels a powerful wave of mana surging out from the wood dragon''s chrysalis, causing him to wonder in worry about what is happening to his first dragon. [The wood dragon Yggdrasil is currently undergoing the final stage of growth to adolescent age, it is expunging all the impure mana from its entire system and will start taking in mana from the surroundings, it is highly recommended that you stay a bit far away from the wood dragon as it will suck the mana around it dry during this process] Reading the words of warning from the Dragon Herding System, the upbeat young man immediately wills the mana around him and inside his body to carry him away from Yggdrasil, his legs exploding powerfully as the wind in the surrounding whirls around him, guiding his path away from the once mana filled area being dried out by Yggdrasil''s growth. While the mana continues to dry out in the area though, seemingly massive amount of mana comes out from somewhere within the Draconic Realm, patching up the mess that the young Yggdrasil is making, keeping all the living beings, trees, grass and plants alike, to continue living even if they are around it. After a few more minutes of such spectacular event, the rapid absorption from the wood dragon''s body starts to slow down until it comes into a total stop, even the vigorous life force always oozing out of its body completely disappearing, the only assurance to the upbeat young man''s mind that this friend of his is still alive being the fact that he can still sense their connection from its blessing. Making him wait in worry for a while, the chrysalis encasing the entirety of its body finally starts cracking, the cracks appearing from everywhere in its body quickly spreading all throughout it, its figure gradually appearing from the cover once again, revealing its majestic self underneath. Standing up at more than twenty meters tall now, the young Yggdrasil bows its head, landing its face right in front of the upbeat young man, its eyes that bears deep intelligence now, still has that deeply ingrained worship to the person who feed and nurture it, as well as give it care for its entire infancy. Feeling the breath coming out of the huge dragon, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but gasp in disbelief as the vigorous surge of life force brush through his entire being, a newfound power coming from the young dragon''s blessing coursing through his body, seemingly molding his entire being anew, the wood element mana around him more apparent than ever. Before he focused on his own growth though, he starts appreciating Yggdrasil more, reaching out his hand to touch the tip of its nose, the young dragon breathing his vitality filled breath once again as he feels his benefactor, or rather, his liege''s and father''s touch, its tails wagging like it always do during the week that it is still a small dragon. Seeing how Yggdrasil acts, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but shake his head as he fails to see the dignity of the dragon race from the young dragon, causing him to start talking to it about what it''s currently doing. "Listen Ygg, outside, you must always show the dignity of your race in front of others, especially if you don''t want to be looked down by other creatures outside" looking at the young dragon eye to eye, the upbeat young man advised, prompting the dragon to raise its head up but not before nodding at him, knowing what he is talking about. Dragons has this innate pride in them that is etched not only into their bones, but also in their blood and their very being, making them really angered at disdain from others, the only bad opinions towards them that they accept are the ones from the people they genuinely and wholeheartedly respect. Hence why it immediately nods at what the upbeat young man is saying, showing his agreement by spreading its now majestic, huge wing completely and pointing its head to the sky, letting out a loud roar that makes even the strong space of the Draconic Realm tremble. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 9: First Flight Chapter 9: First FlightLooking at Yggdrasil''s majestic form, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but smile in joy as he comes to appreciate his job as the one to take care of and guide this dragon even more, his developing sense of camaraderie towards this species making him want to go and hunt that Soaring Steel Eagle even more, no longer due to the desire for revenge but rather due to that reward he will get, another dragon that is not only going to accompany Yggdrasil here during the time he is outside, but also for him to nourish and help growing as well. Meanwhile, the wood dragon immediately let its head down the moment it finished showing itself off to the person it respects the most, urging said person to sit on its back as it showcases him the way of how dragons usually travel, soaring high in the sky and shooting in the air like lightning, leaving a massive sonic boom on its path due to how fast they are. Before he accepts the young dragon''s invitation though, the upbeat young man uses the appraisal feature of the Dragon Herding System to display the information of Yggdrasil once again, something more than just its stats surprising him as soon as he saw it. [Yggdrasil] [Race: Dragon (Wood)] [Adolescent Stage] [Cultivations] [Magic: Light Red Core (Combat power at Light Orange Core)] sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Body Tempering: Late Skin Refining (Combat power at Late Muscle Conditioning)] [Elemental Affinity: Wood] [Skills: Draconic Blessing (One-time use, already consumed), Draconic Scale, Absolute Regeneration, Life Breathing, Dragon Roar, Dragon Claw] [Overall Combat Power: 4-star] Reading the information pasted on the gray floating screen, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but get quite surprised knowing that Yggdrasil grows by two sub-levels not only on Magic Cultivation but also on Body Tempering cultivation, not to mention the numbers of skills that pops out from its information screen that is not there just last night. Clicking on one of the skills displayed on Yggdrasil''s information screen, the upbeat young man starts hissing as even though he is now pretty much aware of how absurd dragons are, he still fails to take into account just how much more absurd they can be. [Draconic Blessing (One-time use, already consumed)] [Description: Binds a single individual to the dragon, granting said individual the power of the dragon that grants its blessing, the individual''s strength growing along with the dragon as the two of them increase cultivation, also grants the affinity of the dragon to the blessed individual along with its skills, the skills functioning with reduced effectivity in the blessed individual unless certain conditions are met. A skill known in all True Dragons] [The shared skills are retroactive, meaning that all the skills acquired by the dragon after it bless an individual will also be received by the individual respectively] [Additional Facts: Nearly all of the dragon to ever die doesn''t even give their blessing during their entire lifetime, causing such skill to be lost in history as the only ones to ever receive it are hunted by the populace in order to find out the secret to acquire such grace from the mighty, god-like creatures] [Draconic Scale (Passive)] [Description: Passively hardens and enhance an area about to be attacked within the body of the dragon using this skill, providing a tremendous boost in defense of the dragon, can also be used as an offensive skill, acting like a battering ram. A skill known to all True Dragons] [Absolute Regeneration (Passive)] [Description: A skill unique to the dragons that branched from the Prime Dragon of Light, provides the possessor of the skill with an unparalleled regeneration that can withstand and recover from even the harshest of attack so long as the user and possessor of the skill has enough mana to sustain it. Also passively enhances a dragon''s physique.] [Life Breathing (Active)] [Description: A skill unique to the dragons that branched from the Prime Dragon of Light, granting the possessor of the skill the ability to breathe life, heal and even boost the vitality of the target it used the skill on, the amount of buff received from this skill scales with the increase of the user''s mana control ability] [Dragon Roar (Active)] [Description: Opening its mouth, the dragon lets out a terrifying sound that shakes even the firmament itself, instilling not fear, but terror to the enemy''s heart, that even the bravest heroes are incapable of dispersing by themselves. Instills the effect fear to the targets within a certain area, disabling them from moving or just doing anything else. This effect depends on the difference of strength between the user and the target, as well as the difference of their mental fortitude. A skill known to all True Dragons] [Dragon Claw (Active)] [Description: Enchanting its claws with its draconic magic, the dragon''s primary weapon aside from its breath is enchanted even more than before, turning into a terrifying cold weapon in battle capable of piercing through even the toughest of barriers through its sheer sharpness and force alone. A skill known to all True Dragons] Reading each of the description for each of the skills that Yggdrasil acquired, the upbeat young man starts laughing maniacally to himself, the fact alone that this skill will also be shared with him causing him to rejoice even more, his current action prompting the young Yggdrasil to tilt its head in confusion as it watches is father and liege laugh to himself. Not wasting any second, the upbeat young man then joyfully jumps towards Yggdrasil''s back, the young dragon immediately roaring through the sky as it feels its most respected person sitting on what it thinks is the most rightful place for him, the young dragon''s wings spreading wide and covering everything beneath with shadow as it starts flapping, the air generated from a single flap of its wings enough to sway the trees in their surroundings. After just a few more flaps and winds howling as they get higher and higher, the duo finally soars through the skies, the speed they are going with something that even the fastest beast tamers of the same level of cultivation and strength as them could only ever dream of achieving, their trails becoming so long due to how fast they are moving, a mystery as the young dragon''s body definitely weighs so much that a normal building will collapse under its step. Feeling the cold winds of the high sky brushing through his skin, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but laugh to himself as he feels even better than before, never in his entire life had he feels so liberated and free when compared to this moment, a moment that will forever be etched in his mind. "Higher Ygg, let''s go higher!!" holding the wood dragon''s horn, the upbeat young man said with excitement filling his shaking voice, the very same excitement being conveyed and coursing through the young dragon''s entire body as well, prompting the two of them to smile as they reach higher and higher into the skies, getting closer to the seemingly impregnable barrier of clouds. Roaring to reply to its most respected being''s request, the young Yggdrasil flap its wings even harder, its speed increasing once again as they soar further, the two of them completely uncaring whether they will be hit hard by the barrier of clouds. Shooting through this barrier, the two of them feels even better as the cold water droplets from the clouds brushed pass their skin, what is supposed to be something so painful to a normal human being something quite enjoying and refreshing to the upbeat young man, who also possesses the Dragon Scale skill of the dragon race now. Breaking past the barrier of clouds, the young dragon spread its wings widely as they glided while watching the rising sun, already way past the horizon as it cast it light all the way from up above, painting the skies with its perfect blue, and up to down below, revealing the beauty and color of the land they live in. Having experienced something that not even the greatest beings of the kingdom, or possibly even of the entire continent can only dream of, that is riding a dragon, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but feel a bit sentimental, once again thanking that Soaring Steel Eagle from somehow dropping him to where he will get this extremely fortuitous encounter, yet despite his gratitude, he still prepares to completely eradicate the beast that nearly put him to death out of the face of the continent. After gliding for a while as the two of them talks with each other, sounding really weird given how he is talking in human tongue and the young Yggdrasil just roaring through each of his words yet somehow one way or another still understanding each other, the upbeat young man decided that it is already more than enough time of play for the two of them, the young dragon immediately roaring even more excitedly as he asked it whether it wants another dragon as a friend. Chapter 10: Battle In the Mountains Chapter 10: Battle In the MountainsWhile the two of them starts descending back to the grounds, the upbeat young man, Diluc, takes his turn to look for his current information in the Dragon Herding System, his face bearing the look of excitement as he saw the floating gray screen appearing in front of him again. [Diluc Leonhart] [Race: Human] [Age: 16] [Realm Gold: 4,000] [Cultivations] [Magic: Solid Red Core (Combat power at Bright Red Core)] [Body Tempering: Intermediate Skin Refining (Combat power at Peak Skin Refining)] [Elemental Affinity: Wind, Wood] [Skills: Draconic Scale, Absolute Regeneration, Life Breathing, Dragon Roar, Dragon Claw] [Overall Combat Power: 2-stars] [Draconic Realm] [Missions] [Shop] Seeing the skills that are present in his skill tab as well, the upbeat young man couldn''t stop himself from smiling as they finally descend into the ground, the dragon and human duo now moving towards the central island rather than the Wood Dragon Habitat. Once again taking note of the mission they have to do, the upbeat young man looks at it one final time, revealing a sinister smile on his rather amiable face, something enough to scare people who might see him like this. After looking at the mission one last time, the young man once again rode on top of the young wood dragon, his eyes that of someone ready to hunt as he said his next words. "System, please bring us back outside" he said with a confident voice as he starts looking forward to his reencounter with the same Soaring Steel Eagle, curious at how it would look like once he saw him attacking together with a dragon. At his command, a giant black portal emerges just right beside the True Dragon Nourishing Tree, the peaceful atmosphere of the surroundings undisturbed as if there''s nothing there despite their eyes proving that the portal really exist just right where they stand. Not bothering with this anymore though, the young man and the young dragon just nods at each other as they walk through the huge portal, their bodies eventually disappearing from the Draconic Realm and returning to a place familiar to the upbeat young man. Emerging back on the gigantic dome structure that he falls on before he triggers and obtain the Dragon Herding System, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but frown at the impurities of mana in the surroundings, making him wonder whether he really lives in such a place, a fact that he is only made aware of due to him living inside the Draconic Realm with extremely pure mana for quite a while. It is not only him though, as even the young Yggdrasil is frowning in disgust, never expecting that its father and liege is someone who used to live in such place, prompting it to look at him with even more respect and worship in its eyes. "Let''s get out of here" the upbeat young man said as he caresses the head of the young wood dragon, causing the dragon to growl in joy before it stretches its wings, flapping it in one fluid motion as it hardens its scales to brace for impact when crashing through the ceiling of the massive hemispherical dome structure. Within moments, they are already pass through the ceiling of the place, the seemingly unbudging stone completely shattered by the force and momentum of the young dragon crashing into it, its weight and speed seemingly the major cause of the structure''s collapse, its strength not stopping the dragon and human duo from soaring into the high sky. As they move higher and higher into the atmosphere, the two of them felt like the mana in the surrounding also becomes purer and purer, the mana they are inhaling when they are already above the clouds something that already has some semblance of quality to the mana inside the Draconic Realm, not so abundant compared to the Draconic Realm but nevertheless similarly extremely high in quality. "Ygg, move that way" remembering the path they are taking when he is still held by the Soaring Steel Eagle''s claw, the upbeat young man pointed towards a certain direction, the green fiends and patches of forest and woods below them being the mark of where they are going, their biggest sign being the silhouette of the mountain on the horizon, an extremely tall mountain with its peaks piercing through the heavens above. "Rooarrr!" as if telling him to hold on tight, the young dragon roared before it flexes its wide, powerful wings, flapping it in one swift motion as it sticks its limbs to its body all while straightening its neck towards the front, its now streamlined shape making it even easier for it to move at such insane speeds, the thunderous boom left in their tracks scaring all of the animals within their vicinity, no matter whether if it is birds also flying in the sky, water creatures swimming in the rivers and lakes or land animals playing around in the ground, all of them received a rude shock once the dragon and human duo breaks through the sound barrier. Seeing nothing but clouds shooting through them, the upbeat young man smiles as he looks forward to meeting the Soaring Steel Eagle even more, the young dragon also seemingly smiling as it feels the excitement and anticipation in its liege and father''s emotions, prompting it to bear the same feeling as they continue to get closer and closer to their target. Not even half an hour has passed and they are already nearing the massive mountain, its sheer size alone putting even the huge Yggdrasil to shame, the young dragon also looking at the giant mountain in wonder since as the same as the other things in this land, this is its first time seeing such amazing structure, something not yet present in the Draconic Realm now. The massive mountain is named Titan, and it really lives up to its name, the rocky, almost non inhabitable mountain soaring all the way to the sky, its three-pronged peak all piercing through the heavens, so high that not even the human and dragon duo, currently hundreds of meters up in the sky, is capable of seeing, causing the two of them to look at it with even more awe in their eyes. "We''ll soar through that peak Ygg, but not for now, we still have something to do here young one" caressing the head of the young dragon, the upbeat young man said with a fatherly tone in his voice as he redirects his attention towards a certain place within the edges of the mountain, comforting the wood dragon as he knows its desire to see what''s on top of the mountain due to their connection. Hearing its most respected person''s words, the young Yggdrasil also remove its attention from the peak of the mountain, redirecting its gaze towards the thing its liege and father is looking, its sharp eyes seeing loads of metallic little birds flying around, the hatred and annoyance in its father''s heart being relayed to it, prompting its smart mind to figure out that this is the purpose of their travel outside. "Ready?" feeling like the young dragon below him is already ready to pounce on the group of Soaring Steel Eagle flying around in the distance, the upbeat young man asks the young Yggdrasil, his question not even getting a proper answer as just the next moment, the young dragon already starts shooting towards the group of metallic birds right at the edge of the giant rocky mountain, its tremendous speed causing the group of Soaring Steel Eagle to screech in panic as they saw the massive creature threatening to crash through their home. As the group of eagles tries to stop the massive figure from hurling itself towards their place though, they couldn''t help but feel suppressed and terrified by the aura it is emitting, the primeval senses in them screaming that they must get out of the place immediately, or else a tragic death will befall them. Sensing the seemingly weak cultivation level of the approaching creature though, the Soaring Steel Eagles managed to shake this fear they are feeling, opting to stand their ground as this place has been their living area for numerous decades already, and they are not about to allow someone with weak cultivation to just come and ruin their place. Forming a blockade with some of them, another one of the birds takes the lead and launches an offensive, going in a V-shaped formation as it meets the approaching threat, thinking that they are capable of stopping the huge creature without even needing the help of the blockading team. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As they got closer and closer towards the huge creature though, the members of the attacking group start feeling that dread once again, said feeling causing their advances to slow down as they decided to take this creature more seriously, a bit too late for that now as within just a moment, the creature is already just a few meters away from them, finally revealing its true form as it pauses to extend its mighty claw towards the one leading the attack. Chapter 11: Getting Revenge Chapter 11: Getting RevengeSeeing the massive frame of the attacking party, the leader of the Soaring Steel Eagle''s advance group couldn''t help but tremble in terror, the sheer amount of mana circulating around the figure alone making it exceptionally wary of what it could possibly do to them, not to mention the fact that the creature flying in front of them is a being of myth, a bona fide living True Dragon looking straight towards them, clear hostility shining in its eyes. Once the figure of the offending party is revealed, the other Soaring Steel Eagle also starts hesitating on their advances, the previously proudly flapping wings now double guessing whether their leader is going to keep moving forwards, some of them even prepared to dash out of the formation they are in the moment they notice a movement from the huge dragon just carelessly flapping its massive wings right in front of them. After a short pause, the leader of the advance group of the Soaring Steel Eagle starts letting out shrill noise as if it''s starting to talk, staring nervously at the young wood dragon in front of it, its eyes refusing to look directly at the behemoth of a creature. Looking at the group of birds blocking its way, the young wood dragon, Yggdrasil, merely shoves them with another roar coming out from deep within its very being, the terrifying sound coming out of its mouth causing the entire Soaring Steel Eagle population to froze stiff in their spot for a few moments, causing all of them to slightly lose their bearing in the air as even their wings froze in terror, some of them even completely falling into the rocky ground. Seeing how the young dragon treated its ''sincerity'' the leader of the Soaring Steel Eagle''s advance group starts letting out a high-pitched scream once again, this time its face showing seriousness as its sharp eyes locks onto the neck of the enemy, its wings flapping powerfully as it tore through the air, completely confident that it can tear through the young dragon''s defenses given the difference in their cultivation. As the leader of the advance group continues his attack, the other members of the Soaring Steel Eagle group merely just shrieked in mid-air, seemingly cheering on their leader to teach the young dragon a lesson worthy of how it acts towards them. With eyes of a killer ready to destroy its prey, along with the excitement from the fact that it might just be able to eat a dragon for today, dead or alive, the leader of the eagle''s advance group lets out a horrific, bloodlust filled shriek once again as it comes closer and closer into the young wood dragon''s body, its confidence rising at an all-time high. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Ygg, don''t play around too much, remember, we''re not here to do that" reminding the seemingly aloof and uncaring wood dragon, a figure appears above its head, prompting the dragon to nod at his word, and causing the Soaring Steel Eagle to get even more confused of the situation they are currently in. Letting out a majestic roar once again, the young wood dragon infuses its mana to its voice, completely instilling terror into the Soaring Steel Eagles'' mind, their wings refusing to move as all of them starts falling down the ground, the advance group''s leader already at range within Yggdrasil''s grasp being held by its claws, the eagle not even able to squirm around as it got firmly stuck on the young dragon''s claw. "Hm? Ygg, that''s our target" scanning his eyes around while looking at the group of Soaring Steel Eagle still in the distance, the upbeat young man''s eyes glow for a second as he saw a familiar figure among the flock of birds, one that is particularly wounded and hurt, yet still somehow leading this group of metallic flying creatures. Meanwhile, one of the Soaring Steel Eagle is currently feeling a turbulent of emotion. It had just finished devouring its meal, another bird that is near the same level of cultivation as it, prompting it to eat in joy as its strength rises continuously, and then this event happen, a young dragon seemingly hell bent on using its power to annihilate the flock it leads, the only plausible reason the figure that is sitting on top of the young dragon''s head. Eagles, being creatures that has great eyesight, are able to see things eight times better than human, not to mention the fact that this is no normal eagle, but a creature that evolved by constantly improving itself. While eyesight might not be its strongest suit, it is still able to clearly see the appearance of the figure riding on top of the wood dragon, a figure that it still hadn''t forgotten due to the fact that it nearly had the figure as its delicious dessert along with the bird it devoured. Remembering the face of the young human that it saw in the forest, the one seemingly trying to do something to him previously, the Soaring Steel Eagle couldn''t help but start trembling at the implication of this young man riding on top of a young dragon, as well as the fact that this young dragon is attacking its flock right now. As it tries to find ways to resolve, or more likely escape from this situation, the wounded Soaring Steel Eagle finds it already too late as the young wood dragon already starts moving towards them once again, the member of its flock trying to block the majestic creature already plummeting down to the grounds, unable to even try and flap their wings as they got engulfed in immense terror after the dragon''s roar. "Ygg, let''s annihilate them" thinking of this as nothing more than a menial task for him now, the upbeat young man said to the young wood dragon, the dragon then responding by moving even faster, both of them feeling something similar, the anticipation of meeting the new dragon about to be in their group. As they arrive near the numerous Soaring Steel Eagle, the young Yggdrasil once again decided to let out a Draconic Roar, immobilizing all of the creatures facing them, engulfing them in fear as they start blacking out, only some of them able to recover from the shock as they attempt to fly once again, most probably a wrong idea as they are in for a more painful treat. Finally within attack range, Yggdrasil mobilizes its limbs as the scales around its claws harden, the mana in the surrounding swirling around the claw before it slashed in the air, tearing the Soaring Steel Eagles hit by the attack into bits and pieces, prompting the other remaining eagles to scramble in fear. Meanwhile, the upbeat young man merely focuses his gaze on a single Soaring Steel Eagle, this particular one already far away from the rest as it attempts to escape, the still fresh wounds from all around its body starting to ooze blood once again as it continues exerting itself past its body''s acceptable limits. After observing for a while, the upbeat young man starts making his move, raising his hand as wind attribute mana starts swirling around his hand, the young wood dragon seemingly taking the initiative itself as it starts moving towards the escaping Soaring Steel Eagle, the difference in speed between the two of them easily making it so that the young wood dragon catches up with the eagle in just a few moments, moments that is more than enough for the upbeat young man to finish what it is doing. Once the wind attribute mana finally gathers enough towards a specific area, the intangible mana starts coalescing into a corporeal form, an illusory, glowing, green dragon''s claw manifesting just right where the upbeat young man''s arms are, the massive dragon claw making his body appear completely disproportionate, yet powerfully terrifying nevertheless. Leaping up from the young dragon''s had, the upbeat young man''s figure dashes towards the Soaring Steel Eagle, swinging his draconic arms once he got into close proximity with the bird, said bird throwing its final retaliation as it sends out numerous steel feathers towards the young man. As the steel feathers approaches him, the upbeat young man adeptly dodges all of them by controlling the wind attribute mana in the air, creating disturbance in the trajectory of the attack just enough for him to dodge, sometimes even using the wind to control his body directly. Getting into arm''s reach with the Soaring Steel Eagle, the upbeat young man swings his arms, the attack immediately piercing through the eagle''s large body, said eagle letting out a last shriek of pain before it twitched one last time, its vitality already leaving its body as it stops moving, continuously falling into the ground. As it falls, the upbeat young man is picked up by the young wood dragon, roaring at him as if it is telling its congratulations to its most respected person, the two of them merely letting the silence of the sky take in as they enjoy the peace and silence with each other. Chapter 12: I Consider Her... as My Child? Chapter 12: I Consider Her... as My Child?Meanwhile, the dragon and human duo remains in the air as they watch the Soaring Steel Eagle fall down into the ground, their eyes not even concerned whether this creature is still alive or dead now as they are more than just a hundred percent confident that the attack from the upbeat young man already killed it. "Graawwrr" with its eyes looking up trying to look at its liege and father, the young wood dragon Yggdrasil roared for a bit as if it is asking something, the upbeat young man merely nodding at him, prompting the young one to descend into the ground, their destination clearly the location where the Soaring Steel Eagle will fall. Diving from a high position in the skies, the human and dragon plunges towards the ground, the two of them reaching their destination in no time, reaching the earth even faster than the falling Soaring Steel Eagle. Finally falling into the ground, some debris exploded into the surroundings, damaging the trees all around, not only the trees but anything else except for the watching young dragon and the human sitting on top of its head, as well as everything that is directly behind them. With the trace of scale-like structures appearing on his skin previously already disappearing due to the debris already disappearing as well, the upbeat young man jumps down from the young dragon''s head, confidently approaching the body of the Soaring Steel Eagle, this time, his confidence no longer just relying on intuitions and assumptions but rather from the information he saw from the floating gray screen. [Congratulations on completing the mission: Get Revenge. You are rewarded due to the completion of your mission] [Take Revenge (Completed] [Description: The ruler of the Draconic Realm is not someone to be trifled with!!! Take revenge to the grievances dealt to you by the beasts of the wild and reclaim your reputation as the sole ruler of the Draconic Realm. Obliterate the Soaring Steel Eagle that currently brings you to a near death encounter.] [Rewards: Completion of the mission awards you with a single Metal Dragon Egg, 10,000 Realm Gold] [Acquired Metal Dragon Egg (1)] [Acquired Realm Gold (10,000)] [Due to the completion of the first mission, you are now eligible to take the second mission] [Master of Five Elements] [As the ruler of the Draconic Realm, the bare minimum is for you to become adept with the manipulation of the five main elements of mana. Master the five elements completely and create a spell or a technique from the insights you have gained.] [Rewards: Completion of the mission awards you with 25,000 Realm Gold, as well as the right to open the Structures part of the shop] [Due to this mission, the Eggs part of the shop is now available for you to use] Reading the streaks of message coming from the Dragon Herding System, the upbeat young man smiles as he just let it be there, thinking that he might need a bit more of time in order to complete this new mission, prompting him to focus on the main issue in front of him. Being bigger than the rest of the Soaring Steel Eagle, the one he set his eyes on is really one of its kind, a leader class being that is capable of dominating any normal beast within its sublevel, a beast that is definitely something that he would want to contract if not for him acquiring the Dragon Herding System and having the blessing of the dragons. Plucking some of the metallic giant bird''s feathers, the upbeat young man only takes a short moment to admire its aesthetic value before he proceeds to test its practicality, manipulating the [Draconic Scale] skill in order to allow the sharp razor edge of the feathers to cut through his skin, the crimson red blood oozing out from his finger as he cut it, the normal human blood now infused with a draconic vitality, such property definitely going to make him the center of attention wherever he goes. Seeing the blood flowing through its liege and father''s finger, the young wood dragon couldn''t help but roar as it closes its head towards the wound, the upbeat young man thinking that the young one will definitely heal the wound he made himself by using [Life Breathing], something that he thought is already unnecessary as his [Absolute Regeneration] skill is already kicking in. However, contrary to his belief, the young wood dragon seemingly decides to ingest his blood for one reason or another, surprising the young man as he never heard of a dragon wanting to ingest another being''s blood, especially since they disdain even ingesting the blood of their own kind, known to grant limitless power to its consumer. Knowing that the young wood dragon means no harm however, the upbeat young man merely allows it to take what it wants, as he thinks to himself, ''I guess the more you encounter, the more you learn'' all while watching the young one eventually finishing sucking some of his blood, his wounds already completely healed the moment that Yggdrasil stopped. Almost as if in response to ingesting his blood, the young wood dragon starts glowing incessantly, the light green glow coming out of its body something that the upbeat young man is already familiar with as this is the very same glow the young dragon has back when it is evolving into its adolescent form, prompting him to assume that this is another leap on its journey to adulthood. "Good things just keep on coming today" the upbeat young man thought to himself as he continues watching the young wood dragon getting engulfed by the light green glow, said glow forming a complete sphere covering the young dragon''s entire body, making him realize that this is a completely different situation when Yggdrasil is acquiring an adolescent form. This fact is backed further as the floating gray screen appears in front of him once again, bearing the news regarding what is happening to Yggdrasil. [Detected the establishment of a blood pact between you and a dragon within your realm (Draconic Realm). The establishment of blood pact will enable the dragon to take similar form as you, its appearance being a direct idea conversion of its draconic form] After reading the words in the floating gray screen, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but gasp in disbelief, all while looking forward to whatever Yggdrasil is going to look like, prepared no matter if he is going to get a nerdy companion, a good male friend or whatever it is going to be. Hence that is why he will get such a surprise as the light green glow eventually dissipates enough for him to see through the figure of the ''young dragon'', just the silhouette alone making him question all the time he has spent with it. S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Looking at the sexy, curvaceous silhouette still just standing there as if it is completing its transformation, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but take a large gulp of his own saliva while wiping some that are flowing out of his wide-open mouth, the figure definitely invoking something primal in him. ''Holy... gods in heaven, I thought Ygg is a guy!!!'' he thought to himself as he tries his best to return to composure, failing time and time again as he feels like something is rising, and it''s definitely not his or Yggdrasil''s cultivation. ''Fuck!!! I consider her as my child, go away bad thoughts!!!'' he convinced himself as he once again peer through the silhouette in the light green glow, the figure inside the glow seemingly even sexier now, its body already transforming into a complete human, its form already being revealed as the light green glow ultimately receded back to Yggdrasil''s body. Said body is completely exposed right now, its full, mature curves completely exposed for the upbeat young man to see, the only thing blocking his view from her tall, large mystical mountain peaks being the long wavy neon green hair cascading all the way down her plump sexy thighs, said long shiny hair covering all her important parts, invoking an even more enchanting charm out of her. With her sexy, curvy body that is shaped like a sundial being quite obscured by her smooth hair, the upbeat young man then focuses on her beautiful mature face, radiating a motherly charm that seems to just pull him in, her heart shaped face housing two, large droopy eyes that seems to just dote on everything it sees, a beauty mark right underneath her left eyes, an imperfection that just elevates her charm into a higher level, especially with her thick, curly eyelashes and her willow eyebrows decorating her eyes. Connected to her seemingly sculpted eyebrows is her small straight nose that adds a bit of cutesy touch to her motherly charm, underneath her nose her crimson red, full, sexy lips that seems to just tempt anyone who see it to try to take a feel, right beneath it another small beauty mark just underneath the right corner of her lips, the entire combination of her lovely face and alluring body making her appear extremely attractive not only to male, but also to female eyes. ''I... consider her... as my child?'' as he tries to drive the other thoughts away, the upbeat young man pauses as he starts doubting his own words, something that he never did his entire life. Chapter 13: Situation Escalating Too Quickly Chapter 13: Situation Escalating Too QuicklyOpening her eyes, Yggdrasil couldn''t help but smile widely when seeing the first being that appears in front of her eyes, the moment she gains this new form of her, prompting her to walk forward to stand right in front of her liege and father to show her respect. Meanwhile, Diluc starts taking large gulps as he saw the beauty''s hips swaying from every step she takes as she comes closer to him, his entire body rooted stiff on where he is currently standing at since he never had an experience dealing with this kind of scenarios, in fact, he doesn''t even consider the possibility of such scene happening when he first read about the young wood dragon acquiring a human form. Finally arriving in front of her most respected person, Yggdrasil shows a brilliant smile on her face that seems to be more than enough not only to bring an entire nation to their knees, but probably an entire world as well. After showing him her smile, she immediately pounces on him and starts wrapping her naked body against his, the upbeat young man''s heart skipping multiple beats as he feels her softness pressing on him. ''Calm the fuck down Diluc, this girl is not even a single year old!'' trying to fight the demons in his head, the upbeat young man repeatedly said it to himself getting louder and louder in his mind every second, to the point that even the dragon turned heavenly beauty Yggdrasil managed to hear his thought through their connection from her blessing, uttering words that will definitely make the young man choke on his own saliva. "Daddy, I am not a little girl you know?" despite the mature voice that seems to be way to fitting to be someone''s older sister or even mother or aunt, the beauty''s way of talking itself sounds so cute that the upbeat young man feels like he is about to have a nosebleed, only stopped as he really choked on his own saliva hearing the way that this young dragon addresses him. "D-daddy!?" unable to stop himself from exclaiming loudly, Diluc asked with a face filled with confusion as he wonders where in the world did this beauty learn the words, especially when she just became sentient not even a month ago, and he clearly know himself that he doesn''t even utter those words within all those times they are together in the Draconic Realm. "You''re the one who feed me and allow me to grow up right? Then aren''t you my daddy?" looking at him with a seemingly playful eyes, the beauty asks with false innocence lacing her cute tone, making the young man quite doubtful whether she really is like that, causing him to point it out and reveal her nature. "Why don''t we stop this little pretend game and show me your true self, Ygg" looking at her with a doting smile, the same one he often gives her whenever he''s feeding her or playing around with her, the upbeat young man said with a bit of commanding tone in his voice, his smile and the sound of his voice combined causing the dragon beauty to blush, averting her eyes away from his face as she starts talking once again, this time in a more mature way. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I''ve been found out huh~~~" she said with a slightly happy voice as she leans her head on the upbeat young man''s shoulder, completely acting like a dragon as she repeatedly sniffs on his nape, taking in his scent before she let go of her limbs completely circling him. As she comes down from embracing him, the upbeat young man fails to prevent himself from seeing her womanly parts, having a slight peek on her nether regions that seems way too wet in the moment, as well as her perky mountain tops covered by her erotic large pinks that shows itself with just the slightest moves of her hair covering that part. "My liege" not even standing as she let go of her most respected person, the young wood dragon immediately kneels on her two knees, offering a bow of respect towards the upbeat young man, who seems way too confuse about what is currently happening right now. "Don''t do that Ygg, I told you before right" We''re equal" he said to her as he reaches out his hand to hold her smooth shoulder, stopping her from bowing any lower as he raises her up, his actions causing the lady to appreciate him more than she already does. "Then should I continue calling you daddy?" acting innocent again, she asked while tilting her head slightly as they stood up, causing the young man to cough repeatedly as if he suddenly caught cold, causing the beauty to giggle by herself as she enjoys his reactions. "Why the fixation on that term? And besides, where in the world did you even learn that?" after recovering from this sudden surprise, the upbeat young man asked with curiosity filling his eyes as he looks at the naked Yggdrasil, taking out something from his spatial pouch and handing it to her. "Wear it, I don''t want to let anyone see you in this state" looking at her up and down, the upbeat young man''s gaze ends up of her beautiful face once again, now blushing really hard as she looks at the clothes that he gives to her. "T-this is your clothes right?" holding the robes in her shaking hands, the beauty couldn''t help but ask with a hesitant tone in her voice, making the young man wonder just what is it that made her feel like that. "It is, is there a problem with that?" the upbeat young man asked without thinking too much of it, causing him to be surprised as the Dragon Herding System pops out to explain the significance of his act. [You might find it crazy but handing anything of yours, especially something that often comes in close contact with your body, means a proposal of union to the dragons, usually with the male ones giving something of theirs, and should the females accept that, then, well, congratulations] As even the system seems to be way too surprised about the sudden change of pace, unable to keep up and properly explain the things that is currently happening, the upbeat young man just stood there without moving, knowing that he messed up really bad as he looks at the blushing, neon green-haired sexy beauty right in front of him. Looking back at him while struggling to contain the blush in her beautiful face, Yggdrasil repeatedly tries to open her little mouth and say something but the words always get caught on her throat, causing her to be more embarrassed as she thought that she looks incredibly silly in front of her most respected person right now. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down in order to attempt to diffuse this seemingly dangerous situation, Diluc closes his eyes for a while, eventually regaining some composure as he opens his eyes, looking at the neon green haired beauty with a serious, yet gentle look on his eyes as he starts speaking once again. "Ygg, sorry I didn''t know about that, if you''re uncomfortable with this I can©¤" but before he could even finish his words, the beauty already silenced him as she reaches one of her hand towards his face, placing her slender index finger on his lips gently as she shakes her head, smiling at him after doing so and finally forming her reply. "To be graced with the attention of the Ruler of the Draconic Realm..." she paused for a while after these words, moving the finger preventing the upbeat young man from speaking, placing the palm of her hand on his cheeks, showing a grateful, joyous smile on her face as she continues to speak once again. "Would you mind dressing me up with these clothes of yours, my liege?" she asked with the most beautiful smile she can muster at the moment as she hands the clothes back to the upbeat young man, her still shaking body now looking forward to his accidental touches as he dresses her. Seeing the face Yggdrasil is currently making, Diluc couldn''t help but appreciate her beauty even more, the progression of the events currently happening still quite unbelievable to him as the two of them progress from being friends to this kind of relationship in a flash, her expectant gaze causing him to abandon his previous thoughts as he doesn''t want to disappoint this beauty in front of him. Since what her gave her is a simple robe, it only takes a few moments for him to dress her up, moving behind her as he make her wear the sleeves herself, wrapping the robe loosely around her body so that it won''t reveal too much of her alluring curves, then tying it right in her waistline, just tight enough to prevent it from being undone but not enough to make her uncomfortable. "Thank you" after dressing her up, the upbeat young man''s heart skips a beat again as he feels a soft sensation brushing his cheeks before the beauty goes back to her position once again, expressing her gratitude while showing off her gorgeous smiling face at him Chapter 14: I’m Your Woman Now Chapter 14: I''m Your Woman Now"So you mean to say... you have some sort of inherited knowledge now?" looking incredulously at the beauty sitting just right beside him, the upbeat young man, Diluc, asked with a hint of disbelief in his tone, the fact that Yggdrasil just dropped on him becoming more acceptable to him with time as he remembers what kind of being she truly is. "Mhm, when I acquired my human form, I just suddenly got a lot of information in my head" Yggdrasil replies as she leans her head on the upbeat young man''s shoulders, prompting the young man to move his arms and circle it around her shoulders. Hearing this explanation on how she managed to learn all sorts of words and terms that he didn''t really teach her about, the upbeat young man still couldn''t figure out just where she picks up the way she addresses him sometimes, but then again, opting just not to find it out as this is just a minor issue, he decided to just put it on the back of his mind. As he did it though, the beauty herself seems to be way too eager for him to ask that specific question, causing her next words to be quite teasing as she call him that word once again. "Aren''t you curious why I call you daddy?" saying as if there''s nothing wrong with her words, the giant wood dragon turns heavenly beauty asks towards the young man beside her with a knowing look on her beautiful face, her words causing the young man to clear his throat as he replies to her. "That... we can talk about that for another day" he replied helplessly as he feels quite defeated, never expecting that a dragon as young as her will become someone he can''t even deal with whenever they talk, often catching him off guard with her provocative words. "Fine... I''m going to return back to the Draconic Realm, the mana here is quite rotten, would you mind letting me in?" after clinging on him for quite a while, the neon green haired beauty said as she stood up and let go of him, looking at him with gentle eyes as she asks her question, the upbeat young man merely nodding before he waves his hand and open the entrance of the Draconic Realm for her. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "You''re not going to return with me?" looking at the young man who remains on his spot even when she''s already moving towards their home, the beauty asks in wonder prompting the upbeat young man to smile at her before he replies. "I''ll stay outside for a while, I need to go back to the city and buy you clothes, and there are other things that I need to do as well" still thinking about joining that academy, especially with his new mission going on, the upbeat young man replies causing the beauty to sulk a bit, only being comforted as the young man rushes towards her and hugs her from the back, the warmth of his body causing her to feel comfortable that she closes her eyes. "Fine, do what you want then..." she said in defeat as she just couldn''t allow herself to hinder him, her liege and now man, on what he is going to do, especially since she knows just how much the will of the Ruler of the Draconic Realm matters to his subject like her. "... Also, from now on, stop treating me like your child!! I''m your woman now, and if you feel weird about having relation with someone young, I''ll have to remind you that I have thousands of years of experience in my mind now!!!" she reminded him before pecking on his cheeks again, eventually escaping from his grasp as she moves towards the portal, taking one last look at him and waving away as if they are parting for a long time despite her knowing that he''s definitely going to be in the Draconic Realm just a few hours or so from now. Looking at the closing portal that just engulfs Yggdrasil, this goddess like beauty that just suddenly falls into his lap, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but feel like his life is about to get better and better from this point forward, a fact that just makes him want to hum a tune to himself. "Come to think of it, how in the hell did she even has that body when she''s just that old?" muttering to himself, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but get surprised as the Dragon Herding System seems to have an answer for his question, a gray floating screen appearing in front of him the moment that he finished his words. [When compared to humans, dragons grow into the adolescent, and even the adulthood phase in a pretty fast pace, especially when there''s enough nourishment for them to absorb, they can go from hatchlings into a fully grown dragon in just a matter of months] "So that means even though it''s just more than a week since she hatched out of her egg..." as the young man starts muttering to himself once again, the Dragon Herding System already changes the words on the screen as if to confirm his thoughts. [The Wood Dragon Yggdrasil already has a physique comparable to a mid to late twenties human female when compared to humans] "Damn..." he just mutters in silence, the screen of the system remaining there despite not showing anything else, as if also sharing the same sentiment as him who suddenly got a dragon for a wife. [As an additional information, all dragons tend to get attracted to someone with a greater draconic bloodline than themselves, and you, as the Ruler of the Draconic Realm as the highest quality of draconic blood above everyone and everything else] "What!? But I am human" he retorted as he never felt anything like this, having a draconic blood or something in his body, making him wonder whether the system is really telling the truth. [You are, for now. In notion of that reminder, you are warned that most, if not all of the ladies who has draconic parts in their blood will definitely get attracted to you, and the more blessing you get from the dragons of the Draconic Realm, the greater that effect will be] ''I think... I might have a problem'' thinking of the upcoming metal dragon that he received as a reward from the mission, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but feel like he''s about to enter an extremely dangerous grounds now, something that might suck him completely dry if he doesn''t tread around it carefully. ---------- On top of a giant floating rock located in the middle of nowhere, multiple people are gathering as if discussing about something important, said people around a simple rectangular table more fitting for a feast than anything else, however, if there''s something they are feasting on right now, it is definitely the tons of papers just sitting on top of the table. "Goddamnit, why do we have to check all of the applicant''s background information just because of a trifling threat like that?" one of the people running through all of the papers near him complains, getting a load of agreeing nod from the other people in the room, said agreement not even helping him from avoiding the scolding of the lady also reading the papers just beside him. "If you''re going to complain like that, why don''t you just clean-up the entire Jester Court instead? Oh that''s right, because you don''t have enough power to deal with them, and you can''t, so just shut your mouth and try to find something that can lead us to the spies they sent inside the academy" the lady said with an annoyed look on her face as she scolds the man beside her, the people around the two of them looking in pity towards the young man, especially the ones in the same age range as him, taking pity in this poor soul who landed himself as a husband of this beautiful, yet extremely sharp-mouthed woman. "But..." the man, wanting to retort as he thinks that there''s really a good reason for his complaint, start speaking once again, only to be stopped by the lady as she glares at him like an annoyed owner of an animal, the man refusing to back down from this taunting gaze as he glares back at the lady as well, who doesn''t even seem to treat him as her husband. "Alright alright, stop fighting now everyone, we can finish this job far easier if we work in silence~" disrupting the escalating situation between the two, another voice joined the conversation, this one surprising everyone as it sounds extremely melodious and serene, like the warm summer winds gently wrapping everyone around the great feeling, making it all the more surprising when they think about the figure from where the mature, confident and authoritative voice comes from. Chapter 15: A Violent Principal Chapter 15: A Violent Principal"Yes prinicipal" hearing the words from the lady that just spoke, the people in the room replied in unison without looking at her, afraid that they might do something to invoke her ire. "Hey..." as they start scouring for information related to the threat that just got sent to them, the lady that just spoke said, her tone lowering a few keys as they air in the room starts getting colder as well, causing shivers to run on everyone''s spine. "P-principal, is there a p-problem?" one of the braver ones among the group of people asked, his eyes still refusing to look at the figure of the principal. "Why the hell are you all avoiding your gaze from me? Am I too uncomfortable to look at huh!?" crumpling the paper in her hands as the asked with a slightly raised voice, the principal said as she shows a smile on her face, said smile not even comforting the others in the place at all as they felt like they dug an even deeper hole for themselves. Afraid of the fate they are about to suffer, they just look at the principal in an unpracticed unison, revealing to them her ''majestic'' appearance that makes everyone wonder just what sort of magic did she invents and casts to herself in order for her to look like that. There''s really nothing out of sight that will make the principal too uncomfortable to look at, she looks completely human, no sorts of deformities and differences in her body that made her look odd, well, it there''s anything, that would be the snow-white horns decorating the top of her head, but this only serves to make her appear more majestic as everyone who saw it knows why she have that kind of horn. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. What makes her really different though is even despite the fact that this is a gathering of adults leading the most prestigious academy in their nation, this place being a gathering of adults extremely well known in the martial arts and magic world, the principal''s body clearly doesn''t belong to the group of these people, being of short stature that she''s not even reaching the head of the other people here, coupled with her thin frame, her baby face as well as her twin tails making her appear like an out of place child in this place full of working adults. "Fuck!!! If you''re going to look at me, don''t look at me like that!!!" receiving the peculiar gaze from the entire faculty of instructors of the academy she is in charge of, the principal couldn''t help but explode in rage as she just couldn''t stand their gazes, her mana exploding and completely freezing the entire room, all while she stomps her feet and creates a crack in this near indestructible building, causing the other people in the room to shiver not only from the cold, but also from the terror of this little principal as well. "P-principal, please calm yourself down, we won''t be able to finish the work of you suddenly exploded out of nowhere" the same brave man said as he tries to calm the horned lady down, prompting her to disperse the solid ice freezing the entire surroundings, her actions causing all of the people here to calm down. After this incident, the people in this place starts taking their job once again, not even letting a single sound out in fear of attracting the attention of this calamity hiding in a small body, their fear definitely ingrained to their very being as they repeatedly thought to themselves never to make anything that will make the principal angry, especially not mention her height to her. "Come to think of it, the entrance exams for the academy is about to start, I will leave for a while to check the preparation of that event" with something popping into her mind, the grumpy principal suddenly smiles as she stands up from her seat, tearing a hole through space before saying her words, reminding these people not to make so much of a mess when she leaves, all of them nodding without any hesitation. As she steps away and travels through space, the people in this place couldn''t help but heave a sigh of relief as they finally got away from this walking calamity, praying for their colleagues who are preparing for the entrance exam as they are now the ones taking care of the principal. ---------- "This is really good" on a forest somewhere as the events on that place happens, the upbeat young man is trying out the limits of his current strength against a lot of problems along the way, using his newfound power to push himself repeatedly as he creates unique combat methods all for himself, simultaneously using his strong body as well as his powerful magic to deal with opponents far stronger than him. As a Swift Rabbit approaches towards him, he took a step and swing one of his hands down, said hand infused with the wind mana from the surroundings, creating a sharp, razor-like barrier above his hands, the wind barrier creating a blade sharp enough to effortlessly cut through this Swift Rabbit''s entire body, subdividing it into two, equal lengthwise parts, an excellent feat as even the highest quality cold weapons made by mortals are incapable of cutting through this beast''s bones. "That should do it" picking up the dead rabbit from the ground, the upbeat young man said as he wipes the sweat off his forehead, before placing the rabbit inside his spatial pouch, after which he proceeds to open the entrance to the Draconic Realm. It has been a few days since he managed to kill the Soaring Steel Eagle, and so far, he is already starting to master his current strength, the way of fighting others as he combines his cultivated physical strength and combining it with spells feels so great that he couldn''t extricate himself from combat, his fighting style making him extremely versatile as he can fight in close quarter, one on one fights that martial artists prefer, and he can even fight en masse against mobs by bombarding them with his spells, the way of fighting that mages prefer. "Let''s go clean all of this up" heading towards a certain direction, the upbeat young man, Diluc, said to himself as he starts increasing his pace, the wind elemental mana gathering around his feet and boosting his movements from tree to tree even more, and the explosive power he got from his body cultivation making him shoot like an arrow every time he takes a powerful leap. Through this kind of travelling, he easily arrived right on the side of a river far away from where he killed the Swift Rabbit, taking out some more of them as he starts to skin, clean them off the blood and debone them, before starting to take out assortment of spices from his spatial pouch and marinating the meat of the rabbit with it, the smell causing some creatures in the surrounding to gather around him, but are way too afraid of the bloodlust covering him that they just steers away from his location. During these few days, he killed a lot of beasts, especially the extremely aggressive ones that often jumps on him, and all of them either ends up as a rotting corpse with their important parts looted or they end up with only their bones as everything in them got devoured by the young man and his companion. ''She definitely wants to get out now as well'' thinking of his draconic wife, the upbeat young man waves his hand and opens the entrance of the Draconic Realm, from this spatial portal emerging a sexy beauty wearing a man''s clothing, looking at him with such longing eyes that one might think they have been separated for a very long time. "Want to eat?" pointing at the rabbit meat currently being rotated on top of a fire, the upbeat young man asked, prompting the beauty to nod at his question as she moves towards him, sitting just right beside him as she enjoys watching him roast the meat, the aroma coming out from the smoke causing her to drool, an image completely unbefitting of her mature appearance, yet nevertheless looks completely adorable to the upbeat young man''s eyes. "Say, husband" while waiting for their food to finish cooking, the neon green haired draconic beauty starts playing around, stretching her slender fingers as she starts drawing circles on the upbeat young man''s chest, his handsome face appearing to turn a shade redder as she does it with her face bearing the same shade as his as well. "Is there a problem, Ygg?" moving one of his hands towards her head, Diluc asked the beauty, his action prompting her to look up towards him as she asks something that makes the young man just completely speechless. "When are you going to hatch that sister?" she asked, causing the upbeat young man to almost die from coughing and choking out of nothing. Chapter 16: New Family Member Chapter 16: New Family Member"S-sister?" hearing Yggdrasil''s words, Diluc couldn''t help but wonder why she would address the metal dragon egg like that. "I can smell it, she''s a girl, she''s definitely going to be one of yours as well isn''t she?" looking innocently at the upbeat young man''s face, the neon-green haired beauty asked with a smile on her gorgeous face, her words clearly not laced by her usual teasing tone but rather truly asking about that. "W-we''ll see in the future" the upbeat young man said as he continues cooking the rabbit meat, thinking that what he thought about when the Dragon Herding System told him about being the one with the greatest draconic blood is really going to be true, not that he had any complains about that since he''s just a healthy young man as well, and as long as the lady really has good feelings for him and he feels the same as well, then he will accept them, no matter what they are. "Hmm~~~ okay then~" doubting whether her most respected, and now beloved person is really telling the entire truth, Yggdrasil merely chooses to keep her mouth shut as she thinks it''s not worth the conflict should she pushes it any further. While the two of them continues to converse about all sorts of mundane things, they finally finished waiting for the meat to cook, the two of them wiping the entire food out, the beauty clearly enjoying his cooking as she took more than half of the food, and that is even with her ''holding herself back'' from eating too much. ''As expected of a dragon'' is the only thing that the upbeat young man can think about as he watches her gulp the food like no one''s business, still feeling quite satisfied as he watches her enjoy the things he prepared for her. After their sumptuous meal, the two of them immediately goes back to the Draconic Realm, the upbeat young man finally placing the metal dragon egg on top of the True Dragon Nourishing Tree, waiting for the new dragon to incubate as he opens the system shop, scrolling for the appropriate habitat for this new dragon to enter. But not before checking out how far he had progressed after these past few days of training and getting used to his new prowess. [Diluc Leonhart] [Race: Human] [Age: 16] [Realm Gold: 14,000] [Cultivations] [Magic: Light Red Core (Combat power at Solid Orange Core)] [Body Tempering: Late Skin Refining (Combat power at Intermediate Muscle Conditioning)] [Elemental Affinity: Wind, Wood] [Skills: Draconic Scale, Absolute Regeneration, Life Breathing, Dragon Roar, Dragon Claw] [Overall Combat Power: 3-stars] [Draconic Realm] [Missions] [Shop] Seeing that his overall combat power increases by a single star, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but celebrate by himself as he clenches his fist, thinking that by continuing like this, making efforts to increase his talent and magic, as well as martial art level bit by bit, then he will definitely reach somewhere far and achieve something big in the future. After enjoying the joy of increasing his strength and power continuously, the upbeat young man then navigates towards the shop of the system, searching for the habitat compatible with the metal dragon that is about to hatch. [Metal Floating Island (5,000 Realm Gold)] [Description: A floating island filled with rich minerals and metals that is a great spot for all sorts of pure Metal Dragons and other dragons with metal attribute to live in. Currently able to house five dragons simultaneously, can be upgraded] After finally finding what he is searching for, the young man then purchases it without any trace of hesitation, causing the familiar scene of the gigantic tear in the Draconic Realm''s space to appear once again the spatial rift causing him to enter a trance once again as he watches the constantly moving, chaotic deep space revealed from the spatial rift, before he got snapped out of it as he finally saw the massive plot of land the same size as the Wood Floating Island hovering right next to it, making him wonder just how could such island float in the sky. Unlike the life filled nature of the Wood Floating Island, this island is filled to the brim with rocky spots, the five metallic mountain peaks being the main highlight of this place, with the very top of these mountains being particularly flattened out as if it is rugged by time, this particular place seemingly more than enough to hold massive creatures and have them comfortable in it. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As their eyes travels down below, the dragon and human couple saw the jagged edges of the mountains, this spot common among the entire mountain range that seems to be way too steep for anyone to climb on. That is not the most wondrous part of it all as nearly the entire island, while some parts are only rocky and steep, is mostly covered by metallic and mineral structures, massive spires of these structures covering the entirety of the bald mountain, making it even harder for anyone to climb these up. Flying over the place while riding Yggdrasil who is currently on her draconic form, Diluc marvels at the massive floating island, the things in this place definitely something that will provide enough money for someone to buy an entire nation by selling the metal and mineral resources here, something that he opts not to do as he knows that if this habitat is made like this, then there''s a reason for it to be made like this. A speculation he is about to find out why as the two of them returns to the True Dragon Nourishing Tree, the mystical energy radiating from the massive tree right in the very middle of the Draconic Realm''s main island never failing to make them feel extremely amazing, not to mention the little one who is about to pop out of its shell right now. Opposed to Yggdrasil''s egg which is jagged around everywhere and completely rough, this silver egg is like a metal bearing completely smoothened out that no imperfections appear on its shell, that is so reflective that the human and dragon couple could see their own appearance through it. After a while of waiting, the seemingly completely impregnable metallic shell starts cracking out from the inside, the very same thing when Yggdrasil is breaking out of her shell happening right now once again, causing the upbeat young man to uncontrollably speak as he narrates at the draconic race beauty beside him, said beauty tightly clinging onto his arms as if to express her excitement on watching a new life of her race coming out to see the world. "You''re like that just some weeks ago" the upbeat young man said to the beauty as he watches this new dragon''s head pop out of its shell, the metallic luster of its seemingly scaleless body making it appear extremely cute and bright at the same time, much more when it looks towards them with its innocent eyes and they gently roared at them, making the couple''s hearts skip some beat. "She''s so cute~~~" looking at the hatchling with stars seemingly glowing in her beautiful eyes, Yggdrasil said as she approaches the young dragon currently breaking out of its shell, its completely metallic limbs also breaking through the shell as well, then finally completely shattering her egg as she starts shaking her body all around, littering her own shell across the True Dragon Nourishing Tree. Seeing that it made a mess, the metal dragon starts cleaning up as it struggles to eat the shell continuously due to it being scattered all around, prompting the upbeat young man to use his wind attribute mana to invoke some wind in the stagnant air, carrying the shards of eggshell towards the metal dragon currently devouring it. Seeing that someone is giving it help, the metal dragon looks towards the upbeat young man and roared at him, after which it finishes its own eggshell in a few moments, before rushing towards the upbeat young man and clinging close to him. "Mhm definitely a lady" looking at how the metal dragon acts, Yggdrasil said while nodding her head, causing the young man to wonder just how is it that she manages to confirm it for herself. "I told you right, I can smell it, and besides, you can see from just how she clings to you" looking at the incredulous look that her man is giving to her, Yggdrasil starts explaining without him even asking, also saying that there''s a major difference between how male and female hatchlings acts in front of the Ruler of the Draconic Realm. "Ladies gets more intimate, as you can see from how me and this young one acts, as for the lads, well, they tend to express their loyalty and allegiance by bowing their head to the ground" Yggdrasil explains, pulling out knowledge that he got from when she acquired her human form, making the upbeat young man nod as he learns another new thing regarding the dragons that he is going to rule. Chapter 17: Argenta Chapter 17: Argenta"She''s quite the amazing one, isn''t she?" looking at the majestic silver colored dragon standing at an even greater height when compared to Yggdrasil''s dragon form, the upbeat young man said towards the neon green haired beauty right beside him, the two of them looking up at the colossal thirty meter standing figure of the young metal dragon who just finishes ascending into the adolescent age. "That''s natural, metal dragons are born warriors often seen in the frontline whenever dragons wages wars, so it''s only normal for their physiology to be like that" despite the upbeat young man''s praise on their new family member, the neon-green-haired beauty, Yggdrasil, doesn''t even have a trace of jealously on her gorgeous face as she merely looks at the massive metal dragon like she''s looking at a junior sister. "Dragon''s wages wars?" hearing something that piques his interest, the upbeat young man repeats some of the beauty''s words, prompting the beauty to just smile at him while her arms clings on his, squishing her soft front parts on his arms, her sheer size engulfing the entirety of his arms. "Let''s talk about that later~~" Yggdrasil replied to Diluc as she continues to hug him, her accurate senses picking up something that she realizes just now. "My liege, you''re growing more... manly..." looking at the slightly more bulked figure of the upbeat young man, Yggdrasil couldn''t help herself from standing stiff in there, wondering when was it that the upbeat young man in front of her, her most beloved and respected person, becomes much better than his previous figure. Meanwhile, Diluc, who is enjoying the sensation of Yggdrasil''s womanly parts squeezing his arms between them, refuses to comment on that as this is something that he already knew as well, this changes something he only starts to recognize just a couple of days earlier than the neon green-haired beauty. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Is it because of this place?'' attributing the changes in his body to the magical place that is the Draconic Realm, the upbeat young man thought to himself before he shrugs these thoughts away from his mind, raising his hand up causing the adolescent metal dragon standing in front of them to bow down, intimately rubbing its face across his body. "Alright Argenta, let''s start your Blood Pact" caressing the nose of the massive creature staring directly at him, Diluc said with a doting smile on his face prompting the young metal dragon to gently roar as it looks back up excitedly, seemingly looking forward to this moment as well. Seeing the dragon who just enters her adolescent phase previously, the upbeat young man takes out a knife from his spatial pouch, controlling the Draconic Scale skill just for his body to be allowed to be cut by the normal knife, the blood that then flowed out from the small cut causing the young metal dragon''s eyes to glow in excitement. Reaching out to his hands, the young metal dragon then unhesitatingly places his entire arm on her mouth, her eyes glowing bright as if this is a moment really worth celebrating for her, this awkward position of the two of them looking like a dragon about to devour a human lasting for some moment as the new member of the family, Argenta, takes in quite a lot of blood from the upbeat young man. "That does it..." looking at changes happening in the young dragon''s body, the upbeat young man mutters to himself as the neon green-haired beauty approaches beside him, the two of them watching the gigantic, thirty-meter dragon being engulfed in a huge, mountain-like metal chrysalis that covers the entirety of her body, the process of her acquiring a humanoid form completely different from that of Yggdrasil''s. As the beauty and the young man observes the metal dragon''s transformation, the two of them couldn''t help but smile at how fast time flies, as it has already been a week since the two of them starts incubating the egg, none among them leaving its side for a bit as they waited for it to hatch, carefully taking care of the young hatchling for an entire week before it also starts acquiring its adolescent form, feeding her always on time as they eat together, playing around with her as much as they can and even going as far as guiding her with regards to social interactions. ''I thought only the most talented dragons of the Draconic Realm are capable of reaching the adolescent stage within a week'' wondering to himself as he feels like having two extremely talented dragons in a row is such a stretch, the upbeat young man thought, prompting the floating golden screen to appear right in front of him, the answer to his question displayed on it. [It is indeed the case. As for the two new dragons being extremely talented... this might just be the case of your care for them] ''Forget about it'' hearing such an answer, the upbeat young man couldn''t be bothered with that anymore, only thinking of the fact that now, he has two extremely talented dragons as companions, and this number will only increase more and more in the future. While he wallows on these thoughts, the chrysalis surrounding the entire young metal dragon already starts getting covered in cracks, each one of them large enough to fit some small animals inside, and the numbers as well as the size is just getting bigger and bigger by the moments passing. Eventually, all of the metallic chrysalis falls apart, revealing another beauty far different from how the first dragon of the Draconic Realm, Yggdrasil, looks like. Despite her draconic form reaching a staggering height of thirty meters, far larger than Yggdrasil''s twenty meters draconic form, Argenta''s humanoid body appears to be far younger when compared to Yggdrasil''s bearing the body that of a normal late teen ager would look like, having a slender, yet still feminine curved body, with her front and back bumps appearing not too small that its undetectable, yet not too big when compared with the mature appearance of the humanoid Yggdrasil. Complementing her slightly thin body is a skin appearing completely snow white with no imperfections on them, the tip of most part of her body, her fingers, her nose, her elbow, her ears, appearing particularly reddish as if she''s feeling really cold, however, this only serves to make her appear even cuter not only to Diluc''s but also to Yggdrasil''s eyes. This works even more with her limpid, languid eyes that seems to be way too drowsy and sleepy for her to think properly, the pupils contained in those eyes glowing the same color as her shiny, platinum hair, her slightly dirt ash colored, straight eyebrows connected to her cute small nose, underneath her slightly reddish nose tip being her reddish-pink, full lips, a hint of smile appearing on them as she saw the first person to appear in her life, the upbeat young man that she will always remember as the one who always feed her good food. Meanwhile, looking at this beautiful young lady, the human and dragon couple couldn''t help but nod to themselves as they appreciate her elegant, cold princess looking appearance, prompting them to look at each other before they start giggling, as if they''re a pair of successful parents that managed to properly raise their child. Seeing the two people that had been with her since she was born just a week ago, Argenta takes slow and steady step to move towards them, the upbeat young man smiling as he saw her approaching them, said smile making the platinum haired beauty rush eagerly towards the two of them, immediately jumping at the upbeat young man the moment that she reaches near him. Still with the modest smile on her emotionless face, she starts rubbing her cheeks left and right at the young man''s chest, completely unconcerned about all other things, her actions causing the neon green haired Yggdrasil to giggle as she watches her liege and now husband, struggling to calm down this new sister she has. "Fufufu~~ my liege, looks like sister Argenta has really taken a liking to you" seemingly celebrating the current situation, Yggdrasil said with her teasing voice as she continues to watch the upbeat, tall young man and the shorter, platinum haired young beauty clinging at him. "Ygg... I''ll deal with you later" looking at the neon green haired mature beauty that doesn''t seem to have any thoughts of helping him, the upbeat young man said with some seriousness in his eyes causing the mature beauty to tremble as shivers starts running down her spine, her hands involuntarily moving towards her perfectly shaped, plump round buns, as if a disastrous thing is about to hit it. Nodding to himself as he managed to tame this mature beauty that really likes to tease him into silence with just some words coming out of his mouth, the upbeat young man then redirects his focus on the platinum haired beauty clinging on his body, said beauty now looking with her lazy looking eyes directly at his face. Chapter 18: Another One Chapter 18: Another OneAfter playing around with the platinum haired Argenta currently in her human form, the upbeat young man proceeds to start teaching her all sorts of things regarding how she should act outside, along with him teaching the young metal dragon the neon green haired mature beauty beside him, Yggdrasil, who seems to be even more knowledgeable regarding all things outside than him now. As he watches the two getting along really well, he proceeds to open the Dragon Herding System and check the information about Argenta as well as Yggdrasil''s progress, his face smiling as he reads the words that appears on the floating gray screen. [Argenta] S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Race: Dragon (Metal)] [Adolescent Stage] [Cultivations] [Magic: Light Red Core (Combat power at Light Orange Core)] [Body Tempering: Late Skin Refining (Combat power at Late Muscle Conditioning)] [Elemental Affinity: Metal] [Skills: Draconic Blessing (One-time use, already consumed), Draconic Scale, Heavy Metal Reinforcement, Rain of Swords, Dragon Roar, Dragon Claw] [Overall Combat Power: 4-star] [Yggdrasil] [Race: Dragon (Wood)] [Adolescent Stage] [Cultivations] [Magic: Bright Red Core (Combat power at Bright Orange Core)] [Body Tempering: Peak Skin Refining (Combat power at Peak Muscle Conditioning)] [Elemental Affinity: Wood] [Skills: Draconic Blessing (One-time use, already consumed), Draconic Scale, Absolute Regeneration, Life Breathing, Dragon Roar, Dragon Claw] [Overall Combat Power: 4-star] Apart from the two skills unique to their draconic lineage, the neon green haired mature beauty and the platinum haired languid beauty seems to possess similar skills, said differentiating factor displayed the next second as the upbeat young man clicks on them to check what those two skills of Argenta does. [Heavy Metal Reinforcement (Passive)] [Description: A skill unique to the lineage of the Prime Dragon of Creation, reinforce the Draconic Scale skill through the use of the unique property of metal dragons, infusing metal element in the scales to make it tougher and heavier, the level of reinforcement depends on a dragon''s understanding of its own physique, control of mana and its familiarity to the metal it is going to reinforce itself with. Also passively enhances a dragon''s physique] [Rain of Swords] [Description: A skill unique to the Prime Dragon of Creation, albeit being called Rain of Swords, the skill is capable of manifesting all sorts of weapons and figures with the command of the user and direct the manifested objects towards a specific area and bombard the entire area with them, the number of things, its size as well as its quality depends completely on the dragon''s mana control ability] After reading through the information given by the system, Diluc couldn''t help but try one of the skills, especially since given that Argenta already gave her blessings to him, he is also now capable of using skills of the metal dragons, prompting him to raise his hand in excitement as numerous weapons manifested right behind him, all of them silently floating through the air as if something immaterial is holding them up. Watching the good-looking, upbeat young man effortlessly using a skill unique to the metal dragons, Argenta''s eyes couldn''t help but glow in amazement and borderline fanaticism, looking at the upbeat young man as if he''s some sort of divine being in her eyes. "As expected of the liege huh..." looking quite dazed at what is happening as well, Yggdrasil mutters to herself while looking really enchanted with the upbeat young man''s serious look, her heart pounding really loud that it makes her wonder just what is it that makes her, a dragon, feel like this. Meanwhile, the upbeat young man is relishing on the amazing skill he picked up, swinging his hand and releasing all that weapon that manifested behind him forward, all of them exploding with such speed that makes him doubt whether the attack really came from him. As numerous cold weapons fall towards the Draconic Realm''s land though, it just shattered into oblivion as if there is something within the land that prevents itself from being damaged, one thing that the upbeat young man learned about here since he stayed for quite some days given that he wants to be there all the time during Argenta''s young stage. Deciding to test out the other skill as well, he willed his mind to try and reinforce a part of his body, this action prompting his own body to materialize the Draconic Scale hidden beneath it, and then just after some moments said scales already turning metallic as time goes by, making the young man look extremely peculiar yet mystical. "This is great" feeling not only the defense but also the strength boost of the skill, Diluc smiles in celebration at the fact that he got stronger once again, far stronger than what he thinks he will ever be back when he doesn''t have the Dragon Herding System yet. "You''ve grown stronger again, husband~" seeing that the upbeat young man is already done with whatever he is doing, the neon green haired mature beauty leads the languid, platinum haired beauty towards him, the two of them clearly looking at him with such worship in their eyes that he starts to wonder whether he is really worthy of such emotion from these beings, beings that at their peak, stands at an equal ground, or even at a higher level than gods. "All thanks to the two of you" deciding to shove this thought to the back of his mind though as he thought that thinking too much about it will only leads him to doubting himself even more, the upbeat young man said with a smile on his face as he pulls the two beauties into his arms in one swift, fluid motion, his actions and intentions clearly completely different from the shy young man easily teased by the mature lady from a couple of days ago. Feeling such change in the upbeat young man''s actions, the neon green haired mature beauty couldn''t help but wryly smile to herself, feeling that the days of her being able to make her beloved ashamed from her advances is about to be over. ''He''s becoming more and more like a true ruler of dragons'' she thought to herself as some information about rulers of group of dragons, the scenes in her mind causing her beautiful face to show a vibrant red blush completely obscured from her beloved''s vision as she dives on his chest, constantly taking in his scent as if she just couldn''t get enough of it. Meanwhile, the platinum haired languid beauty just stares at his face listlessly as if she''s trying to see through something there, her way of thinking completely elusive to the upbeat young man, who is currently wondering why such an energetic dragon turns out to be like this in her human form. While wondering about this though, he feels her small slender hands brushing through his cheeks, the coldness of her hands making him once again reminded of her identity as a metal dragon, an identity completely obscured from her current form with the only signs of it being the metallic horn on her head. Staring at each other eye to eye for a few moments, the platinum haired beauty closes her eyes and approaches his face, before repeatedly pecking on his cheeks, her emotionless face showing some sort of entertainment and joy for the first time since she acquired her human form, feeling like the skinship between her and her liege is something she will come to be addicted to. Thinking why he feels like something is off, the upbeat young man''s senses sent to his brain the feeling of the cold, smooth, soft skin directly being touched by his hand, the excitement from the improvements of his strength making him realize only now that the metal dragon turned cold beauty in his arms is still currently naked, making him immediately take some clothes from his spatial pouch, said action making the neon green haired mature beauty reveal a knowing smile. Smelling the scent of her liege on the clothing he is giving her, Argenta, despite all of the coldness on her exterior, couldn''t help but feel really warm, her next actions expressing her current torrent of feelings far better than any words can do. Receiving the simple shirt and long pants, the platinum haired beauty wore it herself with such carefulness as if she''s afraid for the object to get even just a single scratch, causing her dressing up to last for a while, the upbeat young man repeatedly offering his help but the beauty just shakes her head the whole time. Finally donning the clothes, the beauty then jumped on the upbeat young man and clings onto him, her long slender legs circling around his waist and her fair, smooth arms completely surrounding his neck, her eyes dreamy and tearing a bit as she shows a smile on her face and speaks for the first time since she acquires her human form. "I love you, my liege~" she said in a near muttering tone before she showers him with kisses all around his face once again. Chapter 19: Sparring Chapter 19: Sparring"How the hell did it turn into this..." looking at the two beauties seemingly preparing to fight just right in front of him, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but wonder to himself as he prepares his stance as well, causing the two beauties to become even more wary than they already do. After receiving a shower of kisses from the languid and seemingly taciturn Argenta, Diluc then receives a torrent of kisses from the mature beauty Yggdrasil as well, enjoying the physical contact with these two heavenly beauties before the platinum haired languid beauty suddenly ruins the romantic mood as she lets some more words from her little mouth. "I want to fight with my liege" she said, with a bit louder voice compared to the previous one, causing this entire situation, the mature beauty''s eyes even glowing as she heard her new sister''s words, deciding to join the fray and battle with the upbeat young man as well. Returning to the present, it is not because there is suddenly a fight that the upbeat young man decided to ask such question and allowing it to just helplessly come out of his mouth, the reason why he asks such a question being the fact that these two seemingly noble ladies are completely naked in front of him right now this time their hairs not even being able to hide the complete beauty of their bodies as they consistently move while they fight. While Diluc really wants to enjoy such bouncy scenes, he clearly doesn''t want to see such thing when fighting with these two, as it only serves as a complete distraction for him, making the fight more difficult than how it is supposed to be. "Come on husband, you know we can destroy the clothes you gave us if we transform into our draconic form right?" seemingly enjoying her beloved''s reactions, Yggdrasil said with a cheeky smile on her gorgeous face as she proudly struck a sexy pose, pushing her huge mountains as if urging her beloved to just jump on them, causing the platinum haired beauty to follow through her actions. Seeing two beautiful ladies acting like that, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but take a large gulp to calm himself down as his eyes got fixated on the erect flower bud on top of the mature beauty''s erotic pinks, such visuals making him want to just end this fight and pounce on her. As he tries his best to distract himself while berating how shameless can this woman be, the upbeat young man''s mind suddenly comes up with a plan that will help not only in preventing the mature beauty from doing any further than this but also allows him to take advantage of her. Dashing through and closing the gap between the two of them, the upbeat young man uses his wind elemental affinity to push himself even faster, even the power of the dragon failing to detect him already closing in on the mature beauty, causing said beauty to take a step back in surprise, failing to do so as it is already too late. "H-husband, w-what are you... mmm~~~" caught in the arms of the upbeat young man, Yggdrasil couldn''t help but squirm around as she blushes from the discomfort, as although she already decided to give herself to him, body and soul, such sudden advances just make her quite uneasy as she hates being taken by surprise. "Time to teach you a lesson, Ygg" showing a modest smile on his face as he looks at the mature beauty, Diluc proceeds to attack the beauty, but not in a way she expected. Moving his free hand towards her soft squishy mountains, the young man immediately moves towards her erotic pinks, targeting the stiff flower bud on top of them, pinching it between his fingers, causing the beauty to let out a melodious moan. Holding her in his arm and playing around with her with the other, the Diluc couldn''t help but feel quite accomplished as the mature beauty helplessly struggles in his grasp, the platinum haired languid beauty just standing there on the spot as if she couldn''t believe what she is seeing, her face completely flushed and her breathing becoming a bit ragged as she continues to watch the two. Meanwhile, Yggdrasil is really feeling it as well, her own mind starting to drift on pleasure land as her beloved continues playing with her, pinching and twisting her flower buds non-stop sending shivers down her spine, his action also making her spread her legs a bit, revealing her moist nether regions towards him. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Mnn~~~ ahhnn~~~" seemingly enjoying this ''punishment'' rather than regretting her own actions, Yggdrasil continues to moan as she starts clinging onto her beloved''s body, her shaking hips clearly asking him for more. Before they continues to advance even further though, the mature beauty seems to be awakened by something as the thought of just allowing the young man to do this here means that she will only start getting more and more compliant to him until eventually, she can no longer tease him, she snaps out of her thought as she forces herself to escape from her beloved''s grasp, looking at him with some regrets in her eyes as something within her screams that she wants more of that, but this fight takes precedence for now. "Sorry Argenta, big sister just got tranced for a bit~" returning to the platinum haired beauty''s side, the mature beauty said with a smile on her blushing, beautiful face before she assumes battle position again, such simple movements making her bountiful breast bounce once again. This time however, she refuses to fight with just her human form, her entire body glowing in a brilliant light as a shadow of her draconic form engulfs her, from the light emerging the beauty with her body now completely that of her draconic form, standing at a twenty meter tall height and just looking down on the upbeat young man from her place. Argenta also follows suit as she transforms into her draconic form as well, her body reaching that of a thirty meter tall dragon that shadows even the already huge Yggdrasil. Seeing this, the upbeat young man merely smiles as he cracks his fist, the swirling mana around him making him appear more domineering, his hair as well as his clothes rustling and moving around despite wind being completely deprived in the area. "Husband, be careful, we''re going to increase the pace" without even opening her mouth, Yggdrasil announced as she spread her wings, soaring through the skies in order to take some time to prepare for her attack, with Argenta following just right behind her. Looking up at the bright sunny skies, the upbeat young man smiles even more as he looks forward to this moment of facing off against two extremely talented dragons with his strength alone, his hands clenched into fists as his body lowers to the ground, his knees bent as he looks up, preparing to meet the attack of the two draconic ladies once they descend down the skies. "Worry about yourself first, Ygg, Argenta..." muttering to himself, the upbeat young man said as the air swirling around his body abruptly stops, a massive shadow of a figure suddenly emerging from behind him, its every action bearing similarity to what he is doing. Seeing this massive figure, the two draconic ladies in the skies couldn''t help but flinch even before they descend towards their opponent, their liege, feeling like the young man is emitting a pressure so terrifying and heavy yet so regal that they just want to kneel in front of him with no regards to how they feel. This pressure as well as the image behind the upbeat young man lasts only for a while though as the moment that he starts moving on his position, the image disperses along with the mountain-like weight bearing on the two beauties previously, causing them to look at each other as if they''re talking with just their eyes. "That is..." looking at her younger sister who also seems to be completely baffled with what they just saw, the wood dragon, Yggdrasil, speaks but fails to finish her sentence, the massive metal dragon now right beside her merely nodding as she also thinks of the exact same thing as her. ''We need to grow up, fast'' thinking about the figure behind their beloved, most respected person, the two ladies couldn''t help but think at the same time to themselves, feeling like if they fail to grow up even faster than they already do, their liege, the young man who''s the object of their affection will sooner rather than later possess a strength far outclassing theirs, something that they don''t want to as they will feel useless should that happen. If some people were to hear about what these two ladies are thinking, and if those people were to be made aware of the fact that they are pure blooded True Dragons, they might start thinking themselves crazy as it is beyond common sense for a human to leave a dragon far behind in terms of strength. Chapter 20: Fight Continues Chapter 20: Fight ContinuesDespite being a talented fighter, the upbeat young man, Diluc, often fails to showcase just how good he is when it comes to combat due to the fact that he can just barely fight on equal terms with the nobles in the city he lives in, nobles who are granted with all the cultivation resources they need and want ever since they are born, which creates a really large gap between them and the common folks. Through one way or another though, mostly hard work and more hard work, the upbeat young man manages to possess strength equal to those of the weaker nobles even without the resources they have, showing just how much better he can be should he be placed on the same situation as most of them. But now, not only did he managed to gain resources far overshadowing those of the noble people he knows of, but he also manages to gain blessings from the two draconic ladies he is taking care of, and he''s definitely going to receive more draconic blessings as he develop the Draconic Realm more and more. That is the reason why he looks forward to this clash between him and the two ladies flying with their draconic bodies in the sky, to test not only how much did the two of them improves during this short period of time, but also to test just how much improvements he received from the blessings he got from the young metal dragoness, Argenta. Not forfeiting his position, he crouches down a bit as his head remains directed towards the skies, his eyes focused on the two massive figures rapidly descending towards the ground, his face revealing a battle hungry smile that seems way too eager to exchange with the two figures. ''Let''s see... how about I do this...'' with an idea popping into his mind, the upbeat young man wills the wind elemental mana around him to do according to his biddings, the swirling wind around him coalescing on his arms as he continues to focus on something, something he is just visualizing until the moment it completely manifested. Opening his eyes once again, the upbeat young man saw the greenish scales surrounding his entire arms, looking slightly peculiar yet doesn''t feel so odd to him, as if it is naturally a part of him and not just created from the elemental mana he gathered from the air. Seemingly innately knowing what he could do with the scales that manifested on his arms, the upbeat young man starts aiming his first towards the two figures already at a considerable distance near him, prompting him to take action as he drives his fist forward, appearing to do nothing as his reach is still too far to touch the two draconic figures still in the air. It appears quite awkward just for a few seconds though as after the silent pause, the air around the upbeat young man seems to twist and contort into all sorts of peculiar shapes, before a void of air gathers in front of him and exploded forth, bringing in quite the strong and focused wind rushing towards one of the draconic figures. Seeing this attack, the young metal dragoness'' eyes couldn''t help but glow in excitement as she thinks that this is an attack worthy of being received by her, causing her to move faster as she moves in front of her elder sister, the wood dragoness that seems to be way too calm in this situation. Facing the brunt of the attack, Argenta felt surprised as she braves the attack from her liege, the wind appearing to be not too dangerous for her in the distance packing quite the punch when it reaches her, dealing no substantial damage to her thick metallic hide yet pushing her by a considerable distance from her previous place. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "That is really powerful" seeing how far the metal dragoness got knocked back, the upbeat young man mutters to himself as he sent in another punch, his entire being feeling a considerable amount of strength leaving from his body every time he performs such attack. "As expected of the liege" watching what happens to this younger draconic sister of hers, Yggdrasil said as she supports Argenta from the back, her words being acknowledged by the metal dragoness as well as she looks back at her before nodding her head, displaying how much of a taciturn person she is. "Let''s move on different directions, Big sister Yggdrasil..." seemingly feeling quite competitive after receiving such an attack from her liege, Argenta speaks with her cold yet elegant sounding voice as she locks her gaze towards the upbeat young man, her current expressions especially the fiery glow in her usually emotionless eyes causing the neon green haired mature beauty to giggle in fascination. "Looks like our liege wake up something within you huh~?" despite teasing the younger dragoness, Yggdrasil complies with her as she knows that metal dragons are innately better in direct confrontations than her lineage, the wood dragons, her body already moving away from her as she complies with the plan, causing the metal dragoness to nod towards her. "Focus on attacking our liege, I''ll be the one that distract him~~" Yggdrasil said with a smile on her face as her draconic body starts plummeting down, treading a direct line towards the upbeat young man as she focuses all of her mana to healing herself, wondering if such a strategy will work against her beloved liege. "They''re getting better" seeing how the two dragonesses are finally starting to use diversion tactics against him without even being taught of such, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but smile and appreciate how fast they are growing in battle, proving to him the words that the Dragon Herding System always reminds him, that anyone, even dragons, needs the tempering of battle in order to grow into true geniuses and legendary figures. Sending in his fist again, his attack barely did anything to stop the dashing Yggdrasil now, her body moving more because of the gravity than anything else causing the surge of wind landing through her scales to do nothing but slow her down a bit before she starts gaining momentum again, her entire figure as if an unstoppable force plummeting from the skies through the ground where the upbeat young man is. Meanwhile, due to the fact that their liege is currently distracted by her elder sister, the metal dragoness finds a way to move just a step behind Yggdrasil, making sure that she is never the priority as she gets closer and closer, knowing that once she enters a certain distance, it will be too late for the upbeat young man to respond and the victory will be theirs. At the same time, while he is struggling to keep this two dragonesses at bay, the upbeat young man''s face couldn''t help but reveal a candid smile as he continues to send in wind elemental attacks towards them, his entire being, his body and mind seemingly getting the hang of the attack more and more as he continues performing it, the drastic reduction of his mana reserves previously now reducing the more he attacks, making him wonder since when did he starts getting the hang of such techniques so fast. ''Doesn''t matter right now, I need to teach these two girls a lesson, especially Ygg'' shoving such wonder to the back of his head though, the upbeat young man, Diluc, pays more attention towards the fight than anything else, prepared to beat some lessons into these two girls'' heads especially since they are getting far too cheeky these days, especially Yggdrasil, who seems to take every opportunity to tease him every time. Taking a deep breath as he focuses more, the upbeat young man continues to spam the wind elemental attack against the two, making the two dragonesses wonder whether their liege got so scared that he couldn''t do anything now, such thoughts perishing immediately especially since they know him too well due to the connection established from the blessings they gave him. That is why it makes them quite cautious, their approach slowing down as they start to wonder just what is it that the upbeat young man, their liege and most respected person, is planning, their wariness causing their aggressiveness in the attacks to reduce by a considerable degree, but not so much that the two of them just wants to pull back and miss this good opportunity to attack. As they got closer though, they finally feel that something is amiss, the serious expression from the upbeat young man now changing into a smile they know all too well just from the short period of time they are with this liege of theirs, the smile of someone who has everything in the palm of his hands. Willing the wind elemental mana towards his lower body, the upbeat young man leaps, the wind guiding him and boosting his vertical movements as he shoots through and reaches the wood dragoness in no time, the scales on his arms changing from the glowing green to a mixture of a wooden texture and a metallic sheen, its appearance despite his small stature compared to the two making them realize that they made one mistake, and they messed up big time because of it. Chapter 21: Special Chapter 21: SpecialSeeing the draconic scale covered fist moving towards her, the wood dragoness couldn''t help but struggle to change her previous trajectory, failing so incredibly at that given that she is already way too close to her liege for her to avoid his attack anymore, prompting her to merely close her eyes as she accepts her fate. Meanwhile, Argenta is currently watching the fight between her elder sister and her liege unfold while struggling to reach their destination, her mind rushing to think of ways to catch up as she starts blaming herself for the seemingly fool proof, yet easily cracked plan that she devised, the distance between the two of them that they thought are their advantage turning itself against them now as it works in their liege''s favor. As the scene continues though, what the two draconic ladies thought is going to be one hell of a painful hit turns out to be a soft, well, not too soft flick right in the wood dragoness'' forehead, sending her down to the ground in one fell swoop as she looks at her beloved liege with some grievance in her eyes, eyes that looks more like that of an adorable little creature rather than the terrifying reptilian eyes of the dragon she is in the upbeat young man''s eyes. Watching her elder sister plummet to the ground, the metal dragon, Argenta, couldn''t help but feel that the danger that is her beloved is about to pay his attention to her as well, what she thinks is something that is going to be good when the fight starts, only to lately realize now that she is about to suffer the same fate as her elder sister Yggdrasil. Trying to escape such fate, the dragoness starts flapping her wings as she attempts to soar back into the high skies, the upbeat young man smiling as he realizes what she intends to do, the wind elemental mana around his feel coalescing into a solid platform for him to step on, something that he just somehow did subconsciously without any sort of invocation. "Alright Argenta, playtime is over..." soaring through the skies as he steps on the wind elemental platforms he is constantly conjuring, Diluc eventually catches up to the metal dragoness, his fist already moving towards her head as he performs one final jump, scaring the lady for a second before she realizes something as she feels his body sitting on top of her head. "Now why don''t you be a good girl and go down now?" gently holding her head before caressing it, the upbeat young man said with a doting voice causing the dragoness to feel pretty shy, a completely weird image as she is currently in her full draconic form, before she starts descending down the skies eventually reaching the main island of the Draconic Realm, where Yggdrasil is now resting while being on her humanoid form, her beauty standing out even more as her sweat fills her naked skin. Touching the ground with her feet, the metal dragoness'' body shines a white light before it shrinks and assume human form, the cold, seemingly emotionless, platinum haired beauty emerging from the light, immediately pouncing on the upbeat young man as she appears. "How are you even that strong with just a couple of weeks, husband?" approaching him while still completely naked, with her hair being the only thing covering her most sensitive, womanly parts, the neon green haired, mature beauty, Yggdrasil, asked with a hint of teasing on her tone, hugging the arms of her liege in hopes of seeing his embarrassed face. Her plans are bound to fail though as the moment she locks one of the upbeat young man''s arms deep within her great ravine, the young man, their liege, immediately looks at her with a gaze she knows all too well, a gaze of someone who just refuses to bend to her will. And her speculations are correct, as instead of her making him shy from her advances, she was the one who got really embarrassed as she feels a stinging, yet weirdly gently pain from her behinds, the clapping sound resounding just a moment after she feels the sensation, said sound going along with the sound of her melodious, gentle voice squealing in absolute surprise. "Guess" looking at the mature beauty who is currently pouting her lips in annoyance, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but smile as he claims a victory to this little teasing game of theirs, the evidence of the neon green haired beauty''s defeat being the completely blush covering her entire drop-dead gorgeous face. Seeing that the beauty is already pretty much tamed from her teasing nature, the upbeat young man leans a bit and kisses her on the top of her head, causing the beauty''s eyes to glow in joy as she looks back at him, clearly wishing to have some more of what she just felt, after the young man gives that to her younger sister as well. Watching how the two interacts, Argenta''s face couldn''t stop itself from expressing how much she wants to experience the same as well, an expression that the upbeat young man didn''t miss as he immediately leaned in and kisses her at the top of her head as well, causing the two ladies to giggle to themselves, showing how much they enjoy this moment between them. "Alright alright, go and get dressed" the upbeat young man said with a smile on his face as he let go of the two draconic beauties in his arms, the two of them obediently picking up the clothes he gave them as they start wearing them once again, the contrast of their feminine charms and the clearly made for men clothes bringing out such great contrast and appeal to them, making the upbeat young man nod in appreciation. "Liege, c-can you teach me that move?" approaching him after they got dressed, the platinum haired beauty asked with some hesitance in her voice, looking quite antsy as she waits for the upbeat young man''s response. Looking at her current expression along with her body movements, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but snicker for a bit as he just didn''t expect that this beauty will be this shy of a girl, completely different from her cheerful and clearly outgoing personality when she is still in her young form. "I see no reason not to..." the upbeat young man said as he moves one of his hands to pat her head full of platinum strands of hair, before looking at the approaching mature beauty with an inquisitive look on his face as he asks, "Do you want to learn that as well, Ygg?" "Why not? If it will help in me aiding you, my husband and liege, then all the more reason for me to learn that move" despite being all to mischievous and cheeky every time she got the chance to do so, the neon green haired mature beauty still places her benefactor, her liege and beloved, the upbeat young man, as the most respected and most important person in her heart, a clear display of it being this moment as she immediately turns serious the moment she saw an opportunity to attain greater strength to assist the young man better than she already does now. "Great, then let me explain you what I did... first...." As the three of them gathers around in a circle, the upbeat young man starts explaining in great detail what he did previously, the wind elemental platforms on his feet that allows him to thread the skies without falling, the scales manifesting directly on his body, as well as how he changes those scales according to his will, he explains all the concept he had, in the end causing the two beauties, geniuses even amongst the dragons, to get quite confused. "That''s... really weird, even us who are superior beings must use dragon tongue or superior mana manipulation in order to cast our own magic, and you, my liege, just controls the mana in the surrounding by willing it?" after hearing the explanation of the upbeat young man, Yggdrasil''s little mouth couldn''t help but open wide in surprise before she recovers and talk, with Argenta nodding at her words frantically as she also doesn''t know of something like this even in her acquired memories after attaining a humanoid form. "My liege... y-you starts getting more and more special than what you taught us you are" added the taciturn platinum haired beauty as she looks at the young man in the eyes before looking at his body up and down, all while wondering just what sort of secrets is this liege of theirs still hiding, secrets and talents that are just waiting for them to discover. "Am I? let''s not care about that for now, do you understand what I taught the two of you?" not thinking too much of the thing he achieved despite these two dragons being the one that told him that, the upbeat young man replied more focused on teaching them rather than scanning himself, making him quite unaware of the changes happening not only to his talent, but also to his character and perception of what is normal. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 22: Visiting Parents Chapter 22: Visiting ParentsWatching the two ladies seemingly completely focused on mastering the techniques he taught them, the upbeat young man decides to check the system to take a look at his current strength, his eyes beaming with excitement and satisfaction as he reads through the information being shown to him in the floating gray screen. [Diluc Leonhart] S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Race: Human] [Age: 16] [Realm Gold: 9,000] [Cultivations] [Magic: Bright Red Core (Combat power between Bright Orange Core and Vague Yellow Core)] [Body Tempering: Peak Skin Refining (Combat power Between Peak Muscle Conditioning and Early Blood Vessel Widening)] [Elemental Affinity: Wind, Wood, Metal] [Skills: Draconic Scale, Absolute Regeneration, Life Breathing, Heavy Metal Reinforcement, Rain of Swords, Dragon Roar, Dragon Claw, Specific Mana Manipulation (Wind)] [Overall Combat Power: 4.5-stars] [Draconic Realm] [Missions] [Shop] After looking through the information displayed on the screen, the upbeat young man starts wondering whether he can buy some other dragons for him to nurture now, feeling pretty confident in growing another one as he already starts getting the hang of it after having his experience nurturing Yggdrasil and Argenta, not to mention the fact that these two ladies can also help in raising this new dragon should he decide to buy an egg from the shop. Opening the [Egg] portion of the shop though, Diluc couldn''t help but feel quite a bit tragic as he saw the prices of the dragon eggs displayed on the screen, with the most easily purchasable one being the one he is looking at right now, and the price of the succeeding eggs just goes higher and higher from that. [Fire Dragon Egg (5,000 Realm Gold)] [Contains an infant pure bred, Fire elemental True Dragon inside, needs to be incubated on the True Dragon Nourishing Tree in order to show its true potential. The talent of the dragons bought from the shop has an absolute random chance, meaning the chance of the dragon being the highest of talent and the chance of it also being the lowest of talent and anywhere in between is the same.] Seeing how expensive the most accessible dragon is and then looking at his current money, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but complain as he starts to wonder how in the world is he supposed to progress when the mission he receives needs him to have draconic blessings for him to acquire the other elemental affinities he needs. Seemingly sent as if to answer his grumbling, the floating gray screen of the system appears in front of him with a message in it saying how he can sell all sorts of stuffs in the shop, of course, said stuff must be things that are acquired from the outside and not ones that comes from the Draconic Realm, like the fruits and crops he can harvest from it. "Great, now I really need to explore outside huh..." Diluc said as he returns his attention towards the two practicing beauties, standing up and informing them that he needs to continue moving for him to improve the Draconic Realm even more, the two beauties merely nodding in agreement to him before they each stole a peck on both his cheeks, waving goodbye to him as they watches him step into the portal leading to the outside. "Let''s train even harder, Sister Argenta" Yggdrasil said with a rare, determined look on her beautiful face as she clenches her fist, the scales appearing from deep inside her humanoid body as she continues to practice, not really comparable to the young man''s technique but she is already getting there. "Mn" the taciturn platinum haired beauty replied as she swings her fist, the metallic luster from her manifested scales making her appear shining, the ray of the sun striking anywhere her scales reflects not even bothering her the slightest, even though some of them are also shining through her wide-open eyes. Meanwhile on the outside, the upbeat young man already starts heading back towards the city he was born in, quite looking forward to arriving in a familiar place as his pace hastened, his eyes already seeing spots and landmarks that are all too familiar to him, places that marks the way towards the most familiar place to him, a place he used to call home. Willing the wind on his feet to allow him to move even faster, the rusting of the winds in the rough path sounds through as he treads it, the people he passes through wondering how he can move at such speed, his current appearance making him appear completely different from how those people of the city remembers him. "That is..." "Diluc right?" "Yeah, I heard that he got caught up in a nasty incident previously, who would''ve guessed that he looks even better now" "Did you guys notice? He looks like he has grown some muscles" "What''s the point in that though? He''s a mage, not a martial artist, he should''ve just focused on learning spells instead of training his body" Seeing the new appearance of a pretty well-known guy among the young ones of the city, the people that the upbeat young man passed through starts talking about him, some having positive opinions while the other seemingly completely hostile of him, something already all too common for the young man as he knows clearly who these people who seems to hate him are. Said conversations are only heard by the upbeat young man as he notices that his current senses are far sharper than ever before, only now realizing just how much his hearing, his vision, his touch, smell and taste improves, attributing it to the fact that this is also part of the blessings he received from Yggdrasil and Argenta, as this is the only plausible way that he can acquire such amazing senses. Ignoring this conversations that he hears though, he continues walking towards the path to the city, but not going directly there as he takes a small detour into a simple woods, his movements showing clear familiarity to the place as he masterfully weaves around the vines and bushes blocking the path, eventually reaching two massive stones etched with some already vague markings on it, these stone clearly appearing to be the largest among the other markers in here, stones, wooden crosses and some other sorts of things indicating what this location is. Taking out a bottle of wine from his spatial pouch, the upbeat young man starts pouring it into the stone marker standing half of his tall height, the wry smile on his face making him look quite melancholic as he watches the wine leaves the bottle, like the time of someone''s life completely draining out of their body. "I... I returned from my adventures outside, pops, mum..." the upbeat young man said with an unusually sad voice coming out of him, his entire being seemingly shaking as he stares at the words, names written on the stone marker, before taking out a knife from his spatial pouch and starting to carve the names deeper into the stone so that the things written on it never fade. ''Here lies the body of Baron Layla Astrea and Viscount Lucius Leonhart, heroes who sacrifices themselves for the greater good of the masses. A good husband and wife, and an even greater parent to a child'' After carving the stones once again, the young man''s face starts turning red as he tries his best to stop himself from crying, his reddened eyes staring at the sky as his straight figure starts collapsing into the ground, with his back leaning on the tombstone made by the people that his parents fight for, people who are situated on the graves behind his parents. Once he manages to control his emotion, he starts talking about all the things he had gone through in this life changing adventure of his, how he nearly joined them because of his arrogance thinking that he can deal with an injured Soaring Steel Eagle, how he manages to escape from such creature through his wits alone, and how he manages to get a fate changing encounter that allow him to return to this place once again, that allows him to have better chances for himself in the future. "Old folks, I''ll get better chances of reaching a place so much higher than what you dreamt for me..." Diluc muttered finally as he stands up from the tombstone and composes himself, taking out another bottle of wine before sipping on it, finishing a quarter of the bottle before pouring it on his parent''s tombstone once again. "Pops, sorry for breaking my promise with you, once I get strong enough... I''ll destroy those people who did this to all of you" the upbeat young man said as boundless bloodlust explodes from deep within his very being, scaring the hell out of the animals in the surrounding and making them flee away from the source of such malicious feelings, nothing in their mind but going as far as they can from whoever is letting this feeling out. Chapter 23: Oops Chapter 23: Oops"Oh right, thank you for all of you for supporting my parents as well, I''ll be sure to take care of everything you fight for in the future" the upbeat young man said with a smile on his face as he takes on final glance on the graveyard that is visited only by him and some of the people left behind by those buried here, taking a deep bow before looking at his parents'' tombstone once again. "I''ll introduce those girls I talked about before I leave this city for the capital" Diluc said with a determined look on his face as he finally thought of what he should do now, focusing on getting himself even stronger and what better way to do that is to temper himself on what is known to be the greatest forging grounds of geniuses in the kingdom he is currently in. Navigating through the entire maze-like bushes and vines once again, he come out of the woods a lot later than he expected, the moon is already hanging high in the beautiful, starry night sky as he reaches the gates of the city, two guards looking at him with a friendly, familiar look on their faces as he stands in front of them. "Kid, how''s your treasure hunting this time?" looking at the upbeat young man that seems to just come out of some place, one of the guards said with a jovial tone on his voice as he starts opening the gates of the city, all while still looking at the upbeat young man, who is currently a symbol of hope to the younger generations of commoners in this city, a hope to their children aspiring to be well known in the kingdom as well. "Really good, I managed to pick up some flying beast''s parts" the upbeat young man replies as he nods towards the guards. "That''s great, that''s great, you''re going to be even stronger now once you exchanged that for resources HAHAHA" the same man said in laughter as he hears the words, not even a bit jealous from what he heard from the young man, despite the fact that materials from flying beasts being quite the expensive luxuries in any market. "Come to think of it boy, the entrance exam of the academy will start a few weeks later, right? Go and screw those nobles on their own show" the other guard interjected, also smiling as he looks at the upbeat young man with quite the admiration on his face, as he sees in this young one what he wants to but never become back in his younger years. "Uncles, I have to remind you that I am a noble as well" the upbeat young man said with a helpless smile on his face as the conversation proceeds as he expects, these two old time guards of the city during the night being quite close to him, but not really having a good opinion of the nobles given that they are witnesses of some horrible things they often commit shamelessly. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Come on boy, you don''t act like one HAHAHAHA" "My old pal is right kid, you''re so modest that it makes me doubt whether you''re really a noble or not, HAHAHA" The two guards laughs around as they play jokes to the upbeat young man, this conversation only lasting for a few more moments as they allow the young man to enter, opening the gates of the city for not too long as they immediately close it the moment the upbeat young man manages to enter. Inside the walls, there''s nothing really all too impressive with the city he is currently residing in, the one that might be the most notable feature of this city being how symmetrical and organized this place is, with four main roads extending right towards the four cardinal directions, and the branching roads and streets from it allowing access to all parts of the city to the people. Despite the false accessibility though, there is something that most of the people living here just won''t be able to enter in their entire lives, that being the place that both commoners and nobles calls as the high grounds, a particularly large and grand place located where the four main roads are supposed to meet, said high grounds surrounded by a circular road, the entire place also connected to the main road via inclined pathways and stairs, heavily guarded by armed men who seems to be way too prepared and funded in comparison to the guards of the city''s outer walls. This is something now inaccessible to the upbeat young man though, despite the fact that his family is once among the people who are residing there, the only difference with the ones currently there being the fact that his parents are truly good people who wants to help the masses with their power instead of abusing the power granted to them, a trait that leads to their downfall and the division of the wealth supposed to be his by the people who plotted against them, before he got cast out of the place at such a young age. ''Doesn''t matter, I think it''s really a good thing that I got out of such rotten place'' the upbeat young man thought to himself as he looks towards the direction of the high grounds, merely smiling mockingly as if he sees nothing but useless things in that place. After taking his time walking towards where he currently resides, the upbeat young man finds himself in a simple inn, nothing too grand about it except for the flock of people gathering around the place, a usual happening there as the food and alcohol in this place is way too good that the people, mostly adventurers always come here to eat and enjoy themselves after a dangerous time spent outside. Entering the building, the upbeat young man is greeted by a loud, rambunctious bunch that sings along while joking with each other, the loud shouting of the middle-aged men or even rough yet still attractive ladies shouting their orders flooding the entire premise, a lively atmosphere that the upbeat young man is all too familiar with. "Oh? Would you look at that, Little D is already back!" "HAA!! Little bastard, I thought you were a goner this time, HAHAHAHA" "Where the fuck did you go for you to take way too long in a simple travel!?" "I bet he lost himself in his map again, HAHAHAH!!" Seeing the upbeat young man entering the building, the people seated on all the tables couldn''t help but throw some jokes at him, the upbeat young man being all too familiar with this as this is the very same people he meets every time he goes back, people who, despite their rough appearances, are quite the good people who taught him everything he knows regarding adventuring and living in this place. "I''ll have you know that it''s not my fault that I took so long old geezer, it is the map''s fault!" the upbeat young man jokingly said causing the noise from the building to disappear, the silence enough for someone to hear a pin dropping, this moment only lasting for a moment as the people hearing his joke starts exploding in laughter from his words, clearly enjoying this moment as the relief from seeing this kid still alive and kicking starts flooding their worried selves. "Oh, right, and miss Beatrice, I''ll have you know that this D is not little like you think, would you like to see it?" looking at the first person who speaks, a tall beauty nearly reaching the same height as him, the upbeat young man said with a cheeky smile on his face as he points towards his lower body, causing the beauty to choke on the beer she is drinking, the laughter getting louder as everyone watches her do so. "HAHAHA, the kid got some guts after travelling outside, this is really good!!!" "Fuck!! Bea, don''t tell me you''re going to be defeated by Diluc for the first time!?" "Hey hey, stop teasing the lady, look, she''s clearly blushing now, HAHAH©¤ oh, shit!!!" As the people watching the two interact laughs seeing that the upbeat young man can fight against the tall beauty now, the last person who spoke couldn''t help but duck his head as he saw something hurling at him in such a fast speed, managing to dodge from the tall beauty''s punch just in time for another person to receive her punch. "Ooops" looking at the middle-aged man knocked out from her punch, the tall beauty said with a clearly non-guilty tone in her voice, causing nothing but another wave of laughter to explode in the room, looking at the knocked-out man is if this is a normal occurrence that they don''t need to bother with. Meanwhile, the one who manages to dodge the brutal attack couldn''t help but wipe the sweat off his forehead, thinking that he managed to avoid a deadly hit from this terrifying lady once again. Chapter 24: Crashing The Party Chapter 24: Crashing The Party"Little guy, seems like you picked up quite the guts when exploring outside huh?" looking at the young man she just teases previously, unexpectedly returning the teasing and even making her blush, the tall beauty walks towards him as she cracks her fist, her manic grin making her look like a maniacal beauty about to commit some sort of crime against him. "Ahem, Miss Beatrice, no erm, Big sis Bea, you know I''m just joking right?" the upbeat young man said with some hint of fear in his face as he looks at the beauty, who seems to be way too eager to give him a beating now. "You said you have this not so little D right, Diluc, how about you show it to this big sister now?" the tall beauty said as her steps gets faster and faster, prompting the young man to assume a defensive position subconsciously, his memories of her bullying him back when he was young flooding into his mind. ''Wait, why the hell am I even scared of her? I can fight her now!!!'' remembering just how much he manages to improve during his time outside, the upbeat young man thought to himself as he starts calming down, looking at the tall beauty still approaching him with the same dangerous smile on her extremely attractive face. "Come on kid, if you managed to receive this, then I''ll show you something more interesting than what you want to show me!" the tall lady said as she moves her hands currently balled into a fist towards the young man, the terrifying force put behind it causing even some of the veterans watching to sweat in terror, their first thought after seeing such attack being praying for the upbeat young man''s peaceful and painless passing to the afterlife. Watching the fist moves closer towards him, the upbeat young man couldn''t help but get surprised as he never expected that this beauty hides so much more than he thought she do, the fact that he is already way powerful compared to any Orange Core or Muscle Conditioning practitioner doing nothing to aid him in parrying this sudden attack from the tall beauty. ''Doesn''t this mean that she''s at least at the Yellow Core or Blood Vessel Widening?'' he thought to himself as he watches the fist get closer to him, his hands moving near instantaneously as he attempts to block it, succeeding in intercepting the strike but failing to completely mitigate the powerful blow. Using both his hands, his tries his best to stop the attack from the tall lady, succeeding in doing so after taking a few steps back, still in disbelief as he looks at this seemingly carefree lady that always bully him since he was a child that got here, a lady that seems all too easy going yet possessing such strength that is borderline impossible for her to be just a normal adventurer of this city given her young age, just a couple of years older than him. "Hoh?" meanwhile, the tall beauty is just as confused as the upbeat young man as she watches her attack, an attack equivalent to that of a normal Solid Yellow Core, being parried by the young man who she always treats as her little brother since he was a kid, a young man who despite his talent, lacks the resources for it to bloom. ''I was just planning on using this occasion to pull him into our family and nurture him but...'' looking at her shaking fist that seems to be affected by the collision as well, the tall beauty couldn''t help but smile to herself as she redirects her looks towards the upbeat young man''s serious face, along with the fact that he is still taller than her despite her height making her feel something in her chest, something that feels completely foreign to her. "That was quite the heavy-handed attack Big sis Bea..." the upbeat young man said in a whispering tone as he talks with the tall beauty, his face revealing a proud smile as he continues to hold her hand, before speaking once again showing that he knows something. "Looks like you''re hiding quite a lot of things" he added as he releases the fist from his hands, his words causing the beauty to smile as she retorts to his whispers with the same idea as well. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "It''s not like you don''t, D, and it looks like your secrets are far greater than the ones I have" the beauty said mysteriously as a profound glow comes out of her eyes, a glow that the upbeat young man is all too familiar with as he is already so used to seeing this whenever the beauty is meeting him for the first time in a while. "Nah, I just got lucky" the upbeat young man replied to her as the two of them walks to take a seat, the ladies around the tall beauty''s table smiling and giggling around as they talk with the upbeat young man, enjoying the company of such good looking and great mannered guy within their table, the men on the other tables looking quite envious of the upbeat young man, while the ladies are jealous of the tall beauty. The lively atmosphere continues as someone shouts that they will pay for the dinner of everyone, a festive atmosphere at the return of this big family of theirs starts floating around, and even the people of the place joins in on eating and drinking as well, as if there''s nothing that can stop them from enjoying this moment. Unfortunately for them though, someone just had to crash in on the party as it continues, someone not so welcome in this particular place in the city. Wearing a good looking, well-tailored black suit embroidered with all sorts of designs that made him look more of a peacock rather than anything else, a young man of the same age as Diluc enters, armored men entering in front, beside and behind him as he does so, their flashy appearance taking the fun out of the party making all the people look at them with hostility in their eyes. "What the hell are nobles doing here?" "You ask me, who should I ask?" "Should we beat them up?" Looking at the young man and his guards currently standing right at the entrance of the building, the adventurers couldn''t help but mutter to themselves while watching this young man looks around with such disregard in his eyes, only glowing for a bit as he laid his eyes on the tall beauty in a specific table, his eyes returning into a disregarding one as he leaves this beautiful figure and then suddenly sparking with immense anger as he laid it upon another figure familiar with him. "Pick that bastard up" the young noble said as he points towards the upbeat young man still eating his meal, something clearly happened between the two of them for him to bear such hatred towards the young man, a hatred clearly reflected on his eyes. "Hey hey, you entered here and you just suddenly want to pick someone up? What the hell is wrong with you kid?" one of the adventurers stood up as he watches the armored guard moves towards the youngest member of this large adventuring family of theirs, the upbeat young man still minding is food, only to be stopped as the very same young man he is standing up for interrupted his words. "Old Rey, just let them be" the upbeat young man said as he watches the armored guards approach near him, something in his eyes glowing as if there''s something he just thought about, something that will make everyone here fear should they know what it is. "D, let me help" seeing the look on the upbeat young man''s eyes, the tall beauty couldn''t stop herself from standing up and assisting, worried at what this young man might do, only for her to be stopped as well as she felt something in her repeatedly telling her that whatever this young man will do, it is definitely going to be something dangerous for the opposing party. "Just sit right there, Big sis Bea, I got this one" Diluc said as he turns his face around to the tall beauty, revealing a smile that she just saw the first time in her entire years of being with this young man, the peculiar feeling on her chest previously returning once again, making her wonder just what is this sensation she is currently feeling. Still filled with worry towards this young man whom she treats as the little brother she never has, the tall beauty decided to sit back down as she decides to watch just how much this young man has grown during his time outside, her entire being still prepared to intervene and reveal herself should the situation goes completely out of his favor. "Owner, is it alright for me to wreck some things?" seemingly unconcerned about the guards now in close proximity of him, the upbeat young man asked the middle-aged, muscular gentleman behind the counter, the gentleman nodding to his words before replying. "No problem" the middle-aged gentleman said without any hesitation and worry in his tone as he continues cleaning some glasses on the counter, the size of the glass he''s cleaning compared to how big he is creating quite the contrast, his nonchalant demeanor on hearing that some of his things will be destroyed causing the adventurers to laugh despite the current situation. "Great" meanwhile, the one who asked merely smiles hearing the man''s answer, a smile that looks all too similar to the tall lady''s manic smile. Chapter 25: Weak Chapter 25: WeakBefore he starts wreaking havoc and bringing calamity upon these people who interrupted their party, Diluc decided to bow towards the owner first out of respect for him allowing the fight inside this prized establishment of his, then returning his attention to the armored guards that are nearing towards him. "Are you sure you people want to do this?" he asked as he starts cracking his fist while circling his head as if to stretch his neck as well, his leisure manner of acting causing him to trigger the anger of the guards as it looks to them like he is not even taking them seriously. "Boy, you offended our young master, you better pay up for the grave sins you had done" one of the guards said with a confident, even proud, expression on his face, the arrogance that he has despite only being a guard to a noble something that just ticks off everyone in the place, but they decided to hold themselves back as they know that this night is for the youngest member of this large family of misfit of theirs, the young man who is currently approaching the armored and armed guards with such confidence on his step. "Offend? Me? I see, then why don''t you struggle and do your best to try and capture me then?" walking towards them with steady, unbothered steps, Diluc smiles in reply as he starts emitting something out of his body, the confidence of a battle veteran that seems to be way too unconcerned about the opponent he is about to face, as if he could not even take this people seriously despite their levels being slightly higher than his. "Arrogant boy, face the consequences of your action!" the other guards couldn''t hold it in anymore as they feel more and more humiliated from the words of this young man, something in him whispering that he must stay away from him as much as possible but the boiling anger from his frail pride causing him to ignore such whispering, his feet treading heavily on the ground as he starts rushing towards the young man just a couple of meters in front of him. ''I heard from the young master that he''s a mage, meaning he will be completely useless against me in close quarter combat'' being a martial artist, the guard confidently thought to himself as a smile appeared on his covered face, a smile of someone already certain of his victory against the opponent in front of him. As much as he wants to claim this victory as his just like how he imagines it to be though, there are other plans for him that destiny seems to have in store, a plan that is way too humiliating not only for him, but also for the young man who orders him and his companion to capture the person in front of them. Swinging his sword forward in order to terrify Diluc, the guard was so shocked when he opted for another choice instead, moving forward and coming closer towards him, his eyes that of a veteran hunter seemingly looking down on its prey, his movements swift and decisive, finishing this match the moment it barely began. "You''re swinging your sword too wide" Diluc said as he observes the sword coming from the top of the guard''s body, thinking that albeit it is already being a really long time since his father and mother taught him a lesson about swords, he still remembers the foundation that the two of them drills into him repeatedly since he was a child, something that he found a pity he couldn''t use as he turns out to be a mage rather than a martial artist like the two of them. ''I can carry our family name better now, old folks'' he thought to himself as his fist rushes through the chest of his opponent, said fist moving so fast that barely anyone from the audience manages to follow through his movements, the only thing the weaker one is seeing is there is a shadow that moves at an indescribable speed towards the armored guard, before his metallic armor collapse and seemingly imploded on one part before he got thrown into the air. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After travelling for a few meters in the air, he finally crashed and destroyed an entire empty table set in the process, before his body limply fall into the ground, only showing his eyes rolling up as he loses consciousness due to the pain that not only his chest, but also his entire body is feeling currently. "And your footwork is weak...." Diluc said with disdain on his face as he just couldn''t believe that people like these one is even called guards by these nobles, and their weakness just show how much these high and mighty, haughty people are hiding even towards their own men. "That''s..." while the people in the building are currently stupefied by how easily the young man dealt with the guardsman with a higher level of strength than him, one of the people watching couldn''t help but look at him in an utter disbelief for a reason completely different from the others, her eyes fixated on the fist that nearly shatters the metal armor of the guardsman, her powerful strength granting her something and allowing her to see something that the other people couldn''t, a thing that she just couldn''t make herself believe to be true. "Those are scales, right?" she mutters to herself in utter disbelief while looking at the young man in front of her, thinking that after all these times that they are playing around in this building, it looks like she still doesn''t know a lot of things about him yet. "What is it, Sister Bea?" hearing her words and wondering what she said previously, one of the ladies surrounding her snapped out of her daze as she looks at this tall beauty who seems to be way too mysterious and beautiful for her to be a normal adventurer. "Oh? Nothing, just some rambling from an old lady" the tall beauty replies with a smile on her face causing the one who just talked to her to return her attention to the tall, heroic looking young man now walking once again towards the other guard, each of his steps making him appear bigger and bigger to the guard''s eyes. ''I need to talk to him later'' the tall beauty thought to herself as she decided to put on all her efforts to pull this young man to her force just from what she saw this time alone, her mind already thinking that this young man is definitely soaring to high places should he be nourished properly, possibly even transforming to become one of the pillars that will hold this kingdom for years to come. While she starts considering what he could possibly want and how she could pull him with it though, the young man she is watching is now currently standing right in front of the other guard that seems to have their sole purpose to be a probing tools or cannon fodders to assess his strength, yet even this two fails to do so causing the young man ordering them to start shaking in terror. Standing in front of the unmoving man, Diluc stare at him eye to eye, the eyes of his opponent that of someone who just wants to run away from the trouble he had gotten himself into, yet the harsh punishment of abandoning this young master of theirs scares him from doing so. Before he could even start taking a course of action, or rather, before he could even start thinking of one, he feels an intimidating presence exploding from the young man in front of him, casting an illusion in his mind as if he is currently standing in front of a massive mountain that overshadows the skies, causing him to shake in terror as the incomprehensible size of this mountain just starts to mess with his mind. Outside, his eyes are already rolling backwards and his mouth foaming from the fear he felt, his upright posture only lasting for a few more moments as his knees collapsed and bent, causing his entire body to fall flat into the ground. "Is that all your prided guardsman can do?" looking at the lavishly dressed young man standing just a few meters in front of him, Diluc said with a mocking, disdainful smile on his face as he cracks his fist once again, the people in the surrounding wondering just how much change happens to this upbeat young man for the duration of his time wandering outside, such change in strength they can understand from fortuitous encounters, but such change in character just something they couldn''t wrap their heads around. Looking at the lavishly dressed young man and his seemingly petrified guards, Diluc''s smile disappears in a flash as his eyes glow with ruthlessness, his hands clenching into fists once again as he starts walking towards this group of people, scaring them so much that they start taking steps backwards. Chapter 26: Own Morals Chapter 26: Own Morals"Y-you can''t k-kill me I-I am a noble!!!" seeing the bodies of these two guards of his lying flat on the ground, the lavishly dressed young man said with shaking voice as his empty threats reaches Diluc, causing the young man to laugh at his words as something in him exploded once again. "Don''t worry, I didn''t kill them..." Diluc said as a pressure similar to the one that an emperor is giving off to his subject starts oozing out of every pore in his body, making the people looking at him want nothing but to kneel in front of him to show their unwavering loyalty to him. "...Although I think it would be better for them to be crippled with the way things are going" he added as he smiles maniacally towards the group lead by the lavishly dressed young man, his smile scaring them so much that some of them couldn''t stop themselves from letting out terrified and panicked murmurs and words. "I-I''m warning you Diluc, you better not mess with me!! I am a noble!!" the lavishly dressed young man shouted in fear Diluc''s distance away from him gets smaller and smaller, some of his guards even so scared that they start going behind him, as if they are expecting him to protect them instead of the other way around. "Noble this, noble that, noble those, noble your ass you fucking useless piece of junk, you think I give a damn about you nobles huh?" as his emotion starts exploding, the emperor-like temperament collapsed and turned into that of an asura in a battlefield, as if he''s a fiend ready to lay waste and create mountains of bones and rivers of blood upon his wake, the bloodlust exploding from him suffocating the lavishly dressed young man so much that his face starts turning a sickly red. ''What the hell did this fucker got in his time outside that he grows so powerful like this!?'' the lavishly dressed young man asked to himself as he looks with eyes full of terror rather than the previous resentment towards the asura-like young man, all while his mind goes on regretting why he even starts messing with him this night in the first place. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Hey mister noble, aren''t you going to say anything to try and scare me now?" Diluc asked with an emotionless expression on his face as he looks down on this young man, his fist prepared to move towards this target anytime now and just waiting for a movement that will allow him to do so, his rational still in him, completely intact despite the raging anger he is currently feeling in his heart. Hearing his question, the lavishly dressed young man repeatedly shakes his head with the terror painted in his eyes clearly showing that he will no longer mess with this asura of a being again, causing said young man to nod in satisfaction as he disperses that pressure he is subconsciously letting out to suppress everyone in this group effortlessly. "Scram the hell out of this place now then, you''re all ruining the party''s atmosphere" he added as he turns around, disregarding this group completely as if there''s no longer anything that they can do to him, this action appearing to be a failure on his part as the lavishly dressed young man''s face changes into one of anger once again before pulling out the sword hanging on his waist, his face revealing a maniacal smile as he screams in joy while rushing towards the other young man, the people in the building trying their best to catch up with to stop his action but it is already too late. "HAHAHAHA Diluc, it is your fault for turning your back in front of me you arrogant retard, now face the consequences of underestimating a noble!!!" the lavishly dressed young man shouted in joy as he thinks of the fact that he will finally get rid of this young man who overshadows him every time when they were a kid, being the greatest genius among the nobles of this city. And when he thinks that it is finally his time to shine when he lost his parents due to the scheme of majority of the powerful nobles in the city, this young man continues to shine bright even among the common folks as he continues to cultivate with such vigor despite the lack of resources that his strength grew on par with some weaker nobles in the city, something so absurdly difficult to do due to the difference between the resources of them and his lack of resources. Not to mention that now, all those talents that seems to be suppressed for nearly a decade appears to explode into fruition once again, the feeling he is getting from this young man something that he knew he couldn''t reach no matter how great the resources his family gives to him, causing him to decide to eliminate such competition before it gets too late for him. ''It''s your fault for being too bright'' he thought to himself as he thinks that his sword should''ve pierced through his back now, only for him to be more frightened than he already does as the sword in his hand snaps into two, the only damage it does to the asura-like young man being the tear on his clothing, with nothing as much as a scratch on his back as if someone just decided to cut his clothes and nothing else. "H-how!?" filled with disbelief as he looks at the snapped sword on his hands, the lavishly dressed young man asked with a completely baffled expression, his knees shaking as the thoughts of him clashing against someone he shouldn''t finally sinks in on his mind. "This backstabbing nature of yours and your entire family is really amazing, Michael, you think that after what your bitches of parents did to my old folks I will not guard against such actions from you?" turning back towards the lavishly dressed young man, Diluc said with a smile on his face as if everything is going according to his plans, as if something that he had been waiting for finally comes into fruition. "W-what are you talking about?" hearing the words coming out of his mouth, the lavishly dressed young man asked with an unconcealable expression of horror and disbelief in his face far more intense than when he is shown of the strength of this opponent of his, as if something fundamental in him is telling him that he is screwed. "Oh please, drop with the innocent act you little son of a bitch, you think just because I''m also young back then, I wouldn''t know that your parents are the ones mainly behind my old folks'' death?" Diluc said before leaning in a bit as his hands reaches out and held the lavishly dressed young man right in the face, before lifting him high in the air effortlessly as if doing this is nothing too complicated and hard for him. "You see, while my old folks taught me all things about mercy to everyone, I do develop my own morals and principles Michael, I only show mercy to the ones that are close to me, as for my enemies, well, let''s just say nothing good will ever come upon them so long as they couldn''t eliminate me" Diluc added as the mocking smile on his face fades into oblivion, the mana in the surrounding fluctuating and surging towards him in an uncanny manner, as if they are willingly obeying his every thoughts and commands different from how spells are forcing mana to act according to its formula, making his display of power more terrifying and beautiful than even forbidden spells and techniques known only to the greatest of mages and martial artists. "W-what are you p-planning to do!? I''m telling you, you won''t get away with this!!!" the lavishly dressed young man said with a terrified expression as he struggles to get out of the asura-like young man''s grasp, his legs flailing around while his hands are trying to remove the grip of his opponent from his face, something that he always fails to do no matter how hard he tries. "You think so? I think I can get away with this though?" Diluc mocked as the mana in the surrounding surges even more, threatening to destroy the nearby tables and chairs if not for the owner of the building waving his hands and isolating the two young men from all the audience. "Although, you don''t really need to worry about me getting away, I won''t have any intention of wasting my time with you if I were avoiding confrontation with these little fuckers of parents you have, why do you think I enter myself to this mess in the first place?" he finally added as a modest smile appears in his face, this smile seemingly more of a grateful one rather than a mocking one making the lavishly dressed young man all the more terrified about what he will do, something he is about to find out as the mana around the two of them finally stopped surging as if something is about to happen. Chapter 27: Plans Chapter 27: Plans"Please Diluc, y-you don''t want to do this right? A-after all we''re fellow n-nobl©¤" finally realizing how deep under the muddy waters he is, the lavishly dressed young man, Michael, looks at Diluc''s terrifying, emperor-like figure with pleading eyes, believing that he wouldn''t go so far as to truly hurt him as they still share the same status, and a noble hurting another noble is a grave destruction of reputation to them. "I suggest you cease that mouth of yours before you start muttering even wilder things, little shit, you won''t be able to escape from this, you won''t be able to talk or scare your way out of this one, and you won''t be able to act like this again after I''m done with you, and no one, no one will be able to stop me from doing so" Diluc said with an emotionless face as the mana congregates around his hands, the mixture of the metal and wood mana being masked by the massive wind elemental mana surrounding his entire hand, a fatal mistake of hiding himself as a lady in the crowd manages to see through this disguise of his. S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "N-no, what are you going to do!!??" feeling the surge of mana swirling right in front of his face, Michael couldn''t help but get scared silly as he starts wetting himself, making his own figure appear really feeble and pathetic not only to the adventurers, but also to his own guards'' eyes, said guards looking at him with disappointment as he turns out completely different from what they thought him to be when they first decided to serve under him. "Nothing much, just enough to pull your conniving parents out of their lairs" Diluc said now with an eerie smile starting to carve out of his handsome face while looking at the lavishly dressed, panicking young man, said young man''s limbs now helplessly hanging in the air with the only thing moving frantically being his chest as he starts palpitating from the panic he is currently feeling. After saying those words, a determined look appears on his face as the mana finally forms into something, the metal mana congregating into a small spike that extends from out of his palm, the spike laced with some hint of wood elemental mana that causes any damage that is done by the metal mana to be externally healed. This means that as the metal structure poked and pierced through the lavishly dressed young man''s eyes, the wound created by it is physically healed by the wood elemental mana that passes through is at his supposed rival and enemy pulls the jutting metallic structure out of his eye sockets, only for this healing to be incomplete as he fails to see anything else, causing him to scream in absolute terror of what just happened. "M-MY EYES!!!" he said desperately as his hands waved right in front of his face, shaking more and more as every attempt to look at his hands only results in him seeing nothing but a blank, darker than black darkness, as if it engulfs not only his eyes but also his entire being. "YOU FUCKING!!! WHAT DID YOU DO!!??" trying to reach for the young man right in front of him, the lavishly dressed young man asked as he pounced forward in hopes of pulling said young man down with him, but the only thing he manages to do as he jumps being smashing his head towards a pole, a pillar of the building, making it all the more painfully obvious to him that he no longer has his sight now. "Hmm? That''s a trade secret, either way, unless you find a really talented light or life elemental healer, you won''t be able to see things again" Diluc explained nonchalantly as if what he did is something really simple for him, causing the adventurer in the building to wonder just what sort of things and changes did this poor chap experienced outside that made him able to do things like that, although his current character is also much to their likings. "Now, I''ve got no time to deal with this trivial thing anymore, bring your guards along with you and scram the fuck out of this place, or else the next thing that will disappear from its proper place will be your head from your neck, is that clear?" Diluc said with such an intimidating tone that from the absolute terror that Michael''s guards turn into some sort of will to get away from this monster as soon as possible, all of the remaining conscious ones dragging their young master away from this young man while leaving behind all of their comrades that got knocked down from the young man''s bloodlust previously. Watching the group lead previously by the lavishly dressed young noble scramming their way back to their base as if they are animals that got severely wounded, the adventurers in the building couldn''t help but cheer in laughter as they felt really satisfied from watching what just happened, their faces projecting a massive smile that seems to be proud and happy for the upbeat young man that seems to start spreading his wings and soaring to the skies already. "HAHAHA, boy, you sure made a mess of my place!!!" the middle-aged owner of the place said with a proud smile on his face, the fact that he looks at this young man like some sort of successor to him apparent on his face, something that most of the people eating here is well aware of as this very same man that takes this young man in when he is still a boy who had fallen from being a noble. "Old Arthur, I''ll definitely pay for these things one way or another" after hearing the words from the owner of the place, Diluc shifts back to his usual, easy going and free spirited self, directing his gaze towards the owner and scratching the back of his head as he helplessly smiles as if he can''t do anything about that, causing the entire place to be filled with laughter once again as the young man returns to his usual self. "HAHAHA, Diluc!!! One cheers of this young man!!!" "FOR DILUC!!!" "HAHAHA, folks, there''s no one sleeping tonight!!!" While the people filling the tables speaks among themselves after cheering for the young man, the very same young man is currently sitting in front of the counter and looking at the glass of beer fight in front of him, his eyes dazed as if thinking about something, but not for long as the raspy, deep voice of the owner of the place snapped him out of his mind as he asks a question. "So you''re set on going to the capital now, boy?" the middle-aged man said with some melancholy and reminiscing in his voice as his gaze moves towards this young man, his tall slightly thin visage appearing not so different from his skin and bone figure back when he first landed on this place, his identity as a fallen noble back then still unaware to him, an identity that he only discovers in the recent years when he starts opening himself to people once again. "That''s the plan old Arthur, I want to learn more about magic and get even stronger, so I can clear the name of my old folks as well as their companions" the young man said with a wry smile on his face while thinking that there''s really nothing that can get pass through this person''s eyes, the one he considered to be the most mysterious among this ragtag bunch had it not been for him discovering the tall lady''s cultivation being so much higher than what she told everyone it to be. "That''s not the only thing you''re going to use that strength for, isn''t it?" looking at the young man who he pretty much grown into such a fine lad after he take over as his guardian when he saw him in front of this little place of his, the middle-aged man said with wizened glow on his experienced eyes, clearly showing how much he sees through this little fa?ade of the young man. "Will you stop me if I said that there''s more to it, Old Arthur?" Diluc asked with a hint of shaking in his voice as he asked, fearing that this mysterious figure might stop him from doing what he thinks he needs to do. "Debts of gratitude and hatred are faces of the same coin young lad, and as principled peoples, we must always repay the coins that we are in debt of" the middle-aged man said with a profound tone in his voice, that sounds a little bit more desolate than how he usually is, his words entering the young man''s ears and prompting him to nod at it. "That''s... the greatest thing you''ve said to me after nearly a decade of you enslaving me in this little place of yours" Diluc said while tilting his head a bit, his words bringing surprise to the middle-aged man''s face as he couldn''t help but choke on air before he looks at him face to face, prompting the two of them to join among the laughter of the crowd near them. Chapter 28: A Lady’s Secret Chapter 28: A Lady''s Secret"Hey old man Arthur, can I borrow D for a bit?" after a while of talking among themselves, a tall beauty that seems to overshadow even most of the men in here with her height approaches the counter while looking at the middle-aged owner, one of her smooth, milky white arms already circling around the upbeat young man''s shoulders while she asks. Hearing her words, the young man circled by this beauty''s arms, Diluc, couldn''t help but show an expression of extreme distress as he secretly signals to the owner of the place, a signal that the two of them developed somehow from all these years of working together in this place. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Hey, old man, save me from this demoness'' the young man said with pleading eyes, only for his request to be flatly refused and turned down by the person he expects to get him out of this situation the most, the cold reply causing his face to drain of colors as he saw his movements. ''Don''t mess this up kid, you''re lucky one hell of a beauty like that is attracted to you'' the middle-aged man signaled before he walks to the back of the place, waving his hand towards the tall beauty before replying with a loud, and seemingly proud voice. "He''s all yours, Little Beatrice" he said before his figure disappears into the shadows, causing the young man to realize that there is no escaping this little monster of a beauty who currently has him wrapped around her arms. "Hehe~~~ what the hell are you talking about previously D? mind jogging my mind to help this sister of yours remember things?" she asked teasingly as she uses her free arm to wrap around him as well, not letting him escape from this position as she pins her into his spot, surprising him so much as he can pretty much do nothing at all to escape from her clutches. "Like I said big sister Bea, I definitely don''t have a little D down there, and you seem to agree with this as well now since you call me like that, but I am a generous guy, do you want me to show it to you just for you to confirm?" in disbelief of the things he is currently saying, Diluc couldn''t help but feel like his entire personality is starting to develop into other paths, these changes not really apparent now but he already likes as he feels like such bravery is already enough to thwart this beauty''s clearly teasing advances. "My~~~ you''re way to brave aren''t you? Forget about that for now D, do you really treat me as an elder sister like how you always call me?" she said whispering on his ears first before she finally let him go and take a seat beside him, her tone changing from the teasing, playful one to one that is way more serious than how she usually is, something that Diluc only saw for the first time out of all the time that they had been playing around with each other for years now. "What do you think?" looking at her eye to eye, Diluc replied with a confident tone in his voice, the light in his eyes not wavering a single bit as he peers into hers, his gaze causing her heart to skip a beat for one reason or another, something that she somehow fails to notice as she''s way too focused on the micro expressions that she can see in his eyes. ''Forget it, this boy is really hard to figure out'' the tall beauty said with a helpless smile on her face as she thinks that of all the times that she travels this kingdom and of all the times she had encounters with all sorts of geniuses, this young man is the only one that she always seems to fail to see through, and that is despite the other geniuses she encountered being way more gifted than him. "I will be leaving for some other place for now, I heard that you''re going to the capital, is it true?" shoving those thoughts in the back of her mind, Beatrice said with a wondering look on her attractive face before looking at the young man once again, said young man not removing his gaze at her as he nods in acknowledgement. "Is there something you want me to do?" knowing that this beauty only cares about his travels when there''s something of interest to her or something that might help him, Diluc asked in curiosity, hoping that this time, the situation involves that latter of the two as he really needs chances to find good things now. "Nothing really troubling of sort, just take this" the tall beauty replies as she throws a golden insignia towards him, said insignia carved with a giant eagle that seems to be way too realistic that it''s almost popping out from its carving, as if it is being freed from the constraint of the material it is carved from. "That thing might help you in troubling times" refusing to elaborate any more than this, the tall beauty said with a smile on her face as she continues to gulp down on her beer, taking a long while before she starts speaking to him again. "Come to think of it, there''s another thing that I want to talk about..." she said as she snapped her fingers, feeling quite fortunate that she doesn''t forget what she is going to ask him about his fight. "Go on then, Big Sis Bea, throw any question you want" Diluc answered as he keeps the insignia in his spatial pouch, quite surprised as the beauty asked a question that he never thought she will figure out, proving even more to him that this lady is so much more mysterious than she made herself to be. "Since when are you able to use three elements?" she asked directly but with a voice way lower than how she usually speaks, perhaps out of concern that other people might hear of this and become the cause for this young man to be the target of everyone''s unreasonable jealousy, or perhaps due to other completely different things. "I don''t really know, I just know that I can now" knowing that her can''t really hide something should this beauty be really so powerful, Diluc decided to admit part of the truth while hiding more crucial details in order to make his words more believable, which appears to be really effective as even this suspecting beauty believes what he just said. "Hide it for now then D, there are a lot of treasure than can allow someone to increase their affinity with certain elements, and that thing happening to you might cause a lot of envy from anyone who knows that you only have wind elemental mana affinity previously, they might even think that you are hiding such treasures in you" Beatrice said with her voice sounding more of a warning than anything else, showing her clear worry of the young man''s well-being. "I know, I know, that''s why I even used wind elemental mana to conceal the wood and metal element, who would''ve guessed that you''re so strong that you can see through that" Diluc replied to the tall beauty as they continue to drink, the two of them clearly enjoying their conversations despite the heavy topic they are currently talking about. "Good, really sensible, you''re going to shine brighter in the capital once you enter that academy..." she commented as she moves one of her dainty hands to rustle his hair, enjoying the sensation of his thick, smooth wavy hair on her hands before finally stopping after a while, the look on her face that of an elder sister who seems to be way too proud of her younger brother achieving something really important. "Shine brighter huh, I don''t even have a contracted beast yet..." Diluc said as he acted like he''s mocking himself, causing the beauty beside her to giggle in entertainment as she starts comforting him. "The academy is also a place that one can find a beast to contract, there are a lot of beasts you can find there, who knows, maybe, you can find yourself a really suitable one for you right? Not to mention your odds are significantly higher now that your affinity with elements increases drastically from a single one to three" the tall beauty comforted as she remembers that it is rare for even a dual elemental mage or martial artist to emerge in this kingdom, and those people are already terrifying geniuses capable of turning the tides in large battlefields. "How do you even know so much about that, Big Sis Bea?" Diluc wondered as he hears all these sorts of information from this mysterious adventurer, said adventurer merely just smiling at him as she places her index finger on top of her pinkish red lips before flashing a smile and replying. "It''s this old lady''s secret~~" Chapter 29: A Reward Chapter 29: A RewardThe times of party last way past the middle of the night, with the adventurers being wasted and their faces lying flat on the table, some of them even sleeping flat on the cold surface of the floor seemingly uncaring about this situation, as if they are sleeping somewhere that is so comfortable to them. Different from all these wasted people though, Diluc couldn''t help but notice that his body doesn''t even seem to be a bit drunk by all the beer and other drinks he had taken in, his mind still really clear and seemingly working even better now that he drank some things, and his body, seems to be really fine with the addition of just a warm feeling circulating his body. "Is it also the effect of the blessings?" muttering to himself as if he expects someone to answer his queries, Diluc wasn''t even surprised as a floating gray screen appears right in front of his face, the answers to his question appearing via words shown right on this screen. [Indeed, the blessings of dragons also aids anyone who receives them in improving their physique, meaning that you are currently becoming closer and closer to a dragon''s physiology rather than a human''s and such closeness will continue to increase as you receive more and more draconic blessings] "What the hell is draconic blessing even?" Diluc asked in wonder as he just couldn''t wrap his head around this concept now, his curiosity towards this thing causing him to feel like there''s something that is scratching his heart every now and then whenever he thinks about it, but somehow, only now that he decided to ask it to the Dragon Herding System as he previously thought that he can discover it all by himself. [Draconic Blessing is a process that ties the dragon to someone, blessing them with a major fragment of their soul and bonding it with someone, hence also why a dragon can only bless someone once in their entire life, as another blessing will cost them their very own strength] "So the changes come from my soul instead huh... that''s why I am gradually turning into a dragon..." the young man mutters to himself as he starts piecing the things that the Dragon Herding System is telling him previously, causing him to look forward to his future more and more. "I heard that dragons have high libido, will it also affect me in the future?" the young man asked with some hint of trouble in his eyes as if he couldn''t allow himself to be devoured by this libido, the answer coming from the system making it so that it appears like his future is about to be bleak. [It will, as even the Ruler of the Draconic Realm is subjected under the nature of dragons, you will have way better control than any other dragon, but you still need to let it out every once in a while] "That''s... well, pretty acceptable I guess" he added as he mutters to himself before he finally starts paying attention to the surroundings, the tall beauty sitting right beside him still faring pretty well similar to him, but she seems to be wasted already that she''s just a few steps away from falling into the same fate as these adventurers sleeping on the ground. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Hehehe~~~ D, look, look, there are two of you~~~" she said while giggling happily as she pokes her fingers towards one of the figures she is currently seeing, only for her slender fingers to pass through just right beside the young man she is talking with. Confused at what just happened as her fingers passed through, she pulls it back and looks at her fingers curiously to check if there''s something wrong with them, nodding to herself once she confirms that it looks pretty normal before redirecting her gaze to the young man she is talking with, flashing an entertained smile before her head falls down and smashed right through the countertop. Seeing this, Diluc couldn''t help but laugh and snicker for a bit before he shakes his head, not expecting that even someone who seems to be really powerful like Beatrice is also subjected to being drunk by this kind of beverages, something that him and the owner of this place is so used to brewing just on the back of this place. "I guess a lady such as yourself shouldn''t sleep on places like this..." he helplessly sighed as he decided to carry her on the second floor of the building where the rooms are, shouting towards the owner of this place before he do so. "Old Arthur, I''m going to borrow another room..." he said, only receiving an encouraging sound from the middle-aged man before he replied to his words as well. "Just don''t make too much of a mess boy" the middle-aged man dirtily said before he starts laughing maniacally as if he knows the things that the young man is about to do, causing the young man to trip on nothing and nearly fall face flat as he replies to this perverted middle-aged man. "There''s no fucking thing happening between us!" he said as he once again shakes his head wryly, but the middle-aged man seems to see something that is forming between the two of this younger generations, causing his lips to curve into a good smile. "Yet" he mutters to himself as he comes out of the back of the place and proceeding to clean up the mess from this unofficial adopted son of his partying too much, all while looking at all these adventurers as if they are part of this large family of his. Meanwhile already reaching the second floor, Diluc starts finding some place where he can let this beauty take her well-deserved rest, said beauty seemingly regaining a bit of her consciousness as she feels her body clinging closely to the young man''s slim body, her hands roaming around to feel him up like it''s nothing so wrong between the two of them. "Hehe~~~ D, looks like you''re gaining some muscles, just a little bit more and you will be my ideal type of man~~" she shamelessly said as she feels around his abdominal muscles, that seems way too streamline despite having a good shape in them. "Please, there''s no way I will strive to be the ideal man for you, Big Sis Bea, you''re way too troublesome of a woman to deal with" he replied with a truthful tone to his voice as he continues walking and finding a vacant room for her to sleep on, his words seemingly causing the sudden changes in her expressions as she starts to sulk. "So, you don''t want big sis?" she asked to him as she laid her head on his shoulders while she moves one of her hands towards his face, using her slender fingers to softly poke on his cheeks as she waits for his reply, her heart somehow beating so fast as she starts getting nervous about what his next words are going to be. Hearing her words, especially in that languid, sexy tone she used, the young man couldn''t help but take a large gulp of air as he tries his best to calm himself, thinking that he already has two wives and both of them being dragoness at that, and a demoness like this lady will definitely make life way harder for him, especially since he somehow knew that Yggdrasil and this Big Sis Beatrice of his is definitely going to get along really well. "Did I say anything like that?" he asked in ambiguity causing the beauty to get the wrong idea, a wrong idea that is already too late to correct as she starts giggling in joy while she flails her feet around, adding to such joyful actions her mouth humming a joyful tune as if she just won something really important to her. "Hehehe~~~ good, good, you lady''s man, you played with your big sister''s feelings really well~~~" she added as she closes her face on his, gently placing her soft, pinkish red sexy lips on his cheeks, producing a kissing sound as she clearly enjoys this moment, her already slightly sober mind already clearing the effects of alcohol on her making her clearly aware of the situation she is currently in. Despite this though, she doesn''t even shy away from this moment and instead of blaming it all on the alcohol, she even thanked its effect in her mind, thinking that had she never got placed under its magical effect, she will never have the determination to express to this young man what she really feels, especially since there''s a certain gap of age between the two of them, not to mention how they both treat each other since the start of this friendship of theirs. "T-that''s your reward for escorting this big sister of yours to a room~" she said with a smile on her face while she curses herself in her mind, in disbelief that she stuttered while wanting to look so easygoing in front of this young man. Chapter 30: Aria Chapter 30: AriaAfter settling this tall beauty down on the place she''s supposed to sleep in for the night, Diluc then headed to the room he used ever since he landed himself on this place, a room that becomes even more familiar to him than the great bedroom he used to sleep in back when he was still a child with his blood parents still there supporting him. Lying down on the old, worn-down mattress that seems to be withered by time already, he felt such comfort of the home he grew up in, enjoying such mystical feelings before he closes his eyes and starts his plans for the future once again, showing that despite her easygoing nature, he is still someone who likes to prepare for the things he is about to deal with. ''Now that I''ve offended the Andrius family, they will have reasons to attack me now'' he thought to himself before opening his eyes once again, an unshakeable confidence brimming from deep within his gaze as if everything is just as he expected it to be, the plans that he is preparing to sacrifice his life for expediting and seemingly becoming easier now due to the existence of the Dragon Herding System beside him. "I shouldn''t be too reliant on it though..." he mutters helplessly to himself as he couldn''t help but mock his own being for being so proud and confident just because he acquired the system, such mistake he is thankful of noticing early as he thinks that this will be a bigger problem should he let it grow in the future. "Let''s cultivate a bit more..." he muttered as he get up from the bed, sitting in a lotus position as he allows the ambient elemental mana to permeate and circulate through his body, this method somehow appearing in his mind the moment he established connections with Yggdrasil, and seemingly increasing in effectivity the more draconic blessing he received, a proof to that being the fact that once he managed to receive Argenta''s blessings, the speed and efficacy of this method increases two folds. As the mana around him dances in glee, the young man is completely unaware that what he is currently doing attracted the attention of the middle-aged man cleaning on the ground floor of the place, his head cocking towards the direction of Diluc''s room upstairs, the astonished expression on his face only lasting for a few moments as it got replaced by one filled with pride and happiness for the young man. "I knew he''s different from the other kid but... who would''ve guessed he''s this different" reminiscing on this familiar feeling that takes him back to his younger years, the middle-aged Arthur couldn''t help himself from helplessly smiling as a beautiful face appears in his mind, the face of a lady that always smile at him and always shows her bright side whenever she''s in his company, and from that face emerging that of a younger ones that seems to be her splitting image, always rushing towards him and wanting him to carry her all the time. "I hope the two of you are in a great place now..." he mutters as the heavy weight on his chest starts piling up once again, remembering these two precious treasures that he values so much more than his own life, a treasure that he had lost in a tragedy, an event that makes a man like him, hardened by the vicissitudes of life, shed genuine tears of sadness and longing for them. Meanwhile, the tall beauty, Beatrice, couldn''t help but feel surprised as well as she feels a peculiar feeling emanating from the room of the young man she''s just with previously, such peculiar feeling of the mana dancing joyfully in the air and rushing towards him something she''s also really familiar with, something that she will always feel whenever she''s training with someone she knows. "It feels really similar to Elder sister Aria''s way of cultivating her magic" she mutters to herself as she recalls the twin-tail haired, snow-white horned beauty that appears to be way too young compared to her actual age, a monster that can bend mana according to her will without any help of magic circles among all the things, a terrifying genius capable of suppressing beast tamers and their beast all by herself. "What more secrets are you hiding, D" she added in wonder as she looks at the wall separating her room from his, seemingly trying to see through this thick wall but refusing to completely commit herself in doing so, as somewhere in her heart, she wants him to be the one to tell her all about the things he is hiding, as she really believes that he treats her like a real family. Shoving those thoughts in the back of her mind, she decided to focus more on herself as she gathers her composure, deciding to cultivate as well as she just feels so ashamed that someone much younger and most likely much more talented than her is working so hard despite all the talent he has, such thought of working harder rather than envying those with talents proving her to be a really great lady above the masses. While she is absorbing the mana in the air though, she just couldn''t help but feel like the ambient mana is responding to her less than usual, and that is even when compared to the time that she is training with that monstrous elder sister of hers, causing her to think that this young man is even more talented and possesses the possibility to grow stronger than that little woman, something that she never expected is possible. While she thinks about this horned beauty though, said beauty starts sneezing repeatedly as if she''s about to get sick, something that is infinitesimally close to being impossible given her level of magic as well as martial arts, causing her to think that there is definitely someone cursing her behind her back among all sorts of things. "I swear to the gods in the higher realms that I will find whoever that little shit talking bad to me is then I will ground them into pulp" she mutters maliciously while showing the brightest smile she could muster on her face, the malicious intention of her words combined with the innocent, beautiful smile on her gorgeous face causing everyone around her to shiver in terror as they think that this principal is about to mete out her fist of ''justice'' once again towards an unfortunate soul. "The hell are y''all looking at!?" feeling the weird gaze she is getting from all her subordinates, people who are supposed to nurture the younger generation of the kingdom, said principal couldn''t help but threateningly stare and scan all of them, her sharp gaze scaring them so much that if one says that her gaze could cut souls, these people''s souls are definitely torn into shreds. Knowing that she will find a way to twist any of their replies into something that will result in them screwing up, these professors decided to just receive this hostile gaze silently as they bow down their heads, clearly showing just how afraid they are towards this beauty who looks way too innocent for the brutal adult society. After her daily dose of bullying these people, the horned beauty walks away from the room once again, but not before using her own prowess to demonstrate why she is the principal, reading through all sorts of documents simultaneously, processing the good ones from the bad ones and signing them effortlessly before she proceeds to use her mana to control some other quill to write on other papers, after ending this display of finesse over mana throwing everything to the people supposed to be processing these papers. "All the useless ones like bribes and payments are already disposed, take a look and read all those things I''ve signed, you can just skim it since I''m pretty sure I read and comprehended all of it just fine, and also read the note''s I''ve written since those things are the ones we need to deal with after these things" she said, waving her small hand as she used the other to turn the knob on the door opening it to exit this room before slamming it shut, surprising the professors once again. "These are..." "As expected of the principal" "I don''t know if she''s an angel or the reincarnation of the devil" S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Can''t she be both?" "Why don''t the two of you shut up with those talks? What if she heard it!? Will the two of you be the only one to suffer from the fist of ''justice''!?" Looking at the well detailed documents organized by the horned beauty, her staffs couldn''t help but feel amazed at her capability once again, their emotions a mixture of feeling really unlucky for having such volatile and violent principal, all while they also feel such luck for having someone so efficient and talented and managerial and paper works in their midst, those two being the same person. Chapter 31: Princess Alisha Chapter 31: Princess AlishaLate in the night, Beatrice wakes up all of a sudden as she feels like she had already completely recovered from the effects of the alcohol, prompting her to go out of her room to return to her home, something in her made her confident about going anywhere despite the time being the middle of the night. As she goes down the stairs, she saw the figure of the middle-aged owner of the place still cleaning up some glasses behind the counter, making her want to talk to him for a while before deciding to go back home. "You really hid yourself well, uncle..." looking at the middle-aged man with a modest smile on her face, Beatrice said with quite the respect in her tone as she knows who this middle-aged man is, or rather, who he once was. Arthur Lockhart, a terrifying martial artist renown across the kingdom as the Martial Emperor, someone who, for lack of words to describe him, is capable of singlehandedly dealing with an entire army of enemies despite martial artists being ones who are leaning more to the side of one on one combat, proving just how much exceptional he is compared to other martial artists. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Hearing the tall beauty''s words, Old Arthur couldn''t help but shake his head in denial as he smiles wryly to himself, almost as if he would rather not have such renown if he could see his family again in return. "Princess Alisha, are you interested in Diluc as well?" looking at the tall beauty sitting on the opposite side of the counter as him, Old Arthur asked with the same modest smile appearing on his face, talking to the beauty as if it is just an everyday conversation with an acquaintance despite the fact that he knows the identity of this young lady, an identity so terrifying that other people might tremble in fear should they hear of her name. Alisha Beatrice Imperia, the first princess and the current heir to the throne of the kingdom, a princess so different from other greenhouse ladies of nobility that only knows how to make themselves beautiful and elegant, a lady so exceptional that her name resounds even to the adjacent kingdoms, not because of her unrivalled beauty but rather because of other things. Other princesses from other kingdoms would rather spend their time indulging in the life of a royalty they have, having minimal practices compared to the princes of their kingdoms and just thinking of cultivation as a way to enhance their beauty, to prolong their youth, however, Beatrice, Princess Alisha, is completely different in that regards. Having an extremely monstrous senior sister under the same master, she weas quite motivated to improve her strength just for the sake of that alone, putting in extreme level of effort to reach the height she currently stands on, a height so high that there is just no possible way for someone else to oust her out of her crown princess position. "Why uncle Arthur? Would it be bad if I bring him to my people?" the crown princess asked with a careful tone in her voice as she talks with the middle-aged man, as she knows that the temper of such experts is hard to grasp and can easily switch within a second, making her, who is also crowned with the unofficial title of Princess of War, quite scared of him. "Why should I be? There''s no reason for me to get angry at anything, little princess" Old Arthur replied as she looks at her seriously, trying to peer into the depth of her eyes to see through what she wants to do with this young man who he already treats as his own son, and seeing that there is nothing malicious hiding underneath her eyes, he decided to just leave it up to the young man to decide whether he will join this violent princess or not. Hearing the reply of the middle-aged cultivation veteran, the crown princess couldn''t help but smile widely as she bows towards him, showing such respect and gratitude that makes the middle-aged man smile, thinking that there are still some good royalty and nobility around, making him hope for a proper and clean reform of the kingdom he once values so much. "Thank you for your permission, Uncle Arthur!" Beatrice smiles beamingly as she expresses her gratitude, causing the middle-aged man to wave one of his hand as if to shoo her away, but not before replying to her words of gratitude. "There''s no need to thank me, all of the decisions depends on Diluc and Diluc alone, so it''s still all up to you to convince him..." Old Arthur replied with a smile on his face as he looks at the leaving crown princess, who seems to already doesn''t hear whatever it is that he is saying. "Also, greet your master for me, little girl!" he shouted causing her to snap out of her daze, prompting her to nod towards him as she hears his words. "How will you respond to this, Diluc..." looking at the direction of the young man''s room, Old Arthur mutters to himself seeing that there''s no longer anyone in this place once again, quite looking forward to the chance given to the young man, this line of events making him remember the things he had gone through when he is young. " I hope you get stronger than me, so you can protect those who are important to you..." having experience the tragic loses of his loved ones, the middle-aged man changes into a person who wants to guide everyone to greater level of strength so that they can protect the ones closer to them better, but he knows that such ideals are just nothing but ungraspable mist given the rotten human nature, hence he just opts to help select number of people, one of them being the young man who is still currently having his complete focus on cultivation. Meanwhile on the higher level, the central place of the city, in a lavish house that seems to overshadow the other villas and mansions in the surrounding, two people, a lady who seems to be on her late forties of age and a man who seems to be on his early fifties, is currently talking as they look at the report given by the guards of one of their dear children, the tragedy that he experienced making them want nothing but to dispatch the perpetrator of such brutal acts. "Dear, you should just kill that bastard while he''s powerless!!! Who knows just what kind of atrocity he will commit if we let him grow further!??" looking at the man sitting in front of the table, the woman said in a malicious tone as she points at the portrait of the young man who is supposedly the one who did such thing to their son, a young man who looks all too familiar to them given the nature of their relationship with his parents. "He''s out for revenge, dear, that is clear from his words, but there''s really no need to deal with him in such matter, especially since he seems to be favored by the crown princess..." the man explained in a gentle, calm and composed tone as he analyzes the situation, yet despite his faked composure, one couldn''t help but notice the shaking of his fist as he clenches it hard enough for blood to start flowing out of it. ''Not to mention us, even the perpetrators back in the capital wouldn''t so easily touch that young man because of the Princess of War...'' the man added to himself as he starts massaging his forehead, thinking that there will be quite the problem in the future given just how much the young man had grown in such a short amount of time, especially when they can''t really offend him given what the crown princess can do to them. "T-then what can we even do now?!" the lady said with an annoyed expression on her face, thinking that they shouldn''t just let the perpetrator go like that, her words causing the man to smile as he looks at her as if she just couldn''t think for herself. "My dear, we might not be able to deal with him overtly but we can always do something to him out of plain sight..." the man said as he snapped his fingers after dropping the quill, a shadow-like figure appearing right beside him as he do so, surprising even the woman as she didn''t even know the existence of such people in their home. "Bring this to the Shadow Blade Clan, make sure that it will garner good amount of attention, but not too much" the man said with a sinister smile on his face as the shadow-like figure receives the letter he handed to him, the figure doing nothing but nod before he disappears into thin air once again, the couple smiling as the two of them already looks forward to the death of the young man. Chapter 32: A Terrifying Martial Artist Chapter 32: A Terrifying Martial Artist"Are you leaving now?" It is currently the next morning after the ''little incident'' with the noble in Old Man Arthur''s restaurant, said middle-aged man currently polishing his glasses behind the counter as usual, opening his mouth as he saw a tall, handsome young man with a small bag packed, carrying it on his back, said young man seemingly revealing a positive expression as if he''s really looking forward to this trip of his. "Old Arthur... I guess I won''t be seeing you for a while..." as he looks back at the middle-aged owner of the restaurant and inn he stays in for more than half of his life already, Diluc replied with a smile on his face before he turns around, taking a detour and sitting right in front of the counter instead of heading directly to the exit of the building. "Any advice you can give me before I leave?" as he looks at the middle-aged man who took care of him all these time after he lost his real parents, Diluc couldn''t help but feel a bit sentimental as he already treats this man as he second parent, giving him respect that equal, if not even higher than his birth parents who leave him at a young age. "Hahaha, what advice can an old, decrepit man like me can give a youth like you..." the middle-aged martial artist replied in a joking tone as he dismisses the young man''s words, only for him to take his words back as he saw the seriousness on the young man''s expression. "What about your revenge? You''re getting stronger now, sooner or later, you can take down that Michael''s family without any trouble" the middle-aged owner of the restaurant probe for a bit as he wants to know the current mindset of this young man he nurtured due to his sudden explosion in strength, wondering if such rapid progress affects his way of thinking. "Do you really take me as a fool Old Arthur? Those fucking bastards has no way of defeating my old folks if not for some external assistance, and dispatching them might only alert those external powers" Diluc replied as he starts looking a bit grimmer as he thinks about all the trouble he is going to go through just to seek justice and clear his parent''s name, something that he is willing to go through the depths of hell for though. Hearing his words, the middle-aged man couldn''t help but feel surprised despite all the things he had already experienced in life, said surprise causing him to be unable to hold himself back as he starts laughing uncontrollably, letting the emotions out of himself as he laughs to his heart''s content, something that he never did but had always wanted to for some years already. ''Always careful and considering all possible variables one might encounter, that''s a good trait to have...'' Old Arthur thought to himself as he looks at the young man once again, nodding his head as he couldn''t help but feel satisfied on how this young one grew up, hopefully becoming someone that is far more powerful than him to prevent any more misfortunes to descend into this young man''s own life. "That''s good, looks like you learn way more than I give you credit for" the middle-aged man said with a fatherly smile on his face, proudly smiling at the young man as if his face is saying that ''I raise this boy'' without any shade of shame on his face. "Old Arthur, don''t forget that I have the best teacher around..." Diluc replies as he looks at him, nodding to give credits when due as he knows just how much the simple advices of this mysterious middle-aged man manages to change his entire life, something that he will always be grateful for. "Of course, most of the credits goes to my unrivalled genius, but who am I to not give credits to you right?" he added lastly causing the two of them to laugh once again, this atmosphere lasting for a while before it turns serious once again as the middle-aged man starts telling some good tips and tricks from a veteran to the outside to him. "...well that was all that I can think of when it comes to practical knowledge..." after explaining for quite some time, the middle-aged man stopped as he thought that he finally goes through all the basic knowledge he has, causing him to remember something that he wants to tell this young man as a final farewell with him for a long time. "Well, if I were to give a life advice of sort, that would be to treasure the people around you more than you want, because once you lose them, then you will never be able to reclaim all those time you don''t spend with them..." Old Arthur said as the image of his wife carrying their young daughter in her arms appears on his mind once again, causing him to feel really shaken as he starts to stabilize his emotions, just this image alone enough to make him lose himself, creating a crack to the nearby glasses without him even touching them. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Hearing the words of wisdom from the middle-aged man, Diluc couldn''t help but agree to his words as he also knows the feelings of losing someone important to him, the lost of his parents something that will be etched into his heart and very being for a long time to come, hence making the two of them feels like birds of the same feathers. "Thanks for your advice, Old Arthur, I''ll try my best in the capital" the young man said as he gets down from the seat, proceeding to walk out of the building with the middle-aged man cheering for him after he said his words. "I fucking bet you will, young one, go and rampage with all your heart there" the middle-aged man shouted as he watches the figure of young man he took care of for a long time starts getting smaller and smaller as he got farther away, eventually disappearing from the crowds in the street, his disappearance signaling his change in expression as he looks towards a specific place, an obscure location that one might even think of as a dilapidated building if not for the board standing solidly right in the middle of the building. Locking on one of the papers pasted on the board, the middle-aged man couldn''t help but feel quite the anger in his bones, prompting him to take a step, a step that causes him to disappear from his previous place and arrive at his target destination. ---------- "W-what the hell do you want from us!?" a man clad in a black cloak asked with a panicked and terrorized expression on his face as he looks at the middle-aged man currently lifting him high in the air through his throat, said middle-aged man clearly someone who has beef with them given how much hatred and anger in in his eyes as he incapacitate, and sometimes even kill, the members of his clan. Hearing the man''s words, the middle-aged man takes out one of the posters hanging on the quest board, the figure of a young man, a handsome and attractive one albeit being on the thinner side at that, is drawn on the paper, with his name being printed right beneath his picture. Diluc Leonhart ¨C Mage, cultivation estimated to be around Bright Red Core to Vague Orange Core Dead or Alive 10,000 Gold Coins Reading through the basic information displayed on the paper, the man clad in black couldn''t help but feel like they kicked an iron bucket this time around, thinking that what they think is something of a quick cash grab of a mission is something that will make their clan branch razed to the ground. "Revoke this young one''s task on your kill board, and I know you have your integrity as well so I will ask it just in case, are you willing to give me the identity of the people who orders such attack?" despite knowing who is it that sent an assassin to trail behind Diluc, the middle-aged man, Arthur, still decided to ask as this is an evidence that can help the young man fight with a more reasonable excuses with this family. "I-I''m sorry, but this is an iron rule of the Shadow Blade Clan, senior, we can easily revoke that quest from the kill board but we can never reveal the identity of our clients" the man replied with a scared expression, his entire being already accepting that he is going to die on this man''s grasp but luckily for him, the days of certain slaughter is already the past to this middle-aged man. "Fine, just inform the ones already going after the boy to pull back" the middle-aged man, Arthur, said with a menacing tone in his voice, said middle-aged man not even sending a warning for this entire branch of the Shadow Blade Clan for them to know that will happen to them should they fail to accomplish what this middle-aged man wants. What this middle-aged man, and even the cloaked figure doesn''t know though, is the fact that this is not the only branch of the Shadow Blade Clan that has Diluc''s face posted on their kill board, and a lot of assassins are already out for his blood. Meanwhile, the young man in question is currently traversing through an unfamiliar woods as he navigates with a map that always used, a map given to him by his Big Sister Beatrice in order for him to find his way through all sorts of places, said young man completely unaware of the dangers he is about to face on this travel of the dangers he is currently facing. Chapter 33: Assassins "Let¡¯s see, I should probably find some treasures I can exchange for Realm Gold so I can buy another dragon¡­" traversing across the thick woods hopping from branch to branch with the assistance of his wind elemental affinity, Diluc said to himself as he checks the information on the floating grey screen currently right in front of his eyes, just a bit to the side so that his vision won¡¯t be obstructed by it. Looking at the information about his current strength displayed on it, his eyes couldn¡¯t help but get pulled at the numbers just right beneath the information about his age. [Diluc Leonhart] S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Race: Human] [Age: 16] [Realm Gold: 9,000] [Cultivations] [Magic: Bright Red Core (Combat power between Bright Orange Core and Vague Yellow Core)] [Body Tempering: Peak Skin Refining (Combat power Between Peak Muscle Conditioning and Early Blood Vessel Widening)] [Elemental Affinity: Wind, Wood, Metal] [Skills: Draconic Scale, Absolute Regeneration, Life Breathing, Heavy Metal Reinforcement, Rain of Swords, Dragon Roar, Dragon Claw, Specific Mana Manipulation (Wind)] [Overall Combat Power: 4.5-stars] [Draconic Realm] [Missions] [Shop] Seeing the amount of Realm Gold he currently have, one might think that this is already a really big number given what sort of things he can achieve in the Draconic Realm just by using this currency to purchase things in the shop, however, as the owner of the system, he is the only one sorely aware of how in dire straits he currently is in terms of financial prowess. "I¡¯m piss poor¡­" he said in self-deprecation as he continues his travels, hopping from tree to tree leisurely all while still being really observant of the surroundings, something that he learns the hard way by exploring the outside world time and time again and making such things his way to earn his living in this world. While he continues to mock his own poverty though, he starts noticing something pretty off in the surroundings, this something making him stop on his track as he starts paying more attention to the woods around him, everything seemingly far more silent than normal as if there¡¯s no longer any creatures around him. "Tsk, trying to hide in these thick woods huh¡­ let¡¯s see where you all are¡­" knowing that there¡¯s someone following him probably hiding behind some of the trees all around him, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but mutter to himself as he starts using his wood elemental affinity, using it in a way that he learns from the neon-green haired mature beauty one time they are talking about mana control. ¡¯Remember my liege, you just need to go with the flow of the wood elemental mana in the surroundings, the trees and all the children of nature will do the rest for you~¡¯ he remembers Yggdrasil telling him this as he tries to extend his senses through the help of every single living being in the surrounding that has wood elemental affinity on them, such technique bringing him quite the surprise as he feels really odd, yet somehow clairvoyant to some degree. ¡¯Got them¡­¡¯ he thought to himself as he detects five different life signatures scattered around the trees, all of them not going farther than a couple of meters from each other, making him think that this is going to be quite the easy attack as he doesn¡¯t need to spend too much effort on chasing each one of them. ¡¯One Light Orange Core, one Late Muscle Conditioning, and the rest of them are pretty much lower-level thugs¡­¡¯ Diluc takes note of the opponents as he continues to probe their strength just by observing them, the fact that he manages to see through the levels of someone with far higher cultivation than him showing just how much powerful he is. "I should go with something like this, just in case¡­" condensing wind elemental mana underneath his feet, he exploded as he shoots through the high air, surprising the assassins aiming to claim his life as he disappears all of a sudden in their eyes, causing them to frantically look around as they wonder just where the young man goes. "Search the area!! Don¡¯t let that money bag escape!!" "Damn it!! Where did that kid go? That money should¡¯ve been good for playing with women for more than a couple of months!!" The two stronger fellows in the group said as they also start panicking, the speed in which the young man disappears something they really didn¡¯t expect from someone who is only at the Bright Red Core, making them all the more wary as they start thinking that this is no normal kid they are planning to take on. Meanwhile, their target is currently floating high in the air, using a platform made entirely of wind elemental mana in order to stand in the air, looking down on the people trying to take his life without any sort of emotion in his eyes. As he stares at these people, two beautiful ladies stand on either side of him, to his right, a mature-looking, neon green haired alluring beauty is observing his attractive face with such keen interest as she hums a joyful tune, and to his left, another beauty, appearing to be of the same age as him if not a bit younger, stands, her shiny platinum hair paired with her emotionless face making a great, near perfect combination, said beauty also observing his face with such focus as if she wants to see through something from it. "Ygg, Argenta, prepare to intercept the ones escaping, I¡¯ll deal with all of them¡­" the young man, their liege and lover, said to them prompting them to nod at him, the two of them merely cheering for him in their hearts as they watch him descends on the ground once again, a metallic sheen appearing on his limbs and some on his neck and cheeks as he falls down, those sheen being scales that made him appear draconic looking, said appeal increasing all the more as a reptilian slit appears on his eyes. [Heavy Metal Reinforcement] As he descends to the ground, his body starts getting heavier, causing his descend to bear more force as he gets closer and closer to the ground, the scales around his body congregating more and more as it starts to form an armor around him, making his body grow a bit bigger than his normal size. As he crashes to the ground, one of the assassins were caught off guard by his strike, causing him to react lately as he raises his arms in an attempt to block the incoming figure about to hit him, his entire body struggling to keep its defense up as the figure finally hits him, making him feel disoriented and hurt as he feels like some of his organs even got shifted a bit due to the attack. ¡¯It¡¯s a good thing I broke through Late Muscle Conditioning, or else I might be screwed by that attack¡­¡¯ the assassin thought to himself as he looks at his damaged, almost battered arms, currently shaking and numb from the attack, but he feels like this is something that¡¯s definitely going to hurt him later. "That¡¯s quite the tough body, I thought you¡¯re definitely going to turn into a meat paste after that¡­" as the assassin tries to recover a bit through the use of mana, he got interrupted as a voice resounded through his ears, making him feel such a close brush with death with just the terrifying pressure released by the owner of the voice alone, casting him into an illusion on looking towards a massive object, only for him to find out that this massive object is an eye of a creature so incomprehensible to him. Once he took a look to the object of his terror through, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit ridiculous, immediately brushing off such thoughts of danger once he found out that the one talking with him is a young man with a Bright Red Core cultivation, someone who looks all too similar with their target if not for the scales covering major part of his body. Despite the oddities on the young man¡¯s body though, he pays no heed to them as he feels like the money is going to be worth it, causing him to smile maliciously as he starts taking steps towards the young man, the maniacal smile on his face growing wider and wider as the pressure he previously felt disappears in the air. "Hehehe¡­ obediently hand your life, boy, my fellow assassins are going to arrive here anytime soon, so there¡¯s just no way you can escape with your cultivation anymore¡­" the assassin proudly said with such confidence in his voice, especially once he crushes a stone that alerts all his companions to gather at his location just in case this young man tries to escape once again. "Really? That¡¯s good news for me then, who would¡¯ve guessed I wouldn¡¯t need to search for each one of you anymore?" hearing the assassin¡¯s words, the young man, Diluc, couldn¡¯t help but beam with a smile of relief, causing the man trying to kill him to wonder in a mixture of terror and confusion. Chapter 34: Rain of Swords Hearing the words from their supposed to be prey, the Martial Artist assassin couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit wary of him once again, remembering the pressure he felt when he first saw him, causing him to take a gulp of his own saliva as he wills himself to not fear the young man, the only thing he can convince himself to fight the figure in front of him being the fact that he has a far lower cultivation than him. ¡¯There¡¯s no need to interrogate these bastards, I know clearly well who will send an assassin to me this time¡­¡¯ Diluc thought to himself as he decided to spare no mercy towards these people trying to take his life for money, the most likely perpetrator appearing on his mind as the image of the lavishly dressed young man appears with it. ¡¯They¡¯re getting wary of me now¡­¡¯ he thought to himself, happier rather than being troubled as the fact alone that these people sent someone to dispatch him is a proof that he probably will have, or already has enough capabilities to deal with them. "Soon¡­" he blurted out thinking of just how much longer it will take for him to clear his birth parent¡¯s names and bring justice to the ones who killed them, his words leaking out such intense killing intent that causes the assassin to take a step back, wondering just how such a young man developed that terrifying of a killing intent. "Hmm? You haven¡¯t attacked? That¡¯s weird, I thought you are really confident?" snapping from his thoughts, Diluc then directs his attention to the Martial Artist still rooted on his previous spot, causing him to approach as if to provoke the assassin, his steps forward causing the assassin to take backward steps responsively, as if he is subconsciously terrified of the figure in front of him. "W-what manner of being are you!?" now that he thinks about it, the scales on the young man appears to be something really integrated on him, previously he thought that it might just be something of an effect due to him assimilating with his contracted beast, but now that he thinks about it, there¡¯s not even a single trace of beastly aura from the young man standing in front of him. ¡¯I thought we might even pick up a beast up for contract once we killed this guy, but I think we needs to worry about our life more than the riches we can probably get from this task¡­¡¯ the Martial Artist thought to himself as he prepares his entire body, clenching his leg muscles in preparation of exploding himself to move away from this area, his attempt about to go for naught as the young man starts speaking once again. "Looks like your friends are here as well¡­" Diluc said with a brutal smile on his face as he detects four other life signatures in the nearby area, some of them warily hiding in an attempt to take him by surprise while some of them goes front and decided to attack him face to face, not even giving the strongest martial artist among them the time to warn them of the dangers of fighting this young man. [Rain of Swords] S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As he watches the assassins approach him, Diluc once again uses a draconic skill from his arsenal, weapons created from pure mana appearing in massive numbers high in the air, its shining edges causing the opposing group to look up in the sky where they see their apparent harbinger of death, on their sight, two figures of what appears to be ladies floating even higher in the air, making them wonder whether they are just passersby. "W-we surrender young hero!! Please spare our lives!!" Seeing the massive array of armament seemingly all pointed towards them, the assassins couldn¡¯t help but kneel on the ground as they banged their heads on the floor, hoping that this young man is merciful enough to let them go, something that they think is highly probable given how young of an adult he is, making them think that he¡¯s someone who has yet to experience the ruthlessness of the world. ¡¯Once we escape this place, we should bring more brothers with us to dispatch this guy¡¯ no longer thinking of this as a matter of money but rather as something related to their pride, these assassins all thought of the same thing at the same time as they remain close to the ground, nervously waiting for the young man¡¯s response, the words coming out from his mouth next making their eyes wide in disbelief. "I can spare you if you offer me something¡­" the young man said with a pretentiously gracious expression as he looks down on them, making their eyes glow in hope as they start blabbering all nonsense about how valuable items are in their spatial pouches. "T-tell us, what do you want from all of those, young hero??" the strongest mage of the group asked with such humbleness in his tone that one might not believe how arrogant of a person he is usually, all of them thinking that they are about to go away from this hellish place now only for their hopes to be doused as they heard the young man¡¯s next words. "I want your lives" Diluc said with a smile on his face as he waves one of his hands, the arsenal of cold weapons made from mana descending from the air towards the back of the assassins still kneeling in front of him, the sight of dozens, maybe even hundreds of weapons closing in on them making them feel the touch of death, their bodies frozen in place out of sheer terror, unmoving no matter how much they struggle to get up and away from this place. "Noo!!!!" As the weapons approaches them, some of the men shouted in desperation as a final attempt to save their own lives, an attempt that end in spectacular failure as the moment they raises their heads and shouts loudly, a massive sword, a polearm, and even a glaive got shoved in their mouths, the ones fed with sharp weapons having their jaws severed from their faces as the weapon continues to tear through, separating their neck from their nape, ending their torturous demise as the weapon pierces through their hearts. The rain of weapons doesn¡¯t end there though, the hundreds of varieties of arsenals continue to rain down on them, making their entire bodies riddled with holes first, then gradually disappearing into a river of blood, pastes of flesh and smithereens of bones at the end of the brutal attack. After finishing this though, Diluc still has the guts to look into their mangled, unidentifiable corpses that already mixes with each other, smiling as he saw five spatial pouches that still survives even after all his assault, on them, a brand of a black dagger piercing a purple heart is clearly seen, perhaps something related to the force they belong to. Before he can even start to count the loot of this ¡¯lucky encounter¡¯ though, the young man is interrupted as two heavenly beauties descends from the skies, beauties that anyone might even mistake for goddesses if not for the draconic horns on their heads, signifying what sort of terrifying beings they truly are. "We didn¡¯t even get our fun~~" one of the beauties, an alluring, neon-green haired mature lady, said with a helpless smile on her face before shaking her head, looking at the young man who holds the spatial pouches of the assassins as if he wronged her somehow. Meanwhile, the other beauty, a youthful, platinum-haired, seemingly taciturn one, nodded at the mature beauty¡¯s words as she looks at Diluc as well, her eyes having a fiery glow clearly showing just how much she wants to fight as well. "There¡¯s no need to dirty your hands with such menial tasks, girls, you will have your own fights later¡­" Diluc explains as he pulls them closer to him, causing the two beauties to blush a bit before they nodded towards him, their connections shared with him through the blessings they gave him causing them to know that this is what he truly thinks. "While you might not want us to do such tasks, it is our duty as your subject, first and foremost, my dear liege" Yggdrasil, who often prides herself for being a playful person, said in utmost seriousness causing the young man to be taken aback, her words resonating with him yet somehow, he couldn¡¯t help but feel like this is just unnecessary. "But you two are more than just my subjects, right?" he retorted causing the mature beauty to be stupefied in turn, causing her to realize that he really values the two of them as his woman more than she give him credit for, perhaps the only thing that made her fail to realize that being the fact that dragons and humans thinks in a different spectrum. ¡¯He¡¯s definitely growing more and more like a dragon now though¡­¡¯ she thought to herself as she watches him grow into a character more fitting to be a ruler of such mighty beings than his previous character, his ruthlessness to his enemies being the most apparent trait he acquired ever since he become the Ruler of the Draconic Realm. Chapter 35: A New Dragon "How are these things, are they of any value if I sell them?" looking at all the ¡¯treasures¡¯ in the assassin¡¯s spatial pouch now laid on the ground after examining each and every single one of them, Diluc asked, the beauties knowing full well that he isn¡¯t addressing them, merely remains silent for a while before they saw the floating gray screen as well. [All these junks sold will only amount to a thousand Realm Gold] The Dragon Herding System replies, causing the young man to sigh in pity as he couldn¡¯t believe that the things that he thought would make him rich can only amount to such meager money from the system, but having no alternatives to earning Realm Gold, he accepted such price nevertheless. [Diluc Leonhart] [Race: Human] [Age: 16] [Realm Gold: 10,000] [Cultivations] [Magic: Bright Red Core (Combat power between Bright Orange Core and Vague Yellow Core)] [Body Tempering: Peak Skin Refining (Combat power Between Peak Muscle Conditioning and Early Blood Vessel Widening)] [Elemental Affinity: Wind, Wood, Metal] [Skills: Draconic Scale, Absolute Regeneration, Life Breathing, Heavy Metal Reinforcement, Rain of Swords, Dragon Roar, Dragon Claw, Specific Mana Manipulation (Wind)] [Overall Combat Power: 4.5-stars] [Draconic Realm] [Missions] [Shop] Seeing the amount of money he currently have, the young man couldn¡¯t help but form a smile on his face as he navigates through the shop of the system, taking a look at a specific habitat on there, his smile getting even wider as he saw the price of said habitat. "It¡¯s a good thing that all living habitat for the dragons are something quite affordable¡­" he mutters to himself as he scrolls through the other locked, yet displayed habitats in the shop, seeing that most of them doesn¡¯t even reach a five-digit price tag for him to purchase, making him think that it is going to be just easier from here when it comes to Realm Gold problems. [Fire Floating Island (5,000 Realm Gold)] [Description: A floating island filled with great volcanic mountain ranges, most of them being active and spewing magma all the time in them, a perfect place for any dragon with relation to the fire attribute to reside in. Currently able to house five dragons simultaneously, can be upgraded] After seeing this and knowing that he now has enough money to afford another dragon, he starts laughing to himself as he opens the entrance to the Draconic Realm, making the two dragonesses to move before him, taking a step towards the portal after making sure that the two beauties already arrive at the other side, his laughter still echoing in the woods as his figure disappears. Arriving at the all too familiar, great view and atmosphere of the Draconic Realm, Diluc couldn¡¯t stop himself from taking a deep breath as he takes in the extremely fresh and uniquely powerful mana dancing around in the air of this place, before letting out a satisfied sigh as he allows the air he takes in to circulate around his body. "Man, there¡¯s really no place that beats home¡­" despite only possessing the Dragon Herding System for a while, he couldn¡¯t help but feel like this place is already his new home, with loved ones waiting for him all the time, a comfortable place to live and sleep on, as well as a great location to temper and train himself, making this an all-around place that is more than likely all the people in the world¡¯s dream. "What are you planning to do today, husband~~" knowing that there is some purpose why her liege and lover hurriedly urges her and her sister Argenta to move back to the Draconic Realm, the mature, neon-green haired alluring beauty, Yggdrasil, couldn¡¯t help but asks as she stares at the floating gray screen currently situated in front of her beloved, something that he once mentioned that only them, his dragons, can see, of course, except for him. "You¡¯re about to get a new friend" Diluc replied as he navigates through the system¡¯s shop once again, his smile getting wider and wider as he finally found what he is looking for, something that he already sets his eyes on previously. [Fire Dragon Egg (5,000 Realm Gold)] [Contains an infant pure bred, Fire elemental True Dragon inside, needs to be incubated on the True Dragon Nourishing Tree in order to show its true potential. The talent of the dragons bought from the shop has an absolute random chance, meaning the chance of the dragon being the highest of talent and the chance of it also being the lowest of talent and anywhere in between is the same.] ¡¯Since Yggdrasil is a wood dragon and Argenta is a metal dragon, my defensive and survival capabilities are already through the roof because of their blessings, now that I lack some offensive abilities, I should probably opt for a fire dragon¡¯ the young man thought carefully, this not being the only choice he has if he just wants additional firepower, however, the fact that the fire dragon is also part of the five elements makes him all the more compelled to buy this as he wants to finish his current mission, knowing full well that missions are most likely the main source of Realm Gold for him. Clicking on the image of a fiery red, scaled egg, he watches as his Realm Gold starts to fall into the four-digit value once again, his lament to his poverty striking once again as he realizes that this entire savings will be wiped out the moment he purchased a habitat for this young one as well, the only thing comforting him from this reality being the fact that he will finally receive another blessing once again. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After clicking on the image of the Fire Dragon Egg, a flash of brilliant light appears right in front of him, just a moment later an egg-shaped figure appears from the flash of light, emitting a heat so strong that he suddenly feels parched, the only reason why his clothes are still on his skin and not burning being the fact that mana automatically wraps around his figure the moment he feels the discomfort of the heat. "Quite the feisty one, isn¡¯t she?" as the green glow from the wood elemental mana surrounds her, Yggdrasil claims with a smile on her face as she moves closer towards Argenta, who is currently wrapped in a clear white glow of metal elemental mana, both of them not even feeling any discomfort from the heat being emitted by the new addition to their family. "Another lady?" sniffing the air, Argenta couldn¡¯t help but say to her Senior Sister with a hint of wonder in her voice, said senior sister looking at her with surprise as she never expected that this young beauty is someone who has more acute sense of smell than her. After focusing on the egg of the fire dragon currently being carried by their beloved, Yggdrasil also figures out the gender of the new addition to their family, smiling as she notice trace of some jealousy on her junior sister¡¯s eyes. "You worried of the new girl?" she asked with a hint of teasing in her voice as she looks at the platinum-haired taciturn beauty, looking at her with interest plastered on her gorgeous face as this is the first time she saw this young beauty being so expressive except for when she is expressing her affection for their liege. Hearing her senior sister¡¯s words, Argenta couldn¡¯t help but look at her before she nods her head with worry apparent in her eyes, something about having a new companion that will most like they will share their liege with just doesn¡¯t sit normally for her yet. Seeing her response as well as her expression, Yggdrasil couldn¡¯t help but giggle as she bears the same sentiment as her from when before she hatches, only, she is able to hide her emotions better than her causing her dear liege to not notice anything amiss with her when Argenta is still an egg. "You don¡¯t need to worry about anything like that Argenta, Diluc is someone who will never forget the ones important to him¡­ don¡¯t you remember, his parents¡­" as she starts explaining, the two of them recalls the sudden influx of sorrow as they arrive near the city that their liege used to live in, the sadness in his heart when he visits the grave of his birth parents something that is conveyed to them as well due to their connections from the blessing, making them aware just how much the young man values ties with everyone despite his external veil of being a playful, unfettered one. "Besides, haven¡¯t you seen him neglecting me with you around? No, right?" the mature beauty pointed out causing the younger one to nod at her words, realizing that the claim of this senior sister of hers is proven to be true, making her more comfortable to the fact that there¡¯s another addition to this currently small family of theirs, this eventually making her looks forward to meeting the one within the currently incubating egg. Chapter 36: Hatching The Fire Dragon Egg After making sure that the Fire Dragon Egg is safely secured on the True Dragon Nourishing Tree, Diluc then proceeds to open the Dragon Herding System once again as he navigates its shop, ending at the habitat section and unhesitatingly purchasing the Fire Floating Island. After clicking on the image of the new floating island on the shop, a usual scene that no one among the three will never get used to starts revealing itself once again, a massive tear in space appearing all of a sudden as it shatters the image of the skies itself, from behind the veil of darkness obscuring what is beyond this spatial tear appearing a new floating island at the same size as the two floating islands where Yggdrasil and Argenta resides respectively, this one completely different from each of their own resting place. With the size being the only thing similar to the habitat of the two goddess-like dragonesses, this Fire Floating Island floats on the same level as them, the shape of the mountain range situated on this massive island something that inspires awe to anyone that sees it with just its size alone, not to mention the fact that all of the peaks of this mountain range is glowing in a fiery hot red, the magma consistently flowing out of the crater on top of those peaks something that made this habitat all the more visually pleasing, especially when one observes it at night. This magma on top of those peaks made it appear more mystical as well, the scorching heat that no normal creature can bear more than enough to bend light itself, making the area around it appear particularly distorted to anyone¡¯s sight. While it might appear to be a particularly dangerous and life-threatening habitat though, the group of three, two draconic beauties and one young man doesn¡¯t seem to be all that affected despite being in close proximity with the newly arrived floating island, all three of them feeling that the spatial rift it appears from is something far more dangerous than this burning hot, hellish habitat instead. After touring around this new addition to the Draconic Realm, all three of them then proceeds to carefully watch and wait until the Fire Dragon Egg hatches, the three of them doing nothing but observing the egg while they converse with each other to pass some time. "The farm can only sustain so much, you all are consuming quite the Magic Fruit everyday now I think I need to increase the number of farms from now on" Diluc mentioned as he scrolls through the shop of the system once again, seeing something that piques his interest in the [Farms] section of the shop, a new addition to the [Magic Fruit Farm] once displayed there all alone. [Congratulations for leveling a dragon up to the Peak of the First Realm (First Realm pertains to either the Red Core or Skin Refining or even both)] Taking a look at the thing he wants to purchase, he also opens the information about the new farm he saw in the shop, wanting to compare which one among the two of them is better in terms of practicality to his current situation. [Magic Fruit Farm (1,000 Realm Gold)] [Description: Finish constructing in a minute and ready for harvest within four minutes, yielding 4~6 fruits per harvest. Only required to water once a day. Providing a young dragon with this as its meals will continuously nourish its body to the highest degree until the adolescent stage. Provides high level of filling and satisfaction to young dragons with just a single fruit.] After reading the farm that gets the two draconic beauties to their adolescent stage, the young man then reads the information about the new farm, his eyes widening in surprise not only because of its price, but also because of the effects brought about by this new product. [Dragon Heart Fruit Farm (5,000 Realm Gold)] [Description: Finish constructing within fifteen minutes and ready for harvest every twenty minutes, yielding 2~4 Dragon Heart Fruits per harvest. Requires watering twice a day. Feeding this to an adolescent stage dragon every day will allow subtle improvement to their bloodline constantly, along with an increased rate of growth, regeneration and healing, in addition to it being a satisfying delicacy enough to fill an adolescent dragon for the day with just a single fruit.] [Note: Be careful when feeding to younger dragons as it might cause them to experience indigestion due to the potency of the fruit] Seeing the thing in front of him, the young man couldn¡¯t help but think that this is far more efficient than the Magic Fruit Farm, the only thing preventing him from immediately purchasing it being the fact that he no longer has any Realm Gold to do so, once again causing him to wallow in pity for his poor self, deciding that he will do something about it once he reached the capital of the kingdom. "Hmm~~ that is some good stuff" despite not having the knowledge about Dragon Heart Fruit from her inherited memories, Yggdrasil still deduced that this is something really good just because of the information presented to them, and that is even comparing to all the stuffs she knows because of her inherited memories. Having nothing else to express but agreement, the taciturn platinum-haired beauty couldn¡¯t help but nod at the mature beauty¡¯s words, only pausing in regret as she saw the numbers on the upper left corner of her liege, her lover¡¯s floating gray screen. "Not enough money¡­" she said with her gentle, near flat emotionless voice as she points out at the eye-straining zero displayed, causing the young man to laugh helplessly as he thought that he really needs to do something about it sooner or later. "It¡¯s a good thing that we have the Magic Fruit Farm already, Argenta, else we even need to find some things outside that can barely satisfy us¡­" the alluring, neon green-haired beauty consoled as she looks at the purple fruits hanging on the vines of the only food source they have ever since they are born, which is not really that long of a time for a human not to mention a dragon, her eyes also revealing a hint of desire to taste this new fruit that the system has shown. "Maybe I should bait some more assassins to earn some money for the Dragon Heart Fruit Farm¡­" Diluc mutters to himself as he saw the looks on these two beauties¡¯ eyes, his heart wanting nothing more than to buy this new farm as he also wants to try its effect on him, his words causing the two beauties to look at him in worry as if what he just said bothers them. "My liege¡­ no need to forfeit your safety for our wants¡­" the wood dragoness said with a hint of concern in her tone as she knows just how reckless this lover of hers can be, the chances of him really doing what he just said being something that is more than just a non-zero probability. "Mn¡­ liege can just buy it when you can afford it¡­" even the taciturn beauty expresses herself strongly with this, her eyes glowing as if she will stop this young man should he really go with his reckless plan, not that she can stop him given the gap of their strengths now but she will try to do so nonetheless. Seeing the expression on these two beauties¡¯ eyes, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but smile gratefully, thanking whoever it is that grants him this fate for gracing him with these two understanding women, their words making him think that he should really try and go ahead with such plan. "Don¡¯t worry, I know what I can do, and I know when to run¡­" he said, comforting them, yet never promising to really avoid doing his plan, this subtle wording causing him to get past through the head of these ladies, who are now nodding at his words with a satisfied expression on their gorgeous faces. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Now we only need to wait for the young one to emerge out of her shell~~" after this small talk with her beloved liege, the alluring neon green haired beauty, Yggdrasil, said as she returns her focus to the scaled, flaming hot dragon egg currently in the middle of its incubation, the pulses it is giving off every second as its flaming parts glows causing each one of them to know that this one is going to be a really powerful dragon as well, making them wonder just how their liege nourishes high caliber draconic talents every time. Meanwhile, Argenta is also looking at the egg eagerly, now looking forward to its emergence as her senior sister promises to let her experience taking care of the young one, something that said senior sister did with her, hence why she also wants to experience it as well. While the two draconic beauties currently in their human form are waiting for the emergence of the new addition to their family, their liege, Diluc, is currently looking at this Fire Dragon Egg with a hint of nervousness in his eyes, still not getting used to the feeling of constantly thinking about what if something goes wrong despite already having experienced this moment for the third time now. Chapter 37: Seraphina While they are waiting for the fire dragon to hatch out from its shell, the Ruler of this Draconic Realm, Diluc Leonhart, goes down as he is still anxious about the result of this incubation, deciding to get a fresh Magic Fruit right from the farm as it is only a few moments until the young dragon hatches from its shell, this timeframe just enough for him to pick up what he wants and return back on the True Dragon Nourishing Tree to witness the young fire dragon emerging from its shell. As he arrives at the location, he couldn¡¯t help but pay attention at the two draconic beings, beauties of an unrivalled level of their own, looking at the egg now losing its previous fiery red glowing luster, both of them showing not concern but rather excitement as they know what this signifies, the fact that the young one inside manages to successfully absorb all that energy being fed to her directly by the True Dragon Nourishing Tree. "She¡¯s about to come out~~~" Yggdrasil mutters as she saw a miniscule crack appearing right on the upper most part of the shell, the crack getting larger and larger as it bulges outwards, almost as if someone is hitting hit from the inside. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "A junior sister¡­" looking at the young fire dragon trying to escape from the confines of her shell, the taciturn Argenta said with a rare smile on her beautiful face, her eyes glowing in anticipation of being a senior sister for someone as she only experienced being the junior sister with the wood dragon standing right beside her. As this continues, the cracked egg shell eventually starts falling apart from the structure of the egg, the falling parts exposing to the world another majestic creature on a reptilian form, a flame mane on its neck and burning through her horns, her reddish scales making her appear all the more regal-looking as it appears like numerous blood rubies are covering her skin. After getting a peek of the outside world, the young fire dragon couldn¡¯t help but growl at the first people it saw, all of them seemingly sharing the same smell as her, albeit the one right in the middle of the three, the one seemingly completely different from the two figures, being that of someone with a fainter familiar smell than the two, yet somehow, the very same figure feels the most familiar to it. Poking its head back on the insides of the shell, this young one seems to be the most outgoing and quirky among all the dragons, numbering three now, that Diluc hatched, the young hatchling after doing so then quickly extending its still wobbly limbs to break out of the confinement of her shell, said shell exploding into smithereens and nearly spreads across the entire True Dragon Nourishing Tree if not for the Ruler of the Draconic Realm using his authority to stop every bits and fragments of the shells spreading through all directions. After seeing what the young man does, the young fire dragon couldn¡¯t help but roar at him, not because of anything else but pure admiration, seeing this show as a display of his power, causing her to look at him in awe. "Are all dragons really this innocent at birth?" looking at how this young one acts, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but ask more to himself rather than anyone else as he gathers the fragments of the shell around, handing it to the hatchling now moving towards him. "You¡¯re¡­ a parent, liege, or well¡­ a benefactor of the highest degree¡­" the taciturn Argenta explains as she clearly understands how this young fire dragon feels, the fact alone that she was nurtured since the very start of her life in a top-tier place something that is already enough for the young man, their liege, to earn her eternal gratefulness, not to mention the fact that he really cares for them as well. "This might be due to your changing bloodline because of our blessings, my dear liege~~~" the alluring Yggdrasil added to her junior sister¡¯s words, making Diluc understand the significance of the blessings he receives from all these dragons even more. "So the blessings also increases my affinity with other dragons?" he clarifies, earning a nod from the wood dragoness as the Dragon Herding System pops up to confirm his speculation. [Indirectly, yes, since each blessing enhances and change your bloodline into more of a dragon, a powerful one that perfectly mixes each and every single elemental affinity of the draconic race as is] "Then why the closeness of the young ones? I once read that dragons are innately prideful being at birth" Diluc asked, quite curious about why he just seems to be a magnet for these draconic ladies. [As already explained previously, depending on the dragon¡¯s gender, they revere their liege in a different way, but always shows their loyalty to him one way or another, this might be the way that they revere you because of the precedence from the very first dragon you managed to get the blessing of] As he reads the explanation of the system, the young man starts nodding as he understands it more and more, his eventual deduction being the fact that should he receive enough blessings from the dragons he will grow from now on, it might come to the point that he doesn¡¯t even need to do a thing for those with draconic bloodline to revere him, a thought that causes him to look forward to his future even more. After this round of explanation, he already saw the young fire dragon currently munching on its egg shells, the look of satisfaction on its face something that made the two draconic beauties, Yggdrasil and Argenta, to look at her with such adoration on their eyes as if they found a great toy to play with. As much as they look at the new dragon like that though, they treat her like a new little sister for them to take care of, immediately playing around with her the moment she starts learning how to walk properly, prompting the young fire dragon to roar in joy as she chases around these two ladies that bears the same scent as her, the joyous figure of the three dragoness chasing each other and playing around causing their liege, Diluc, to smile as he never expected that he will experience such kind of warm life once again. "Fufufu~~~ go now little one, chase our liege instead~~" after the two of them got intentionally caught by their current youngest sister, Yggdrasil giggles her heart out as she, along with the second dragon in the group, the taciturn Argenta, points towards their liege, causing the hatchling to roar at him as she starts rushing forward, causing the two beauties to smile as they take their turn to enjoy the show. Meanwhile, the young man merely waits for this young one to approach him, eventually reaching arm¡¯s length distance with each other, the moment they enter that range causing the young dragon to just stop on her track as she looks up at this young man, who seems to feel way more familiar to her than the ladies she just played with. Seeing the look on the young dragon¡¯s eyes, Diluc then smiles at it, holding his hand out and waiting for her to reach out to his hands, his waiting not going for too long as the young one touches him with its nose, the scorching hot temperature of its body receding into a gentle warm as it touches his skin, making both of them feel like they are connected to each other. Closing both their eyes, the young man found himself in a familiar place that he only saw twice in his lifetime, thrice if counting this moment right now, but despite only being in this place for a few times, he already instinctively knows what to do as he follows the invisible treads that anchors his being here and feels like connected to someone else on the other side, the one on the other side appearing after not so long as it also follows the invisible threads towards him. "I take it that you gave me your blessings as well?" Diluc said as he lifted the corporeal form of the young fire dragon, his actions and words causing her to roar with pride in her eyes, looking at him as if telling him that it is his honor for her to bless him, causing him to laugh his heart out as this gaze turns into a silly smile once he smiles at her. "You want a name as well?" he asks as he returns the young fire dragon to the ground, earning him an excited growl as it prances around, circling him excitedly as if it is waiting for this exact moment to happen ever since they enter this place. Seeing how the hatchling acts, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but think of just how interesting dragons are as a creature, shoving this thought in the back of his mind for later times as he starts to focus on the name of this young one, his mind sparking with a hint of what he thinks is a great idea as he smiles before opening his mouth. "A lady that embodies the burning flame in her wings, from now on, you will be named Seraphina, after the burning seraphim of myths" Chapter 38: New Skills Hearing the name being given to her, the young fire dragon hatchling couldn¡¯t help but roar in celebration as even she who seems to have quite the pride on herself despite being just born, takes the name as something really worthy of her, causing her to express such feelings by prancing around her liege without any care in the world. After a few more minutes of them playing around in this blank space, both the young fire dragon and the human feels like they are being pulled away from this place now, causing them to just smile at each other as both their corporeal bodies in this realm starts fading into nothing, their consciousness coming back to their physical body with the two of them feeling like they understand each other more than before. After feeling that there is another one that seems to be closely connected to his being, the Ruler of the Draconic Realm, Diluc, clenches his fist as he feels the newfound power he receives from the newly named Seraphina, causing him to smile in satisfaction once he starts feeling another element of mana in the air. Feeling and somehow seeing the bright red specks of light once he uses his mana to interact with the surrounding mana in the air, he finally felt the greatest effect of this blessings, his ability to bend and control this fire elemental mana according to his own will causing him to feel quite entertained playing with them for a while. Meanwhile, the dragonesses who are just a few meters around him just watches him play around and discover this strength he just acquired, even the new to the world Seraphina seems to possess enough intelligence to tell herself that she should allow this young man to just do whatever he is currently doing. After finally feeling satisfied with how he can control the fire elemental mana now, Diluc then redirected his attention to the draconic beauties currently looking at him along with the young fire dragoness who has yet to attain her human form. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Summoning the gray floating screen to take a look at the strength of the young hatchling, Diluc then starts reading through the information of the dragoness he just named, the screen appearing causing the two dragoness who are both in their human form to take a peek on the screen as well. The young man just allow them to do whatever they wants though given that he is just looking at the information of the hatchling who is the latest addition to their gradually growing family, all of them thinking that she¡¯s definitely not going to be the last. [Seraphina] [Race: Dragon (Fire)] [Age: (Infancy)] [Cultivations] [Magic: Vague Red Core (Combat power at Vague Orange Core)] [Body Tempering: Early Skin Refining (Combat power at Early Muscle Conditioning)] [Elemental Affinity: Fire] [Skills: Draconic Blessing (One-time use, already consumed), Draconic Scale, Eternal Flames, Eruption, Dragon Roar, Dragon Claw] [Overall Combat Power: 4-star] After looking at the information of Seraphina currently displayed, Diluc pretty much confirmed that he, once again, nourishes another top-tier talent of the dragon race, an odd enough situation that made him perplexed given that all the ones he nourished until now shares two similar facts among all of them, the first one is that all of them are top tier talents even to the dragon race, and the second one being the fact that all of them turns out to be ladies. ¡¯Don¡¯t tell me that the dragon race is dominated by its women?¡¯ thinking of his experience so far, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but imagine and think to himself, as this might be the only explanation for this event he encountered that seems to just be too impossible for it to be coincidental. [The draconic race is neither patriarchal or matriarchal in nature, only the strongest dragon of one generation can claim the position of being the ruler of the race, and that defines whether that time period will be a matriarchal or a patriarchal rule for the dragons] ¡¯I see, yet another fact that I don¡¯t know yet¡­¡¯ the young man said as he starts stroking his chin as if he read another fascinating piece of information, before nodding satisfyingly as if his curiosity towards this subject is already sated. [The world is huge, and you will learn more and more the stronger you grow.] [For the record, you are the current ruler of the race] Seeing the last line of words from the Dragon Herding System, he couldn¡¯t help but start getting confused especially since he knows the current limits of his strength, while far exceeding his current cultivation realm, is still something within the lower level of the spectrum if the experts limited to this kingdom alone, not to mention the entire continent and the other places beyond that. ¡¯What do you mean by that?¡¯ after reading the information, Diluc just suddenly starts to feel an unscratchable its in his heart, causing him to feel a bit antsy as he doesn¡¯t want to let this question of his unanswered, which is exactly what happens as the floating grey screen refuses to elaborate further. Dismissing this and putting those thoughts in the back of his mind for now though, he then focuses on the new skills that seems to be unique to Seraphina and possibly all the other dragons who possesses affinity to fire elemental mana, with him being the only one looking at the floating screen now given that his two lovers seem to be focused on playing with the young fire dragon hatchling once again. [Eternal Flames (Passive)] [Description: A skill unique to the creatures who had branched off from the union of the Prime Dragon of Light and the Prime Dragon of Destruction, a flame that grants all fire elemental dragons the chance to be reborn from the flames just like the legendary phoenix do, as well as allow them to burn everything around them in the process of this rebirth] [Eruption (Active)] [Description: A skill unique to the creatures who had branched off from the Prime Dragon of Destruction, it is a skill so devastating in the hands of the powerful that even other members of the dragon race tend to fear it just from its potency alone. Creates a massive surge of power for the dragon using it to utilize, improving all physical and mental faculty by consistently increasing the circulation of blood and even mana by invigorating them with the heat of the absolute flame controlled by the fire dragons, granting them an extreme strength for a set period of time depending on the dragon¡¯s strength, tolerance as well as their mastery of this skill] Once he finished reading through everything, the young man, the ruler of the Draconic Realm, couldn¡¯t help but clench his fist in excitement, the two skills he acquired seems to be way powerful, as well as something with a lot of utility. ¡¯How many times can I use the Eternal Flame skill?¡¯ as he watches the ladies and the draconic hatchling running around and playing on the fields of grass after descending down from the True Dragon Nourishing Tree, the young man asks, waiting for the system to appear, this time not leaving him hanging in the air unlike his previous question to it. [You can use it as long as you have enough mana] "How much mana will I consume per use of it then?" seeing the words on the screen, her then proceeds to ask the crucial question that will allow him to determine just now absurd this skill will be in the battlefield, where everyone¡¯s lives, even the lives of the extremely powerful existence, is hanging by a thread each and every second. ¡¯Not like I see being in any large battlefield in the near future but, better to be prepared¡­¡¯ he thought to himself as he finally saw the floating gray screen pop up with a new message once again, prompting him to read through the short message that made him quite pleasantly surprised. [It depends on the damage that you sustained from the supposed death, with the highest consumption being fifty percent of maximum mana, and the lowest consumption being ten percent of your maximum mana] Seeing this, the smile on Diluc¡¯s face starts getting quite wider than it already is, showing just how happy he is for receiving such skill that will guarantee his safety even more somehow, making him praise himself for the decision of going on to buy a fire dragon egg on the shop once again. "Things are looking better and better¡­" he mutters to himself as he watches the ladies playing around the vast empty fields of the main island of the Draconic Realm, with nothing but the True Dragon Nourishing Tree as well as the singular Magic Fruit Farm on it, deciding to descend down this massive tree as well after taking some looks at the three floating islands just some distance away from the main island. Chapter 39: Dependence Descending down the fields, Diluc immediately got attacked by the young hatchling the moment she saw him, causing him to turn around and pretend to escape her by running away, the two draconic beauties watching them couldn¡¯t help but feel satisfaction in their hearts as they watch the young man play around with this new addition to their growing family. This moment lasts for a while, with the Ruler of the Draconic Realm tiring the young fire dragon out until he eventually brought her to what is going to be her home from now on, the extreme heat that seems to be something that comes straight out of the fiery pits of hell being something that hardly effects anyone of them, with the fire dragon among them even starting to enjoy the ambience of this place. "Do you like your new room?" treating the entire Draconic Realm as their home, Diluc then asked the young Seraphina causing the young dragoness currently on her draconic form to roar loudly to express her agreement to his questions, before jumping from his arms and plunging towards the boiling magma that seems to just flow out of the center of the island, taking a few minutes underneath all these hot rocks before her head surfaces once again. "Seems like she really likes it~~~" seeing how the young one acts, the neon green-haired mature beauty points out before she giggles in amusement, causing the young man along with the platinum-haired taciturn beauty to agree with her words, the young man even planning to let this young one has her time alone as she seems to enjoy it, but not before he did something that he just remembers because of being so entertained playing around with these three dragonesses. "Seraphina, eat this" taking out that purple colored Magic Fruit that he just harvests before the young fire dragon hatched out of her shell, Diluc successfully pulled her attention to him, or more precisely, to the fruit that emits an enchanting smell to the young hatching, effortlessly pulling her from enjoying herself on all that pit of warm comfortable magma. Seeing the fruit descending from where what she recognizes as her liege and the one who receives her blessings, the fire dragon immediately jumps out from the magma pool as she flaps her wings, effortlessly managing to fly on her first try as if this is something already ingrained in her bones, all while easily maneuvering herself as she catches the purple Magic Fruit, the taste of it making her feel such delight all while the energy and mana she gained from it making her full enough for her to go with improving herself and keeping herself full for an entire day. After this, she doesn¡¯t immediately opt to go back to the comfortable magma pool but rather continues to fly towards the one that gave her the food she just ate, roaring joyfully as she eventually reaches in front of Diluc, not even slowing down for a bit causing her to directly ram into the young man that will definitely be thrown out of where he is currently standing on had it not been for his cultivation being significantly higher than hers. After being caught by her liege, Seraphina then roars once again to express her gratitude before starting to caress his face with hers, rubbing her scaly, draconic yet still small head on his cheeks causing him to feel the immense temperature and hardness of her blood ruby-colored scales. While it is a unique experience to him, this doesn¡¯t mean that it hurt him, not even in the slightest as he feels like he can control the fire elemental mana in the surroundings even better than her, allowing him to manipulate the heat being in contact with him and warding off its negative effects. "Don¡¯t be too grateful little one, from now on, this will be your daily meal" he replies as she finally let loose of her massive physique on him, and hearing his words, the young fire dragon thought that she just couldn¡¯t get any happier in residing inside this realm than this, unaware of the improvements that will eventually happen on the Draconic Realm, changes that will make her feel like this thought of hers is of some country bumpkin in the future. After his words, she then dived towards the magma pool once again, swimming around it and seemingly exploring the depth of this land as well, and that with relative ease as even with the increased pressure and heat the lower within the deep magma pool she goes, her body can still easily handle everything and even her scales doesn¡¯t even get affected by being subjected upon all those things enough to kill a human of the same level as her cultivation thousand times over. Meanwhile, looking at the young Seraphina that seems to become way more busy with herself now, the Ruler of the Draconic Realm then looks towards the platinum-haired taciturn beauty on his left and the neon green-haired mature beauty on his right, making him wonder just what he did different when nourishing them when compared to nourishing Seraphina given how dependent these two are to him when they just came out of the world, and this young fire dragon appearing to be already mature enough to handle herself in any situation. "That¡¯s a fire dragon¡¯s nature, husband, they are bold and really independent ones~~" seeing the gaze in her liege, her beloved eyes, the mature beauty explains based on her inherited memories, her words being backed by the taciturn beauty as she nods to it as well, making the young man think that this is truly the case since two dragonesses are already claiming this fact about dragons themselves. "Though that might be the case, young Seraphina here seems to be quite dependent to you, my liege~~~" the neon green-haired Yggdrasil then added with such confidence in her eyes towards her claims, making her liege, Diluc, wonder whether that is truly the case given how easy going and carefree Seraphina appears to be. [Fire dragons are well known for their unbending will and immense pride, they are that one specific part of the dragon race that would rather have themselves killed than to follow the order of a leader that they don¡¯t respect, no matter the content of the order.] Reading the words on the floating gray screen as well, the taciturn beauty speaks this time, her calming, seemingly lazy and timid voice echoing in the air as she gently speaks to her lover, who is also the liege she serves. "T-the words written on the screen is right, liege, s-so tell me, isn¡¯t junior sister Seraphina really close to you?" after starting her words, Argenta couldn¡¯t help but smile as she reaches the words ¡¯junior sister¡¯, taking great pride in the fact that she finally is a senior sister as well now, a pride that clearly shows with the glow in her eyes and the great wide smile after her words as she looks at the young fire dragon now swimming on the magma pool again now. "She¡¯s really close to me then" now knowing the deal about fire dragons, Diluc then concluded that despite the show of independence that Seraphina seems to be showing, she is still a fire dragon who has majority of her dependencies on him, this event just making him want to understand the entirety of the draconic culture and possibly even their history more and more. This is something that will be saved for a later time though as he still needs to deal with these two draconic beauties currently in their extremely attractive human form, still wearing the very same clothes he gave them when they first acquired and assumed their human form despite him already buying them numerous other clothes that fits ladies like them even better, always refusing his offer for them to change into clean clothes claiming that these clothes of his handed to them is their most treasured possession no matter how many and how good the treasures they will find in the future are. Even going as far as pointing to them the fact that they need to change clothes to clean this one failed as well as Diluc never expected them, majestic dragons, a regal and royal creature no matter what sort of form they assume, to be creatures who are well aware of the human¡¯s art of washing clothes, the two of them bonding on doing this every near noon before they eat, with both of them taking all of their clothes off and washing said clothes butt naked on the rivers flowing through Yggdrasil¡¯s floating habitat island. This makes Diluc all the more helpless on making these two beauties change into more appropriate clothes, but he already has some plan to convince them to do what he wants, he just needs to wait until they arrive at the capital before enacting this plan of his for some reason known only to him. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 40: A Bit More Walk to Reach the Capital "Are you sure that is the target?" among the bushes and the trees within a certain wood near a big city, multiple people conceal themselves efficiently, so much that if normal people or even weaker level mages or martial artist were to try and search for them in this area, they won¡¯t even have a single idea of where they are located. "That is for sure boss, I heard that ¡¯that¡¯ thing will pass through this path¡­" the one being asked replied with absolute certainty in his tone as he points towards the crude makeshift path that seems to be something out of place given how grand the main road to the nearby city is. "Then that¡¯s great, this thing is our chance to getting rich, remember not to kill or even damage the package, I heard that we will get even greater rewards if we do that" one of the people concealing themselves, who seems to be the boss of this group, said as a glint of greed flashes through his eyes, possessing extreme confidence that no matter what passes through this small path towards the capital of the kingdom, he and his group can easily block and take this important package away. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Boss¡­" before the one who sent the information to their boss can even speak again, another one, also hiding in the trees, informs, alarming the leader of this group as this guy only speaks whenever there¡¯s someone in the proximity near them. "Alright boys, prepare for battle, this will be our path to enjoying women and alcohol as much as we want" the leader said with a hint of excitement on his face, just the fact alone that he will be able to indulge himself on the softness of high-quality women after this mission something that motivates him all the more to do this task properly. Hearing his command, the people hiding on the trees starts getting extremely silent to the point that not even their leader can detect them and know their position had they not talked about it before they set this ambush, each and every single one of them prepared to the extreme as they set their gaze on the pathway that their target will tread. Not even a few moments passes since they assumed their position and there is already something that piques their attention, this something making them smile as they saw a large caravan that seems to carry some really expensive if not important things, given that there are a lot of armed guards surrounding each and every trailer of the caravan as if they could not let go of anyone of them. ¡¯Three guards per trailer, ten trailers in total, two on each group are martial artists, and the remaining one is a mage¡¯ after observing it for a while, one of the people hiding on the trees, most probably something of an analyst or a scout among them, communicated through hand signals, this way allowing each and every one of them to easily prepare even more without alarming their targets. ¡¯Back me up the moment I jump in on them, dispatch the mages first, we can easily deal with the martial artists without the pesky range attacks from the mage¡¯ after confirming this information for himself, the leader of the group signaled towards his men, all of them nodding in unison as they patiently wait for their leader to jump on the caravan himself, their confident gaze showing just how used they are to this sort of things already, as well as how much experience they have about such things. After taking a deep breath to prepare himself attacking this group of people, the leader of the hiding group smiles as he jumps out from the trees, his movements so swift that he immediately managed to decapitate a group guarding one of the trailers, taking over the attention of this travelling caravan, not by anything else but by fear of him. "Alright, alright ladies and gentlemen, no need to look at me like that, you all know the drill already, right?" trying to buy some more time for his men to get into position, the leader of this group starts attracting even more attention of the people on the caravan by talking loudly while ostentatiously standing right on top of the trailer he had taken over, causing the people to look at him, some with wariness, some with anger and some with fear and terror. After seeing that his people already got into the best position they can, the leader of this group of what seems to be bandits smiles maliciously as he lifts his daggers right up to his neck, showing a slitting motion and running one of his daggers right along the air just in front of his neck. "Kill them boys!!" he said as the malicious smile remains on his face, his shout alarming the entirety of the guards with the priority to protect the trailers brought along by the caravan, their reaction already being too late though as no one among all of the mages present were able to survive the decapitating strike that the bandits launched against them. "HAHAHAH!! Now it¡¯s martial artists to martial artists!! Brothers, attack them!!" "Kekeke!!! Kuaahahahaha!!! Don¡¯t let any of the bastards we can¡¯t sell escape!! Kill them all!!! Hiahahahaha!!!" "HAHAHA money, money, money!! Don¡¯t be shy and come to this daddy!!!" As the people saw the mages being immediately disabled by this group of seemingly experienced bandits, the morale of the group guarding the caravan drops into an all time low, forcing them to passively defend themselves in fear as the group of bandits push them back more and more, eventually finding themselves either backed to the caravan they are protecting or pushed out of the group as they stray farther and farther away. While the first group of people mentioned are still able to fend off for themselves given that they only need to guard specific areas since they still have some allies around, the latter group mentioned were easily killed the moment they got out of their guarding formation, causing the forces of the caravan to thin out even more than they already do. "HAHAHA!!! Is that all you got!?? How very disappointing!!!" jumping in on the ¡¯fun¡¯, the leader of the group of experienced bandits starts laughing amusedly as he fights, or rather, bullies one of the guards, this one a female seemingly of a middle-years of age, someone not too attractive if considering the bandit leader¡¯s standards especially since he already got into quite a lot of high-quality brothels, which also becomes his addiction that causes him to do a job like this. "N-no!! s-spare me!! I can do anything you want!!!" the guard lady said as she kneels in front of the leader and begs for her life, hoping that this guy is someone that he expects her to be, a guess that is proven to be true but not entirely as she expected it to be. "You¡¯re too ugly, woman, I won¡¯t even take a second look at you if I saw you in a brothel" the leader of the bandit group said before swinging his dagger and instantly taking the head of the guard. With cacophony of malicious and even murderous laughter paired with the sound of screaming in fear and begging for mercy, the group protecting the caravan easily got subjugated by the bandit group, the leader of said group already humming a happy tune as he moves towards the front of the caravan, where who seems to be the leader of this caravan is, said leader already shaking in terror as he is forced to kneel with a sword hanging just above his nape, seemingly ready to take his mortal life the moment anyone in this group deems it so. "G-good sir, w-what do you want with me?" seeing the one who first appears to attack them, the owner of the caravan asked with a nervous voice as he even avoids eye contact with the man, who seems to do killing for a living given how normal it seems for him to slash the throat of everybody who comes across him, this character of this bandit leader causing the owner of the caravan to become so wary of offending him. "KAHAHAHAH!! Good sir huh¡­ hey fatty, just drop the pleasantries will you? It disgust me quite a bit¡­" the leader of the group said as he prepares to swing his dagger towards this person, but he got stopped as he heard someone coming from the depth of the woods, alerting not only him but also his scouts, given that despite their particularly strong senses, they didn¡¯t even notice this person until the very last second when he is already nearby. "Man, just a few more walk and I¡¯m reaching the capital already huh¡­ that¡¯s really great, I can finally sleep on a proper bed again" as he comes out of the thick trees covering the path, the bandits, along with the remaining people of the caravan, saw a young man with an emperor-like bearing walking with what seems to be a map in his hands, his face of someone completely carefree and unfettered as if even this scene doesn¡¯t really bother him much. Chapter 41: Encounter With Bandits With a tall figure that will particularly stand out when compared to peers of the same age as him, this young man seems to be someone who is unfettered by the affairs of the world, his slightly long black hair cascading all the way to his upper back, his eyes that of someone who seems to always finds positive in any situation, yet a tinge of wise insights and great emotional depth seemingly hidden underneath the mask of positiveness, perfectly complemented by the sword-like eyebrows just above it. His chiseled face eventually reveals itself as the sunlight shone through his entire being, revealing his masculine appearance in its complete glory as the people saw his arms seemingly packing an explosive punch, appearing not too muscular but not too lean as well, something along the line of being streamlined and muscular, adding to his charms. "Looks like I stumble upon something here" the young man said to himself with his voice, the authority seemingly leaking out of it something that not even the leader of this experienced bandit group can match, his demeanor that of someone who seems to constantly commands extremely powerful beings beyond their comprehension. "Lord savior, you¡¯re finally here, please help our caravan!!!" seeing this as an opportunity for them to be saved, or at the very least, buy some time for him to escape, the fat owner of the caravan shouted as he looks towards the young man who just arrives, causing the bandit group to look at him in wariness as they completely fall for the fat man¡¯s act. "So you¡¯re one of them huh? Everyone, screw this pretty boy!!" the leader of the bandit group said as he watches his subordinates poke at this young man¡¯s strength, preparing to act immediately should something out of his expectation occurs, yet seeing the cultivation of this young man, he couldn¡¯t help but highly doubt that there won¡¯t be anything outside his expectation that might happen. "Kikiki!! Die kid!!" "Hehehehe, don¡¯t damage his body too much, he might be a good toy for a while!!!" "Let me use him as well then, HAHAHA!!!" As the most eager people among the group of bandits charged towards the young man with different expressions and intentions, there¡¯s only one person that notices the subtle changes in the young man¡¯s expression, and that is the leader of the bandit group. "Get back!!!" he shouted as he saw his men charging towards the man possessing the bearing of a true ruler, said young man seemingly completely unconcerned, even annoyed at his group as if he¡¯s looking at a bug interrupting him somehow. His warning comes too late though as the young man already starts moving as well, something in the bandit leader¡¯s body screaming to get out of this place now as his mind screams at him that this young man is nothing but danger. Before he can move away though, he comprehends the reason why his own body is acting like that, seeming how a flash of light appears right beside the young man and the next moment, all the men that attacks him already exploded into a mist of blood, the only proof of their existence in this world being the stain of their own blood on the group along with the spatial pouch that seems to be intentionally not targeted by the young man. Seeing that he easily dispatched of this group of bandits standing at the peak of Muscle Conditioning level, the young man couldn¡¯t help but nod to himself as if this is something that is just to be expected, scaring not only the leader of the bandit, but also all the other bandits as well given that his current level shows that he is merely a Vague Orange Core mage. "Looks like I¡¯ve been used by this fatso huh¡­" seeing the glowing, seemingly excited look on the fat caravan owner¡¯s eyes, the young man couldn¡¯t help but feel annoyed at this, this being the first time that he feels like he had been tricked like this into working for someone else without his approval, of course, that is except for a certain lady that disappears all of a sudden after he leaves his previous city. "Sis Bea said that that thing she gave me will be useful in the capital" he mutters to himself before taking a step forward and scaring the bandits again, most of them taking steps back to create distance away from him as he gets closer and closer to the caravan. Wondering what this seemingly extremely strong young man is muttering about, the fat owner of the caravan starts standing up proudly as he thought that he completely deceives these bandits that this young man is really a part of his caravan, taking this chance for it to really be so as he approaches the emperor-like young man with the intention to save himself, possibly even his entire caravan in the process. "Young hero! Please help this humble merchant to get away from her with my packages, I will give you a handsome compensation for everything that you will do for me here" the fat merchant said with a tone of helplessness in his voice as if he doesn¡¯t really have a choice now, something that will definitely deceive anyone else but not the young man in front of him, especially given that a green-haired beauty that this young man is extremely familiar with is someone that is a master of acting and pretending. ¡¯He thinks I¡¯m a pushover¡­¡¯ the young man thought to himself as he looks into this merchant¡¯s eyes, bearing so much more greed than any normal merchant that he encounters all throughout his not so long life. ¡¯Hehehe, I can save bribing this newbie than sacrificing more than half of my treasures to these bandits to survive, look at his clothes, I bet I can just give him a few gold coins and he can be on his merry way!!¡¯ the merchant thought to himself as his smile grows even wider, causing the young man right in front of him to get even more annoyed as he saw through what this fat man is planning. ¡¯Calm down Diluc, this fucking pig is not worth being angry with¡­¡¯ the young man, Diluc, said as he thought to himself, before seemingly taking away this line of thinking as he directly moves one of his foot in a near instantaneous speed towards this fat merchant¡¯s crotch, making him feel a pain that can be felt by any man within a one mile radius, including the young man who initiated this kick as well. ¡¯But of course, it is definitely worth it to kick and beat him up¡­¡¯ he added to his last thought causing him to nod as he thinks this is a really good way of thinking, before laughing it out and then paying his attention to the group of bandits once again. "Just to be clear I¡¯m not this fatty¡¯s allies" seeing the fat merchant currently gasping for air as he holds his dear junior tightly as if to not let go, Diluc takes this chance to clarify towards the bandits about all of these things, causing the group to start laughing as they think that this is hilarious, braving themselves provoking this young man as they think that the previous lethal attack is a one-off thing, and he¡¯s only bluffing his way out of this now. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Kahahaha!!!! You¡¯re a funny one kid!! But don¡¯t think for a second that we will spare you just because you¡¯re not this fatty¡¯s ally, don¡¯t forget, you killed a few of my men with whatever trick that you used previously!!!" the leader of the bandit group said as he points his daggers towards the young man, his entire group starting to piece together the ¡¯facts¡¯ as they heard their leader¡¯s words, causing them to laugh as well as they thought of themselves as smart discovering the young man¡¯s ¡¯weakness¡¯ after just a clue dropped by their leader. "So that was a trick!!! Hahahah!!! Lad, you¡¯re fucking screwed!!" "Hehehe, little brother, you¡¯re going with us!!" As the surrounded Diluc with a renewed confidence on their faces filled with all sorts of expressions towards this young man, said young man couldn¡¯t help but start cracking himself to laughter causing all of the bandits to stop in confusion, feeling that this young man snaps because of the fear he felt towards them. "Man, you thought I was clarifying because I¡¯m scared huh¡­ that was really good¡­" after his fit of laughter stops even the bandits from directly attacking him, Diluc starts talking once again, his laughter still finding its way between his words causing him to take a long time to just speak, but the moment he moves on from his laughter, his face turns stone cold serous as he locks on them as well. "I¡¯m saying it just so we¡¯re clear that from here on out, this is all on me because I fucking hate the guts of people like you, and that fatty doesn¡¯t need to request me to do what I am about to do with you, not that he has any right to do so" Chapter 42: A Great Fight Still kneeling as with his hands holding on his crotch as he protects his damaged little brother oh so dearly, the fat owner of the caravan watches the emperor-like young man rampage across the place populated by the members of the bandit group, his eyes wide with his pupils constricting in terror as he recalls how he subtly use the young man to get a chance to escape from these bandits, and given how the young man acts towards him, he knows that this young man is smart enough to figure out this intention of his. ¡¯What sort of monster did I offend just to escape from being robbed by these bandits¡­¡¯ he questioned reality itself as he witnesses the gruesome scene in front of him, the bandits who previously acts all high and mighty now sprawled in the ground without any ability to stand up given their severed lower limbs, most of them crying and begging for mercy as what seems like the angel of death to their eyes comes closer and closer towards them. ¡¯I hope he spare my life¡­¡¯ the merchant thought to himself as he decided to even give everything in this caravan just for him to survive the encounter with this brutal young man, thinking that he can still regain this lost treasure when he managed to stay alive. Meanwhile, the leader of the bandit group also has some thoughts about the young man for himself, his mind already giving up on enjoying himself on the embrace of the beauties of some high-quality brothel given everything that happened to him, along with what is about to happen to him now. ¡¯How did a monster like that even appear here?¡¯ he thought to himself as he looks at the tall figure of the young man they thought is also a guard of this caravan, however, given how skillful and powerful he is compared to the other guards in the group, he becomes more inclined to believe what the young man said before fighting them, the fact that he is not a part of this caravan and merely someone who is passing through using this path. ¡¯Damn it, if I survive here, I will definitely always clarify the situation outside the mission first before acting up¡¯ he added as he starts to regret attacking the young man walking to completely incapacitate his men, his regrets being way too late already given what happened to them, something so terrifying that he couldn¡¯t even help himself from recalling it time and time again. As they heard the last words of this young man possessing a ruler-like bearing, him along with all his subordinate just laugh at him as if they are looking at someone so delusional that he thinks he can deal with people with strength far higher than his, not expecting that this is the last time they will laugh in front of this monstrous young man. When the first wave of their companions attacked, they already felt that something is wrong the moment they entered a certain range, making them feel like anywhere near this young man is dangerous, a speculation proven to be true through the sacrifices of the ones who rush to attack him, their bodies being severed into two equal parts the moment they take another step in the young man¡¯s range. What makes this attack even more terrifying is the fact that they couldn¡¯t even see what kills their companions, merely seeing a whitish silver flash of brightness before they succumb to death with their guts spilling from their insides. Hence the start of their nightmare, each and every single one of them being massacred once this monster gets even just a few more steps closer than them, and the worst part is when they thought that they can easily escape given that their remaining members are mostly martial artists with fast response and stronger body compared to the mages, even escape fails to become a viable option to them as the young man goes at an even faster movement speed than them. ¡¯Fuck, whatever, I think I¡¯m going to die now either way, I hope there are a lot of beautiful demons in hell, if there is one~¡¯ the leader of the bandit group, witnessing such overwhelming might from a young man not even half of his age and possessing a magic core and a martial artist cultivation that is just a few levels lower than his, starts feeling a bit depressed and deprived of any hope to survive this encounter, surrendering himself to whatever forces it is that will take over the rules of life once he lose his. "Can we¡­ make this shit quick?" seeing that the young man slaughtering his entire crew already reaches him, the leader of the bandit group asked with a mocking smile on his face, an expression directed more to him than the young man who handled and dispatched their infamous group all alone, seemingly without even breaking a sweat as well. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Meanwhile, the young man standing in front of the bandit group¡¯s leader, Diluc, seeing this man¡¯s steeled resolve even in the face of death, couldn¡¯t help but admire this part of the man if not for a bit, remembering the laws of the jungle and knowing completely well that should he become the one weaker than them, he will be the one lying on the ground now just waiting for his death. "That¡¯s good to me as well, I need to catch up with the entrance exam of the academy¡­" he mutters more to himself than anyone else, however, given that martial artists have particularly good senses, the bandit group leader manages to hear it despite his low voice. "I see¡­ so you¡¯re an aspiring student huh¡­ that¡¯s understandable given your absurd talent¡­ HAHAHA! even in hell, I can brag about fighting someone who tread the twin path of power!!!" he said to himself without a single fear of death in his face, his expression that of someone who truly looks proud of what he said rather than someone just consoling his own death. Not someone who doesn¡¯t honor bravery though given that Old Arthur always taught him to respect those with a brave spirit to face even death with an unfazed expression on their face, Diluc nodded towards the bandit group¡¯s leader, sparing one last effort to console this departing soul with his words. "The fight was great" Diluc said with a tone of genuine appreciation in his voice, this being the truth as despite the two of them being on the same realm in terms of martial arts, he still couldn¡¯t help but feel like this bandit leader is someone strong compared to average people in his own level, even making him a bit troubled to fight with him if not for the fact that his attack couldn¡¯t really deal any substantial damage to him given how tough his [Draconic Scale] skill is even without the outer manifestation of the scales in his body. "That¡¯s all I need to hear¡­" the man said with a smile on his face as he waits for the death looming on his neck, feeling it coming swift and painless as he feels his head being separated from his own body, without a single thing stopping whatever it is that severed his neck from doing its job. After taking the life of this bandit leader, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but feel like during his travel towards the capital, he had already grown so much now, starting from feeling nauseated at the fact that he kills fellow human being to the point now that he isn¡¯t even bothered by it anymore, only, he doesn¡¯t forget to not cross his bottom line, that is not killing any innocent person at all, and only hurt those that do attack him with malicious intentions. ¡¯I¡¯ve grown even stronger during this time period¡­¡¯ he thought to himself as he clenches his fist while recalling how the fight goes out, the fact alone that he can handle all those Late and even Peak Muscle Conditioning martial artists with great coordination and synergy all alone something that he couldn¡¯t really achieve yet when he first left for the capital, and the fact that he can achieve that with such ease now proves just how much he improves during this not too long yet not too short of a time he spends travelling towards the capital. ¡¯Now for the last part¡­¡¯ the young man thought to himself all while looking at the fat merchant still rooted on the place where he kicks his junior, the fat owner of the caravan looking at him as if he¡¯s some sort of monster that will kill him anytime. Seeing the young man who appears like an asura in the battlefield, the merchant couldn¡¯t help but let out a high pitched shriek as he falls into the ground with his butt, scrambling to get away from the young man but barely being able to move because of his own weight hindering his movements on the ground. Chapter 43: Long Ears " I-I¡¯m sorry for using you young hero, you see I have no choice as well, they are brutal!!!" pointing towards the guards he hired in hopes that he can make this young man believe that he has no choice but to drag him to the conflict, the fat merchant said as he continues scuttling away from this avatar of slaughter he encountered, fearing for dear life as the young man approaches closer and closer to him. "Stop pointing and explaining all shits fatty, I did not even ask you anything, you look even more guilty that way¡­" Diluc, seeing how the fat merchant act, pointed out causing the fat man on the ground to keep himself silent, just now realizing just how much point the young man is making with his words. "¡­ although I highly doubt that you are not guilty with all the things that happened" the emperor-like young man then continues as he squat to come into closer contact to the fat owner of the caravan, pulling out a dagger from his spatial pouch and placing it right on the merchant¡¯s face as he starts asking him. "Out of the fact that your malicious intent doesn¡¯t really amount to too much, and you¡¯re just trying to save yourself as well, I¡¯ll spare your life, but leave behind everything and just walk to the capital yourself" he then offered towards the fat man who immediately accepts his offer, all while his eyes shine with hope while praising and bootlicking the young man with all sorts of sugar coated and flowery words, causing Diluc to just get more and more annoyed at his character. ¡¯Hehehe¡­ I heard that you¡¯re trying to enter the academy brat, so you need to go to the capital as well, the moment that you reach the gates, I will make the guards there arrest you for stealing my things!!¡¯ the fat merchant thought to himself, thinking that he got way too lucky that this young man is still someone so na?ve despite him being able to kill without even blinking an eye, almost causing him to hum a jolly tune as he walks away from this place and eventually even reclaim his treasures once this young man arrives at the gates of the capital city. Already thinking of plans not only to convict the young man, but also to make him a life time servant that will be under him for his given how much he covets the young man¡¯s talent, the fat merchant feels like something is wrong with what is happening but couldn¡¯t quite put the finger on what is happening, that is until he looks down and saw the hands boring a hole on his chest, holding his still freshly beating heart on its palm. "W-why??" he thought as he tries his best to look behind him, something that he couldn¡¯t do given the fats preventing his neck from turning around too much, but despite not seeing the one who did this to him, he just knows who is it all too well. "You reek of a traitorous and fox-like smell, fat bastard, you think I don¡¯t sense anything wrong when you¡¯re looking at me in all sorts of malicious ways?" Diluc replied as he pulls his hands out of the merchant¡¯s chest, before crushing the heart on the palm of his hands without even feeling so much as disgust and nausea to the blood spreading around him, the blood that somehow doesn¡¯t really reach his being given that there is a thin veil of mana covering his entire body. Falling into the ground, the fat owner of the caravan still manages to make a final effort of strength, turning himself around to take a proper look at this young man whom wits he underestimated, his face revealing a look of terror as he realizes that while he can be compared to a cunning fox that can easily deceive most business competitor to his own favor, this young man is like some deity that seems to see everything in the palm of his hands. ¡¯Monster¡­¡¯ is the word that last appears on his mind as his entire being gradually get surrounded by the blinding and terrifying darkness, making him wonder if such is the sensation of death itself. ¡¯There¡¯s a lot of cleanup to do¡¯ seeing all the corpses on the ground, both members of the group of bandits as well as the travelling caravan, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but shake his head a bit as cleaning up this mess now falls under his hands, a job that while he doesn¡¯t really want to do, he still needs to given how dead human bodies can attract powerful beasts in nearby area given that a large part of them finds human flesh as something of a delicacy, but not so much compared to the Soaring Steel Eagle that is even willing to sacrifice their own life to get a taste of human flesh. Thinking of something that he can use efficiently to hasten this cleanup though, the emperor-like young man starts using his wind elemental mana to carry the corpses faster towards one specific place, piling them up in a hole that he created using the metal elemental mana to push the ground and create said hole, the hole eventually filling up after he finished cleaning the entire area up. "There should be no one living among this pile anymore, right?" despite already checking every single one of them once, Diluc still decided to perform one final check on these corpses, now using the wood elemental mana method that Yggdrasil taught him in order to detect any life signature, finding no one in the corpse filled hole but finding one surviving creature hiding beneath one of the caravan¡¯s trailer, a life signature that is different from all the ones he had encountered so far. Creating a massive fireball from the fire elemental mana in the air, Diluc proceeds to burn all these dead bodies without any hesitation on his face, throwing the ball of fire that immediately ignites the entirety of the hole, this technique being one that Diluc finds the most useful when dealing with this sort of things as the flame created from fire elemental mana uses mana from the solid things it hit to fuel itself, becoming inextinguishable so long as it does not get in any contact with water. "That thing is barely alive¡­" once again using the wood elemental mana to detect the life signature of the creature hiding on one of the caravan¡¯s trailers, the young man saw that this figure¡¯s life force is barely holding on their body, as if they are about to die any second now should their problems are not dealt with. After getting a feel of this creature¡¯s strength, the Ruler of the Draconic Realm proceeds to take steady steps towards this particular trailer, still a bit wary despite the fact that whoever it is inside this trailer, is someone who a mage of the Light Red Core level at best. Standing in front of the trailer completely covered with a thick cloth, Diluc then take a gulp before holding on one corner of the thick, heavy cloth, exerting some of his strength just to pull it out of the trailer that it is covering, revealing something that is a feast to the eyes for him. Should the previous bandit leader who is really fond of high-quality beauties were to see what is inside this trailer, he will more likely than not just run off to the middle of nowhere with this supposed package in tow, perhaps even starting a life with her and changing his ways completely. Now that this bandit leader is out of the equation though, the one who saw this blonde-haired beauty is the Ruler of the Draconic Realm, someone who is bound to reach far higher than any heights that the bandit leader can even imagine, and said ruler is now also looking at this beauty with a stupefied expression similar to what could possibly be that bandit group leader¡¯s reactions. The beauty¡¯s appearance doesn¡¯t necessarily enthralled Diluc to a point like that though, given how he thought that Yggdrasil and Argenta are both a level higher than this beauty in terms of their appearance alone, not to mention their entire figures that will make people doubt whether they are truly dragons instead of goddesses of beauty themselves. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. No, what stupefies this usually composed young man are the features of this beauty looking at him helplessly and scared, her blond hair, her emerald green eyes, as well as her long, pointy ears that each of them seems to extend even longer than the width of her face, an appearance unique to a particular race that rarely appears in this kingdom he lives in, and whenever they appear, they usually starts a huge wave of events on the noble and royalty, beings that has enough influence to set some waves on their kingdom with just their beauty alone. Chapter 44: An Elven Beauty "This is quite the surprise¡­" seeing the young lady who seems to be about the same age as him appearing to be really thin and deprived of possibly even basic human treatment, combined with the fact that her limbs are all restrained not only by a normal, but with a mana suppressing shackles, along with the ruined dress that seems to be of someone of high standing for the elven kind, Diluc said to himself before he opens the cage up. Seeing the sudden movement, as well as the fact that what made this movement appears to be a human as well, the caged elven beauty looks menacingly towards him, appearing as if there is still something she can do that will threaten the young man despite her current state. "I¡¯m warning you, I can take my life anytime I want, don¡¯t even try to do anything to me¡­" looking at the tall figure now climbing the cage that she is imprisoned in, the elven beauty warns as she grabs a short dagger that appears out of nowhere, threatening the young man of her own life, a decision which seems to be something that is counterintuitive, yet given what she thinks the young man is, she is fairly certain that this threat of hers will work. Hearing her words however, the young man couldn¡¯t help but smile as he takes even closer step towards this elven lady, the beauty trying her best to stay further away from him until she eventually gets driven into the other side of the cage, her eyes already reddened as she really starts preparing to take her own life way just to avoid experiencing what she thought she will in the hands of what is in her mind, is a vile human. Before she can plunge the small dagger deeper in her own neck though, she got stopped by a sudden force as the young man who is still a few meters away from her previously now holding her hands wielding this hidden weapon she had used to threaten all the other humans who tries to do things with her during her time on this place, causing her to feel despair as never was there anyone who has the strength to completely suppress her among the human who came to the cage before. "Say little miss elf, do you perhaps mistake me for someone else?" seeing the terror on the elven beauty¡¯s eyes, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but ask, showing an amiable smile on his face in an attempt to make this beauty more comfortable when talking with him. "Mistake you for someone? How could I be mistaken, you¡¯re with the group who brought me here, you¡­ you kidnapper!!!" the blond elf screamed towards the young man despite all his attempt to make himself appear more approachable, this alone enough to make him think that this beauty is still not in the proper mind due to what happened to her. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. However, despite this fact, being someone who starts getting used to being treated with at least a basic respect for fellow sentient being by most of the people he had encountered so far, he just couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit displeased with how this lady acts. This doesn¡¯t hinder him from trying to help her though as he decided to just let go of the hands preventing her from stabbing herself, then using his martial arts cultivation in order to instantaneously move away to a distance comfortable to her. "I told you, I have no single connection towards whoever it is that take you away, I¡¯m just a passerby that comes across this caravan, and eventually, comes across you, miss, didn¡¯t you hear all the commotion outside?" Diluc starts explaining before he eventually ends up asking, before pointing at the blood-stained pathway where the caravan is situated, the lady struggling to look around eventually finding the pits that seem to burn intensely, making her wonder just what is it that is being burned there. "What happened here?" the lady asked with her weak voice as she feels terror at the implication of all this spilled blood, and all this along with this young man who seems to be the only one who is still alive after what seems to be a big commotion makes her senses scream that there is something wrong with him. "You really don¡¯t know?" seeing the genuine expression of confusion on the elven beauty¡¯s face, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but ask again now due to pure curiosity, the beauty then pouting her mouth for him not answering her question first yet still complies to answer his question as she feels like angering this young man will only cause her now hard life to become even harder. "That thing prevents anyone inside from detecting what is happening outside, it also prevents anyone outside from spying in the content of the inside" the elven beauty explains as she points her fingers to the heavy cloth that covers the trailer containing her previously, causing the young man now standing beside her to nod in acknowledgement. "Perhaps that¡¯s the reason why it is quite heavy" Diluc mutters more to himself rather than anyone else as he starts taking interest to this cloth, deciding to keep it for himself instead of selling it to the Dragon Herding System¡¯s shop just for the sake of studying it, only selling it after he completely comprehend it. "Happy now? Answer my question then, make it simple, I don¡¯t really need much detail of how these¡­ things died" with a miniscule bit of friendliness now apparent from her voice seeing that this young man really means no harm, the elven lady reminded that she asks a question as well, causing the young man to snap out of his curious gaze and look at her, pausing for a while to think of what to reply before deciding on something. "Caravan, bandit, then me" to ease the still somehow tense atmosphere between the two of them, the young man said with the intention of taking the explanation not too seriously and mixing some jokes on it, motioning his hands on his neck as a sign of the words he mentioned killing the others, causing the elven beauty to snicker as she hears his crass, yet somehow still easily comprehendible explanation. "Pfft¡­ not that simple~" she said as a smile finally appears on her completely thin, yet still beautiful face, before she starts falling on her knees as she finally let down of her tense guard, feeling like she can let her guard, constantly up since she got kidnapped by the caravan, down when she¡¯s with this young man. Seeing that the elven beauty is falling, Diluc immediately moves to catch her, preventing her from completely falling into the cold metallic floor where she is imprisoned, his touch causing the beauty to shiver a bit in terror but her body stops doing so eventually in a few moments as she realizes that he just wants to help. "Would you prefer it if I don¡¯t touch you, little elven missy?" seeing that they are a bit more comfortable with each other now, Diluc addresses her as he lets her down after efficiently setting up a cloth from his spatial pouch using his wind elemental mana, his way of addressing her causing the elven beauty to pout in annoyance as never in her life did she expect someone, not to mention a human, to call her like that. "I¡¯m not a little elven missy, and it¡¯s fine, you¡¯ve done it now anyway" the elven beauty replied with the pout still on her face before she averts her gaze, as now that she is looking at this young man and seeing his face properly, she couldn¡¯t help but think that he is really handsome for a human, and even elven standard. "You need help with those chains?" seeing that the circulation of mana around her body is completely hindered by the shackles on her limbs, Diluc asked just for courtesy, but each of his hands are already on two of them, the one chained on her wrist, his hands around hers causing the elven beauty to feel something weird inside her but not something repugnant like the one she felt when those previous humans try to do something with her. "This might surprise or even hurt you for a bit, brace yourself" Diluc politely reminded the elven beauty as he starts exerting strength into his hands, using his martial arts cultivation in order to destroy the mana suppressing shackles currently binding her. "Don¡¯t trouble yourself too much, after all, you¡¯ve helped me enough already, just cut the chains and help me reach this kingdom¡¯s capital" the beauty said knowing that the young man is also just a mage like hers given how masterfully he controls wind elemental mana in order to set the cloth that is currently underneath the two of them, her words merely causing the young man to shake his head as he continues doing whatever it is that he is attempting to do. Chapter 45: Alea "Just sit still over there, I can do something with it" seeing that this elven beauty doesn¡¯t seem to believe he can free her from the mana suppressing shackles, Diluc just continues what he is doing, feeling a significant progress on whatever it is that he is doing as he forced the shackles into compromising its structural integrity, the strength of his grip alone more than enough to deform the shackles to the point that the elven beauty can just slip her hands through them. After discovering this fact, the elven beauty couldn¡¯t help but feel astonished while looking at this young man, trying to think of whatever it is that made him able to do it, second guessing through all sorts of possibilities in her mind. ¡¯Perhaps he is also a metal elemental mage? No, that doesn¡¯t make sense, the mana suppressing shackles restricts the movement of external mana to the point that it is impossible to cast magic when in contact with it¡­¡¯ she thought to herself as she tries thinking of many other reasons, eventually ending up into two conclusions both extremely absurd, the second one being even more absurd than the already terrifying first assumption of hers. ¡¯So that means¡­ it¡¯s either his mana control is so strong that he can just ignore the property of the mana suppressing shackles or he¡¯s physical body is so strong that he can easily bend the shackles¡­ something that only, martial artists can do¡­¡¯ as she starts saying the two most likely reasons to herself, she starts to realize more and more that it is possibly really the second one given all the things that she gathered from this short meeting of theirs, how quickly he moves to and away from her when she attempted suicide, how he can easily deal with the combination of mages and martial artists outside and how he can easily bend the mana suppressing shackles bound to her. What she didn¡¯t know though is both her assumptions are correct, along with her assumption that this young man is a metal elemental mage as well, something that she really wouldn¡¯t expect as this kind of genius is just something of legend, of even of a higher category than that. "Is it better now?" after pulling her wrist from the constraint of the mana suppressing shackles, the elven beauty heard the young man¡¯s voice appearing to have some hint of concern towards her, causing her to just nod towards his words as she is still engulfed in trying to figure out how he achieved the thing he just did. "Let me help with the ones on your ankles as well" Diluc said before he moves towards her lower body, now that he got the hang of how he can bend this thing without hurting the lady, it goes even easier than before, freeing her from the bind of this shackles without even wasting a few seconds on it. Feeling the mana finally surging into her own body, the elven beauty couldn¡¯t help but feel like she is starting to recover her previous strength, not only her mana but also her body gradually recovering properly, making her previous sickly pale skin to appear a bit healthier now. Despite her strength returning though, she still couldn¡¯t help but wonder whether there¡¯s still something wrong with her given that she still see his strength as someone who has a Vague Orange Core level, in disbelief that a young man just a level higher than her as a mage is capable of dealing with the group that captured her. Meanwhile, seeing the Bright Red Core right in the solar plexus of the elven beauty in front of him, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but wonder about her identity, given that she already has such high level of strength despite her appearing to be the same age as him, and his cultivation is already extremely fast given the resources he receives from within the Draconic Domain from the Dragon Herding System. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He doesn¡¯t bother much with her level though as he got more focused on the elemental attributes dancing around her, his acute senses detecting two distinct elemental mana swirling around her body, as if joyfully playing around her, this kind of way the mana acts around her showing how talented she is with these two particular elements. ¡¯Wind and Wood huh¡­ that¡¯s so¡­ elf-like¡¯ being normalized as beings who are more capable on the backlines dealing devastating damage with their marksmanship more than anything else, Diluc thought about this of this elven beauty, thinking that this is a really good way to compliment that marksmanship given how easily they will be able to conjure bows and move around woods using the wood element, and how great of a buff it will be for their arrows when they can manipulate it with the wind element. While what he thinks about the elves are partially correct though, there are still quite some holes and gaps to his facts that will eventually be filled up later when he encountered more of them, but for now, he will start learning about all sorts of elven things from this long-eared beauty that never seems to remove her gaze on him. "You seem to be quite talented¡­ you¡¯re really strong physically despite being a mage yourself" trying to probe him into saying the truth, the elven beauty said with a hint of familiarity on her face as if she finally saw someone sharing the same situation as her, well, not too much given the absurdity of this young man¡¯s situation but still, of the same type of situation as him. "You¡¯re not too shabby yourself, having two elements you can control" knowing that she is trying to probe the truth about his physical strength, Diluc then replied towards her with a smile on his face, something in him saying that he shouldn¡¯t really back down on this lady¡¯s probing, causing him to answer in a way that doesn¡¯t really deny her of this fact, but doesn¡¯t really confirm her of this as well. While the two of them doesn¡¯t really explicitly acknowledge the truth of each other¡¯s words, both of them can pretty much ascertain that their probing are true to some degree, it is only a matter of how precise their probing are. Stopping on this as they don¡¯t want to offend a potential ally, possibly even friend, the two of them starts laughing it off, the young man¡¯s loud, powerful and authoritative voice spreading across their surroundings with his laugher, and the elven beauty¡¯s melodious giggling accompanies it, their voices melding like a two-man orchestra. "You¡¯re an interesting fellow" both of them said at the same time the moment they stopped their laughter simultaneously, the two of them starting to feel like they are getting closer to each other with just these mundane conversations, allowing the two of them to feel like the other person is somehow worth putting some of their trust on. "The name is Diluc, Diluc Leonhart, do I have the honor of knowing yours, elven miss?" after a bit more laughter between the two of them, they fell into an odd silence causing the atmosphere to feel a bit awkward, the emperor-like young man immediately trying to fix this air as he clears his throat and starts another topic, only now realizing that they haven¡¯t properly introduce themselves to each other yet. "Alea, an elven miss from that you would rather not hear the surname of~" the elven beauty playfully said as she stands up from her sitting position and formally bowing towards him, something that all the noble, whether it is this kingdom or not, does whenever they are introducing themselves, making him have an idea of the identity this lady possibly has. Not letting his view to the nobles of this kingdom to cloud his judgement of her though, he merely shoves this part of her identity to the back of his mind before he also stands up to greet her formally, while she held the hem of her already ruined, yet still beautiful dress and then bow towards him, he places one of his arms hear his chest while the other one is just on the side before he also returns the bow to her, both of them smiling after this. "I don¡¯t really like doing this kind of formalities but whatever, I can pretty much confirm that you have some of the blood in you as well given how practiced your bow is~" the elven beauty, Alea, said towards Diluc as they return to their seat, the two of them smiling at each other once again as they start conversing about all sorts of mundane things once again, both of them feeling quite good from this as they share the same situation, rarely having anyone to talk to like this despite a lot of people around them almost all the time. After this though, the two of them decided to stand up as Alea announces that she pretty much recovered her strength, and she can start travelling to the capital of the kingdom now. Chapter 46: Looting "Before we leave, let me deal with all this treasures first" seeing the entire caravan of good things left to them given that everyone that knows of it except the two of them are already dead, Diluc proceeds to keep all the things for himself without even a single regard to is appearance towards the elven beauty. "Do you want some things? Go get what you take interest in" seeing how she stares at him, the young man said with a trace of graciousness on his voice, causing the elven beauty to just shake her head as she moves towards one of the caravans, getting there a twin short sword that decorated by a clearly elven motif, with Celtic motifs and curled engravings of branches and leaves around its handle, hilt and the parrying edge of the sword. "This is all I need, thanks" the elven beauty, Alea, said with genuine gratitude in her voice, curtly bowing towards the young man once again, her choice of weapon surprising the young man quite a bit as he already develops the prejudice of her being a marksman even without seeing her fight. "Short sword as a mage? That¡¯s a pretty rare combination" while it sure is true that the existence of pure mages using melee weapons are extremely rare, it isn¡¯t nonexistent, and seeing that this elven beauty is among those kinds of people, the emperor-like young man easily accepts this fact, thinking that this way of fighting is also good for her twin elemental affinity as well. "Wanna try it?" seeing that the tall young man is looking at her curiously, the elven beauty asked as she flexes her mastery of the weapon, twirling it around on her fingers effortlessly and with practiced precision and execution, with an unbothered look on her gorgeous face, as if the impressive thing that will make nearly all short sword user jealous is just some parlor tricks to her. "I¡¯d rather not" looking at the proud smile on Alea¡¯s face, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but think that he will definitely feel bad if he damaged her confidence when he tries her weapon, a weapon he is quite familiar with given that this is also one of the weapons commonly used by the tall beauty that often plays with him when he is young, said beauty being the Beatrice that leaves the previous city just a bit ahead of him. "Where do you even store all those things?" seeing that this new friend of hers finds no interest in competing with her right now, Alea starts focusing on the fact that no matter how large the things within the caravan is, the young man seems to always be able to store it in his spatial pouch, making her wonder just how large the thing is. "This is a really large spatial pouch, no need to worry about it, it¡¯s not even half full yet" Diluc replies with a smile on his face, the words from this elven beauty and new friend of his pretty much confirming that she can¡¯t sense him using the storage space of the Dragon Herding System to store all these things. After a bit more of sneakily storing all the trailers on the storage space of the system, they finally set off once again, the elven beauty already satisfied with retrieving her weapon and not taking any of the other things the young man acquires, thinking that her freedom is already something worth all the treasures in that caravan. "How the hell do you even get captured by those people in the caravan?" now knowing the fact that this lady is also a part of the nobility, albeit within the Elven Kingdom neighboring the kingdom he lives in, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but asks Alea as they walk towards the gates of the capital city of the kingdom the young man resides in, the Flammenherz Kingdom, ruled by the family this domain is named after. Being well aware of why the young man is asking her of this she hesitates to answer, given that usually, descendants of noble houses, however low they are in the status of nobles, are still people who has some level of security protecting them at all time, take for example the lavishly dressed Michael he previously encounters, who has a swathe of personal guards at his beck and call. "That¡­ it¡¯s complicated, can I not-" as she finally lets the words out, she doesn¡¯t even manage to finish her words as the young man starts speaking once again, saying the very same word that is supposed to come out of her mouth. "You can just not answer it if it¡¯s too complicated then" he said as they continue their travel, the two of them not even falling silent for a while as the elven beauty already has a question she is ready to ask him with. "Are you also here for the academy?" seeing that he is someone really talented for peers the same age as they are, Alea asked despite having a high certainty that this young man¡¯s purpose for going to the capital of the Flammenherz Kingdom being this as well, the answer from Diluc truly confirming this speculation of hers. "Also? Then you¡¯re going to the academy as well?" Diluc asked in surprise as knowing just how reclusive the elves are, he just didn¡¯t expect that this beauty is someone sent most likely by her elders to study in the academy as well. "Mn, apparently, among the nearby kingdoms, the Star Academy in the capital of your kingdom is the greatest academy for magic and martial arts there is, I also just heard this from my mother, so I¡¯m really not sure whether this is true" Alea responded as she shares what she knows to Diluc, this information causing the young man to look at the academy he¡¯s planning to enter in an even more serious light. ¡¯If geniuses like Alea that comes from different nearby kingdoms are going to be sent here as well, then I need to be more careful¡¯ now knowing the significance of this academy, the Ruler of the Draconic Realm starts increasing his assessment of this place, eventually deducing that he needs to hide himself even better when he is accepted into the academy, just in case someone capable of completely seeing through him, student or staff, exist there. "Then I guess our time there is going to be interesting" the emperor-like young man replied as he gathers his thought, the smile on his face appearing like that of someone who yearns to climb greater heights, as if that of someone who couldn¡¯t wait to test himself compared to his peers. "Please, you¡¯re a monster, there¡¯s hardly anyone who can handle you there" knowing the fact that this young man is treading the twin path of power, the elven beauty couldn¡¯t help but roll her eyes to his words before she said in annoyance, feeling like he doesn¡¯t mean his previous words seriously at all. "What? You think I have my eyes on student the same year as us?" thinking of something, Diluc said with absolute confidence on his face, however, this statement of his is more of just a bragging as even if he is confident of fighting against someone an entire realm of strength higher than him, he would rather hide his entire strength and only show portion, or even his complete strength only when absolutely necessary. ¡¯It¡¯s not like I need the resources of the academy, I just need all the knowledge I can obtain from there¡¯ the Ruler of the Draconic Realm thought to himself as he recalls the stories that his birth father used to tell him when he is still living in this world, a story about the kingdom¡¯s greatest academy holding the largest collection of books within the lands, a great library so big that mortal beings will take their entire life trying to read through all its books and not even finish a hundred thousandth of all the books in there. Hearing his words, the elven beauty couldn¡¯t help but giggle as she never saw a young man as audacious as him, however, knowing his strength just from how he used sheer force to free her of the bind of the mana suppressing shackles, along with the fact that he¡¯s a mage as well, she couldn¡¯t help but think that there might really be a possibility for this young man to deal with students of higher years than them. "I¡¯ll look forward to that show when we¡¯re accepted in the academy" she replies to his words as if she knows that the two of them already has the entrance exams in the bag, the confidence in her something that Diluc appreciates really well, along with her strong character that seems to already recover from the trauma of being captured by the caravan. "I guess I¡¯ll see you there then" already standing in front of the colossal gates of the Capital City, the emperor-like young man and the elven beauty said as they both presents their identity cards to the guards. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 47: A Guard’s Thoughts Standing in front of the massive gate that serves as the first line of defense as well as a showcase of the Flammenherz Kingdom¡¯s prestige, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but admire the towering structure barring everyone unidentified from entry, a wooden door about five people¡¯s arm span wide and about eight people tall, something that is already big enough to serve as the main gate of other normal cities within the kingdom, serves as the entrance for the people to go in, and if it¡¯s not enough to prevent intruders, then the guards definitely are. ¡¯They¡¯re quite strong¡­¡¯ the Ruler of the Draconic Realm thought to himself as he tries to probe into the strength of the guards standing in front of the small door carved into the massive metal gates, said guards donned with a seemingly normal leather armor, but the young man knows too well for him to mistake it as one, as just the runic engravings similar to the ones usually in a magic circle alone more than enough to prove that these are enchanted armors that can more likely than not, allow these guards to significantly boost their strength. Not to mention their armors, even their weapons alone are something that can be deemed as treasures for the current level they are in, staffs and swords that are most likely treasures coveted by other people as well. Finally, what made him think that these group of people are really strong is the fact that all of them, despite their unassuming appearance being donned in a simple leather armor and an unadorned weapon of choice, they are exuding the aura of an expert in the battlefield, as if they are all experienced veterans who are tempered from war itself, in addition to that their cultivation that are on the third level of either the magic or the martial art system, meaning that all of them are either a Vague Yellow Core mage or an Early Blood Vessel Widening martial artist at the very least. In addition to that, all of them appears to be people who have contracted beasts given the mark of contract proudly displayed on the back of their hands, one among the guards Diluc saw even taking out a massive beast towering at more than five meters of height to roam around the fields near the Capital City, seemingly preparing to patrol the surroundings himself. Luckily to him than not, these guards aren¡¯t similar to ones who are usually gatekeeping the entrance of other cities, people who typically uses their meager power in order to exploit other people, no, these guards of the Capital City seem to be people who at the very least, have their own bottom line given that while they still act like they are above almost everyone, they still treated everyone entering with a basic modicum of respect as fellow sentient beings. "Going for the academy?" seeing the two of them after getting a probe around their levels, one of the guards, the one who is currently checking their identity cards, said with a hint of panic on his voice, particularly when he looks at the elven beauty currently signaling towards him as she moves behind the young man with an air of a true leader around him, both of them appearing to be exceptional to him especially the young elven lady. Seeing the signal of the lady however, he stops himself from bowing to greet her, thinking that this elven visitor must not want too much attention for herself, which already seems to be something impossible to avoid given the attention of the people around, seeing a beauty of a blood that rarely goes and roam around this kingdom of theirs. "Yes, do you perhaps know the direction of the place per chance, sir?" seeing that the guard appears to be quite polite, Diluc acts similarly as well, showing respect towards them making him appear neither too servile nor too overbearing, causing the guard to look at him in surprise as rarely anyone of the young man¡¯s age can act the same way as him, this event causing said guard to look into his identification once again. ¡¯I see, so he¡¯s the son of that viscount huh?¡¯ once a commoner before he got his status somehow elevated as a guard of the Capital City, it is hard for this guard to not know the prestige of what the commoners treat as the greatest noble to ever exist in this land of theirs, a noble who is willing to fight for the rights of the common people who are often oppressed by the minority of the elites, people whom he always looks up to and aspire of serving back then. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡¯Such a pity that they still fall on the hands of the wicked¡­¡¯ he sighs in his mind as his gaze towards this young man seems to change as well, feeling even more impressed given how someone like him who used to be a noble doesn¡¯t only fall from his grace after his parents¡¯ death, but appears to even rise up among the odds to step into this place once again, the place where the overt and covert battles of the genius Couple Layla Astrea and Lucius Leonhart occurs. "You don¡¯t really need my help to know the location of the place boy, the Academy has the grandest tower located right at the center of it, shadowing even the massive royal castle right at the heart of this city just look at the tallest place on the city and you will find your way to the Academy" looking at Diluc, the guard smiles as he hands back the identity card of the two young people back to them, taking extra notice not to reveal the one given by the elven beauty as it seems like she wants to hide her identity, earning a nod of approval from said beauty as she reaches out for her card. "Thank you, sir" the young man said as he slightly nods his head toward the guard, whom watches the back of this two people about to attempt entering the greatest academy of their kingdom, all while rooting for the young man to succeed on doing so in hopes of him being able to find out the things that his parents fought for before they fall, in hopes of him taking over the legacy of belief that they had left behind. ¡¯If you do so, I¡¯m willing to forfeit my servitude under the crown and follow your lead, boy¡­¡¯ the guard said as a sharp glint of what appears to be a fiery burning hope appears from the depth of his eyes, thinking of things that he shouldn¡¯t really said aloud given that he might be straight up executed in the spot should other people hear this thought of his. Meanwhile, the young man who seems to be oblivious of everything that this guard they just encountered thought, is wondering why this guard seems to bore a hole through him with his gaze, yet somehow not even containing a bit of malicious intent on it, making him ask to himself what is it that is in this guard¡¯s mind for him to look like that. After a few moments though, he no longer thinks about it too much as the gaze of the guard was finally directed away from them, mainly him, this encounter making him think that he needs to be even more careful during the time he is in this place, as it seems that there are so much more hidden experts here than he previously thinks. "Something on your mind?" after pulling out an emerald crystal from her spatial storage tool in the form of a ring worn on her index finger, Alea asks as she fiddles with the crystal while they walk, causing the wondering Diluc to snap out of his thought and pay attention to the elven beauty currently walking just beside him, her beauty, along with her ruined clothing that thankfully still covers everything from her knees and above causing her to become the center of attention, partnered with his constantly improving appearance making their existence a head turner effective for everyone that come across their path. "Nothing, let¡¯s get into a less populated place" seeing how the people around them pays attention to the two of them, Diluc replies as he starts to lead the way, reaching out his hand in invitation causing the elven beauty to smile before she reaches out her fair, dainty hands as well. "I thought you¡¯re not going to ask" she said with a smile on her gorgeous face before she follows his footsteps, her movements able to catch up to him despite putting a bit of effort, causing their speed to increase quite a bit. "Can you still go?" seeing that the elven beauty is putting in quite a considerable amount of effort to match his movements, Diluc asks as he start slowing his pace down, causing Alea to look at him with an appreciative expression on her face. Chapter 48: The Academy The Flammenherz Kingdom¡¯s Capital City. Within this place that can be considered a massive strategical fortress of a city, with one of its sides, the west, being the only thing that is exposed to open danger as its north and east are covered by a nearby mountain range, and the south leads to an open sea, this is one of the hardest places to attack in a war among all the capital cities of the nearby kingdoms, something that makes other sovereigns, kings and queens alike, jealous of such strategically placed capital city. Of course, while it makes it easier to defend it like this, said defense only applies for a similar level of power between the kingdom and the opposing party should someone attack them, as everyone in this world knows the absolute rule when the war already involves high caliber mages and martial artists. Said rule is the rule stating that ¡¯All paltry tricks are meaningless in front of absolute and indomitable strength¡¯, a rule that really applies to everyone given that the difference of the higher-level mages and martial artists are just that absurd compared to the lower-level ones, so much that not even numbers can make up for the difference in strength between them. That rule is also exactly the reason why it just makes the capital city of this kingdom all the more secure, as one of those absolute powers within the neighboring countries and kingdoms is located within the palace housing the royal family, a great mage of rumors that is capable of leveling a city flat with just one of their spells. Unfortunately for the common folks¡¯ eyes though, they do not have, and most likely will never have the opportunity to meet this legendary court mage of rumors, as this person¡¯s identity is like a hidden treasure that is veiled with all sorts of traps amidst the mist covering its true appearance. This isn¡¯t of any concern to Diluc though as he starts appreciating the entirety of the city with his eyes, a perfectly circular city that spans over what it seems to be a million kilometer of area, causing even considerable level experts to fail gauging the actual size of the city that stands proud with all sorts of establishments on either sides of the paved roads he and the elven beauty beside him is walking on, making him wonder just what sort of opportunities he can obtain here, his mind concluding that whatever amount that is, it is definitely far more than he can attain if he just travels aimlessly by himself. Thinking of a place for the two of them to talk though, the young man couldn¡¯t help but deduce of a single place that is definitely going to be less populated than the density of people walking on the streets they are currently on, this idea of his causing him to look at the elven beauty holding his hand and following just right behind him, opening his voice as he starts asking. "What do you say we move to the Academy first?" consulting his current companion, Diluc asked with a smile on his face, his voice surprisingly still clear when it arrives on the elven beauty¡¯s long ears despite the drowning noise produced by the people walking to and from around them, his words causing her to hesitate for a while before she eventually nods her head to him. Seeing how she hesitates for a second, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but wonder what is it that made her act like that, however, thinking that he shouldn¡¯t really concern himself with all the things she doesn¡¯t want to tell him, as well as the fact that she also agrees to his suggestion eventually, he just opts not to ask her why she hesitated. As they walk along the way following the location of the tallest tower in the city, the two of them marvels on the sight of everything around them, a lot of people from all walks of life either travelling and roaming the streets, some of them meanwhile enters shops that can be seen seemingly just waiting for the customers to arrive, while some are arguing and haggling with the owner of the roadside stalls usually located in the less populated streets. What they saw isn¡¯t limited to normal, pure blooded humans though as all sorts of races are also populating the streets, making it apparent that the stand of the Flammenherz Kingdom is something that accepts the diversity of life, unlike some extremist neighboring kingdoms who are more than happy to claim themselves and the race under their leadership to be the ones superior compared to the others, and that claim despite the fact that they can¡¯t live without trading and commerce whit their neighboring kingdoms. "We¡¯re near¡­" seeing the sky-scraping tower already getting bigger and bigger with each one of their steps, Diluc announces causing the elven beauty, Alea to snap out of her wandering daze previously looking at all sorts of people populating this city, her mind quite assured that she is not the only one that doesn¡¯t seem to be a normal human. Hearing his words, Alea merely nodded as she recalls this feeling of not being alone once again, assured that except for the time when she got kidnapped by the rotten people of that merchant¡¯s caravan, her time within the Academy is definitely going to be better than she expected, especially with this exceptional person becoming her friend. "Should we start taking the entrance exams then? I heard that the first part of the exams are something that can be taken independently¡­" she suggested as both of them nears the premise of the greatest academy within the kingdom and the neighboring lands around it, trying to buy as much time as she can to hide her identity from him, as somehow, she couldn¡¯t help but feel like there will be an estrangement between the two of them if he found out about it, something that she doesn¡¯t really want to happen given that he is the first male friend she ever had. "Is there a benefit of doing so?" wondering why she suggested such thing, Diluc asks as he turns around to meet her gaze, a gaze that seems to flicker brightly in hope and joy as she heard the question that just comes out of his mouth. "My guardian said that the students who passed the first part of the entrance exams are already eligible to enroll in the academy, and they will be given temporary lodging the moment they complete the first part of the exams" Alea said with a smile on her face as she starts telling him about all sorts of things that he can access the moment he got accepted into the academy, things that doesn¡¯t really register to him anymore the moment he heard of the fact that this lodging will be free of charge, as well as the fact that any students are already eligible to access the library of the academy, but of course, just a limited part of it. "Then I see no reason for us not to take this exam now¡­" Diluc¡¯s eyes glows as he starts looking forward to passing this entrance exams even more, his steps noticeably increasing in speed that made the elven beauty struggle to catch up to him once again. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Seeing the excited look on his face, Alea couldn¡¯t help but release a sigh of relief as it seems like she can still hide her identity to him for the time being, allowing her to focus on the upcoming exams they are about to take the moment they enter the premise of the academy. Finally standing in front of the gates of this place, both the emperor-like young man formerly a relatively high ranking noble because of his parents as well as the elven beauty who seems to be someone far more significant than just a normal noble, looks at the gates of this academy with quite the astonishment in their eyes. While it is not as grand as the main gates of the walls of the Capital City, it is certainly far greater than the size of the entrance where they pass through to enter inside the city, this gate that is decorated by some symmetrical engravings on each of the steel bar of it appearing quite refined and regal, coupled with the arch situated right above the gates with what seems to be the symbol of the academy on it, made it appear all the more professional and pleasing to the eyes. The emblem on the center of the arch is something simple, yet appears to be great and proper for the purpose of the academy all the same, a detailed shield design overlayed with a crossed sword and a magic staff right in front of it, the emblem that they will be wearing upon their clothes the moment they managed to pass the entrance exams just waiting for the two of them. Chapter 49: The Principal’s Interest "Here for the entrance exams?" as they approach the entrance of the Academy, Diluc and Alea are greeted by an old guard who seems way too amiable compared to the ones who are guarding the entrance to the city, making them wonder if this person doesn¡¯t come from the similar force as the guards. "Yes, senior, can we know where the exam is being conducted?" sensing no malicious intent on this old man guarding the gates of the Academy, Diluc then replies with a hint of respect in his tone, not because he feels like the level of this old man is something far above his but rather because he doesn¡¯t even make the two of them feel uncomfortable because of his level. "Hohoho, I like your tone young man¡­" the old man said with a hint of joy in his tone before his eyes release a white, near imperceptible glow, something that passes through the senses of both the young man and the elven beauty as they stand there waiting for the old guard¡¯s answer. As they wait for the response of the old man, the two young people couldn¡¯t help but feel surprised from the next words that comes out of the old man¡¯s mouth, words that he said after nodding and expressing a hint of approval on his face then smiling as he looks that the two of them. "The two of you passed the first trial of the entrance exam, now the two of you can enter the academy grounds" the old man said as he greeted the two of them with a bow, before singlehandedly opening the towering heights of the gates that seems way too heavy for a normal mage or martial artist to move, making the young man all the more believing of his speculation that this old guard is a hidden master, this display from the old man causing even the elven beauty to think that he might be an expert more powerful than she initially expected. ¡¯Having this kind of person as a guard¡­ it seems like the waters of this place runs so much deeper than I thought¡­¡¯ having his senses completely negated by the strength of this old guard making him aware that he¡¯s two major levels higher than him at the very least, Diluc thought to himself as he returns the bow to the old man, who then step aside as the gates completely opens, said guard¡¯s move being pointing the two of them towards different directions. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Meanwhile, while she is also quite surprised because of the display of might that the old guard has shown, Alea takes it pretty lightly compared to the emperor-like young man given that she feels like there isn¡¯t any real secret that she needs to keep to herself, as well as the fact that her identity, while something really significant, isn¡¯t really as sensitive as the identity of the young man walking beside her. Returning her bow towards the old man as well, the two of them gains more approval of the old man as he pointed them to their next directions, all while feeling pretty satisfied with the respect that these two gave him given that all the young people that enters before them shows a pretty crass attitude towards him, hitting something on his nerves that he never thought was there before. "The entrance exams are separated between men and women group, so the young man here will go on a separate way with you, young elven miss¡­" the old guard said with a smile on his wrinkled face before pointing each of them to a different direction once again, pointing the emperor-like young man towards the path branching to the left side of the academy grounds while pointing the elven beauty to the path branching to the right side of the academy grounds. "May you have good fortune with your challenges" the old man said as he waves his hands to the departing pair of young people, all while thinking something for himself. ¡¯This is how young people should be!!¡¯ he thought to himself as he recalls the character of these two, smiling while thinking that there is still some good seedlings left during these times where most people become quite twisted due to their standing in the society. As he continues watching over the two young people until they eventually disappear due to the thick foliage and landscaping of the place, he fails to notice a white haired, horned beautiful lady with a youthful appearance, looking at him with a hint of curiosity on her face as she knows that he doesn¡¯t really show such interested expression when it comes to young people who are born on the generation after hers. "Hey, Old Kairos, what makes you so interested with those two?" following one of the figures that goes towards the next trials of the first part of the entrance exam, this white-haired, horned beauty asks as she pats the old person¡¯s back, surprising the old man quite a bit and making him wary given that there¡¯s hardly anyone in this kingdom that can sneak beside him like that without his awareness being alerted, that even with himself distracted with his own thoughts. Immediately turning his head around to find out the identity of the person who manages to sneak past his senses, the old man then feels a bit embarrassed as he saw the young beauty looking up from her position, her arms crossed as she continues to look towards one of the figures he just welcomed inside the academy. "They¡¯re good kids" after composing himself once again as she found out the identity of this person, the old man replies with a smile on his face as he recalls the things he saw when he tries to look into those two¡¯s levels, seeing that both of them has exceptional talents capable of standing out among the rest of their batch, and that is despite the fact that this current batch of students they are a part of being one of the most talented batch they even had since the founding of this academy, with a history nearing half a millennium already. "Mhm¡­" after extending her senses and probing into one of the figures, to be exact, the young man going to the left side of the academy, the white-haired, horned beauty mutters in a reply as she thought that there is something peculiar with this young man, and whatever it is that made him so, it definitely starts sparking her curiosity of what this thing is. "Hoh¡­ you¡¯re quite interested in that lad as well huh¡­ principal¡­" seeing the look on the youthful beauty¡¯s face, the old guard couldn¡¯t help but point out as he looks at the young man once again, recalling the sensation he felt when he tries to see through his actual strength. "That kid¡­ he¡¯s unique¡­" snapping out of her wondering daze, the white-haired beauty replies as she starts doing something, writing something on a paper that appears out of nowhere, her words causing the old man to smile even widely, thinking that the two of them are on the same spectrum and thinking of the same about the young man. "Indeed, he¡¯s bound to shine among all the new students" the old man said, feeling like he just couldn¡¯t wait to see how this hidden gem will develop during his time in the academy, his hands a bit shaking in the excitement he is currently feeling. While it might seem to him and even to her that they are talking about the same thing, the two of them fails to understand that the truth is opposite, but even so, since they are both pertaining to how the emperor-like young man is an exceptional person, they just let this slide as they go on their own ways. "I¡¯ll be going now old Kairos, I need to do something important" the white-haired beauty said as she waves her hands to the old man, prompting the old man to nod as he watches this youthful beauty disappear without him even noticing, causing him to shake his head as even though he had known if for a long time already, he just couldn¡¯t get used to how powerful this youthful beauty is. As he returns his attention to the path towards the next trial of the first part of the exams, he noticed that the young man is already out of sight, prompting him to return his attention to standing guard on the gates of the academy, doing his duty to do the preliminary and most important part of this trial, screening the geniuses entering here of both their talents, as well as their characters. "I hope there are a lot more young ones like those two" the old man thought as he returns to his waiting, this little wish of his something that is out of genuine concern for the future of the kingdom he grew up on, as well as the neighboring lands that also sends their geniuses to this academy of theirs. Chapter 50: An Examiner’s Surprise While the old man goes back to what he is supposed to do, the white-haired, youthful beauty of a principal of this academy starts moving to investigate the young man she takes interest in, her figure after disappearing from the area where the old guard is located now appearing once again on a relatively tall tower connected to the main building of the academy, looking down on the ground as she tries to search for the young man¡¯s figure amidst all the other exam takers down below. "Does anything pique your interest, Miss Aria?" out of the shadows that blurs some parts of the room she is currently in, a voice that seems to talk to the principal asks with an apparent trace of patience and dedication on her feminine voice, dutifully waiting for the white-haired beauty¡¯s words and just standing right where she is like a statue. "Observe that young man over there for a while, take note of all his actions during his exams" finally seeing the figure of Diluc among the crowd, the horned beauty orders as she points out exactly where he is right now, earning a nod of acceptance from the feminine figure hiding in the shadows of the room. "As you command, my lady" the figure hiding in the shadows replies as she completely disappeared from where she is previously located, a technique, or rather a trick that the very same lady she is receiving order from taught her and the other ladies bearing the same insignia of the same force on them, a force exclusively under the direct orders of this white-haired youthful beauty. "What sort of things are you hiding, young man¡­" she mutters to herself as she thinks of several reason why she is somehow so fascinated with him despite thinking that there are a lot more talents that is on equal, if not of a greater standing than him, not even in her wildest dream will she be aware of the fact that this young man is a ticket for her to grow into greater heights. ---------- Meanwhile, unaware of the thing happening within the premise of the academy, Diluc continues to tread the path towards the next trials of the entrance exam, finally seeing the end of this road as he saw a building that seems to be made for a gathering of a lot of people, something of a hall that spans more than dozen meters in both length and width, with its height spanning across ten of meters from ground up. Seeing that there are a lot of young men going towards the multiple entrances of this hall, the emperor-like young man then proceeds to walk towards one of the entrances as well, following after some young men who seems to start making connections with others already, opting not to do something similar right now as he never knew when he will meet a traitorous bastard similar to the people his parents used to know. Finally entering inside this hall, the young man hears a lot of things within the surroundings due to his heightened senses from the blessings he received, blessings that he already acquired thrice now given that the young fire dragon, Seraphina, who is now about to enter her adolescent age also gives him her blessings just a few minutes after she comes out of her shell. What stands out the most from the things he is hearing are those of the people right in the middle of the hall, on an elevated stage surrounded by the ladder-like seats where they are guided to sit by staffs of the academy as they enter inside. As he looks at the location where most of the sound from talking come from, the young man saw ten clear perfectly spherical orbs the size of an adult human¡¯s head standing on top of a pedestal engraved with multitude of magic runes derived from magic circles, its purpose seemingly measuring the mana of the exam takers somehow given that it gives off different intensity of light the moment the examinee places their hands on it and surges their mana respectively. "Number 1233, fail" "Number 1235, fail" "Number 1237, fail" "Number 1238, fail" S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Number 1239, fail" Hearing the consecutive failed mark coming from the examiners observing the intensity of light coming out from the spheres, most of the young men in the surrounding couldn¡¯t help but feel a tad too nervous despite it not being their time to enter this trial yet, most of them worrying due to the fact that they don¡¯t even know whether it is the level of mana they have or whether it is the quality of their mana that the device is checking. "Anyone who isn¡¯t mentioned, please move toward this door, the next trial is waiting for you¡­" one of the staff of the academy points out towards the exit right behind him, his face containing a patronizing smile that seems to make the aspiring students amiable with their approach to him. "¡­as for the ones who failed, please move towards this door, we will be awaiting you next year once again" after seeing that the ones who passed are already out of the hall, another staff said as she points towards the exit behind her, her expressions similar to the one that the man guarding the exit for the aspiring students who passed, however her smile is more of a comforting rather than the congratulating one, causing the ones who failed to not feel so bad about themselves. "This is¡­ surprisingly good" seeing this, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but think that even despite all the things he heard from his parents about the academy, it feels completely different given how these staffs seems to care even for the ones who fails the exam, as well as treat everyone who passed with respect no matter what their social status is. This seems to work quite well in their favor as well, given that so far into the exams and they still haven¡¯t encountered a troublemaker that will disrupt the flow of the test, something that they are also thankful for given that just one minor interruption might cause a long delay for their work. "Number 1241 to 1250, please come to the stage to get your mana tested" one of the examiners on the stage said prompting ten other young men to approach the stage, each one of them bearing different appearance yet sharing the very same expression on their face, one that is quite dominated with nervousness and worry, albeit each one of them has different intensity of it from the other. This way of testing the students continues without any mishap, probably because of the amiable staffs or probably because these young men are afraid of making a mess in this place, where the most powerful people not only of the Flammenherz Kingdom, but also from the neighboring lands, gathers. "Number 1451 to number 1460, please come to the stage to get your mana tested" another person among the ten examiners on the stage said, prompting ten new young men to approach the elevated stage, one among them bearing an expression of absolute confidence in his face, something that these examiners rarely saw on someone taking this trial. Stepping into the stage, Diluc comes face to face with the examiner who is supposed to check his results, said examiner so amiable that he even made a small conversation with him as if to get the thought and worries of this trial out of his mind. "You seem pretty confident, young man" the one examining him, what seems to be a middle-aged beast kin with a cat tail behind her along with the cat ears poking out of the examiner¡¯s hat she is wearing, said with a smile on her face, a smile that reveals her feral fangs, something that fascinates the emperor-like young man. "Indeed, miss, I¡¯m just quite worried about the performance of my companion" Diluc replies as he thought about Alea who might be taking similar type of exam now as well, his words causing this beast kin lady to get curious of who his companion is. "Mind telling me who your companion is?" as she guides him to the process of the exam, the beast kin lady asks while she starts infusing her mana to kickstart the process of the runes on the pedestal holding the sphere, causing her to cover her mouth in giggles as she heard the young man¡¯s reply. "My companion¡­ she¡¯s on the other branch of the road¡­" he said a bit ambiguously, yet given how this is the method that they always test the student with, only having some minor changes in it, the lady immediately gets what he is talking about, probably wanting to urge him to speak about the ¡¯companion¡¯ he has if not for the event that starts to happen, something concerning the young man¡¯s mana testing device. "This¡­" seeing the thing happening in front of her, the beast kin examiner couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit astonished, prompting her to look at the young man she is supposed to observe during this trial. Chapter 51: What!? Meanwhile, even Diluc himself shows an odd expression on his face, not that of shock and surprise but rather of distress as there really isn¡¯t any way for him to conceal some of this, as it is even stated by the Dragon Herding System. [While you, as the Ruler of the Draconic Realm must also be a shrewd and smart individual who must learn to always have a hidden dagger on your pocket, there is a minimum amount of talent that you must show in order for you to be respected or at the very least, avoid being disrespected by just any insignificant creature] Seeing the words on the floating gray screen in front of him, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but wryly smile to himself despite the fact that he understands the Dragon Herding System¡¯s take on this situation, in fact, he truly thinks of the same way as it, however; ¡¯You call this minimum amount of talent?¡¯ he asks helplessly as this system and him appears to have a completely different concept of minimum talent, this grandiose show of the light of his sphere flooding the entire hall with its brightness something that never in his life until now thinks of as something ¡¯minimum¡¯. [You should get more and more used to this kind of attention, as it will only get worse the higher you climb, since you¡¯re just going to get more and more absurd from the blessings of the dragons about to be born in the Draconic Realm] ¡¯Whatever, the die is already cast, now all I need to do is to deal with the consequences of this action¡¯ Diluc surrendered as he thinks that there¡¯s no way he¡¯s about to win an argument with this seemingly omniscient system, who ever so often only say things that he needs to know. After this, there¡¯s no longer a reply from the floating gray screen that completely disappears from his vision already. On the other hand, the beast kin lady that is still trying to get an accurate reading on his mana also has a mental battle happening in her own mind, one part of her screaming that she should strike a connection with this kind of talent, while another part of her reasoning that this kind of genius might be the kind of people who are way too unreachable even for her. In the end, she decided to keep it professional by not introducing her name to him, yet still striking some conversations as if to calm his mind down just in case he is already panicking inside, an assumption that is somehow true, but not because of the reason she thinks of. "Quite impressive, aren¡¯t you? There seems to be no one who can match your mana yet, well, at the very least compared to the young men who goes before you" the beast kin lady said with a smile on her face as she finally gets a reading of the young man¡¯s mana, something that made her astonished and doubtful as never in her life did she saw something like this, urging her to find a superior to report about this just in case other examiners from the succeeding trials not pay attention to this gem in the rough. "Thanks for the compliment, how did I do?" as the light from the sphere starts to recede back into where it comes from, Diluc then smiles as he asks towards the beast kin examiner, despite already knowing what the outcome of this trial is for him. "Do I even need to clarify?" the examiner said with a wry smile on her face as she points towards the exit of the hall specifically for the ones who passed this trial, urging the young man to move himself there and wait for everyone to finish their turn, turn that they need to repeat given that the light from his test completely drown theirs. "Everyone except for number 1455 passed" the very same beast kin lady who stands as the examiner for Diluc announces across the crowd, making the one she mentioned feel a bit embarrassed as he is the only one who fails to pass among the group of people who takes this part of the entrance exam with him. After being guided towards the exit of the hall, the other young men who takes this trial at the same time couldn¡¯t help but feel curious at this emperor-like young man exuding the aura of a ruler around him, someone who seems so inapproachable for them given that they barely passed this part of the entrance exam. Meanwhile, back on the examination site, the beast kin lady couldn¡¯t help but walk around in circles as she waits for someone to arrive, finally stopping her circling around as she saw someone emerging from the shadows, someone with an appearance way to familiar with her. "Aeonia, what took you so long?" looking at the face of the figure who just emerges from the shadow, a figure that bears extreme resemblance to hers, save for the fact that this figure¡¯s cat-like features are black unlike her white ones, the beast kin examiner asked as she hands a paper towards this lady from the shadows. "Aeolia, I was telling the others to keep closer eyes on him¡­" the lady cloaked in the shadows replied with a bit of a helpless voice seemingly more familial rather than the respectful one she uses when talking with the white-haired youthful beauty of a principal of this academy, smiling at the beast kin examiner as she asks another question all while taking a look at the paper handed to her. "How¡¯s the data?" asking while she starts reading about the basic information about this young man, the lady hidden in the shadows couldn¡¯t help but feel shocked as she heard from this beast kin examiner, her close family, her twin sister, the level of mana measured from the emperor-like young man who just takes the exam previously. "Five stars¡­" the beast kin examiner said with a shaking voice still filled with disbelief, as this is a fact that could quite possibly send the entire kingdom into shock, and the fact that she is one of the only few who are privy of it made her feel somehow vulnerable given how great of an information this is. "That¡¯s¡­ absurd¡­ did you check it properly?" listening to her twin sister¡¯s words, the lady hiding in the shadow, Aeonia, asks with an expression with apparent disbelief from the incredulous fact that she just read from the report of her twin sister. "Thrice, and the results are more consistent than even those geniuses who tries their best to exert themselves during this process¡­" the beast kin examiner, Aeolia, said with a wry smile on her face as she points this fact out, causing her twin sister to concede her disbelief as she knows how attentive this twin sister of hers is, someone who is more than just a reliable source of information given how any piece of news can be branded as either true or false just from her checking it once. "I better report this to Miss Aria as soon as possible¡­" Aeonia said with an urgent expression on her face, merely patting her twin sister on the shoulders as a sign of thanks for this information, before she disappears from the shadows once again, making her twin sister shake her head. "She really come and go with the wind" Aeolia mutters to herself as she comes out of this spot, taking over the staff she leaves to deal with her sphere on the examination stage, thanking the staff for watching over the examination for her before she starts recording the ones taking the trials once again. ---------- "Miss Aria, here are some information from the second trial¡­" Aeonia said as she appears on another shadow once again, this time she is situated in a room right a the very top of a tower connected to the main building of the academy, a tower made for the people who take seat as the principal of this school to observe its students directly, most likely as a way for them to comprehend or even just glean into how this entire academy¡¯s students work or not work as a whole. "I saw it, that was an impressive quality of mana, he should be around the four-star level, right?" with her hands behind her and her head looking down on the hall where the events centered on the young man with an emperor-like bearing occurs, the white-haired, horned beauty replies as she turns around to meet the gaze of this subordinate of hers, who is currently shaking her head as if to correct her claims. "His mana level is five stars, Miss Aria" the figure said as she reveals herself in order to hand the information she received from her sister to the white-haired youthful beauty, said beauty¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t help but widen as she reads through the information noted on this piece of paper. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "What!?" Chapter 52: The Third Trial The principal of the Flammenherz sole academy within its capital city, Aria Frostborn, a woman who is known to her subordinates and just anyone who personally knows her in general by many names, short-tempered loli-hag, witch of disaster, fist of ¡¯judgement¡¯ among all of her many derogatory sounding titles that are claimed to be ¡¯praises¡¯ by the people who call her as such. What could probably be very close to a compliment among all the names she is being called with, it might possibly be the title that she likes the most: Frost Heaven War Goddess, a title she acquired from the numerous wars she had participated with along with a junior sister from her master, wars that they are far too familiar with despite the two of them being only in the youthful late twenties of their lives. While it can be said that they are already old enough, the two of them are truly young as practitioners, whether they are mages or martial artists, as those who goes to pursue the improvement of self tends to attain increase of their lifespan whenever they reach another minor level on the path of strength that they pursue, said increase in lifespan becoming greater the higher the levels they reached, with rumors about beings who are of either a White Core mage or a Nine Star Establishment martial artists are already existences who have attained the state of being effectively immortal and unchanging. Sure, they are young for a practitioner of the path of strength, but the two of them, particularly this white-haired horned beauty, given how vast the difference between her and her junior sister is, already saw a lot of things that can¡¯t even be imagined by normal practitioners in their entire lifetime, and that includes geniuses who are capable of defying everyone¡¯s common sense, geniuses that is far beyond what this small kingdom of theirs have. But never, never in her entire life had she encountered something like this, not even something remotely close to this kind of genius, making her check the information in her hands time and time again just to make sure that she isn¡¯t missing something from all of these overwhelming things recorded about this young man. ¡¯I already pride myself for being a genius with three-star mana level but this¡­ this is just on another level¡¯ looking at the five-star readings on the report, Aria couldn¡¯t help but feel like something huge is about to happen on this simple kingdom of theirs, probably a huge wave that will shift the power balance of the surrounding lands should she manage to nurture this young man properly. Remembering how there¡¯s hardly anyone who can reach the same level of talent as hers when she roams around the neighboring and farther lands, this white-haired horned beauty couldn¡¯t help but smile as she starts looking forward to how this young man will perform on other trials of the entrance exams, her mind whispering to her that she must find a way to contact this young man first hand in order to gauge his talent more properly. "Prepare an examiner¡¯s role for me in the last trial, I want to meet this kid face to face" the white-haired beauty said as she hands back the information to the beast kin lady who previously hides in the shadows, even she who prides herself for being someone who saw a lot about the world already, nodding while admiring the aesthetically pleasing appearance of this lady with cat-like features on her. "As you command, Miss Aria" the beast kin lady replies before curtly bowing to the youthful beauty, before she steps back into the shadows and seemingly merges with it again as she disappears from the room, the horned beauty looking at it and nodding at the technique that this lady performed. ¡¯She¡¯s getting better at it¡¯ she thought to herself before she looks down on the grounds of the academy once again, hoping that there¡¯s another person who at the very least can somehow rival this young man¡¯s talent, however thinking that it is already a lucky thing that they encounter this young man, she highly doubts that there will be another monster like that appearing in the midst of the aspiring students trying to take the entrance exams to this academy. ---------- Meanwhile, right at the entrance of a new hall, Diluc is on a line that hardly moves forward, making him wonder just what sort of trial is it that is being conduct in this hall, a question and thought that is occupying not only his mind, but also the mind of everyone else who are still standing in line and waiting for their turn to come. What¡¯s the worst part of it though is the fact that they can¡¯t even meet the people who had already taken this trial, as it seems that they are directed to a completely different place after this, making them completely unaware of what is happening, a state that increases their nervousness about the next trial more and more as time passes. "We just need a few more minutes and the third trials will proceed faster, please wait for a while, dear participants, and thank you for your understanding" as the staffs starts to hear the complains of the young aspiring students who are still relatively calm given that they are still falling in proper line and waiting for their proper turn, they start comforting them the moment they received news from inside the hall, a news that made them relieved as the palpable pressure from assuring this young people, mostly nobles and even royalties, rests on their shoulder and their shoulder alone. Before said nobles can start their tantrum, a great news came to the staffs¡¯ as the announcement that those examiners inside already fixed the problem resounded on their ears, making them heave a sigh of relief as they start allowing more and more participants to enter inside the hall where the third trial is supposed to be held. "Finally, thank the heavens they fixed it in time" one of the staffs guarding the entrances to the hall said with a helpless smile on his face, another one among them agrees as they themselves knows what sort of situation they are currently in and what sort of situation they will be in the moment that this takes even longer than it did now. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Seeing the looks on the nobilities¡¯ eyes, the staffs couldn¡¯t help but shake their head in order to avoid imagining the tragic fate they might have encountered if this goes on, a fate solely dependent on what the mood of this spoiled kids will be the moment that they enact their anger on them. Among the people who are finally moving, Diluc walks following right behind the person standing in front of him, just minding his own business to himself until they eventually reach the hall in which the place of the third trial will be conducted, this hall similar to the one that the second trial is, with an elevated stage on the center of the stair-like seats surrounding the entire hall. On that stage, ten other devices completely different to the device used in the second trial stands, beside each of them an examiner whose purpose her seems to be similar to the purpose of the examiners on the second trial as well, to measure the examinee¡¯s strength, however, it appears that it is no longer the strength or level of mana the aspiring students has that is being examined here, but rather, their attack power given that they are hitting the devices in front of them in all sorts of ways, either with magic attack, with weapons and some gutsy ones even with their bare body alone, each one yielding a different result that is identified just by either a passing or a failing mark by the examiners. "Number 1001, fail" "Number 1002, fail" "Number 1003, fail" "Number 1005, fail" Hearing the harsh condition of the examiners given that those three appears to yield a pretty good result on the device, the young men who haven¡¯t yet to take the trial starts feeling some dive off their confidence, wondering whether they will be able to pass this trial as well. Meanwhile, majority of the part of nobility can easily be identified through how these young man acts, as most of them appears to be part of the people who barely see this trial as a problem, resulting on their more relaxed, albeit still a bit anxious expression on their faces. As time goes on, more and more participants are being tested, allowing Diluc to see all sorts of people within the midst of them, some young men sounding really weird as they even chant the magic they are using, some martial artists screaming at the top of their lungs before they attack the devices with what appears to be their all, while some of them pretends to be cool and collected, acting like it is no trouble to them, most probably thinking that it is a good place to establish their prestige. Chapter 53: Planning to Excel After a while of waiting, Diluc finally has his turn to get examined for this particular trial, participating along with him are familiar faces that takes the trials the same time as him for the one before this, now all of them, along with some additional people from the other passers of the second trial, standing right in front of the device supposed to measure their strength. The device is a fairly simple one, with a metallic humanoid figure fixed right at the end of the device, with a score board above the dummy that¡¯s based on the speculation of most if not all young men in this place, is a score that goes up depending on the power of the attack that the metal figure receives. Based on these scores, and how the examiners announce who passes and fails, most of the smarter ones already figured out the estimated range of students who are able to pass this trial, having every single person among them to dish out a damage output no less than seven hundred points on the scoreboard, something that seems quite hard despite sounding so simple given that more than half of the participants who reaches this trial fails with their scores not even reaching the five hundred mark. While it appears to be quite the hurdle for the normal people aspiring to be a student of this academy, most of the nobility are able to produce a considerably good results even for the passing ones, especially since even they give it their all even if some of them tries their best to not make it obvious, as failing to enter the academy despite being a noble will not only make them appear like a fool and be humiliated, but they will also be most likely cast out the moment they try to return back to their home. "Please hit the metal dummy with all you got" finally reaching in front of the examination area, Diluc was greeted by an examiner who appears to be a normal human, well, except for the deeply disturbing eye bags resting right on his eye socket, something that seems to threaten to reply his barely open eyes given how big of a mark it is. Coupled with the lethargic voice, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit of pity towards this man, who seems to either work himself to the bone even in the middle of the night or ¡¯work¡¯ himself in the bed even in the middle of the night. Scanning the material used to make this metal dummy, the emperor-like young man nods to himself as he found out that it is made from a relatively good material, material that is more likely than not, able to tank the damage he can dish out if he controlled it for a bit. "What¡¯s the upper limit of the students who had taken this trial so far?" having already gathered quite the attention to himself during the second trials, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but ask as he plans to continue showing impressive results, thinking that there might be some perks he had yet to know for being exceptional in this entrance exams. Of course, he only plans to show what the Dragon Herding System classifies as ¡¯bare minimum¡¯ and anything higher than that is something he meant to keep for himself, as some sort of situation inversing, or even lifesaving trump cards that he would rather conceal than show others, for now. Hearing the words from the young man, this examiner looks at him with his tired, lethargic eyes before revealing a helpless smile, seemingly thinking of something as he takes another look at this young man. "You must be the reason why we need to adjust these devices" the extremely tired-looking examiner said with a wry smile on his face before he starts speaking once again, this time telling the emperor-like young man what he needs to hear. "The highest record so far is a student who manages to reach a damage output of one thousand and five hundred through a single instantaneous punch, and even that seems to be something of a normal thing to him given how nonchalant he seems after the attack" the examiner pointed out as he recalls the face of that young man, in fact, as an expert practitioner himself, he saw some beads of sweat on that young man¡¯s neck after the attack but wanting to see for himself the talent of this young man, he decided to hide this ¡¯minor¡¯ detail for now. "The news travels really fast here huh?" hearing the words from the examiner, Diluc said as he starts preparing himself, the lethargic-looking examiner merely smiling at his words as even if this student knows about how fast the information transfer between all the staffs of the school is, he would rather not reveal why is that so to him. "Any attack will do, right?" looking at the examiner once again, Diluc asks as he finishes his preparation, seemingly still stretching himself as he asks the examiner. "Any attack will do" the examiner repeats as he points to the dummy once again, prompting the emperor-like young man to step forward and come closer to the metallic figure, before reaching his hand towards it. ¡¯Since I¡¯m known as a mage, I better do it like this¡¯ he thought to himself as fire elemental mana surges from around himself towards his palm that is currently in direct contact with the dummy, something feeling off in his mind until he realizes something lacking in his spell. ¡¯Oh right, we can¡¯t forget about this¡¯ he mentioned in his mind as he starts forming a magic circle, something really unnecessary to him now given how easily he can manipulate the mana in the surrounding and inside him with just his thought, however, opting not to show too much of what he can do, he opted to still conceal his magic behind a magic circle, more of a decorative one rather than a purposeful one. Even if it is a decorative one though, there¡¯s hardly anyone who can identify it as such given that the very same magic circle serves the same purpose as the magic he is casting, creating the extremely realistic illusion of this magic being called upon by the magic circle, and not the truth that is the other way around. Without even muttering a single word, the magic circle collapse into a small area where the fire elemental mana gathers the most, signifying what other people knows as a successful spell casting, another illusion created by the Ruler of the Draconic Realm himself in order to deceive the eyes of the masses, academy staffs and aspiring students alike. Seeing the absurd thing happening right in front of him, the eyes of the lethargic examiner couldn¡¯t help but grow wide with his pupils constricting in absurd surprise, the intensity of this attack prompting him to wave his hands as multiple magic circles surrounds his arms, all of them a blue colored one that seem to signify the element he wields. "Water wall" The examiner mutters as he casts a half dome of water around the device and the young man he is supposed to examine, this barrier of water made from mana something that sets itself as the most useful spells in terms of defense when it comes to water elemental mages, something of a must learn or rather, an essential spell among the arsenal of mages who wields the water element like him. The power of this spell makes the lethargic examiner all the more surprised, a surprised shared only among the examiners and school staffs given that with their current strength, they are able to see some micro vapors that seems to escape out of his barrier, meaning that the heat produced by the young man¡¯s attack is more than enough to affect a barrier created by an expert like him, even if it is just in a small amount. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡¯Monster!!!¡¯ the examiners and the other academy staffs thought of one word in all of their heads simultaneously as they look at the performance of this young man, a performance that seems to be of someone who only exist once in a generation if not even rarer. After the attack finally subsided, the other young men couldn¡¯t help but feel like there is something wrong, something they felt the moment this emperor-like young man starts casting a spell, a speculation that becomes all the more apparent as the examiner supposed to check him casts a water wall around the young man, something that never happened even when there are other fire elemental mages that takes this third trial before this young man. "T-this¡­" after everything settles down and they can finally see the result of the young man¡¯s attack, not only the students, but even the examiners and other academy staffs couldn¡¯t help but freeze on their tracks as they saw the number recorded on the scoreboard, along with the direct effect of the attack to the metallic figure. Chapter 54: The Last Trial "Having that sort of strength¡­ does he even need to take the exams?" "Who knows what sort of monsters are in the academy?" "But still¡­ that¡¯s crazy" Looking at the numbers on the scoreboard, the other aspiring students and currently participants of the third trial of the academy¡¯s entrance exams starts talking among themselves regarding the young man who acquires such rating with his strength alone, said strength making them wonder just what sort of things is this young man doing for him to grow into such level even before entering the academy. Meanwhile, the examiners also have this sort of thoughts floating in their minds, the only difference is that they refuse to let it out no matter how hard it might be as they have a reputation to protect as one of the people fortunate and capable enough to become one of the working staff of this well renowned academy. On the other hand, the young man who is currently the center of everyone¡¯s attention also has this same expression on his face, not because he felt like this is too much but rather because he is quite surprised that he can control his strength to such a degree, reaching a point that he can focus the attack towards a single point, seeing that only the middle part of the metal figure melted and not its entire body. "Number 1455, passed" after a few more moments of trying to compose himself, the lethargic examiner announces, completely forgetting to mention the other young men who had taken this part of the trial the same time as the one he is observing, this mistake not even realized by the aspiring students and the other staffs as everything just proceeds as normal a few minutes later, with the young man who shows such absurd result already disappearing from everyone¡¯s sight and proceeding to the next trial already. "9999¡­" "Do you think that is the exact units of the attack he just did" "Think properly, you think that is the limit of the measuring system that the academy provides? That is most likely the actual strength of that attack" "Y-you¡¯re right, there¡¯s no way even the device provided by the academy fails to measure the strength of that attack, right?" Muttering all sorts of things among themselves as they look at the repeating number on the scoreboard, the examinees feel a bit surreal from what they just witnessed, making most if not all of them absent minded even when they themselves are already taking the exams. What they didn¡¯t know and what the examiners opted not to tell them is the fact that this is already truly the maximum range that the device can measure, and it is even already adjusted given that they never even expected that a genius who can reach beyond a thousand units in terms of their attack power will emerge among these new students, causing them to switch some of the measuring components for the ones that the older students usually use to assess their current strength. "Do you think we will need to adjust the device even more?" given that it already happened once now, the examiners couldn¡¯t help but start considering the possibility of an even more absurd participant entering this room and doing something like that once again, causing who seems to be the one with the highest seniority among all these examiners to contemplate what to do next. "Send some of the staffs to pick up some higher quality force measuring devices from the main warehouse just in case, but there¡¯s no need to delay everything to change it for now" the one who seems to be the leader of the academy staff among those that are in this hall said, causing two of them who seems to be quite free at the moment to start rushing towards the warehouse that the person is talking about. "There seems to be quite a lot of great seedlings in this batch" one of the examiners pointed out as she continues her job, her words earning a nod from the other examiners as it appears that they share the same thought as her as well. ---------- This time of walking around and following the path leading to the next trials, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but feel like there are more and more people starting to pay attention towards him, some of them being people who wore barely presentable clothing, clearly a mark of them being commoners, said people looking at him with idolizing and a hint of envy in their eyes. Another set of people looking at him are ones who are clearly showing a hostile expression towards him, as if they couldn¡¯t wait to watch him fall just for them to enjoy putting him to his place, all of them being people with lavishly dressed self, these young men either openly provoking him with their expressions or just hiding their intent beneath a veil or false courtesy that they are showing everyone. Having known all sorts of this fa?ade ever since he was a child, given how much people his father and mother needs to deal with, Diluc knows exactly how he should deter this sort of people away from him, what his birth father taught to him as the most effective way of scaring the enemies into submission, something that his father likes to use often as he¡¯s a man who prefers not to shed blood as much as possible. With his eyes starting to show an eerie glow, Diluc reveals a smile on his face as he looks towards these people who appears to have some sort of malicious intent towards him, allowing his strength to flow out of his body to intimidate them, causing majority of these young men to feel like there is something wrong with him. ¡¯L-let¡¯s avoid offending him for now¡¯ ¡¯Humph! Forget about it, he¡¯s not worthy of my attention¡¯ ¡¯W-why am I even bothering with a peasant, this is below my status¡¯ Averting their gazes away from him, most of the noble children reasoned to themselves with the thought of still protecting their dignity or rather face, even if it is just in their minds. ¡¯Weak¡¯ the emperor-like young man said to himself as he saw all these people avoiding his gaze the moment that he lets out some of his strength, this action of theirs prompting him to remember their faces as he takes note of not to associate himself with these kinds of people, people who are more likely than not betray him just like how his parents¡¯ ¡¯friends¡¯ did to them. ¡¯Speaking of friends, I wonder if those bastards also have children they send here¡¯ thinking of this, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but look forward to entering the academy even more as he starts creating some plans in his head, plans that involves how he should progress from this point forward, along with plans of how he should exact justice for his parents and the people who fought alongside them. As he continues to roam around his thought, free from the feeling of being observed by these nobles due to what he did previously, Diluc then finally finds himself standing in front of a massive gate spanning more than four people¡¯s arm span in width and some five people in height, an impressive gate that seems quite out of place given that there are no walls on either side of it, along with the fact that this is already inside the academy. It would¡¯ve been deemed as a peculiar place already if not for the surging spatial energy right in the middle of this gate, an energy all too familiar with Diluc given how he already encountered something that feels similar but of greater intensity three times now already, all of them inside the Draconic Realms every time that a newly purchased habitat appears from what it seems is a land of nothingness. "Welcome to the fourth and last trials, everyone, this is a trial that will test your comprehensive ability that is already pre-assessed by the other trials before this one" as a staff saw that there is already another wave of aspiring students that arrives near this spatial gate, he starts explaining with a voice loud enough to pull the attention of these students towards him, making him nod as he saw that every one of the young men he can see is now paying attention to his words. "Well, this one is simple as well, however, quite different from the other three trials that you all had gone through¡­" the staff paused before snapping his fingers, creating an image of himself through the use of earth elemental mana alone, for whatever purpose the students don¡¯t know. "All of you are going to fight with someone beyond this spatial gate, it might be a copy of yourself, a staff, professor or someone else among the ones taking care of this academy taking interest towards you people, or someone random that roots themselves on your minds" the staff explains as he dispels the figure conjured from earth elemental mana that changes every time he mentioned a new possibility of the people that these examinees might encounter. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 55: The Great Fist of Justice "Now, please bear in mind that all of you will be sent into an independent space meaning that you can¡¯t team up to fight the opponents, and you can only rely on yourself in that space¡­ oh, and also, no need to feel scared of death there" the staff then said with a smile on his face as he signs to himself once he raises his hands on the level of his neck and pretends to slash it all the way across. "Sure, you will die there if you¡¯re not careful but that is just a simulated death, the moment you die there, you will be transferred back here completely fine so no need to worry¡­ well, of course you will still feel the pain from the damages you sustained but that¡¯s that" the staff then added at the end of his previous words causing most of the young men here to feel scared enough that their pupils even shrunk for a moment as they realizes the significant of the thing that the staff said. While it is true that most of them are already people who are really talented given the low passing rate of the other three trials before this one, most of them still haven¡¯t actually got involved in a fight that might induce painful damages to themselves, not to mention fights that concerns their very lives, making this last trial the most problematic one to them as even just the notion of a temporary death and the feeling of pain after it bothers them quite a lot. One among the people who doesn¡¯t really feel all that bothered with this is the emperor-like young man, Diluc, who literally thought that he goes through death and back given his experience with the Soaring Steel Eagle, an experience that almost kills him if not for his broad knowledge regarding the outside world. "There¡¯s another problem, but I hardly see this as a problem for our¡­ less fortunate examinees" the staff then speaks again after he saw that the aspiring students already starts regaining some of their composure before deciding to drop a bomb that is devastating more to the nobles rather than the commoners here. "You cannot summon or integrate with your contracted beast in this place, meaning that it is your strength and your strength alone that you can rely on during this exam" he added with such playfulness in his voice that most of the participants thought that he is joking, however seeing the modest, serious smile on his face, majority of the young men who each has their own contracted beasts, mostly nobles, starts throwing a fit and raining the staff with question. As the young men starts getting more and more rambunctious and chaotic, the staff couldn¡¯t help but get a bit irritated causing him to lose control of his strength, leaking out a single bit of his power, a power so strong that it made the entire gathering of test takes silent as they feel like they¡¯re going to be screwed should they utter another noise in front of this staff. "It¡¯s good that everyone is so understanding of this, now I wish you all good luck and greater might to pass this final trial" the staff said before stepping aside and allowing the ones in the front most part of this group to take steady steps towards the gates, his final reminder resounding before the first person enters this spatial domain. "Very last reminder everyone, this is the worst part of the trials where only one in a hundred person passes, so I suggest all of you to struggle to your utmost in order to be admitted in the academy, especially since all of you had already gone so far for you to reach this place" the staff pointed out before saying the most motivating piece of his words the entire time he is orienting these young men about what they are going to experience inside this spatial domain. "If you passed all those other trials, it already means that you have the ability to defeat whoever it is that you will face there, it just boils down to how well you can utilize the strength you¡¯ve shown in the previous trials" the staff said, causing some sort of security to root itself on the hearts of these participants, who seems to gain a trace if not more of newfound motivation and confidence to take this final trials. "Seems like my time here is going to be far better than I thought" Diluc mutters to himself once more as he watches the performance of this staff, thinking to his own that while there might be problems because of the other students in this place, there can¡¯t be anything worse than that given that majority of the staff he met here are people who doesn¡¯t seem to have any prejudice towards anyone, people who treats each and every person equally. After muttering this to himself, the emperor-like young man finally enters the spatial gate leading to the domain where he is supposed to fight someone who he doesn¡¯t know yet now, hoping that he can have a fight with himself as he thinks that this is the most efficient way for him to know the flaws of his current combat style. However, the moment he enters the spatial domain and saw the figure waiting for him, he couldn¡¯t help but feel confused thinking about what could possibly be the connection of this figure is, thinking that it is highly unlikely that they are a part of the academy¡¯s staff given their youthful figure, neither is it someone who is rooted to his mind given that he is absolutely sure that never in his life had he encountered this person before. ¡¯Just what happened?¡¯ the emperor-like young man, Diluc, thought to himself as he prepares himself, feeling a bit wary as he still doesn¡¯t know what sort of opponent this figure is along with their identity, his wariness apparent from his senses using mana completely spreading the entire area between him and his supposed opponent. "Hoh?" feeling his senses that spreads through the mana in the air, his supposed opponent couldn¡¯t help but smile as they look at him, the voice melodious and feminine, a relatively mature and sweet sounding one that appears not too good of a compliment with the face of this youthful figure. As Diluc feel more and more confused how can a kid appear here, the figure seems to notice the weird glint in his eyes causing her to start getting triggered, now just a bit irritated with the young man¡¯s gaze at her causing her to shout at him. "The fuck are you looking at me like that for huh!?" ---------- A little bit earlier before this encounter, a white-haired, horned youthful beauty can be seen walking along the free space of the academy, nodding to herself as she spreads her senses to both the men and women¡¯s area of the exams, seemingly satisfied that there are a lot more people passing the exams that she expected, and that is even after her increasing the difficulty of passing the trials by more than fifty percent. "Miss Aria¡­" out of nowhere, another figure emerges from the shadow nearest to this horned beauty, prompting her to nod in acknowledgement as this figure bows to her with respect. "Aeonia, I told you no need to go through all that formality when it¡¯s just the two of us right?" shaking her head as she points this out, the youthful beauty said with a helpless smile on her face, feeling like there¡¯s really nothing she can do with this respect from this lady, whom she treats as a close friend already given how long she had served under her, dutifully doing all her commands and even helping her voluntarily without her orders oftentimes. "Miss Aria, these are the report for that Diluc Leonhart for the third trial" the lady in the shadow replies, ignoring the white-haired beauty¡¯s words on the outside, however, deep inside, she couldn¡¯t help but feel glad every time this friend of hers reminds her of that. "Good work, how¡¯s his performance there?" the white-haired beauty, Aria, asked as she begins reading through the reports regarding this interesting young man for the third trials, reading through the assessment at the same time that the lady just waiting in the shadows starts explaining. "Past the limits of the normal measuring device, official recorded score 9999¡­" the two of them said at the same time, both of them also sharing the same expression on their face, an expression of utter disbelief more apparent on the lady obscured by the shadow, and that is despite her already reading through this information once before she reports to the white-haired beauty. "Tell other professors and staffs that I will be personally testing this kid for the fourth trials, and anyone who dares steal this from me will be greeted by my great fist of justice" Aria self-righteously announces as she hands the reports back to this friend of hers. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 56: Academy Mascot "As you command, Miss Aria" hearing these words from the lady she served for a long time already, the lady in the shadows, Aeonia, answered in a hurried voice, knowing completely well that this horned beauty means what she said, urging her to move fast to warn whoever it is that might have developed interest towards this exceptional young man in order for them not to experience the harshness of this ¡¯great fist of justice¡¯. ---------- After a while of waiting, the white-haired youthful beauty finally landed on the place she wants to be, having descended within this spatial domain where she will meet this young man who piques her interest the moment she saw him within the grounds of the academy, her mind hoping that this one wouldn¡¯t disappoint her like all the other geniuses she met before. While she waits for this young man to arrive on this place though, her expectations are completely exceeded as she finished checking him out with her own strength, and feeling his senses coursing through the mana in the air, she couldn¡¯t help but feel like this young man is far beyond what the other geniuses she witnessed before can do, quite possible someone who can fight on equal grounds to the rumored monsters of some high level forces that she heard about when she travels outside the confines of their kingdom. What piques her interest the most it the atmosphere around this young man that seems to just somehow pull her into him, an aspect not too effective given the vast difference between their strength, however not at all useless as said aspect made her somehow more amiable with him compared to how she is to other people. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This amiable doesn¡¯t really last for long though given that she saw a gaze that is all too familiar to her coming out from this young man¡¯s eyes, a gaze of wonder most likely due to her short stature and her baby face, causing her to feel really irritated that she blurted something out with a crass tone in her voice. "The fuck are you looking at me like that for huh!?" As the words comes out from her mouth, the horned lady couldn¡¯t help but assume a stance, preparing to tackle this young man and teach him a lesson afterwards, something that she decided to go for even more the moment she heard the next words coming out of the young man¡¯s mouth. "Little miss¡­ how about we calm ourself down for a bit for now?" seeing the aggressive expression on this horned youthful beauty¡¯s face, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but feel an urgency a bit more than he expects towards his opponent for this last part of the trials as every fiber of his entire being screams that this lady is nothing but danger, his body urging him to pull back, but he himself urges his own body to stand its ground without falling back, something that he didn¡¯t really notice as an improvement even though this is not something he will do before he has the Dragon Herding System. "Little¡­ Little miss!?" hearing the words coming out from the young man¡¯s mouth, the youthful beauty, Aria, repeated the words with a violent smile on her beautiful face, the nerves starting to show itself on her temple as a proof that she¡¯s really triggered by the words spoken by the young man in front of her. "I¡¯ll turn you into a little miss!!!" the horned beauty shouts as her figure disappears from her previous position, soaring through the air with unrivaled explosiveness before frost starts to appear all around her, some of it eventually congregating into ice below her feet, creating a platform that prevents her from falling back into the ground, all while the remaining ones forms spikes purely made of ice, her magic appearing to be completely different from a normal human¡¯s magic given that she doesn¡¯t even require a magic circle to do hers. "Frost Spire" she mutters as she points towards the location of the emperor-like young man, before raising one of her hands up, following the movements of her hand are multiple spires of solid ice rising from the ground beneath the young man, seemingly eager to crush him but failing to do so as he manages to avoid them in time. "This is¡­" feeling the way that mana behaves with the spells that this horned beauty is casting, coupled with the horn jutting out of her head, the young man starts connecting the pieces and managing to know the identity of this lady¡¯s bloodline. [Indeed, that individual possesses dragon blood, it¡¯s not pure but it is high in concentration and quality nonetheless] All of a sudden, the floating gray screen appears on the corner of his eyes showing these words to him, enabling him to confirm his speculation and allowing him to prepare more as he already knows the nature of this lady¡¯s spells, they are dragon tongue, the very same type of magic casting technique that Yggdrasil, Argenta and even Seraphina uses whenever they spar, a magic casting technique that he is also completely capable of. "Can I scan her information?" he mutters towards the system, the reply causing him to frown as he thinks that given how powerful this lady is, he will find it quite difficult to meet the requirements for him to know her information. [Given that the individual is currently not a part of the Draconic Realm, adding to the fact that the individual is not of a full draconic progeny, you are required to initiate a physical contact with the individual before the system can scan the individual¡¯s information] "Well that¡¯s annoying" reading this, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but complain but knowing that there¡¯s really nothing he can do about it, he decided to just go with whatever might happen, already preparing for the worst and readying himself to enter the Draconic Realm the moment he felt that something is going south. "Why are you so offended, miss?" the young man shouted as he tries to calm down this raging ball of anger, his words gaining a reply but not the kind he expects. "I am a full-grown, good lady and a functioning member of the society you fucking bastard, and you have the guts to call me little miss!?" despite the distance between the two of them, the shout of the youthful, white-haired beauty resounded loud enough for him to clearly hear each and every single word of her sentence, and that is all while he is getting bombarded by ice shards forming from beside her and directly coming down from the sky. "I am sorry about that miss!!! Can you please tell me your identity if you¡¯re not a little miss?" Diluc said with an apologetic tone that causes the white-haired, horned beauty¡¯s expression to soften a bit, but due to him saying that word previously, it causes her to want nothing but to make him suffer for a bit more in order to teach him a lesson. "Why don¡¯t you take a guess?" the lady currently in the air said now with a trace of playfulness on her tone as she continues to attack, causing the young man to feel frustrated as he couldn¡¯t really do anything to reach her, given that all the spells and techniques he knows doesn¡¯t really allow him to reach her, and even his self-developed air stepping technique might have a problem given how this lady seem to predict each and every movement he makes with the ice spikes raining down from her location. ¡¯Damn it, just what sort of wars did this girl had gone through for her to be able to fight like that¡¯ thinking that this lady had gone through war as just a sort of a joke to himself given how difficult it is to fight her, who seems to have an extreme amount of experience in the battlefield, Diluc wouldn¡¯t really expect that this joke of him is something that is really true to the lady¡¯s life story. "I don¡¯t know! Could it be possible that you are the academy¡¯s mascot?" having to defend from all these attacks coming from all directions, not just from front back left and right but also from above and below, the emperor-like young man doesn¡¯t really have any more spare mental capacity to care about guessing something, causing him to just say whatever it is that is in his mind, something that he will definitely regret the next moment once his words reaches this white-haired beauty¡¯s ears. "Mas¡­cot¡­ hehehehe¡­." as she hears it, the youthful beauty starts laughing to herself, her attack stopping for a while causing Diluc who is currently struggling to think that he guessed it right, only for him to feel even more danger as this beauty looks at him again, now with a modest smile on her face and her eyes appearing to be completely emotionless, her mouth opening as her words resounded the place. "You¡¯re in for a hell of a treat from me~~" Chapter 57: A Satisfying Fight "You¡¯re in for a hell of a treat from me~~" After saying this, the white-haired youthful beauty disappears from the air where she is previously located, the ice platform underneath her shattering as a tremendous force goes through its entire structure, this tremendous force something that can be attributed to how the horned beauty is currently moving at a terrifying speed towards the emperor-like young man, her figure as if an arrow aiming straight to the opponent¡¯s head. Seeing this, Diluc doesn¡¯t allow himself to be hit by that, bracing himself from the impact as he knows that he can¡¯t really dodge this attack anymore, rooting his feet to the ground and raising his arms in preparation for the impact he is about to experience. "Screw it, there¡¯s no use hiding it now" knowing that he can¡¯t really reason himself out once he comes out with minimal injury from this attack, Diluc is well aware that his identity as someone who takes the path of both mage and martial arts will be revealed to this lady, but knowing that there¡¯s no second chance for him if he were to be defeated, he decided to show a bit more of his strength, of course, up to just a reasonable degree unless something happens. As the white-haired horned beauty finally lands the attack on him, she couldn¡¯t help but smile as she feels the direct hit on the young man¡¯s body, however, the moment that she looks at the current situation, her eyes start widening as while she expects him to somehow avoid being killed by her attack, she doesn¡¯t really expect him to come out of it pretty much unscathed. "You are¡­" knowing what this means, she starts speaking once again as she looks at this young man, someone who seems to share the same talent as her, a thing that she deduced just from him blocking her attack. ¡¯The twin path of power!!!¡¯ she thought to herself as she decides to confirm the authenticity of this speculation she has by herself, already knowing that he is a capable mage as she saw the report of how he melted the middle part of the testing dummy there, now the only thing she needs to confirm is whether he is really a martial artist as well. However, given how tough his body is, she can pretty much confirm this fact already, it¡¯s just that she is still in quite the disbelief due to meeting someone who has similar talent as hers. "Great!! Try this now" she smiles as she creates a distance between her and the young man before she dashes once again, deciding to do something that only true martial artists can follow. Meanwhile, the young man who is quite used to fighting with magic rather than his physique, is struggling quite a bit with this white-haired beauty¡¯s fighting style, the only thing that is keeping him from revealing an opening to her being the fact that his martial arts level is fairly high as well. ¡¯She¡¯s getting faster and faster¡¯ Diluc thought to himself as this horned beauty starts to attack him on a faster and faster pace, making him frustrated as he couldn¡¯t even throw a counterattack at her, proving her experience in battle as she can still barely suppress him with her current strength. ¡¯Damn it!! If not for this spatial domain restricting me to the Yellow Core and Muscle Conditioning, this wouldn¡¯t even be a fight at all!!¡¯ the white-haired beauty complained as she continues to strike barrage of attacks towards the young man who is completely defending himself despite there being a difference with their strength, him being at the Vague Orange Core and the Early Muscle Conditioning, while she already being on the highest level of these two cultivation stages. After a few more moments into the fight, Diluc finally starts getting used to her way of offense, which is more focused on suppression rather than his defeat, his gradual movements of catching up to hers not escaping the youthful beauty¡¯s eyes, which becomes pretty surprised once again as she knows how complex of a technique the one she¡¯s currently using is. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡¯He¡¯s really a monster¡¯ she confirms for herself as she starts moving to dodge, parry and block now as well, having some attacks of the young man slipping through her defenses and throwing her off guard, these moments starting to tip the fight more and more into the state of balance. ¡¯What a monster¡¯ Diluc thought to himself as he continues to struggle slipping in attacks from this horned beauty¡¯s defenses, making him think that even if they are of the same realm, Yggdrasil and Argenta might not be able to hold their grounds against this beauty on a fair, one on one martial arts fight. The two of them continues to immerse themselves on the exchange they are having, fist turning into palms blocking other limbs aiming to hit each other¡¯s body, their knees, feet, elbows and wrists becoming weapons as well the moment that the other person had even just the tiniest bit of opening on their defenses, the way they take advantage of this kind of miniscule openings showing so much about their high-risk high reward nature. As they continue the exchange without a single care to the surroundings, the lady continues to parry as more and more of the young man¡¯s attack slips into her defenses, only at this moment did she realizes that this young man is already using the same martial technique that she is using against him previously, the apparent smile on his face making it all the more obvious that he manages to learn it within this short amount of time. ¡¯Really impressive¡¯ she thought to herself as she picks up the pace, not allowing the reputation of the principal of this academy to be tainted by a young man almost a decade younger than her, a young man whom she is sure of becoming someone with strength that will surpass hers in the future, should he manage to grow and not die in the process of metamorphosing from a young practitioner to a peerless expert, a bridge that majority of people not only in this kingdom, but all upon this vast lands, fail to cross. ¡¯This is becoming manageable¡¯ Diluc thought to himself as he pushes this horned beauty more and more, the expression on her face seemingly easing up now as well given that her eyes are showing more and more emotion compared to her previous smiling face, and one of the identifiable one among the many emotions shining in her eyes being somewhat of a proud, if not an excited one that seems to be directed towards him. As their limbs continues to cross each other, they eventually found themselves on a stalemate, with one of their hands holding one of their opponent¡¯s legs, while their other hand is locked with each other and trying to escape from this lock. Having considered how awkward of a position they currently are in, the white-haired horned beauty decided to let go of her locked hands first before she immediately pulls her legs out of the young man¡¯s grasp, observing it and seeing that there¡¯s not even a mark of his grasp on her despite her clearly feeling how securely he holds her leg in a lock with his hand. Meanwhile, seeing this youthful beauty performed all those things swiftly, the emperor-like young man couldn¡¯t help but feel like she¡¯s hiding so much more of her strength than she had shown, something that he quite expected is true but not to the extent of the lady¡¯s true strength that is enough to make her a guardian of a nation. "That was a fun fight, kid, you passed" after escaping from the deadlock, the white-haired beauty, the very principal of this academy, Aria Frostborn, announces with an approving smile on her face directed towards the young man, all while her little fist turns into a thumbs up of commendation and appreciation for the fight that he had given her, something that she never experiences when dealing with people of the same realm as her. ¡¯I can cheat the detection of this spatial domain somehow and add another level to my strength to test his limits but¡­¡¯ looking at this emperor-like young man who piques her interest, Aria couldn¡¯t help but think about that before she eventually shoves these thoughts to the back of her mind before she reasons to herself once again. ¡¯¡­ Forget it, if he wants to hide it for now, then there¡¯s nothing I can do about that, true gems couldn¡¯t really hide themselves for long anyways¡¯ she reminded to herself as she recalls her younger times in this academy, standing out time and time again no matter her desire to not gather too much attention for herself. "You¡¯re now a part of the academy, kid, be sure to grow even stronger and not show anything that can ruin the reputation of this place outside" Chapter 58: Atavism "You¡¯re now a part of the academy, kid, be sure to grow even stronger and not show anything that can ruin the reputation of this place outside" the white-haired horned beauty said as she moves closer towards this young man who she takes quite the interest in, reaching out her hands as if waiting for him to do so as well. "The name is Aria, Aria Frostborn, you¡¯ll be seeing me every now and then in the academy so I guess there¡¯s no need to tell you some sort of cheesy farewell from an elder right?" she added as she reaches out her hands once again, making the emperor-like young man understand just what is it that she wants from doing so. As he finally understands that this mysterious beauty is asking him for a handshake, Diluc finally reaches out his hand as well, the two beings who are the most talented people of all the entire Flammenherz Kingdom having met and introduced themselves for the first time, a start of a relation that will spiral into that of a massive proportion, a story reserved for a little bit later than now. "Diluc Leonhart, nothing so significant about my identity so there¡¯s nothing much I can add to that" the young man who is also the Ruler of the Draconic Realm introduced with a cheeky smile on his face, his words causing the beauty in front of him to start giggling and eventually exploding into a full-blown laughter, her voice, elegant and more than just demure, and sound really enchanting as well, seemingly a great compliment to her petite appearance now albeit still creating a bit of a weird effect that will definitely throw anyone who doesn¡¯t know her off guard. Looking at this lady who is just rampaging because of his insensitive remarks previously, Diluc opted not to ask her any more question about her identity as he fears that he might have a slip of tongue if not poke another one of her sensitive spots, something that might just make her the angry little lady she is. ¡¯I shouldn¡¯t tell her about that really¡­¡¯ he thought to himself as he saw in her the image of a particular beast usually just in an open field, more specifically, a Blood Fiend Rabbit, a small creature that often just roams around showing off their adorable appearances, then transforms into menaces of any society the moment that they take in the smell of blood. ¡¯Yeah, I definitely shouldn¡¯t¡¯ he repeats to himself as he shakes the overlapping image of those creatures and this lady in his mind, deciding to bury it in the deepest recesses of his mind hopefully never to be found again just in case it induces another one of this lady¡¯s explosive tantrums. After a few more moments of the two of them having physical contact with each other via their hands, Diluc snaps out of his daze earlier than this lady did, with her expressions making her seem like she¡¯s still preoccupied by something in her mind, something that allows her not to notice the surprise from the young man¡¯s face as he saw the floating gray screen appearing just at the right corner of his vision. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [You successfully made a contact long enough for the scan to proceed. The individual¡¯s scan is complete, now displaying their information on the screen] Seeing this, Diluc then navigated himself to look at the system screen, his eyes widening a bit as he finally come to know just what sort of existence this lady is, causing him to heave a sigh of relief that he manages to survive from this little tantrum of hers. [Aria Frostborn] [Race: Half Human, Half Dragon (Ice)] [Age: 25] [Cultivations] [Magic: Bright Blue Core (Combat power at Light Indigo Core)] [Body Tempering: Peak Marrow Activation (Combat power at Meridian Awakening)] [Elemental Affinity: Ice, Water] [Skills: Draconic Blessing (One-time use), Draconic Scale, Absolute Regeneration, Life Breathing, Frost Palace Descend, Absolute Zero, Dragon Roar, Dragon Claw, Specific Mana Manipulation (Ice)] [Overall Combat Power: 3-stars] Now seeing everything including her skills, seemingly possessing all the basic draconic skills despite her half draconic progeny, making him wonder whether this case applies to all half-blood who possesses draconic blood as well. [Not all who possesses draconic blood can use the exclusive skills of the True Dragon Race, however, those that do possesses it have a definite chance of atavism should they decided to undergo a specific trial unique to the True Dragon Race and succeed in completing this trial] ¡¯Atavism?¡¯ hearing a new word to him, the curious Diluc couldn¡¯t help but ask, prompting another window to pop up and onto his eyes, this being the definition of atavism based on the knowledge of the Dragon Herding System. [Atavism¡¯s loose and general definition is the return into something ancestral, in this case, atavism means the return of the entirety of the blood of the one who is experiencing it into one of its ancestries, the trial mentioned previously invoking the draconic blood of the one experiencing atavism and magnifying it to be the only bloodline in their body] ¡¯I see¡­ that means an increase to the talent of the one experiencing it as well, right?¡¯ he asks, this conclusion with the knowledge of there¡¯s hardly anyone who can reach the level of talents the draconic race has, not to mention a race that can surpass their talents, meaning that should an individual lose part of their bloodline and completely have it replaced with the draconic bloodline in them, then there can only be good results and improvements coming out of it. [Aside from extreme special circumstances, that is indeed the case] ¡¯I want to know of that special circumstance, but for later please¡¯ seeing the answer of the system, the curiosity in him couldn¡¯t help but start awakening once again, however, seeing that the lady shaking his hands is already well awake and back to herself once again, Diluc opted not to hurry in knowing this as this is not really an important information for him right now. While this exchange between him and the Dragon Herding System sounds quite long, it had only taken a few seconds of time, the very same amount of time it takes for the white-haired youthful beauty, Aria, to return to her senses. Coming into the awareness that she had suddenly blanked out the moment the two of them initiated the physical contact, the horned beauty couldn¡¯t help but feel embarrassed as never in her life did she experienced something like that just from a handshake, causing her to scream in awkwardness in her mind all while still professionally keeping her composure on the outside, showing the experienced principal she is. "Anyway, just like I said kid, congratulations, you can head out of this dimension towards this gate right here" the youthful beauty said with a professional, and somehow proud smile on her face the moment she claps, a spatial gate appearing fight beside her, something that seemingly leads to a different part of the academy ground rather than where he enters. Taking steps towards this gate, Diluc then braves himself to enter as there¡¯s really nothing he can do if this lady, his supposed examiner points him to enter this spatial gate, the only thing in his mind something along the line of hoping that this beauty isn¡¯t someone who holds her grudge for the things he said to her. After seeing that the young man already steps into the spatial gate connected to the admittance area of the academy, the white-haired beauty smiles as she disappears from this spatial domain as well through what appears to be a different means, her body appearing once again at the very same office where she is used to doing her work all alone. "Have you met him, Miss Aria" having the horned beauty surprised as she is now just sitting on the soft chair right at the opposite side of the office table, a familiar face to said beauty, one with cat-like beast kin feature, asks with a smile of interest in her face, something that she only shows to two people, her twin sister, and this friend and superior of hers. "Aeonia¡­ I told you that¡­" seeing the face of her long-time friend and subordinate, the youthful beauty couldn¡¯t help but point out once again, a helpless smile appearing on her beautiful face as she speaks, only for her words to be interrupted as the beast kin lady starts explaining herself. "I know that, Aria, just let me be will you? I¡¯m too used to calling you like that now that I feel awkward when calling just your name" the beast kin lady, Aeonia, said with a similarly helpless smile on her face that causes not only the friend she is talking to, but also she herself to start giggling, the two of them laughing for quite a while before she white-haired beauty starts telling what happened in the final trial to her. Chapter 59: Reception "Cam you believe it!? That kid calls me the mascot of the academy!!!" complaining towards the beast kin lady, Aria said with a pout on her adorable face causing the beast kin lady to giggle once again before saying something that is quite possibly something that only her and her twin sister can say in the face of this terrifyingly powerful beauty without facing the wrath of her self-proclaimed fist of justice. "Aren¡¯t you really the mascot of the academy?" Aeonia said bravely without holding her words back, causing a deeper pout to appear on the white-haired beauty¡¯s mouth, not a hint of anger in her eyes, merely curiosity to why this beast kin lady thought like that. "Mind explaining me why that is?" knowing that the lady in front of her, her friend, always has a logical reason to her words whenever she say something like this, Aria asks with the pout still not leaving her adorable face. "You¡¯re the greatest figure in this academy, Miss Aria, the principal, the symbol of this place¡¯s might and power, is it really wrong to call you the mascot of the academy?" she comforts, making it so that there will be no estrangement between the young man this friend of hers takes interest in, as she knows just how she can be sometimes. "That¡¯s true¡­" the youthful beauty said more to herself rather that to this friend of hers as she got lost on her own thoughts once again, causing the beast kin lady to shake her head with a helpless smile on her face before she stands up once again, deciding to leave this friend of hers to herself for now as she walks towards the shadows and disappears without making even a single sound. ---------- A bit earlier than this, just right after the emperor-like young man takes a step on the spatial gate created by the white-haired horned beauty, he is instantaneously transported into a specific place, and having felt the unique ambience particular to the academy, he couldn¡¯t help but feel some relief for some reason unknown, this relief causing the image of that white-haired beauty to increase on his mind somehow. As he walks around this place, he saw multiple students who seems to pass the fourth trial moving towards a single direction as well, towards a place where there is a reception area populated by multiple staff of the academy, all of them occupied with the work of giving the students the things issued when they are accepted into the academy, along with the job of making sure that there is no problem with the identity of this people, checking their identification cards or any proof of their identity and running it into a device that seems to check it somehow. With the line Diluc falls into proceeding without any problems, he finally manages to reach the front of the reception area, being received by an amiable looking lady that seems to already prepare the things that needs to be handed out to him. "Good day, dear new student, here are the essentials that you will need once you enter the academy" the lady said as she hands out the things to him, starting with a small notebook that she explains the purpose of immediately. "Since we don¡¯t have too much time to explain, we will only go with the absolute necessity, first, this is the student handbook including all do¡¯s and don¡¯ts within the academy grounds and even outside the academy grounds as its students, along with a comprehensive answers to all frequently asked questions on the registrar and all sorts of inquiry areas in the academy within the years, well you can say that this handbook is your personal academy guide" the receptionist said before she hands another thing to Diluc once again, this time a badge that contains the similar symbol as the one that he and Alea saw on the arch at the very top of the academy¡¯s entrance gate. "Then the second thing, your student badge, please bear in mind that this is the most important thing for every student in the academy, so we hope that you don¡¯t lose it, and in the case that you do, immediately report to your class advisor or to us in the reception" the lady added before finally reaching out her hand, now empty and seemingly waiting for the young man to give her something. "Now if you please, dear new student, a proof of identity, preferably an identification card but anything valid will do" she said with a smile on her face as she patiently waits, not really waiting for too long as the emperor-like young man already has his identification card in hand. As the receptionist reads through his information, she couldn¡¯t help but have her eyes widened as she found out his name, an expression that she immediately conceals but fails to hide away from Diluc¡¯s eyes. "Is there a problem?" seeing her previous expression, Diluc feels like something is wrong but couldn¡¯t quite put his fingers on what it is, causing him to just ask the lady directly, her response assuring him as she shows the amiable and hospitable smile on her face once again. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "There¡¯s no problem, dear new student, please wait for a bit since running your identity on the device takes a few seconds" the lady said as she averts her gaze and pretends to focus on the things appearing on the device she is using, the glowing runes constantly changing convincing Diluc that she¡¯s really working and focusing on it. After a few seconds passed, he finally manages to take back his identification card again, being handed out to him by the receptionist who already has that hospitable smile on her face once again. "There¡¯s no problem with your identity, dear new student, enjoy the few days of break left before the academic year starts, we wish you a good luck and great endeavor during your time as a student of the academy" the receptionist said as the smile changes into a welcoming one before the young man leaves the receptionist desk after thanking her as well. "Hey, do you mind taking over my desk for a while, I just remember something I need to do" after making sure that the young man is finally out of the area, the very same receptionist said towards one of the free staffs just waiting on them, said staff agreeing to her request since there¡¯s really nothing they need to do in the moment. After expressing her gratitude, this receptionist moves towards the back of the area as she takes out a stone, this stone carved with runic magic circles that seems so complex for just any normal process, the lady making sure that there¡¯s no one in the area before she starts operating this seemingly complex device. As she infuses her mana into it, a figure emerges as light starts to burst out of this device, the figure coming out of it something concealed by the darkness of wherever this projection might be, the only thing anyone that can see this figure can deduce being the fact that this figure is that of a man, possibly someone prominent given his tall stature and wide shoulders, as well as the commanding aura that just seems to naturally leak out of him, an aura felt by the lady receptionist despite the man just being a projection and not the genuine article himself. "Sir, I saw him¡­" the lady said as she starts narrating about her encounter with the emperor-like young man, the trembling in her voice apparent for whatever reason it might be as she continues how the encounter with him goes. "You made sure he didn¡¯t notice you right?" he asks as his gaze directed itself down, locking on the lady currently kneeling with her one knee on the ground, her head lowered as if she doesn¡¯t even dare look at his projection. "I¡­ I felt a bit surprised so he asked me if there¡¯s something wrong, and he eventually appears to forget it, Sir" she said with the shaking of her voice becoming more and more apparent, showing just how terrifying this man is to her. After a moment of silence that seems to span for an eternity to her, the large figure finally opens his mouth once again to speak with her, the words coming out of his mouth something that made the lady assured that she will live to see another day. "Forget it, you¡¯re a good woman, so I will spare you for this just this once if you go to my villa just like the usual" the figure said after some deliberation, his mind thinking that it is too much of a pity to lose a woman like this, something that if the emperor-like young man see, will just make him wonder as this lady isn¡¯t really all that exceptional in terms of looks and in figures, which make this figure¡¯s fondness towards her boil down to two things, her character or her ¡¯performance¡¯. ¡¯However perceptive he might be, he¡¯s just a brat, I doubt he notices something¡¯ the figure comforted himself, these words causing him to forget this event in its entirety, of course, except for the fact that the offspring of those two people is really in this capital city. Chapter 60: Searching for the Dormitory Meanwhile, this brat that the figure is talking about is already out of the building that serves as the reception area for the new students of the academy, allowing him to take in the beauty of this architectural and landscaping marvel that this place is. All around the places that his eyes can see is the combination of the ornate plants seemingly arranged based on something that he didn¡¯t know, given the great symmetry and what seems like a measured placement of each one of them. That¡¯s not the only impressive part of it though as these ornamental plants perfectly blends on the archaic structure of the academy¡¯s building itself, making people feel like they are lost in some sort of ancient paradise whenever they roam their eyes around whatever it is that might pick their attention in this place. This mystical, ancient feel is further invoked into observers¡¯ mind as the ambient mana covering the atmosphere of the place is even more impressive than the well maintained yet old looking buildings of the academy, making one wonder just how is it possible for a place like this to exist. ¡¯The quality of mana here is almost half the quality of the mana inside the Draconic Realm¡¯ Diluc thought to himself as he takes in another breath of the fresh air in this place, his entire being feeling quite energized but not too much as to when he is absorbing mana inside the Draconic Realm. [The mana inside the Draconic Realm is still in a dormant state for now, there are a lot of buildings and structures that will improve it in the future] Seemingly feeling a bit offended by him comparing the Draconic Realm to this place, the Dragon Herding System¡¯s floating gray screen appears in front of him with these words appearing on it, making the Ruler of the Draconic Realm realize once again just how less of the potential of this powerful system is he utilizing. ¡¯Is that so? That¡¯s great and all but this is also because the system is not giving me enough Realm Gold to develop the Draconic Realm properly¡¯ reading this, the emperor-like young man, Diluc, smiles as he knows that the improvement of the Draconic Realm will also means an increase in his growth in strength, however realizing something, he points out the most crucial reason why he seems to be in a bottleneck in terms of improving the Draconic Realm right now. [The system is not directly responsible for the assignment of the task and the corresponding reward for you, an independent calculation function is in the system to issue the task based on your performance and needs] ¡¯I see, I better get going and try my best to complete this task as soon as possible then¡¯ knowing the implication of the words that appears on the Dragon Herding System¡¯s screen, Diluc merely accepts the reality of the difficulty of earning Realm Gold now, as well as the difficulty of completing this current task of him, taking solace in the fact he deduced from the last reminder from the system, that the better he is, the harder the quest is, and the better the reward. As he thinks about all sorts of things that might just bring him opportunity to earn Realm Gold, Diluc has come to realize that he has yet to sell the loot he got from the caravan that he stole from, ahem¡­ miraculously stumbled upon without anyone who seems to own it. Not wanting to make too much of a commotion just in case he got too surprised, whether positively or negatively of the result of this though, he decided to check on the student handbook first in order to search for the dormitory that is supposed to be provided by the academy to anyone of their students. Reading through this seemingly more than a hundred-page, detailed guide on how to live in this academy, Diluc finally saw the part that concerns the dormitory of the students, scanning through it carefully thinking that he might just see something that he can take advantage of. (Section 2.1 Student Lodging and Dormitory Rules) (It is compulsory for all academy students to live in the dormitory for the entire four-year period that they will be studying here, and the students are required to stay within the academy grounds during the weekdays (the day of classes), however, the academy is duty bound to provide the students with entertainment facilities as well, which are marked when looking at the academy¡¯s map right in the middle of the student square) (The students are also allowed outside during the weekends as well as when completing a mission issued by the academy or received from the public quest board (also within the student square), however, should the reason for going outside is the latter, the students who are to take the mission are required to receive permission from the effective advisor of their class) S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. (It is imperative that the students return to their respective room 2 hours before midnight. Be reminded that there are only two people supposed to be sharing a room, so a lack or excess of this number will be considered as failure to comply to this rule. During times past these hours, a staff will check each room for students who has yet to return, failure to comply to this rule will result in the student being punished with something decided by the staff specifically assigned to these things (Law Enforcement Committee), this rule apply to every student with the exception to the ones who managed to get a seclusion permit, of course, this immunity due to the permit only applies if the student is confirmed to be in a seclusion chamber provided by the academy) (As a last reminded, but something that should be self-explanatory already, given the degree of freedom allowed in the academy except for the rules in this handbook, the students can swap places with anyone within other rooms in the dormitory, HOWEVER, it only applies to people with the same gender, and any exchange of room between two students of opposite sex is something not tolerable and even punishable by the Law Enforcement Committee by suspension) (In the case of a new student trying to find their assigned room by default, please refer to the number on your personal badge, as this number will be the one assigned to you through your entire year in the academy, and it is also the number registered as your identifier all throughout the entire management system of the academy) After reading through these rules, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but feel like whoever it is that made these rules is someone who runs through things a lot of time, making even someone like him, who considers himself pretty clever, to find no loophole that he can exploit from this. Weirdly starting to get competitive with the rules written on this handbook, the young man decided that he will read through each and every page of this thing whenever he has time, however, for now, he opts to go to his supposed room first before he starts checking his earnings from the bandit and merchant encounter, his heart already pounding a bit stronger from the excitement knowing that this time, he¡¯s definitely going to earn some good amount of Realm Gold, possibly even enough to buy his a couple of new dragon egg or more. As he roams around the path towards the dormitory, he couldn¡¯t help but notice that there are quite a few students roaming around now, something that he finds normal given that it is still technically a break for the academy, and most likely than not, it is only the same kind of student, a new one, as him that is currently roaming around the academy grounds. This is also something that seems to be way too obvious to him given that nearly all, if not really all of the students he encounters has their eyes roaming around and appreciating this impressive view of the academy, something that he¡¯s already done doing. After just a while, having the time reading the student¡¯s handbook while still walking carefully, he finally arrives at the male dormitory building, a massive, eight story building that spans some several dozens of meters from where he is standing from to both left and right, its impressive size possibly something that can hold more than just the supposed number of male students of the academy, something that he finds quite impressive as this place seems to be more than just a place for the students to stay in. Just from the outside alone, he can see the attentiveness to detail of whoever it is that help in creating this place, the craftsmanship of the ornaments carved and engraved on the pillar outside the building alone enough to call this a work of art rather than a simple building, not to mention how this entire building seems to be more of a luxury inn rather than a dormitory. But this is just the start as the emperor-like young man starts seeing more and more things as his eyes roams around. Chapter 61: Princess of the Elven Kingdom Looking up, Diluc noticed that each of the rooms for students has a good veranda that spans the entire area of their room, most likely to provide the students with a hint of open air for themselves, in addition to providing a great view of the academy, well for the ones assigned to the higher floors of course. Deciding to look into what more does this dormitory has, Diluc moves towards the double door with a dragon carving on them, a carving that feels so life-like that he thought it might just pop out of the door anytime. Pushing it, he was finally greeted by the internal structure of the place, something that he finds quite surprisingly clean and pristine despite this place being one intended for the male population of the academy¡¯s student, and he knows clearly well just how messy a gathering of men can be from all his time living in Old Arthur¡¯s place, where male adventurers will often knock themselves out from the alcohol created by the middle-aged man himself. What he finds even more intriguing is the fact that there¡¯s not a single person who seem to be maintaining this cleanliness, as if this is truly the natural state of this place, something that he finds hard to believe. ¡¯Could it be because there¡¯s still just a few students here?¡¯ thinking of this, the young man eventually dismisses these roaming thoughts in his mind, before finally moving to the place where he is supposed to be. ¡¯Let¡¯s see, my registered number is 010122, so I should be searching around the first floor right¡¯ he thought to himself as he roams around in order to find the rooms assigned to his class based on his registered number, something that he finds out the meaning of after he takes interest on this information that is also included in the student handbook. ¡¯First year, class one, number twenty-two¡¯ as he looks through the numbers of the door, he specifically searches for the one that contains his class number on it, a number indicated right at the middle top part of the door, something he finds really easy to search given his class number. "Finally..." since there is a shared room policy in this place, he searches for the eleventh room, something that he saw after just a bit of search since he started. Using his badge to open the lock placed at the doorknob of the room, he pretty much confirms that it is really the room assigned to him given that it automatically opens after the magic fueled lock scans his identity card, allowing him to push it open without any problems. Entering inside the room, he finds that it is still pretty much his own since there¡¯s no one inside, making him wonder whether his supposed roommate already passes the trials or already done with his registration in the reception area. Not taking too much time to think about this though, he starts checking out this place, something relatively large given that not only does the academy so graciously gave them more than enough space moving around, having an area of about some seven meter by width and ten meter by length, with two separate beds provided for the students that are about to occupy this room. "Pretty sweet space" he mutters to himself as he scans around, thinking that while privacy between roommates will be pretty much impossible given that there is no separating wall between the two who are supposed to occupy this place, the space wide enough for him to add some essential things pretty much compensates for it, not to mention that the bathroom is pretty large too, complete with cleaning necessity, a shower and even a bathtub, something that Diluc finds really unnecessary given how most men treat their bath time. After checking out all the things, discovering that the walls adjacent to the bed serves as a cabinet that can be use as storage of all sorts of things, this also applies to the wooden support of the bed that acts as a drawer for the students to use. Each of the bed also has a worktable beside them, something that can also be used for all sorts of things, well, but mostly for studying, and reading, something that the young man plans to do a lot during his time in this academy. ¡¯Do I really need one though? I can just read in the library¡¯ as he settles himself sitting down on the bed, Diluc thought about these mundane things until he finally recovers, deciding to take a quick bath to clean himself after this ¡¯hard¡¯ day of work before he returns to the bed once again, now with a clean clothing and still wet, slightly long hair. ¡¯Now for the best part of the day¡­¡¯ he thought to himself as he calls on the floating gray screen once again, the smile on his face making it apparent that he is quite looking forward to this, his smile growing even more once he moves to the Dragon Herding System¡¯s storage space. ¡¯Please calculate how much will these things amount to if I sold them all¡¯ finding all sorts of valuable but not so important things to him, Diluc decided to sell the entirety of the things that he acquired during his travel, that includes the ones that he got from the other assassins that attacked him during his travel after the first one, things that he forgot to sell earlier given that he prioritizes reaching the capital city more the moment that he encounters the second assassin group, thinking that it will be more troublesome for him if he wastes more of his time outside. [Calculating the value of all the things dedicated to the ¡¯loot¡¯ space of the system storage] [Finished calculating] [All these things, junks and others combined, can be sold for 70,000 Realm Gold] Seeing the numbers displayed, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but reveal a satisfied, yet borderline maniacal smile as he starts recalling the ¡¯hardships¡¯ he had to go through in order to acquire all of this stuff he sold for what he thinks is a pretty good amount of money, an amount that made his hands clench into a solid fist due to the excitement of feeling rich for the first time in a long while. "Finally, some fucking proper money" he mutters to himself with the smile still pasted on his face as he double checks the numbers on the floating gray screen just in case he might be just seeing an extra zero on the value given by the Dragon Herding System, however, seeing that there¡¯s nothing that changes after repeatedly rechecking it, he finally come to realize that this is the truth. Thinking about all sorts of things that he can possibly buy from all these things, he starts getting lost in his thoughts as he starts planning for proper development of the Draconic Realm once he returns there, something that he thought is dangerous to do for now given that he doesn¡¯t really have any idea of what kind of existences are in this academy, something that at the very least, he knows that there are a lot of strong ones for sure, given that a random loli-hag he encountered previously is someone of a half-draconian progeny and possesses strength far greater than his. ¡¯If it¡¯s her, I think she can sense it if that kind of spatial fluctuation happens under her nose¡¯ thinking of how strong these kinds of beings are, as well as how strong the spatial fluctuations are when he opens the entrance to the Draconic Realm, Diluc opts not to enter this for now just in case this very white haired, horned beauty, or anyone else who has the same or stronger power as her is in the vicinity. What he isn¡¯t aware though is that even though the other staffs of the academy are people who is still beyond his reach now, that youthful beauty is already the one standing at the very pinnacle of this academy being the principal and all, someone who reigns over the academy with her unparalleled wits and might. ---------- "It¡¯s good that you¡¯re safe, princess" meanwhile, on the girl s dormitory, two blonde beauties both having long, pointy ears hug each other, one of these two someone Diluc is familiar with, this lady he is familiar with being the one who receives the words from the other beauty. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I met someone interesting Alfia, that guy save me" the other elven beauty said with a smile on her face as she recalls the face of that young man, his tall stature that completely overshadows hers, as well as his bright character that just seems to pull everyone towards him. "Guy!? Heee~~~" hearing these words from the only child of their sovereign queen, the elven beauty who spoke first, Alfia, reveals an interested smile on her face as she looks towards this princess of the elven kingdom with an inquisitive look on her eyes, her hands already prepared to squeeze this seemingly juicy news from her. Chapter 62: End of the Day After forcing the news out of the princess of the elven kingdom by tickling the hell out of her, Alfia finally receives some great story that seems to just rejuvenate her after this long, stressful event of travelling to this well-known academy after concerning herself with the safety of this lady in front of her, whom she thought she will never see in a pristine condition again. "So if you have to look on it on the bright side, that unfortunate encounter with those nasty humans allow you to meet that Diluc, which is something good right?" looking at this princess who is also a childhood friend to her, Alfia said with her hands cupping her face, her smile that of someone who has yet to feel satisfied with the stories despite already having heard everything from the elven beauty in front of her. "I-I¡¯d rather not comment on that" as she heard this lady¡¯s words, Alea replies with some hint of hesitance in her voice, averting her gaze away from this childhood friend of hers making said friend well aware that she¡¯s hiding something. Understanding the need of this princess for privacy though, Alfia merely let it go and decided not to pry too much into her mind, smiling at this elven beauty before telling her something with a proud smile on her face, as if proving a victory against her. "I told you right? Not all humans are bad" Alfia said with eyes filled with knowledge and experience, the reason for that being that her family is the one responsible for the external trades and relations of the Elven Kingdom, making her aware of the nature of some of the races outside their seclusive kingdom, said races including that of humanity. "Yeah yeah, you¡¯re right about that" hearing the words of her childhood friend, Alea concedes with a wry smile on her beautiful face, her mind never expecting that she would one day start looking forward to meeting a human once again. "Hee~~~ is that a smile I see in the princess¡¯ face? Who could it possibly be? Is it that human hero?" as she saw the smile on Alea¡¯s face, something similar to that of a maiden thinking about all sorts of things, Alfia immediately hits with her teasing tone that seems to just always catch this elven princess off guard, making her mind steeled in attacking this childhood friend of hers. "You¡¯ll regret this, Alfia!!" she shouted then giggles at the end as her claw reaches out for revenge against what this elven lady did to her previously, pushing her to one of the bed and tickling her sides relentlessly, making her childhood friend laugh endlessly to the point that tears starts coming out of her eyes. "Humph!! Now you know this princess¡¯ power!!" she proudly said as she stands up from the bed, her face a bit lifted pointing her nose upwards, all while she strikes an arrogant pose with both her hands on her hips while she shows a provoking smile on her gorgeous face. "Yes yes, I surrender my lady~" Alfia said with a smile from the laughter still visible on her equally beautiful face, this little exchange between the two of them making both of them giggle once again before they return to sitting on one of the bed, side to side. "Say, Alea, since you¡¯ve decided to improve your friendship with that Diluc, why don¡¯t we feed you something good? Look at your limbs, you look like some sort of skeleton after all that thing you¡¯ve suffered" pointing out something, Alfia said as she gently held the elven princess¡¯ arms, so thin now that she can even circle her hand completely around it without any problem, this thin, sickly-looking physique that this princess has now completely incomparable to her proper, healthy figure, the one that she had always maintained due to the rigorous training she has back in their kingdom. "Can we bring the food here? I¡¯m still quite uncomfortable with the outside" deciding to do as her childhood friend suggested as she feels quite hungry as well, Alea agrees but on one condition, a condition with a reason that the other elven beauty is well aware of. "Don¡¯t worry, I heard that there¡¯s some delivery service here, I think that comes in handy during this kind of times, right?" knowing that the elven princess is still uncomfortable with mingling outside after the thing that happened to her, Alfia suggested once again, another brilliant idea that she only thought of because of some things that she read from the student handbook, mostly things that she got lead into given just how interested she is with all sorts of frequently asked questions. Thinking that this is a good idea, the two of them then decided to buy something leaning more on the diet of their species, a meal composed mostly of vegetables and fruits, mostly leafy greens, and contrary to the common belief of their kind not eating meat, they also brought meat based soup with mostly mild flavors on them, their eyes glowing the moment they saw their meal, enjoying it with the side dish of their laughter along with talking as they eat. As these two elven beauties, great friends of each other despite their seemingly different character continues to talk about all sorts of mundane things as well as catching up after being separated with each other, the curtain closes for the day as the crescent moon starts ascending into the night skies, with the last shed of sunlight disappearing from the western horizon completely bathing everything with the cool, gentle night glow of the moon and the stars decorating the space around it. ---------- Meanwhile, back on the men¡¯s dormitory, Diluc is still not aware of the identity of his roommate that appears like he won¡¯t be arriving here anytime soon, hence he takes his time just to laze around, opening the Dragon Herding System¡¯s screen in order to look at his current status. [Diluc Leonhart] [Race: Human] [Age: 16] [Realm Gold: 70,000] [Cultivations] [Magic: Vague Orange Core (Combat power at Solid Yellow Core)] [Body Tempering: Early Muscle Conditioning (Combat power at Intermediate Blood Vessel Widening)] [Elemental Affinity: Wind, Wood, Meta, Fire] S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Skills: Draconic Scale, Absolute Regeneration, Life Breathing, Heavy Metal Reinforcement, Rain of Swords, Eternal Flames, Eruption, Dragon Roar, Dragon Claw, Specific Mana Manipulation (Wind)] [Overall Combat Power: 5-stars] [Draconic Realm] [Missions] [Shop] ¡¯My combat power increases again, by half a star, doesn¡¯t this mean that each draconic blessing that I receive will provide me with at least half a star increase of combat power¡¯ wondering to himself, the Ruler of the Draconic Realm was quite surprise as another floating gray screen appears right in front of his eyes, this one explaining the matters that will proceed if he receives more and more blessings in the future. [Indeed, you will grow more and more in terms of combat power talent, however, do take note that it doesn¡¯t necessarily mean that five-star combat power means that you can fight against someone five levels higher than you, since each person do have their own true combat power as well, this applies not only to the five-star combat power level but also to higher and even lower combat power level] Reading this lines, Diluc thought that it is pretty much unnecessary to remind him off, yet nevertheless thanking the Dragon Herding System for telling him, the reason for him thinking so being the fact that he clearly knows that there are different leagues of strength even if it is just under the same level whether if it is term of magic or martial arts, one such example is him who can fight people several levels higher than him, and it is not like he is a unique one for that case, one such example of another being like him this particular white haired, horned beauty who fought him in the fourth trial. "That just means I need to exert even more effort not only in training but also growing the dragons, right?" Diluc pointed out causing the screen to change its words to something agreeing to him. [Indeed, so please complete the mission issued as soon as possible, given that it is something of a really hard mission even for the Ruler of the Draconic Realm, it will certainly grant you with great rewards] "That¡¯s exactly what I am trying to achieve" the young man replies as he laid flat on the bed, enjoying the softness of this place as he finally drifts into a sleeping state, his body still constantly absorbing and filtering mana from the surrounding as he rests, the rate of his absorption something that even those focusing to an extreme point just to gather mana around their body cannot compare to. Within the entire academy, a period of rest engulfs not only the students already here before the academic year starts but also the staff in its entirety, only a few, hardworking or nocturnal ones being still awake during this time of the day, this part of the academy being incredibly few. Chapter 63: Going Home "Based on the academy¡¯s schedule, I still have some couple of days before the classes start, so I should probably tour around a bit more" seeing the people going to and from the square that he just left from, Diluc mutters more to himself than anyone else as he decided to come out of the capital city for now, possibly even reaching some secluded place where he can hide the spatial fluctuation from opening the gate to the Draconic Realm away from any prying eyes. As he finally reaches the gates once again, he finds it way easier to come out of the capital city instead of coming in, probably because the place is really peaceful and there¡¯s no need for anyone to be checked of what they are carrying out of the capital city. The moment he came out of the gates, the emperor-like young man starts using his wind elemental mana to increase his speed even more, deciding to move far away from the capital city for now just in case, spending his time travelling for more than an hour in a straight direction before he finally stops to spread his senses through the mana in the air, something that is not really going to be all that useful should there be someone far stronger than him that decides to hide in the nearby area. After sensing that there is no one else in the surroundings, he then hesitantly opens the gate to the Draconic Realm, the fact that there is no person or just any sentient being that just rushes towards him the moment he opens it up making known to him that this a good sign that there¡¯s really no people in the nearby area. Finally dispelling his worries about his secret being found, the young man then steps into the spatial gate once again, already fully aware of what he might meet on the other side of the place. It is the next day after Diluc had been accepted as a student of the Flammenherz Kingdom¡¯s Academy, and knowing that he still has some free time before the lectures starts, he decided that this is a good time for him to start improving the quality of life of the Draconic Realm once again, finding it a pity that he cannot raise another dragon yet as he doesn¡¯t have time, especially since he wants to be with the dragon for the whole time of their extremely short childhood stage before they transform into an adolescent one. After stepping into the familiar, home-like place once again, the Ruler of the Draconic Realm is immediately greeted by two horned beauties each having their own unique features, one being a neon green-haired, mature and alluring beauty, while the other one being a platinum-haired, taciturn beauty that appears to be of the same age as him, the two of them looking at him with a glowing light in their eyes. "What¡¯s with this?" looking at the two draconic beauties clinging on each of his arms, Diluc smiles helplessly as he asks, prompting the two of them to pout seemingly in grievance as if he did something wrong to them. "You don¡¯t sleep here last night¡­" despite being the more easily embarrassed and shy one, the platinum-haired beauty, Argenta, said with a bit of annoyance in her voice as she looks up at him, making her appear incredibly adorable to his eyes. "Hubby, you¡­ you reek of an outsider¡­ and¡­" meanwhile, the neon green-haired mature beauty takes in his scent relentlessly, suddenly speaking of multiple things that starts to get more and more sense as she continues, making her look like a great detective, a peculiar one at that given that she¡¯s using her sense if smell rather than deductive reasoning. "Half-dragon, half-human, is that¡­ ice elemental mana?" as she continues to sniff, this mature draconic beauty, Yggdrasil, gets closer and closer to the truth, making Diluc quite surprised on just how keen this lady¡¯s sense of smell is. Before this mature beauty gets even closer to the truth though, she got interrupted as thunderous roaring starts resounding through the skies of the Draconic Realm, a figure the same size of Yggdrasil¡¯s dragon form revealing its shadow as it rapidly descends into the main island¡¯s grounds, all these three individuals knowing completely well who is it just from this usual flashy entrance. As the figure crashes to the ground, some smoke effects probably from the steam coming out due to the heat from this dragon¡¯s body forms around where they landed, something that both the two draconic ladies have known to be something of a dramatic effect that this beloved youngest sister of theirs just had to do every single time she reveals herself to their liege, something they do not really find annoying, just a bit inefficient given how time consuming her entrance is. "Seraphina, do you really have to do that every time?" seeing the feminine figure barely visible from the depth of this steam, Diluc asks with a helpless smile pasted on his face, wondering just why is it that this fire dragoness¡¯ character turns out to be like this, although he isn¡¯t really all that surprised given how she is when she is still in the infancy stage. "Waaahaha~~~! Does my dear liege call for the great me!?" with an eccentric, yet still pleasantly sounding voice that surprisingly matches her way of speaking, the youngest dragon he has, the fire dragon Seraphina, emerges from the steam that she created by and for herself, her figure gradually getting more and more visible as she continues to come closer towards her most treasured family. Different from Yggdrasil¡¯s mature, voluptuous curves and Argenta¡¯s pretty yet still developing figure, this lady is the very definition of a young lady of a noble family, with her physique leaning more on the thin side, a perfect amount of curves on her lower part, particularly hips and her behinds, as well as an amply developed bosom that just screams pride in perfection, a long legs that grants her a relatively taller stature even when compared to her liege, her heigh barely equaling his despite him being on the taller side among the humans. Her face is a divine grace as well, having a heart shaped one adorned with large eyes with fiery red ruby gems of a pupil on them, a slightly arched eyebrows that just seems to speak so much about her demeanor, a straight nose and a cute, small lips that bears the same color as her bright, lively pupils, lastly, the hair on top of her head is the same color as her arched eyebrows, being that of a flame red in color transitioning into a fiery orange as it reaches the tip, her entire being just screams of a wild atmosphere if not for her attire appearing way too proper for her. Wearing a semi-formal, men¡¯s wear, her most treasured possession that her dear liege gave her the moment she had taken a human form, this fire dragoness wore it proudly with a smile on her face as she walks towards her treasured family faster and faster, until she eventually stands in front of the three of them, the two other draconic beauties needing to look up just to properly look at her face just like how they look up to see their handsome face of their liege. "Hehehe~~~" not finding anything to reply and reason for herself, this fiery beauty, Seraphina, merely giggles as he covers her mouth with one of her hands, coming off as someone of a disciplined family if not for her previous flashy show of might. Seeing her acting like that, Diluc just smiles as he pulls her towards him as well, allowing her to wrap her arms around his body as well, something that she seems to really enjoy despite all this show of her appearing high and mighty. "Will you sleep here tonight, my dear liege?" after feeling his warmth that she hadn¡¯t felt for so long (about a day) this youngest among his dragons, Seraphina, asked with a hint of anticipation in her eyes, her words also sparking the curiosity of both Yggdrasil and Argenta as they both look at him with a similar expression on both their faces. "Don¡¯t worry I will stay here for a couple of days" knowing that he will hardly have time for daily visit once the actual classes in the academy starts, Diluc said, comforting them, making sure that he explains what is about to proceed in the near future, the fact that their time with this liege if theirs about to be reduced in the near future making them feeling quite down, with the emperor-like young man only managing to comfort the three of them once he promised that he will at least visit them once every two days and sleep there in the weekends. As they continue with their catching up, that seems to be way too long despite them not even being separated for more than a day, the young man along with these three heavenly beauties have their smiles getting greater and greater as they spend more time with each other. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 64: Dragon Heart Fruit Farm After they finishes catching up, the three draconic ladies decided to let go of their liege now, with this young man, their beloved, having announced to them that he¡¯s going to improve some of things in this not so little home of theirs, his words making them wonder what is it that he is going to introduce and probably even change now. ¡¯Any structures that I can unlock now?¡¯ as he navigates through the available purchasable items he can place in the main island of the Draconic Realm, Diluc asks towards the Dragon Herding System, which yields a disappointing news that is still worth looking forward to given that he will still eventually reach this requirement that the Dragon Herding System requires, and in a time quite possibly even faster than he first speculated. [Structures are only available once you reached the third realm (Either the Yellow Core for mage or Blood Vessel Widening for martial artist or both] After reading this, the emperor-like young man starts getting even more motivated to reach that level, but he decided not to rush it too much as rushing his improvements will only bring detrimental effects to him, and he is well aware of that fact. As he reaches the section of the shop for the farms, he finally finds what he is looking for, making him smile as he checks the information of this farm once again, something that he only dreams of creating a few days ago when he has yet to loot, ahem¡­ to receive the riches from that fat merchant¡¯s caravan. ¡¯Come to think of it, it really works to my favor that I sold it all to the system since there might be things that can connect me to the disappearance of that caravan if I sell those things outside¡¯ Diluc thought to himself as he imagines the consequences of this happening, something that he really doesn¡¯t want to think about nor that he has the need to given how traceless he manages to sell off the wealth contained from the entirety of this caravan. After thinking of this, he returns his attention to the farm he intends to buy, a farm that made even the dragonesses eyes glow in excitement as they also read its description on the floating gray screen. [Dragon Heart Fruit Farm (5,000 Realm Gold)] [Description: Finish constructing within fifteen minutes and ready for harvest every twenty minutes, yielding 2~4 Dragon Heart Fruits per harvest. Requires watering twice a day. Feeding this to an adolescent stage dragon every day will allow subtle improvement to their bloodline constantly, along with an increased rate of growth, regeneration and healing, in addition to it being a satisfying delicacy enough to fill an adolescent dragon for the day with just a single fruit.] [Note: Be careful when feeding to younger dragons as it might cause them to experience indigestion due to the potency of the fruit] Once he confirms that he can pretty much switch up from feeding the dragon ladies with the previous Magic Fruit to this Dragon Heart Fruit given that it is quite affordable to him now, not to mention that this thing produces quite a lot of fruit in just a short period of time, Diluc then decided to unhesitatingly click on the purchase button right underneath the description of this farm. Just like how it works on the Magic Fruit Farm, an arial display of the entire floating island appears on the screen, now surprising not him but the three draconic beauties who had yet to see it in action instead, on it a semi-transparent image of the farm hovering over the land, waiting for him to arrange where it is supposed to be placed for now. After deciding that he should just place it right beside the Magic Fruit Farm for the sake of convenience, as well as due to the fact that he can still move it anywhere in the main island later anyway, Diluc then places it right beside the old farm, the familiar thick veil of magical fog that seems to conceal how this farm is being created appearing to veil their senses from the place once again, the dragonesses looking at it curiously and poking around it, with Seraphina even trying to run towards it to try and find out what is happening inside, only for her to phase out and just appear on the other side of where she made contact with this veil of fog. Within just five minutes of the ladies playing around this veil of fog that they find interesting due to its space shifting property, the construction of the Dragon Heart Farm is finally done, the veil of fog finally being lifted away from the space it occupies and revealing the plants inside, similarly being a vine just like that Magic Fruit, however appearing to be completely different, the first and foremost observable one being the extremely thick vines that it even appears that it is strangling the pole it is climbing on, not to mention the scaly texture of this vine making all four people observing it think that the dragon in its name isn¡¯t just for grandeur or anything. This is not the most dragon-like thing on this new farm though as they finally realize the true reason why this plant is called like that, with its fruit being quite massive, and heart-shaped, probably also the reason why it is called the Dragon Heart Fruit, its shape and size making them realize that if the vines is any thinner than that, this fruit might just not be able to support itself and just fall off into the ground. This is only the physical trait of the fruit though, and what finally nails the coffin that this is truly deserving of the name is the massive, rich and pure amount of mana radiating from the insides of the fruit, this mana signature producing a powerful beating at a consistent rate that made it all the more heart-like, just the quality and quantity of the mana in the unripe fruit alone making the draconic beauties cute little mouths open with their drool flowing out of it, and even their liege is not spared, having repeatedly gulping air just to calm himself down. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I want to eat one" being so shocked from the quality of the fruit, Seraphina drops all sorts of pretense that she has and speaks to them in a very rare normal dialect rather than her usual peculiar ones. "Liege, how long?" meanwhile, even the usual shy and taciturn Argenta couldn¡¯t help but look towards her beloved liege with excitement in her normally emotionless eyes, showing just how much of a goodie she thinks this Dragon Heart Fruit is. What makes Diluc thought that this fruit is really the real deal is how Yggdrasil acts, the usually patient and mature, green-haired alluring beauty just barely composing herself the moment he laid his eyes on her, the drool on the corner of her crimson red sexy lips not even being wiped as it appears like she is not even aware that she is drooling when she looks at the Dragon Heart Fruit previously. "Ygg¡­" signaling something towards the mature beauty as he points towards he corner of his own mouth, the emperor-like young man calls to her prompting her to look at him with the focus returning in her eyes, yet the moment that she saw the signal from this beloved liege of hers, she just couldn¡¯t help but start panicking once again as she felt the slightly wet sensation from the corner of her mouth all the way down her chin, making her painfully aware of what just happened. Violently wiping the drool away from her gorgeous face, Yggdrasil turns away from Diluc in a final attempt of keeping some of her dignity intact, something that at the very least, she managed to do for her reputation on the two younger draconic beauties eyes, but not on her dear liege¡¯s eyes. "I¡¯I¡­ there¡¯s a good explanation for this¡­" the neon green-haired draconic beauty starts defending herself even without the emperor-like young man saying something, her eyes swirling in some sort of a combination between embarrassment and panic as she speaks in a slurred and incoherent way, making her liege snicker due to how she acts. "What explanation? What do you need to explain Ygg? I don¡¯t see anything¡­" seeing that she won¡¯t be able to return to herself properly if he doesn¡¯t step in, Diluc then said, his words reaching her ears and offering her comfort from the embarrassment, unhesitatingly accepting his words despite her fully knowing that he truly saw the expression on her face previously. "T-then there¡¯s no need to worry about this, H-husband" she said with a still shy expression on her melodious voice, her head slightly tilting down with her eyes still looking at him, her face containing a slight, wry smile that made her look all the more adorable rather than her usual mature allure. Chapter 65: Consuming Dragon Heart Fruit After hearing the desires of these dragonesses to eat the Dragon Heart Fruit, Diluc comforts and assures them that they only need to wait for less than twenty minutes now before they can experience these fruits, this short time of wait being long form of torture not only to these draconic beauties but also to him, given that he also quite looks forward to the effects of this new fruit. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After waiting for a while, the focus o Yggdrasil and the others now removed from this farm as they starts enjoying their time with their beloved liege once again as they play around chasing each other on their human form, but with a bit more fun added into it as they also uses their martial arts and magic simultaneously in order to increase their running, escaping and chasing speed, this little game of theirs even aiding to the improvement of their mana control capability as well as their awareness of the surroundings. This little game of theirs comes into a sudden stop though as they felt the changes happening in the Dragon Heart Fruit Farm, four different beats starting to get stronger and stronger as time passes by, and with those four distinct heartbeats, four of the fruits are eventually turning from the light yellow it is before to a bright orange, eventually turning into a solid crimson red, after which the beating that they senses ever since these four fruits appears now disappearing, making them well aware that this fruit is already ripe. Looking at each other, the four of them then moves towards the farm with faces filled with excitement from this new thing that they are about to consume, all of them wondering how the experience of consuming this fruit is about to go. With the draconic beauties allowing the young man to take the lead in going to the vineyard of the Dragon Heart Fruit, said young man, their liege and also beloved picks all of them, using wind elemental mana to carry them as the fruit is way too large for him to carry it in his body, said fruit being far larger than the fully mature Magic Fruit when it is still not ready for harvest, not to mention now that it is ripe and ready to be consumed. After handing one to each of the ladies, Diluc then takes the last one for himself, curiously looking at this heart shaped fruit and wondering just what sort of wondrous effect will it grant them the first time they eat it. ¡¯Hopefully, it gives me that last push I need¡¯ having his level already on the verge of reaching both the Solid Orange Core for his magic and the Intermediate Muscle Conditioning for his martial arts, the Ruler of the Draconic Realm thought to himself as he takes his first bite of this fruit. As he takes his first bite, the draconic beauties followed suit after watching him, not even taking their draconic form in order to consume it as they want to enjoy this thing that they will eat for the first time, a decision that made them think is really worth it given the heavenly taste of this fruit that starts flooding their mouths. As they take the flesh of this fruit in, it immediately melts into a sweet liquid with a hint of sourness in it, just enough to stimulate one¡¯s taste buds, the taste really refreshing and making the consumer want to eat even more, which all of them do as they take multiple bites into the fruit until they feel like they temporarily have enough. This is only the start though as the juice of the fruit starts spreading warmth all throughout their entire bodies once they take a gulp of it, a warmth that stimulate the movement of mana inside them, their bodies and core alike, acting as some sort of catalyst that pushes their levels further, all of them feeling not too surprised by it given their accumulation and only needing that small push for each of them to reach the next level. What is made them surprised though is the fact that once the neon green-haired mature beauty reaches the next level, her body starts exuding a terrifying amount of wood elemental mana that seems to resonate with the mana in their surroundings, creating a green glow encompassing nearly half of the entire main island of the Draconic Realm, said glow invoking a warm, vigorous feeling not only inside the one causing it, Yggdrasil, but also inside the others around her, her beloved liege included. Feeling the massive amount of knowledge regarding wood elemental mana flowing into his mind as he comes into contact with this phenomenon invoked by the first dragon he ever had, Diluc takes advantage of this and allows himself to float around this flood of enlightenment that allows him to have a deeper comprehension and connection to the wood elemental mana around him, this process lasting for a few minutes that only stops the moment the green glow compresses back towards its source. This doesn¡¯t mean that they don¡¯t benefit a lot though, as the other draconic beauties alone all had some sort of enlightenment not with the wood elemental mana but rather of their own respective affinity, their strength seemingly increasing significantly as they also managed to have their own breakthrough to the next level, while their liege, along with the cause of this phenomenon, benefits the most from it. "I reached the Orange Core, my liege~~~" looking at the young man just sitting right in front of her in a lotus position, Yggdrasil proudly announces with a wide smile on her gorgeous, enchanting face, showing proof of it as she lets out her mana in the air. "Not only Orange Core it seems" smiling at Yggdrasil as she proudly shows off, Diluc added, causing her to feel good once again as she flexes her arms, which seems quite fit but doesn¡¯t really have any trace of muscle in it, something that will make other regret should they think of her as a physically weak lady because of it, as this flesh of hers packs quite the powerful punch despite her build. "Mn~~~ I reached the Muscle Conditioning as well" she pointed out, although it is already something that she doesn¡¯t need to do given that not only the emperor-like young man, her liege, can see it, but also her junior sisters can also detect this significant, even qualitative increase of her overall strength. Meanwhile, these two wouldn¡¯t really allow themselves to be outdone by this senior sister of theirs, having their own breakthroughs as well, reaching the next level for both the magic and martial arts cultivation for both of them. "M-me too liege, I reached both the Bright Red Core and Peak Skin Refining" the taciturn Argenta informed her dear liege as well all while letting out her strength for her to see, causing the young man to smile at her as he moves his hand to pat her on her head, making this platinum-haired beauty smile in satisfaction as she hums a joyful tune herself. Seeing how her dear liege treats her second senior sister, Seraphina couldn¡¯t help but want him to treat her like that as well, however, given her prideful character, she couldn¡¯t really bring herself to just ask for it, causing her to wait until her dear liege finishes what he is doing with her platinum-haired senior sister before she starts showing herself off to him. "Waaahahaha~~~ my dear liege, the great me reaches the next level for both magic and martial arts as well~~!!" she said proudly as she raises her head up with her nose slightly pointing to the skies before she peeks into the emperor-like young man¡¯s expression, the satisfaction in her heart reaching an all time high as she witnesses the smile on his face now directed towards her. "Witness my might, my dear liege, and also my dear sisters~!" she said with a dramatic swing of her dainty hands before she lets out her strength as well, an overwhelming one should people of the same level, both Light Red Core and Late Skin Refining, faces her. Knowing what this prideful beauty wants just from seeing her act like that, Diluc moves his hand towards her head as well, this fiery-red haired beauty already reaching her head out like a cat towards his hand as if she could no longer wait for it, causing the young man to move faster and establish contact between is hand and her head. Patting her head for a while, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but find the contrast between how Seraphina usually acts and how she acts right now extremely adorable, something that any man in the world will definitely find the same as well. "You all did well" looking at these beauties who changes his life due to their blessings, Diluc smiles as he stands up, reaching out his hand and helping each of them up one at a time before they all start enjoying their time once again. Chapter 66: Incarnation As they stood up, Diluc then proceeds to use the Dragon Herding System once again to check on their current strength, starting first with the lady who broke through the highest level among the three of them, said lady looking at him with a smile on her gorgeous, mature-looking face as he directs his attention on her. [Yggdrasil] [Race: Dragon (Wood)] [Adolescent Stage] [Cultivations] [Magic: Vague Orange Core (Combat power at Vague Yellow Core)] [Body Tempering: Early Muscle Conditioning (Combat power at Early Blood Vessel Widening)] [Elemental Affinity: Wood] [Skills: Draconic Blessing (One-time use, already consumed), Draconic Scale, Absolute Regeneration, Life Breathing, Dragon Roar, Dragon Claw, Wood Incarnation] [Overall Combat Power: 4-star] After reading through the information appearing on Yggdrasil¡¯s screen, the young man couldn¡¯t help but notice the new skill on her skill tabs, making him quite curious about it but deciding to hold off looking into this for now knowing that there¡¯s still the other two draconic beauties that he has yet to check the improvements of. Looking towards the taciturn, platinum haired beauty then, the Ruler of the Draconic Realm prompted the Dragon Herding System to show a new floating gray screen right in front of him, this time showing the information about this shy beauty that is the metal dragoness, Argenta. [Argenta] [Race: Dragon (Metal)] [Adolescent Stage] [Cultivations] [Magic: Bright Red Core (Combat power at Bright Orange Core)] [Body Tempering: Peak Skin Refining (Combat power at Peak Muscle Conditioning)] [Elemental Affinity: Metal] [Skills: Draconic Blessing (One-time use, already consumed), Draconic Scale, Heavy Metal Reinforcement, Rain of Swords, Dragon Roar, Dragon Claw] [Overall Combat Power: 4-star] Seeing that there¡¯s not much that changes with her information except for her current strength, Diluc then proceeds to scan the last one and the youngest among the ladies, said lady¡¯s eyes currently looking at him with what seems to be fire of excitement glowing brightly underneath it, as if making him check his strength is something that becomes a really big deal to her. Seeing the expression on this fiery beauty¡¯s face, the emperor-like young man couldn¡¯t stop himself from shaking his head while still looking amused at her antics, the fact that she isn¡¯t even speaking now despite how much she talks something that shows how she can control herself if he wants to, a thing that even Diluc, her liege, who knows her the most after herself is quite surprised of finding out. Reading through this young lady¡¯s information panel, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but nod as he finds her being the one growing the fastest among all his dragons, most likely due to the fact that the Draconic Realm is already starting to have better resources during her time, something that is experienced late by the two other dragonesses who are born earlier than her. [Seraphina] [Race: Dragon (Fire)] [Adolescent Stage] [Cultivations] [Magic: Light Red Core (Combat power at Light Orange Core)] [Body Tempering: Late Skin Refining (Combat power at Late Muscle Conditioning)] [Elemental Affinity: Fire] [Skills: Draconic Blessing (One-time use, already consumed), Draconic Scale, Eternal Flames, Eruption, Dragon Roar, Dragon Claw] [Overall Combat Power: 4-star] After reading through the information of the three, Diluc then nodded with a satisfied smile on his face, causing joyful light to appear on each of the draconic beauties¡¯ eyes, each one of them showing different type of expression as they look into him, their liege, but all of them has the same trace of feelings in them, joy. Finally, after settling them down, the young man then made them wait for a few moments as he decided to look into his information as well, the words on the floating gray screen making him smile just by reading through it. [Diluc Leonhart] [Race: Human] [Age: 16] [Realm Gold: 65,000] [Cultivations] [Magic: Solid Orange Core (Combat power at Light Yellow Core)] sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Body Tempering: Intermediate Muscle Conditioning (Combat power at Late Blood Vessel Widening)] [Elemental Affinity: Wind, Wood, Meta, Fire] [Skills: Draconic Scale, Absolute Regeneration, Life Breathing, Wood Incarnation, Heavy Metal Reinforcement, Rain of Swords, Eternal Flames, Eruption, Dragon Roar, Dragon Claw, Specific Mana Manipulation (Wind)] [Overall Combat Power: 5-stars] [Draconic Realm] [Missions] [Shop] After reading through his current strength, the Ruler of the Draconic Realm smiles as he gets even stronger than before, reaching a realm at such a speed that he can never even imagine when he was still a normal young man who is just barely trying to get by with his meager adventuring skills unable to showcase his potential given that there is no wealthy family that can support him back then. Now however, he no longer needs to rely on those that he dreams of having support of back then, as what seems to be the greatest support that he has now being the Dragon Herding System and the Draconic Realm by itself, providing him grounds where he can grow a terrifying army of mythical creatures, dragons, all while receiving their blessings that provides him more and more strength, not only in terms of his cultivation level but also in terms of his talents. After nodding in satisfaction once again, the young man finally decided to check out the new skill that Yggdrasil acquired by breaking through the second realm both in terms of magic and martial arts, a skill that seems to be really convenient but not all that useful in the battlefield, well, on the higher-level battlefields to be exact. [Wood Incarnation (Active)] [Description] [Description: A skill that is available for use to any creature that has a certain degree of mastery over the wood elemental mana. Given that the dragon race is among the races with the highest natural affinity with mana, it is given that the race can use this skill. Creates a clone of the user of the skill that contains ten percent of the caster¡¯s strength in all facets, the number of the clones that the caster can create and control simultaneously depends on the caster¡¯s mana pool, as well as the caster¡¯s affinity over the element being used to create a clone] Having known the existence of clone spells since he had read its existence in the books that he often sees on Old Arthur¡¯s place, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but smile knowing that this kind of cloning skills are a rarity even among all sorts of high-level spells in the kingdom, not to mention one that actually creates a clone that has its own combat ability. What the emperor-like young man finds even more impressive is the fact that he is not limited to creating just one clone, and he is more than likely will be able to create more and more of the clones from the wood elemental elements the stronger he gets. ¡¯Wait, this is¡­¡¯ reading the last line on the description, he couldn¡¯t help but think of something else, prompting him to look at the two other draconic beauties standing right beside Yggdrasil, making these two wonder why is it that their liege is looking at him like that. ¡¯System, is it possible that¡­¡¯ before he could even finish that sentence he is intending to ask the Dragon Herding System, Diluc already receives the answer that he is waiting for as the floating gray screen appears right in front of his sight once again, showing the answer of the Dragon Herding System, an answer that very much pleases him. [Given that the only requirements for this skill is the amount of elemental affinity an individual has over a certain type of mana, yes, both the dragonesses Argenta and Seraphina will eventually get a similar incarnation skill of their respective element once they reach the second realm in both martial arts and magic] After reading this, the emperor-like young man starts to feel a bit more curious with this incarnation skills, making him wonder just what sort of effect it will have once combined, an idea that he thinks is most likely feasible given that the concept of all these skills are the same, with the only difference being the type of elemental mana that is being used. While he just couldn¡¯t help but feel excited over this and making him look forward to the moment that both Argenta and Seraphina reaches the second realm, he knows that he couldn¡¯t rush this process, especially when it concerns these two draconic beauties¡¯ cultivation, hence he decided to shove this absurd idea at the back of his mind for now, making a mental reminder to himself that he needs to look into it once again when these two dragonesses reaches that level in the future. For now, he is extremely pleased with the amount of combat power that he attained through this short period of time, the joy in him making him decide that this is a good time to celebrate, announcing to the three draconic beauties that for the rest of the break until classes arrives, he will spend all his time in the Draconic Realm with the three of them, an announcement that made the three ladies all the more happier than before. Chapter 67: A Spar Sound of draconic roaring can be heard as a young man looks through the skies, his emperor-like bearing not being suppressed even just by a bit by the terrifying pressure coming out from his opponents flapping their massive wingspan in the air, his figure standing just straight there like an unyielding spear challenging the heavens. While this young man just stands in his position like a pillar holding the place, the figures of his three opponents are already descending down from the skies, their massive wings now folded in order to increase the speed of their meteoric descent to the ground. "They¡¯re learning" seeing how efficient they utilize they draconic form now, the emperor-like young man, Diluc, couldn¡¯t help but nod in satisfaction seeing that these dragonesses are improving faster and faster through each of their fights, which in turn forces him to improve faster as well given that it is just going to be harder and harder to fight them if he could not. It is already the last day of their time being together for the entire day, the reason being it will be the start of Diluc¡¯s classes the next day, making these dragonesses quite sad seeing that their beloved liege is about to have less time for them, the only reason why they don¡¯t show it on their faces being the fact that the emperor-like young man himself promises that they would still meet during the weekends. While they are talking about all sorts of mundane things previously, the topic then arrives at their ability with combat, something that sparks because of Seraphina¡¯s usual seemingly bragging tone and Argenta¡¯s unexpected competitiveness, that suddenly ignited the moment that the fire dragoness talks about how she is the greatest front-line attacker there is in their group. Which leads to this current situation, not one where the metal and fire dragoness is facing each other but rather them, along with their eldest sister, is facing against him, their liege. "Seraphina, you¡¯re way too close to Argenta¡­" Diluc said as he infuses mana into his voice, making his intent known even through there are still a couple of hundred meters between him and the draconic beauties currently on their True Dragon form, each of them taking his words seriously as they know just how observant him, their liege is when it comes to the battlefield. "Remember that even though you are quite stronger than Ygg when it comes to your defense¡­" as he said it, the emperor-like young man smiles as the wind elemental mana starts swirling around him, eventually exploding on the sole of his feet as he assumes a jumping position, the explosion launching him like an arrow through the air the moment that he jumps. "You¡¯re still weaker than Argenta in terms of that" he then continues his words as the very wind elemental mana that launches him up high in the air also stops him from the movements, making him float right next to the blood ruby like shining scales of the adolescent fire dragoness, causing her reptilian-like eyes to widen in surprise. "One down" Diluc smiles as he moves his hands towards Seraphina, opened into a palm about to take a grasp on one of the dragonesses¡¯ limbs, had it not been for the long, shining metallic tail interrupting this and completely disrupting the sequence of his attack. Looking at the one who intervened with his movements, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but smile as he points his fingers towards the metal dragoness that just seems still wary of whatever it is that is about to happen, making him chuckle in laughter for a while, his laughter making these draconic beauties wondering about its reasons. "See Seraphina? Your sister Argenta isn¡¯t the vanguard of our group for no reason, because while she¡¯s really good at attacking as well, she¡¯s more adept with defending rather than anything else, bear that in mind" the young man said as he remembers just how vast the difference is between his [Rain of Swords] and Argenta¡¯s [Rain of Swords], one where the skill is used as being a more offensive ones, for harassing, disabling, distracting and straight out executing the enemies in his path, while the other one uses it as crowd control, mostly to direct opponents to her desired places as well as to remove their vision upon certain places, both their means terrifying enough but even more so if combined. As much as he would like to use this combined tactic of the same [Rain of Swords] with her currently, he can¡¯t since she¡¯s part of the group fighting against him currently, making the two of them feel like this is also the right time to figure out whose method is it that is most efficient in using the [Rain of Swords], is it the unstoppable force type of approach that he is using? Or is it the immovable object type of approach that the metal dragoness is making use of? While both of them thinks of that, the two of them knows that it is more important to talk a bit of sense to the wild Seraphina, making her aware that he places them for that combat position for a reason, not just because they want to be there. "As for you young lady¡­" then moving his fingers to point towards the towering fire dragoness just right in front of him, Diluc smiles, making this lady wonder why is he acting like that despite her making a mistake, but she doesn¡¯t ask about this yet as she knows that he is still speaking. "You¡¯re really great as well, Seraphina, the problem is you don¡¯t know where your greatness shines" Diluc said those words, intentionally making it sound like that as given how long he has been with this lady, he already knows just what will make it so that she is more willing to listen to the advices he is giving. "T-then what does my dear liege suggest for the great me?" looking at him from up above given their current difference in size, the fire dragoness, Seraphina, asked with curiosity filling her voice, along with the hint of being quite regretful that she is the one that made their formation open against him. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "You¡¯re already in the place you need to be, my dear little fire dragon, you just don¡¯t know how great of a position you have in this formation¡­" Diluc said as he praises her more, his words making the dragoness wag her tail in enjoyment as she moves her head left to right, making her majestic form appear quite silly given her actions, yet still terrifying and awe-inducing nevertheless. "I am already there?" listening to her dear liege¡¯s words, the fire dragoness couldn¡¯t help but wonder just what is it that he is talking about, given that where she wants to be is the frontmost of the lines, where she can fight side by side with him as they go through their real enemies. Seeing the curiosity getting deeper and deeper in her eyes, Diluc then decided to move for the decisive strike, even the wood dragon previously quite far away from them already arrive here and standing just right beside the emperor-like young man, their liege, on the other side of the young man the metal dragoness, both these two already back to their human form. As she waits for her dear liege to start his words, seeing that her two older sisters are already in their human form, even Seraphina starts shrinking and returning to her fiery beauty of a human form, her eyes still revealing that same curiosity toward their liege¡¯s words. "You see, Seraphina, both Yggdrasil and Argenta looks impressive on their positions, right? That is because they did their jobs so well, now imagine you doing so¡­ a majestic fire dragon appearing right behind the massive shields that Argenta is conjuring, creating a massive pit of destruction with your flame alone¡­" as he starts narrating about how she can possibly perform when she performs correctly according to her battle position, the fiery beauty starts smiling wider and wider, confirming to him that whatever it is that he is doing, it is effective. "¡­so, what do you think of your position in battle now?" Diluc asks as he looks at her mesmerizingly beautiful face once again, the very same face that seems to hold a lot of contemplation and thinking now, with a trace of excitement clearly visible on them. "Thank you, my dear liege!!" she said shouting as she moves her head upwards, her flushed face a mixture of her excitement and embarrassment for having him to point out what she thought now is such an obvious thing to notice, making her feel more and more amazed by him. "For what? There¡¯s nothing to thank about between all of us, right? After all, we¡¯re family" Diluc said with a brilliant smile on his face causing the three to be mesmerized, their stunned, blushing face making the young man wonder just what is it that is about to happen right now. Chapter 68: Advances "Hehehe~~~ husband~~" as the four of them descends from the skies and to the main island of the Draconic Realm, Diluc was quite taken aback when he feels the soft sensation of Yggdrasil¡¯s body pressing on his back, the lady clearly quite embarrassed with her actions as well given that her beautiful face is currently buried on his back as well, refusing to show her current expression to anyone of them. This is only just the beginning of it though as he also feels two similarly great, yet distinct sensations on either of his side, the two remaining dragonesses clearly trying to imitate their eldest sister, the wood dragoness, on whatever it is that she is trying to do. Having himself sandwiched upon the softness of all this beauties that other people can not even dream of having, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but feel that he already won it in life, making him smile as he enjoys the sensation even further, merely remaining standing in there as he allows them to do whatever they want. Seeing that he doesn¡¯t have any negative reactions with whatever they are doing, the neon green-haired mature beauty decided to take it up a notch, bringing her heels up and down every now and then as she moves her alluring upper body along with the movements, causing her to rub her soft, bountiful front right on her beloved liege¡¯s back. "Mn~~~" just with having her chest rubbing on the emperor-like young man¡¯s back alone, the neon green-haired beauty, Yggdrasil, couldn¡¯t help but start feeling sensitive, as if there are a lot of ants crawling through her breast and spreading this sensation all over her entire body. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Seeing their eldest sister¡¯s actions though, while the two younger dragonesses couldn¡¯t help but want to do this as well to their liege, they just feel like they are way too shy for them to be performing such act, or rather, it is just that their eldest sister is way too bold when it comes to expressing her feelings to their liege. "Ygg? You good?" also feeling like she is getting way bolder than she usually is, Diluc then proceeds to try and turn his head around to look at this mature beauty, only for his face to be pulled closer to her by her hands as a wings flaps out of her still humanoid form, lifting her up so that considerably large difference between their heights is negated by her currently floating in the air. "Mnn~~~ chuu~~~ chuu~~~" As he saw her face already just a few millimeters away from his, Diluc wasn¡¯t really surprised anymore about what she is about to do, making sure that he do it right as she places her lips onto his, the soft sensation of her red, sexy lips making him wonder whether this impressiveness is something that only she has, or all ladies in the world are like this. ¡¯I doubt it¡¯ he thought in his mind as he continues to relish on this intimate moment between him and this mature draconic beauty just behind him, their kiss taking way longer than it usually is. Seeing her passive approach the moment that she already finished initiating the intimate encounter, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but smile in his mind thinking that even though this mature beauty is someone who is more likely than not, know about this sort of things already given her inherited memories, she is still quite the shy lady when it comes to this things, making the contrast of her usual cheeky and bold self against this shy expression on her face all the more adorable to his eyes. Despite being a newbie on this kind of matters as well, he tries his best to be the one taking the lead as he starts taking it up a notch, his slippery eel starting to come out of his mouth and gently caressing her closed little mouth, his teasing motion as if trying to pry it open causing her defenses to easily crumble apart as his tongue invades her warm wet mouth in no time. "Mnn~~~ chhuuu~~~ hwaaahh~~~" feeling her beloved¡¯s tongue invading inside her mouth, the mature beauty couldn¡¯t help but feel like she¡¯s in heaven, his soft caress exploring her mouth making more and more saliva to come out of her, her little eel already tangling with his dancing to his tune without fail, as if the motion that both their tongues are experiencing for the first time is something already practiced between the two of them for millions of times already. With their tongues dancing on her damp, little mouth, the saliva that starts helping their dance proceed smoother starts leaking out of her cute mouth, the corners of her lips glistening from her sweet water that flows all the way down to her chin, then dripping and wetting her plump sensitive chest still pressed on her liege¡¯s back. "Puaaahhh~~~~ haaaahhh~~~ haaaahh~~~" after a few more minutes of this intense exchange between their bodily fluids that leads her sweating quite a bit, they finally broke this first intense kiss of theirs with her surrendering with the lack of air to breathe, something that a dragoness like hers would hardly suffer from had it not been for the wildly beating heart located on her chest. "That feels great~~~" she said as the two of them looks eye to eye with each other, the glow in their eyes saying more than just enough on how much affection it is that they feel for each other despite the relatively short time that they had been together for now. Perhaps it is because of the connection between the two of them because of the blessings, or perhaps it is because of a completely different thing altogether but they feel it, the ties between the two of them are getting closer by the second, far closer than it even had before. "Indeed it is" Diluc smiles as he moves his head and tries his best to lean down a bit more, his struggles given that she is still on his back making her chuckle and move towards her front, hugging him once again and wrapping her soft, porcelain arms all the way to his back as she looks up at him, the draconic wings appearing on her back already folding back and returning inside her body. "Mn~~~" as she feels the soft, gentle touch of his lips upon her forehead, Yggdrasil couldn¡¯t help but feel like she is really valued and loved, making her hum a little tune to herself before she notices the looks on the two other draconic beauties as well. "Husband~~ how about Sister Argenta and Sister Seraphina?" looking at the two beauties who both currently has quite the envious gaze on their eyes, along with the shyness revealed by the red blush on their face, something that they seemingly don¡¯t like other to see given that they are averting their gazes away from the very man who they both love. "Hahaha" seeing their expressions, Diluc laughs to himself causing the mature Yggdrasil to giggle along with his laughter as well, this lasting only for a few moments before he focuses at the main issue at hand, one of his hands slipping away from Argenta¡¯s tightening grasp, quickly moving towards her chin to lift her face up as his leans a bit lower, their foreheads touching as he did so. "L-liege, n-not like S-sister Yggdrasil¡­ j-just the usual¡­" the taciturn beauty starts talking with her pupils rolling around in panic, her voice quite shaky as she said those words, making the emperor-like young man smile as he replies. "Whatever you want" he said as he finally moves his lips closer to hers, the soft sensation feeling great at the same level as Yggdrasil¡¯s plump, sexy lips, the only difference with Argenta¡¯s being the fact that her shy approach makes this moment with her appear extremely adorable, her tightly closed eyes showing just how embarrassed she is to do this sort of things, yet her wildly beating heart revealing just how much she enjoys this moment. "Mnnn~~~ haaaahhh~~~ haaahhh~~~" After the short, not even that intense kiss between them, the taciturn beauty breathes hard as both her hands moves towards her chest, seemingly trying her best to calm her wildly beating heart as she repeatedly breathes in a deep and slow manner. "D-dear liege¡­ I-I¡¯m not r-ready for that kind of t-things yet¡­" having her face already on her dear liege¡¯s grasp, the last one among them, the wild beauty that is Seraphina also reveals quite the contrast from her usual confident, even rather prideful self, her eyes closed tightly as she speaks with an apparent trace of nervousness on her voice, something that Diluc easily senses given the vast difference she has from her usual self. Seeing that it is truly the case, the emperor-like young man knows that he can¡¯t make a large move with her yet, eventually deciding to settle with his lips on her forehead, the sensation of this action making her feel really warm and comfortable, enough to melt the nervousness she is previously feeling in her heart. Chapter 69: Roommates "Students, please proceed to the Primaria Auditorium for the student orientation, it is imperative that all students are already within the aforementioned auditorium within the next half an hour" Already preparing himself as he comes out of the bathroom, Diluc hears an announcement that resounded all the way across the entire men¡¯s dormitory, the fact that it sounds quite loud surprising the other young man sitting on the other bed across this room. "You good Michael?" looking at the young man sitting at the side of the bed, Diluc asked with a hint of worry on his face, the fact that this lad seems to be quite a bit shorter than any normal guys his age making it more worrisome. ¡¯Had it been not for me seeing that thing happening, he might be beaten into some sort of pulp now¡¯ he thinks to himself as he shakes his head while looking at this young man apparently the same age as him as he recalls what happened the previous day when he departed from the Draconic Realm and decided to return to the Academy¡¯s premises. On the entrance of his dorm room, he saw four young men surrounding another young man standing just right in front of the door, the one surrounded seemingly feeling quite helpless and nervous as the people surrounding him starts throwing their insults, of course, until he came across them. Had it not been for him developing his recently lean figure and gaining some sort of muscular mass that is quite apparent now, Diluc is pretty sure that he will also be thrown around by those young men despite the clear difference in height between them, with him standing over a head taller than the tallest guy among all of them. This is also the moment that he found out who this frail-looking young man is, the one who is supposed to be his roommate, Michael Aureus. While he might not know what his origin is given that he only told him some superficial likes and dislikes along with his name when they introduced themselves to each other, Diluc can pretty much tell that he is also someone who comes from a noble house of good standing, the great clothing, fair skin and seemingly stressless, innocent face making it clear that he¡¯s not someone who is raised to know the outside world. What is quite surprising to the emperor-like young man is the fact that despite his roommate¡¯s noble lineage, he finds his own nature quite great once he had come to know the reason of why he is getting jumped on by the other students who folded the moment that he saw him. "Why the hell are they even harassing you like that when they don¡¯t even know you? Are they some sort of retard? Do they not know how much powerful students are just lurking within this academy?" as both of them enters the room last night, it is the immediate question that comes into Diluc¡¯s mind, the annoyance at the fact that even in such a prestigious place like this, there is still characters like that. ¡¯Don¡¯t that old guard in the entrance screen people¡¯s characters?¡¯ is what he thought about this issue as he remembers the things that the old guard in the entrance of the academy said, but given how easily they caved in and shamelessly talks to him like they are some sort of good kid makes him quite impressed with their acting skill, which is the most likely reason why even that old guard went pass them and feel like there is no problem. ¡¯Not to mention those people seems to be sons of some quite high-ranking nobles¡¯ he added as he closes the door as well, allowing the frail Michael to enter first as he thinks of all these things. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "T-they saw me helping some commoner students¡­ t-that¡¯s what they told me" Michael replies back then with some apparent trace of conviction in his weak voice, something that even Diluc doesn¡¯t expect hearing from the frail-looking young man. Seeing that he treats those commoners quite good, Diluc finds some sense of camaraderie with this young man, deciding that should push comes to shove, he should help him when time comes, yet he also decided that he will only do so in dire situations and not become a nanny for this guy given that he also has his goals that he wants, and even needs to accomplish since he comes to this academy. Back to the present, Michael seems to be quite flustered as he looks at the emperor-like young man in front of him, his frail stature and narrow shoulders seemingly looking even more narrow as he put his arms in front of him with both his hands clasped on each other, the widened gaze from his large eyes avoiding looking at the figure in front of him, as if he feels like there¡¯s something wrong with him doing so. "What the hell are you blushing for?" seeing the crimson red tint on the young man¡¯s ears slightly hidden beneath his straight, shoulder length black hair, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but feel weird about this young man, thinking that he should probably keep his distance from this guy. "Y-your clothes¡­" pointing towards his chiseled, naked upper body, Michael said with his words eventually getting more and more silent as his words goes by, eventually reaching a point where his words can no longer be heard. ¡¯Fuck!!!¡¯ now knowing why this frail-looking young man is acting like that, Diluc reinforced his previous decision to avoid this guy as much as possible, but for now, he thinks that he can still remedy the situation into a less awkward one. "Michael, you¡¯re a guy, how the hell can you feel embarrassed seeing a fellow young man¡¯s upper body?" Diluc asked with a hint of conviction on his face, thinking that at the very least, he should point it out for this frail-looking young man to realize. "O-oh¡­" Michael agreed with a weak voice before his gaze returns towards the floor once again, causing Diluc to helplessly shake his head as a wry smile appears on his face. ¡¯Nothing I can do about it¡¯ he conceded as he starts getting dressed up, preparing the clothes he acquired for himself directly from one of the buildings in the school, finding the fact that the academy issuing such uniform for free is something really convenient given that some other schools in the kingdom even goes so far as to make the students pay for their own uniform. "Three-circle magic and physical protection, as well as a homing feature¡­ the academy really spares no effort into making these things huh¡­" feeling quite impressed at this uniform issued by the academy, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but nod to himself as he starts feeling around his own body, checking whether this thing is the perfect fit, which it is, smiling with satisfaction on his face after doing so. ¡¯The enchantments are really high-quality¡¯ he added to himself as he runs his mana to the Magic Circles etched hiddenly on this uniform, the fact that he only needs minimal mana consumption to keep this protection active making him quite fascinated by it, given that enchantments similar to this are something really hard to create. Enchantments, magic circles that can be engraved of etched into items that are used by anyone to improve the efficiency of it, one such example being the uniform that Diluc, as well as Michael, is currently wearing, one that is engraved with a three-circle protection which means that this uniform provides their student with protection that can pretty much be immune against anyone with an equivalent combat power as someone of either a Yellow Core mage or a Blood Vessel Widening martial artist, and higher circled enchantments means that it provides higher level protection, meaning that should it be four-circle, then it can protect the students from attacks of that level and so on for the higher ones. Seeing that Michael appears to be prepared to go out as well, Diluc sighs before a smile appears on his face as he opens the door of their room, looking back at the frail-looking young man before he talks to him once again. "What? You¡¯re not coming?" he invites as he moves his head and points out to the outside, prompting his roommate to nod at him as he stands up from his bed, the determined look on his face something that is quite unexpected from him even for the people who know him, but given that Diluc already saw the conviction in his eyes when this guy talks about valuing and protecting the commoners, the doesn¡¯t really find it all that surprising. ¡¯He just need to temper himself, and what is a better place to do that than here in the academy right?¡¯ the Ruler of the Draconic Realm thought to himself as he looks at this roommate of his, thinking that his frail nature will eventually change as his time on the academy begin. Chapter 70: Aria Frostborn Standing at the front of the Primaria Auditorium, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but wonder just what sort of people and how rich they are to create a structure of this proportion, a large, hemispherical dome that seems to be able to hold all the students of the academy as well as their staff, and possibly even thrice or more of that number over, making the young man question just why does the academy needs to create such needlessly large place. As he, along with the frail-looking Michael moves towards the entrance of the building, they find themselves being guided by the staff of the academy all the way towards the frontmost part of the seats, where they can see that all the students sitting near them are wearing the same-colored uniform as them. Seeing this thing, the young man beside him starts pointing out with a hint of pride in his voice as he confidently starts spouting things about the uniforms. "I heard that each year wears different colored uniforms, white for the first years like us, a blue one for the second years, red for the third years and black for the fourth-year students" Michael pointed out as Diluc starts observing far more minute detail of the uniform, noticing something present on some of the uniforms while some are not. "That golden button just below the collar¡­ those are¡­" as he mutters to himself, Diluc¡¯s companion finds it quite easy to hear causing him to interrupt the emperor-like young man¡¯s words as he starts speaking once again. "Those are marks that means you are a noble, every one of us, including the ones who came from different lands were required to wear a uniform with that to show the ¡¯distinction¡¯ between us they say" the frail-looking young man explained as he looks at the golden button in his uniform with a frown in his face, almost as if he¡¯s truly dissatisfied with this thing being on him. "Is this a decision of the academy?" thinking about this as he looks at the golden button also included on his uniform, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit less favorable towards the academy, implementing this kind of system and all despite claiming themselves to be a sanctuary of nurturing geniuses no matter what background they came from. "No, the largest contributor and supporter of the academy is the high-ranking nobles of the kingdoms that has their young people studying here, meaning that while the greatest figure within the academy, our principal, do has a lot of say, she still doesn¡¯t have the absolute authority over the place, meaning that she should let this kind of things go at the very least" Michael explains as a trace of pity appears on his eyes, something that his companion fails to notice given that he is closing his eyes and seemingly using this spare time to temper himself and absorb mana in the surrounding. ¡¯He¡¯s really hardworking¡¯ the frail-looking young man thought to himself as he looks at Diluc in disbelief, the fact alone that he is still thinking of improving himself despite the place they are currently in something that he himself never thinks of, not to mention really perform. While Diluc is truly absorbing the mana in the air though, he is controlling it so that he doesn¡¯t come out as something of a monster given how powerful his absorption will be if he really did his all in order to cultivate, something that he often only does in places that he thinks are safe, as well as within the most secluded and remote of places. Before he could even make a significant progress in his practice though, he got waken up by Michael once again, the first thing that he saw as he opens his eyes being the hand of his frail-looking roommate pointing towards the stage where one person, presumably a staff of the academy, stands with a proud yet amiable smile on her face. As she stands right in the middle of the stage, she nods once all the sounds coming out from the students disappears, just her presence alone making it so that the students feel overwhelmed enough that they just suddenly turn silent. Observing this lady who appears to be quite the beauty herself, the young men among the students, whether they are new ones or older students, couldn¡¯t help but reveal a trace of desire on their eyes as they look at her, something that the lady is well aware of yet just chooses not to reveal on her attractive face. The feature that stands out the most on her though are the beast like feature of a cat as her ears along with the tails swinging as she stands, both of them being night black in color with a shiny look to it. "Good morning, a warm welcome to the new students who are accepted during the first part of the entrance exams, and a great welcome back to the old students who had their break during the past two months" the figure on the stage speaks as she smiles towards the students, her mesmerizing smile causing not only the people who are new to this but also the ones who already experienced and saw her smile to feel their hearts skip a bit before they are able to calm it down. "The second years all the way to the fourth-year students are already well aware of my identity, but for the sake of our newcomers here, I shall introduce myself¡­" the lady informed as she performs a curt bow with her head before revealing her smile once again as she speaks. "I am the vice principal of this academy, Aeonia Felis Panthera, and well, as you can see, I am a beast kin of the Cait race, I believe a quite prominent one at that along with my twin sister Aeolia" the lady on the stage said, pausing for a while as she knew all too well what sort of discussion will this kind of thing ensue among the populace of the students. "She¡¯s that swordsman!?" "Even the Gemini Swordmasters are here, just what sort of people are in this academy?" "Hahaha! Worthy of being a well-known academy across the lands!" sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As the students starts discussing among themselves hearing the identity of this lady, one person among them cares not a bit about all those things, but rather, wondering about something as he recalls a similarly amiable, yet different featured beast kin that he met during the trials of the first part of the entrance exams. ¡¯She¡¯s most likely her twin sister, right?¡¯ Diluc thought to himself as he recalls the appearance of that examiner, the only apparent difference between the two of them being the color of their beastly feature, this lady, the vice-principal, Aeonia bearing a black colored feature while his previous examiner, Aeolia, bearing a white colored one. "Now students, let¡¯s save talking about these kind of things for later, for now, let me start this orientation by giving you all the warmest welcome to our academy, and I hope that all of you will have a great time not only developing your talents but also your character in this place, a place where all sorts of geniuses meet in order to temper themselves with each other" she smiles once again as she bows towards the students for one last time before she let out her last line for her time on the stage. "Now that the greetings are all done, let me have the honor to introduce to the young students, the backbone of our academy, the one who is pretty much the person who leads the academy towards this large, significant change all throughout the previous years, our principal, Aria Frostborn" As the name resounded through the ears of everyone, mixed opinions ran into all the minds present during this meeting and orientation, among them the conflicted thoughts of the academy¡¯s staff, agreeing with the claim of their vice principal although they still think that said vice principal is still painting the violent maniac of a principal in a saintly light, something that they feel quite uncomfortable with. Among other thoughts, there are those of the noble children, who finds it quite annoying the changes that said lady made all throughout her time as the principal of the academy, with them losing power and control over the resources gathered due to the talent and improvement-based ranking that she introduced a couple of years back, a system much appreciated by the commoners given that it gives them better chances to acquire resources for themselves. But among all the thoughts running across the minds of the people present, Diluc¡¯s thought is the most complicated one, never expecting that the white-haired horned beauty, a small, child-like, self-proclaimed ¡¯fully functioning¡¯ adult that he meets during his fourth trial during the academy¡¯s entrance exam being the one who holds the highest authority in this academy, the very principal herself. Chapter 71: Primaria Class While it is true that Diluc thinks that this lady he previously met is definitely someone of a high position within the academy given her might in terms of both magic and martial arts, what he doesn¡¯t really expect is the fact that she¡¯s the principal of the academy, being all that volatile and all. ¡¯Is she even capable of properly managing this place?¡¯ he asked himself as he recalls how easily she gets triggered by specific words, and not even that specific, as so long as she can connect the words that comes out from the mouth to one of her insecurities, he feels like she is definitely going to explode and beat the one who said those words into pulp. Should this emperor-like young man comes to find out the very same thing oftentimes occurring inside the mind of the staffs and faculty of the academy, he, along with those people, will definitely find some sense of camaraderie between them, something that only them will share given that the other students seem to be blinded by the glorious light coming out of the principal of the academy. Who wouldn¡¯t? as rumors of her unrivaled beauty is often told among the tales of bards across the entire kingdom and the lands beyond that, what more than her beauty is her brain and brawn that seems to just make her the throne among all of the geniuses of her generation, acquiring the title of the Frost Heaven War Goddess after all the times that she had dominated the battlefield of war just by her sheer presence alone. And now, this very figure of tales and living legends is not about to appear in front of them, making even the nobles who are quite displeased with her approach to the management of this academy quite looking forwards to her appearance, after all, it is rare seeing such beauty with talents not only for cultivation but a great character and an even greater wits to come with it. Having very different mental image of this beauty in their minds, both Diluc and his roommate Michael waits for the arrival of this principal, her arrival being more modest that what Diluc expected. What surprises him the most is the figure of the person that comes out from behind the stage, making him doubt whether the Aria Frostborn he fought inside the spatial domain in the fourth layer is something of a remnant from the past or something, but given that he saw the looks in her eyes as she also saw him, he immediately scratches that thought out of his mind. "Is this her true appearance?" Diluc mutters to himself as he observes the lady now taking over the stage from the beast kin beauty that is Aeonia, her elegant figure mesmerizing even the greatest of wills among the people here, something that made also made Diluc stunned for a while before he recovers first among all the students here given that he already saw beauties of this level nearly every day, and three of them at that. Standing at a relatively taller height compared to the average of those ladies from this kingdom, this white-haired, horned beauty shows traces of maturity and youthfulness on her fair, elegant, heart shaped face, contained in them are large almond eyes with an also large, pale blue pupils on them, making her appear quite innocent if not for the experienced light beneath her mesmerizing eyes, eyes adorned with a straight, long eyelashes just a shy darker shade of her hair color, the very same color as the straight eyebrows on top of her eyes. Her cute straight nose connects beautifully to her small, crimson red lips, the only trace of hot color on her face, except for the slight pink on her cheeks, said lips bearing a bit thicker lower part than normal that made her look all the more attractive to anyone¡¯s eyes, even disregarding the gender of the viewer. What made her even more attractive is the perfect hourglass-shape figure completely different from her appearance from when Diluc first saw her, the figure probably even spilling through her clothes had it been not for her wearing a mage robe that really doesn¡¯t do anything all that significant to hide this figure of hers. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The cherry at the top of this all is the peculiar aura she is commanding as she just stands there, invoking an awe-inspiring feeling among all of the young people here as if she¡¯s an experience general about to turn the odds with her troops alone despite the overwhelming number of the enemies, a feeling that made even the strongest of will among the student just want to follow her. Seeing that the students, no matter whether they are the new ones or the old faces that she already saw in the academy from the previous years, are all settled and mesmerized with her appearance, the white-haired horned beauty on the stage couldn¡¯t help but give a thumbs up to herself in her mind before she starts speaking, starting with a warm greeting causing her elegant, mature and graceful voice to resound all across the entire Primaria Auditorium. "Vice-principal Aeonia already mentioned it to all of you but let me tell you this again, as the principal of the Flammenherz Sky Academy, as well as the representative of all the staffs here, welcome to our academy, and given that all of you passed the first part of the entrance exams, you are now all part of the academy, a part of this large family of ours" the white-haired beauty said with a welcoming, warm smile on her face before her face returns into that of a modest smile paired with the slightly serious expression to it. "Now, all the new students might be wondering as we all mentioned, first part of the entrance exam here, first part of the entrance exam there, it¡¯s about nigh time someone explains to all of you about that right? So let this principal of yours talk about that" she added as she starts showing off her might to the students, manifesting her ice elemental mana in order to create a complete, perfectly replicated scaled copy of the entire academy, showing just how much control she has over her magic, and making the students and even some newer staff wonder just how she can achieve that without using magic circle to cast her magic. ¡¯Her draconic magic is really impressive¡¯ Diluc thought to himself as he notices that this horned beauty is merely whispering in the air as she uses the mana in the surrounding to form that replica of the entire academy premises in near instantaneous amount of time, compared to him who still need to pronounce words in an audible volume in order to use draconic magic otherwise known as the dragon tongue. [Once you reach that kind of realm, you will no longer need even a whisper just to cast dragon tongue of this degree] The system pointed out making Diluc think that it seems to be oddly competitive for him, something that he doesn¡¯t expect from the Dragon Herding System who seems to be all for selling the things he looted for what he thinks is a quite low o a price. ¡¯I¡¯m just pointing out, besides, that¡¯s for the future right, it¡¯s still impressive for the me right now¡¯ Diluc retorted as he smiles wryly towards the words on the floating gray screen, his reply not garnering another word from the Dragon Herding System. "The second part of the entrance exams is very simple, it¡¯s purpose? To see which among you new students will be placed on the Primaria class, well, you can think of this class as the star section of their year, the ones who are supposed to be the best of the best among their peers¡­" "There are two hundred and forty students among all of the freshmen, a consistent number across all the other years, previously, all of you are divided into six classes with forty students on each class but that is just the front, some sort of thing we promised to the rich men and women supporting the academy¡­" the principal, Aria, speaks as on one of the vacant spaces among the place in the academy, what is supposed to be a forest as told by the instructors and staffs during their time roaming around in the break, a place starts to replace it, a place where only the staffs as well as the older students are aware of. "There are actually seven classes as I¡¯ve decided myself, one class only has thirty students while the rest of the six other classes has the remaining two hundred and ten students in them, with thirty five students each class, and well, that one unique class is the Primaria of that year, the gathering of the greatest talents among all of the students of their age" Aria explains with a hint of anticipation on her face as she wonder who will come out on top of this year¡¯s fresh batch of talented students. Chapter 72: The Student Council "There¡¯s only one method to enter the Primaria class, and that is by placing among the top thirty freshmen during the second part of the entrance exams¡­ well, we might call it like that but I personally think that this is more of an induction or a welcome event for the new students of the academy, some sort of show that we know the older student would very much love to watch" the principal said with a smile on her face, her last words causing some giggling and laughing among the senior students who had already gone through all these. "The exams are simple, first, a rapid elimination round and then a fair one on one fight between students, all of their strength is allowed, contracted beast, various magic and martial techniques, the only thing that the academy will forbid during these are pre-made serums and potions that a participant brought into a fight, but well, all of can bring the ingredients to them, and if you can concoct those potions you want to use in mid-fight, then you are very much welcome to drink that potion in front of your opponent¡¯s face" Hearing this, the senior students start laughing once again as they know that this is more likely than not, just another harmless joke from the principal herself, given that everyone among them knows that concocting potions, even just the simplest mana recovery or health recovery potions are something impossible to create without a peaceful environment at the very least. ¡¯Laughing again huh¡­ I wonder how their faces would be if they saw those alchemists¡¯ seeing the laughter of the senior students, Aria couldn¡¯t help but reveal a wry smile on her face as despite her current standing in the school, whenever he told student about that, they would not even believe her in the slightest and shake it off with a laugh, the only reason why she keeps on reminding this every year being the fact that she wants to inspire some new students to possibly pull this off. "Remember that most this is a single elimination tournament, meaning that once you are kicked out of the match, there¡¯s no more chance for you, of course, unless there are only the last thirty students left" the white-haired principal reminded once she heard of the silence covering the entire auditorium once again. "Now for the general flow of the event, there will be a rapid elimination round at the start, one where we will pit all the new students into an arena to survive there, anyone who was pushed or thrown out of the arena will be eliminated, this will continue until there are only one-hundred and twenty-eight students remaining in the arena, meaning almost half of you people will be eliminated before we can even start with the main one on one event" the white-haired, horned beauty finally ended her words about the second part of the entrance exams, deciding that it is time to move on from the subject of the rules of this event. "Now, I know most of you will be wondering why do you even need to bother going into the Primaria class since ¡¯all academy students¡¯ are treated equally, so even the resources divided among the seven classes are equal, and even if the division of that resources will be reduced by five, it doesn¡¯t make any significant difference¡­" Aria smiled as the academy replica that she had created faded into the air as she turned a little bit more serious, her eyes looking around through each and every single one of the new students until she saw a familiar face. "I suggest you people to not even think of holding back, because I myself spends my own money in order to double the resources of each Primaria class of each year of students, some might say that it¡¯s preferential treatments but who cares? Can they face my great fist of justice?" Having gone to great lengths just to improve the quality of the most talented ones among the students yet still facing backlash from the nobles since some ¡¯unworthy¡¯ commoner students are getting into the Primaria class, the horned beauty couldn¡¯t help but start letting her true nature out, something that the older Primaria class students already has an inkling of due to her personally teaching them every once in a while, making them have an idea of the sort of character this principal is, but not so much that they fully understand her just like the staff of the academy. "So yeah, double the resources, your own personal lodging if you don¡¯t want to share places with your roommates, as well as lectures from me every once in a while, I guess that sort of temptation will be more than enough to make all of you compete properly, right?" After saying this, Aria then looks around once again, seeing the motivated expression on the faces of both commoners and nobles alike, no matter what place they come from, reminding her once again that despite the division between the living classes of people, in the end, they are still creatures vulnerable to emotions, especially temptation, no matter what lineage or race they might be. "Alright students, enough about the exams, let¡¯s talk about student governance, shall we? We personally think that this is another integral part of the academy, having some sort of hierarchy with leaders among the students, and me, along with the faculty who handpicked the leader of this group and checked each and every one of the members she added here, would like to proudly present to all of you the current student council" the principal steps back and fades away from the stage making one last show of her strength before she let the ones she introduced to take the stage away, those people appearing the moment that she disappears. Taking their stride with confidence, some even with pride, eleven students each with varying colors of their uniform appear on the stage, four among them wearing the black uniform worn by all the fourth-year students, three of them wearing the red colored uniform of the third year, two wearing the blue colored second year uniform and the last two of them wearing the white uniform of the first years, one of them looking quite familiar to Diluc himself. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. With the crowd staying silent, it got easier for the lady who appeared first among these students to take over the flow left behind by their principal, the seriousness on her face something that made the younger students wonder about what kind of person she is, while the ones who already knows her wonder just how is she able to do that kind of serious expression on her face. "It¡¯s a great day to meet all of you, fellow students, I am Kiara Van Hyperia, the current president of the student council, serving in this position for the second term now, and along with me, is the student council of this academic year, people whom I, as well as the academy¡¯s faculty trust, given that they allow them to assume their current position" the lady said with a confidence filled gaze, her appearance making it all the more compelling for the students in their seats to listen to her words. After all, with her natural charisma that seems to be born to be a leader, others just couldn¡¯t help themselves from listening to her melodious, yet powerful voice, not to mention paired with the rumor about her appeal, which can be found to be true given the figure she has despite the cover that the issued uniform of the academy can provide. Her face is something of a divine grace as well, paling just a level in comparison to the elven beauty, Alea, that Diluc previously met, the long black hair that doesn¡¯t seem to be too outstanding in terms of its ability to pull other¡¯s gazes into it, the face that is more than enough to compensate for this given her appearance is something that has the ability to make almost all people turn their head toward her. But the most noticeable feature of this lady is her black-colored pupils that seem normal at first glance, but once an observer takes their time looking into it, they will find out that it is anything but normal given that starlight glow hidden deep underneath her charismatic gaze. "Now allow the other people in my group to introduce themselves to all of you, and once again, the name is Kiara Van Hyperia, but all of you can just call me Senior Sister Kiara or something along that line, pleased to make acquaintance of all of you" the student council president said with a smile on her face causing some of the older student to just sigh in their seat, whether it is relief, admiration or some other things the ones who heard it doesn¡¯t know, all they know is that the reason for that sigh is definitely the smile that comes out of the student council president. Chapter 73: Head of the Freshmen Seeing the admiration of the older students towards her, this black-haired charismatic beauty couldn¡¯t help but shake her head with a helpless smile on her face as she allowed the one previously standing beside her to start introducing himself. As this introduction proceeds, Diluc, along with Michael found out the structure of the academy¡¯s student council, composed only of the president, the vice-president, and the secretary as its core force, along with a head and vice-head on each year of the students, those that follow after the three introduced themselves being those people. Not paying much of his attention to the identity of the other people there given that he doesn¡¯t even know them, Diluc merely checks whether there is someone that has a draconic progeny among all these people, however, seemingly running out of luck with his encounter with the white-haired beauty of a principal they have, not a single one among them turns out to have draconic progeny after the scan of the Dragon Herding System. The moment that the head of the freshmen steps into the front of the stage though, he immediately pays attention to this introduction, the elven beauty looking upon the numerous geniuses gathered within this single auditorium isn¡¯t even a bit bothered, in fact, she looks like she is the calmest among all of the students who stepped in front of the crowd, that comparison even including the current student council president herself. ¡¯Is she even that beautiful previously?¡¯ looking at the enchanting figure of this elven beauty, the emperor-like young man couldn¡¯t help but wonder to himself as he recalled her figure from back when he just rescued her from the caravan that previously kidnapped her, her pale, lean figure from back then completely incomparable to her current curves now. Despite being of the same age as the other first years such as him, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but think that this elven beauty is mature beyond her own age, having a similar body type if not even curvier than one of the beauties residing within the Draconic Realm, Seraphina, the only difference between them is the fact that while Seraphina stands at a really tall height for a lady, this elven beauty is standing just at an average height, perhaps even a little shorter than average. While she lacks in the height department though, her body pretty much makes up for it just with her alluring, hourglass-shaped curves alone, the explosiveness of her figure was something that made all of the students within the auditorium, whether they¡¯re male or female, stunned, their mouths borderline drooling as they admire this magnificent view. While the students are acting like that, the staff aren¡¯t any better really, the only thing that manages to keep their hold to themselves is the fact that they are already used to seeing such a beauty since the principal is of the same, if not even a bit higher level than this elven beauty, of course, that is when this white-haired horned beauty is in her adult form. What makes her the greatest appealing person among all of the student council members is her mesmerizing face, a goose egg-shaped, milky white, small face adorned with a fairly large, almond eyes, her large, gem-like emerald green eyes perfectly depicting one that can be called an elven aesthetic of beauty, her blonde, long eyelashes as well as her willow eyebrows improving the charm of those eyes even more, said eyebrows connected to her cute straight nose leading to her sexy, light red lips, a smile etched on them as if there¡¯s not a single difficult thing that just happened to her previously. Crowning her head are the thick locks of wavy, long blonde hair cascading all the way down her hips, her hair really smooth and shiny, the testament to this claim being the fact that it seems like it is reflecting the very minimal light coming out of the spotlight directed to her. ¡¯It¡¯s been a few days, Alea¡¯ seeing her current appearance, being on what it seem to be her healthy appearance all while donning the uniform given to them, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but mutter to himself with a smile on his face as he stares at this elven beauty openly, still completely unaware of the fact that she is the princess of the neighboring Elven Kingdom due north of their Flammenherz Kingdom. Meanwhile, despite being a man as well, Michael himself doesn¡¯t seem to be all too interested in this elven beauty¡¯s appearance, a testament to that being the fact that he seems to be even calmer than Diluc himself, who had already come in contact and got to know a considerable number of beauty equal, if not above the elf¡¯s level of beauty and charm. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Back on the stage, the elven princess is currently scanning through the numerous students within the auditorium, her gaze mostly on the people within the first years, her eyes seemingly looking for someone specific in there, not even a single doubt of him not passing the first part of the entrance exam appearing in her mind. ¡¯If he fails, I might as well leave this place¡­¡¯ the elven beauty thought to herself as even though they had only known each other for quite a short time, she herself knows the significance of the twin path of power that this young man walks, and seeing that he is successful in treading this path, even if it is just an initial success, she knows how much more potential and talent he has compared to her. After her eyes roamed for a while, she finally found the young man she was looking for, his emperor-like demeanor made him unmistakable among the crowd, not to mention his tall stature along with his outstandingly handsome face, and that measure of handsome is even using the elven standards, famed for being harsh critiques of beauty. Spotting his face among the crowd, she sent out a faint smile towards him, something that she had done so quickly and modestly that had it not been for her being a beauty worthy of everyone paying their entire attention to her, no one, except for the intended recipient of it, would even notice. ¡¯Just who is that lucky guy!?¡¯ immediately thinking that this is a competitor that already gets a head start and moves away from them, the ones confident enough to even think of pursuing this elven beauty immediately directed their gaze towards the favored one of this beauty, their gazes paling as they saw the height of this person that the lady is looking at, not to mention the unrivaled appearance that made them quite doubtful of their own handsome that won multiple ladies inside and even outside the academy. Meanwhile, the target of their supposed scrutiny felt their gazes landing upon him, this young man, Diluc, was even prepared to let out some of his mana to pressure and scare these guys, but seeing that they pulled their gazes back away from him, he chooses not to, only, it made him wonder just why is it that they suddenly stopped checking him out. After this, watching most of the young men who had already proclaimed their ¡¯love¡¯ for her before the academic year even start feeling quite depressed after seeing the emperor-like young man, the elven princess, Alea, couldn¡¯t help but smile once again, but this time a meaningful one sent towards Diluc once again, the young man¡¯s wits allowing him to figure out what is it that is currently happening. ¡¯Nice job, you used me quite well, didn¡¯t you?¡¯ revealing a wry smile on his face, the young man couldn¡¯t help but think to himself as he stared back at this elven beauty, someone whom he thought of as an innocent one, not really expecting that she is quite the scheming type as well. Seeing the smile on her sole male friend¡¯s face, Alea, despite not really understanding exactly what is currently in his mind, gets the general gist of what is happening inside of it, making her reveal an apologetic expression that she so masterfully conceals as she starts her introduction. ¡¯Sorry, I had no choice, I¡¯ll repay you somehow later¡¯ she thought to herself as she showed the emperor-like young man that expression, her words, despite not being conveyed clearly, reached Diluc, who got the general idea of her thought as well. Standing in front of all these students, Alea is not even a single bit nervous, the reason? Her mother is the queen monarch of the Elven Kingdom, the greatest figure and pillar of their kingdom, and she, as the elven princess and her daughter, is the sole successor of this kingdom with might rivaling that of the Flammenherz Kingdom, and because of this, she is someone who has practiced standing and speaking in front of numerous people more than just a hundred of times, so despite her seemingly gentle and cool demeanor, she is a lady who is already so used to this kind of things. Chapter 74: A Declaration "Hello, good day to everyone here¡­" moving her gaze all around in order to look at everyone within the auditorium, it just goes to show the elven beauty¡¯s practiced knowledge when it comes to this kind of things, a practiced knowledge that seems to be already engraved within herself. "I am the head of the first year chosen by the student council president and approved by the faculty and staff of the academy, some of the elven students studying here might already know who I am, but for the sake of the ones who don¡¯t allow this lady to introduce herself¡­" the elven princess said before curtly bowing forward, not so much as to look like she¡¯s lowering herself but rather just enough to show that she is also respecting her fellow students. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "My name is Alea Alfheim Evergreen, the daughter of the Elven Kingdom¡¯s Astrea Alfheim Evergreen, the kingdom¡¯s matriarch¡­" she said with a hint of pride on her face as she called onto her mother¡¯s name, the identity suddenly just dropped to them by this seemingly gentle and easygoing lady something that made even the bravest of heart shaken by her words. ¡¯Oh my god, to think that I¡¯ve declared love to the elven princess¡­¡¯ ¡¯Fuck!!! I heard that elves are good assassins as well, is she going to send someone to dispatch me when I¡¯m sleeping!?¡¯ ¡¯This is bad, this is bad this is bad, what should I do!?¡¯ While the normal students do have their own reason to be surprised of such turn of event, the ones who confesses their ¡¯love¡¯ for her is even more surprised, or rather, worried of what might happen to them now, their previous actions making them regret of making a move first before thinking things through, something that might just possibly lead them to their deaths by offending a royalty. "Well, I suppose that¡¯s all my fellow students need to know for now, since we¡¯ll get to know each other soon enough either way¡­" Alea said as she starts moving backwards, allowing the last one among the student council to introduce herself, but not before giving one last words towards her peers. "Oh, and one last thing, I¡¯ll be claiming the first place on the second part of the entrance exams" she declared with a confident smile on her face before she allows her closest friend to take over the attention of the crowd, her words leaving a lasting impression to the mind of the students that heard her, particularly the ones who are about to compete with and against her as well, the freshmen. "She¡¯s quite the arrogant lady¡­" looking at the elven princess with a soft frown on his face, Michael said before he looked at the emperor-like young man sitting just beside him, wondering what this young man was thinking about hearing the words from the elven princess. "She has all the right to, she¡¯s quite the monster herself" Diluc replies as he continues to look at the elven princess now back on her previous position, his mind quite surprised as well from the revelation that just happened, the fact that this lady is the elven princess something that caught him quite off guard as well. ¡¯Should I charge her more for using me as a meat shield against this pompous young masters?¡¯ he wonders to himself as he caught her attention as well, the two of them smiling at each other with words seemingly flying between the two of them, but given that the spotlight is no longer on her, their exchange doesn¡¯t even catch anyone¡¯s eyes, making only the two of them aware of whatever it is that is happening. Meanwhile, on the front part of the stage, the final member of the student council finally finishes introducing herself, another elven beauty who seems to be someone who shares blood relations with Alea herself, the lady, Alfia Verdant Evergreen, introducing herself as an heir of a dukedom within the Elven Kingdom, a cousin of the princess. This beauty doesn¡¯t even pale in comparison when standing side by side with Alea, having the same build as her with her face being the only thing that seems to be different despite bearing some semblance of appearance with the elven princess as well, sharing the same shape and size of the nose and lips, with the eyes being the only extremely different thing between the two of them, this young duchess¡¯ eyes being a downturned-shape giving her the languid look, perfectly matching her lazy-sounding, melodious voice as well. In addition to the difference between their eyes, the other thing different between them is this elven beauty¡¯s blonde hair being straight contrary to the wavy one of the elven princess, her thick voluminous hair also reflecting light the same manner as the elven princess¡¯ hair does. "Well, since the princess already declared that she will take the top spot among the freshmen, then as her cousin and closest friend, I suppose I should aim for the second place now, shouldn¡¯t I?" as she finishes introducing herself, the elven beauty, Alfia, said as a closing remark, making the other members of the student council smile, with the leading one among them, the student council president, Kiara Van Hyperia, nods in acknowledgment as she feels like this is how a proper member of the student council should act. Looking at the students who seems more inspired rather than angered of this claim strengthens her belief of this is how the leading students should act even more, seeing that this declaration serves as a motivation that will fuel the students to push themselves more. ¡¯A pity that this is only the case since she¡¯s a princess from another kingdom. Had it been a commoner that declares that in her place¡­¡¯ not even wanting to imagine what could happen in that scenario, the student council president shakes her head to remove such unwanted thoughts in her mind, making her think that she, and even those that will succeed her in this position, hopefully sharing the same goal and vision as her, will still have a lot more things to do in order to change such state of mind. As she snaps out of her thoughts, she finds herself illuminated by the spotlight at the top of the stage once again, along with her illuminated are her companions as well, a group that she so specifically chosen in order to create a new trend within the academy, a group that hopefully, will work harmoniously with her for this entire academic year without any major mishap occurring. "Once again, we are the student council of this current academic year, we hope that the students or our academy will work with us towards a greater academy!!" the president, Kiara, declares as her powerful, charming voice inspires awe not only upon the students but also upon that staff watching her speak, her words something that made these students feel like they¡¯re in the midst of war for some reason unknown to them. Meanwhile, within the auditorium, the white-haired, horned beauty, now in her youthful form, smiles as she listens to the words of this black-haired beauty, nodding with a smile on her beautiful face before her figure disappears from the auditorium. Chapter 75: Pleasure Doing Business With You "Alright, that is for the student council of this academic year¡­ now for the closing remarks, well, there¡¯s not really anything that we should remind you of anymore, after all, you¡¯re all adults now¡­ well there is something I guess¡­" after the introduction of the student council, a figure familiar to everyone appears once again, the figure bearing a beast kin feature on her making her charm quite unique compared to other ladies. "Be responsible and dauntless no matter the task, and always see to it that you¡¯re always fair on your judgments, and at the very least, be a good person¡­ well, in short, don¡¯t you dare tarnish the reputation of the academy when you¡¯re outside¡­" the beast kin lady said with a threatening pressure coming out of her as she voiced her thoughts, such pressure scaring even the strongest of the fourth year students as if they are in front of a beast that is about to devour them completely, and effortlessly. "Great, seems like all of you understand, with that in mind, you can come out of the auditorium now and return to your classes for the older students, as for the new students, you can still roam around for today since there are no classes for all of you yet, not until the sections are decided¡­. For that, we will hold the second part of the entrance exams tomorrow, hopefully, none of you will be late since this will pretty much decide whether you¡¯re going to shine brighter within the academy" The beast kin lady said before she steps back into the backstage again, disappearing from everyone¡¯s sight, signing the end of this orientation for students, that prompts the older, more experienced one to start standing up and coming out of the place. Seeing this happening, the freshmen also start coming out as well, the number of people still sitting gradually thinning out with one among them being the emperor-like young man still rooted on his seat. "Diluc, you¡¯re not going?" seeing his roommate still seemingly meditating, the frail-looking Michael asked with a near mumbling voice in fear of distracting this young man, his timid approach making his roommate, who is still meditating, feel like this is going to be a long year with him being together with this frail young man. "Go ahead first, there¡¯s someone I¡¯m waiting for" Diluc replied with a smile on his face causing the frail-looking young man to gaze at him in wonder, trying to figure out who is it that this emperor-like young man wanted to see, but having no idea of that, he just decided to do as the young man said and leaves ahead without it. Meanwhile, Diluc closes his eyes once again as he plays around with the mana in the air, his previous self who can only sense a single color of mana, and just barely at that, will not be able to believe what the current him is detecting, four different types of mana dancing according to his will as he plays around with them subtly enough that no one will be able to detect its fluctuations in the air. Should someone see how he is interacting with mana directly, even if the one who saw him is from the draconic progeny, then they will definitely be surprised by such actions, as even them, who are deemed to be the greatest race there is, even branded as the masters of mana given their affinity to it, needs to use their dragon tongue in order to do such act. While there might not seem to be that there is too much of a difference between someone who uses dragon tongue to control the mana in the air and someone who just directly controls it, the dragons themselves know that there¡¯s a vast, even insurmountable chasm between the two. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Just like how humans and other races need to channel their magic or even martial arts through certain magic or mana circles in order to work, the dragon tongue is also similar to that, a conduit of magic and martial arts serving as a machine to make more efficient use of the fuel being ran into it, mana, instead of just burning it in the air. However, different from these methods of casting magic, what Diluc is doing, while fundamentally harmless currently, is something akin to just creating nuclear-level reactions from a point-blank range without any tool at all, just using his mind and its calculation power alone to manipulate ambient mana like that. While very impressive, no one among his peers can really appreciate it given how much of a high-level concept this is, perhaps, the only other person who is aware that such a thing is possible is the lady he fought against during the fourth trial of the entrance exams, the very principal of this academy herself, Aria Frostborn. As he continues playing around with the mana in the surroundings, he feels that there are some movements near him, causing him to stop this little exercise of his for now as he opens his eyes, in front of him standing are two blonde beauties currently looking at him with curiosity filling their eyes. "Seems like you¡¯re awake now¡­" looking at this savior and friend who just seemed to come out from a sleeping state, Alea said with a cheeky smile on her beautiful face as she reached her hand out towards him, clearly inviting him to stand up from his seat and come with her. "Indeed, thanks to you disturbing my meditation" seeing the smile on the elven princess¡¯ face, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but retort as he accepted her invitation, holding her hand with his as he stood up from the seat, their previous state of him having to look up a little bit in order to see them eye to eye now completely reversing as they need to look up quite a lot in order to look at him eye to eye now. "¡­w-well, seeing that you seem to have no one to go around the campus with, h-how about this princess grant you the honor of having the opportunity to accompany us for now?" remembering the things that she and her cousin talk about regarding this very young man, the elven princess couldn¡¯t help but stutter her words as she invited awkwardly, her current state appearing even more pitiful than when he first met her somehow, making him wonder just what is it that is currently occupying this lady¡¯s mind. "I would love to, princess, but I do have a roommate I can join with, there¡¯s no need for such an undeserved honor" the emperor-like young man replied with a teasing smile on his face as he turned around and waved goodbye, causing the elven princess to pout as she grabs the sleeves of his uniform in order to stop him. "Fine, I¡¯ll give you something as compensation for doing that to you, you happy now?" remembering how greedy treasure this young man is, the elven princess couldn¡¯t help but sigh in annoyance as she conceded, giving him what he clearly wants for using him as her shield against courtship from other young men. "Pleasure doing business with you" Chapter 76: Troubles "Glad doing business with you" Diluc said with a smile on his face as he takes the lead and goes in front of these two ladies, whom then followed him as they go out of the Primaria Auditorium. "Alea, you know, I kind of see now why you see him as a friend" Alfia said as she scans the emperor-like young man¡¯s figure from head to toe before she directs her attention towards the elven princess once again, scanning this cousin of hers similar to the way she just did to the young man. "What reason?" as even she herself is wondering why she just couldn¡¯t help but feel quite comfortable when talking to the guy, Alea asks her cousin who might know of the reason she is seeking, only for her to feel disappointed as the answer that comes out of her mouth isn¡¯t the one she is quite expecting. "Both of you are shameless people deep inside~~" Alfia said as she rans away from any possible threat that might come from the elven princess, catching up to the young man who also seems to pique her interest, from just the average curiosity from when her cousin is telling her about him to the itching curiosity she has now. The reason for that newfound curiosity? It is the fact that she is someone who, for some reason, unidentifiable whether it is physiological or not, is able to smell all sorts of mysteries and secrets in the air, and among all people that she encountered ever since she had her self-conscious, this guy is notably the one who hides the most number, if not the largest of secrets. ¡¯Which makes it all the more interesting~~¡¯ she thought to herself as she starts getting along with the emperor-like young man as well, oftentimes joining in on the conversation between him and her cousin as they walk along the path towards one of the largest squares within the academy. While the academy does have quite a few students, numbering just some few tens short of a thousand, the buildings within it seems to be catered for a lot of people though, the fact that there are all sorts of shops within the square making studying here all the more interesting of an experience. ¡¯This is quite the overkill, isn¡¯t it?¡¯ Diluc thought to himself as he saw that most of those stalls doesn¡¯t even have a single person as their customer, but despite all that, the owners of this stalls seem all too happy to be there nevertheless, something that made the young man wonder quite a bit but not too much that he wants to find out the reason of. While they are roaming around, they couldn¡¯t help but attract the gaze of some people, especially since the two walking with him is crowned as people who are among, if not the two most beautiful ladies within the freshmen students, a title that not even the two elven beauties in question, Alea and Alfia, is not aware they have. "Those are quite the gaze, isn¡¯t it, Diluc?" walking faster so that she can walk with the emperor-like young man side by side, Alea said with a smile on her face that made the stares from the young men to Diluc all the sharper, as if they are killing weapons that might had already stabbed him to death should stares can kill. "You¡¯re not even a bit guilty, aren¡¯t you?" seeing the smile on the elven princess¡¯ face, Diluc merely shakes his head as he smiles helplessly at her, not even a bit annoyed at her antics given that since she already paid him for doing this kind of things, then he see no reason not to continue with this so long as she will continue to pay. "This is a fair trade Diluc, remember~~" Alea said with a victorious smile on her face as she moves forward and turns around to reveal said smile to him, her cousin, who is just standing right beside them smiling as well since she never saw this elven princess act like that in front of someone else other than their family. "Is it really?" as he smiles back at her, he couldn¡¯t help but retort as he saw some students walking towards their direction, their trajectory something that is about to meet with them should they continue walking on their paths. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Alea, looks like we can finally see if this friend of yours is really as you described him to be~~" Alfia remarked as she looks at the people approaching them with excitement apparent in her eyes, as if she¡¯s longing to watch the fight, her expression something that causes the conventional image that Diluc made of the elven race to start crumbling apart. "Hey, you two are members of the student council, shouldn¡¯t you be doing something to stop this from happening?" seeing the jealousy and envy from the young men¡¯s eyes, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but feel like this is going to be a lot of trouble for him, causing him to ask such things towards the two ladies. "Well, the instructions to us said that as long as the students engaging in a fight is under a duel sanctioned by the academy, then there will be no reason for us to intervene" Alea said displaying a similar smile of that her cousin, making the young man feel that these two are going to be the greatest troublemaker of his life within the academy. "Sanctioned duels are that right? the thing where the points issued by the academy is on the line?" Diluc asks just to confirm as he already read of that from the student¡¯s handbook, a duel where the involved participants are the ones who will decide the format of the fight, and the only thing really banned within this fight is crippling or outright killing your opponent, meaning that anything goes so long as both sides will agree to it. "Yep, and since we¡¯re all first years, you can¡¯t really deny it if they really want to duke it out with you because of that rule¡­" Alfia interjected as she stares at the group of freshmen who are already taking the badge off their uniforms, confirming her assumption of them about to ask this emperor-like young man to a duel. "You cannot deny a duel against someone within a certain range of points close to yours so long as you don¡¯t have any valid reason to turn it down right?" Diluc asks as he sighs in defeat, but somehow, the competitive spirit in him is also rising up as he also wants to compare himself against the other geniuses chosen by the academy. "Right, and with that in note, I hope that you can be careful when fighting with them~" Alea reminded as she, along with her cousin, Alfia, decided to take a step back pushing him to the front as he meets with the young men just walking towards them previously, him and the one leading this group staring at each other face to face, with Diluc needing to gaze down while the young man of the other group looks up just for the two of them to see each other¡¯s gaze. Chapter 77: Be Confident Standing in front of Diluc, the leader of this group of freshmen couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit overwhelmed with his size, standing more than just a head taller than him with a build that made his relatively good physique pale in comparison as well. Should they come to know just how different this emperor-like young man¡¯s physique is from back them, they wouldn¡¯t even believe that this person and how he looks like in the past is the same young man, but not knowing this fact gives them the benefit of doubting this level of change. However, what they do not doubt is the fact that not to mention all of them, even just their leader alone can deal with this young man as he¡¯s a mage two levels higher than their target, not to mention the two-star mana level that he is so proud of, one that stands out among peers the same age as him. Having this in mind, he eyes Diluc with a proud look on his face as he uttered words from his mouth, his tone that of someone who seems to be speaking to someone beneath his status, as if he¡¯s speaking to someone who should even treat this encounter between them as an opportunity. "You¡¯re Diluc Leonhart, right? I am Reginald Van Noir, son of©¤" already managing to look into his identity just a few minutes after the orientation ends, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but feel like this young man¡¯s background is something far more than her previously assumed, however, given that the young man doesn¡¯t seem to approach him with a good intention, he see no reason to back out from his annoyingly pompous acts. "Say your piece without any bullshit please, we¡¯re all trying to make the most of our time here" Diluc said without even waiting for the young man to finish, knowing that he¡¯s one of those people who takes pride in bragging about their noble house or anything else, something that he deduced from the words that comes out from his mouth last. Already feeling quite angry because of how Diluc cuts his words, the young man feels like he should really teach this guy some lesson, but he decided not to act immediately in fear of being seen as someone barbarous by the two ladies standing behind the tall young man in front of him. "Ahem, you might think that I am done with my introduction, so let me repeat myself, I am Reginald Van Noir, son of©¤" before he could finish his words again though, the emperor-like young man decided to interrupt his words again. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. In Diluc¡¯s defense, the obnoxious tone that this young man is currently using is something oh so unbearable to him, something that just make him want to bash the face of this proud young man but decides not to given that he will definitely be the one who¡¯s going to be blamed for this should he do so. "Come on now, don¡¯t waste our time, just say what you want to say and stop with the son of this son of that matters" Diluc added as he flashes a taunting smile to the young man, who clearly doesn¡¯t want to give up with what he is doing. "Again, I am the son of©¤" "Son of a bitch!! I already said that you should say your piece directly and not take all these unnecessary detours, what the hell are you? A fair lady about to confess love to the man she admires? Please don¡¯t do that, I¡¯m not into that kind of things¡­" seeing that he clearly has no intention of stopping his introduction midway, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but explode in irritation as he looks at this young man, even him feeling surprised that he erupted that way given how used he is to controlling himself. [Most likely reason: the feeling of your time being wasted instead of being used to some kind of more purposeful things like practice and cultivation] Knowing that he is wondering why he is feeling like this, the Dragon Herding System prompted up and reveals its floating gray screen on his eyes, causing Diluc to nod in his mind as he also agrees with the reason that the Dragon Herding System proposes. "You¡­" seeing that Diluc doesn¡¯t have any intention of letting him finish, the young man couldn¡¯t help but feel more and more angry the more this guy who he thinks of as someone puny stops him from finishing his words, his last straw snapping the third time that the young man interrupted his introduction. "Haahh¡­ I am the son of this son of that, then you you you after not being able to tell me who your daddy is, how the hell did you even managed to deceive that old guard in the entrance into believing that you¡¯re a good character?" Diluc said with his expression clearly that of a lamenting one, making the young man in front of him offended enough that he throws the badge in his hands towards his face. "You think you can just talk like that and not face consequences huh? I, Reginald Van Noir, officially challenges Diluc Leonhart into a sanctioned duel!!" the young man, Reginald, said with an expression of wrath apparent on his face as his seething anger causes him to grind his teeth while looking at the vey source of his anger itself, Diluc, who is currently showing a relief smile on his face as if he just saw someone did something really good. "Finally!! Was it so hard to just say that instead of all the roundabout?" easily catching Reginald¡¯s badge and dispelling whatever small spell it is that he imbued upon them, Diluc replies with a smile on his face as he hands the badge back to its owner, who seems to imitate him as his face, still filled with quite the rage yet already calming done now, tries its best to show an unbothered expression as he catches his badge as well. Which is most likely not a good idea for him, given how Diluc infuses the badge with fire elemental mana while it is in his hand, heating it up just enough to make the one currently holding it to feel surprised out of his mind. And that is exactly what happens, the pain from being scalded by the badge he held something that made his teeth grit even more, but he refuses to just throw it away out of his consideration for his own reputation. "I¡¯ll see you in the Orion Arena" Reginald said with a trace of cruelty lacing his tone as he looks at Diluc with a taunting gaze, before turning around and leading his group towards what the emperor-like young man assumes as the direction towards the Orion Arena. "I¡¯m sorry, this might be our fault¡­" seeing what just proceeds, both of the two elven beauties said at the same time as they look down on the ground, thinking that this already escalated out of their expectations. "Please, be confident, ladies, don¡¯t say ¡¯this might be our fault¡¯ admit that it truly is" hearing their words along with the regretful tone in it, Diluc said with a smile on his face that made the two of them quite stunned. Chapter 78: The Top Two "Please, be confident, ladies, don¡¯t say ¡¯this might be our fault¡¯ admit that it truly is" hearing their words along with the regretful tone in them, Diluc said with a smile in his face that made the two of them quite stunned. "You¡¯re really quite the interesting guy, aren¡¯t you? Perhaps that¡¯s the reason why my cousin here is interested in y©¤" unable to bear the words coming out from her cousin¡¯s mouth, Alea finally decided that it was time for herself to shut this talkative mouth of hers, the elven princess¡¯ hands surrounding the poor elven beauty¡¯s mouth and preventing nothing but incorrigible groaning to sound out of her as she starts talking to her sole male friend. "Diluc, how about we go to the Orion Arena now?" still holding her own cousin¡¯s mouth and preventing her from leaking any more information that might possibly embarrass her in front of the emperor-like young man, the elven princess said with a rushed tone in her voice as she already starts dragging her cousin along with her, causing the young man, Diluc, to look at the in wonder why is it that they are acting like that. "Why the hell are you even covering the poor elf¡¯s mouth like that¡¯s going to prevent me from knowing what is it that she wants to say?" seeing the panicked look on Alea¡¯s face, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but add some fuel to the already burning fire, causing Alfia¡¯s eyes to glow in approval as she looks at him with one of her hands raised in a thumbs up for him. As she heard the young man¡¯s voice, Alea¡¯s arms starts feeling quite weak from the embarrassment about to rush to her head, causing her to bring up her hands to shoulder level and start fanning her face with them as if it is going to serve some help regarding the crisis that she is currently having. Looking at the expression of her cousin, someone who had grown together with her since the two of them were infants, Alfia couldn¡¯t help but reveal an entertained smile as rarely can she see such expression coming out of this lady¡¯s face, the events in which such fortuitous happening occurring along with it being something that she witnesses being so rare that she might be able to count all of them with a single hand. "You¡¯re really smart, Diluc, I approve" moving towards the emperor-like young man with proud strides, this elven beauty said with a smile on her face as she stood in front of him face to face, only now realizing the difference between their heights as she had to tilt her head up quite a bit in order to properly look at his face at this distance. After saying her piece, she once again nodded while acting like some sort of elder to him, something that both of them treated as a joke prompting both of them to laugh quite a bit from it, the only one not really having the time to laugh with them being the elven princess who seems to still mind the things that her cousin reveals. "I suppose I should be honored having the approval of a direct descendant of a duchess of the Elven Kingdom" Diluc said with a smile on his face before he returned the act, curtly bowing at her and causing the elven beauty to snicker, this time, even Alea herself finds this action of his quite entertaining and making her giggle as well. "You should be!! After all, these two ladies will be the first and second place among the freshmen!!" Alfia declares with such certainty in her voice causing it to be quite loud, enough for the other freshmen roaming around to her bold declaration. As much as those students who heard it want to compete with their claims as well though, they know that they are not quite up to par when comparing themselves with these two, as they know that at the very least, they have the qualification to say so since they are chosen to be the leader representing the freshmen in the student council. Hearing those words, however, someone is confident enough that these two shouldn¡¯t be too sure with their claims, given the existence of someone logic-defying within their year, that someone being him. Another person seems to share the same thoughts as him as well, this person being the elven princess who declares herself as the one who will claim the first place on the second part of the entrance exams, however, standing in front of this young man and recalling what he is capable of, she doubts that previous claim of hers will come true unless he intentionally wants to yield the first place to them. "I won¡¯t be so sure about that¡­." She said with a weak voice and a helpless smile on her face before she directed her gaze away from her cousin and towards the emperor-like young man who was also currently staring at her, seemingly noticing the way she was looking at him and understanding her though for her to come with such words as well, making him wonder just how much does him being able to tread both the paths of magic and martial arts affected her. As Diluc thinks about all these sorts of things, he can¡¯t help but wonder whether there will be other people similar to him who tread both the martial and magic path, yet the reply he got from the Dragon Herding System made him feel quite a bit disappointed given that he¡¯s quite raring for a good fight to test himself once again. [There¡¯s a low probability of encountering other genius similar to the individual named Aria once again, after all, it takes either impossibly immense talent or a draconic bloodline in order to create such a genius, and both are something that is really rare to find] ¡¯It¡¯s useless to think about it then, I should probably think of ways to hold a spar with the principal since she¡¯s the only one who I can learn from the most¡­¡¯ thinking of this absurd thought, Diluc nods to himself since he feels like there really is no other choice if he wants to improve his combat power even further as right now, he feels like he has yet to manifest the complete potential of both having a martial art and magic cultivation, and the only one he knows that is both treading the same path and is ahead of him being that violent principal. Recalling how volatile of a lady she is though, even Diluc, in all his braveness, couldn¡¯t help but feel like this is definitely going to be something that is life-threatening, causing a shiver to run down his spine as he thinks of just what sort of abominable things he might experience if this plan of him works. Shoving those things at the back of his mind, he eventually forgets about all of them given that he is still entertained talking with these two elven beauties, the gaze landing on him something that he is already getting used to as they encounter more and more freshmen students who seem to be moving towards the same direction as them now. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 79: Cheating? "Diluc, bear in mind that this is only going to get worse from this point, we¡¯re quite sorry for doing this, but you¡¯re the only man that I can trust¡­" Alea said apologetically as the three of them entered the Orion Arena, the gathering of the students here was composed entirely of freshmen who seemed to go out of their way and postpone their plans just to watch this spectacle about to happen. "Nah, don¡¯t mind it, the payment is great so there¡¯s no problem¡­" he replies without even a hint of doubt or hesitation in his voice causing the two to feel quite relieved, thanking him even more in his mind as this is a considerable favor to them for him to ward off any nuisance that might just waste their time and possibly even harm them should they not respond properly with their confessions of ¡¯love¡¯. Quite frankly, they, especially Alea who was already saved by him once, feel really guilty for pushing Diluc into this kind of situation, however, just like she said previously, he is the only male friend she has who can help with this, and to be fair, this is also a good reason for her to improve her relationship with him. With that ulterior motive in mind, she decided to find some better rewards and treasures for him next time, seeing that he seemed to be way too greedy for good things that even she didn¡¯t know the uses of, as if there was some sort of benefits that he acquires for getting this kind of things, not knowing that this speculation of hers is already as close as it can get to the truth. Should Diluc find out about the things that she is planning, especially the increase in rewards, he will definitely smile like silly in celebration of him having a greater source of stable income that he can use in order to develop the Draconic Realm further and further. Meanwhile, the very young man that is the content of this elven princess¡¯ thought is thinking of exactly the Draconic Realm currently, already laying out plans that he can use in order to enter the realm without any problem, one among them the missions pasted within the main square of the academy, something that allows them to leave the academy grounds even beyond the weekends so long as they can complete these missions within the deadline. ¡¯Other than that, there¡¯s really no other way¡­ besides, I read in the handbook that the only freshmen who are allowed to take missions are those of the Primaria Class, all the more reason to get some good score in the second part of the entrance exam at the very least¡­¡¯ the young man thought to himself as he finally comes out and the light of the sun shines upon his face once again, the radiating heat not even affecting him in the slightest, not even getting his attention. Something that does succeed in getting his attention though is the group of young men currently standing right in the middle of the Orion Arena, seemingly waiting for him with an impatient expression on their faces. Standing along with these young men, a group of six people with the one called Reginald standing at the very front of them, are huge beasts that appear with majestic form, the ones right beside the one leading them being a Twin-Headed Great Lion famed for its ferocity and unparalleled might even among the contracted beast of the same level, said beast rumored to be able to reach even the seventh realm, demonstrating terrifying might with the combination of both earth and fire elemental mana in its arsenal. The other beasts don¡¯t seem to be too far off when compared to the Twin-Headed Mountain Lion, of course, that is only in terms of sheer size alone, as for their might, it has yet to be determined whether they or the lion-like beast is the better. From behind the lion, the five other beasts are of different forms and shapes, one among them a massive scorpion about the size of a carriage, beside it are two primates that seem to share the same look with each other, the only identifier of the two being the scars on their faces, one bearing a scar on its right eye while one bearing a scar on its left, and finally, there are two flying beasts that seems to boast quite the high mobility, one among them a very familiar type of beast to Diluc, the Soaring Steel Eagle. Seeing this hulking mass of metallic arrogance standing just right behind the Twin-headed Great Lion, the emperor-like young man couldn¡¯t help but smile weirdly as he recalled the things he had suffered at the hand of a similar creature, but seeing that this one appeared to be quite smaller and weaker than the one he fought against, he wondered whether it is even worth feeling troubled against such opponent. Not shying on the provocative look in Reginald¡¯s eyes, Diluc walks leisurely to the middle of the Orion Arena as well, standing face to face with this group¡¯s leader, who needs to look up considerably to meet his eyes. ¡¯When I win this duel, I will definitely make you kneel and pay for making me look up to you time and time again!¡¯ he bears maliciously on his mind as he smiles with such confidence towards the emperor-like young man, thinking that the victory is already theirs, especially since he manages to find something that he can exploit to teach this young man a lesson. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I thought it was a duel that you want, Mr. My father is, what the hell are these contracted beasts doing in the arena?" Diluc asked with suspicion already forming within his face as started using his affinity with all sorts of mana in order to scan the surroundings, using the same concept as the life scan that he learned from Yggdrasil, the scan only lasting for a while before he found another familiar figure from the crowd watching this event. "You never specified the conditions of the duel, so I go ahead and wrote it myself, and I passed it to a qualified personnel¡­" the other young man said with a smug expression on his face as if he had already outdone the young man in front of them, said young man merely smiling as he looks at this group of freshmen student before he starts exploding into a burst of amused laughter that confuses not only the audiences but also his supposed opponents. "One versus five, and those five even with contracted beasts huh¡­ given that the staffs can only sanction a duel under fair conditions, I doubt that the one you submitted this application is someone loyal to the academy¡­" Diluc declared with a loud voice that made other freshmen think that he is merely losing himself due to the sheer pressure of the duel he need to go in, however, the young man himself didn¡¯t seem to be bothered at all as he pointed towards someone out of the arena, towards an amiable looking lady that is dressed as a staff of the academy. "The moment I saw how you acted when you found out my name, I knew there¡¯s something nasty about you, woman, now I know the reason for that" Chapter 80: Start of the ’Duel’ "The moment I saw how you act when you found out my name, I know there¡¯s something nasty about you, woman, now I know the reason for that" Still pointing his finger towards the female staff that also serves as the one who guides him to registration of his identity to the academy, Diluc said with a smile on his face a smile that appears more of a mockery rather than the normally positive smile on his face. Without even letting this staff say anything else, he then looks towards this group of young men clearly asking him to jump into his demise given the current rule of the duel they both agree with, one among the rules saying that the party that this Reginald is on can have as much people as he wants in it. "I initially thought that you¡¯re targeting me because of Alea and Alfia, but seeing your reactions, I see that this is not the reason now¡­" the emperor-like young man said all while retaining the same smile on his face, now looking down on the noble young man standing right in front of him, said young man feeling like the one standing in front of him is even bigger now. "¡­ You¡­ no, not you, you¡¯re not a single bit worthy of that, is it your parents? Your father or your mother? Well, given how you act, I guess it¡¯s both¡­" after saying his piece, Diluc gradually steps backwards and backwards, not due to anything close to fearing fighting against this group of young men clearly raring to go now as well, instead, he is taking a step back to the position where the duel often starts, standing a few dozens of meters away from his opponent. "Doesn¡¯t matter either way, after I¡¯m done with all of you, I should be able to send some message to your child-like pricks for parents" the emperor-like young man smiles as he declares, his voice loud enough that it resounds all across the Orion Arena, his intent being interpreted by the audience, as well as his opponent as an attempt to provoke them, particularly the nobles. "Fufufuf¡­. Hahahah¡­ look at this guy, acting all tough like that, what the hell are you even talking about huh? Are you too scared that you¡¯re speaking gibberish now?" as he points it out, Reginald invokes the laughter of the young men just behind him, along with the majority of the male freshmen audience who appears to be clearly against Diluc as well, given how much attention he got from those two elven beauties that appears to be the greatest ones within their year. "Oh, I see, if you¡¯re too dumb that you don¡¯t even know what I am talking about, then I see no reason to worry about your strength¡­ at most, I bet you¡¯re all just some sort of forgotten child within your households¡­." Diluc retorted with a mocking expression on his face, feeling like he couldn¡¯t wait any longer to pummel these young men to the ground, something that he is really certain of achieving even without the help of Yggdrasil and the others. ¡¯This is also a good chance to scare those people who thinks they can just bother me like this¡­¡¯ the emperor-like young man thought to himself, all while also wondering why is it that most, if not all of the freshmen are not familiar with his previous performance despite his astonishing result during the first part of the academy¡¯s entrance exam. If only he knew that Aria herself personally moves to make sure that not a single thing about his achievements will leak to someone since she wants to hog all these great talent to herself to teach and nurture, even going as far as using a high level non-elemental spell in order to make the students temporarily forget about his results in the entrance exam, Diluc wouldn¡¯t even know whether he will feel angry or not towards her. This is due to the fact that on one side, this is a good thing since he can still hide his strength against his enemies for a longer time, and on the other side, he had to deal with all these arrogant young masters and ladies who isn¡¯t aware of what he is capable of. ¡¯Just the fire element should be alone to ward off these useless things, there¡¯s no need to show my trump card in the public¡¯ he added to himself as another staff moves towards the arena, the impartial eyes of this staff something that is completely different from the eyes of that receptionist lady that he saw on the audience, this staff, a man who seems to be on his early thirties, brimming with fairness all across his body. "Alright, children, according to the basic rules that all duels must adhere to, no killing, no severe injuries that might lead to crippling of the opponent, and not a single non-compliance to the rules agreed upon by both parties, anyone observed to not obey these basic rules shall be deemed unworthy of the duel, making their opponent the one who wins the match, and quite possibly sentencing the offender according what the Law Enforcement of the academy will decide" The staff said with a neutral tone before looking at both parties, his gaze earning a nod of confirmation from them, expressing their understanding and agreement of the rules, something that he doubt those young masters ganging up on the poor lad will completely abide. ¡¯I don¡¯t really need a permanent damage, just enough to incapacitate him for tomorrow¡¯s entrance exam will be enough to cause a lot of indirect loss to him¡¯ thinking that he can cripple the supplies of cultivation resources of the emperor-like young man if he manages to prevent him from entering the Primaria class, Reginald thought with quite the pride on his plan, thinking that this is a surefire way to teach this young man a lesson just as his father instructed. "You¡¯re going to know the gap between a real noble and a fallen noble like you" the noble young man said with a prideful, borderline arrogant look on his face as he points his finger towards Diluc who seems to be still completely unperturbed by the things currently happening in front of him, as if he¡¯s not even a single bit concerned at the fact that he¡¯s about to face five talented young men the same age as him in a battle, not to mention all of them possessing terrifying contracted beast that is more than likely specifically prepared to them by their clan or family or whatever force they¡¯re in. "Funny how grown men can brag about how much their parents support them" as he heard of the words coming out of this noble young man¡¯s mouth, he thought that these are all he needs to confirm that even if part of the reason why this group decided to target him right now is because of the two elven beauties who seem to be the pearls of the freshmen, the primary reason for these events is something instigated by their elders, probably people who fought against his parents before their fall. After shoving the thoughts to the back of his mind, Diluc merely replies as he goes into a stance, his feet spread apart by quite some distance making his height a bit lower, but still more than enough to overshadow his opponents, the words coming out from his mouth invoking three different expressions from the ones who manages to hear it. One among those expressions being one of laughter, seemingly agreeing to his words and not taking any offence on it, acting as if this is something said out of a joke, and as a joke, they find it quite amusing enough to garner their genuine laughter despite the fear of offending this emperor-like young man¡¯s opponents. While the other part of the audience clearly felt hit by that quite a lot, however, they are still somehow still self-aware given that they still feel shame in doing so, causing their faces to be one of embarrassment averting and roaming their gazes all around the arena as if they are some children who just saw the outside world for the first time in their entire life. The last group of people is where Diluc¡¯s opponents belongs to, people who got offended by his words considerably much that they just turn red with their eyes sternly looking at him as if he¡¯s dead meat any second now, some from the audience who got offended by his words even shouting crass words towards him thinking that he can¡¯t do anything either way since he¡¯s in the middle of a ¡¯duel¡¯ right now. "You will regret those words¡­." Reginald said as he tries his best to hold the anger down his throat, his finger already shaking as it remains pointed towards the emperor-like young man. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "We¡¯ll see" the emperor-like young man, Diluc, said with the same mocking smile on his face as he disappears from his current spot. Chapter 81: Aria Watching Given that there is a massive number advantage between the two parties involved in this sanctioned duel, the audience themselves starts thinking that this is a hopeless case for Diluc, said audience including even the two elven ladies who are currently watching the proceedings of this event with quite some worry on their eyes, thinking that this is partially their fault. This line of thought is also the very same one that is currently running through his opponent¡¯s mind: a group of young men smiling as if this victory is already guaranteed for them, and all they need to do is make it so that this young man in front of them experiences the worst kind of defeat ever imaginable. Meanwhile, Diluc himself wasn¡¯t even concerned in the slightest regarding this matchup among them, especially since he could hardly see these young men as his opponents despite the similarity of their age, quite possibly the only thing that they shared similarities with. ¡¯That my father guy is the strongest among them, and he¡¯s only a Red Core mage?¡¯ observing his opponents, Diluc notices the gap in power between him and this group of nobles who are currently trying to pick a fight with him, the level of their strength making him wonder just where is it that they get the guts to face him without any worry. Thinking that their confidence comes from their contracted beast, Diluc then found out that at the best-case scenario, that being the Twin-Headed Great Lion is only a level higher than its contractor, standing at the Early Muscle Conditioning level, still paling in comparison with his own level, and the rest of the contracted beasts stands at the same level as their contractor, meaning that they do not even reach the second realm yet. ¡¯I¡¯ll play with your schemes for now¡­ since they gave me such a warm welcome entering the capital, let¡¯s give them a great gift for this¡¯ Diluc thought to himself with a malicious smile on his face as he slowed down from his movements, movements that are untraceable to his opponents¡¯ eyes, making them feel like they might have encountered a monster that they shouldn¡¯t offend. However, since the die is already cast, they reminded themselves that they should show him the might of people like them, a great opportunity to also show off their strength as well. "Go on!! Attack!! I doubt he can do that again!!" as he saw the figure of Diluc appearing in his sight once again, Reginald then started willing the mana around his body to bend according to his wants, the sudden surge of magic coming out from his body snapping his group out of their daze, some of them already following through his instruction as they start invoking magic as well, while the rest of them, contracted beasts and humans, charges through in an attempt to physically lock Diluc down. "Is that it? Direct charge? Not even a single plan?" thinking that these young men appear to be too simplistic on their approach, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but mutter to himself as he stops his movements from previously, bending his knees a bit as one of his feet takes a step in front of him, the arms of the same side as said foot exploding from being chambered as it extends towards the front with a fist right at the end of it. "Burn¡­" In order to keep his fa?ade up, Diluc then wills the mana within his surroundings to create a decorative magic circle just to hide the fact that he can cast his magic without it, thinking that it will be too detrimental for other people to find out, especially when it is at public display like this, all while hoping that no single powerful person passes through this place and find out. Such hope is all for naught already though as three ladies are already secretly watching him among the crowd, two of them appearing extremely identical to each other had it not been for their beast-like feature being of a polar different in color, one of them, the sterner looking one, having black cat ears and tails, while the cooler and warmer looking one having white cat-like features. "What a calculation monster¡­" looking at the emperor-like young man who creates a considerably complicated magic circle within just a matter of moments, the white-eared beast kin lady said with surprise in her eyes, thinking that out of all the people she met, no one among all of them can perform such feat when they are of the same age as Diluc. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "For him to create such magic circle within that time frame¡­ just what sort of mind does he has?" also thinking about the display of Diluc, the other beast kin lady mutters to herself with confusion apparent on her attractive face. Looking at these two ladies who are her friends and subordinates who had worked for her the longest time, possibly more than half of her entire life, the last among the ladies, a white-haired horned beauty, smiles at their remarks and opts not to tell something that only she knows out of the fear of them getting too shocked in a short moment of time. ¡¯As expected, only dragon tongue users can recognize other dragon tongue users¡­¡¯ as she thought of her fight against Diluc within the fourth trial of the entrance exam, the white-haired beauty of a principal of this academy, Aria Frostborn, thought to herself with a trace of curiosity in her tone as the next lines floats in her mind, making her more and more intrigued of this young man¡¯s identity. ¡¯Something is really weird with him though¡­ he¡¯s not a dragon so how?¡¯ while wondering about this, she couldn¡¯t help but also nod at the mask that he created in order to deceive the masses about the property of his magic, the magic circle doing precisely what the magic he is casting is supposed to do, a massive amount of fire elemental mana already condensing at the front of his fist, the amount getting larger and larger as time goes by, making her wonder whether he wants to kill the opponents on front of him. Seeing the calm look on his face though, she highly doubts that he will do such thing, and given the things that she read when she performed a background check on him, she thinks that this young man is way too smart for him to make such an obvious mistake. ¡¯I highly doubt that great Lucius Leonhart¡¯s son will be someone like that, not to mention his mother is a terrifying figure as well despite her low noble status¡­¡¯ thinking of those two people whom she also shared some time with, since they share the same sentiments, Aria thinks to assure herself as she remembers the times that he shared to this self-proclaimed aunt and uncle in the battlefield, their fierce might something that still often makes her wonder just how is it that they fall under the schemes of those people within the higher circle in the capital. ¡¯Just what sort of things are you hiding, young man?¡¯ and now, while looking at the offspring left behind by those two, this violent principal couldn¡¯t help but anticipate the things that would happen to him in the future, almost like an elder sister waiting for her younger brother to create a mess that she most likely than not, will fix. Chapter 82: Anticlimactic Conclusion Meanwhile, back in the arena, Diluc merely smiles as three beasts and two young men gradually reach the range of his magic, the look on his face that of someone who feels a bit of pity towards an opponent about to be blown quite a distance away. "Explode" Seeing that the fastest among them, Reginald¡¯s contracted beast, the Twin-headed Mountain Lion, about to reach his place, Diluc mutters as the magic circle in front of his extended fist starts collapsing on itself, seemingly being absorbed by the magic as well as it got compressed by the ball of fire elemental mana until it can no longer be seen. After the magic circle completely collapses, a thunderous explosion erupted from the arena, the massive amount of fire elemental mana compressed within such small space making it so that the explosion generated blows not only the towering Mountain Lion, but everyone behind it as well, sweeping even the mages behind them still trying their best to complete the magic they are previously casting as they maintain the magic circle processing the mana in the air. With the wave of explosion flooding the entire Orion Arena, even the audience felt the tremor despite the protective barrier erected the moment that the duel started, making them wonder just what sort of things the participants of this duel experienced within the barrier, overriding even the curiosity of how the emperor-like young man perform such feat in their mind. As they wait for the dust to settle, even Aria herself felt like she is not capable of doing such a thing even if she was given the same talent as him in terms of mana quality, making her more and more interested in just how this young man comes up with all sorts of ridiculous methods to control mana. ¡¯His imagination is really great, and along with the dragon tongue, he can practically create all sorts of magic never seen before¡­¡¯ she thought to herself, still thinking that he was also using the same type of magic as her, something that is really valid given that there¡¯s already virtually nothing that can rival dragon tongue in terms of its efficiency and power, not only in terms of magic spells but also martial arts techniques. Somewhere away from them, the two elven beauties¡¯ worry is still directed towards the emperor-like young man, however, the reason for that is no longer the opponents that he has, instead, they are now more worried since the spell he casts appears to be something that might affect even him, and given just how much punch it packs, they are concerned whether he can come out of it unscathed. With the thoughts of all the observers hanging on the edge as they wait for the dust to settle, Diluc, still obscured by all the mess he created by that explosion, realizes one mistake that he made with this already done duel, and that is the fact that he feels quite angry that he forgot to control himself, showing such speed that is practically impossible for a mage. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ¡¯I should cover it with this¡­¡¯ as he thought of this issue, there is a good thing that comes into his mind, and that is the fact that he merely moves in a predictable path when he speeds up previously, something that he can cover up with another elemental mana that he has. After outweighing the pros and cons of revealing either he has a multi-elemental affinity or he is someone who treads the twin path of power as he heard it from other people, Diluc decided that it would be so much better to do the former since it is not so rare as the latter option. ¡¯It can only make me more exceptional, not a subject of terror for my enemies here, at the very least¡¯ he added in his mind as he waved his hands, a light green glow appearing right above him as obscure sigils and signs made purely of mana starts forming itself around a circle, before generating a gust of wind that completely blows away the entirety of the dust covering the entire arena. After seeing what just happened, all of the audience felt speechless, and that is despite the fact that they do not really know a single thing about this monster who just easily dispatched one of the greatest geniuses within the nobles of the Flammenherz Kingdom, of course, this title is something only applicable to all freshmen since the higher years before them are people of completely different league compared to them. Standing all alone in the middle of the arena is someone that these freshmen never expected, Diluc, with is uniform appearing to not even sustain a single damage on them, his towering figure starting to appear more like a towering mountain that they need to surpass, making most of the freshmen realize that there are truly a lot of geniuses within the world. ¡¯Dual elemental mage!¡¯ as they witnessed the light green glow coming out of the magic circle that this emperor-like young man conjured, a signature appearance of all sorts of wind elemental magic, the people couldn¡¯t help but get more surprised as the young man seems to be more talented than they initially thought. As these people feel surprised by this, two ladies, to be exact, the princess of the Elven Kingdom and the principal of the academy, couldn¡¯t help but feel even more astonished than anyone else especially since they know of the fact that the young man is a martial artist as well, and compounded with the fact that he¡¯s also someone who possesses dual elemental affinity, he¡¯s just getting more and more monstrous, as well as mysterious in their eyes. Now doubting whether this is the bottom of his abilities, these two ladies are starting to think of ways for them to uncover the things that he is possibly hiding, unaware of the fact that this little curiosity of theirs will bring them towards a spiral of adventure that will broaden their horizon to a degree that they couldn¡¯t even begin to imagine as they are now. Meanwhile, the group of young nobles who got caught in the explosion of the simple method of compressing mana to the limits, are already knocked unconscious, their bodies, despite sustaining some superficial yet still obvious damage, including the fact that nearly all of their exposed hairs got burnt into crisp, doesn¡¯t really receive that serious of a damage given the protection of the uniform¡¯s enchantment, something that Diluc takes advantage of as well to come out without even a single damage to himself. "That should deter your elders for quite some time, shouldn¡¯t it?" looking at the group of young men now being carried in a cocoon conjured by wind elemental mana by the staff of the academy, Diluc said with a smile on his face as he looks at the direction of the female receptionist that is still watching the match, smiling mockingly at her as if taunting her to go down as well, and yet, there¡¯s nothing that she can do given the difference of identity between the two of them, the fact that academy staffs cannot attack a student without valid reason still deeply etched in her mind. Chapter 83: Threat From the Horizon "H-how¡­" "T-this should be a dream, right?" "Dual elemental¡­" Looking at the result of the sanctioned duel that just takes place, the audiences, nearly all of them being freshmen of the academy, watches the arena with a confused look on their faces as they just saw someone who single handedly dealt with the one of the most famous group within the freshmen, and the fact that he incapacitated them to the point that they might not be able to participate in tomorrow¡¯s entrance exam just made the result all the more absurd to them. Meanwhile, among those audience are two elven beauties who are currently looking towards each other with surprise apparent in their eyes, the fact that Diluc manages to win within that short period of time also coming out as a surprise to them, especially since the two of them are already starting to think of ways to get him out of the sanctioned duel back when he is still ¡¯fighting¡¯ with Reginald and his group/ S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Just a bit far away from them, Aria, along with the beast kin twins, Aeonia and Aeolia, also looks quite baffled by the proceeding event, the white-haired horned beauty really fascinated with the process of the emperor-like young man using his magic in such a way. "I thought that using that kind of force as someone who is barely an adult is already something to be amazed, but seeing how he controls the output of that spell¡­" looking at Diluc with fascination in her eyes, the beast kin beauty, Aeonia, said with a hint of curiosity in her tone, most likely wondering just how is it that the emperor-like young man manages to achieve such feat. "He¡¯s a magic calculation monster as well." the beast kin beauty¡¯s twin sister, Aeolia, completes for her as she also looks towards the young man that she tested within the third trial herself, this fact making it all the more apparent to her just how impressive this young man is. "Forget about his practical magic skills, those moves¡­" without even finishing her words, the principal herself reminded, causing these two aides to realize the significance of his battle awareness as well, a testament to its impressiveness being the fact that not a single one among his opponent sustains a major, detrimental injuries that might affect them in the future, only wounds and damages that will incapacitate them for a short period of time, just as he intended. ¡¯It¡¯s not something that can be achieved through practice alone¡­¡¯ the three ladies thought to themselves as they discover that this young man is veiled with more and more illusion than they previously thought, making them really curious towards him now as well. While unaware of the things happening in the background, Diluc himself already starts moving towards the exit of the Orion Arena, looking at the audience and seeing both the successor of the elven duchy along with her cousin, the elven princess, both of them looking at him as if they are seeing a ghost for the first time in their life, making him smile wryly as this is the exact same expression that he thought the will have. "Enjoyed the show?" seeing that they are still pretty stunned to speak, the emperor-like young man said as he gets closer to their current location, his powerful voice bypassing the noise coming from the loud conversation of the audience of the match, reaching their ears and snapping them out of their unfocused gaze. Nodding towards his question, the two of them wordlessly got out of their current seat and move towards his location, the listless expression on their gorgeous faces something that made the freshmen, mostly the men, all the more hostile towards the emperor-like young man, their sharp gazes something that made him feel quite annoyed that he sighs. After doing so, massive amount of both fire elemental and wind elemental mana starts surging in the air all the way towards him as if mana itself is excited to answer to his every call, showcasing just how much authority he has over it and scaring the other freshmen out of their wits. After seeing that he already achieved his desired effects, said effect being scaring the other freshmen so that they will not even think of bothering him, the emperor-like young man smiles again as he walks out of the place, the two elven beauties already waiting for him right at the exit. "Just what the hell did you do out there?" also feeling that massive amount of mana surging within the atmosphere just previously, the cheeky elven beauty, Alfia, asked with the majority of the curiosity apparent in her tone, her action showing even more so of that as she leans in while looking towards him eye to eye, almost as if she is saying that she won¡¯t let him go anywhere else as long as he is not giving her an answer. Seeing the looks in her face, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but shake his head with a wry smile on his face as he urges the wind elemental mana in the air to move her away from her place, this young beauty countering whatever it is that he did as she conjures a glowing green magic circle, a color bearing semblance to the color of the wind elemental spell that Diluc is using. As she does so, she manages to prevent herself from moving according to what Diluc wants, her wind elemental spell dispersing the moving spell that the emperor-like young man put on her, making her smile as she thought that it is already the best that this young man can do. What she failed to notice though is the fact that Diluc himself is already past her blocking once she dispels the magic circle he created, his nonchalant attitude to doing so making her feel all the more frustrated, prompting her to pout her cute little mouth before she starts moving toward the direction that this young man is moving to as well, the three of them walking without a single care in the world no matter what sort of gazes they receives from the people that they encounter along the way. Of course, the only one who is a subject of negative, even more like threatening gazes, is Diluc himself, and there¡¯s nothing but adoration and favor that the two elven beauties are receiving through the gaze of the people who saw them. After a few more time of roaming around the open ground of the academy and doing whatever it is that the want, the trio finally decided to call it a day as the sun already starts to set, the two elven beauties separating from the emperor-like young man, all three of them already going to their dormitory. Entering inside his, Diluc notices that his roommate is still not there, something that he doesn¡¯t really find all to concerning yet since it¡¯s just the start of dusk, meaning that there are still plenty of time before the dormitory starts its curfew, that probably being enough time for the timid mannered Michael to get back here as well. With this, the first day of the freshmen of the Flammenherz Academy officially ends, with some of them being occupied with all sorts of things, trainings, reading, talking and bonding, and some even entertaining themselves, while some of them already starts resting for the arduous exams that they will undergo through tomorrow. ---------- Within the border between the neighboring kingdoms spanning dozens of lands, a tall, attractive and charismatic beauty watches over the rising night within the horizons with a serious look of consideration visible on her gorgeous face, the fact that she held the reigns of her horse quite tightly compared than usual a sign that whatever it is that she is watching, it is something that she doesn¡¯t like and would rather not see. As she peers into the horizon, with the black fog spreading from where the sun falls, she couldn¡¯t help but reveal a disturbed expression on her face since her eyes witnesses a terrifying phenomenon that will make even powerful, experienced cultivator feel disturbed as well. The scene in front of her, who is currently in front of thousand, if not ten thousand strong cavalry units, is something straight out of things that they read from tragic records and history of the world, something that brings only plague and calamity upon its wake. Within that dark fog, numerous twitching creatures reveals their silhouette every time that a mysterious flash of bright light appears in the heart of this fog, the silhouette they are seeing something that made the weaker soldiers to puke on the spot, seeing the dark pustules, rotting, even shedding flesh, as well as the repugnant smell of the army of the undead single mindedly marching all the way towards their position, destroying everything that obstructs their path by either trampling or devouring the obstruction. "Archers, prepare!!!" seeing this, the tall beauty said with such fierceness in her voice that it knocks out the fear from her soldier¡¯s hearts. Chapter 84: An Alternative Way "Archers, fire at will¡­ rain those abominations with hell¡­" looking towards the approaching enemies within the horizons, the tall beauty said with the same serious look on her beautiful face, all while drawing her favored weapon, a blood-colored saber with edge gleaming with the brightness given to it by its surroundings, from its sheath, and pointing it towards the opponents. Hearing the command of the lady in front of them, the cavalry starts letting the arrows within their bows go, sending the projectile hundreds of meters in the air in an unpracticed unison, these arrows appearing to be anything but normal as they also start gleaming with peculiar light the moment that they gained far enough distance from the soldiers. "Enchantment-type mages, prepare multiple layer of enchantment type magic circles for the arrows to pass through, I want at least fortification spells, piercing, explosion, as well as velocity enhancement spells within those arrows, I expect tearing apart the front line of these rotten army with just the first rain of arrows on them!!!" With unwavering conviction as well as unrivalled charisma ringing along with her words, the lady creates a completely undisturbed army within the ranks of nervous young men and women previously, making them battle ready within just a matter of seconds with just her words alone. Once those that she mentioned last finishes their incantation, multiple magic circles, massive ones that spans dozens, if not hundreds of meters in its radius, forms within the skies, to be exact, forms in a position that appears to be where the arrows will pass through moments later. And pass through those peculiar magic circles the arrows go, during this time causing the arrow to be coated with multiple kinds of mana that seems to serve different purposes, purposes that will be revealed within just a few more moments as the arrows starts coming down on the ground, near the army of undead charging towards the soldiers¡¯ location. As soon as it comes into contact with anything but air, the arrows merely stay there for some fractions of a second before all hell starts breaking loose, the explosions creating a beautiful chain as more and more arrows lands from the skies above down to the earth below, igniting all that it is that comes into contact with them as those arrows takes anything within a certain range back to whatever after life that there is. Looking towards the wondrous effects of the military might that she created for herself, through herself alone, the lady leading this defense reveals a faint smile on her beautiful face, nodding her head a bit as she watches majority of the undead charging towards this place falls once they come out of the burning flames created with the explosion of their previous arrows. However, as much as she would like to believe that this event is already done, she knows that this defense is all but over, and the signs of that being the increasing silhouette of the undead passing through the sea of flames they previously created, almost as if these undead just continues on doing something until they succeed on it, no matter how stupid their methods can be. Looking at the numerous undead already passing through this first line of defense, one among the soldiers, another lady who appears to be of the same age as the one leading this army, closes in on the leader before she whispers towards her ears. "Lady Beatrice, those corpse are already advancing again, and the soldiers¡­ the enchantment type mages are already tired with just that one spell alone¡­" Looking at the lady waiting for her words, the leader of this defense, the first princess of the Flammenherz Kingdom herself, Alisha Beatrice Imoeria, starts speaking with a smile on her face as the ambient mana in the surrounding starts swirly around her awe inspiring figure. "They I should probably buy them some time, shouldn¡¯t I?" she said with a smile on her gorgeous face before the mana starts turning into something more real, manifesting into something that made the soldiers near her shiver in sheer terror. Coiling around the princess¡¯ body are slithering length of crimson colored cracking lightning, dancing around her figure happily as if these strands of completely lethal, violent and chaotic power is something that is completely happy to listen to all of her commands. And listening to her command they do as they gather around the curved saber with color completely fitting the lightning as well, making the crimson glow of the saber more eerie due to the lightning, eerie not in an uncanny way but rather eerie due to how much power is radiating out of this¡­ piece of metal imbued with elemental mana. "Mn¡­ good enough I guess¡­" scanning her saber for a while, the princess mutters to herself before her attention returns towards the undead legion once again, this time swinging her beloved weapon in full force, creating a wave of lighting rushing towards the enemies with unchallenged might that chars all that blocks the way in front of it. ---------- Meanwhile, out of Diluc¡¯s expectation, his longest time friend, and someone whom he truly treats as a sister despite her constant unpredictable nature, is currently fighting for the sake of not only their kingdom, but also the lands adjacent to it, a thing that the emperor-like young man not really expects from this sister of his given how she usually acts within the tavern owned by the old Arthur. Currently, this young man who is still quite unaware of the most powerful backing that he has in the form of his Big Sis Bea, is lying down on his bed after a long day of work, the young man who shares a room with him still not resting properly as he continues to read through a lot of things on top of his study desk. "Quite the industrious one, aren¡¯t you?" looking at the frail-looking young man¡¯s figure still persevering with his study, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but commend as he gives a thumbs up, the fact that this young noble is willing to put such effort to his studies something that he rarely sees not only in the noble community, but within the commoners as well. Hearing his roommate¡¯s words, Michael couldn¡¯t help but sigh for a bit as he replies with a helpless voice, almost as if she¡¯s just putting the hard work for this due to something that he wants rather than studying. "I have to, since I don¡¯t really have a choice¡­ If I want my opinions to matter, then at the very least, I should put some more effort compared to others, right?" the frail-looking young man replies with a hint of pride appearing on his effeminate face, the beaming smile making the emperor-like young man think that he is really soft all the more. "Yeah yeah, the one with the bigger fist always wins" Diluc replies with a reminiscing smile on his face as he recalls the things that Old Arthur will usually teach him back when he was still a child, and this particular line was etched on his mind given that the middle-aged man, along with the regulars of the tavern are people who firmly believes in these words. "That¡¯s¡­ a violent depiction, but really clever and completely explains the things I wanted to say" the frail-looking young man replies with a surprised expression on his face, a face clearly telling that he never expected such a remark from the young man already lying comfortably in the bed. "I¡¯ll take it as a compliment" the emperor-like young man replies with a smile on his face as he turns around and start really falling into sleep, the faint smile on his face never disappearing as if he is just waiting for great days to follow this one. Seeing that his roommate has already fallen asleep, the frail-looking young man observes him for a while just so that he can confirm that he really does fall asleep already, only stopping himself from doing so after a few more minutes of waiting and observing, allowing him to sigh in relief as if there¡¯s something that he can¡¯t say in front of the emperor-like young man. Contrary to anyone¡¯s expectations though, Michael didn¡¯t do anything to Diluc, merely looking at his direction for a few moments before he returns to reading his books, immersing himself within the realms depicted by those materials, along with all sorts of information that he can extract from them. Meanwhile, Diluc himself, who had already fallen asleep, enters within his own mind within just a few minutes of drifting into the dreamland, arriving into a completely blank, dark space with only him and his body being the only thing he can see or sense, making him wonder just why is it that he is dreaming of something like this. Just when he start thinking that this might really be a dream, he heard a familiar voice in his mind, something that he is already way too familiar with for him to mistake it for someone else. [Detected your circumstances of not being able to enter the Draconic Realm within this place. Now creating an alternative method in order for you to continue your duties and missions as the Ruler of the Draconic Realm] S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 85: A Way to Enter the Draconic Realm [Detected your circumstances of not being able to enter the Draconic Realm within this place. Now creating an alternative method in order for you to continue your duties and missions as the Ruler of the Draconic Realm] [Creating an alternative entry¡­ 10%... 14%... 27%... 48%... 60%... 78%... 92%... 100%... an alternative way for you to enter the Draconic Realm is now created] [New skill, Wandering Dream is created] [Wandering Dream (Active)] [Description: Manifest the user of this skill within a place of their choosing whenever their main body falls into a state of sleep while still allowing their main body to completely rest without any consequences despite them being active in the body they manifested themselves on] After reading the simple description appearing on the floating gray screen the emperor-like young man is then sucked in by a powerful force all the way through a place that has already been a familiar home to him, the smell of the grass within the entire fields with only fruit orchard and a massive tree on it making him feel more relaxed than ever before. Looking around and seeing the three familiar floating islands within the vicinity of the Draconic Realm¡¯s main island, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but smile as he detects multiple energy signature of the draconic beauties that are all too familiar to him, the emotions being relayed to him due to their bond through the draconic blessings making the young man fully aware of how excited the three of them are. From one of the floating islands, brimming with glowing metallic natural structures, mountainous spires that shoots through the heavens, a figure of a lady, around the same age as him, appears, the taciturn expression on her beautiful face something that is definitely more than just attention seeking to anyone who saw her. Another one of the ladies, one who comes from a floating island filled with verdant greeneries, foliage and massive trees reveals an apparent smile on her beguiling face, her womanly, mature appearance causing Diluc himself to smile towards her as she gets closer and closer to his current position, her speed appearing to be increasing more and more as time passes. The last of them, a fiery beauty who seems to be take quite the pride on herself, appears within the last floating island that serves as a place of rest to them a floating island filled with the viscous, flowing magma spewing out of the top of the volcanic mountains covering the entire place, her glowing, flame red eyes making it clear to anyone that saw it just how much she looks forward to the time she¡¯s meeting with her liege once again. "My Liege~~~" S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Liege¡­" "Dear Liege!!" As the three draconic beauties descends from the skies down to the earth, all of them simultaneously greeted as they dashed towards Diluc himself, the three of them not even wasting time with superficial show of respect such as kneeling in front of him, instead opting to directly rush towards his current position and pounce his body with all their might. Despite the difference in strength when comparing their liege and themselves, the draconic beauties still manage to overwhelm him as they pounce on him, easily making it so that he falls all the way down to the ground as the three of them remains on top of him, not allowing him to move even a single bit as they imprison him within their interlocked bodies. Feeling the soft, supple sensation enveloping his entire body with the beauties currently lying on top of him, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but think that this place is definitely heaven, as he cannot think of any other place where such a thing is possible, especially since these ladies are geniuses that goes beyond anything that he could ever imagine, of course, that is before he encounters and acquired the Dragon Herding System. Closing his eyes for a while as he truly thinks that he deserves something like this every once in a while, the emperor-like young man decides to pause with his trainings for a while in order to pay more attention to these beauties whom had attended to his every wills ever since they are born. ¡¯Ygg...¡¯ as he continues being smothered within the sexy bodies of the three beauties, the emperor-like young man decides to move his hands towards certain parts of the ladies¡¯ bodies, specifically, their heads. With the fiery beauty, along with her older, taciturn beauty both being on each of his arms, Diluc doesn¡¯t really finds patting their heads a hard work, being able to move his hands all the way from their back towards their heads in no time at all, making the two feel warm from his gesture, causing the two, Argenta and Seraphina, to look at him, their beloved liege, with smile on their faces as they relish on him rubbing their heads for them. Meanwhile, the lady lying right on top of his chest, the one who had known him for the longest among all of the three, is experiencing something not paling in comparison, if not even better than the two other draconic beauties are currently experiencing, her expression currently that of a blissful one as she enjoys the sensation of her beloved man¡¯s lips on her forehead. While the three are currently absorbed with the warmth that the emperor-like young man is currently making them feel, the young man himself seems to be enjoying this interaction between the four of them as well, his mind clearly sighing in relief that he can still go inside the Draconic Realm without having to worry with anyone powerful enough within the academy catching him doing so. As the four of them continues indulging in the sensation of being all too close together, the Dragon Herding System pops out with a prompt all of a sudden, a prompt that made the emperor-like young man feel all too surprised. [The dragon (Yggdrasil) is currently starting to enter the aroused state¡­ given that the individual is still in the adolescent stage, it is recommended that you refrain doing something irreversible for now, since taking a dragon¡¯s primordial essence is something that is beneficial to both the party giving and taking it, and the effects of this will be greatest once the individual reaches the adult stage of a draconic creature¡¯s life cycle] [The dragon (Argenta) is currently starting to enter the aroused state¡­ given that the individual is still in the adolescent stage, it is recommended that you refrain doing something irreversible for now, since taking a dragon¡¯s primordial essence is something that is beneficial to both the party giving and taking it, and the effects of this will be greatest once the individual reaches the adult stage of a draconic creature¡¯s life cycle] [The dragon (Seraphina) is currently starting to enter the aroused state¡­] [Given that it is the first time that these individuals feel this way, as well as the fact that you, the ruler of the Draconic Realm, is the reason for it, it is imperative that you show your capabilities as the ruler of the Draconic Realm and satisfy them without crossing the final line for now.] [Due to these unforeseen circumstances, you are being granted a reward from the Dragon Herding System. Reward: Additional Mission Slot] [Detected that you acquired a new slot to add pending missions, due to this slot being free of the moment, a mission is being generated according to the current situation] [New mission issued] [Satisfy the Ladies] [Description: As the ruler of the Draconic Realm, you are also responsible with the propagation of the dragon race, and a capable ruler not only fulfill this duty, but also satisfies the subject under them. Satisfy and make the three ladies return to normal state in order to complete the mission] [Reward: Each lady satisfied will award you with 5,000 Realm Gold] Reading the numerous notification message appearing right in front of his eyes, the emperor-like young man feels like this is about to become far more complicated than what he initially though, his confidence on completing this mission not too great given that this is the first time he is about to do things like this, but being the person he is, he decided to move first and continuously improve himself along the way since he also can¡¯t let the draconic beauties in his arm continue acting like this. On top of him, the three ladies, Yggdrasil, Argenta and Seraphina, are already rubbing themselves repeatedly on his body, all while simultaneously taking in the scent coming out of his body, their antsy action signifying that whatever it is that they are currently feeling, they can just barely hold their consciousness intact as they go through it all. Seeing them acting like that, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but wryly smile just for a moment before he decided that it is about time that he resolves the issues of these three draconic beauties, his hands moving away from Argenta and Seraphina and directing it towards the first dragon he ever has. Chapter 86: Yggdrasil’s Fresh Experience (R-18) "Mnn~~~" feeling the hands of her beloved liege going towards her face, the mature, neon green-haired beauty couldn¡¯t help but let out a weird noise from her mouth as she felt the warm sensation spreading across her body, her heart, already beating fast from the moment that she saw her beloved liege after more than a day of separation, starts beating even faster than before. Meanwhile, seeing their eldest sister being handled by their liege, the two other draconic beauties merely observe with such curiosity in their eyes, knowing that at the very least, they shouldn¡¯t really interfere with this moment as they thought that this is something special even to this carefree and unfettered sister of theirs. A speculation of them that is proven to be true given that all the things that the mature beauty can think of right now is the fact that her relation with her beloved liege, her husband, seems to be increasing to a whole different stage now than what it used to be, the excitement in her blood causing her to be unable to hold herself any longer. With her eyes glowing with the desire to feel more and more intimate with the emperor-like young man in front of her, this wood dragoness immediately moves her hands, previously on his body, all the way towards his extremely attractive, masculine face, the chiseled outline of the shape of his face making him appear even more appealing to her eyes. As she continues holding him, her pristine, gorgeous face that holds a hard red blush to it starts inching towards his own, making him completely aware of what she is thinking of doing, this action of hers making him shake his head as a helpless smile appears on his face. Not really complaining about this though, the emperor-like young man also leans in in order for her to reach his face with hers, their lips eventually reaching just a few millimeters between each until even this small gap eventually got closed in by the impatient Yggdrasil. "Mnn~~~" feeling the lips of her beloved man, her heart starts beating even harder than before, and even with the fact that this is not the first time that they are doing things like this, it is indeed the first time that she feels such intense sensation like this with a kiss with him. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Eventually finding her offenses a bit lacking compared to her liege¡¯s she starts subconsciously opening her little mouth, allowing a warm, slippery object to invade inside her, the sensation of this object roaming inside her mouth causing shivers to run down her spine. Meanwhile, the owner of the object entering the neon green-haired mature beauty, the emperor-like young man, is also feeling really good with the tongue on tongue currently going on between the two of them, his feelings for this beauty whom had been with him practically ever since he managed to acquire the Dragon Herding System seemingly going on a different level as flashes of their moments together starts running across his mind, a thing that is also happening within the mature beauty¡¯s mind. While they are seeing images of themselves spending time with each other, their bodies do the job for them as they continue playing around with their tongues inside her damp, warm mouth, her breathing starting to get harder as she starts feeling more and more ecstatic from the exchange, until she eventually cannot handle the pleasure anymore. "Ahhhnn~~~" as she continues to enjoy the sensation, she felt her beloved liege¡¯s hands moving towards the curvier parts of her already aroused, sensitive body, the feeling of pleasure from him touching her on those spots making her break the kiss as she lets out a slightly loud moan from her cute mouth, an uncharacteristic thing about her given that she is used to speaking gently and demurely even when she is taking her time teasing the hell out of her beloved. Now that this lewd noise comes out of her mouth though, he couldn¡¯t help but reveal a victorious smile on his face as if he discovers something that he can use against her once again, his mind already racing about ways on how to capitalized on this sensitivity during this session between them. It doesn¡¯t even take all that long for him to think of ways to advance his attacks towards her, causing his smile to change into a teasing one as he starts kneading the bunch of soft, feminine flesh currently resting on his hands, one of his hands on her behinds, gently massaging her big, bubbly butt attaching her curvy, mature waist and the thicc heavenly thighs of hers, making her rub her sexy thighs on each other as anticipation grows more and more on her. Meanwhile, Diluc¡¯s other hand is currently laid on her bountiful, gelatinous breast, the sensation of softness surrounding his entire hand making the young man feel like this is the most marvelous thing that he had ever encountered in his entire life, her softness and malleability allowing him to play with her breast as much as he wants. "Ahhnn~~~ husband~~~" feeling like the strength is starting to drain out of her already weak body, the draconic beauty then moans even more as she calls out to him, all while her soft, womanly body starts leaning on his muscular one, her dainty hands barely holding on, threatening to slip away from the grip it currently has on his shoulders. The young man, hearing the response from the draconic beauty, continues to knead her milky white globes with such attention to her reaction that it made her feel only pleasure while he continues massaging her nether regions already starting to spurt out her lewd love juices, wetting her attire as it flows down all the way from her inner thighs to her knees. As they continue on this, with her letting him touch wherever he wants and him enjoying the sensation of her soft body on his hands as much as can, the two of them eventually stares at each other, seeing that there¡¯s nothing but passion and desire to be intimate with each other on both of their eyes, making both of them think that even this is no longer enough, with the emperor-like young man making the first move to do something about this. Slipping his hands within the neck of her clothes, Diluc manages to reach towards Yggdrasil¡¯s bare breast without any problem, the sensation becoming even better now as he starts feeling the cool sensation of her soft, pristine and perfect skin that glows under the sun, her pale, yet still healthy complexion making her chest feel even smoother than it already do, making the young man think that her breast is completely made of marshmallows. Feeling this, Yggdrasil also notices the excitement within her body increasing ever so slightly every moment, this increase being exponential in nature making her unable to think of anything else as her vision starts to focus below her, specifically on her body. Not only is she feeling the dominant, yet ever so attentive and gentle advances on her own sensitive breast that made her body feel all hot and tingly, but she is also currently feeling another advancing hand right underneath her massive behinds, her crack being spread apart by the muscular arms that allows the large hand to reach all the way down her sensitive slit, making her panic even more as she realizes what is currently happening right now. "H-husband¡­ please not there~~~" with this neon green-haired mature beauty feeling her beloved¡¯s hand on her most sacred parts, she couldn¡¯t help but feel a mix of emotion, both of panic and excitement as he starts moving his fingers on the outside of her flaps, excitement from the fact that their relationship is finally moving beyond just affirmation of feelings towards a more physical one, and the panic from the fact that she doesn¡¯t really want him to feel her sacred garden in the current state it is. However, it is already too late for her to stop him as he already feels the wetness spreading towards his hand, making him well aware of how aroused she is right now. Seeing the expression on her face however, the young man choses not to tease her with this for now as he knows how thinned-skin she is beneath that teasing, cheeky veil of hers, opting just to make her feel more and more comfortable to his touch so that he can make her feel even better than what she is feeling right now. On the other hand, Yggdrasil is getting more and more desperate as she feels his fingers continuing its havoc-wreaking behavior on her lower mouth, the dexterous movements of his fingers so good that it starts making her sensitive insides produce more and more love juice in order to accommodate his threatening advances, which in turn makes her even more embarrassed as she wets her beloved man¡¯s hands even more. "H-husband¡­ P-please slow down~~~" Chapter 87: Yggdrasil’s Climax (R-18) "H-husband¡­ P-please slow down~~~" As she ends up being more embarrassed than aroused with her beloved¡¯s hands laying waste on her most private parts, Yggdrasil couldn¡¯t help but struggle and push him away as she never wanted him to see such an unpresentable side to her, thinking that her current appearance might invoke an unpleasant feeling from him. Contrary to her thoughts though, the emperor-like young man is rather more and more enjoying this intimate exchange between the two of them as he witnesses this draconic beauty shows more and more expression that he would rarely see from her, even seeing emotions that he never saw from her peerlessly gorgeous face up until now. After drawing a few more circles on her already sensitive flaps, she finally manages to struggle away somehow as she collapses on his body while removing her hands from his shoulders, using the now free hands to hold her beloved liege¡¯s hand from moving on her sensitive lower mouth, even going as far as to sandwich said hand between her soft, heavenly thighs just in case he even manages to escape from her hands tightly holding on him. Seeing the actions from the neon green-haired mature beauty, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but look at her with an amused glow on his gaze, making her feel really shy as she locks gaze with him, her mind wallowing in demise as she realizes that even though she had all those inherited memories and experiences from when she enters the adolescent stage, there¡¯s still nothing more comparable to experiencing the real thing herself. ¡¯I¡­ I need to recover first~~~¡¯ she thought to herself as she continues being fingered by the man she loves, the fact that she is already holding his hand down with her own dainty hands and her think, marshmallow-like thighs not even preventing his finger from drawing circles on her drenched pink lewd slit. "Mnn~~~ Ahhhhnnn~~~~ H-husband~~~ Argenta and¡­ mmm~~~ Seraphina too~~~!!!" as she points towards her sisters who seems to be too entranced on what is being done to her by their liege, Yggdrasil continues to moan helplessly with her voice almost as if she is already begging him to stop attacking her and go target the other two draconic beauties currently watching their show, just so that she can rest for a while from this tiring pleasure-filled game of theirs. The young man however, hearing this, did nothing as he continues holding her in his arms, the supple skin coupled with the near boneless sensation every time he applies even just a bit of pressure on her flesh something that really fascinates him, the fact that this beauty standing right in front of him and helplessly drooling with his advances making him feel some doubt whether she is truly a member of the draconic race or not, of course, had it not been for the fact that he knows it himself really well and beyond a single doubt. Hence why he refuses to let go of the very lady who seems to signify the start of his good luck, as from the moment that she hatches from her egg and transforms into this lady in front of him, everything seems to be going better for him compared to the times that he is merely doing his best in order to barely survive, times where he couldn¡¯t even dream of entering this academy with such flying colors that made him the center of attention to the greatest person within the entire premise of the place, the principal of the academy, Aria Frostborn. Feeling like he doesn¡¯t make her feel good enough yet, the emperor-like young man then continues moving his fingers for a while, already thinking of granting her request to let her rest for now but not before he made her helpless enough that she can only sit still and rest while he deals with the two other aroused draconic beauties, with their consciousness seemingly just barely holding back their desire to pounce towards him with their unbridled longing, as well as lust for him. Thinking that there¡¯s no time to relish on the feeling of Yggdrasil¡¯s most private part for now, the emperor-like young man then proceeds to intensify the assault on the draconic beauty¡¯s pink slit, making her moan even louder than before as she felt like she¡¯s going to let out something even with just his fingers drawing circles around her slit, moving around the thick flap of meaty flesh with his fingers as he do so, making it all the more difficult for her to resist his advances. "Ahhh~~~ Ahhh~~~ Ahhh~~~!" "Mnnn~~~~ AHhhnnn~~~!!" "Hyaaa~~~~!? My liege~~~ Husband~~~~" "Mnnn~~~~ I love you~~~~" Now no longer resisting his advances, she finally gives in and just allow him to do whatever it is that he wants, merely waiting for her release from this heavenly pleasure as she feels like her waters is reaching closer and closer towards her exit, filling up her insides the more her beloved stimulates her sacred garden with his movements. Finally, the sweet softness of this pink, sensitive lower lips can no longer hold itself back, and going along with Diluc¡¯s hand still pleasuring her to the best of his ability, she starts moving her hips following the back and forth movements of his fingers, this motion only lasting for a while as she finally had her dam broken by his advances, causing an entire puddle of lewd love juice to spill out of her lower parts all the way to the ground. Feeling this sensation, the beauty didn¡¯t even manage to let out another moan as she just cracked a high pitched tone before she starts wetting herself along with the hand that is previously on her most sensitive, womanly part, said hand now being observed by its owner as thick, sticky fluid completely sticks onto it, making him wonder just how much more love juice this beloved lady of his have inside her. Of course, he couldn¡¯t really find it out right now as he doesn¡¯t want to push her any further than her current state, the fact that her consciousness is still not returning to her body probably something that protects her from being broken by the pleasure her entire body is currently feeling, a sort of pleasure with effects that are clearly visible on her sexy body. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Her voluptuous curves, unrivaled and peerless among all the ladies that Diluc has seen so far, is currently shaking and shivering in sheer bliss, almost as if it had met a release that it is longing for so much, the fact alone that her body is still standing up despite all the pleasure rushing all across her something that is truly remarkable as well. In addition to her body, her face is something of a mess as well, with her eyes rolled upwards and a silly smile appearing on her gorgeous face, making her appear more lewd than she already do, the fact that she is already sweating quite a bit with said sweat making her clothes stick to her skin not even helping a single bit on thinking something indecent about her. As he observes the current state of his beloved lady, Diluc then decided that she can no longer continue with them for now, and given that he is currently within the Draconic Realm, he decided to bring her on the place where she can recover from this current state of her the most, and that place is right on top of the True Dragon Nourishing Tree that is currently not incubating any sort of dragon egg. "I should probably find some time to get a mission once I entered the Primaria class¡­" thinking of ways that he can spend some good amount of time in order to incubate another set of draconic beings in order to further increase his talent and current level, the emperor-like young man mutters to himself as he carries the neon green-haired mature beauty all the way to the part of the tree where the branches diverge and spans all the way across a significant part of the realm¡¯s main island. After laying the still unconscious beauty within the middle of this place, the young man then heads towards the two other ladies who seems to be way too eagerly waiting for him to arrive, the burning desire on their eyes suddenly igniting once again the moment that they finally saw his tall figure standing just right in front of the two of them. Looking at these two draconic beauties once more as if to scan them, Diluc couldn¡¯t stop himself from smiling at them with such loving expression on his face, making the two feel like they are about to melt in joy, such feeling prompting them to send a similar smile back to their liege, the only existence that they respect and love. With hurried steps as they inched the distance between them and the young man, the two draconic ladies then jumps on him and pushes him to the ground once again, their eyes clearly saying that they are not going to let go unless he also made them reach the state that their eldest sister is currently in right now. Chapter 88: Argenta’s Turn (R-18) With hurried steps as they inched the distance between them and the young man, the two draconic ladies then jump on him and pushes him to the ground once again, their eyes clearly saying that they are not going to let go unless he also made them reach the state that their eldest sister is currently in right now. On his right, the fiery beauty that is Seraphina is clearly enjoying herself as she rubs her head along his chest, letting out satisfied exhales every now and then as she takes in the masculine smell coming out of his body. Meanwhile, on his left, the taciturn beauty is currently hugging him as tight as she can, her body, which is clearly similar to ladies of the same age as him, not even generating enough force to make him feel how tight she is currently hugging him, the only thing that she made him feel being the softness of the lady¡¯s body, her smooth skin being pressed on to his body creating a sensation of closeness not only to her but also to him. "Dear Liege¡­" "Liege¡­" Looking at him with pleading clearly visible upon their shining, gem-like eyes, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but smile to himself as he saw the expression upon the two draconic beauties¡¯ faces, their breathing already ragged despite him not really even doing anything to them, a clear sign of just how much they are waiting for their turn to come. Having already experienced calming a draconic lady down with his fingers alone, the emperor-like young man manages to gain some semblance of confidence in bringing these two remaining ladies into heavens with his beginner¡¯s techniques when it comes to this kind of things, not even aware that the thing he learned off the fly when he starts pleasuring the neon green-haired mature beauty is something that can hardly be achieved by a man with experience worth more than just triple or even more of his current age. After finally reaching the limits and thinking that they can¡¯t hold on any further, Argenta, as well as Seraphina, starts making their move on their dear liege once again, pulling their sexy bodies closer towards him with their fair arms circling all around his neck, making him feel the smooth and cool sensation of their milky white, flawless skin that is enough to make any woman, mortal or not, jealous of them. The second eldest among the three of them, the platinum-haired taciturn Argenta, is surprisingly the one who made the bold move first, pulling her head even closer than ever before towards Diluc, closing her eyes shyly as she, for the first time in her entire experience of expressing herself to this young man, her beloved liege, initiates the action herself as she connects her soft lips towards his without even a single trace of hesitation on her motion. Seeing that her second eldest sister has already taken the place she wants to be currently as well, the other young beauty, the fiery Seraphina, couldn¡¯t stop herself from pouting her mouth, revealing the complicated emotions inside her through her eyes as at the same time, she feels really envious of her being able to act like that, yet she also feels really happy for her for being able to act like that with their beloved liege. Having to settle for the second best thing, the fiery beauty then decided to move her arms away from the emperor-like young man¡¯s neck, part in order to prevent interfering with their intimate actions with each other, and part in order to move it towards her current target. Wrapping her feminine arms around his body, Seraphina nestled herself, particularly her head on his chest, enjoying the warmth as she rubs her face on his body, the beauty with the fiery red hair starts humming a joyful tone from her mouth while she waits for her actual turn to come. Meanwhile, the two who are currently locked in a heated battle among themselves are currently drowning in the deep ocean of passion engulfing them completely, the two of them already having their lips completely sealed shut with each other, not allowing a single thing within the surrounding to interrupt their moments of intimacy. While it is true that the emperor-like young man is fairly surprised of this taciturn beauty¡¯s sudden change in character deciding to launch the offensives for this exchange of theirs, what he couldn¡¯t believe even more is the current fact happening right now, a fact that made him wonder whether the Argenta that he had known this entire time is really this lady or not, with the only reason for him not doubting the authenticity of this platinum haired beauty being the fact that she is still clearly embarrassed and shy despite the audacity of her current course of actions. Just right in the place where both of their lips meet, Diluc¡¯s slippery eel, along with Argenta¡¯s cute pink tongue is currently engaged in a heated argument with no one seemingly winning between the two of them, each having each other pushing or pulling in a tangled tango between the two of them, their dance extending for a fairly long amount of time as they exchange their bodily fluid through the link between the two of them. "Mnnn~~~ Haaaa~~~~" finally feeling that she is starting to lose her breath, the taciturn beauty then decided to cut the kiss so much shorter than she wanted, causing her to feel a bit unsatisfied as well as making her raring to go for more with him, the haggard yet lewd moan coming out of her cute little mouth making him adore her even more. "Liege~~~" looking at him with a longing light clearly visible on her glowing eyes, Argenta said towards her beloved liege without any other words coming before or after it, but just this word alone is already more than enough to make the target of her word to understand what is it that she wants to convey. Hearing the words from the platinum haired beauty, Diluc then smiles towards her direction before one of his hands, the one free from the constraint of the heavenly feeling being given by Seraphina, moves towards the taciturn beauty¡¯s cheeks, gently stroking it and making her feel really comfortable by it, prompting her to close her eyes to enjoy the tactile sensation of this motion even more than she already does. "You want more?" seeing that Argenta appears to be a bit more composed than Yggdrasil¡¯s previous state, Diluc then asks with a doting smile on his face while he continues to stroke the taciturn beauty¡¯s face, the beauty responding by uttering a sound of agreement as she nods her head repeatedly after his question, a testament to just how excited she is with all the things that are currently happening. "Mn Mn~~~" she added at the end of her agreement as she opens her eyes once more, looking at him with a delighted light shining on her beautiful eyes ever so brightly, said light instantly disappearing within a few moments, not because of her feelings changing but rather because of the fact that she now has her eyes closed as she awaits her beloved liege¡¯s advances once again. There is no longer any need for words between the two of them, only touches and subtle glances are already more than enough to convey what they think to each other, a testament to that the fact that the moment he starts approaching with his face inching closer towards hers, she already starts having her eyes shut as she awaits the sensation of his lips on hers. And the expectation never disappoints as she starts feeling the warmth of his lips on her soft, shy lips, the fact that he is doing the advancing now placing her in a helpless, yet equally pleasurable sensation to what she felt from their previous tongue on tongue, and not so surprisingly to her, this one seems to be even greater than their previous kiss. Now having the battle between their tongues occurring on her lewd wet mouth, she couldn¡¯t help but have shivers running down her spine, her body squirming around as she struggles her hardest to keep herself from being even more embarrassed than she already does. "Mnn~~~!? mmm~~~!!!" contrary to how she expects to suppress the pleasurable feeling to a certain degree though, she got surprised as she felt his hand now receding away from her face and moving, advancing all the way down to her sexy body, from down her chest then to her navel, moving sidewards and pausing for a bit to her slim, willow waist, eventually ending on her perky, perfectly shaped butt that just seems to scream for someone to play with them. And play with them he did as he continues with the kiss, the relentless assault on the taciturn beauty making her all the more embarrassed as she squirms around, trying to escape from the lock that he beloved liege imprisons her in despite the fact that she is more than just aroused right now. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 89: A Lewd Argenta (R-18) And play with them he did as he continues with the kiss, the relentless assault on the taciturn beauty making her all the more embarrassed as she squirms around, trying to escape from the lock that he beloved liege imprisons her in despite the fact that she is more than just aroused right now. That being said, having nothing that she can do as she got locked in the arms of the young man that she oh so values, Argenta eventually decided to yield to his advances instead of acting like she is resisting away from it, finally allowing herself to enjoy the sensation of his hands firmly holding her body without any qualms in her heart, her body that seemingly completely giving in now squirming lesser and lesser until she eventually no longer even try S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Mnn~~~ haaaahnn~~~" while the two of them continues to have their moment together, the platinum haired taciturn beauty who already starts going with the flow begins to get even more aroused once again, the previously embarrased blush on her gorgeous face now turning into one filled with arousal and anticipation for what is about to come. Meanwhile, the emperor-like young man who has one of his hands currently holding onto her perky butt quite firmly while his other one moves towards her back, is currently enjoying their intimate contact as well, the fact that the platinum haired beauty¡¯s body feels even softer than marshmallow making him wonder just how can such powerful beings transform into what feels like oh so helpless beauties when they are in their humanoid form. That is the least of his concern now however as he puts all his focus into dealing with the two draconic beauties currently advancing on his body as much as they can while rubbing their womanly parts on his body, making him feel their soft, perfectly shaped curves that seems to stand out even with their loose dresses that helps in hiding their hourglass shaped figures. The struggle against the two of them feels all the harder to the young man, Diluc, as he feels the fiery beauty that is Seraphina starting to get even more bold than she already is, having her cool, dainty hands moving from underneath his shirt and moving all the way to his chest, gently circling her fingers around it as she continues with her head on his chest, listening to his every heart beat with a smile on her peerlessly beautiful face. While doing all of this, the beauty with the fiery red hair is also rubbing her sexy body all along her dear liege¡¯s body, her face that is red with an uncharacteristic embarrasment making her appear all the more appealing not only to the young man, but also to the taciturn beauty¡¯s eyes. Meanwhile, said taciturn beauty, after just taking a peek towards her youngest sister, already averts her attention back towards her beloved liege once again, closing her relatively large eyes in order to enjoy the sensation of her and his lips touching even more, their contact, along with his hands¡¯ movements making her let out muffled moans even more. As she enjoys the sensation of their lips touching each others, she also starts feeling hotter and hotter as the large, masculine hand currently gently kneading her behinds already starts picking up the pace, increasing the intensity to the point that she coudltn help but feel the pressure being perfectly applied upon her soft, perky flesh, making the slit just a little bit lower than her crack starts getting wetter and wetter as time goes by. Despite all this things happening on her nether regions though, the platinum haired taciturn beauty is not even aware of it even just by a shiver as she focuses on their entangled tongues right within her warm damp little mouth, the sensation of having her space conquered by her beloved liege making her feel more and more relaxed as time goes by. This unawareness of what is currently happening within the regions of her sacred garden doesn¡¯t last any longer though as the large hand previously on her back is now on her nether regions, and that is despite the fact that her body is still completely covered by her clothes. But being aware of it doesn¡¯t neccessarily mean that she isn¡¯t surprised the moment that she felt it along with his hand already moving around it, and the moment that it, she couldn¡¯t help but have her body jerk in pleasured shock as shivers starts running down her spine before spreading all across her body. "Mn~~~ Liege~~~" feeling like she couldn¡¯t hold herself back anymore, the platinum haired taciturn beauty broke the kiss between the two of them, looking at him with burning lust clearly etched on her glowing eyes her body clearly showing her intent without fail as her hands moves towards his face, cupping his face that looks so attractive in her eyes with both of her hands before she eventually let go, closing her eyes as her hands then moves to circle around his neck once again, before her head laid restingly on his shoulder. "You want more, Argenta?" looking at the beauty who is currently resting on his shoulder, along with the othe one, a fiery red haired beauty, currently listening to his heart beat without missing a single one of them, the emperor-like young man asks while he continues moving his hand on the taciturn beauty¡¯s nether region, said beauty seemingly completely excited with it as well given that she even goes as far as to move her hands all the way from his neck towards her lower torso. The reason for such movements being the fact that she wants to personally guide him towards the insides of her clothings as she felt like he is just teasing her more and more now, and she feels like she wants even more than just his hands touching over her clothes. WIth her hands reaching her beloved liege¡¯s arms, she immediately grabs onto it with both of her hands before she starts pulling him closer towards her womanly parts, making the emperor-like young man given how proactive she is in this intimate act of theirs despite her being the shy lady of the bunch of the three draconic beauties living with him. While he is truly surprised with that though, the young man still opts to just follow the flow as the platinum haired taciturn beauty let go of one of her hands holding him on his arms, using the now free hand to create a gap for his hand to enter within her lower clothes, finally making him feel the softness of her flesh as he grazed along the smooth, pinkish skin on her navel for a while, relishing on the feelings as his hand moves lower and lower in a continuously slowing pace. This slowing pace not only builds more anticipation not only to him, but also to her as well, her head already being filled with the thoughts of him finally reaching her most sensitive part with his large, thick hand, this fact making her already drooling wet pink slit spew out even more lewd juice from deep inside of her, making her clothing appear more and more stained as the trace of her wetness spreads from her plump crotch all the way down the lower parts of her sexy inner thighs, a sweet, lewd smell coming out of her body as he moves closer and closer towards her. And after what feels like eternity to the two of them, yet actually just a moment in time in all actuality, the emperor-like young man finally touches the plump, sensitive lower lips of the platinum haired taciturn beauty, making her shiver completely as the young man feels really fascinated by how equally great, yet extremely different the taciturn beauty and the mature beauty¡¯beauty¡¯s womanly parts feels, the platinum haired draconic beauty¡¯s parts feeling youthful filled with elasticity and bounces any force that comes contact into it, while the neon green haired beauty¡¯s womanly region like a vast sea that appears to just receive all the attacks that he sends to it without fail, sinking into its softness completely. After thinking of this fact for just a few moments, the emperor-like young man then decided that it is no time for comparison between Yggdrasil and Argenta, and decided to give her what she needs as he starts playing around with her glistening, closed flaps while observing her expression as he do so, another source of joy and entertainment to him given the unique expression of the beauty. Averting his gaze away from him, the platinum haired taciturn beauty repeatedly lets out lewd moans from her cute little mouth as she subconsciously moves her hips along with his movements, making her appear like she is lewdly dancing on top of him despite her body still being completely covered with her clothes, clearly enjoying this moments without any fail. Chapter 90: Dealing With Seraphina As Well (R-18) "Mnn~~~ liege~~~" while feeling shivers running all across her sensitive, slender body, the taciturn beauty moaned with passion before she shoves her sexy lips on her beloved liege¡¯s once again, her aroused moans turning into lewd muffled sound as her soft plump behinds continues being turned into all shapes and forms by him. "Nnn~~~ ahhnn~~~" on the other hand, the fiery beauty who still has to get the attention of their beloved can no longer hold herself back, the sensation of frustration making her rub her erect flower buds on the young man¡¯s solid body, all while she continues to take in his scent so greedily without rest. "Ahaann~~~ liege~~~ wait¡­ I-I¡¯m sensitive there~~~" while she allows him to roam around her perky butt, Argenta felt like Diluc¡¯s hands are going beyond her softness and through her cracks, moving even beyond that as he explores closer and closer to her drooling, naked slit as well the tension from his rugged large hands coming closer to her most private part causing her to squirm excitedly. "You¡¯re quite talkative today aren¡¯t you, Argenta?" looking at the pleading expression currently on the taciturn beauty¡¯s face, he then smiles at her while ignoring her words, letting his hand roam around the warmness of her soft flesh. "Ahhhnn~~~~ mmmm~~~~" despite his teasing, the taciturn beauty merely blushes shyly while still taking in the brunt of his, her beloved liege¡¯s. advances, her pink closed flaps shivering in anticipation as she can no longer hold herself back after all of his hand¡¯s teasing caresses barely reaching her most sensitive parts. Diluc knows just how much she wants it as well, hence the moment that he felt like she can no bear with the teasing, he decided to move forward until his hand eventually moves past her crack, reaching all the way to her drooling lower lips from behind her, the sensation of both his hands playing with her soft bare womanly flesh causing her to shiver in joy as she fails to immediately process what she is feeling right now. With all those stimulations having her beloved playing with her drenched sacred garden, Argenta starts slipping away from consciousness more and more as the fingers starts circling around her pink sensitive flesh, beginning to explore her outer folds as the fingers¡¯ movements spreads her pink, fat lower lips bit by bit. Meanwhile, enjoying this sensation is Diluc as well, clearly really fascinated with the taciturn beauty¡¯s sensitive insides twitching every time he tries to plunge his fingers even just a bit further than he currently is, insides that made her entire body twitch in definite pleasure every time he applies pressure on certain weak spots of hers, causing her to moan every time he moves his fingers on her shallow parts. With all the moaning from Argenta as well as Seraphina, the emperor-like young man finally notices just how much frustrated the fiery beauty is as well, causing him to smile helplessly as he pulls one of his hands away from the platinum-haired beauty¡¯s plump, spread flaps, causing it to close on his other hand once again as the hand currently freed from holding it is the very same one he is using to spread her fat pussy lips in place. The taciturn beauty doesn¡¯t seem to notice it as well as she just continues to close her eyes moaning while squirming every time he hits a sensitive spot of hers, the fleshy folds just beneath her drenched pink flaps being scraped by his large fingers causing her lewd juice to spill out of her lower mouth all over the ground more and more all while she feels like the water of her dam is already starting to fill itself up. With one of his hands pleasuring the taciturn beauty to the best of his abilities, Diluc then pays a bit more attention towards the fiery beauty currently rubbing herself against his body, moving his now free hand and starts guiding her movements, pulling her upwards until she eventually shares the space on his chest with her second sister. After he managed to pull Seraphina higher, about the same place as Argenta, Diluc then starts playing around with her sexy, womanly body as well, opting to target her clearly aroused, sensitive breasts with their flower buds already protruding clear enough for him to identify it even despite her clothes covering it completely. Wasting no time to enjoy the sensation of this fiery beauty¡¯s large, perky tits, Diluc then moves his hand from above her neck, wanting to touch her bare skin and play with it as much as he likes. Seraphina, noticing this, doesn¡¯t even fight his desires as she just lets him be, really wanting to experience his hand on her womanly parts as well, causing her to slightly push her chest out in an attempt to pull more of her liege¡¯s attention to her. "Ahhnn~~~! Ooohhh~~~!!!" after finally having his grasp reaching her sensitive breast, Seraphina immediately releases an ecstatic moan of pleasure on the top of her lungs, the feeling of her beloved liege¡¯s hand rubbing on her stiff, sensitive flower bud causing her lewd juice to leak out of her closed slit, wetting her nether regions still covered in her lower attire. Seeing the face that Seraphina is currently making, Diluc couldn¡¯t help but feel like he¡¯s on top of the world as the proud lady fa?ade that she reveals more than just often not only to others but also to himself completely crumbling just from his touch, the proud, fiery draconic beauty¡¯s crumbling tough front revealing the delicate, clingy lady from underneath. As moans resounds across the main island of the Draconic Realm, two ladies of peerless, heavenly beauties having their bodies laid on top of a tall, emperor-like young man squirms all around not because they are trying to escape from his grasp but rather because they want to feel more of it, hence why they are rubbing their soft, sexy bodies against his muscular one. "Ahhhnn~~~!!! Hyaaaann~~~~" "mmm~~~ mmmm~~~!!" "Ahh~~~!!! my dear liege~~~ wait~~~!!!" While the two of them are feeling pleasure from entirely different part of their currently sensitive bodies, both Argenta and Seraphina feels like they are approaching their limits, with their eye sights often blanking out white every time their beloved liege strikes a weak spot on both of them. On the other hand, despite the fact that Diluc himself feels pretty satisfied with his performance pleasuring these two dragonesses at the same time, he still couldn¡¯t help but feel like he can still make them feel it even more than they currently do, and this feeling is confirmed the moment that he felt something brushing against him on Argenta¡¯s fat lower lips. With his finger still exploring her damp, narrow pink cave, he felt his palms rubbing against a particularly hard lump of flesh just further on top of her love hole, and despite this only being his first ever exchange with the fairer sex, he still knows what this lump is. "Mmm~~~ liege~~ I love yo©¤ Ahhaaannn~~~!!!" despite still feeling really great from the fingers exploring her fleshy cave, Argenta is already starting to get used to the feeling causing her to feel a bit more composed, however, it only lasted for a few seconds as she felt electricity one again coursing from her spine to her brain, then spreading it all across her entire body, all due to a single motion from her beloved liege. Diluc, currently focused on bringing even more pleasure to the two, starts rubbing on the pink pearl hidden beneath Argenta¡¯s closed flaps, the nerve endings from the pearl making her feel even more pleasure as the young man continues to play with her insides at the same time, the stimulation from having her clit being played like that causing her to flail her feel around in the air repeatedly. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Of course, the young man not only thought of way to make the metal dragoness climax but also came up with a way to make the fire dragoness on his arm to feel great as well, his hand, previously just groping and playing with the beauty¡¯s bountiful, plump treasure now moving a bit differently, with his fingers focusing on her slightly puffy, warm areola all while rubbing her stiff, sensitive nipple every now and them, the lewd moans coming out of her sexy little mouth a sign that she is enjoying her current treatment. "Hnaaa~~~!! Mmm~~~!! Mmmm~~~!!!" "OOhh~~~!!! My¡­ dear¡­ liege~!!! Ahhaahhnn~~!!!" "Ahhh~~~!!! Mnn~~!! Liege~~! That feels¡­ great~~~" With melodious mixture of lewd, hot moans from both the taciturn beauty and her fiery beauty of a sister entering their beloved liege¡¯s ears, the three of them feeling like they are in their own world, seeing nothing more than themselves, as well as the neon green-haired mature beauty still currently trying to recover from her previous climax, with the young man wanting nothing more than to push these two dragonesses even further to the edge, and the two gorgeous ladies wanting nothing more than to have this moment continue forever. Chapter 91: New Mission With all of these happening, it wasn¡¯t that hard for the two of them to eventually reach a large climax, possibly even larger than their eldest sister who was attacked all alone by their beloved liege, proving to them just how much stronger she is than them even when it comes to matters like this. "mmm~~~ nnn~~~" While the two of them are moaning incoherently due to their consciousness gradually slipping away from their immediate, huge climax, their eldest sister already regains her bearing, no longer affected by her previous draconic lust, the short time it takes for her to regain her bearing allowing her to remember all the things that she had done while under the influence of her longing for the emperor-like young man. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Not only does the image of her shamelessly clinging to him while she mutters all those words and just mindlessly moans from all his touches made her quite stunned, it also made her feel completely embarrassed, in a complete disbelief of herself being able to act without shame like that, and that is even despite her usual cheeky attitude. Before she can allow all this embarrassment to get in the way of her enjoying these moments though, she shakes her head to get those thoughts out of her head, before taking steps approaching her beloved liege currently lying down on the ground of the Draconic Realm¡¯s main island, revealing a mature smile on her gorgeous face as she looks down and locked eyes with the emperor-like young man. "You want more Ygg?" seeing the blush on the mature beauty¡¯s face, Diluc asked while putting strength on his body once again, planning to move both Seraphina and Argenta lying on top of him to a more comfortable place before he deals with this neon-green haired draconic beauty, his motions being stopped just a few moments after he starts doing so. Despite his current strength being beyond that of Yggdrasil, he is still taken aback as the beauty moves quickly, holding his head gently yet firmly with her small dainty hands, smiling as she guides his head on top of her soft, fragrant-smelling, velvety thighs, all while looking at him, her face almost completely blocked from the young man¡¯s vision due to the draconic beauty¡¯s large, seemingly heavy chest. "I¡¯ll take on your offer for the future, liege¡­ I mean, husband~~~" Yggdrasil said with a satisfied smile on her face as she closes her eyes, somehow being able to take a rest despite Diluc¡¯s head resting on her thighs, the smile still pasted on her face as if this day is one of the best ones ever within her mind. Feeling that the mature beauty already slipped into the dream land, along with her younger sisters, Diluc also reveals a satisfied, even thankful smile on his face as he took his time relishing being held by three beauties closely, this fact something that if he tells to the him before that incident happen, will never believe. And within a few more minutes of taking in this fact, the young man eventually drifts into his sleep as well, his face bearing a smile similar to the smiles on the faces of the three draconic beauties surrounding him, all four of them seemingly having a good sleep for today. ---------- "That was quite the ride¡­" looking at the familiar ceiling of the place he is going to stay in for quite a while starting from the previous days, Diluc mutters to himself while remaining completely laid on his bed, recalling the matters of events that proceeds just the last night, if he can call it like that, with a smile on his face, the fact that he managed to satisfy three draconic ladies away from their lust something that just somehow made him proud. And proud he should be as the fact that another species, not to mention a human, can satisfy a dragon¡¯s lust is something just straight out of fairy tale in this world, and the fact that he just did satisfy not one, but three draconic ladies in an aroused state talks so much about his skills. With that being said, he¡¯s not really all that human after all those blessings he received, and he is already transitioning into something different, neither a human nor a dragon, yet probably something even better than the two. As he gradually starts focusing on the things happening within his surroundings, he eventually saw the floating gray screen just on the corner of his eyes, willing it to move so that it is in front of him, before starting to read the text displayed within the screen. [Congratulations on completing the mission: Satisfy the Ladies. You are rewarded due to the completion of your mission] [Satisfy the Ladies] [Description: As the ruler of the Draconic Realm, you are also responsible with the propagation of the dragon race, and a capable ruler not only fulfill this duty, but also satisfies the subject under them. Satisfy and make the three ladies return to normal state in order to complete the mission] [Reward: Each lady satisfied will award you with 5,000 Realm Gold] [Acquired Realm Gold (15,000)] [Detected that you have exceeded the expectations for the mission issued by the system, an additional reward will be issued¡­] [Acquired Realm Gold (5,000)] [Due to the completion of this mission, you are now eligible to take a new mission for this mission slot] [Undefeatable, Indomitable] [Being the Ruler of the Draconic Realm, it is fine for you to hide your real abilities since it is a necessity for any expert in order to survive in this world, however, it is also imperative that you must show your might so that no people shall direct any thought of contempt towards you, as this is will ruin your reputation. Overwhelmingly win the second part of the entrance exam and take the first place of this year¡¯s Primaria Class placement exams.] [Rewards: Completion of this mission awards you with 20,000 Realm gold, as well as the chance to acquire a guaranteed chance to get a dragon egg you never acquired before for free, however, the type of egg is completely left to chance] Reading the words appearing one after another in front of him, Diluc doesn¡¯t even feel a bit overwhelmed, rather, he feels really invigorated due to what he just read, the smile on his face something that will make his roommate wonder what is it that is in his mind should said roommate is awake. Before the expression sticks on his face however, the young man already brushes it away from him as he clenches his fist, feeling a bit more than just excited from the new mission issued by the system, the fact that he can now take two missions at the same time only starting to sink in his mind right now as the focus of his attention last night is with the three ladies clearly longing for him. Now that he thinks about it though, he even comes up to the conclusion that this might be the greatest thing that he got from the Dragon Herding System every since he got it, as with this function, he is practically doubling his ability to acquire unique rewards from the system. "I was planning on holding back a bit but it doesn¡¯t seem to be a good idea now" Chapter 92 92: Confidence "I was planning on holding back a bit but it doesn''t seem to be a good idea now" as he mutters these words to himself, the smile on his face starts changing from the excited to a manic one, a tinge of malice glowing from the depth of his eyes as he recalls the match he had with that young man who seems to be too eager to brag about his father, wondering if he will meet more kinds of people like him within the entrance exams for the Primaria Class. "No matters, we will cross the bridge when we get there¡­" he comforts himself as he gets up from his position, planning on cleaning himself up and donning his uniform before going to the academy''s cafeteria to get himself a good breakfast, his plans being interrupted as the frail-looking young man sleeping on a bed just a few meters away from him starts mumbling, almost as if he is speaking on his sleep. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This speculation of Diluc was proven to be wrong though as the frail-looking Michael is already awake, and rather than mumbling on his sleep, he is talking to him, appearing to be greeting him a fair morning the moment that he saw him already up and preparing himself. "You''re up quite early" the young man said as he rubs his eyes all while yawning and stretching, the sloppy manner he is currently acting causing his roommate, Diluc, to wonder just how is it possible that this very same young man is the one always so uptight when it comes to being well mannered and overall being always presentable no matter the situation. "You''re just up late" Diluc replies with a smile on his face as he waves his hands away, already moving towards the bathroom to clean himself and also get some time to think about some things that he needs to do, starting to establish both short-term and long-term plans. ''That receptionist from before is a huge problem¡­'' as the cold morning water starts splashing on his skin, Diluc thought first as he clicks his tongue in annoyance, what he is worried the most coming into reality as he confirms the female receptionist''s relation to people who are out to get him, the fact that he just let it slip under his radar causing him to feel like a fool. ''This should never happen again¡­'' he reminded himself as he starts thinking of ways to obscure his true ability somehow within the academy grounds, as he knows full well that this receptionist is not the only person who has ties to his enemies outside the academy, and those other enemies are more dangerous than her given how they has yet to reveal themselves to him despite the news surrounding him. While all sorts of ideas about dealing with that problem come and go through his mind, the mission from the Dragon Herding System enters his mind once again, causing him to shake his head as he thought that his ideas of somehow concealing more of his strength will be useless due to the new mission that the system has issued to him. ''Come to think of it, just what is the system''s standard when it said ''overwhelming''?'' as he recalls the words on the new mission''s information, Diluc couldn''t help but ask not to himself but rather to the system, his question prompting the floating gray screen to appear right in front of him, bearing the answer to his question. [The system will consider your victory as overwhelming when not even a single attack from your opponents can graze even just your clothes, anything else worse than that shall be considered a failure of the mission] With the system''s response, the young man starts wondering what will happen if the mission fail, the question in his mind causing the Dragon Herding System to prop up a new floating screen to answer his query. [For this mission, the system will only remove it on failure, and you will not get any consolation reward no matter how close you are to completing the task, however, some missions in the future will issue a more dangerous punishments should you not manage to complete the mission no matter what the cause, of course, you are still given the right to accept or reject these sort of missions before it is made an official mission that you need to complete, and there will be no repercussion to rejecting said missions.] As he reads the supplementary notes, Diluc then nods as he thinks that this is just a fair way of doing things, after all, the Dragon Herding System is guiding him to the path of strength by issuing missions like that to him, and the fact that he still has his free will to either accept or reject the more dangerous missions something that just made him feel more than just a host of the system. Of course, should he encounter those kinds of missions, he thinks that he will more likely lean on the side of accepting those missions given how generous the Dragon Herding System is with unique rewards, the only thing that this system is stingy with is with the Realm Gold that he feels like he is not really lacking all that much right now. Thinking of acquiring a new dragon egg completely for free if he manages to complete this mission, Diluc smiles and clenches his fist as he decides to put in some extra effort into winning the first place for the Primaria Class entrance exams, his intent to battle soaring at an all-time high as he wonders just what sort of geniuses are there within the academy. "Excluding Alea and Alfia, I think there''s hardly anyone on my level, especially since the strongest students of the freshmen are just on the peak of the first level of either the martial or magic path" the emperor-like young man mutters to himself in contemplation while trying to recall all the freshmen he had sensed during both the orientation and the sanctioned ''duel'' he previously has, recalling not a single student of a higher level than him. ''Of course, I couldn''t rule out the possibility of some of them being more monstrous than my cross level fighting ability, but given the reason why I have that sort of ability, there''s only a miniscule chance of that¡­'' while he still gets really cautious as he knows that anything can happen, especially when he is within possibly the greatest academy of magic and martial arts within the nearby lands, Diluc is still fairly confident of this not being the case since the source of this absurd combat power of his is something that he just knows the other geniuses here cannot have. Hence the confidence, rather than arrogance, developing inside him due to him still being cautious enough while knowing his true strength, an authoritative, near divine kind of confidence that will make him a subject of different kind of attentions in the future, a confidence that has yet to completely bloom for now, however already starting to sprout out of the shells of its seed, like a plant just waiting for that first drop of rain to come. Chapter 93 93: Attention While Diluc fails to properly notice this newfound confidence growing from deep inside him, his roommate certainly has a different eye than him, and the moment he comes out of the bathroom, the usual shyness on his face is replaced with curiosity as he unusually stares at him with wonder in his bright eyes, the seemingly penetrating gaze causing the emperor-like young man to direct his attention to him. "Is there something wrong with me?" looking at the frail-looking young man so intently looking at his face, Diluc said with a hint of confusion and wariness in his voice, thinking that this young man already become part of that side of society, causing him to feel that he needs to straighten this guy up or if he can''t, find a new place to live in. Hearing Diluc''s question, Michael then snaps out of his dazed look, seemingly struggling to put his thoughts into words. Normally, this will be caused by him being too embarrassed being caught staring at someone, however, this time, the expression on his face seemingly tells that this one is different, his figure pausing for a while still having the same serious expression on his face as if he had just seen something he couldn''t believe. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "You¡­ grow quite lot after just a day, Diluc¡­" he mentioned as he scans his roommate''s entire body with curiosity in his eyes, the growth that he noticed being more of a mental rather than a physical one as he feels like this young man standing just a few meters in front of him is somehow, a completely different version of the young man that slept in that bed last night, as if he just experienced something that only a man can. Despite this frail-looking young man''s uncannily precise intuition though, he would never expect that the emperor-like young man in front of him truly had experienced something that only a man can, only, it is something more of a paradise rather than the hellish experienced he had just thought of. Meanwhile, completely aware of what Michael is talking about, Diluc then smiles from his words as he continues putting on the uniform, the fact that it has multiple separate pieces, one being a pants, another being an inner shirt, an outer shirt, a vest and an overall coat making him feel like this has unnecessarily plenty pieces, however, he can''t really complain since this is what it has always been ever since the foundation of the academy. After donning his uniform and deeming himself ready for the day, the emperor-like young man then waves towards his frail-looking roommate, said roommate also deciding that he should also start preparing now as well. On the first floor of the dormitory, multiple young talents coming from all walks of life are already starting to come out from each of their rooms as well, making all of them surprised as they saw other young men aside from them waking up real early as well. Since the first floor is the one that holds the entirety of the freshmen students who just enters the academy, they are all well aware of the events that proceeds within the Orion Arena just yesterday, and the fact that they are currently seeing one of the people right in the middle of it all causes them to feel curious about what sort of person this rumored monster of a mage is. "They said he is a mage, but look at his body¡­" "Idiot, what sort of dumb person will rely on the opponent''s physical appearance to tell whether they are a mage or martial artist?" "Why don''t you all turn silent!? I''m pretty sure he can hear our words¡­" Noticing the emperor-like young man''s gaze turning every time someone speaks, one of the sharper people among the accepted freshmen warned as he feels like this young man is as dangerous as he can be, and he should avoid him at all cost. Meanwhile, the object of everyone''s attention, Diluc, couldn''t help but feel annoyed with the way things are going, especially when he feels like a kept animal being observed by audience whenever he feels that gaze of theirs. With just a single gaze though, he managed to scare some of the weaker freshmen into moving out of the premise, all while the stronger ones starts to feel even wearier of him, thinking that if they want to have some place for themselves during the trial to determine the people who will enter the Primaria Class, they need to team up and deal with this monstrous calamity of an opponent they will have first. The gazes among these freshmen are filled with quite the scheming and maliciousness in them, one specific young man clearly even want to have the emperor-like young man''s blood to spill on the ground, said young man being among the people that Reginald, the parent bragging young master as Diluc coins him, fought with against him during the sanctioned "duel" yesterday. However, as much as he wants to see it happening though, he knows that there''s nothing he can do for now that he is alone¡­ for now. On the other hand, Diluc just continues to ignore the stream of attention from the young men about the same age as him, their curiosity subsiding and turning into either terror or anger the moment that he just nonchalantly dismisses everyone gathering to take a look at apparently, the first in their year. As he walks out of the dormitory, he was met by the excited gaze of the two elven beauties who are acting completely different from how he thought royalties will be, their amiable, bright and warm air causing ladies from the same year as them to just feel really comfortable around them, hence causing the current scene where both this elven princess and another elven beauty apparent heir to a duchy is being followed by all sorts of geniuses that doesn''t fall that much when comparing to them. As the two of them continues to accommodate the girls avidly following them, their eyes eventually land on a particular figure approaching them, a figure that the two of them, especially the elven princess, will never forget or mistake for someone else no matter where she has, and will see this figure. Seeing two familiar figures moving closer to his location, Diluc felt quite happy since he enjoys the company of the two quite a bit, a feeling that the three of them vaguely knows is mutual. Waving his hand to them, the two also notices him, after all, his build is particularly different from young men and women of their age, not in a negative but rather in a positive way, the fact that he stands more than a head taller than average men of their age making him all the more attention grabbing to women. "That''s¡­" "So the rumors are true¡­" "This elven pair¡­ they''re quite lucky¡­" While looking at the handsome visage of the approaching young man, the ladies, presumably nobles, following besides the two elven royalties, mutters and talks to themselves while scanning the handsome young man head to toe, some of them even feeling like they are about to have their drools falling out of their mouths. Chapter 94 94: Thats What Makes Her Terrifying As the ladies accompanying the two elven royalties locks their stares upon Diluc, the young man also notices the peculiar gazes that the other female freshmen students are sending across his way, and while he is just introduced to this sort of gazes a while ago, he knows full well what those eyes of theirs signifies, a thing that he often observes when he''s with the ladies of the Draconic Realm. Different from the draconic beauties'' purely affectionate looks at him though, these students do have a mixture of majorly materialistic desires on their gazes of admiration, a thing that he easily picked up given how obvious most of them are. Of course, there will always be an exception to this fact as some of them looks at him with pure admiration, most likely not due to his looks but due to his performance in the Orion Arena yesterday, albeit this minority group being far in between. He doesn''t pay too much attention to the gazes on him though as he focuses on the two elven beauties now approaching him with smiles on their mouths, the fact that they are revealing an amused expression on their beautiful faces giving out to him just how interested they are to this situation. "Wow! Even with all that beautiful batchmates looking at you, you''re not even affected a single bit, Diluc¡­" as the two of them approaches near him, the clearly cheekier and bubblier Alfia said with a taunting smile on her face the moment that she enters close proximity of the emperor-like young man, not even giving him a single chance to retort to her words as she starts speaking once again. "You know, if you''re not interested with my best friend here, I will think that your preferences are¡­ different" the young lady added as she remembers that frail-looking young man that is beside Diluc for practically the entirety of the freshmen orientation yesterday, taking this as a chance to jab a joke at the young man. "Funny you mention that, Alfia, since there''s also someone, I''m starting to get interested in aside from your cousin¡­" of course, Diluc won''t take the lady''s words lying down as he decided to retort to her taunting, his ambiguous words causing the cheeky, yet inexperienced young beauty to feel surprised and taken aback, the words ringing in her mind for quite a while before she managed to recover from the offensive of the young man. Meanwhile, hearing these words, Alea''s pointy ears couldn''t help but perk up as if she just heard something really serious and troubling to her, a mix of emotion welling in her mind as she thought of this as a chance to take revenge upon this childhood friend of hers for teasing her all the time about Diluc the moment that she had came to know of his existence, yet she feels conflicted of this since she''s starting to take some real interest upon this young man as well. That is especially so since she witnesses how he dealt with the events that takes place yesterday, how he so easily subjugated what is possibly one of the strongest groups within the freshmen so far, and with minimal effort on his part at that, without him even having to summon his contracted beast, which she just initially assumes he has given how powerful he is. Of course, that is not the thing that made her take more interest on him though, what made her do so is how he just blatantly pointed and called out that female staff of the academy for dealing with unacceptable things, particularly how she''s basically fixing a sanctioned duel between two parties without one of the sides even agreeing to the deal. Some might call it audacity or improperly placed confidence, something possibly even beyond arrogance, yet to her, this is nothing more than standing up to oneself, something that anyone with spine should do, and given just how much importance the academy places upon their staff, almost equal to the students, she just couldn''t help but admire his guts for calling that female academy staff out like that. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Hmm? I wonder who is that lucky girl?" looking at her closest friend along with her sole male friend jokingly talking each other as if they had known each other for a long time ago and not just yesterday, Alea interjected with a smile on her face, an amused expression mixed alongside it as if she wants to team up with the young duchess to tease the emperor-like young man, something that she never thought she will regret. As all of this is happening, the followers of the two are already starting to disperse despite their desire to get to know the rumored strongest of the freshmen more, the reason for that being the fact that these two royalties appear to be quite close to the young man especially Alea, the sole princess and successor to her mother, the queen of the Elven Kingdom, and they wouldn''t want to risk the chance of offending the two just because they are interested in Diluc. "Is that jealousy I can sense in the surrounding, Alfia?" hearing the words of the elven princess, the young man smiles as he teases back, the fact that he just hit the nail on the head stunning Alea, who is even more surprised as her long-time friend changes side and teases her with the young man. "Just sense? Diluc, I can practically smell the sourness in the air~" looking at her childhood friend with a scheming, crescent-eyed smile that just made her appear like a villainous character, Alfia added while stepping away from Diluc and moving towards Alea, all while patting her on the back cheekily as if to add salt to the wound. With Alfia suddenly turning back away from her like that, Alea couldn''t help but feel stupefied, wondering who is it that had become friends with the elven young duchess first, the way that she is siding with Diluc annoying her quite a bit. Seeing the expression on the elven princess'' face, the emperor-like young man couldn''t help but start letting out an amused laugh as if he just watches something entertaining, the fact that the gorgeous elven princess is pouting due to her annoyance giving her a little more cuteness rather than her expected fierceness whenever she shows her face. With his laugh distracting the two ladies, they eventually shrug off this little cheeky exchange between the three of them as they start talking about all sorts of things, particularly regarding the upcoming Primaria Class entrance exam just around the corner, not even giving them any time to properly prepare for it. "The principal is really whimsical¡­ deciding to create a class like that and just saying it in the freshmen orientation¡­" as they thought of how even the two of them as new members of student council are surprised by the announcement of the horned beauty that is Aria Frostborn, the greatest power and reliance of this academy, as they did not even pick up a single news about this supposed special class outside the academy. "That''s what make her so terrifying¡­." Chapter 95 95: A Request From the Borders "That''s what makes her so terrifying..." as those words leaves the emperor-like young man''s mouth, the two elven beauties couldn''t help but think and ponder about his words, wondering what is it that made him claim something like this. Feeling the curious gaze on both the ladies eyes, Diluc merely shakes his head for a while before he starts explaining what he is thinking about to them, along with the reason why he thinks of the principal as such. "Think about it for a second... since the tradition of the Primaria Class is already something widespread, to the point that there are upperclassmen that are part of this class as well, they why is it that none of them are leaking informations about this class outside the academy to the point that even those noble childrens are not aware of it?" As the emperor-like young man starts pointing out the things that he notices, the two elven ladies feel more and more amazed, part of it from his deductive ability but more due to the fact that the principal is so powerful that she can shut the news of something so big like adding another class from spreading outside the academy grounds. "I thought she''s just sloppy, turns out, she''s another one of those elders who are wolf pretending in sheep''s clothing..." recalling that ancient adage from their kingdom, Alfia couldn''t help but mutter it a bit loudly so that the young man and her long time friend can hear her words, the surprise on her face as she realizes that this is more acceptable of a truth rather than her and Alea''s first speculation something that Diluc will remember quite well. "As expected of someone who reached that reached height in such a young age..." sighing in admiration towards the horned beauty, recalling how confident she appears during the orientation of the freshmen students, Alea thought to herself that she must work harder in order to become someone similar to this mightly figure. On the other hand, looking at the admiration on the two elven beauty''s eyes as they thought about that horned, half-draconic beauty, Diluc thinks of something completely different than what they had in mind, with him thinking that Alfia''s speculation of Aria being quite the sloppy character is somehow right one way or another, the proof of this her way of carrying herself when she met and fought with him during the last trial of the first part of the entrance exams. ''If only they know...'' he thought helplessly to himself as the three of them continues to move towards the same direction, the academy cafeteria that is open before the first sunlight can even reach the horizon, preparing meals for the students who rises early in the morning. ---------- Meanwhile, the topic of the talk among those three geniuses of the freshmen is currently stumped at the amount of work that is piling up on her desk, most of them mainly inquiring about the results of the entrance exams that had jsut gone public a few hours after midnight today. "These trash nobles sure knows how to speak huh? They want me to hand over the data collected by the academy for suspicion of cheating!? Who the fuck do they think they are!?" reading another messge specifically written for her, or rather, the results of the etrance exams, the white-haired, horned beauty who is currently on her youthful form is gritting her porcelain white teeth in complete anger, the letters she receives all regarding the possibility of unfairness within the entrance exams, all of them coming from nobles and royalties from all places, not only from the Flammenherz Kingdom. "Should I go out and remind them why I am one of the pillars supporting this rotting nation away from collapse?" as she crumples the letters in her hand, Aria mutters in annoyance as she starts entertaining the thought in her mind, thinking that it might really be a long while after she made something that will make the nobles and royalties wary of her power, and what a good time to remind them why she is still the principal of this academy after quite a long while than this opportunity presented to her right now. "Aria... Let''s think about this properly for now okay? There''s no need for you to go too rashly about this..." after the words comes out of the horned beauty''s mouth, a certain shadow around the room starts shaking and from it, a beast kin bearin a cat-like feature, the ears and the tail behind her particularly, said in a panicked tone, the fact that this lady speaks to the principal by addressing her with her given name implying just how worried she is right now. Rather than being worried about this friend of hers though, she is more worried of what she will do to the officials of the kingdom once she decided to play with them, and there''s no other end she can think of other than those daring to offend this monstrous talent either becoming too scared to stand in front of her once again, or just be deprived of the ability to face her once again after she buried them to the deepest pits she can push them to. Hearing the urgency on her long-time friend''s voice, Aria couldn''t help but snap out of those thoughts of hers, clearing her throat pretendingly in order to compose herself once again trying to speak in order to defend herself from this little slip of hers, only for her words to be stucked in her mouth as a staff barged rushing through the door, surprising the two of them as they saw the urgency on the staff''s face as he struggles to catch his breath, seemingly rushing from a far place just to reach this office of hers. "Principal... a news from the... borders..." as the middle-aged man gradually recovers from his rush, he starts mustering the strength to speak of the news he brought, starting with the particular direction that appears to be of immense importance. The reason for this deduction being the fact that the usually carefree, unfettered and easygoing half-draconian now reveals a serious look on her gorgeous face, something in her jumping in concern and even a little panic as soon as she heard the words ''Borders'' from the academy staff. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "What happened there?" with her voice shaking quite a bit as she starts to worry about a certain someone, specifically, her younger martial sister whom their master often reminds her to take care of, the fact that she is leading an army in the very same border causing her heart to start beating faster and faster, especially when she heard the news. "Princess Beatrice requests an assistance directly from the principal..." the messenger and academy staff said in his still clearly heaving voice, the wheezing between his breaths signifying just how intensely he runs in order to deliver this news to her, and the fact that this very man is also a practitioner of the higher levels like the two of them making the half-draconian principal all the more worried about the situation there, deciding that she must go as soon as possible since there might be major problems more than the allied kingdoms'' military force can handle. Chapter 96 96: Alliance? While Aria worries about a person whom she treats as her own sister due to the two of them being under the tutelage of the same master, the very same lady who requested for her asistance is now looking sternly at the event happening just right in front of them, the swathe of undead creatures growing more and more even despite the alliance''s best effort to curb their numbers with all sorts of attacks. What poses even more problem at that is the fact that not only does this enemy they have constantly forks out new units to replenish their previously destroyed ones, but for every time a new wave of undead appears, they seem to be stronger than the ones before them, almost as if there is someone commanding all those undeads, and whoever it is that is controlling them, are clearly toying with the alliance of neighboring kingdoms they have. Of course, while she, along with the other generals leading their specific army through this battle imagines this to be so, the thought is merely that, imagination, as they are well aware of what an undead legion with a commander on its helm is capable of, something that this undead wave fortunately isn''t able to pull off. "Tsk... they''re like pests..." looking at the repugnant decaying amalgamations of rotten flesh, blackened blood and yellowing bones approaching the vanguard of their army, that very same beauty that the principal of the Flammenherz Academy is worried about, said with a hint of annoyance apparent on her beautiful face, a wrath seemingly sprouting from the depth of her being as a violent glow starts shining from beneath her gem-like eyes. Seeing her soldiers'' hesitating stance as they look at the flood like mass of undeads in the distance, the beauty couldn''t help but shake her head in a bit of disappointment as she thought that after all the trainings drilled into them, they can, at the very least, conquer their fear of this kind of things, a wishful thinking on her part seeing that some of them even has the expression of someone having the idea to run away from a war. "My soldiers, steady your mind, don''t falter!! You all are the shield of the common people!! How the hell are those you''re supposed to protect will react if they heard of such cowardice within the battlefield!?" clenching her fist as she tries her best to stop herself from just directly eliminating those people who are already trying to think of ways to escape, the crown princess of the Flammenherz Kingdom, Alisha Beatrice Imperia, declares with all her might as she pulls out her blade once again, a smile of excitment gradually appearing on her face as crimson lightning starts cracking across her body once again. Not only does this extremely rare elemental affinity happily dances across her figure, the skies above her appears to be helping her triumph over this battle as well, the dark clouds appearing over the heavenly skies flashing with sharp lightning and rumbling with loud thunder, almost as if assisting her and aiding her strength. Before she starts her next wave of offensives against this seemingly immortal army that their enemy has, she takes one last look over the horizon, perticularly the direction where her beloved kingdom is supposed to be located, a smile of hope sprouting on her gorgeous face as she recalls the might of the reinforcement that will arrive any minute now. "If you can''t give them hell, hold up and live fighting against those undeads for just a while, a dragoness will assist us after a few more minutes!" boosting the morale as she raises her blade towards the skies, this crown princess declares causing not only her army, but also the ones that comes from other neighboring kingdom, to regain their vigor anew, a single word reversing the morale of the entire alliance and raising it into an all time high. After all, a draconian who are willing to assist them in this battle is just like saying that this is practically a win for them already, and the only thing that they need to do from now on is to survive this battle long enough so that they can witness the might of a dragon in battle. Hearing these words from the crown princess herself, her own army shouted in celebration as their fighting, and even killing intent starts exploding high up in the skies, a sight quite magnificent for anyone aware of what is happening to see. At the united shout of her people, the crown princess smiles as she swung the blade down, with the movement causing a massive crescent wave to explode forth, the cracking lightning from her mana clinging into this wave of unstoppable force and making it all the more lethal and terrifying. ---------- "You want to team up?" looking at the two elven beauties staring at him as well, Diluc said with a surprised expression on his face, wondering what these two ladies are talking about, planning something like this with him despite them supposedly being opponents when it comes to the entrance exam for the Primaria Class. "Just for the rapid elimination round... is that alright?" clarifying their intent as the emperor-like young man finishes his question, Alea said with a bit of hesitation tinting her belll-like voice. "Alea is right, Diluc, that round is practically a free for all, so I don''t think it will be a good idea for us to fight among ourselves in that round..." supporting the statement of her childhood friend, Alfia added an explanation, fully supporting the decision of the young elven princess to ask for the help of the emperor-like young man in front of them. This decision not only stems from her trust to the elven princess no matter what she do, but also from her own insight as she witnesses some of the young man''s combat power previously, and what she thinks is that only a fool will make an enemy out of the young man, in fact, she can even treat people who refuses to make a positive connection with him fools given the terrifying combat prowess that she had displayed from the sanctioned duel he has previously. "You know I can fend of for myself there right?" as he stares at the two elven royalties seemingly hell bent on creating an alliance with him during the first part of the trials for the Primaria Class, Diluc pointed out with a modest, confident smile on his face, causing the two elven beauties to sulk a bit as they know that this is the most vulnerable part of their plan. Of course, they already thought of a remedy to this, and remembering just how much this young man loves his treasures and precious materials, they know that if they want to secure cooperation from him, then they need to bleed out their pockets quite a bit. The bait is set, and they are already biting their lips to snap out of their hesitation and just go offer him treasures in exchange for what they want, however, before they can even speak, Diluc speaks once again, not even stating terms with them. "Well, the two of you are friends of mine now however, so I guess there''s no reason for me to deny it" As the words leave from the emperor-like young man''s mouth, the two elves who heard of this starts beaming with a smile on their faces, their sharp pointed, long ears subtly wiggling up and down as they heard of his acceptance of their proposal, said movement so miniscule that even Diluc himself probably wouldn''t notice had it not been for his senses being heightened by the techniques taught to him by Yggdrasil back then. "Throw in Michael as well I guess..." before he can forget, he mentioned this frail-looking roommate of him as well, remembering how intensely that young man is reading his books, books that are supposed to be for preparation for the upcoming trials for the Primaria Class. ''Gotta respect the hard work of that guy'' he thought to himself while the two elven ladies are looking at him with quite the curiosity in their eyes, clearly wanting to ask something, a thing that the young man notices given the peculiar gaze that they are giving him. "Just so you know, I love girls, even better, women, I don''t swing that way" he clarifies with an annoyed expression on his face, his words making the two elves sigh in relief. After this, the three of them starts planning for their course of action once the trials starts, talking about accounting for all sorts of things that can happen once the rapid elimination round starts, all while still enjoying the scrumptious breakfast that the academy prepared to serve the early rising students currenty occupying the cafeteria. Meanwhile, a bit away from their table, a group of youth, also freshmen like them, are looking at their direction with malice on their eyes, seemingly wanting nothing more than to strangle each and every person in their group to death. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 97 97: Plans for Schemers As those students, not only freshmen, stares at the group, particularly at Diluc with such hostility in their eyes, the emperor-like young man starts paying attention to them now as well, thier hostile gaze not slipping past his sharp senses. "Make sure to deal with that bastard properly during the trials" one of the people from this hostile group said with a tone of malicious intent lacing his excited voice, completely unaware of the fact that the young man they are talking about is already paying attention to them as much, or even more than they already do to him. "No problem, we only need a few minutes to finish this..." replying to the young man who just spoke, a feminine, teasing voice said as who seems to be the owner of this voice directed her attention towards the topic of their conversation, the fact that this target is not even looking at them making her think that this is going to be some easy benefits for them. "I believe that... especially since he defeated Reginald and his group, his ego should be quite bloated now since he managed to defeat one of the stronger group within the freshmen" the man who spoke previously added with a smile on his face as he reaches out his academy badge towards the lady who talked to him, an audible bell sound coming out of it as it touches the lady''s badge, as if it is signifying something. After the sound, the lady immediately checks the badge in her hand as she pours her mana into it, intricate signs appearing just on top of the badge, numbers and letters on it, and on one particular part of it, she saw something that just made her smile. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Credits: 5,000 As new students, this lady and her group has yet to get their own share of academic credits that is used as currency within the academy, after all, it is only once their classes officially starts that they will receive their monthly issue for credit, and should they need to earn more, then they need to work for it, hard. Smiling as she looks at the upperclassman already preparing to leave, the lady reaches out her hand in an invitation to shake hand with him while she starts speaking once again. "This is more than we asked for, so I guarantee you that we will handle the job beautifully~" she added with the amiable smile on her face, something that is completely contrary to the sinister aura that is covering her entire being right now. "Then I''ll be expecting great results due to your promise..." the upperclassman said before bowing slightly at the group, the way this lady talked to him making him a bit surprised given their notoriety within the noble circle, especially the fact that they are rather aloof and cold to others. ''Is she attracted to me? Is it due to my connection? My power? Or possibly because of my standing in the academy? After all, not even our parents can intervene once we enter the academy'' the young man thought to himself, trying to think of reasons why this infamously aloof lady is treating him like this. The reason for this reaction from the lady though is not anything that could possibly be deduced by the young man, said reason being the fact that he added more fee in his payment, and this is something that the lady truly values. Of course, he would never hear of it especially since this is a one time deal with them, knowing that the target he wants to deal with is something that will be dispatched by this lady and her group the moment that the trials for the Primaria Class starts. As their client moves out from the cafeteria, the lady, who appears to be the leader of this group, observes the emperor-like young man once again, and even she, who considers herself qute the money oriented woman couldn''t help but feel stunned for a few moments as she takes in the appeal of the young man just a few meters away from them. ''You might be able to deal with Reginald and his group previously, but given your skills... you''re a bad matchup for us, DIluc...'' she thought to herself while thinking of methods on how they can break this young man, something that she just instinctively knows will be a good time for her. While this little exchange between the man who wants a dirty job done and his contractor for it proceeds like it''s no one elses business, Diluc is now starting to deduce all sorts of things, things that are running in his mind right now. ''That man is definitely not a freshman, if he is, he should''vce been able to find his own group already...'' the emperor-like young man thought to himself as his senses follows this young man for a while before he returns to himself,thinking of possible culprit for this scheme against him. ''While I know who the general target is, I won''t be able to move properly if they just keep sending more and more person like that to me...'' as he thinks of how powerful this enemy of his now, he, despite all the despiter in the surrounding, just can''t stop himself from making his remarks. ''That problem is the only thing that mum and pops left for me except for the good lessons in life...'' he joked as he feels quite annoyed with all of this, thinking that should someone has a problem with him, they should just come to him up front. In regards with this, he likes Reginald more than this conniving bastard that schemes and uses others, not to mention underclassmen, as a way to deal with him, since even if Reginald doesn''t really fight fair and makes all sorts of cheating just to increase his odds of winning against him, he still decided to confront him face to face rather than resorting to all sorts of hidden schemes. ''If that was any other guy, I guess they can just wait helplessly for that attack to happen, unfortunately for that arrogant beanstalk brain...'' while thinking of ways to deal with this matter without having the two elven royalties involved, the emperor like young man smiles to himself since he already knew the face of that young man, and he only need to confirm his identity now in order to start dealing with him. ''Times like this really makes the sanctioned duel system really useful...'' he thought to himself with a devilish smile on his face, a smile that made the two elven beauties wonder just what is it that is occupying his mind right now. "Erm.. Diluc..." As they continue wondering about the thing this friend of theirs is thinking about, the elven princess can no longer keep her curiosity to herself, voicing her thoughts after clearing her throat, calling his name. Hearing his name from Alea, Diluc snaps out of his thoughts, the smile on his face changing from the devilish one to an amiable one, causing the ladies to wonder about what he is thinking even more. Meanwhile, Diluc, no longer thinking about these things for now, is currently staring back at the two elven ladies looking at him with curiosity mixed with confusion on apparent on their eyes, their gazes causing him to utter his next words. "Is there anything you two want to ask more about the plan?" still having the same approachable smile displayed on his face, the emperor-like young man asked, prompting the two ladies to shake their heads as they already commited their plans in their head, they are geniuses of the highest caliber after all, hence it is only normal for them to have memory far greater than what any normal person can ever achieve. "Then let''s do our best and good luck in the trials" seeing the heads of both Alea and Alfia shaking in response to his question, Diluc then said as he raised the glass of still warm milk in his glass, prompting the ladies to follow suit as they raised a similar drink as him. "Though I doubt you would even need something like luck in this trial, Diluc..." Alea added with a wry smile on her face as she recalls just how crazy this young man''s combat power is, something that she has never seen, or even just heard of outside the academy. "Alea is right Diluc, since luck will not really be useful for you in the trial, why don''t you just rub off some of your luck to us?" Alfia added with a cheeky smile on her face as they continues to eat, a face that she will definitely never reveal to anyone except her closest family otherwise. ''If I tell them how much my luck played part in me reaching my current strength, how will they react?'' Diluc couldn''t help but wonder this question to himself, of course, this is only something theoretical, something that he will only do if the situation truly deems neccessary for him to do so. Chapter 98 98: The Alpharion Arena After some more mundane talks among the three of them, Diluc along with the two elven royalties finally finishes having their meal, them standing up from their seat causing the attention of other students previously minding their own business to direct their attention to the three of them, a mixture of emotions being directed to them, most of them jealousy directed to either the two ladies or the emperor-like young man. While the majority of the students are looking at the three of them with some sort of negative emotion welling up from them, there are also some outliers who couldn''t help but look at them with admiration in their gazes, fire burning on those people''s eyes as if the people they are looking at, particularly the emperor-like young man, is a symbol of hope to them. Those idolizing gazes are particularly intense on the commoner freshmen groups gathering around, thinking that Diluc might be the one that those who are not blessed with luck like them can think of as a representative, after all, they thought that he is just a commoner just like them, thinking that he is also lacking a contracted beast and all. If they only know the reason why he couldn''t bring his "contracted beast" out in the open, most, if not all of these students will just collapse in the ground due to sheer terror from the fact that who could possibly be the strongest among the freshmen in terms of individual combat power has divine-like beings as his "contracted beasts". Of course, as much of a surprising piece of information this is, no one, not even the two elven beauties currently walking alongside Diluc, not even the strongest, most powerful expert within the academy, Aria, is aware of this news, nor will they be aware of this fact for a definite amount of time. "Come to think of it, just how long will the rapid elimination round will go for?" as the three of them starts walking towards the direction of the arena that the Primaria Class selection trials will be held in, Diluc inquired, wondering how many people he needs to deal with. ''Forget about other students first, I need to deal with that all female group...'' remembering the life signature, as well as the appearance of the group that receives some sort of commission from the upperclassman scheming against him, planning to make it so that they will remember it for the rest of their lives, so as for them not to bother him again. ''Pity I can''t really dispatch someone in the academy...'' he added to himself as he recalls just how powerful the staffs of the academy are, and rather than betting on the chance of him not being caught by anyone should he deal with the group scheming against him, he thinks it would be better to just teach them a harsh lesson for trying to mess with him. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "There are over two hundred freshmen students vying for a place in the Primaria Class, and there are only thirty or so spots for us..." hearing the question, the young elven duchess replies as she moves one of her hands towards her chin, acting as if she''s pondering upon the question. This pondering however, is proven to be just an act of her as the elven princess continues her words, explaining the deeper specification of the trials, how long will it be, and what is the requirement for them to reach the second part of the trials, the one on one duel matches. "Some elven upperclassmen told us that the rapid elimination round will go on until there are only sixty four students left, in which the one on one duel matches will start..." the elven princess added with a smile on her face, secretly praising in her mind the benefits of being a princess, with their fellow elves giving her informations that is considerably important to them for practically free. "We also heard that the matching system of the one on one round will be based on the ranking of the students from the rapid elimination round, and the basis of the ranking will be the number of fellow freshmen that a student eliminates in the first round" After seeing that the elven princess no longer has any plans on continuing her explanations, the young elven duchess, Alfia, added as she continues to walk towards their destination, even moving faster than both Alea and Diluc as if she couldn''t wait to reach the arena the trials will be held in anymore. "This is it, we''re here, the Alpharion Arena..." pointing at the massive ancient-looking structure towering just a few more meters in front of them Alea starts introducing before she follows suit on what her childhood friend along with her new friend is doing, the three couldn''t help but think that the academy really has some crazy power, not only in terms of martial might but also in terms of thier connections, after all, maintaining this kind of ancient place requires a huge amount of financial, as well as physical support. "I heard that this place is even older than the academy itself..." adding to the words of the elven princess, Alfia starts telling facts that other would rarely know about, the only reason for her knowing about this is the fact that her mother is quite familiar with this place, telling her stories about this arena from time to time. While it might not be that believable to others that this structure stands even older than the academy it is contained in, Diluc doesn''t really find it all too surprising since his father, and even his mother as well are also former students of this academy, and the two of them are aslo aware of the ancient history regarding this place. Remembering his parents due to this, the emperor-like young man couldn''t help but have his mood shift into some melancholy with a mix of anger and frustration, his hand starting to clench into a fist with his emotion increasing every second, fortunately being snapped out of this dangerous state as he hears the voice of the elven princess speaking to him once again. "You''re planning on adding that Michael to the plan right? Can you contact him now? It will be more advantageous to us to go there at the same time and gather around each other..." looking at the massive, circular, archaic, coliseum-like arena that spans several dozens of meters in terms of its radius, Alea reminded while her head looks up nearly as high as the sky, the sheer grandeur of this seemingly ancient building something that she just couldn;t help but admire. It has to be reminded that they, as elves, do have a greater sense for aesthetic than any other race, and along with that sense is their standards of beauty being higher, so for someone like her, who is even a royalty among the already sophisticated elves, to praise a building even if it is just in her mind, already speaks so much of the structure''s beauty. "I reminded him before I go out to eat, he should be arriving anytime now" replying to the remarks of the elven princess, Diluc said with the trace of his unconcealable confidence lacing his voice, a thing that made him quite fatally attractive not only to the draconic beauties residing within the Draconic Realm but also to even just practically any woman as well. Of course, while it is a fairly powerful charm, it doesn''t really affect someone who has strong mental power, especially since this is just an unconscious nature to him rather than a technique used for charming people, but it doesn''t stop from making his words sound more trustworthy than normal. Hence wait for the frail-looking Michael the three of them did outside the massive coliseum, and while the three of them are waiting, the emperor-like young man himself starts seeing message appearing from the floating gray screen, a prompt that he had never seen before being displayed. Despite the message being unfamiliar to him though, he couldn''t help but smile as he starts to read it, thinking of this new message as nothing but a blessing that suddenly falls down on his lap from the heavens, a reward possibly even greater than what he can do when he finished the mission related to his entry to the Primaria Class. [Detected a thing that resonates with the user of the Dragon Herding System] [An archaic and ancient pressure is subtly being emitted by the place near you, please tread the place with caution] [Detected the fighting spirit of ancient warriors and geniuses rising within the midst of this building...] [The fighting spirit of the ancients are being directed to you... you are being welcomed to go within the place they currently reside] [The fighting spirit of the ancients stimulates your own fighting spirit as well, due to this, a temporary mission slot will be granted in order to issue an important mission to you] [New mission created: Unbending Will] Chapter 99 99: Temporary Mission [The fighting spirit of the ancients stimulates your own fighting spirit as well, due to this, a temporary mission slot will be granted in order to issue an important mission to you] [New mission created: Unbending Will] [Unbending Will (Temporary Mission, Extreme Difficulty, One-day time limit)] [Description: The ancient remnants of past warriors gathers upon this archaic, old place, waiting for someone who can represent their will, waiting for a champion that can bring back their legacy from their eternal rest. As the Ruler of the Draconic Realm, you are more than worthy enough of being the champion to inherit the legacy of all these powerful deceased warriors. Show them the might and talent of the Ruler of the Draconic Realm and prove the choice of selecting you right] [Reward: Depending on the number of the ancient spirits that you stimulated and managed to get the respect of, a certain amount of reward shall be given to you, with the minimum reward being the legacy of the ancient spirit/s that you managed to earn the respect of.] [Note: For every nine ancient spirit that you earned the respect of, the system will provide an additional reward, ranging from Realm Gold to chances to acquire a new draconic egg] Reading the information of this new mission the Dragon Herding System has issued to him, Diluc couldn''t help but form a smiling expression on his face as while the rewards for it are somewhat vague in comparison to the definitive rewards he can acquire should he accomplish the two other missions before this one, the fact that the additional reward alone gives him a chance to acquire new dragon egg made him quite excited, causing him to start inquiring more about the details of the mission. ''How many ancient spirits are in this place anyways?'' he starts asking as he wonders just how many of that additional rewards he can possibly get, the answer from the Dragon Herding System surprising him quite a bit as he thought that questions like this, being related to the mission, will not be answered by the system. [There are one-hundred and eight ancient spirits observing not only you, but also all the other people near the place, but their attentions are mostly on you for now] ''I thought the system will never answer questions regarding the mission being issued?'' reading the information pasted upon the floating gray screen just right in front of him, Diluc asks in curiosity, the floating gray screen disappearing and being replaced by another one, the answer to his new query appearing on it. [The Dragon Herding System will only deny you of the answers that can possibly solve the missions issued to you, this question doesn''t affect the mission, or even if it does affect it, it is only in the slightest, negligible amount] ''If you say so...'' the emperor-like young man said with a hint of dismissiveness in his tone, thinking that there''s no real reason for the Dragon Herding System to lie to him on something like this, causing him to not think of this matter any further. "They say there are a lot of talented people who died in this place, geniuses defeated on life and death duel, great adventurers, martial artists and mages famous all throughout the lands not to mention those monstrous experts who just wants to have their final moments in life spent on teaching youngsters who often populates this place..." seemingly well versed on the history of this place despite it not being a part of their Elven Kingdom, Alea said with confidence in her words, clearly knowing what she is talking about, her words making her childhood friend nod at her as well. "Not only that, rumors has it that the ghosts, remnant thoughts of these powerhouses remains even after their death, which gives the place the eerie vibes, even though anyone can learn anything faster here as well..." the cheeky young elven duchess added to the fact a rumor that is often heared from others within the academy, of course, the only rumor part of her words is the thing about the remnants of the powerhouses from the past, as this place really do give eerie vibes despite the assistance it provides the students and even academy staffs in terms of learning anything regarding cultivation. "Alfia, you really believe in that ghost tales?" while looking at this childhood friend of hers, Alea said while shaking her adorable head, helplessly smiling as she couldn''t believe that her friend will be shameless enough to tell the young man walking with them the tell tales she would often hear from other''s mouth. "You think they''re not real, Alea? How would you explain the eerie vibes we are often getting whenever we passes through this place then?" the young elven duchess retorted while pointing at the Alpharion Arena just a few meters in front of them, the fact that this structure looks really old does give her argument quite the strong point. "Come on, that can clearly be explained by..." as she decided that she shouldn''t really lose at this argument, thinking that her childhood friend is already way too old to believe in ghosts of the dead, Alea starts stating feasible explanations that she can think of, oftentimes making the young elven duchess to nearly fall and believe her words. S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This thing then caused the two of them to friendly argue as the emperor-like young man already starts leading them inside the place, the two of them completely unaware of the fact that the frail-looking young man that they are previously waiting for is already with them, walking just right behind Diluc with a hint of timidness apparent on his face. Threading the dark path that leads to the center area, the arena of this coliseum-like structure, Diluc eventually sees the light at the end of the tunnel getting bigger and bigger, eventually passing through the end of this tunnel and arriving at the arena, where they are met with all sorts of gazes, hostility, admiration, curiosity, and even some of them are bearing their disdain towards them. ''There really are all sorts of trees within a forest'' as they approaches the other participants, freshmen who are also vying for the chance to enter the Primaria Class, the two elven royalties already snaps out of their conversations about ghosts, thinking that this argument is silly and their current age is already something that is beyond discussions like this one. Their attentions then noticing the looks being given by fellow freshmen to them, thus causing the two of them, along with the emperor-like young man standing a bit ahead in front of them to think of these words all at the same time, the only one in their group not sharing the same thought being Michael who appears to be still stucked in his own thoughts. "Hey, wake up, you wouldn''t want to be eliminated so early in the trial right?" patting him on the back to snap him out of his thought, DIluc said to his roommate with a friendly tone that made the frail-looking young man jump back in surprise as he feels like someone is touching him, only becoming aware of the owner of the hand as he looks at Diluc''s face. Still panicking a bit, Michael nodded at Diluc''s words as he rushes to move his body away, trying his best to avoid physical contact with him from then on. Despite this though, he still acts really familiar with Diluc, just how he always treats him when the two of them are in their own room, like friends of a somewhat, polar opposite characteristics. "Okay... what do I need to do to pass this trial..." despite the often timidness of this young man though, he often shows and stands up when it is necessary for him to do so, just like this moment, showing how resolute he is through his eyes to help with this plan in whatever way he can just so that he can pull more of his own weights off rather than relying on his own team to carry him to the elimination rounds. Hearing the words from the frail-looking young man, along with the resolute expression apparent on his face, as well as the courage in his eyes, Diluc smiles as he thinks that the expression on this young man''s face is now of someone more worthy of being called a man rather than his previous demeanor, the complete change in attitude also surprising the two elven royalties quite a bit. Hence why the two took it upon themselves to start explaining the plan that they had crafted quite masterfully just by themselves, something that they nevertheless thought will not be possible had it not been for Diluc assisting them every now and then, their minds thinking that the young man appears to be merely helping them with their plan whenever there is an integral part that they need to deal with. "Alright students, pay attention here now, we are about to start the rapid elimination part of the trial in a few minutes..." interrupting their explanation of the plan happening within Diluc''s group, a male academy staff said with a smile on his face, appearing right in the middle of the arena before disappearing completely once he finishes his piece. Chapter 100 100: Rapid Elimination Round While Aria worries about a person whom she treats as her own sister due to the two of them being under the tutelage of the same master, the very same lady who requested for her asistance is now looking sternly at the event happening just right in front of them, the swathe of undead creatures growing more and more even despite the alliance''s best effort to curb their numbers with all sorts of attacks. What poses even more problem at that is the fact that not only does this enemy they have constantly forks out new units to replenish their previously destroyed ones, but for every time a new wave of undead appears, they seem to be stronger than the ones before them, almost as if there is someone commanding all those undeads, and whoever it is that is controlling them, are clearly toying with the alliance of neighboring kingdoms they have. Of course, while she, along with the other generals leading their specific army through this battle imagines this to be so, the thought is merely that, imagination, as they are well aware of what an undead legion with a commander on its helm is capable of, something that this undead wave fortunately isn''t able to pull off. "Tsk... they''re like pests..." looking at the repugnant decaying amalgamations of rotten flesh, blackened blood and yellowing bones approaching the vanguard of their army, that very same beauty that the principal of the Flammenherz Academy is worried about, said with a hint of annoyance apparent on her beautiful face, a wrath seemingly sprouting from the depth of her being as a violent glow starts shining from beneath her gem-like eyes. Seeing her soldiers'' hesitating stance as they look at the flood like mass of undeads in the distance, the beauty couldn''t help but shake her head in a bit of disappointment as she thought that after all the trainings drilled into them, they can, at the very least, conquer their fear of this kind of things, a wishful thinking on her part seeing that some of them even has the expression of someone having the idea to run away from a war. "My soldiers, steady your mind, don''t falter!! You all are the shield of the common people!! How the hell are those you''re supposed to protect will react if they heard of such cowardice within the battlefield!?" clenching her fist as she tries her best to stop herself from just directly eliminating those people who are already trying to think of ways to escape, the crown princess of the Flammenherz Kingdom, Alisha Beatrice Imperia, declares with all her might as she pulls out her blade once again, a smile of excitment gradually appearing on her face as crimson lightning starts cracking across her body once again. Not only does this extremely rare elemental affinity happily dances across her figure, the skies above her appears to be helping her triumph over this battle as well, the dark clouds appearing over the heavenly skies flashing with sharp lightning and rumbling with loud thunder, almost as if assisting her and aiding her strength. Before she starts her next wave of offensives against this seemingly immortal army that their enemy has, she takes one last look over the horizon, perticularly the direction where her beloved kingdom is supposed to be located, a smile of hope sprouting on her gorgeous face as she recalls the might of the reinforcement that will arrive any minute now. "If you can''t give them hell, hold up and live fighting against those undeads for just a while, a dragoness will assist us after a few more minutes!" boosting the morale as she raises her blade towards the skies, this crown princess declares causing not only her army, but also the ones that comes from other neighboring kingdom, to regain their vigor anew, a single word reversing the morale of the entire alliance and raising it into an all time high. After all, a draconian who are willing to assist them in this battle is just like saying that this is practically a win for them already, and the only thing that they need to do from now on is to survive this battle long enough so that they can witness the might of a dragon in battle. Hearing these words from the crown princess herself, her own army shouted in celebration as their fighting, and even killing intent starts exploding high up in the skies, a sight quite magnificent for anyone aware of what is happening to see. At the united shout of her people, the crown princess smiles as she swung the blade down, with the movement causing a massive crescent wave to explode forth, the cracking lightning from her mana clinging into this wave of unstoppable force and making it all the more lethal and terrifying. ---------- "You want to team up?" looking at the two elven beauties staring at him as well, Diluc said with a surprised expression on his face, wondering what these two ladies are talking about, planning something like this with him despite them supposedly being opponents when it comes to the entrance exam for the Primaria Class. "Just for the rapid elimination round... is that alright?" clarifying their intent as the emperor-like young man finishes his question, Alea said with a bit of hesitation tinting her belll-like voice. "Alea is right, Diluc, that round is practically a free for all, so I don''t think it will be a good idea for us to fight among ourselves in that round..." supporting the statement of her childhood friend, Alfia added an explanation, fully supporting the decision of the young elven princess to ask for the help of the emperor-like young man in front of them. This decision not only stems from her trust to the elven princess no matter what she do, but also from her own insight as she witnesses some of the young man''s combat power previously, and what she thinks is that only a fool will make an enemy out of the young man, in fact, she can even treat people who refuses to make a positive connection with him fools given the terrifying combat prowess that she had displayed from the sanctioned duel he has previously. "You know I can fend of for myself there right?" as he stares at the two elven royalties seemingly hell bent on creating an alliance with him during the first part of the trials for the Primaria Class, Diluc pointed out with a modest, confident smile on his face, causing the two elven beauties to sulk a bit as they know that this is the most vulnerable part of their plan. Of course, they already thought of a remedy to this, and remembering just how much this young man loves his treasures and precious materials, they know that if they want to secure cooperation from him, then they need to bleed out their pockets quite a bit. The bait is set, and they are already biting their lips to snap out of their hesitation and just go offer him treasures in exchange for what they want, however, before they can even speak, Diluc speaks once again, not even stating terms with them. "Well, the two of you are friends of mine now however, so I guess there''s no reason for me to deny it" As the words leave from the emperor-like young man''s mouth, the two elves who heard of this starts beaming with a smile on their faces, their sharp pointed, long ears subtly wiggling up and down as they heard of his acceptance of their proposal, said movement so miniscule that even Diluc himself probably wouldn''t notice had it not been for his senses being heightened by the techniques taught to him by Yggdrasil back then. "Throw in Michael as well I guess..." before he can forget, he mentioned this frail-looking roommate of him as well, remembering how intensely that young man is reading his books, books that are supposed to be for preparation for the upcoming trials for the Primaria Class. ''Gotta respect the hard work of that guy'' he thought to himself while the two elven ladies are looking at him with quite the curiosity in their eyes, clearly wanting to ask something, a thing that the young man notices given the peculiar gaze that they are giving him. "Just so you know, I love girls, even better, women, I don''t swing that way" he clarifies with an annoyed expression on his face, his words making the two elves sigh in relief. After this, the three of them starts planning for their course of action once the trials starts, talking about accounting for all sorts of things that can happen once the rapid elimination round starts, all while still enjoying the scrumptious breakfast that the academy prepared to serve the early rising students currenty occupying the cafeteria. Meanwhile, a bit away from their table, a group of youth, also freshmen like them, are looking at their direction with malice on their eyes, seemingly wanting nothing more than to strangle each and every person in their group to death. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 101 101: Show of Might As those students, not only freshmen, stares at the group, particularly at Diluc with such hostility in their eyes, the emperor-like young man starts paying attention to them now as well, thier hostile gaze not slipping past his sharp senses. "Make sure to deal with that bastard properly during the trials" one of the people from this hostile group said with a tone of malicious intent lacing his excited voice, completely unaware of the fact that the young man they are talking about is already paying attention to them as much, or even more than they already do to him. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "No problem, we only need a few minutes to finish this..." replying to the young man who just spoke, a feminine, teasing voice said as who seems to be the owner of this voice directed her attention towards the topic of their conversation, the fact that this target is not even looking at them making her think that this is going to be some easy benefits for them. "I believe that... especially since he defeated Reginald and his group, his ego should be quite bloated now since he managed to defeat one of the stronger group within the freshmen" the man who spoke previously added with a smile on his face as he reaches out his academy badge towards the lady who talked to him, an audible bell sound coming out of it as it touches the lady''s badge, as if it is signifying something. After the sound, the lady immediately checks the badge in her hand as she pours her mana into it, intricate signs appearing just on top of the badge, numbers and letters on it, and on one particular part of it, she saw something that just made her smile. Credits: 5,000 As new students, this lady and her group has yet to get their own share of academic credits that is used as currency within the academy, after all, it is only once their classes officially starts that they will receive their monthly issue for credit, and should they need to earn more, then they need to work for it, hard. Smiling as she looks at the upperclassman already preparing to leave, the lady reaches out her hand in an invitation to shake hand with him while she starts speaking once again. "This is more than we asked for, so I guarantee you that we will handle the job beautifully~" she added with the amiable smile on her face, something that is completely contrary to the sinister aura that is covering her entire being right now. "Then I''ll be expecting great results due to your promise..." the upperclassman said before bowing slightly at the group, the way this lady talked to him making him a bit surprised given their notoriety within the noble circle, especially the fact that they are rather aloof and cold to others. ''Is she attracted to me? Is it due to my connection? My power? Or possibly because of my standing in the academy? After all, not even our parents can intervene once we enter the academy'' the young man thought to himself, trying to think of reasons why this infamously aloof lady is treating him like this. The reason for this reaction from the lady though is not anything that could possibly be deduced by the young man, said reason being the fact that he added more fee in his payment, and this is something that the lady truly values. Of course, he would never hear of it especially since this is a one time deal with them, knowing that the target he wants to deal with is something that will be dispatched by this lady and her group the moment that the trials for the Primaria Class starts. As their client moves out from the cafeteria, the lady, who appears to be the leader of this group, observes the emperor-like young man once again, and even she, who considers herself qute the money oriented woman couldn''t help but feel stunned for a few moments as she takes in the appeal of the young man just a few meters away from them. ''You might be able to deal with Reginald and his group previously, but given your skills... you''re a bad matchup for us, DIluc...'' she thought to herself while thinking of methods on how they can break this young man, something that she just instinctively knows will be a good time for her. While this little exchange between the man who wants a dirty job done and his contractor for it proceeds like it''s no one elses business, Diluc is now starting to deduce all sorts of things, things that are running in his mind right now. ''That man is definitely not a freshman, if he is, he should''vce been able to find his own group already...'' the emperor-like young man thought to himself as his senses follows this young man for a while before he returns to himself,thinking of possible culprit for this scheme against him. ''While I know who the general target is, I won''t be able to move properly if they just keep sending more and more person like that to me...'' as he thinks of how powerful this enemy of his now, he, despite all the despiter in the surrounding, just can''t stop himself from making his remarks. ''That problem is the only thing that mum and pops left for me except for the good lessons in life...'' he joked as he feels quite annoyed with all of this, thinking that should someone has a problem with him, they should just come to him up front. In regards with this, he likes Reginald more than this conniving bastard that schemes and uses others, not to mention underclassmen, as a way to deal with him, since even if Reginald doesn''t really fight fair and makes all sorts of cheating just to increase his odds of winning against him, he still decided to confront him face to face rather than resorting to all sorts of hidden schemes. ''If that was any other guy, I guess they can just wait helplessly for that attack to happen, unfortunately for that arrogant beanstalk brain...'' while thinking of ways to deal with this matter without having the two elven royalties involved, the emperor like young man smiles to himself since he already knew the face of that young man, and he only need to confirm his identity now in order to start dealing with him. ''Times like this really makes the sanctioned duel system really useful...'' he thought to himself with a devilish smile on his face, a smile that made the two elven beauties wonder just what is it that is occupying his mind right now. "Erm.. Diluc..." As they continue wondering about the thing this friend of theirs is thinking about, the elven princess can no longer keep her curiosity to herself, voicing her thoughts after clearing her throat, calling his name. Hearing his name from Alea, Diluc snaps out of his thoughts, the smile on his face changing from the devilish one to an amiable one, causing the ladies to wonder about what he is thinking even more. Meanwhile, Diluc, no longer thinking about these things for now, is currently staring back at the two elven ladies looking at him with curiosity mixed with confusion on apparent on their eyes, their gazes causing him to utter his next words. "Is there anything you two want to ask more about the plan?" still having the same approachable smile displayed on his face, the emperor-like young man asked, prompting the two ladies to shake their heads as they already commited their plans in their head, they are geniuses of the highest caliber after all, hence it is only normal for them to have memory far greater than what any normal person can ever achieve. "Then let''s do our best and good luck in the trials" seeing the heads of both Alea and Alfia shaking in response to his question, Diluc then said as he raised the glass of still warm milk in his glass, prompting the ladies to follow suit as they raised a similar drink as him. "Though I doubt you would even need something like luck in this trial, Diluc..." Alea added with a wry smile on her face as she recalls just how crazy this young man''s combat power is, something that she has never seen, or even just heard of outside the academy. "Alea is right Diluc, since luck will not really be useful for you in the trial, why don''t you just rub off some of your luck to us?" Alfia added with a cheeky smile on her face as they continues to eat, a face that she will definitely never reveal to anyone except her closest family otherwise. ''If I tell them how much my luck played part in me reaching my current strength, how will they react?'' Diluc couldn''t help but wonder this question to himself, of course, this is only something theoretical, something that he will only do if the situation truly deems neccessary for him to do so. Chapter 102 102: Overwhelming After some more mundane talks among the three of them, Diluc along with the two elven royalties finally finishes having their meal, them standing up from their seat causing the attention of other students previously minding their own business to direct their attention to the three of them, a mixture of emotions being directed to them, most of them jealousy directed to either the two ladies or the emperor-like young man. While the majority of the students are looking at the three of them with some sort of negative emotion welling up from them, there are also some outliers who couldn''t help but look at them with admiration in their gazes, fire burning on those people''s eyes as if the people they are looking at, particularly the emperor-like young man, is a symbol of hope to them. Those idolizing gazes are particularly intense on the commoner freshmen groups gathering around, thinking that Diluc might be the one that those who are not blessed with luck like them can think of as a representative, after all, they thought that he is just a commoner just like them, thinking that he is also lacking a contracted beast and all. If they only know the reason why he couldn''t bring his "contracted beast" out in the open, most, if not all of these students will just collapse in the ground due to sheer terror from the fact that who could possibly be the strongest among the freshmen in terms of individual combat power has divine-like beings as his "contracted beasts". Of course, as much of a surprising piece of information this is, no one, not even the two elven beauties currently walking alongside Diluc, not even the strongest, most powerful expert within the academy, Aria, is aware of this news, nor will they be aware of this fact for a definite amount of time. "Come to think of it, just how long will the rapid elimination round will go for?" as the three of them starts walking towards the direction of the arena that the Primaria Class selection trials will be held in, Diluc inquired, wondering how many people he needs to deal with. ''Forget about other students first, I need to deal with that all female group...'' remembering the life signature, as well as the appearance of the group that receives some sort of commission from the upperclassman scheming against him, planning to make it so that they will remember it for the rest of their lives, so as for them not to bother him again. ''Pity I can''t really dispatch someone in the academy...'' he added to himself as he recalls just how powerful the staffs of the academy are, and rather than betting on the chance of him not being caught by anyone should he deal with the group scheming against him, he thinks it would be better to just teach them a harsh lesson for trying to mess with him. "There are over two hundred freshmen students vying for a place in the Primaria Class, and there are only thirty or so spots for us..." hearing the question, the young elven duchess replies as she moves one of her hands towards her chin, acting as if she''s pondering upon the question. This pondering however, is proven to be just an act of her as the elven princess continues her words, explaining the deeper specification of the trials, how long will it be, and what is the requirement for them to reach the second part of the trials, the one on one duel matches. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Some elven upperclassmen told us that the rapid elimination round will go on until there are only sixty four students left, in which the one on one duel matches will start..." the elven princess added with a smile on her face, secretly praising in her mind the benefits of being a princess, with their fellow elves giving her informations that is considerably important to them for practically free. "We also heard that the matching system of the one on one round will be based on the ranking of the students from the rapid elimination round, and the basis of the ranking will be the number of fellow freshmen that a student eliminates in the first round" After seeing that the elven princess no longer has any plans on continuing her explanations, the young elven duchess, Alfia, added as she continues to walk towards their destination, even moving faster than both Alea and Diluc as if she couldn''t wait to reach the arena the trials will be held in anymore. "This is it, we''re here, the Alpharion Arena..." pointing at the massive ancient-looking structure towering just a few more meters in front of them Alea starts introducing before she follows suit on what her childhood friend along with her new friend is doing, the three couldn''t help but think that the academy really has some crazy power, not only in terms of martial might but also in terms of thier connections, after all, maintaining this kind of ancient place requires a huge amount of financial, as well as physical support. "I heard that this place is even older than the academy itself..." adding to the words of the elven princess, Alfia starts telling facts that other would rarely know about, the only reason for her knowing about this is the fact that her mother is quite familiar with this place, telling her stories about this arena from time to time. While it might not be that believable to others that this structure stands even older than the academy it is contained in, Diluc doesn''t really find it all too surprising since his father, and even his mother as well are also former students of this academy, and the two of them are aslo aware of the ancient history regarding this place. Remembering his parents due to this, the emperor-like young man couldn''t help but have his mood shift into some melancholy with a mix of anger and frustration, his hand starting to clench into a fist with his emotion increasing every second, fortunately being snapped out of this dangerous state as he hears the voice of the elven princess speaking to him once again. "You''re planning on adding that Michael to the plan right? Can you contact him now? It will be more advantageous to us to go there at the same time and gather around each other..." looking at the massive, circular, archaic, coliseum-like arena that spans several dozens of meters in terms of its radius, Alea reminded while her head looks up nearly as high as the sky, the sheer grandeur of this seemingly ancient building something that she just couldn;t help but admire. It has to be reminded that they, as elves, do have a greater sense for aesthetic than any other race, and along with that sense is their standards of beauty being higher, so for someone like her, who is even a royalty among the already sophisticated elves, to praise a building even if it is just in her mind, already speaks so much of the structure''s beauty. "I reminded him before I go out to eat, he should be arriving anytime now" replying to the remarks of the elven princess, Diluc said with the trace of his unconcealable confidence lacing his voice, a thing that made him quite fatally attractive not only to the draconic beauties residing within the Draconic Realm but also to even just practically any woman as well. Of course, while it is a fairly powerful charm, it doesn''t really affect someone who has strong mental power, especially since this is just an unconscious nature to him rather than a technique used for charming people, but it doesn''t stop from making his words sound more trustworthy than normal. Hence wait for the frail-looking Michael the three of them did outside the massive coliseum, and while the three of them are waiting, the emperor-like young man himself starts seeing message appearing from the floating gray screen, a prompt that he had never seen before being displayed. Despite the message being unfamiliar to him though, he couldn''t help but smile as he starts to read it, thinking of this new message as nothing but a blessing that suddenly falls down on his lap from the heavens, a reward possibly even greater than what he can do when he finished the mission related to his entry to the Primaria Class. [Detected a thing that resonates with the user of the Dragon Herding System] [An archaic and ancient pressure is subtly being emitted by the place near you, please tread the place with caution] [Detected the fighting spirit of ancient warriors and geniuses rising within the midst of this building...] [The fighting spirit of the ancients are being directed to you... you are being welcomed to go within the place they currently reside] [The fighting spirit of the ancients stimulates your own fighting spirit as well, due to this, a temporary mission slot will be granted in order to issue an important mission to you] [New mission created: Unbending Will] Chapter 103 103: Dont Unlock First [The fighting spirit of the ancients stimulates your own fighting spirit as well, due to this, a temporary mission slot will be granted in order to issue an important mission to you] [New mission created: Unbending Will] [Unbending Will (Temporary Mission, Extreme Difficulty, One-day time limit)] [Description: The ancient remnants of past warriors gathers upon this archaic, old place, waiting for someone who can represent their will, waiting for a champion that can bring back their legacy from their eternal rest. As the Ruler of the Draconic Realm, you are more than worthy enough of being the champion to inherit the legacy of all these powerful deceased warriors. Show them the might and talent of the Ruler of the Draconic Realm and prove the choice of selecting you right] [Reward: Depending on the number of the ancient spirits that you stimulated and managed to get the respect of, a certain amount of reward shall be given to you, with the minimum reward being the legacy of the ancient spirit/s that you managed to earn the respect of.] [Note: For every nine ancient spirit that you earned the respect of, the system will provide an additional reward, ranging from Realm Gold to chances to acquire a new draconic egg] Reading the information of this new mission the Dragon Herding System has issued to him, Diluc couldn''t help but form a smiling expression on his face as while the rewards for it are somewhat vague in comparison to the definitive rewards he can acquire should he accomplish the two other missions before this one, the fact that the additional reward alone gives him a chance to acquire new dragon egg made him quite excited, causing him to start inquiring more about the details of the mission. ''How many ancient spirits are in this place anyways?'' he starts asking as he wonders just how many of that additional rewards he can possibly get, the answer from the Dragon Herding System surprising him quite a bit as he thought that questions like this, being related to the mission, will not be answered by the system. [There are one-hundred and eight ancient spirits observing not only you, but also all the other people near the place, but their attentions are mostly on you for now] ''I thought the system will never answer questions regarding the mission being issued?'' reading the information pasted upon the floating gray screen just right in front of him, Diluc asks in curiosity, the floating gray screen disappearing and being replaced by another one, the answer to his new query appearing on it. [The Dragon Herding System will only deny you of the answers that can possibly solve the missions issued to you, this question doesn''t affect the mission, or even if it does affect it, it is only in the slightest, negligible amount] ''If you say so...'' the emperor-like young man said with a hint of dismissiveness in his tone, thinking that there''s no real reason for the Dragon Herding System to lie to him on something like this, causing him to not think of this matter any further. "They say there are a lot of talented people who died in this place, geniuses defeated on life and death duel, great adventurers, martial artists and mages famous all throughout the lands not to mention those monstrous experts who just wants to have their final moments in life spent on teaching youngsters who often populates this place..." seemingly well versed on the history of this place despite it not being a part of their Elven Kingdom, Alea said with confidence in her words, clearly knowing what she is talking about, her words making her childhood friend nod at her as well. "Not only that, rumors has it that the ghosts, remnant thoughts of these powerhouses remains even after their death, which gives the place the eerie vibes, even though anyone can learn anything faster here as well..." the cheeky young elven duchess added to the fact a rumor that is often heared from others within the academy, of course, the only rumor part of her words is the thing about the remnants of the powerhouses from the past, as this place really do give eerie vibes despite the assistance it provides the students and even academy staffs in terms of learning anything regarding cultivation. "Alfia, you really believe in that ghost tales?" while looking at this childhood friend of hers, Alea said while shaking her adorable head, helplessly smiling as she couldn''t believe that her friend will be shameless enough to tell the young man walking with them the tell tales she would often hear from other''s mouth. "You think they''re not real, Alea? How would you explain the eerie vibes we are often getting whenever we passes through this place then?" the young elven duchess retorted while pointing at the Alpharion Arena just a few meters in front of them, the fact that this structure looks really old does give her argument quite the strong point. "Come on, that can clearly be explained by..." as she decided that she shouldn''t really lose at this argument, thinking that her childhood friend is already way too old to believe in ghosts of the dead, Alea starts stating feasible explanations that she can think of, oftentimes making the young elven duchess to nearly fall and believe her words. This thing then caused the two of them to friendly argue as the emperor-like young man already starts leading them inside the place, the two of them completely unaware of the fact that the frail-looking young man that they are previously waiting for is already with them, walking just right behind Diluc with a hint of timidness apparent on his face. Threading the dark path that leads to the center area, the arena of this coliseum-like structure, Diluc eventually sees the light at the end of the tunnel getting bigger and bigger, eventually passing through the end of this tunnel and arriving at the arena, where they are met with all sorts of gazes, hostility, admiration, curiosity, and even some of them are bearing their disdain towards them. ''There really are all sorts of trees within a forest'' as they approaches the other participants, freshmen who are also vying for the chance to enter the Primaria Class, the two elven royalties already snaps out of their conversations about ghosts, thinking that this argument is silly and their current age is already something that is beyond discussions like this one. Their attentions then noticing the looks being given by fellow freshmen to them, thus causing the two of them, along with the emperor-like young man standing a bit ahead in front of them to think of these words all at the same time, the only one in their group not sharing the same thought being Michael who appears to be still stucked in his own thoughts. "Hey, wake up, you wouldn''t want to be eliminated so early in the trial right?" patting him on the back to snap him out of his thought, DIluc said to his roommate with a friendly tone that made the frail-looking young man jump back in surprise as he feels like someone is touching him, only becoming aware of the owner of the hand as he looks at Diluc''s face. Still panicking a bit, Michael nodded at Diluc''s words as he rushes to move his body away, trying his best to avoid physical contact with him from then on. Despite this though, he still acts really familiar with Diluc, just how he always treats him when the two of them are in their own room, like friends of a somewhat, polar opposite characteristics. "Okay... what do I need to do to pass this trial..." despite the often timidness of this young man though, he often shows and stands up when it is necessary for him to do so, just like this moment, showing how resolute he is through his eyes to help with this plan in whatever way he can just so that he can pull more of his own weights off rather than relying on his own team to carry him to the elimination rounds. Hearing the words from the frail-looking young man, along with the resolute expression apparent on his face, as well as the courage in his eyes, Diluc smiles as he thinks that the expression on this young man''s face is now of someone more worthy of being called a man rather than his previous demeanor, the complete change in attitude also surprising the two elven royalties quite a bit. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Hence why the two took it upon themselves to start explaining the plan that they had crafted quite masterfully just by themselves, something that they nevertheless thought will not be possible had it not been for Diluc assisting them every now and then, their minds thinking that the young man appears to be merely helping them with their plan whenever there is an integral part that they need to deal with. "Alright students, pay attention here now, we are about to start the rapid elimination part of the trial in a few minutes..." interrupting their explanation of the plan happening within Diluc''s group, a male academy staff said with a smile on his face, appearing right in the middle of the arena before disappearing completely once he finishes his piece. Chapter 104 104: Difference Between Individuals "Alright students, pay attention here now, we are about to start the rapid elimination part of the trial in a few minutes..." Hearing the words of the academy staff, the freshmen students starts perking up as all of a sudden, they felt the heaviness of the matter bearing down on them, the fact that they are about to compete for supremacy in their own grade level making nearly all of them shake, some from excitement, some from nervousness, and some for other more perverse reason. Despite the majority of the freshmen acting like this though, there are some who appears to be unaffected by the thing they just heard from the academy''s staff, acting as if this major event for fellow freshmen of theirs is just nothing in their eyes. Of course, among those nonchalant enough to act like that, mostly, are the collections of the greatest geniuses among the freshmen, people who are literally a cut above the rest not only in terms of their talents, but also their actual combat prowess, and as for the rest of the people who can act like this, they are mostly ones who either thinks too highly of themselves or too lowly of their opponents. "I heard that there are quite a lot of monsters in our year level..." "Yeah no shit, haven''t you seen that duel yesterday?" "Those guys are outliers, we can''t really compare ourselves to them" "That means they have guaranteed spots for that Primaria Class already" "Unless of course...." With a considerably plenty people looking at the group of two young men and two ladies comfortably talking among themselves, the supposed leader of this group couldn''t help but notice the gazes landing upon them, making him turn around to see whoever it is that is the source of these gazes. Of course, knowing what sort of trouble this emperor-like young man is, those people who are just observing and talking about him instantly averted their gazes away from him the moment that they thought he would turn his eyes towards them. "Hey, Diluc, you wanna deal with them later in the arena?" pointing at the gigantic arena right in the middle of the structure, the young elven duchess said with the warmest smile on her face, something that any men of any age will decide worthy of dying for had it not been for the sharp, violent glint of light coming from the depth of her eyes. "No need to stress too much on those things, we''ll deal with them as we go" looking at the two elven beauties waiting for his reply, the emperor-like young man then answered while shrugging his shoulders in response. "He''s right, Alfia, we might as well conserve as much energy as we can if fellow freshmen will not attack us" the elven princess added with a nod of affirmation to the words of the young man, the two of them having their gazes moving on each other, the young man nodding at her with a smile causing the elven princess to avert her gaze from him. "T-the plan is good already, we can stick with it..." looking a bit timidly towards the two elven royalties, the frail-looking Michael pointed out a bit shakingly, his words a bit more comfortable than how he usually is whenever he is talking with anybody else, a thing that Diluc notices as well. Hearing a large trace of decisiveness and firmness on his voice though, Diluc couldn''t help but nod to himself as he felt like he is, in one way or another, manages to influence this usually meek and timid young man to express his own thoughts. With that, the four of them runs the plan on their minds again, thinking of possible strategies or techniques that they had missed, with their leader even jokingly saying something that outsiders will believe as utterly ridiculous rambling of a deranged. "What if I just push everyone out and the four of us remains?" muttering to himself, Diluc unknowingly made the three feel quite threatened with his suggestions, not because they fear that the young man will throw them out as well, but rather they are threatened thinking of just what sort of thing the young man will do to push out all masters of magic and martial art the same age as them, with apparently the ''same'' talent as them. Despite this crazy suggestion being off the table for Diluc''s group though, this also starts the spark of ideas in the head of some of his group, some even being interesting enough that they even managed to integrate them into their plans. And with that, talking among themselves waiting for a few more minutes, the time passes by quickly, with the very same male academy staff appearing right in front of the crowd with a presentable uniform of the academy. "All right children, listen up because this uncle will only say it once..." the man said as loud as he can, pulling towards him the attention of those students who has yet to stop talking among themselves, said students feeling quite surprised the moment that they heard the thunderous, shouting voice of the man, almost as if they are in the military rather than the academy. "First and foremost, no killing shall happen within the arena, and any remote attempt of doing so will be punishable by suspension at least, and expulsion at most" "Second, just like what the principal said just yesterday, students are allowed to use any normal weapon they want, but other than that, any sort of supplementaries shall be banned, pills and magic weapons included, of course, if you can craft it yourself within the confines of the competition, then we are not going to prevent you from using them during a fight" "And lastly, observe respect for each other for goodness sake!!! we are educated people, and you are geniuses who managed to enter, or even surpass the standards of the academy, so for the good of everyone, I hope that you all be a bit more responsible compared to the classes who had come before yours" As the academy staff said such words, the students couldn''t help but smile to themselves as they knew that at the very least, they are not going to die in a competition meant to discover who are the people who are meant to be on the Primaria Class, and this liberation from the grasp of death alone makes most of the shaking students feel a bit safe once again, allowing them to gain some of their confidence back in order to prepare for that match-up. For those who had quite the confidence in their talents though, they just smile before shrugging off this rules, thinking to themselves that even with other people ganging up on them, there won''t be any problem dealing with them since the disparity between strength is quite the significant, or rather, large amount. "Alright, so much of the mundane things... I am here today because the principal is currently busy dealing with things that her martial sister request her of..." remembering the white haired, horned beauty and how she looks whenever she fights with practically anyone, the academy staff couldn''t help but shiver a bit as the image of her fighting in a bloody battlefield appears in his mind, something about her just scaring the living hell out of weak willed people. Fortunately for him, he''s a cut above the rest, hence he is just often scared a lot whenever he encounters the principal in that state, a thing that is really quite rare for a staff of his level. "Now, I heard from her that she''s finished with the thing she is currently dealing with and about to return to the academy, please look forward to her arrival" the academy staff then said with a forced smile on his face, thinking of completely different things compared to what he is talking about. ''Please don''t come back too early you might ruin the selection for the Primaria Class again...'' the academy staff thought to himself as he recalls how the principal joins in on the fun whenever she laid her eyes upon interesting students, and with her being the one with the biggest say within the academy, they can do nothing to stop her from doing whatever she wants, even if that includes ''sparring'' with a young talent that enters her eyes. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And of course, due to this, the task of cleaning up and dealing with the consequences of her actions is something that falls completely into the hands of staffs like them, meaning that double the work for them. ''It''s not like I can complain, she increases the pay of those who works harder so she''s clearly someone who appreciates us, its just her antics...'' thinking of this, the academy staff stops before he can think of something related to this any further out of fear for the principal, composing himself before he starts announcing the start of the Primaria Class''s student selection. Chapter 105 105: Stronger Than You Atleast "Students, particularly the ones who are currently standing in the arena..." as the academy staff finishes clearing his throat, he once again steals the attention of everyone with his thundering voice spreading all across the entirety of the Alpharion Arena, the eyes of the freshmen in particular being more focused on him more than to anything else. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Once again, we welcome you into the Flammenherz Academy and do your best when this trial starts" the man said as he waved his hands, the arena underneath the young freshmen, whether they are men or women, starts changing form as some places rise while some falls, the once flat arena transforming into an impressive landscape of tall, heaven-scraping spires with at least one student on each of them, while some of the remaining students stands just slightly above the previous flat grounds. "Just a bit of a reminder to everyone, the spires will eventually go lower and lower as time goes by, and once you fall into the ground, you will be eliminated, so do everything you can to prevent yourself from doing so" as a last reminder to the freshmen, the academy staff said with a clearly taunting smile on his face as he looks at the ones who are unfortunate enough to get the lower level places compared to the others. One among the people who are unfortunate enough to receive such place is Diluc, who is currently looking up to the skies, with the area around him being blocked from the light of the sun by the other spires reaching the skies. "Even the goddess of luck seems to think that my life had been going way too easy lately..." mocking himself with a wry smile on his face, the emperor-like young man muttered as he starts channeling the fire elemental mana out from his core to his legs, intending to create an explosion with this that will help him in rising up from his current spot. Meanwhile, on other higher spires, there are students who are raised on one spire with other fellow freshmen, each of those places having students who has different kind of expressions on their faces, some filled with vigilance, while the remaining others filled with relief. Those who are filled with vigilance are the ones who are not a single bit familiar with the fellow freshmen they are sharing their location with, while those that are filled with relief are the ones who are mostly familiar with each other already. "That''s a nice change from the usual Primaria Class trials..." "Well, the principal is someone who really likes changes like this after all" "Who do you think will enter the one on one duels though?" As the older students watches the trials, they start discussing among themselves, speculating the strength of the new students who replaces the one that already graduates, most of them wondering who could possibly the most impressive among all of this new addition in the academy. While some of them do have the opinion of the one placing first in the entrance exams being the one who will come out on top of this trials, there are also a lot of other opinions in the crowd, something that is normal within the academy as those of the older years, particularly the senior students, has already seen their fair share of top entrance exam students who failed to even just claim a spot for the Primaria Class. "Will that guy be different from that disgrace of that generation?" "Who knows, but if he wants to be different from that one, he needs to work himself quite a bit since he''s already in a disadvantageous position to begin with" "Hahaha!! no need to speculate too much about all this things... if he''s really as impressive as the entrance exams shows, then he''s bound to shine whatever he do in this trial" While the discussion among the older students continues, they also start thinking of ways to deal with opponents should they become the one on the shoes of these young freshmen, most of them thinking that those who managed to get grouped with other people in a single spire, particularly those on the higher ones, are quite lucky, since they can team up to defend themselves from attackers That is of course, only if they can trust each other with their backs, something really hard especially for those who barely knows each other since all of the students knows that eliminating one fellow freshman means that they are a single step closer to being a part of the greatest class of their year, an opportunity that not a single one of them, even the pompous noble and even royal children, will refuse to just let past their way. "Hey, he''s moving!!!" "What... what sort of magic is that?!" "You ask me, who the hell do you think should I ask then?" Looking at the emperor-like young man soaring from his previous position with an absurd speed, the onlookers couldn''t help but feel a bit overwhelmed as they never expected that someone will immediately show something so flashy just from the start of the trials, with the flames continuously exploding from the young man''s feet pushing him up from the ground. ''Need to regulate it with some more wind elemental mana... yes, I also need to conceal that with some flame elemental mana...'' while the spectators, as well as some particularly leisure participants watches the young man soaring from his previous position, the emperor-like young man himself is quite focused with controlling the fire elemental mana as a propulsion, his mind adapting to the ever so miniscule changes that is happening within the spell he is currently casting using wind and fire element at the same time, while also simultaneously creating mana circle in order to deceive the vision of the people watching. Looking at Diluc immediately pulling everyone''s attention on him the moment that the trial starts, his three companions previously just standing with him couldn''t help but start shaking their heads as the previous plan of theirs will definitely fall apart due to the sudden changes of the expected terrain they are supposed to fight on, from the previous completely flat, balanced arena to this mess of a place where they can barely stand properly. "He''s definitely going to pull the aggresion on him with that spell..." one of Diluc''s companion, the usually cheeky, young elven duchess said with a hint of anticipation on her face as she starts wondering just what kind of chaos will the emperor-like young man bring the moment that other genius freshmen takes notice of him. Whatever kind of havoc he will wreak though, she knows for sure that it will be large enough for her to enjoy, and possibly even join when opportunity presents itself. "W-why is that, Miss Alfia?" standing on the same spire as her asking her question is a frail, timid-looking young man who appears to be of quite the smaller frame compared to the usual men of his age, his figure making the young elven duchess wonder whether he really is a man. Realizing the naivete of this young man, Alfia shakes her head for a bit before she starts explaining the reason why she said those words, starting with lifting up one of her fair hands and pointing towards spires with lower elevation than them, a particular one with a freshman holding a shining speak directly aimed at the ascending Diluc. "See those people over there, they are aiming directly for our mister number one examinee" the young elven duchess starts explaining, her words prompting the young man to follow her pointing finger, seeing the person who is aiming for who he considers a friend, such hostility making him curious of the reason as he knows that there is nothing that Diluc did to trigger the ire of that young man. "Why is he..." still extremely curious to the reason of this action, Michael didn''t even managed to finish his question before Alfia starts explaining once again, the answer to his questions being addressed by her next words. "I don''t know what sort of innocent and carefree life you lived before entering this academy nor do I want to know, but there are people who are born and act that way just because they are, little mister, and one of those people is that guy over there, trying to take our Diluc down just because he think he can, for the sake of glory or fame, I don''t really care..." As she explains to the timid young man, the elven duchess'' face starts forming an amused smile as she lets out a soft snort while trying to hold her laughter back after seeing the expression on the emperor-like young man''s face. "Looks like we don''t really need to worry about him though..." she added finally with a mysterious glow from beneath her eyes directed towards Diluc, said young man clearly moving on the offensives as not one or two, but three large magic circles appears around him, gathering fire elemental mana from the surrounding in a terrfying speed. Chapter 106 106: Principals Suspicions Seeing that there are a lot of ill intent targeted towards him, Diluc smiles in mockery as he never expected that even despite showing what he can do during that orchestrated duel between him and that pompous noble guy, there will still be people who are willing to target him during the open elimination round so willy-nilly, making him wonder just what is it that they took that gave them the guts to do just that. Looking at the spear bearing man who appears to be hesitating now as well, the emperor-like young man smiles as he reaches out his arms towards the direction of his aggressor, pointing his index finger at him as one of the magic circles rapidly spun, giving life to a roaring ball of inextinguishable flame that burns the surroundings bright red. The caster of the spell, clearly the sole person closest to the vicinity of this spell however, does not even feel a single hint of heat within his surroundings, a thin layer of invisible barrier coating the entirety of his body, seemingly repulsing every thing that comes in contact with it. ''I could just use the [Draconic Scale] skill to resist this heat, but that will expose a lot of my cards¡­'' Diluc thought to himself as he looks at the thin veil of wind elemental mana protecting him from the heat, its appearance so obscure and inconspicuous that people with far higher level than him couldn''t even begin to notice traces of this spell. While thinking about how good of a thing direct manipulation of mana brought to him, he then directs his focus towards the spear-bearing young man once again, deciding to deal with him first as he''s the one closest to him, before dealing with the other aggressors who''s clearly amateur in hiding their intent, targeting him from the far distance. Unsurprisingly, as he ascends closer and closer to the young man, the young man clenches his fist before swinging his spear wielding arms, the trajectory of the relatively large spear heading directly towards the approaching Diluc, the attacking young man hoping that this monster of a mage gets impaled with his spear so that he can maintain his place. Unfortunately for him though, out of all the possible people he could attack, he just attacked the one who is really familiar with projectile attacks the most, having used a specific, overwhelmingly powerful skill he acquired from his second dragon. [Rain of Swords] [Description: A skill unique to the Prime Dragon of Creation, albeit being called Rain of Swords, the skill is capable of manifesting all sorts of weapons and figures with the command of the user and direct the manifested objects towards a specific area and bombard the entire area with them, the number of things, its size as well as its quality depends completely on the dragon''s mana control ability] ''Though, I can''t really use that now, can I?'' Looking at the floating gray screen just on the right side of his vision, the emperor-like young man smiles helplessly as he knows that he can''t really show much of his abilities yet, and the fact alone that he has all these overwhelming abilities despite just using a ''single'' element is already threading on thin ice for him who doesn''t want his enemies to figure out how much actual strength and power he has yet. "You should''ve just kept your spear to yourself¡­" He mutters as he waves one of his hands, the fire gathering from the magic circle he conjured starting to compress, turning from the previous, bright, vigorous red to a shade of a calm, chilling blue, shrinking into the size of a couple of fists before escaping out of the magic circle, rushing to meet the spear heading towards him. "H¡­hey¡­ that is¡­" "Compression? What a monster¡­" "Fucking young kids nowadays just doing what we take decades to master¡­" "Worthy of the first placer for this year of students¡­" Looking at the pale chilling blue, not only the older students, but also the academy staff that are watching to enforce the rules and ensure the safety of the students were filled with disbelief in their eyes, wondering how can such a young man master an advance level magic technique that bothers even the elites among the elites within mage community. Meanwhile, the freshmen, who are clearly not aware of this yet, are thinking nothing of the pale blue flame rushing to meet the spear gradually approaching the emperor-like young man, a car indication that they had yet to become aware of what this change of the fire''s property means. Even the young man who attacks the ascending Diluc, a young man who is a son of a high ranking noble within the capital, doesn''t really understand the significance of the thing that the emperor-like young man did, this attack from his opponent making him smile maniacally as he never expected that the person who got the first place of the entrance exam will make a mistake like that. As much as him, along with some other freshmen think that it is a mistake to attack a spear travelling at such fast speed, creating a barrier of air pressure around it, with a ball of fire, not to mention a small one, some other smarter freshmen doubt that the one who defeated one of the strongest freshmen, Reginald, along with his group, will make such a rookie mistake like this, making them wonder just what is it that the young man is planning. There is no plan however, as in front of absolute strength, all sorts of farce and tricks are meaningless, a passage proven time and time again and will once again, be proven by Diluc''s attack, now coming into contact with the spear. No fancy, flashy show where the spear and the sphere of blue chilling fire comes into contact, no explosions, there''s not even a sound of the spear shattering into pieces of the fire being extinguished into nothing, nothing at all, making the weaker, far less observant people to wonder what happened before they recognize the ball of blue flame continuing on its path. While the offending young man might not be that good of a talent when it comes to picking who to fight against, he is, definitely talented when it comes to sensing attacks that will put him into a large amount of danger, and out of sheer terror from the pale blue flame leisurely approaching the spire he is travelling in a leisure pace, he decided to jump down despite not seeing any spire that he can safely land on, causing him to fall on the rising ground, eliminating him from the competition altogether. As the ball of fire comes into contact with the spire that the spear wielding young man was standing on previously, everyone is engulfed in even more terror as they saw the fire, previously compressed into such a small size, once again expands instantaneously the moment it comes into contact with the earth, engulfing the entirety of the spire in the process, scorching the surface layer and melting the spire into a completely different shape altogether. Watching the spell''s effect, now not only the students, but also the academy staffs are baffled by just how dangerous this spell is, something that will probably get that spear wielding young noble into a lot of pain had he decided to stand his ground and defend the spire he was standing on. "The spear¡­" "That kid¡­ what a monster¡­" "Forget about the spell, see what he did to that earth spire?" "What the hell does he even need to go to the academy for¡­" "At this rate, he should''ve been directly studying under the principal¡­" "Yeah¡­ monsters like them should be grouped together¡­" While the students watching the event are still struggling to comprehend what just happened, making them fall into silence, the academy staff already recovered their bearing, starting to discuss as they look at Diluc still keeping the fire elemental spell propelling him up, most of them having their eyes glowing in excitement and anticipation at the fact that a new genius appears in the academy. "My¡­ I wonder who our dear staffs are calling monsters~~?" While discussing how much of a monster Diluc is, the academy staff, along with the professors and instructors watching along with them, starts feeling shivers running not only down their spine but all the way through their entire body as they heard an elegant, yet cold sounding feminine voice, with a hint of childish youthfulness instilled on them, weirdly, yet fittingly mixed with an undisguisable malice towards them. "P-principal, we didn''t mean it like that¡­" ''I thought she was supposed to be in the borders right now!?'' One of the instructors who agreed to the one who claimed that both the emperor-like young man within the arena and the white-haired, horned beauty that is the principal, are both monsters, said with his voice shaking from sheer terror, trying to be as subtle as possible as he turns his head around to confirm whether their nightmare really came back from the borders just like that. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 107 107: The Aftermath of Arias Attack One of the instructors who agreed to the one who claimed that both the emperor-like young man within the arena and the white-haired, horned beauty that is the principal, are both monsters, said with his voice shaking from sheer terror, trying to be as subtle as possible as he turns his head around to confirm whether their nightmare really came back from the borders just like that. "He''s a good kid, isn''t he? That ''monster'' you all are talking about¡­" not even alarming anyone until her voice first resounded across the area where the academy staff the white-haired, horned principal walks across the room with the bit of malice seemingly dissipating away from her very self, making the perceptive staffs of the academy sigh in relief, as they thought that they might just get away from an apparent beating from the violent maniac. "Y-yes, principal, he''s showing great promise¡­" having everyone in the room looking at him and practically just forcing him to speak up and reply to the white-haired beauty, the instructor who grouped the emperor-like Diluc and the seemingly cold-blooded, violent Aria replied, his voice a bit shaking from the fear of saying just one wrong thing that might set the volatile principal into fury again. "Say, everyone¡­" before the instructor could even finish the words coming out of his mouth, Aria then continues to walk until she eventually found a seat for her to take, located right in the middlemost part of this room, a seat seemingly taking her lacking stature into account, with the view within the arena clearly visible for her eyes to see. With her words still hanging in the air waiting to be finished, the air around this room once again had gone stale, the instructors, along with the other academy staff situated within this premise trying their best not to pull this lady''s attention on them in fear of being beaten up to a pulp. "¡­what makes you think that me and this kid should be lumped as the same group of people? Who gave you the audacity?" crossing her fair, long legs, slightly on the thinner side, as she held her petite head with her palm, the lady said with darkness engulfing her eyes causing the people sneakily taking look at her current state to shiver in sheer terror. "T-that¡­" thinking of ways that he can actually escape the predicament he digs for himself, the mind of this instructor spun at speed he never expected he can before, thinking of myriad of ways he can speak so that he can appease the wrath of this respected, yet feared person that is the principal. Managing to land on something that he thinks is barely passable, the instructor immediately stood up from his seat as his eyes glow up in a faint hope, near instantaneously bowing his head as his eyes met with the gaze of the principal, who is clearly not in the calmest state of her mind. "T-that is because you''re just as much¡­ if not more talented than him, principal, a-and also, l-look, you''re both on that level of being good looking!!!" smiling as if he just manages to navigate his way out of a complicated forest, the instructor exhaled in relief the moment that he realizes that the lady lacking in stature, sitting just a few meters in front of him allows him to finish whatever it is that he is saying. Hearing the words from their colleagues, the other instructors along with the remaining academy staff in the room heaved a sigh of relief as well, mentally giving this instructor a thumbs up in their mind, commending how seemingly smart he dealt with the axe hanging just right above their napes. Hearing these, even the white-haired, horned beauty herself couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow while looking at this professor who is clearly of an older age than her, the fact that this instructor is merely pleasing her with words flying over her head as even her, in all of her might and glory, falls under the same stereotype that is ladies being creatures who loves to get praised. "Hehe¡­ Instructor Andrius, I take it that you speak those words from the heart¡­" the little principal said with a stupid, borderline perverted, satisfied smile on her face, something unbecoming of someone possessing such high stature like her, yet the people around her just couldn''t bring themselves to point it out due to concern that they might be the next person to be targeted by her. For now, there is only relief in their minds as they finally confirmed that this volatile bomb just sitting alongside them watching the qualifying battle for the Primaria Class yet their minds as still teetering on the edge wondering whether there is still a chance that this lady, far more powerful than every single one of them combined, might explode any second. "Principal, the border¡­" braving the possibilities, one of the people here voiced the question occupying all of their minds, the reason why this mighty genius arrives way too fast despite how seemingly dangerous and serious of a matter she painted the things happening in the border is. With the inquiry reaching her ears, Aria couldn''t help but frown a bit as after all those things she saw in the border, she just wants nothing more than to take a rest from those matters and enjoy the lively atmosphere of these youths competing, violently, for places in the class she specifically made to grow geniuses that will go beyond the scope of just the Flammenherz Kingdom or the domains nearby. Seeing who it is that asked her the questions though, her expressions starts to soften as she saw the concern clearly displayed on this other lady''s eyes, the cold, seemingly completely collected and unbreakable air around her not making her worry for the principal even a single bit obscured. With the black colored beastkin features of the lady being in proud, full display, she looks at the principal with a gaze that clearly states that she wants to hear what happened when she left for the border to assist her martial sister, something that the white-haired, horned beauty so openly decided to tell her as well. "There''s nothing much of a problem back there so I managed to return early, Alisha''s troops just couldn''t handle the horde of those bastards so easily, so she called on me¡­" the principal said all too dismissively causing the people around her to feel relief, yet deep in their hearts, they know all too well that despite this dismissive attitude of hers the horrors of the things she faced on the border are nothing any of them can just scoff at. Should it be that her own sworn sister is here and heard her words, she would definitely look at this dismissive attitude of hers like some sort of bragging, then would reveal a face of disgust that only she can make in front of this lady, before she points out how detestable her humblebragging is. Meanwhile, Aria''s sworn sister, the crown princess and the one who oversees a large fraction of the Flammenherz Kingdom''s military might is currently handling the aftermath of her martial sister dealing with the invading horde of undead approaching the borders, with her eyes glowing in awe as she observes the towering spires of crystal-clear ice, still in disbelief of this might no matter how much she witnesses it in person. "No matter how I see it, that thing General Aria does is something so impressive¡­" approaching the crown princess, one of her officials, a lady with a larger build compared to your average woman, said while holding an axe in her hand, her head raised upwards as her gaze attempts to scale the entirety of the powerful demi-dragon lady''s handiwork, the bright sun in the high skies making her attempt fail as the glow of the sun lands upon her eyes ever so often. "She''s the greatest pillar of the kingdom after all¡­" hearing the words of this close confidante of hers, the crown princess said with a bright smile emerging upon her face, not even a single tinge of envy towards this powerful martial sister of hers, the only thing in her mind concerning such level of power is when she will reach it should she have the opportunity to do so. Such reaction that seems to be normal doesn''t hold true for the member of any of the defending kingdom''s military though, as the shock, even terror are pasted apparently on their faces, the sheer amount of mana dancing in the air making some of the weaker willed ones collapse in panic, some vomiting from it even. The reason for such terror in them? Not only the staggering amount of mana in the surroundings, but also how violently the draconic principal dispatched of these opponents she have, completely encasing each and every single part of this plague of undead in ice, their lifeless carcass not even able to move within its confines. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 108 108: Flying Further "This¡­" "Just how did they¡­" "That place¡­ really is a den of hidden masters¡­" Observing the massive spire of ice with such grandeur that comes out from it nearly scraping the skies, the people in charge of the Flammenherz Kingdom''s neighboring domains couldn''t help but mutter to themselves as well, a mixture of terror and fascination to said kingdom as they wonder just who is this mysterious figure that just comes out of nowhere, greets the crown princess of the Flammenherz Kingdom and proceeds to completely obliterate the looming threat of the undead. One among the people here, an old man clearly past his prime, displays neither an expression of terror nor fascination, as in his eyes are clear greed for whoever it is that managed to perform such ''miracle'' in his eyes, the mind of the olden man already thinking of ways to get the identity of this hidden master, along with considering what it might take for him to make him move them to his side. ''That magic is just¡­ divine¡­'' he thought to himself as he recalls the events that just proceeds not even a few minutes ago, the arrival of that little lady in white shocking not only them, but the entirety of the armed forces tasked to defend the borders of their lands from the invading undead. Coming out of nowhere and disappearing the moment she finishes dealing with her task, the white-haired, horned beauty merely waves one of her fair hands as she floats within the high skies, as if a divine being overseeing everything beneath her. And with that one simple motion, mana rages on as if soldiers emboldened by a charismatic general''s words, surging towards the enemies as the air all around starts to feel drier and more frigid, a characteristic not in any of the five elements common to most mages and martial artists, a characteristic that appears to be unique to mana with the ice elemental attribute. With the frigid air approaching the undead, it doesn''t even take a few moments until this beautiful show of a phenomena created by Aria''s influence over the ice elemental attribute mana starts revealing its sharp edge upon the unfortunate target of her magic, a magic completely akin to a rose, beautiful and alluring, yet possesses thorns that can make anyone bleed. Clear crystal flower sprouts, blooms, and then grows until it eventually engulfs the entirety of the myriad of undead, turning them into complete sculpture encased in this solid, gem-like ice that doesn''t even seem to melt under the heat of the sun, a testament to the might of whoever casts this grandiose magic. "That old geezer from the Orion Principality¡­ what a disgusting eye¡­" looking at this olden man staring at the ice pillars created by her martial sister with weird, borderline perverted eyes, the crown princess couldn''t help but feel more than just a bit of disdain towards him, especially when this very person himself is one of the people who refuses to put any of their soldiers at all in the front line of this defense. Hearing her words, the fierce-looking, tall general, her closest confidant in this battlefield, merely smiles helplessly as she knows just how much this princess'' valiant character makes her loathe people like that old man, and she whenever she is acting like this, there is nothing that she can do to divert her attention and calm her down. ''Except maybe¡­ should I try that?'' thinking of the things that this old time superior and friend in the battlefield of hers, this tall lady wonders whether that will work to divert the crown princess'' attention, the idea popping in her mind causing her to clear her throat to get the attention of the still hot-tempered princess before she speaks. "Come to think of it, Princess Alisha, doesn''t General Aria stopped for a moment before she left and told you something about that little brother of yours being in the academy? What things did the general told you?" Hearing such words, the crown princess'' eyes glows in excitement as she held the tall lady''s hands before dragging her away, planning to tell each and every detail she received from her sister, whom no one notices handed a complete set of paper filled with records to her. Meanwhile, the person who will soon be the topic of these two ladies standing near the peak of both the social standing and individual strength of the Flammenherz Kingdom is currently showing off within an arena filled with spires of varying height, revealing a might that is completely incomprehensible for someone of his level. "That bastard is still flying!" "Damn it!! Shoot him down!!" "The hell do you mean shoot him down!? Didn''t you see what his attack did to that place!?" "Cowards!! You''re all just too scared to face him!!" S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "HAHAHAHA!! To the one who said that, I''d like to see you try!!" On the other hand, watching this absurd talent of their competitor, the other students vying for a place for the Primaria Class couldn''t help but feel their frustration turning into despair as they watch their target, an emperor-like young man who is clearly of the same age as them, receives their attacks with such ease that even they themselves wonders whether they are really putting in something to their attacks. "Hey, little mister, do you know what sort of things that roommate of yours is doing for him to do magic like that?" looking at the emperor-like Diluc becoming more and more fluid with his control of whatever magic it is that is forcing him to fly, the young elven duchess couldn''t help but ask the timid young man whom she knows is at the very least, is aware of Diluc''s private life a bit more than them given that they are roommates. With that being said, even this roommate of his is utterly confused on how he is operating such seemingly complex magic all while still maintaining his combat ability, taking into account all sorts of attacks being sent his way and still being able to deflect it, and even after all that, still somehow finding ways to counterattack. "Alfia, there''s no time to worry about all those things for now, there are people approaching our place¡­" looking at the distance, the elven princess butts in on the conversation that just starts between the two, not even a moment passing and the two already follows where the elven princess'' gaze is currently at, with students more than twice of their numbers clearly approaching the place they are located on right now. "Looks like we have a battle here as well¡­" seeing the clear malice on the eyes of this group of students, the elven duchess said with a faint smile on her face revealing a confidence on her that shouts just how much she has waited for a moment like this to happen. As these two elven geniuses starts unsheathing their weapons, Diluc, who starts spreading his senses to the surrounding to look for his three friends, already became aware of their locations as well, a frown appearing on his face as he couldn''t help but notice the malicious intent of the group approaching them from the distance, such event unknowingly planting a sense of urgency within him shouting at him to reach wherever they are as fast as he can. Almost as if in response to this sense of urgency, both the fire and wind elemental mana starts gathering around his feet even faster in order to increase his speed, such increase something that made not only the participants who are all freshmen like him, but also the more experienced audience, along with the academy staffs as well as some instructors, shocked, as they never expected that such magic that can allow students with cores that has yet to develop to fly still hasn''t revealed its true potential yet. "That magic should be using at least three circles simultaneously to operate, and yet, he can still attack and defend himself from other freshmen¡­" "The amount of mental prowess required to do that¡­" "What a brilliant mental fortitude! If only even just half of the students have just half of what he has¡­" As they get more and more interested at this freshman, the instructors commented on him as they lament among themselves, wondering why majority of the students sent in this supposed prestigious academy are not even just half as good as this young man right here. In fact, these instructors merely have their standards altered after following Aria for the entire time she has served as the principal here, and even the students they deem as bottom of the pack within the academy can stand with their head proud outside, and be considered elite by most of the people they will encounter in their lives. "Well, we can just beat that into them, don''t forget that¡­" watching the performance of the student whom she fought with during the first part of the entrance exams, the white-haired, horned principal said with a hint of boredom in her tone, something that made the instructors quite puzzled. Chapter 109 109: Authority of A Ruler "Well, we can just beat that into them, don''t forget that¡­" watching the performance of the student whom she fought with during the first part of the entrance exams, the white-haired, horned principal said with a hint of boredom in her tone, something that made the instructors quite puzzled. ''That kid¡­ he''s not even taking it seriously¡­'' with the eyes of someone as powerful as her watching over the entrance exams to the Primaria Class herself, the principal couldn''t help but think to herself seeing how effortless the emperor-like young man is in his ascent, almost as if the figures attacking him from the distance is not even a bother to him right now. ''With that kind of magic, he''s ought to do something so much more than that¡­ should I make it a bit harder for him?'' thinking along these lines, no normal person will think that she favors the emperor-like young man quite a lot should they hear her thoughts, and would rather think that the two of them has some sort of grudge between each other that makes her want to make this young genius'' life a bit more troubled. ''Let''s not¡­ I can take my time to beat him up to shape once he enters my class¡­'' deliberating for a short while, she decided not to do something to Diluc for now as she also wants to know the extent of his strength over the other freshmen, and what better way to do that than to expose him to the very people she is comparing him to. On the other hand, looking at the principal who is currently playing with ice elemental mana swirling around her fair, dainty fingers, the academy staff and some of the instructors couldn''t help but feel a bit wary as they thought that something just struck her nerves the moment that she starts watching this competition. Luckily for them though, their worries are unfounded as the moment that Aria focuses on the arena once again, the frigid, scalding cold air starts to return to normal once again, causing all of them to breath a deep sigh of relief as they thought to themselves that they survived from another potential attack once again. Meanwhile, the young man who this principal is previously just planning to beat into shape also felt something in the surrounding is wrong, almost as if there is something out there that is watching him like a beast, and from the detection he performed, he couldn''t help but feel all the more lamenting about his future as he found out just who the source of this gaze is. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "What does she want from me now?" seeing the eyes of that petite, white-haired, volatile beauty of a principal, Diluc couldn''t help but ask more to himself than anyone else as he remains fairly composed dealing with multiple things, controlling how he is flying, defending himself from all sorts of attacks coming for him, along with ever so often sending a counterattack to whoever attacks him. "Fuck!!! He''s not even affected by it a single bit!!" "Just continue hitting him, he''s been using that kind of magic for quite a long time now, he''s bound to deplete his mana like that!!" "That guy is right!! Let''s hit that bastard some more!!" Hearing what seems to be a logical thing coming out of the mouth of some fellow freshmen like them, most of the other freshmen regained some sort of confidence in them, their eyes burning with a newfound inspiration, the excitement of the possibility of taking down someone who is already the uncrowned strongest among them taking over the fear that they are feeling towards the young man exuding such an imperial authority from deep within him. "That''s right!! Hit him harder!!" Some of the freshmen nobles who clearly doesn''t want him standing above every single one of them becomes even more passionate in attacking him the moment they thought they have a chance to completely remove him out of the competition, with their respective affinity over mana completely revealing itself, swirling across the entirety of their bodies as it congregates into all sorts of magic circle in front of them. The less refined ones, using their affinity with mana, circulates it all across their body and uses it to enhance themselves, all while thinking that the best chance they have in landing a hit on this monster of a competitor they have is with a closed range, melee attack, something that they concluded he is not good after all the fight of him they had watched. "Tsk¡­" Looking at the figures, both people along with magic casted by other freshmen, approaching him, Diluc, despite all his composure, couldn''t help but feel a bit annoyed as he thinks that there are far more important matters to deal with other than accompanying these people in their games, one such matter being reuniting with his friends who is situated in a far higher place than him, and have a group of people clearly aiming towards them maliciously. "Hahahaha!! Look!! What did I tell you!? He''s running away now! He should be more than just tired doing all of that!!" Once again noticing a trace of urgency upon the emperor-like young man''s face, the one who thought he should be tiring by now pointed out, proudly smirking as if he just figured out that even this monster has a limit, and that limit is just about to be exploited by someone like him. Hearing these words and noticing the expression upon the emperor-like young man''s face, the other freshmen on the offensive against him couldn''t help but show even more enthusiasm into attacking him and ''breaking'' his defenses, their expressions not only that of normal excitement but rather that of a zealot who managed to take a short glimpse of their most beloved god. Fire clashes with the winds as most of the mage freshmen attacking, despite them barely knowing each other at all, uses elemental magic in all of its glory, seeking to compliment the power each other have in order to bring about even more destructive effects, their goals of eliminating such powerful competitor clear to the eyes of even those who are slightly slow in the head. Of course, while there are brilliant students that will even forfeit their pride as genius and help others in order to accomplish their goals, water extinguishes the flame as well, as other, greedier individuals want nothing with sharing and desires to hog all the glory in eliminating this monster of their generation all for themselves. With each of the attacks either complimenting or destroying each other travels across the distance, bright flashing lights coming from all sorts of destructive spells starts melding among each other, overwhelming that minor few who wants to steal the show for themselves, turning not into a colorful ball of mess but rather into a complete white travelling in a speed not too slow yet not too fast to the eyes of the viewer. As much as this is what the young audience believes though, the more experienced staff and instructors of the academy, rather than staring at this beautiful sight in awe, merely smiles in satisfaction as if they are parents who just saw their youngest child showing talent that they had never revealed before. ''Hehehe¡­ even without me doing damage to him, I should get quite the attention after showing such observation skills!!! There are chance for me to rise in this place!!'' While the expression of the audience, both the older and younger ones, varies, this young man, also the very person who thought that the emperor-like young man is about to tire out, thought to himself like that, this perfect little dream of his already starts having tears and cracks in them, as not even a second after this massive ball of elemental mana forms, the very person they sought to bring down is already making his move, seemingly unperturbed by this clearly dangerous attack. "I have no time to play games with all of you right now¡­" Diluc muttered under his breath as he decided to finish the matter in one fell swoop, as he is also starting to find dealing with all of these people one by one quite annoying, his mind spinning fast in order to think of the best way to deal with them. Looking around making sure that there is only this one attack that remains targeting him, Diluc''s mind already made all sorts of methods for him to achieve what he wants, and out of all that, he felt like he just knows the best solution somehow. And almost as if to confirm this thought of his, from the very depth of his mind, something primeval, as if it is only natural to him, speaks up, possessing the very same voice he has, yet feels completely different than him, sounding more dignified, more regal, making him feel familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. ''Don''t let them show any more disrespect, show them the authority of the Ruler of the Draconic Realm'' [Don''t let them show any more disrespect, show them the authority of the Ruler of the Draconic Realm, My emperor] Chapter 110 110: Popping Like Bubble ''Don''t let them show any more disrespect, show them the authority of the Ruler of the Draconic Realm'' [Don''t let them show any more disrespect, show them the authority of the Ruler of the Draconic Realm, My emperor] Seeing the floating gray screen appearing with the very same message as the one that surfaces on his mind, Diluc smiles as he thought that this is just all the more reason for him to see through this decision of his, albeit having some sort of doubts as to why the system will call him like that. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Despite all that though, he decided to deal with the matter at hand, now directing his attention towards the weird, pure white light of an attack that is approaching his direction, his gaze piercing through the amalgamation of magic created by his fellow freshmen, and now that he managed to take a proper look into it, his gaze now holds nothing but sheer fascination towards whatever this phenomenon is, making him wonder just what sort of coincidences happened that created this thing. ''It''s almost like it''s mana in its pure form¡­'' In his amazement, the emperor-like young man fails to notice the fact that while he is completely absorbed in observing and possibly even analyzing this bright white light, his competitors can also still observe him as well, and while they thought that the expression that he will display in this moment is the fear of being eliminated too early in the trials for those who wants to enter that class, they never expected that they will see that kind of expression from everyone but him. Snapping out of his fascinated daze as he feels like the attack is getting too close, Diluc then decided to show them something that will ward them off once and for all, something that might possibly scare even those from spires rising far higher than where he and the ones attacking him currently are. Raising one of his hands nonchalantly as the attack approaches, fire elemental mana starts dancing around his palm, not in the excited, volatile way that often depicts the natural state of fire, but rather in a graceful, consistent and fiery calm not different to that of a candle light unendingly burning through the fuel in it. As the surge of mana starts growing more and more, this gentle flame starts burning even brighter than before, engulfing the torrential flow of fire elemental mana, voraciously devouring to feed itself, the flame endlessly growing seemingly without any limits. With the flame in his hands burning like that, it is only of logic to assume that anything near whatever it is that the emperor-like young man is trying to create, and just as much as they want to see that happening, Diluc himself seems to just exist to defy the logic that they established ever since they are able to utilize mana themselves, almost as if his sole purpose of existence is to mock them of their knowledge, making them hostile, yet all too envious of him. Meanwhile, the object of envy himself has his sole focus on whatever it is that he is trying to do, completely undisturbed by the fact that just hovering above one of his hands, is a congregation of mana that appears to be even more terrifying than the attack just a couple of meters in front of him, the violent nature of the fire elemental attribute of the mana seemingly burning itself into oblivion as he feels not a single trace of discomfort at all, and all that is left is a comfortable warmth that hits way too close home. "This should do the trick¡­" The emperor-like young man mutters to himself as he nodded in satisfaction to the condensation of fire elemental mana in his hand, all while gently pushing it away and towards the bright ball of white light now just a bit shy in arm''s length of him, making everyone watching hanging on tenterhooks. The suspense is bound to explode in a short time though as the two awe inducing magic starts to collide, and not a single one of them can certainly say that they expect a kind of outcome like the following sequence of events to happen, the only exception to that a particular beauty watching from a specific room, the white hair cascading her ethereal beauty further complimenting the ephemeral smile of utter amazement seen by no one at all, a smile that she just realized she''s making after the unfolding of the events that just happened. In the blink of an eye, the two mass of mana, seemingly rather pure than elemental, collides with each other with such gentleness that everyone wonders whether this is really a fight of something else, some of the people watching having their eyes widen in anticipation for what is about to come next. There is, however, nothing that comes next to it, as the two spells clearly out of anything ordinary merges into one, and in complete comparison to how amazingly the two of them were conceived, they go out without even a single fizzle to them, not even a short burst of grandiose explosion that anyone will expect from spells of that magnitude as the spell, the moment that they merged with each other, pops out like bubbles and just disappears into thin air, almost as if they were never there to begin with. "What¡­ the fuck is that?" "What did just happen?" "I¡­ I don''t think that should happen¡­" Watching dumbfoundedly as they try to wrap their head around the thing that just happened, their minds trying to find a plausible reason for the clash between those two spells to happen like that, the older students mutter among themselves as even the greatest of talents among them, whether they are martial artists or mages, just fails to comprehend what just comes to pass as well. It is to no surprise however, as not even a significant number of the more knowledgeable and experience spectators, the academy staffs along with some of the instructors, are aware of what happened as well, and among the few who have idea as to what just proceeds between the spell created by the emperor-like young man and the amalgamation of mana that seems to be coincidentally created by his competitors, the numbers of the people who completely understands the phenomena can be count by the hands. If there is anything that made it all the more terrifying to those who are aware of what actually happened however, it is the fact that they can see nothing, not a single trace of a magic circle being conjured by the emperor-like young man in order to create a spell that requires such a high, even borderline absolute degree of control over the surrounding mana. This makes it so that the sole person who can say that they completely comprehended the thing everyone just witnessed is the strongest person not only within the arena but also the entire Flammenherz Kingdom, and all the other neighboring domains around it. ''That kid¡­ he didn''t show that kind of talent when we fought in the last trial¡­'' the principal said with a interest glowing brightly underneath her eyes, making her appear like a child who just saw a new, interesting toy for her to play with. ''But then again, that look on his face when he observed that harmonic complement¡­'' as she recalls the fascinated look on Diluc''s face the moment he first really take a look into the white ball of light, Aria made herself pretty sure that this is the first time that the young man saw something like that, as the mixture of curiosity and excitement is the very same one she will often shows whenever she is on her way to discover all sorts of things related to magic, martial arts, and even more so mana itself in general. Meanwhile, as the observers of the event that just transpires are still dumbfounded, the young man who is singlehandedly responsible for the expression everyone currently has curtly smiles as he looks at the frozen opponents, nodding to himself as he realizes that this might really be the most effective way to make them bend instead of them hanging around him like flies. ''I initially thought that I should probably stop myself from drawing all too much attention for myself this early but¡­'' Thinking to himself how he should deal with things in the future, he realizes that there is no more sense in being too discrete with his movements now. ''And now that some of my pops and mum''s old enemies are aware of my existence now as well¡­ I should probably go as big as I can to get a good support¡­'' As Diluc thought about that, the first face that appears in his mind is that violent, petite principal who seems to look way too strong for her physique, a choice that he really wouldn''t like to choose despite possibly being the best support he can possibly have. Chapter 111: Counterattack As Diluc thought about that, the first face that appears in his mind is that violent, petite principal who seems to look way too strong for her physique, a choice that he really wouldn¡¯t like to choose despite possibly being the best support he can possibly have. "Let¡¯s cross the bridge when we get there¡­" As the face surfaces from his mind, the emperor-like young man couldn¡¯t help but look towards the direction of that violent principal that he had only met personally once, and even that meeting is not something formal but rather her single-mindedly forcing him to focus on the fight against her during the entire time. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Noticing that he is looking towards their direction, Aria sends a smile towards him as if she¡¯s a good old friend he has ever since he was a child, said smile something that should¡¯ve appeared so mesmerizing coming from a lady possessing such charm like her, had it not been for the fact that her fearsome reputation overshadows said charm. Seeing the smile from the white-haired, volatile maiden, Diluc felt all of his hairs standing on its very end, almost as if this friendly smile directed towards him is something that is masking the gaze of a hunter recognizing its prey. Shaking his head to rid himself of these sorts of thoughts though, the young man still flying in mid air through his fire elemental magic redirects most of his attention towards the fellow freshmen students that just attacked him, smiling as he thought of doing something grander especially since he decided that he must pull the attention of the greatest potential support that he can acquire within this academy. While he is thinking of that, the very target of this shows he just about to perform is also looking at him with anticipation apparent on her gem-like eyes, the smile on her face shifting from the previous faked gentle one to one that she feels is more fitting to her, a smile filled with ardent desire to see new kind of spells and magic for the sole purpose of just seeing it. ¡¯Show me what you got, kid¡­¡¯ thinking of this to herself, Aria¡¯s smile only got wider as she notices that the only student that she had fought with in the entrance exams that actually made her interested appears to be going all out already, a fact that she can tell due to the joyous, excited dancing of the fire elemental mana in the air. "I initially plan to not make too much of a fuss about it but¡­" Interrupting the thoughts in her mind, Aria once again heard the emperor-like young man speaks in a voice tinged with a hint of coldness, the pause as he speaks causing his attackers to feel all the more terrified as the air around them feels heavier and heavier by the second. "Well, that¡¯s you right? Shouting all those things and not even attacking at all¡­" After a short moment of waiting, they finally witnessed Diluc making his move, a move that no longer surprises, but rather, scares, every single one of his opponents, as well as make those freshmen located in spires a bit farther than him wary of his existence. Who he scares the most though is the very same young man taking the lead in all those attacks and shouting all sorts of things that makes the other freshmen student motivated to take him down, the young man shaking in panic and terror as he successively take steps back from the middle of the spire he is currently standing on, even at the risk of him falling from the very spot he thought he will defend with his all. The reason for that being the fact that right in the middle of this spire, a tall, well-built young man sporting a slightly long hair stands proud and silent, his attention clearly on the entire surrounding rather than on the original occupant of this spire alone, the expression on his face that of someone who decided to do something he never thought he would once again. "Let¡¯s send you all off with a bang" Diluc announced with a smile on his face as he remains standing straight as a spear, a fiery red glow shining on him as a spell¡¯s magic circle starts manifesting just right above his head, the fire elemental mana in the surrounding starting to get sucked dry again after just barely recovering from his previous attack, yet despite all that, mana dances gleefully to his will as if they were faithful subordinates doing their best to please their lord. Right in the middle of this spell that not even those older students are familiar with, a sphere made solely of a brightly burning, azure flame starts to take its form, the fire elemental mana directly being fed to it causing it to grow bigger in size by the second, and there¡¯s seemingly nothing that Diluc¡¯s opponents can do to stop this attack from happening. The one who lead this charge, previously shouting all sorts of struggles that he thought the emperor-like young man is experiencing, is now frozen on spot, the fear, or rather, terror that he is feeling right now causing his limbs to just give up on him, unable to move themselves away from the source of their terror causing him to just stand there, watching with shaking body hoping that this will not be the end of him. On the other hand, the freshmen who knew that this attack is meant for them, in an unpracticed unison, all looked at each other and in a split second decided that whatever it is that this young man is planning to do, they need to stop it at all cost, and what more efficient way for them to do it than to hurl spells at him in order to destabilize whatever attack he is concocting. And that is exactly what they do, at least, those who managed to regain a hint of courage for them to move themselves once again, some of them not so good with magic that they still need to chant in order to manifest their attacks, some just creating magic circles without any problem in their part and some casting spells just between the two, finding it neither that hard nor that easy. Hence once again, in one particular part of this arena filled with towering spires that will make any normal human dizzy of their height, flashes of brilliant, mesmerizing light of different colors reveals itself, some of them as bright and vigorous as the high sun¡¯s golden yellow, some as gentle and soothing as the deep sea¡¯s blue, some as peaceful and calming like the lush wood¡¯s green. While one might think that this is nothing more than a perfectly planned lightshow in the distance, the truth can never be farther from said guess, as this waves of light contains all the destructive force that one might need in order to take the life of others, spells, cast by the mages who seem way too eager to get rid of the young man they attacked altogether by forcing the spell he is channeling to collapse upon itself, all while they just watch there and enjoy the show they thought is about to come. Seeing that their attacks is closing in the distance to the emperor-like young man, most of these geniuses from all walks of life starts releasing sighs of relief as they thought that within that range, there is just absolutely no way that he can avoid being hurt by their attacks. ¡¯The thing he did to our first attack is most likely just a fluke, there¡¯s no way he can do that again¡­¡¯ ¡¯Even if that is not a fluke, no way that sort of magic doesn¡¯t take out too much mana from him, that attack he is preparing is probably his last one before he needs to rest¡­¡¯ ¡¯It¡¯s a good thing our spells didn¡¯t merge now, I doubt that he can still do something like that to spells coming from all around him!!¡¯ ¡¯I should probably get ready to get out of the competition if he somehow managed to survive this attack¡¯ All sorts of thoughts appear in the attacking freshmen¡¯s mind, most of them hopeful that their combined strength will do something to severely damage the emperor-like young man at the very least, while there is still a minority that is preparing for the worst thing to happen. Diluc, seeing all these attacks coming towards him however, merely smiles as the sphere of flame above his head reaches a certain size, no longer growing further than that, making all his opponents believe that this is truly the limit of his stamina, and he can no longer do anything past this. That is why their disappointment and despair become all the more apparent as they heard the next words coming out of the young man¡¯s proudly smiling mouth. "Collapse¡­" Chapter 112: Did I Make the Wrong Choice? With the words coming out of Diluc¡¯s mouth, the sphere of flame floating above his head starts shrinking to a certain size, seemingly creating an even more terrifying flames possessing temperature so high that even some of the academy staff starts worrying about the safety of the other freshmen in the exams, especially those within the close vicinity of the emperor-like young man. "Don¡¯t make a move yet, and no need to panic too much, should push comes to shove, I will take care of everything" Before those worried adults can even start to warn the emperor-like young man to the dangers of whatever spell it is that he is casting, a powerful, confident voice comes from the principal herself, the words coming out of her mouth clearly tinged with anticipation and curiosity as well, things that are mostly related to the magic currently being performed by Diluc himself. Meanwhile, on the arena, the freshmen who attacked just previously are about to be thrown into utter surprise once again as the magic spells they hurled towards their target begins closing in on his vicinity, only for their expectations to be completely shattered as they get closer to the source of the fire. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Dozens of spells of all elemental affinity, gigantic rocks carved like cold weapons, ice forged like daggers, metallic needles seemingly sharper than any sword there is, water seemingly wanting to devour everything in its path, wood that clearly wants to absorb every nutrients it can get its hand on, and even fire seemingly want to destroy and turn everything into ashes, every single one of the attacks that Diluc¡¯s opponent sent towards his way seemingly has the intent to completely incapacitate him, yet amidst all that, he just stood there, completely unmoved by such sight. It doesn¡¯t even end with that, as waves from all sorts of weapons travels towards his current location as well, not to mention assortment of flying weapons, arrows, along with all other projectiles, it does seem that there is just no more way for him to escape out of this predicament all by himself. "Expand¡­" As another word leaves the mouth of the emperor-like Diluc, the ball of flame floating above himself seemingly trembled into an utter joy, almost as if a loyal retainer who receives their chance to once again, prove themselves and their usefulness to their lord, eager to show just what sort of skills they have to convince the master they serve that they are worthy of their position. The next few moments, what those other freshmen fear the most just had to happen in the most horrible of ways, the ball of flame now showing reaction once again, but rather than how it forms all too slowly compared to a normal spell, as well as how slowly it compresses itself into something barely smaller than an adult¡¯s head, the ball expands at an alarming rate, clearly wanting to devour everything that came along its path. With the fast expansion of the emperor-like young man¡¯s offensives, it doesn¡¯t even take a moment for the now spherical barrier of violent flames to approach the attacks that his opponents sent towards his way, creating contact between his attack and their attacks for the second time. As much as the audience, along with those other freshmen student wishes that this attack is only similar to the one that neutralizes that massive white ball the freshmen miraculously formed previously, the truth can never be farther from that, as the moment that the barrier expanding comes into contact with anyone else¡¯s spells, only two reactions were witnessed by everyone. And by no means, were these reactions the ones that they expected or hoped to see, nor was it ones that they can, at the very least, feel comfortable with, no, what they witnessed the emperor-like young man¡¯s spell is doing to their spells was something that will most likely make them question their authenticity as a genius of their respective places, seeing that there is someone like this, of the same age as them, just a little bit above their level in terms of their core, and yet, seemingly standing a far distance away from them. What makes these freshmen feel all these are exactly how their spells reacted to the nature of Diluc¡¯s spell, the first one being the fact that whichever spell that barrier of raging flame comes in contact with, are destroyed with the finest brutality, dissipating completely in the air along with the trace of whatever elemental mana was used to cast the spells, removing even the trace of that spells existence, making it seem like no one has ever casted a spell there to begin with, just like how water turns into air and wood turns into ash when they are subjected to a certain amount of heat, only the process they are watching made this process near instantaneous. As for the second reaction of the spells towards the barrier of flame, it feels even more ridiculous than the first one, so much that even the previously mildly amused Aria stood up from her seat and directly moves herself right above the arena in order to witness the spell as close as she can, with the fascination glowing in her eyes exceeding more than just normal curiosity about a person from the younger generation, turning into one similar to how everyone is intrigued by mystical things. ¡¯The mana is... submitting?¡¯ As she observes the phenomenon happening below her, the horned principal mutters to herself with trace of uncertainty still apparent on her shaking voice, said uncertainty being only a small part of it as most of her voice¡¯s current shaking is due to the excitement that she is currently finding to be quite difficult to contain. ¡¯Just what kind of surprises do you have in store, kid?¡¯ Remembering who the parents of this young man is, Aria merely smiles as she feels the mana dancing around in the air, something that she only observes during two occasions, first is when there is a gathering of multiple geniuses within one place with mana dancing around the entirety of the place, and the second one when there someone similar to her exist, an individual with talent that far outshines even the elite masses with those individuals having mana dance around them without any real effort in their part. Seeing the expanding fire elemental spell in the distance, this oftentimes volatile principal, for the first time in a while, held such profound look on her eyes forged by all sorts of experiences, her eyes ever so often glowing every time she witnesses a spell being devoured, or rather, absorbed completely by the barrier of flame, the assortment of colors from all elemental attribute disappearing within the ardent burning of Diluc¡¯s spell, pushing it to expand even faster than it already does. On the other hand, the attackers who witnesses the second reaction of Diluc¡¯s spell towards other spells felt the difference between them and him all the more, as the spells they hurled towards his direction were either completely removed along with its traces, or devoured to be a part of the very spell¡¯s strength, making it appear like this spell is the equivalent of the young man stating something to them. ¡¯Resist and perish, follow and prosper¡¯ As if they are somehow controlled by a single individual during that short moment of time, all those freshmen thought of the same words with the only difference in them being that each individual heard it with their own voices in their heads, seemingly completely cold in front of such force approaching them. "I¡­I surrender!!" "I don¡¯t want to be here anymore!!" "Jump from the spires!!! Run away!!!" "I-I-I s-s-surrend-der!!" "Please spare m-me!!!" "Fuck this, Come what may, I am ready!!" "I¡¯ll be eliminated anyway, I should go as grand as I can, HAHAHA!!!" Watching as the barrier of flames gradually approaching their distance, Diluc¡¯s multitude of opponents starts fleeing away in all directions, all while some of them still choses to stand their ground and decided to defend their place no matter the cost, and protect that small amount of pride they still have for themselves, the latter group, while being mocked by fellow freshmen who escaped for their lives, were actually being secretly praised by the majority of the student audience, whether they the second, third or fourth years, commending their guts for standing to face an unknown, clearly dangerous spell without anything but the desire to prove that they are better than what their opponents expected. Despite gathering all their wills to stand proud and try to defend themselves within their own spires though, those remaining opponents of Diluc couldn¡¯t help but feel just a little bit worried as the flaming barrier starts getting closer and closer towards them, all while tearing apart everything that it encounters along its way, almost as if it is a great devourer that wants nothing more than to consume everything around it. ¡¯Did I make the wrong choice?¡¯ Chapter 113 113: Are We Even Cultivating the Same Thing? Standing in place as they continue watching the barrier of purely devouring flame approaching their location, the freshmen couldn''t help but shiver a bit in terror as this is the first time that they witnessed magic of this scale. "Did I make the wrong choice?" As the question that previously rang in all of their minds once again reminds them of the dreadful spell threatening to inflict great injuries, if not certain death upon them, those freshmen who decided that it is worth remaining here trying to brace for the impact were shaken even more as they witness the flames seemingly increasing in intensity even more, now affecting the surroundings even without direct contact with the flames. Whatever rock it is that composes the spires, previously torn apart by the emperor-like young man''s spell that he sent towards the first person who attacked him, are now in a strange state, barely retaining its solid form as the nearby barrier of scorching flames gradually turns it into something more of a liquid than anything else, melting away and falling right at the very bottom of the arena the closer the barrier got to them. Realizing just how much danger even coming into contact with this peculiar spell is, these remaining target of Diluc''s attack starts to panic as the possibilities of death starts surfacing within their minds, all of them single-mindedly deciding that it would be way better to just accept their defeat and the reality that they won''t be able to enter the Primaria Class rather than risking everything for an immaterial glory and reputation of standing up to this monster of a batchmate they have. With bodies shaking in panic as they felt that their legs, despite their urging and clear desire to forfeit the competition, seemingly doesn''t want to move a single centimeter, these freshmen can do nothing but try and scream their hearts out to make their desire to forfeit the competition known, a thing that made their opponent all the more formidable to anyone else''s eyes as everyone here knows that each student competing for the Primaria Class are students of their own, undeniable genius, people who have their own pride whenever comparing to anyone else branded as geniuses like them. S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And for such prideful people to not only decide to team up on their peers previously, but also shout and declare surrender while pleading mercy of help right now says so much about how terrified they are when facing such a peculiar spell, so much that they can''t even help themselves from just standing there, frozen in apparent terror that not even themselves can deny. Such plead of help in the last second are also the thing that prevented them from being incapacitated and unable to attend the first week, if not couple of weeks of classes due to the injuries that they might sustain receiving an attack like that. Hearing their surrender, the academy staffs responsible for the safety of every single participating students here immediately moves from their current position, reaching the spires where the emperor-like young man''s remaining opponents are located, taking their frozen bodies away from the possible range of the barrier of flames with swiftness befitting of someone working in such a prestigious place like this, where they need to, at the very least, be stronger than most, if not all of the students. Successfully taking those surrendering freshmen out of the arena, even those academy staff couldn''t help but release a sigh of relief as they lay witness upon the destruction created by the spell that Diluc made to appear so easy to cast. If there''s anything they learned after all their years of being in this academy though, they know clearly well just what sort of difficult move the emperor-like young man managed to pull, an effect that can only be achieved if the caster of such spell is someone prodigiously gifted in terms of their control over mana, along with their core being able to hold such massive amount of mana as well. While they are aware of some people capable of just that, they never expected such qualifications to be something that a freshman far younger than them is capable of attaining, making them wonder just what sort of monster this guy is for casting a spell like that. "Fuck¡­ that kid, what a monster¡­" One of the academy staffs who had gone to the arena to rescue the freshmen muttered under their breath, looking at the majestic display of might the spherical wall of flames is creating, the vigorous, fiery red glow that just seems to pull anyone''s eyes into it, the ardent yellow that seems to destroy everything in its path, perfectly melding to create a flame so simple yet complex that made even them, mages and martial artist of levels higher than most of the students of the academy, completely mesmerized for a few seconds. "Heh¡­ you also noticed it as well, didn''t you?" Another one of the rescuers, this one sounding more feminine than the previous person speaking, said with a fascinated tone in their voice, their eyes, obscured by the tinted lenses covering them, were shining brightly as if they just found something that is of total interest to them, something that the remaining rescuers notices as well. "Who wouldn''t? the bastard even singed my back a bit, how could that spell go unnoticed?" Answering the feminine voice''s question, another person said as they also watch the scenes in the arena unfold, the barrier of pure flames seemingly calming down now that there appears to be no more mana from attack and all sorts of sources, the lack of sustenance, even from the caster himself, making it weaker and weaker as moments goes by. Should anyone else who are not part of the academy''s teaching and assisting staff were to hear the things these academy staffs are talking about and manages to make sense of it, they would definitely be scared out of their minds, especially if they hear that other voice stating that their body are singed by an attack from a freshman, no matter the intensity of this is. After all, there is a distinct difference in strength between academy staffs and even the strongest of the senior students, and the fact that these very same academy staffs, no matter how weak they might be in comparison to others, are somehow damaged by the spell of a person similarly a freshman like those that they rescued, means that the caster of the spell is already so terrifying despite his younger age, a thing that will make anyone wonder just how much more terrifying he will be in the future should he grow even further than that. The young man these academy staffs were talking about however, is completely oblivious of the fact that these elites are practically looking at him now like some sort of outlier who seems to be way too powerful for a freshman, paying no mind to most of his surrounding at all as he is completely absorbed in the observing the attack he just did, prompting him to make the most out of the short remaining time it has before it completely disperses and returns to ambient mana in the air once again. Sooner than everyone expected, the chaotic mess of dust, smoke and steam from the attack clears out, revealing the figure of the emperor-like young man standing right in a middle of a desolate region shaped into a sphere, the only thing still standing along with him being the spire he previously landed on, and aside from him, carried by this spire is the young man who instigated everyone in the vicinity to attack him, the very same young man now collapsed on the ground, kneeling on both knees as he looks at Diluc''s figure with utter terror painted on the entirety of his face, his skin, paled from the lack of blood flow on it, just makes the expression of despair on his face all the more obvious to everyone with sharp eyes to see. "Did you enjoy playing these little tricks of yours?" Not even bothering to look at the kneeling figure on the ground, Diluc asked with a cold tone in his voice while walking all around, playing with a little tinder he conjured with magic in one of his fingers, making the flame dance according to his will, controlling it all too proficiently that it made the fire all the more lifelike, a feat of mana control all too impressive yet the person doing it just dismisses as something all to normal. "¡­" Unable to mutter any word, or even any semblance of sound at all, the young man merely opens his mouth while avoiding Diluc''s gaze as much as possible, not because of anything else but the terror that the monster engraved on him as he watches such terrifying spell just materializing itself almost out of nothing, similar to how entry level spell is, and yet the power this spell packs is anything but normal, making not only him, but also everyone else watching the fight wonder whether they really are cultivating the same mana and magic at all. Chapter 114 114: Plan Didnt Work Huh? Unable to mutter any word, or even any semblance of sound at all, the young man merely opens his mouth while avoiding Diluc''s gaze as much as possible, not because of anything else but the terror that the monster engraved on him as he watches such terrifying spell just materializing itself almost out of nothing, similar to how entry level spell is, and yet the power this spell packs is anything but normal, making not only him, but also everyone else watching the fight wonder whether they really are cultivating the same mana and magic at all. "Looks like you do enjoy playing all of these¡­" Observing the face of his opponent and noticing the guilty, terrified expression on it as he speaks of his first question, Diluc pointed out as he turns his body around so that he is directly facing the young man, his gaze still dismissive as he confidently closes the distance between them without any worry of retaliation from this opponent of his. "You don''t seem to be all too happy now though" Finally arriving right in front of the guy, the emperor-like young man said with a dismissive tone on his voice, not even a single bit of reprimand or grievance, or just any emotion at all as he said those words to his opponent, almost as if he''s just stating nothing but a fact. Meanwhile, the person he is talking with just lost control of every single fiber of muscle on his body, his kneeling figure no longer able to move no matter how hard he forces himself to do it, almost as if his body is telling him that no matter what sort of things he wants to do now that this target of his is in extremely close proximity to him, there is just nothing among those things he can achieve, something that his mind is well aware of as well given how he is someone who witnesses how easily Diluc dealt with fellow freshmen who attacked him. "I-I-I-I¡­ s-s-s-sur-r-rend-d-der¡­" Despite all the terror he felt from the emperor-like young man though, he still remembers his identity as a genius who is well known back in his home as well, someone who is bound to show his brilliance into the world or at the very least, in the academy had it not been for the fact that he Diluc, the outlier that he is, and not only meet, but even clash weapons with him. Hearing the words being forced out of the frozen young man''s mouth, Diluc paused as he stares at the figures who moved the other frozen participants previously, wondering whether they will also do it for this young man as well. And not even a few moments passed when the rescuing academy staffs arrived at the place Diluc and the other young man currently is, two people, one male and female, both looking at the instigator of this mess, as well as the person who finishes the mess that just started. "Out of curiosity, was that¡­ an original spell?" looking at the emperor-like young man who appears to be quite more mature compared to others his age, one of the rescuers, the female one, asked with a hint of intrigue on her tone, wondering just what sort of monster would it take to create a spell like that. ''If that is an original, then he would need to be at least as talented as the principal, or even more talented than her'' Both her and her companion who currently has the young freshman in his back thought to themselves as they wait for Diluc''s answer to those question, something that does have an answer that he already prepared a few weeks ago in order not to spill too much information that might divulge his greatest secret, the Dragon Herding System. "That was a modified Flame Barrier, seniors, nothing too much into it except the increase in mana consumption because it goes too big, as you previously saw" Diluc starts explaining as he once again, uses both wind and fire elemental magic in order to send himself into the air, practically flying without even reaching a high level yet, complete with his own system of control that made not only the academy staff who had seen it in close range, but also the principal who never expected the young man to bull something like that. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I see, still that''s terrifying¡­" Hearing his answer, the partner said, his breathing not even a single bit unstable despite how heavy the student is, the greatest surprise in that being the fact that this academy staff is carrying a person on him without using mana at all, showing a clearly developed physical prowess. "You have a great chance of taking the first place, good luck kid" The male academy staff said towards the emperor-like young man with a small smile gracing his face before him and his partner starts to move away from the arena once again, bringing the now disqualified opponent of Diluc along with them, a person that is no longer of concern to him. These words however, no matter how powerful Diluc thought it to be, is something that is only heard by both him and the two academy staffs, and even the young man slouched on the male academy staff''s shoulders is not even aware that this conversation takes place. Hearing these words, Diluc merely smiles as he offers a modest bow as the two got out of the arena, leaving him alone once again, his position now somewhere within the middle of the arena, standing in a spire not too high yet not so low, making him inconspicuous had it not been for the fact that anywhere he goes, there seems to be massive battles that go there almost as if every other person outside of his friends were trying to eliminate him from the get go. ''No need to worry about all of that for now, what I should do is¡­'' Dismissing these thoughts occupying his mind, Diluc then starts to focus as he spreads his senses in order to know what is currently happening to the three that got separated from him, making him pleasantly surprised as he just witnesses them looking just as fine as he last observes them, with the opponent that is previously planning to head towards them now hesitating quite a bit as they are in the know of the relation between these elven royalties and the monster that just wreaked a havoc in the middle area of the arena. Seeing that his friends are safe, he then directed his gaze towards the group of young men and women previously planning to attack them, his intent seemingly rising through the skies making the target of his gaze flinch in what they all thought is an unfounded terror towards the emperor-like young man, a fear that they will come to realize the origin of the moment that they decided to intimidate him, with nothing other than the people older than them in the family. "Diluc, I''m warning you, I am the¡­" "Heh, you won''t dare touch me! I am the sole heir of the ¡­" "Useless bastard, You think I''m scared of you? My family can easily trample you down!" Looking at the emperor-like young man still staring at them, yet with an eye that changed from indifferent to ones holding a tinge of annoyance mixed with anger, or rather, wrath to it, a red shade of glow¡ªonly apparent should one look closely at the eyes¡ªvisible underneath them, ever so subtle yet revealing to them that the young man is more than capable of a thing that they had yet to encounter within their entire life, the fact that he can, and is capable of, taking lives of others, and someone capable of that might be more than prepared to beat them up even with the threat they just gave him. Not even bothering with those screaming and threatening people anymore, he uses more fire elemental mana in order to thrust his body even faster in the air, his speed still soaring up after breaking the previous speed he is going in, resulting in him unsurprisingly reaching the spire in which the two elven royalties along with his roommate is situated. "Plan didn''t work huh?" Looking at him with a baffled expression still on her face, the young elven duchess said as she kept her weapon back, after which she starts scratching the back of her head, all while awkwardly laughing as if something is in her mind. Noticing this, Diluc wants to point it out and ask her about it, but before he can even start, the elven princess also starts talking to him, the sigh of relief on her face as she saw the young man now standing in front of her something that she fails to hide not only to her greatest friend but also to the emperor-like young man, who is somehow still quite helpless with figuring out how he should deal with her whenever she acts like that. Chapter 115 115: A Fireball Noticing this, Diluc wants to point it out and ask her about it, but before he can even start, the elven princess also starts talking to him, the sigh of relief on her face as she saw the young man now standing in front of her something that she fails to hide not only to her greatest friend but also to the emperor-like young man, who is somehow still quite helpless with figuring out how he should deal with her whenever she acts like that. "Y-you¡­ it''s good that you''re fine¡­" Looking at this benefactor who rescued her within what she can only think of as a fate worse than death before, the elven princess said with a hint of smile gracing upon her mesmerizing face while she approaches the young man, the smile displayed on her face something that is guaranteed to make all other men kill just to get a glimpse of it. While this attractive smile seemingly bothers even Diluc''s will as well, his roommate, who seems quite timid in front of these two elven royalties, is unaffected by it at all, the fact that he still managed to go close without being charmed by the elven princess'' looks made the emperor-like young man realize that this roommate of his might be far stronger mentally than he had initially thought. "D-Diluc, you''re not hurt, aren''t you?" Scanning his roommate from head to toe, the usually timid Michael asked with a clearly concerned tone before his attention shifts towards the opponents they are supposed to be facing right now, his eyes showing a trace of confusion as he noticed that those fellow freshmen previously approaching them were now frozen in place, just watching their spire with eyes filled mostly with wariness mixed with a bit of clear envy. Hearing the question of his roommate, Diluc couldn''t help but shake his head a bit as he never expected that out of the three, the person who will ask a question out of worry for him being the young man whom he share the same dorm with, and not either of the two elven beauties who he thinks he shares a closer friendship with compared to the timid Michael. "Nothing too serious, you think those people can even do something to me?" S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After the words comes out of his roommate''s mouth though, the emperor-like young man notices that the question also piques the two elven ladies'' attention, prompting him to smile helplessly as the words comes out of his mouth, offering comfort to them who clearly looks like they were worried about him. "Enough about me, those guys are bothering you?" Seeing that the look on their eyes is alternating between him and those opponents they are supposed to fight just a few spires away from them, Diluc then directed some of his attention towards this group of freshmen, trying to see whether there are people here whom he is familiar with who might possibly be the reason why they seem to be particularly targeting the two elven royalties along with his roommate. Seeing not a single familiar face though, the young man no longer decided to take his time with them, opting to eliminate them in the competition as well, first, in order to prevent this group from bothering them any further, and second, to send some sort of warning towards anyone else who wants to take their chances against him and his group. "They''re eyeing us previously, but now¡­" Looking at the group they intend to clash against previously, the young elven duchess replied with a mocking smile on her face as she locked eyes with some of the people from their opposing group, the look in her face making those people feel extremely annoyed, some even angered by it. "¡­they look like they''re scared of something now, I wonder¡­ just who is it that they are scared of?" Picking up where her closest friend left of, the elven princess said with a cute smile on her face, the crescent moon that her bright, intelligent eyes are making something that the emperor-like young man knows all too well despite their relatively short time having known each other, a smile that she often wears when she''s teasing someone, and right now, this someone is him. "What do you think they should be scared of, Alea?" Not wanting to back down when facing this elven princess, Diluc then replies sporting his face with the same smile as the elven princess, the two of them locking eyes with each other as if it is something that is so natural and normal to them, making the elven princess'' greatest friend smile weirdly as if she just witnessed something all too interesting for her. "What are they scared of?" While the emperor-like young man and the elven princess were currently lost in the image of each other, staring at each other without inhibition as they thought that this is just fine, they were pulled out of their reverie as a question hit both of their ears, prompting the two of them to pull out from this little trance they have all too suddenly. Being taken by surprise by that question, the two of them were quite panicky as they just realized how close and intensely, they are staring at each other, causing them to feel embarrassed while looking at the other person now, with the elven princess feeling it all the more. As Diluc, despite being panicked as well, isn''t all that surprised in comparison to Alea, he decided to divert the topic in order to save the two of them from even more embarrassment, his attention moving towards the opponent who finally seems to recover from their frozen state now, still moving towards their spire as if they did not just witness him dealing with every single opponent in his area with apparent ease. "Let''s deal with them¡­" He mutters more to himself rather than his companions as one of his hands were raised to shoulder level once again, the mana in the air once again dancing joyfully according to his will as it forms an immaterial vortex around him, all of this fire elemental mana congregating in front of the hand he just stretched out, forming another magic circle with ease, this one not too grand compared to the first few attacks he just showcased, the spell something that even the most beginner of mages can recognize, no matter whether they are fire elemental mage or not. "That''s a¡­" "How can he even deal with his opponents with that??" "I gotta say, this young man does have a lot of guts, and really creative as well¡­" "Heh, he might be in for a surprise trying to use that kind of spell and thinking that it can deal with his opponents." Mixture of all sorts of emotions from the instructors along with other academy staffs, all agrees to the fact that this young man is doing something crazy once again, something that they can easily tell as their eyes, despite being owned by someone old, were something that has seen a lot of things, and the clear battle intent coming out of Diluc is not something that will get past their insights. The remaining audience, students who are of higher year level than the competing freshmen, are also real familiar with the spell that Diluc is currently using, and the fact alone that he just decided to use that sort of attack in a high level competition like this made the opinion of the older students towards him to be split in half, the first half the ones that wants to criticize him for doing such a thing that might damage other''s reputation, while the other group supporting the idea completely, stating that if his opponent were to be knocked out due to that spell, then it is only right for their reputation to be ruined. "Hey¡­ Diluc, are you really serious right now?" "Hey¡­ Diluc, are you really serious right now?" Meanwhile, watching just right beside him, both the elven princess and the young elven duchess muttered at the same time, their eyes fixated on the seemingly simple magic circle now completely congregated in front of the emperor-like young man''s palm, the crimson glow of each and every single line of this magic circle making it appear like it is packing far more of a punch than they had even witnessed from a low-level spell before. Receiving the question from the two elven royalties, the emperor-like young man merely looks back towards them, revealing a confident smile on his face as his hand remains on shoulder level, the flame now forming in front of the magic circle, burning so brightly that none, except its caster himself, would even want to look at it. "What? You think I''m playing around?" Diluc asked towards the two as the bright flame remains just a few centimeters away from his hands. "But¡­ isn''t that just a¡­" This time, even his roommate was confused by his choice of spell to use against his target, the three of them asking at the same time only for the young man to finish their words with a weird glow under his gaze, almost as if he is looking forward to the effect of this spell. "A fireball, yes¡­" Chapter 116 116: Trying out Skills? Looking at the bright ball of fire just a few centimeters in front of their friend''s hand, both the elven royalties along with said friend''s roommate looks at him with a hint of confusion on their gazes, wondering just what the young man is thinking for him to use this kind of spell in a competition as important as this. Feeling the doubt being directed towards him as he remains on his position, the emperor-like young man sighs to himself as he starts speaking, seemingly pointing out the reason why he decided to use a spell like that. "If I can suppress those guys with the most basic fire elemental spell, what do you think would happen to the mind of every other person who witnessed it?" The young man, Diluc, explains with a hint of wisdom apparent on his not too loud voice, the voice, despite lacking in loudness when he spoke of it, still shook his friends deeply the moment these words starts to sink into their brain, making them realize just what is it that this friend of theirs is planning right now. "Then¡­ that would make them way scared to fight against you, at least, on the surface¡­" The elven princess answers with a gaze filled with smarts while looking at the young man, the expression on her beautiful face something that clearly shows being proud, almost as if she is telling him that she just deduced it all too easily. Hearing her closest friend''s words, the young elven duchess couldn''t help but nod in agreement as well, the smile on her face something that is fundamentally different from her usual smile, this one seemingly carrying praises of high level towards the elven princess. Meanwhile, as na?ve as he can be, even the timid Michael himself forms a deduction of what could possibly happen once this mysterious roommate of his manages to accomplish this little goal of his to disqualify fellow freshmen in this group using the simplest of fire elemental spells, one of them the fact that most definitely, other freshmen, possibly even some older students, will be wary about offending him. "You will gather attention from powerful people though¡­ that won''t be good right?" Opening his mouth in order to ask what he thinks is the most important question to inquire about, the timid roommate said as he stares towards the emperor-like young man, his gaze no longer on them once again but rather directed towards the group of freshmen threatening him previously. "Diluc, you fucking bastard, I''m warning you, don''t even try thinking about hurting me, I am the¡­" "Heh, you won''t dare touch me! I am the sole heir of the ¡­" "Useless bastard, You think I''m scared of you? My family can easily trample you down!" Hearing the words coming out of these group''s mouths, Diluc couldn''t help but find himself smiling after a while of listening to them and their supposedly powerful backgrounds, causing him to hold a little bit of pity to them for some reasons unknown to him. This feeling of pity, however, is something so miniscule and negligible, something that is not even noticeable when he''s feeling far more angered due to their action. "My father is this my mother is that, man, you know, instead of starting your threat with something that basically means, ''oh I''m so gonna tell on you to my parents~'', why don''t you actually try stating just what sort of things you achieved by yourself, for yourself?" Thinking that he already had enough of hearing about all sorts of backing everyone have, he interrupted their conceited speech about the people that is more than likely going to be hostile against him the moment that he decides to eliminate this group. With the words of threat and insult to him however, the emperor-like young man couldn''t help but look at a floating gray screen that only he can see, on it, two skills he acquired from the same dragoness is displayed, skills that will definitely scare anyone else should they be seeing it right now. [Eternal Flames (Passive)] [Description: A skill unique to the creatures who had branched off from the union of the Prime Dragon of Light and the Prime Dragon of Destruction, a flame that grants all fire elemental dragons the chance to be reborn from the flames just like the legendary phoenix do, as well as allow them to burn everything around them in the process of this rebirth] Reading the effects of this passive skill once again, the emperor-like young man thought about it for quite some time before he thinks that he can use the endless flame of life from this skill, [Eternal Flame], in order to reinforce the fireball in his hands, making it so that only the destructive property of the skill is infused on the spell. ''If that is already too over the top, then this one should be the overkill¡­'' Looking at the other window open on the Dragon Herding System, Diluc then reveals a faint, wry smile on his handsome face that no one managed to see given how bright the fireball he casted is, this smile stemming from him reading through another one of the skills that he received from the youngest dragoness in his group, the fire dragon, Seraphina. [Eruption (Active)] [Description: A skill unique to the creatures who had branched off from the Prime Dragon of Destruction, it is a skill so devastating in the hands of the powerful that even other members of the dragon race tend to fear it just from its potency alone. Creates a massive surge of power for the dragon using it to utilize, improving all physical and mental faculty by consistently increasing the circulation of blood and even mana by invigorating them with the heat of the absolute flame controlled by the fire dragons, granting them an extreme strength for a set period of time depending on the dragon''s strength, tolerance as well as their mastery of this skill] ''Given my current control of the fire element, I should be able to modify it to a small scale spell, but it might just go out of control since I have not practiced it enough yet¡­'' Diluc thought to himself before he once again, observes the props magic circle floating just in front of his stretched hand, the magic circle truly looking like it is conducting fire elemental mana that seemingly is there in order to control the fireball, despite the fact that this magic circle is merely something that he is using to cover up the fact that he can directly manipulate mana without the help of magic circles. ''Well, I should probably practice them some more first, especially since it does seem like I gained someone''s attention now¡­'' The young man added to himself as he felt the borderline predatory gaze of someone locking in on him, and he himself is already made aware of the existence of this person, along with their identity. Taking a peek towards a place in the arena that is quite covered in comparison to where the students watch and sit, Diluc notices the eyes of the petite, white haired, horned principal, the glow on it making him feel like she wants to just dissect and study him for the sake of it, making him shiver for a bit before he recovers. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Let''s give the principal a little more push just in case'' Diluc thought as he decided to end this, the bright, blinding ball of fire in his hand rushing away from it all of a sudden as the magic circle ''controlling'' it glows even brighter than before, the projectile rushing towards his target at an unprecedented speed that caught even those instructors surprised, something that only happens once in a full blue moon. While it does move that fast when it just left from near him, the fireball gets even faster and faster as it travels further and further away from him, attaining such absurd speed, the very same absurd one that left the eyes of the ones who witnessed it wide and baffled. Not only was the fireball fast, but it is also unpredictable in all sorts of ways, and one among those freshmen trying to battle it out with his friends previously learnt it in the hard way. "Fucking bastard!! You''re too conceited if you think that puny attack can damage, heck, even affect me in the least, just you wait, you''ll face the consequences for attacking me!!" "Diluc!! You bastard!! I''ll definitely get my revenge on you sooner or later!!" "Wait!! Brother Diluc!! Maybe you want to¡­" Shouting at the top of their lungs, the freshmen being targeted by the emperor-like young man throws each of their one final line, with each of them hoping that said line might just buy them some more time, but as much as they want to buy even just a single second more to escape from the pain they are about to experience, it might already be too late for them, with the fireball now just a couple of feet away from them. Chapter 117 117: Arias Decision Shouting at the top of their lungs, the freshmen being targeted by the emperor-like young man throws each of their one final line, with each of them hoping that said line might just buy them some more time, but as much as they want to buy even just a single second more to escape from the pain they are about to experience, it might already be too late for them, with the fireball now just a couple of feet away from them. That is not where their surprise ends though as the moment that the fireball closes in to a certain distance near them, the one who casted this spell them seemingly takes control of it once again, the magic circle that is supposed to fade once the spell take off still totally visible near his hand, the originally normal looking magic circle now seemingly being torn apart, making everyone watching it wonder just what is it that is happening right now. "What the hell is that¡­" "Is that even¡­ real?" "Maybe that magic circle is just collapsing on itself?" While watching and looking forward to whatever it is that might happen next, majority of the audience, that being those students of higher year than the freshmen, discusses among themselves, most of them having their own speculation of what is happening to the magic circle still being maintained on the emperor-like young man''s hand. "That is¡­" "I never expected to see something like that from someone so young¡­" "HAHAHA, the talents of this batch of students are really astonishing¡­" "Looks like this is going to be a busy year for us" On the other hand, far from speculating, almost all of the instructors of the academy are familiar with the thing that the titled first among all of these year''s freshmen is doing, with some of them not only being familiar with it, but also capable of executing the very same kind of thing that the young man is trying to do. With most of them having their eyes glowing bright as they look forward to whether this young man can truly pull something like that off, the most authoritative among them smiles to herself while feeling more and more satisfied watching the young man. ''That demeanor, and the confidence he has to try something like that¡­ as expected of their offspring¡­'' Watching Diluc gradually stabilizing the magic circle now eventually becoming independent from one another, the white-haired, horned beauty of a principal of the Flammenherz Academy thought to herself as she watches on the distance, deciding to return her attention to the room where all of the instructors gather in order to announce something to them, something that she is previously hesitating about and just decided after seeing what Diluc is trying to do. "That kid will study directly under me, no matter what the results of this competition will be¡­" She declared with a rare, serious firmness in her voice, surprising the instructors as it is only so rare that they can see this side of this principal of theirs even after the years that had gone through with her as the leader of this academy, and that says a lot given how usually expressive the principal is. Processing the words, they just heard from the principal, the instructors immediately acknowledged her words, knowing full well that this is possibly the best arrangement they can do for the young man, given that some of them might even find him difficult to teach since the level of mastery he has over mana just seems too monstrous to them, with the only advantage they have over him is that their cores are on a far more advance level than him. "What the hell are you all looking at huh? You all wanna go?" Noticing the looks that the instructors are giving her, the white-haired beauty couldn''t help but feel a bit annoyed and uncomfortable, prompting her to lash out as the smile on her face changes into a manic, seemingly violent one, almost as if she''s ready to give them the beating of their life the moment someone say or did the wrong thing. This expression of hers caused all of the instructors previously looking at her to avert their gazes in an instantaneous rush, fearing for their lives as they might just invoke the ire of this monster the moment that they did something wrong. "Hoh¡­ you just thought of something rude just now, don''t you?" Seeing the reactions of her subordinates, Aria then said with the same manic smile not disappearing on her face causing all the more distress to the instructors, with some of them already accepting the fate of being beaten up by this lady once again. "Whatever, I''m in a great mood today, let''s continue watching" Seeing that the instructors are in quite the distress already, Aria then sighed in annoyance as she just decides to let it go, directing her attention towards Diluc once again as the situation is already settled, with his opponents already being carried out by the academy staff away from the arena, and the emperor-like young man just staring expressionlessly at the aftermath of his attack. "This¡­" Looking at what happened to the spires just previously in front of them, the young elven princess mutters to herself with surprise apparent on her face, wondering just how is it that this young man in front of her manages to do such considerably miraculous things time and time again, first when he saved her from when the first time they met, then overwhelmingly defeating one of the most powerful group of freshmen in a sanctioned duel, without even a hint of struggle in his part. Not only those two, but also even managing to singlehandedly defeating multiple fellow freshmen during the short span of time the first round of competition for the Primaria Class starts, when most people thought that even if he is the first place, he should not be that strong in comparison to the other people of his batch. And right now, the fact alone that he managed to destroy everything that the seemingly modest and simple fireball that he casted previously hit making all those things he did previously feel pale in comparison, after all, the materials used to create the arena they are currently standing on, despite looking unassuming and completely normal, are still high quality materials, and for all of the spells he cast here so far being able to severely damage the arena shows just how powerful he is compared to other students, who can at most, leave marks on the spires their spells hit. What makes this all the more terrifying is the fact that he merely used an entry level fire element offensive spell in order to achieve the greatest damage that he did to the arena, and despite this spell being modified from the normal one, it is still, undeniably an entry level spell. Recalling what happened, she still felt shivers running down her spine as the flash of light from the spell starts separating into multiple fragments, making her wonder whether the fireball that the young man she is interested in fails, something that she doubts will happen given how great his mastery over mana manipulation is. And her suspicion of the simple spell not failing comes true as she witnesses it being completely separated into multiple smaller fireballs, the size not even hiding the danger of the power contained within the meager volume of the spell, add to that the fact that the emperor-like young man appears to be capable of controlling the trajectory of the spell as well, possibly through the use of the magic circle that just refuses to disperse on his hand. ''I heard from mother that it is possible to remotely control a spell, but that was something that only those at least at the yellow core can do¡­'' Alea added to herself while watching the fragments of the original fireball splitting paths and seemingly moving towards each and every spire where their supposed opponents are standing, with Diluc, who cast the spell, seemingly on complete focus as he controls multiple fireballs going to different directions. Unsurprisingly, Diluc managed to control all those different fireballs with precision enough for them to reach his intended destination for them, hitting the spires where each and every single one of his friend''s supposed opponents stand, exploding just a little bit lower so that they are still alive after the attack despite sustaining quite the serious injuries, the explosion devouring a significant part of those spires, the majestic, near blinding light that devoured them providing a mesmerizing show to anyone that is watching them, a mixture of an extremely impressive entertainment show and an absurdly terrifying showcase of one''s own might. ''He''s not even showing off his true strength as well¡­'' Returning to herself and remembering that he is someone treading the twin path of power, the elven princess then smiles wryly to herself as she wonders just how violently the other students will react once they come to find out about it, and not only the students, she is even fairly certain that those academy staffs and instructors will be baffled by that as well. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 118 118: Should I Go Wreak Some Havoc? Returning to herself and remembering that he is someone treading the twin path of power, the elven princess then smiles wryly to herself as she wonders just how violently the other students will react once they come to find out about it, and not only the students, she is even fairly certain that those academy staffs and instructors will be baffled by that as well. All while the elven princess is thinking about those things regarding this young man, a friend she made just before her time in the academy started, her closest friend, along with the roommate of this said young man are also having thoughts along the same line as hers, the only difference being the fact that these two are far less aware of the young man''s true strength compared to her. "Honestly, just how much more of that talent of his is he hiding?" Shaking her head helplessly as she watches Diluc moving away from the spot he stands on when he attacks previously, the young elven duchess, Alfia, asked with a hint of envy in her otherwise completely curious tone, an envy that slips out as she thinks of whether she could even achieve that kind of prowess when she reached the same level as the emperor-like young man. "You''d be surprised~" Hearing the question from her closest friend, the elven princess, Alea, replied with a mysterious smile on her face, opting not to tell Alfia about the fact that the young man approaching them is someone who treads the twin path of power despite how close they are, thinking that sooner or later, Diluc himself will reveal this fact to her closest friend if they continue getting closer like this. Meanwhile, Diluc''s roommate merely stares at him with surprise on his eyes watching everything unfold, how he managed to deal with multiple geniuses of the same age as him without even breaking a sweat, making him think whether he''s even standing on the same level as the other freshmen. ''I initially thought that he''s quite strong given how he carries himself and how he deals with things but¡­ for him to be this strong¡­'' He thought to himself as he felt like he managed to witness a new side of this friend that saved him at their very first day in the academy, wondering just how big the difference between the two of them is. "Looks like that teaches everyone else a lesson¡­" As the three continues daydreaming and getting lost in their own thoughts, the young man they are speculating the strength of finally reaches their position, standing right in front of them, catching them off guard as they just heard his voice and not a single one of his steps, despite him walking all the way through from the edge of the relatively wide spire they are standing on to the position they are currently standing on. Seeing the modest smile on his handsome face, the two elven beauties couldn''t help but feel their hearts skipping some beats, urging them to look away from his face in order to stabilize themselves, all while using their fair, dainty hands in order to cover the rush of blood flooding their faces, something that just made it all too obvious that they are feeling really shy right now. Given his experience with the dragonesses in the Draconic Realm, Diluc should''ve been pretty aware of what these two elven ladies are thinking about and why they are acting like that the moment they saw his face, however, there is one thing that is in his mind that makes him overlook how these two ladies are acting right now. For better or for worse, the emperor-like young man, despite his usual wits, attributes how the three dragonesses act towards the fact that he is the Ruler of the Draconic Realm commanding great respect from them and automatically placing him to be the greatest choice of partner there is for them, and not due to anything that he had for himself. Hence the struggle in his mind whether he should point it out to the two ladies now giggling to themselves as they turn their backs on him, making him decide that he shouldn''t really touch such topics now, especially when they have plenty of time to talk about it in the future. Redirecting his focus, he then looks at his often timid roommate, the expression on said roommate''s face giving him quite the surprise, not the positive kind, but rather, the weird kind that just made his entirety tingle and his hairs stand at its very end, prompting him to take a few steps back as he clears his throat in order to wake his roommate up. ''Should I exchange rooms with someone else?'' Looking at the mesmerized expression on the timid young man''s face, Diluc couldn''t help but think of this option, all while wondering whether this new friend of his really swings that way, something that he already pretty much confirmed seeing how he is reacting right now. Massaging between his eyes for a bit in order to not feel too overwhelmed with this oddly pressuring information, the emperor-like young man breathes out a conceding sigh as he decided to not bother about all these things too much for now. ''While there''s clearly no one else who wants to mess with us now, that''s just on the surface, I need to watch out for people who might just ambush us if they have the chance¡­'' Diluc thought to himself in order to occupy his mind with anything else but these three people he made friends with during the short time he is in the Flammenherz Academy, using the things that Yggdrasil had taught him in order to detect every single freshman still fighting in the arena, the number just a little bit more than anyone expected. "Heeh¡­ looks like the freshmen this year are pretty good huh?" "Looking back, it was not even this long when I got disqualified for the Primaria Class examinations during my time, and that was on a normal arena!!" sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Hahaha!! Looks like we will have a hard time disciplining them later~~" From the audience''s seats, they are sharing the very same thoughts as Diluc regarding the number of the freshmen students still competing in the arena, some of them even discussing how they should teach the freshmen a lesson that they won''t forget so that they continue respecting the older students even with said freshmen''s strength possibly surpassing even theirs within their time in the academy. "The problem is that monster¡­" "Yeah, I guess only the third or fourth years are capable of fighting him¡­" "Nah, you give him too much credit, anyone from the top ten ranking of the second year should be more than enough to deal with him¡­" As the older students continues to discuss among themselves, their topic eventually arrives to how they should teach the emperor-like young man, one they already branded as monster, a lesson, this topic piquing the particular interest of the nobles within the group, a manic smile appearing on their faces as they continue to discuss about such topic, the expression on their faces showing just how much they are looking forward to such thing happening. ''Serves him right, how dare a commoner be greater than us!?'' All while the older students who hail from noble houses thinks of such things, a person they fail to notice already slips past them bringing along with her a record of all the things they had said without anything added or omitted, this figure slipping through the shadows of the audience until it eventually reaches a particular place, emerging right beside a chair where a white haired, horned petite lady is sitting, watching everything happening in the arena unfold with a smile in her face. "Miss Aria, take a look at this¡­" Handing out the records of the conversation, the figure in the shadow said with a hint of concern in her voice, said individual finally revealing herself as a graceful, attractive lady with beast-like features of a black, cat-like ears and tail, making her appear all the more appealing to everyone and perfectly suiting her cold, seemingly distant and aloof character. Hearing the words of her most trusted aide and close friend, Aria raised an eyebrow before she reaches out for the records, intending to read it as the concern on her friends face pretty much tells her that this is important, her eyes scanning through the records at such an absurd speed that she finishes it in just a moment, the information within it causing her mesmerizing smiling face collapse into one filled with malice, the air around her steadily getting colder and colder by the second. "Hehehe¡­ the guts of those brats to talk about something like that¡­ except the Primaria Class of every year, looks like I haven''t beaten all the other classes into proper shape¡­ those damn old bastards and their bad habits¡­ Aeonia, should I go wreak some havoc on them?" Chapter 119 119: And Theyre the Sheeps "Hehehe¡­ the guts of those brats to talk about something like that¡­ except the Primaria Class of every year, looks like I haven''t beaten all the other classes into proper shape¡­ those damn old bastards and their bad habits¡­ Aeonia, should I go wreak some havoc on them?" After scanning through the recordings that Aeonia has brought her, Aria couldn''t help but shake her head in disappointment as she felt like she fails as the one who holds the highest position in this academy whenever she come to know of something like this happening, especially when she always mentions to every students how important it is to not let their ego get in the way of their mind, and yet here they are, majority of them thinking of basically suppressing the freshmen just because they want to have their respect. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''If you all really want to earn the respect of your underclassmen so badly, then I will give you all just the proper amount of training for that~'' As she freezes the entirety of the record out of the anger still circulating in her system, the horned principal thought to herself all while she is trying to calm herself down for now, trying to watch the person about to be a student directly under her, remembering that this is the first time that she will have a direct student, not to mention someone as monstrous if not even more than her. Meanwhile, the subject of the volatile principal''s observation is currently standing on the spire that his friends are previously standing on, with said friends observing him oddly as if there is something that they want to hear from him, said stare being too intense that he couldn''t help but just blurt out and ask whatever it is that they want to know. "Ladies¡­ and gentleman, how about you stop staring at me like that and actually talk to me?" Revealing a modest, slightly troubled smile on his face, the emperor-like young man said as he looks at the three person standing just right in front of him, all of them having almost the same exact reaction the moment that they heard his words. The first one who acted upon the opportunity is the one who the young man knows the longest, albeit just by a short amount, that being the elven princess, who already stepped out of the three and approaches him with a question that just makes her eyes glow in excitement. "Just how much more strength are you hiding? You aren''t even using that wind elemental magic of yours¡­" Wondering how larger the gap between them is despite already showing them things that they think they can never achieve even with the same level of strength as him, the elven princess asked with the glowing excitement not leaving her eyes, the expression on her face clearly someone who just wants to know more about it all for the sake of it, nothing more or less of a reason there is to it to her. Hearing the question of her closest friend, the young elven duchess'' ears perked up as she is also quite curious about the strength of this young man that she just befriended because of the elven princess, Alea, with this friend seemingly being a bunch of secrets that is just waiting for them to unveil. Meanwhile, the roommate of the person in question, despite seemingly being interested about this as well, is clearly still thinking about something else to ask, a testament to that being the fact that he wasn''t really acting all too similar to the two elven beauties, something that might be attributed to him being a bit more logical given that he is a man, or possibly a completely different reason at all. After hearing the words of the first friend he had ever made after coming out to his travels to the capital, the emperor-like young man, Diluc, thought for a while, not because he is considering whether he want to let her into his secret, but rather because he wants to think about the best degree of strength, he should reveal to them. Pausing for a while, he finally decided on the degree of strength he should show them, his answer to their questions something that just made not only the two elven beauties, but also his roommate, wide eyed in surprise. Not for any reason that one might expect though, as he doesn''t even tell them anything that can answer their question, his answer making them all the more impatient for him to reveal his true strength. "Just watch while we''re still defending our place, who knows, there might be someone in the arena that is capable of dealing with my current strength, just then, I might need to use my actual strength¡­" The emperor-like young man answered with a smile and a wink on his face, the words coming out of his mouth something that made all those waiting for his answer to feel like they had been played, the two elven ladies gritting their teeth in annoyance as they start thinking of ways that they might get back to this annoying young man, while said young man''s roommate merely shakes his head as a wry smile appears on his handsome face, the light coming from heavens above just making his appearance all the more beautiful and feminine. While the three of them are thinking of all sorts of things regarding Diluc though, the young man himself already move past the topic as he once again, manages to use words in order to avoid answering such kind of questions, breathing a sigh of relief as he notices that the mind of those three, particularly the two elven beauties, are already on something else, such relief not going to last as it will come to bite him back sooner or later in the future. "I''m just kidding, given how petty Alfia is, I shouldn''t really be doing anything that will make her angry¡­ let''s talk about it later" Seeing the expression on the three''s face changing from the exasperation to surprise and then eventually joy, Diluc couldn''t help but smile a bit before he once again focuses on something else, leaving his back completely open towards the three, showing just how much he trusts them. Looking at his back, the two elven royalties looked at each other with a smile on their faces, feeling a bit at loss as they couldn''t help but feel annoyed that they got satisfied with such answer, that despite his answer being quite vague once again, the two elven ladies thought that it was so much better than his previous answer, the two of them looking at each other before nodding, and then returning to their resting state once again. On the other hand, while the three starts resting, Diluc merely sat in a place where he can see the surrounding area the most, deciding to defend this place until the three finishes their rest, deciding to entertain himself by just meditating lightly, not letting himself fall into a deep meditative state. If someone were to find out that he is forcefully keeping himself away from a deep meditative state, they would definitely try to kill him just from sheer jealousy alone, but not because of the fact that he can always keep himself from entering a deep meditative state but rather due to the fact that he can so easily enter the deep meditative state that he even wants to forcefully stop it from happening. However, no one does, and no one seemingly will be aware of that fact except for the person who achieves such feat, Diluc, and even if there is to be someone else who will become aware of that, he always felt like this won''t be such a big deal so he just always dismissed it. And due to that, all four of them appears all too peaceful as they all enters meditative states in order to prepare themselves properly for climbing up some higher spires than the one they are currently standing on, the four of them agreeing to that just to make sure that they can enter the second round of this trial for the Primaria Class without any troubles. As peculiar and odd as it is though, their spire, despite being on a considerably high place that it is already guaranteed that they will enter the second round, along with the fact that every single person occupying this place appears to be people who are recuperating, not a single person dares to even get close the spire they are standing on, with the most daring ones only achieving as far as staring at the spire from a considerable distance away. The reason for that? The fact that the emperor-like young man domineeringly dealt with every single opponent that he had along the way, the competition, in front of him becoming a mass slaughter like that of a wolf entering a flock of sheep. And they''re the sheeps. Chapter 120 120: I Have a Lot to Do Time passed without anyone daring to get even close to the spire that Diluc and the rest of his group is on, the competitors they had in this part of the trials intendedly avoiding them in fear of them, particularly him, the strongest in their group, retaliating, which all of them believe will either amount to mutual destruction at best, and being completely eliminated from the competition at the worst for anyone who would even dare think of challenging them. This phenomenon of them being avoided at all cost makes a pretty hilarious show from the audience''s perspective, the fact that instead of the ones standing on the highest spires being the ones who were avoided by the less talented students at all cost, there is another place a bit down below them that the freshmen are avoiding even more than where they currently stands, something that can be confirmed to be a first time by most of the olden instructors as well as the ones who knows the history of the academy really well. While the other remaining freshmen still trying to compete for chance to enter the Primaria Class are struggling more than just a little bit in order to climb up to higher spires, one group appears to be particularly laid back with all of their members still seemingly preparing if not resting, sitting in a lotus position as if they are still trying to continue absorbing the mana in the air. Despite all the ones in this group are people who has the appearance as well as the air of someone who is certainly not normal at all, if anyone were to be asked who among this four people is the strongest, whether they are familiar with this group of people or not, they will definitely point towards the young man who appears to be sitting with a little bit of distance away from the three other people in this spire. ''This should be good enough for them to absorb some mana without my body not stealing too much in the air'' The young man in question, bearing a ruler-like demeanor to himself as if he''s someone who had experienced years of being an emperor, mutters to himself while staring at his fist for a while, smiling before he clenched it abruptly, a rumbling sound spreading through the air surprising not only his companions and friends, his roommate and the two elven royalties, but also competing freshmen who flies a little bit closer to them. ''Ever since I start contracting with more dragons, my body seems to grow even stronger than before¡­'' Diluc mutters to himself as he wonders just how much more powerful he will become the moment that he hatches even more draconic beings in the future, a smile escaping from his calm face as he starts looking forward to the future, his curiosity clearly showing as he starts to think about what sorts of things he can achieve with the combination of multiple elements that he will acquire sooner or later with the growing of the Draconic Realm. [As the Ruler of the Draconic Realm, your strength will grow along with the development of the of the realm, so it is highly recommended that you work harder to develop everything] Seeing the floating gray screen appearing in front of him, the smile on the emperor-like young man''s face becomes even more apparent than before since he heard the confirmation of this little speculation of his from the one who he thought knows the potential of the Draconic Realm the most, the Dragon Herding System which gives him the ability to enter and control such realm. [¡­] What places him in an even better mood is the next thing that he saw from the floating gray screen, something that he had only seen a few times ever since he acquires the Dragon Herding System, and becoming more and more frequent as of lately, a line that clearly shows the hesitation of whatever it is that the Dragon Herding System is, and each and every single occasion that happens after this line appears always points out to the system being more than just the screen appearing visible solely to him and anyone he allows to see. ''Is there something you want to say?'' Already treating whoever it is behind the floating gray screen as someone who he can trust at the very least, Diluc asked with a tone of a friend, not expecting any answer despite how it always goes whenever the previous line shows up, which made him all the more elated when he saw a new floating gray screen showing something that he never really explicitly received from the system, concern. [There''s no need to tire yourself out too much though¡­ as the Ruler of the Draconic Realm, it is also your duty to rest properly.] Seeing the words on the screen, the smile on his face eventually turns into a snicker that gathers not only the attention of his friends who is now just waiting for him before they start aiming for higher spires, but also the other freshmen trying to climb higher as well, the latter opting not to pay too much attention to it as they just don''t know what might happen to them should they somehow hit a nerve by staring too long at him. ''You sound more and more alive'' S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Knowing that he gathered quite the attention to himself doing that, Diluc composes himself all while replying mentally to the words of the Dragon Herding System, and unsurprisingly to him, after the words of concern, the floating gray screen just refuses to reply to his words once again, prompting him to think that whoever it is that is on the opposite side of this screen, they might be feeling quite embarrassed right now, and somehow, something tells him that this scenario in his mind is exactly what is happening on whoever the one talking to him is. [The Dragon Herding System is an artificially made intelligence with the sole purpose being to guide the next Ruler of the Draconic Realm, while it is sentient, it is in no way, alive.] After waiting for a while, he decided to give up on waiting for a better reply than the one now in front of him, something that goes along the line of the replies that the Dragon Herding System gives him every single time that he points it out sounding more and more alive, distracting himself from the curiosity about the identity of the one behind the system by checking his own information for now. [Diluc Leonhart] [Race: Human] [Age: 16] [Realm Gold: 85,000] [Cultivations] [Magic: Solid Orange Core (Combat power at Light Yellow Core)] [Body Tempering: Intermediate Muscle Conditioning (Combat power at Late Blood Vessel Widening)] [Elemental Affinity: Wind, Wood, Metal, Fire] [Skills: Draconic Scale, Absolute Regeneration, Life Breathing, Wood Incarnation, Heavy Metal Reinforcement, Rain of Swords, Eternal Flames, Eruption, Dragon Roar, Dragon Claw, Specific Mana Manipulation (Wind)] [Overall Combat Power: 5-stars] [Draconic Realm] [Missions] [Shop] Seeing something on the mission window, he decided to navigate to it, his eyes revealing an excited glow as he notices that one of the missions he has is now getting closer to completion. [Master of Five Elements] [As the ruler of the Draconic Realm, the bare minimum is for you to become adept with the manipulation of the five main elements of mana. Master the five elements completely and create a spell or a technique from the insights you have gained.] [Rewards: Completion of the mission awards you with 25,000 Realm Gold, as well as the right to open the Structures part of the shop] [Progress: affinity acquired for three out of the five main elemental mana (wood, fire, metal)] ''I just lack the Earth and Water dragon and then the self-created technique¡­'' Remembering how all of the eggs and habitats for the five main elemental dragon''s are priced the same, he couldn''t help but start looking forward to it more and more as he knows that he is just a single step away from completing his mission, making him want nothing more than to enter the Draconic Realm to go and hatch the corresponding dragon for the elemental affinity he needs, the only thing preventing him from doing so aside from the fact that he wants to be there for the entirety of these dragon''s childhood is the fact that he is in a competition right now. Deciding to move on from this mission of his, he also checked the mission the system gave him after he finished ''that'' mission, an event and mission that he always considers as a double blessing given how he got closer with the dragonesses as well as acquire a second mission slot. [Undefeatable, Indomitable] [Being the Ruler of the Draconic Realm, it is fine for you to hide your real abilities since it is a necessity for any expert in order to survive in this world, however, it is also imperative that you must show your might so that no people shall direct any thought of contempt towards you, as this is will ruin your reputation. Overwhelmingly win the second part of the entrance exam and take the first place of this year''s Primaria Class placement exams.] [Rewards: Completion of this mission awards you with 20,000 Realm gold, as well as the opportunity to acquire a dragon egg you never acquired before for free, however, the type and elemental affinity of the egg is completely left to chance] ''I have a lot to do'' seeing the things he needs to do for this mission, the young man couldn''t help but smile a bit in relief as this mission finally aligns with his current intentions of showing talent enough to make other freshmen steer away from making troubles with him. Chapter 121 121: Greedy Cheapskate Revealing a determined expression on his face as he realizes just how much reward he will acquire once he completes these missions, Diluc then stood up, finding himself even more surprised as another window on the floating gray screen appears to notify him of something, something that made him all the more motivated to aim for the highest place in this trial for the Primaria Class. [Due to your show of strength and the expression of determination you revealed just now, there is a rise in the agitation of numerous ancient spirits, and some of them even gives praises of your strength, stating their respect for you] Having read those words, the young man then once again navigates to the mission windows of the Dragon Herding System, now looking at one last mission he forgot to check previously, recalling that he just acquired this temporary mission before he entered the arena. [Unbending Will (Temporary Mission, Extreme Difficulty, One-day time limit)] [Description: The ancient remnants of past warriors gather upon this archaic, old place, waiting for someone who can represent their will, waiting for a champion that can bring back their legacy from their eternal rest. As the Ruler of the Draconic Realm, you are more than worthy enough of being the champion to inherit the legacy of all these powerful deceased warriors. Show them the might and talent of the Ruler of the Draconic Realm and prove the choice of selecting you right] [Reward: Depending on the number of the ancient spirits that you stimulated and managed to get the respect of, a certain amount of reward shall be given to you, with the minimum reward being the legacy of the ancient spirit/s that you managed to earn the respect of.] [Note: For every nine ancient spirit that you earned the respect of, the system will provide an additional reward, ranging from Realm Gold to chances to acquire a new draconic egg (Currently, you already earned the respect of twelve ancient spirits, the system has detected that there are one hundred and eight ancient spirits currently observing the things happening in the arena)] After reading through the information of this temporary mission, the emperor-like young man then took a note of it in his mind before he directed his attention towards his friends and now teammates, with the three said friends now also staring at him as they finished preparing themselves for the ascend they are about to do. "What the hell was that? It feels like there are something watching us¡­" S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Feeling a chill on the back of her head, the elven princess mutters more to herself than to her companions as she turns around to check out whatever it is that might be observing them, only for her to see nothing at all, making her wonder all the more whether her closest friend''s claims about the remnant thoughts and spirits of ancient powerhouses being active here were actually true. Being an elf, already a race of superior senses compared to others, and still having an exceptionally fine ears for even among people of their race, the young elven duchess manages to hear the words of the elven princess, her eyes flashing a bright excited light as if she just proves something right to her closest friend once again, believing that this alone is enough to prove her claims of ancient spirits residing in this arena. "Hehehe~~~ I wonder what this cousin of mine is thinking about huh? Do you believe my claims are true now~~? Say that it''s true and I will help you eliminate this weird feeling~~~" Feeling triumphant as she looks at the concerned expression of the elven princess, Alfia said with a proud tone in her voice while teasing Alea, dangling out a peculiar shaped talisman on her hand, something that she made for herself as she fully believes that there is truly something of supernatural origin within the confines of this arena. "I¡­ uh¡­" Feeling a bit conflicted and torn from not wanting to feel this sensation of being observed and admitting to Alfia that she is wrong, something that might cause the young elven duchess to feel even more proud in front of her, Alea couldn''t immediately decide what to answer this cousin of hers, prompting her to look at the emperor-like young man to employ his help to get out of this situation. Seeing the look in her eyes, the young man couldn''t help but wryly shake his head as he gathers fire and wind elemental mana to his feet once again, concealing the draconic magic by projecting a false magic circle under the soles of his feet, creating an illusion of him being able to fly through the use of the spell in the magic circle. "I suggest you don''t prevent yourself from being observed by those things, all of you, if they are real, those are remnant spirits of deceased experts after all, who knows what sort of inheritance they have if you managed to earn their favor?" Deciding to help Alea out a little, Diluc then pointed the fact out for them to know, this being already quite the rumor or even legend in the academy helping him in concealing the fact that he only found out about the remnant spirits because of the Dragon Herding System''s mission. With the explanation from the strongest among their group, the two elven royalties merely look at each other and thought that what he said does have a lot of good point to it, making them decide that it is better to just let these peculiar feeling so long as it won''t pose any immediate danger to them, even the careful Alfia removing the talisman she has in her, causing her to feel the same peculiar sensation of being observed as the elven princess. It might be due to the fact that he is quite timid and frail-looking compared to his companions, but Michael himself doesn''t really feel the weird gazes observing him, probably because he has yet to catch the attention of these ancient remnant spirits, making him feel quite inferior to the three given that they all seem to catch the attention of these formerly expert mages and martial artists. "You''re not going?" Looking at the three still just standing on the spire he is also currently on, Diluc asked, snapping them out of their daze and prompting them to look at him, with the young elven duchess smiling wryly as she watches him making flying at their current level seemingly nothing too hard and special at all, despite her knowing full well just what sort of control over mana he needs to have in order to achieve even just a fragment of this. "You and your absurdity¡­ you go ahead first, we need to run around the spires since we can''t fly like you" Alfia said with a wry, slightly annoyed smile on her face, her tone seemingly laced with reprimand as if a friend blaming the young man for being too talented compared to them, with her cousin, the elven princess Alea along with the frail-looking Michael both laughing at her words, completely agreeing with her. "Alfia is right Diluc, go ahead first, clear the path for us~~" The elven princess said with a seemingly commanding, yet all too playful tone in her voice, saying such words while she raises her head up and points her nose towards the skies, making her look a bit more like ladies her age compared to her usual composed and confident demeanor when interacting with other people. Meanwhile, Michael merely smiles as he gently laughs along the antics of the two elven royalties, not daring to make a quip as he is quite worried of what sort of things his roommate might do to him if he do so, although he is thinking too much about that sort of things. Refusing to just back down from the teasing of the elven princess, Diluc then directs his smile at her as he signs towards her, pointing at her with his finger before making a sign, circling his thumb and his index finger together, clearly indicating that he needs some sort of payment to do that. "Humph!! You greedy little cheapskate!!" Seeing the young man''s action, Alea couldn''t help but feel annoyed, harrumphing before she turns her head around as if to show her annoyance, only for her to find such actions embarrassing, painting her own face red with the warmth rushing towards it the blush giving her all the more reason to avert her gaze away from him. Watching the expression of the elven princess change from one of annoyance to one of clear embarrassment, Diluc reveals an amused smile on his face as he looks at the elven princess cousin and closest friend standing just right beside her, smiling at the lady who also appears to be all too entertained seeing Alea acting like that. "Alright, enough with the jokes for now, let''s all go together" The words come out of the emperor-like young man''s mouth, making all three wonder how they can all move together.