"Now, young Logan," the dragon tamer whispered, "where is your stone egg?"
Jayden tensed for a moment.
'So that's it, I left behind the egg shell back in the MAGEO when Draco switched places.'
That was clearly the bait the tamer was gambling on. Jayden knew the eggshell wasn't like any other humans had seen, based on its rigidity, but the shape of it was what raised suspicion, together with the fact that the blue-haired ice dragon tamer had seen Draco the other day.
So the MAGEO had come to a hypothetical guess that the tough egg had hatched.
Jayden smiled inwardly. Now wasn't the time to panic.
He raised an eyebrow, then waved a hand over the tamer's face.
"Sorry for the disrespect, Mr Red Dragon, but can't you see my egg is right here?" Jayden pointed towards his armpit.
The man turned and shot Jayden a dangerous glare.
"I'll ask you once more, young Logan, where is your Stone egg?' He whispered in a commanding tone.
Jayden swallowed hard but he realised something. The dragon tamer was calling him "young Logan", which might mean...
'He knows Dad.'
Jayden turned to look at the other two men, who were wearing silly faces.
"You guys got vitamin A? I guess your friend isn't seeing properly."
"Watch your mouth, kid, you're talking to an S-RANKED third-generation tamer.
Jayden grinned and held his head like it was smoking. "You know I don't have a beast, so I'm not used to all this stuff, Mr Black suit, so does that mean the higher your rank, the worse your vision?"
The men in black suits became agitated, attempting to teach Jayden a lesson, but the Dragon Tamer stopped them.
Jayden turned to the man.
"Sorry for the inconvenience young Logan."
Both men in black suits forced the egg out of Jayden's grip.
"We'll need to conduct some tests on your egg and then you can have it back." The dragon tamer added, already moving out calmly while the other men followed behind.
Jayden acted shocked at first then smiled.
"Sir please do me a favour!"
The man paused and half-glanced at Jayden.
Jayden's voice turned flattered, and his eyes began to water.
"Do whatever test you want on that dead thing, but don't bring it back to me. Help me search for my English script and bring me justice, I'm supposed to be a third-generation tamer just like you."
The man scoffed a bit and said in his mind before walking away, 'If only you knew Jayden, what really happened to that script.'
Jayden watched them leave his sight, until they drove off from the school compound.
He immediately fell to his knees, gasping for air, and sweat began crawling down his body.
Jayden had held his compressed mana in his chest ever since the dragon tamer arrived.
He positioned the mana just where a normal human's life existence core forms.
Humans aren't born with mana but the consistent breathing in of mana together with air was what formed a life existence core in them.
That was why they brought along a third-generation tamer, to be able to detect foreign mana in Jayden.
Such a high-ranked tamer could practically see Jayden's blood vessels and mana flow.
But Jayden had managed to compress the mana to look just like the regular human life existence cores, thanks to his studies.
"Such a good actor is studying beast politics, what a waste of talent." Draco purred.
Jayden stood on one knee, with clenched teeth. "You brat, you were awake all along and you left to die alone!"
Draco shrugged. "Sorry, but there was nothing I could do. Dragons speak using telepathy, so if I had said anything, his dragon would simply tell us off.
But you did a great job, I'm proud of you kid"
Jayden stood up as he noticed the students leaving the beast ecology hall.
'Well the good news is that he doesn't know I'm a third-generation tamer but the bad news—'
'Yeah I know' Draco cut in, 'that stone isn't as tough as my egg
Jayden began approaching the class. He knew that even if he had done well in playing dumb, the tamer still had a hint of suspicion in his eyes.
Eventually, if the stone was tested, it wouldn't even resist a quarter of what the egg did, and after that, they'll be coming back, and then, Jayden would be the one who's gonna be tested.
'Man, this is bad.' Jayden clenched his fists.
All he could do now was pray and also, match that with more charm, maybe Lady Luck would fall again and then grant him a wish.
Jayden entered the class to notice it was empty, with just Zoe sitting with her laptop, which he had returned during combat classes.
Jayden wanted to approach her, but Ryan and Tyler's grim faces appeared in her mind.
He grinned and went to pick up his backpack.
Just as he was about to leave, Zoe's calm voice held him in one spot.
"What was that about?"
"Shit", Jayden whispered, gritting his teeth.
He turned, smiling at her and scratching his nape, "I guess the government are looking into my missing score."
Zoe stood up with a smile, taking her laptop with her while approaching Jayden, "That's a good thing, I guess... You think you'll get a legendary beast?"
Jayden's cells were screaming, once again, she was standing too close, but it felt like her beautiful presence was almost electric.
"Yeah, I guess", he smiled, but behind that smile, he was sweating; he knew Zoe wouldn't fall for that cheap lie. There was no reason a high-ranked tamer would be tagged along on such a task.
"By the way. She turned, her back leaning slightly on him as her expensive fragrance caught in his breath.
"What's this drawing?"
Jayden's heart skipped a beat, and his lips froze apart. 'How the fuck did the file get copied to her PC?'
He stood completely paralysed while Zoe stared at his face, waiting for an answer.
"And also," she added, scrolling down the screen. "Why does it have my dad's name and signature?"