Ace Dragon Rider

Long Yi and Arin followed Wesley to a restaurant in a small alley on the outskirts of the town. Just as Wesley had said, the restaurant offered quality food at a fair price, and the portions were hefty. Both Long Yi and Bajie had a field day, eating with abandon. In contrast, Wesley and Arin hardly ate a thing.

"Truly though, Arin, you're rather impressive. Not only did you remain unaffected under the instructor's Fighting Aura suppression, but you could instantly gauge his aura's layer level. I can only approximate that in my mind. How did you do it?"

Long Yi mused aloud after swallowing a mouthful of food.

Arin seemed a bit distracted. He held a fork in hand, yet his mouth was empty. Upon hearing Long Yi's question, he first blinked in surprise, then turned to look at him, his face etched with confusion.

"Brother Long, Brother Long! I know this!" Wesley eagerly raised his hand like a grade school student.

"Alright then, Wesley. You answer this one," Long Yi chuckled.

"If I'm not mistaken, Arin's dragon should be the Mercury Dragon, a rare variety, the Mithril Dragon to be precise!"

Wesley made a bombshell revelation, expecting Long Yi to be startled. However, Long Yi merely stared at him blankly. Despite learning a fair amount in the past eighteen years, his knowledge about the intricate details concerning the Dragon Clan only went as far as rough overviews.

Seeing that Long Yi had no reaction, an embarrassed Wesley lightly cleared his throat before continuing, "Ahem, Mithril Dragons have a peculiar trait - they have a high resistance to Fighting Aura and a deep affinity for Magic. Such polar extremes render Mithril Dragons capable of effortlessly discerning opponents' layers of Fighting Aura or Magic. They can also conveniently resist the instructor's Dragon Fighting Aura suppression. Hence, our little brother Arin here must have inherited the Mithril Dragon's magic talent. He doesn't possess an ounce of Dragon Fighting Aura, but I assume his Magic level could reach five, or no, even six?"

When Wesley posed the question, Arin let out a resigned sigh and replied, "Seven."

Even with mental preparation, Wesley was taken aback.

A Magic level of seven doesn't merely touch upon genius, it's genius within genius! Amongst the Dragon Rider Legion, magic Dragon Riders are significantly fewer than aura Dragon Riders. Cultivating an exceptional magic Dragon Rider is considerably harder than training an aura Dragon Rider. First, people with extraordinary Magic talents are few and far between, and those that can become Dragon Riders are even rarer. Furthermore, magic Dragon Riders not only need to develop a formidable physique but also must cultivate their spirit, making the task all the more challenging.

Currently, the universally accepted approach among the major nations is to lessen the physical training of magic Dragon Riders. They rely on the Dragon Soul contract of the Dragon Clan to endow Dragon Riders with substantial physical strength, following which the power of the magic Dragon Riders' Magic is fervently enhanced. Once a war commences, aura Dragon Riders safeguard magic Dragon Riders during Magic attacks on the enemy. After completing the bombardment, all magic Dragon Riders must immediately retreat, with no allowance for any delay on the front line.

Thus, during war, compared to aura Dragon Riders, the occupation of a magic Dragon Rider is relatively safer.

"Bro, you're a genius with a Magic level of seven. You should've just directly thrown a bundle of magic missiles at their faces this morning. Why did you let them have their way?"

Long Yi asked, wagging his finger, perplexed at Arin's handling of the situation.

"Sigh."

Arin heaved a sigh, reluctantly divulged, "I had the desire, but my Silver Light, it lacks Dragon Power."

What?

Both Long Yi and Wesley widened their eyes, fixing their startled gaze on the little Mithril Dragon lying on Bajie's head, a helpless expression plastered across its face.

No matter how powerful the magic Dragon Rider is, they're unable to generate Magic on their own. Dragon Riders must obtain Magic through the Dragon Clan, a concept entirely distinct from Dragon Fighting Aura.

It was hard to imagine that a dragon could be devoid of Dragon Power!

"That can't be possible, right? A Mithril Dragon is a naturally magic Dragon, the exact opposite of its sibling, the Shadow Silver Dragon, a pure aura Dragon! How could it possibly lack Magic?"

Wesley expressed his disbelief; the fact seemed to contradict everything he had learned.

"Sigh." Arin didn't bother explaining further, only heaved another frustrated sigh. This issue had accompanied him for many years. His entire Family had already exhausted all imaginable resources to little avail. If the matter could be resolved, would he be fretting to this extent?

At this moment, Arin felt utterly hopeless. Perhaps he would soon be expelled from the Dragon Rider Academy?

Spectating Arin's distress and Wesley's disbelief, Long Yi burst out laughing.

"Come on! What's the big deal about lacking Magic for the time being? Perhaps once your Dragon evolves, it will gain power." Long Yi slapped Arin's shoulder laughing. The impact left Arin wincing in pain and momentarily forgot his sorrows.

"Don't worry, Bro. I, Wesley, may not be great at many things, but I do know how to collect intelligence. Wait for it, I'll look into the matter for you once I get back! Leave this case to me!"

Wesley made a firm promise, patting his chest. All Arin could do was thank him, but his desolate expression betrayed his gratitude. If his Family's countless efforts hadn't worked out, what could Wesley achieve all alone?

The afternoon passed on the training ground. The instructor ordered everyone to stand straight; everyone stood as still as statues without moving. He didn't utter a single word, his gaze fixed intently on everyone.

Soon, the heat and fatigue took its toll on the first three, including Arin.

Some began to mobilize their Dragon Fighting Aura to support their body, but as soon as the instructor coldly sneered, their Dragon Fighting Aura instantly dispersed, leaving them even weaker.

Long Yi stood there, grinning at the instructor, who was fixated on Long Yi, the more the instructor observed him, the more intriguing he found this boy. Long Yi's eyes held a natural ease that was baffling. Whether one had a noble heritage or not, none possessed such a gaze upon their arrival at the Dragon Knight Academy.

It was a gaze that seemed untroubled by anything, with nothing capable of shaking his composure.

Little did the instructor know, Long Yi was currently filled with reminiscence. Back when he had first enlisted as a soldier, he had stood like this for a whole five days! Standing in the morning, in the afternoon, in the day, in the midnight, and weighed down as well! Back in the days, several of the recruits, led by Long Yi, opposed the sergeant for a full six months! The sergeant's methods of torturing them were manifold, they had all suffered terribly. Looking back now, he actually missed that gruff-tongued, hard-hearted sergeant.

Without him, how could he have become an excellent soldier?

"Long Yi, step forward!"

"Yes sir!"

Instinctively, Long Yi took two brisk steps forward, his movements fluid and sharp!

The instructor's brow furrowed, he had just noticed Long Yi seemed distracted which was why he had barked at him.

"Long Yi, what do you think about the intensity of the current training?"

The instructor asked.

"Reporting to sir! It's not much!"

Long Yi answered honestly. When he was just an ordinary person, he had stood like this. But now, these people were prospective Dragon Knights. Even though their dragons were still young, even a young dragon would significantly enhance a Dragon Knight's physical condition with the help of the Dragon Soul Contract.

So, this level... was way too far off!

The instructor's eyebrows shot up in surprise, he asked, "Then how do you think it should be trained."

"Reporting to sir, you're the instructor!"

Long Yi wasn't idle enough to strategize for others.

The corner of the instructor's mouth slightly lifted, and he snorted coldly: "Alright then, everyone else take a break. Long Yi, along with your dragon, come with me!"

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief, thinking that the instructor was about to intensify the training.

The skinny boy looked at Long Yi's departure, laughing coldly to himself: "Big brother, do you think this big fool is really brainless? What's the benefit of opposing the instructor, now he's definitely going to have a hard time."

"You don't know squat, we miscalculated." the fat boy muttered in a low voice, his facial expressions changing rapidly: "This is the Dragon Knight Academy! Here, simply obeying the instructor isn't enough to build a close relationship. You gotta be able to fight!"

"Is that so, big brother?" the skinny boy asked in disbelief.

"Looks can be deceiving." the fat boy said, extremely annoyed.

The fat kid actually guessed right.

Getting on good terms with the instructor was exactly what Long Yi was thinking.

In such a place, the simplest way to get along with an instructor is to let him understand that you're one of his kind.

This is one of Long Yi's most valuable experiences from his former life.

There are many advantages to being on good terms with an instructor, such as, getting permission to spar more frequently.

Indeed, Long Yi hadn't considered much else.

And thus, this simple wish of Long Yi's was about to come true.