POV Sylvia Von Silverplate:
The first class of the first year should be exciting.
At least that's what Sylvia Von Silverplate had imagined during the entire journey from the Elven Kingdom to Aurora Island.
Applied Magical Theory. Professor Tiamat, a legendary white dragon over 300 years old, personal ally of Director Aldebran and Semi-Circle 8. For everyone, it would be an honor to learn from her.
But now, sitting in the front row of the classroom, Sylvia didn't feel only excitement.
She felt overwhelming curiosity.
And confusion.
Not from the dragon professor who walked majestically at the front explaining rules with absolute authority.
But from the two beings sitting to her left.
Sylvia looked discreetly—only eye movement, without turning her head—at the twins who had sat in the only free chairs beside her.
Dex ThunderBird.
Echidna ThunderBird.
Rank 1.
White hair with violet tips. Black horns veined with pulsing red like living veins. Skin with an almost supernatural pearly glow. Deep crimson eyes.
And those white uniforms.
Different from the standard black uniforms all other students wore. Different even from the modified Turma 1-S uniforms.
Pure white with gold and black details, clearly marking their status as Student Council members.
'Vice-Presidents,' Sylvia remembered. 'First Soul. Hybrids of humans and beastmen with draconic lineage, according to what the director said.'
But there was something more.
Something that made the Yggdrasil seed floating around her—a small golden sphere that normally orbited quietly—react strangely.
It spun slightly faster than normal.
It pulsed sacred light at subtle intervals.
Not with alarm.
With... curiosity?
Sylvia frowned internally, confused.
The Yggdrasil seed was an extension of her own soul, physical manifestation of the World Tree's blessing. It reacted to threats with defensive pulses, to allies with comforting warmth.
But this was different.
It was as if the seed were... interested in the two beside her.
'Why?' Sylvia thought.
She couldn't feel their aura.
Of course not—she still hadn't awakened her own mana. She didn't have developed sensitivity to perceive foreign energy unless it was extremely obvious and uncontrolled.
And the two beside her clearly weren't releasing aura.
Relaxed posture, calm breathing, no sign of power leaking.
Totally controlled.
'So why does the seed react like this?' Sylvia questioned silently.
She risked looking again—more lingeringly this time.
Dex sat with elegant but natural posture, eyes fixed on Professor Tiamat ahead with respectful attention. There was no tension in his expression. Just... alert intelligence.
Echidna beside him had identical posture—perfect reflection—but there was something more in her crimson eyes. Something that made Sylvia think of a predator resting but never inattentive.
The seed pulsed again—stronger this time.
Sylvia lowered her gaze to it, still floating over her open palm under the table.
And she noticed something strange.
The seed wasn't emitting defensive pulses like it did in the presence of demonic or corrupt energy.
It was emitting... curious pulses.
As if it recognized something in the two but couldn't identify it completely.
'What is it about you?' Sylvia thought, looking discreetly at the twins once more.
They seemed completely normal, even though hybrids like them were rare.
Were they conversing telepathically? Expressions changed subtly in perfect synchrony, as if sharing thoughts without words.
Fascinating.
But also... disconcerting.
Sylvia had grown up in the elven court, surrounded by nobles who smiled with their mouths but plotted betrayals with their minds. She studied at the World Tree Church, where priests preached purity but hid ambition under sacred robes.
Learning to read masks.
Detecting falsehood.
These were the lessons she had learned, but...
But these two...
'They don't wear masks,' Sylvia realized with growing surprise.
There was no falsehood in them. No attempt to appear more holy or virtuous than they were.
Just... authenticity.
Raw honesty.
They were what they were, without excuses or pretensions.
Sylvia took a deep breath and thought. 'I'll just observe, the honest fools.'
POV Dex and Echidna:
Both sitting in their seats looked at the magic board with attention. While their classmates fell into chaos seeing the ranks.
'Of course we would be number one.' A bored demon queen said telepathically, while lovingly touching her choker.
'That was obvious, but what intrigues me is number two.' He said thoughtfully while looking at the subclass she possessed. 'She's another anomaly that didn't exist in the game.'
'Anomaly or not, it's still funny to think that a dragon hunter will be taught by a dragon.' She laughed internally thinking about it.
Dex internally sighed and complained. 'I don't know if you remember but we're also dragons, idiot.'
'In my past life I killed hundreds of those weakling insects.' Echidna answered this while laughing once more.
'Insects?' Dex internally rolled his eyes. 'Echi, you were a Darkness Dragon on the same level as the director and half a level above Tiamat. Of course they seemed like insects to you.'
'Exactly!' Echidna responded with pride. 'And now I'm even better. Archon and Primordial Dragon. This so-called dragon hunter...'
'You don't even know who she is yet, and don't forget you lost much of your strength.' Dex interrupted with logic.
'I don't need to know who she is to know she wouldn't be able to scratch my weakest scale,' Echidna responded with characteristic arrogance.
She then added at the end with a smile on her face. "And even though I've become weaker, I have my handsome husband to protect me from these insects, right?"
Dex couldn't deny it. He smiled imperceptibly.
But his focus returned to the ranking list on the magic board.
Rank 2: Kaelira Drakenveil - Dragonbane Inquisitor.
'Dragonbane Inquisitor,' Dex thought analytically. 'In the original game, this subclass didn't exist, she's definitely an...'
'...Anomaly,' Echidna completed. 'Just like us.'
'Exactly. The game had defined main characters. But her?' Dex frowned mentally. 'Rank 2. Subclass specialized in hunting dragons. And we have no information about her.'
'Worrying?'
'Potentially. If her awakening ceremony was on day 2—after we destroyed the auditorium—then we didn't see her manifest power. We don't know weapon, appearance, fighting style...'
'Nothing,' Echidna agreed. 'Complete unknown.'
'And unknowns are dangerous.'
Telepathic pause while both processed.
'Do you think she's in this room now?' Echidna asked.
'She must be. Class 1-S—Ranks 1 to 10. She's Rank 2, so she's here somewhere.'
'Want me to look for her?' Echidna offered.
'No. It would be too obvious to turn and scan the room. Besides,' Dex added, 'if she's really a dragon hunter, she's probably already detected us. Draconic lineage isn't exactly subtle.' He said pointing to the horn they carried.
'True. But if she comes from a hunter family like I think, she should be able to smell the draconic scent.'
'We release this scent?' Dex asked, confused about this scent.
Echidna hearing this realized she had never told the ex-human some dragon characteristics. 'I may have forgotten to mention some details.'
'Yes! You just forget to mention that anyone who smells our scent will know we're dragons, no big deal!' He said irritated.
'It's all right,' She said calmly while looking at him with affection. 'After all, for me and Erica it's a good scent.'
'That's not the problem!'
POV Kaelira Drakenveil:
Kaelira Drakenveil sat in the fourth row with military precision—straight back, hands on thighs, violet eyes fixed on the front of the room.
To casual observers, she seemed just another attentive student.
But beneath the controlled posture, every muscle was ready to act.
And her nose... her nose captured information that no one else in the room could perceive.
'Dragon,' she thought with clinical coldness.
She didn't need to turn her head to know where it came from.
First row. Two seats to the left of the Elven Saint.
The twins in white uniforms who had entered minutes ago.
Dex ThunderBird. Echidna ThunderBird.
Rank 1.
'Of course they are,' Kaelira thought without emotion. 'They destroyed the auditorium during their own awakening. Uncontrolled draconic brute force.'
Their scent was unmistakable.
But there was something... different about these two.
'It's not a pure scent,' she analyzed mentally, nose capturing subtleties that took years to master.
The draconic scent was diluted.
Mixed with something different.
'Hybrids,' she concluded. 'Not true dragons. Half-bloods.'
And that made all the difference.
Kaelira and her entire family didn't hunt hybrids.
Not out of kindness. Not out of mercy.
But out of principle.
'Hybrids are victims,' she mentally recited the first commandment of the Drakenveil Order. 'Forced children of unnatural unions. They didn't choose to be born draconic.'
Her violet eyes briefly fixed on the two twins in the first row.
White hair with violet tips. Black horns. Pearly skin.
'Son of Duke Leon ThunderBird,' Kaelira remembered information she had studied before entering the academy. 'Unknown mother. And they used some random maid as his mother to hide the truth.'
A single logical conclusion formed.
'The Duke was forced to procreate with a dragon,' she thought without emotion. 'Possibly prisoner. Possibly under magical coercion. Result: hybrids with strong draconic lineage, who could have talent for reerg.'
There was no anger in this thought.
Just... distant pity.
'Children paying for monsters' crimes,' she concluded coldly. 'Like so many others.'
But then her gaze—and her nose—detected the real threat in the room.
The professor.
Tiamat.
Kaelira felt her jaw tighten involuntarily.
The scent coming from the white dragon was oppressive. Pure. Ancient.
There was nothing human in it.
True dragon. Complete. Corrupt by nature.
'Over three hundred years,' Kaelira thought with cold, controlled hatred. 'Three hundred years devouring, enslaving, destroying.'
She observed Tiamat walking elegantly at the front of the room, explaining rules with absolute authority.
Snow-white hair. Pearly eyes. Translucent scales. Draconic tail.
Beautiful.
Lethal.
Monster.
'And slave,' Kaelira added with mental contempt.
Because it didn't matter how powerful Tiamat was—Semi-Circle 8, war dragon, living legend—she served Director Aldebran like an obedient little dog.
'Veyvey,' Kaelira mocked internally, remembering the intimate nickname she'd heard other professors use. 'Calls her master Veyvey. Pathetic.'
Fingers imperceptibly tightened on her thigh.
'If I were your mistress,' Kaelira thought with brutal coldness, 'you wouldn't have the luxury of teaching at a prestigious academy. You'd be chained in a fifth-rate brothel, selling that "beautiful" body to any pig with enough coins.'
The mental image was vivid. Deliberate. And it almost made her cold heart warm.