Chapter 7: Dragon Academy

Upon seeing this, Winter spoke, "Alright, little ones, you’ve just been born. Neither your strength nor energy is enough to support your learning plans. Rest well and gather your energy. After that, you’ll learn how to become a true dragon!"

As she spoke, Winter prepared to leave. But then she suddenly stopped in her tracks!

"Almost forgot, I must remind you of something! Desaidro is a peaceful and friendly dragon lair, and I believe your elder brothers and sisters will like you very much! But trust me, right now, you cannot handle their affection! So, don’t even think about sneaking out of the lair. You definitely don’t want to experience that heavy love!"

With that, accompanied by the tremors of the earth, Winter left!

The little dragons, who had been planning to sneak out of the lair as soon as Winter left, ultimately chose not to risk it! They were curious, but not foolish! Since they couldn't sneak out to play, the little dragons turned their attention to the lair itself.

From the outside, the lair appeared rather dark. But once inside, it was much brighter than they had imagined. Every few feet along the jagged stone walls, a glowing stone was embedded, giving off a soft light.

Billy, one of the little dragons, flew over to the stones and tried to pry them loose. However, he soon gave up in frustration, realizing that the stones wouldn’t budge.

Earlier, with Winter present, the little dragons had suppressed their true nature, but now that she was gone, they began to show their real selves!

"Selene!"

"You can call me Selene! The Holy Dragon! I’m the firstborn, so you should call me the leader. From now on, you should all listen to me!"

The first to speak was a small, milk-white female dragon standing on all fours. She had smooth, upward-curving horns with golden patterns, wings that were 1.5 times her body length, and tightly packed, fan-shaped, smooth scales. Her tail was thick and long. She was the largest among the five young dragons present, measuring about one and a half meters long without the tail.

At this moment, she was no longer the quiet dragon she had been when Winter was around. Her body radiated a soft, milk-white light imbued with the gentle energy of the light element, but it couldn’t hide her fiery temper. Her brilliant golden slit-pupiled eyes looked at the other four dragons with an intense sense of pressure.

Vitt hadn't yet processed this sudden change, unsure of what was going on. The other three dragons, meanwhile, stared at the suddenly assertive Selene, their glowing golden pupils filled with surprise and frustration—but there was no trace of the anger that might have been expected! While Vitt was clueless, the others knew well what the light element surrounding Selene signified. It was a sign of magical power, something they had yet to achieve!

Seeing the frustrated but speechless dragons, a glint of pride flashed in Selene's eyes. Then, like a lord inspecting her subjects, she began to examine the young dragons.

"I think it’s time you introduce yourselves to me!" she said smugly.

As she spoke, Selene paused for a moment before turning her gaze toward one of the young dragons.

"You start!"

The dragon Selene pointed her chin at was Dinette. A flash of frustration crossed Dinette's eyes, but after comparing their sizes, she could only keep her grudge for later.

"Dinette, species: Green Dragon!"

Dinette's voice was soft and sweet, with a hint of innocence, the kind of voice that could easily evoke a protective instinct in anyone who heard it!

Vitt, too, was drawn by the sound and began to carefully observe Dinette. Like Winter, she stood on two legs. Although she was a wood dragon, her forelimbs were noticeably muscular. Her four horns curved upwards, looking more menacing than the horns of other dragons. Her wingspan was 1.2 times her body length. She was entirely green, with small, diamond-shaped scales that were tightly packed and slightly raised. Her tail was long and thin, like a whip, and when it moved unintentionally, it caused a faint whooshing sound!

Noticing this, Vitt grew a little wary of Dinette. This little female dragon was definitely not as soft as her voice sounded. If that tail hit someone, it would probably hurt for a long time!

While Vitt was observing Dinette, Selene was also watching her with great interest.

Suddenly, Selene let out a light laugh.

"I can see your defiance. I’ll give you a chance to fight. If you can defeat me, I’ll acknowledge you as the leader!"

Upon hearing this, a flicker of interest flashed in Dinette's eyes, but she quickly suppressed it. Now wasn’t the right time! Without the ability to cast magic, the advantage of size would be greatly magnified. What’s more, Selene could already harness the light element within her, even if just a little, which would make a huge difference in a fight.

Going head-to-head with Selene now was definitely not a smart choice!

Seeing the silent Dinette, Selene sneered.

"A wise decision. Next—it's your turn!"

Billy, who was suddenly called upon, was stunned for a moment before quickly responding, "Billy, species: Red Crystal Dragon. Just to be clear, I have no problem listening to you, but your demands can't be without boundaries!"

As he spoke, Billy shot a cautious glance at Selene’s body. He didn’t want to provoke a conflict with her either.

Hearing this, Vitt felt a flash of surprise in his eyes. He had already noticed that Billy was rather bold; he was always the first to act in every situation. Especially just now, when Billy had been interested in the stones that lit the lair! Greedy and daring—those were Vitt’s first impressions of this odd-looking dragon.

But now, it seemed Vitt needed to reassess this peculiar young dragon!

Yes, "odd" was exactly the word for it!

Billy had clusters of red crystals growing along his joints, horns, the edges of his wings, and from his neck down along his spine all the way to his tail. The horns, in particular, were completely made of red crystal, so much so that Vitt couldn’t even see any keratin—they looked more like a crown! However, at the moment, those red crystals appeared somewhat dull.

Billy's red dragon scales were diamond-shaped and extremely smooth, giving off a crystalline sheen. On his chest was a protruding hexagonal crystal, about the size of half a dragon’s head. His tail was thick and long, and at the tip, the crystal clusters expanded, resembling a spiked mace. Vitt wasn’t sure about the hardness of the crystals, but if they were tough, Billy's tail could be a hidden weapon of destruction!

Billy's appearance was vastly different from the other dragons, which made him seem odd to Vitt. On the other hand, Selene, with her inherited memories, wasn’t fazed by Billy’s appearance—after all, crystal dragons all looked like this, with only color variations. What really piqued her interest was what Billy had said!

"You’re the most sensible one here. I hope you keep it that way. As for your concern, it's entirely unnecessary. I’m no tyrant—why would I make demands without boundaries?"

A tyrant? Vitt smirked. This little dragoness sure had big ambitions, even more than he did—he hadn’t even thought about becoming a tyrant!

After Selene finished speaking, she turned her gaze toward Au. Unlike the other dragons, who were somewhat laid-back, Au, the gold dragon, clearly had a much more fiery temper. When Selene’s eyes fell on him, Au stood up, spreading his wings wide, and his brilliant golden slit-pupiled eyes gleamed with a fierce fighting spirit!

"Au, Gold Dragon. Fight me, and if you win, I’ll acknowledge you as the leader. But I have one condition—no use of magic elements during the battle!"

Selene looked at Au, then let out a light laugh.

"Of course, no problem. But before that…" Selene’s gaze finally shifted to Vitt.

"Crybaby, you don’t mind me calling you that, right? We've all introduced ourselves, and even though you don’t know your own species, surely a self-introduction isn’t too much to ask?"

Selene’s words drew the attention of the other three dragons toward Vitt.

Among dragons, strength was everything! They had already overheard the conversation between Winter and Vitt, and they knew his situation well. It was highly likely that Vitt would never be able to wield magic power. As for the claim that he had inherited his father’s physical strength... please! Out of the five young dragons, Vitt was the thinnest and smallest.

And strength was always tied to a large, powerful body!

Vitt’s current appearance gave him no credibility at all, and the other dragons' gazes carried a hint of disdain.

While dragon pride prevented them from bullying the weak, that same pride also made them unwilling to associate with the weak!