"I heard you've been leading a group of dragons to curse me every day?" Muria sat on the crystal throne, his face expressionless as he questioned the little silver dragon. His emotions were unreadable.
"Well..." Luffy the silver dragon gave a nervous laugh, trying to think of an explanation. She knew lying wouldn't work in front of this fearsome dragon, a being with golden dragon blood. Lying to him was utterly pointless.
"Don't bother making excuses," Muria raised his hand and lightly gestured. A projection array formed in front of Luffy, displaying an image of her and a cloud dragon cursing a particular figure in a dark chamber, her black-lined silver scales clear in the projection.
"Uh... Headmaster, there's a reason for this, please let me explain!" Luffy quickly pleaded.
"No matter the reason, it cannot excuse your act of defaming the headmaster. Prepare yourself to face the *Elemental Punishment* in front of the entire school," Muria declared without a change in expression.
"No, no, Headmaster, let me explain! I had no choice, that's why I resorted to this. I didn't mean to defame you," Luffy hurriedly tried to defend herself.
"I'll give you a chance to explain. Go ahead," Muria said, still expressionless.
"I started the Mourners' Club, but because of the nature of our powers, very few dragons were willing to join. Then I heard that you're immune to all curses, so I came up with this desperate measure," Luffy explained nervously.
After listening, Muria silently stared at her, making the little silver dragon even more anxious. She had no idea what Muria planned to do with her. The silence in Wind King Castle stretched on for what felt like an eternity until Muria finally spoke again.
"Although there is a reason for your actions, the nature of your offense is still severe and cannot be tolerated. You must be punished," Muria declared.
"Headmaster, please have mercy! I know I was wrong. Please give me another chance! I promise I won't do it again," Luffy begged earnestly.
"You're thinking of a next time?" Muria's face showed a hint of amusement.
"No, no! Just this one time! There won't be a second time, I promise!" Luffy assured with a confident nod.
"No, you *will* need a second time," Muria replied, his tone calm but confusing.
"Eh?" Luffy looked up, bewildered.
"Not only will you need a second time, but you'll also need a third, a fourth, and even more," Muria added, leaving Luffy utterly perplexed. He then explained further, "Even though you may not realize it, I need to tell you that the variety of dragon species in your club is the largest of any club since the founding of the Dragon Academy."
"Does that mean..." Luffy's face lit up with hope.
"Everything will continue as usual. You'll keep expanding your club as you have been. However, you must change the content of your curses. There must be no disrespectful language. If you cross that line again, I'll invite you over for tea and we can have a nice chat," Muria said calmly.
...
As Luffy led her members in another loud cursing session aimed at Muria, she remembered the ordeal she had gone through. Her claws trembled slightly. She knew that every curse she uttered was witnessed by Muria, and any disrespectful action from her members would ultimately be her responsibility as the club leader.
"I haven't even become a legion commander yet, and already there's so much trouble. If I really become a commander, won't it be even worse?" Luffy thought sorrowfully. She realized that just achieving the first step of her goal was this difficult—what would the future hold?
...
Time quietly passed by. Over the years, many races across the world of Erathia gradually noticed that the number of dragons active in the world was steadily decreasing. Many famous dragons disappeared without a trace, never to be seen again.
Among the common folk of Erathia, dragons were slowly becoming creatures of legend. Dragons were surrounded by an aura of mystery, and anything related to dragons—information, materials—saw their prices skyrocket.
Among intelligent races, the number of dragon hunters dwindled year by year, as the widespread disappearance of dragons left no room for their profession to thrive.
At the same time, Malok, a god born from the destruction caused by dragons and the belief in dragon hunters, found his power diminishing. The lack of dragons meant fewer worshippers, and he now faced the danger of his divine status being downgraded.
However, these changes weren't drastic yet. While true dragons were vanishing, many dragon-like creatures still thrived and continued to reproduce across the world, preventing the complete disappearance of dragonkind.
In contrast to the dwindling number of true dragons in the world, the Synapse Dragon Academy grew larger and more prosperous, with an increasing number of ancient dragons serving as professors. The number of teachers assisting and coordinating affairs also increased.
However, despite the growing size of the academy and its faculty, Muria remained in complete control. Every ancient dragon invited to teach at the academy first had to engage in a "friendly" duel with Muria before assuming their position.
As a result, even as the academy expanded, there were no dissenting voices within its walls. Everything was firmly under Muria's control.
...
"Muria, are you ready? The barrier around the Shadow Wasteland is about to collapse. If you don't reach high-level legend status within the next twenty years, everything you've built there may go up in smoke."
A stunning young woman with long, radiant golden hair down to her waist walked into the Wind King Castle, addressing a youth surrounded by piles of books.
"Twenty years, is it? That's more than enough," Muria said, raising his head with a confident smile. For nearly two centuries, he had spent most of his time in the castle, absorbed in his studies. Occasionally, he would take a break to adjust and plan for the development of Synapse.
For example, he had spearheaded Synapse's world tour to gather dragons from across the globe. Over the years, Synapse had circled the twelve continents once, collecting nearly all the dragons from those lands.
The five-colored dragons that had been exiled to the twelve continents by his mother had all been found and brought back. Upon their return, Muria had thrown them into the academy to undergo a second transformation, where they needed to learn new knowledge to keep up with the times.
These dragons, once considered elites among their kind, no longer stood out after the founding of the Dragon Academy. The academy's rigorous and systematic education produced a new generation of elite dragons. The five-colored dragons Muria had raised were now nothing special. They held little advantage over the new dragons, except for their age—they were all adults.
One other key advantage was their close relationship with Muria. Thanks to his support, they had kept pace with the times and remained part of the dragon elite.
Within the academy, these five-colored dragons had become icons under Muria's guidance, attracting the attention of many other five-colored dragons and even some rare dragon species.
In fact, most dragons at the academy quickly realized that the five-colored dragons were essentially Muria's pawns.
"Time flies so quickly," Muria thought, reflecting on the last two hundred years. He had matured greatly over this time, possibly due to his marriage, and had spent most of his time in study, barely venturing out, content to immerse himself in the sea of knowledge.
For example, he had delved into the fleet that the Mecha Emperor had gifted him, learning how to extract these warships from the semi-plane that manifested as a crystal ball. To this end, Muria had acquired a wealth of knowledge on warship construction.
He had studied materials science, mechanics, energy systems, architecture, and many other fields. He had also read extensively from the books donated to the Dragon Library by various Dragon Kings. In terms of knowledge, the Muria of today was vastly different from the Muria of two hundred years ago.
Now, Muria could proudly declare himself a walking library.
For two centuries, Muria had quietly developed his power and influence, remaining low-key. Meanwhile, the outside world had seen little change, thanks to the alliance between the Titans, the Seraphim, and the metallic dragons. Everything seemed to carry on as usual.
However, there had been one monumental shift in the world—a new god had been born. This god, from the moment of their ascension, wielded great divine power.
Muria knew this god's name well—Hades, the King of the Undead. Of course, his divine title was now *Hades, the Lord of the Underworld*.
When Hades ascended, Muria had been utterly shocked. He couldn't understand what could have driven such a powerful being to willingly restrict themselves, giving up their freedom to roam the void in exchange for becoming a god.
It wasn't until recently that Muria heard some whispers of the truth. It was said that when Hades awoke, he tried to reclaim control of the Necromancer Council, only to find that it had strayed far from the purpose for which he had originally founded it. As a result, Hades sought to correct the course of his creation.
_________________________
[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! $5 for all!!]
[w w w . p a t r e o n .com / INNIT]
[+50 PowerStones = +1 Chapter] [+5 Reviews = +1 Chapter]