Chapter 19
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Episode 5 - Specialties [5]
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「The owner of the Ring of the Stars is the protector of the last dragon. Take it now」
Dragons went extinct in the past.
"In that case, it will be my bond from now on, right?"
There were even stories with a bad ending.
「Of course, a bond is a bond. Besides, since you are the owner of the Ring of the Stars, it means you are special among the fairies. I trust you, so don't disappoint me」
A tragic ending for the dragons, which is still just a speculation of how it happened, is not far from the original.
Originally, I was erased from history.
But the story of my friends was complete and intact.
"One more question."
「Tell me, I don't have much time left」
The first and only question I had about myself was the fragmented dimension, but...
"Why was Liam erased from history?"
The man in front of me said nothing.
"....."
「I'm sorry, I don't have any more time to stay here. Goodbye」
I clenched my fist tightly.
"Then tell me this quickly."
"....."
As he disappeared, he stared at me.
"What exactly is the Fragmented Dimension?"
"....."
Then his mouth opened, and he said:
「It... It is the past...」
His figure disappeared completely while the only sound was that of the waterfall.
While holding the dragon egg, I looked at the nest in front of me.
"I already know that the fragmented dimension is our past world, but I didn't want an answer like that."
I actually wanted a different answer.
"I guess it's impossible."
I looked at the dragon egg.
"I need you right now, so..."
Spiritual power covered the dragon egg.
Then, the Ring of the Stars emitted a glow.
Crack!
A small crack appeared in the black dragon egg.
Seeing the black color, it must be the successor of an ancestral dragon.
However, if it were golden, then it would be the successor of Seris.
"Then what happens if..."
The spiritual power resonated with the Ring of the Stars.
The egg changed color.
Then, a golden glow shone on the egg as more cracks appeared around it.
Crunch!
A cracking sound echoed through the cave as the egg began to open.
The shell fell to the ground.
"....."
Suddenly, golden eyes stared at me. Though its form was not that of a dragon but a wyvern, its mana was definitely that of a dragon.
"Golden scales and golden eyes."
The successor of the dragon queen Seris.
"I'll call you Seri, without the last letter of Seris's name."
The golden dragon's eyes shone as it leaped toward me, seemingly embracing me.
It was as if it was reacting to me in some way.
"It's impossible that Seris's essence followed me after death, right?"
The successor of Seris reacted to me in a way as if I were its family.
Essence is a term used to refer to the closest person to the king or queen of dragons.
Anyone who possesses the essence of a dragon would be considered part of the dragon family.
But I had Seris's essence.
That means this golden dragon considers me as family more specifically, as its father.
"Alright, Seri, let's go. I have a bet to win."
***
Although Seri is a golden dragon, its current form is that of a King Wyvern.
A King Wyvern was golden in color, and moreover, Seri's form was definitely identical to that of a King Wyvern.
The King Wyvern is considered one of the most impossible summons to bond with, even for the most talented human.
"Only a few minutes left."
Professor Elizabeth had already evaluated most of the students' domestication attempts.
Only a few had managed to form a bond.
"Let's see... Four students remain."
They were the four students Professor Elizabeth was most looking forward to.
Rumble!
The ground trembled.
Eyes widened as a huge blue bear emerged from the bushes.
"Oh my god!"
The students burst into exclamations of surprise.
Some were curious to learn the identity of this blue bear.
Approaching Professor Elizabeth, the bear crouched down.
Eleonor, perched on its back, jumped down and walked toward the professor.
"Professor, there are still a few minutes left, right?"
"Yes."
Elizabeth responded to Eleonor while thinking.
'Judging by the scratches on her uniform, she clearly faced some challenges.'
Seeing this, Professor Elizabeth said:
"You said you only knew how to tame in theory, yet you managed to domesticate a Water Bear cub. That's an intermediate-difficulty summon."
Eleonor sighed.
"I don't know if I'd call it domestication... I suppose it was more of a bond."
Eleonor scratched her cheek with a shy smile.
The truth was that her domestication was not perfect.
"If you persist, you'll soon master bonding."
Water Bear cubs might not seem difficult to tame, but they were excellent intermediate summons.
It was hard to believe that someone with such talent was a student of knight studies.
As a summoning professor, it was discouraging to see.
While Professor Elizabeth reflected, Eleonor released the Water Bear back into the forest.
Shortly after, Julien emerged from the bushes, accompanied by a small crow perched on his shoulder.
"What kind of summon is that?"
"It's a modest prize for a captain."
The students looked puzzled, but Elizabeth's assistant, Cars, and her aides were impressed.
"Oh, really? Taming a Shadow Crow. That requires great talent. Impressive!"
Professor Elizabeth said, somewhat impressed by Julien.
Shadow Crows, like Water Bears, were intermediate summons, but Julien had domesticated an adult, making it comparable to an advanced summon in terms of difficulty.
"Your talent as a summoner is truly exceptional."
"We haven't completed the bond yet."
"But this achievement is remarkable."
The mere fact of successfully taming an intermediate summon placed Julien at the top among all first-year students in any department.
'Although it's likely that Emiria will also stand out in summoning.'
As expected, Emiria returned soon after.
Unlike her peers, she appeared as serene as ever, approaching Professor Elizabeth with confidence.
"Where is your summon?"
Laughing at Professor Elizabeth's question, Emiria extended her hand.
With a flash, a huge snake materialized, and the students' jaws dropped.
"Oh my god!"
"Wow, it's a black snake!"
The girls screamed and scattered as the enormous black snake flicked its tongue, capable of swallowing a human whole.
"I can't believe you formed a bond with a Black Snake."
At Elizabeth's words, Emiria responded calmly.
"I saw it and thought it would be a unique piece for our family's collection. I decided to form a bond."
The Black Snake.
A highly valued intermediate summon.
"She will undoubtedly be a worthy successor to the Crowshader family."
Elizabeth smiled as she thought.
"What an achievement, Emiria!"
"Thank you."
Emiria gracefully accepted the recognition, slightly lifting the hem of her uniform skirt.
'Ah, what a plentiful year this has been!'
Professor Elizabeth, smiling inwardly, tilted her head in satisfaction.
"But is Lucius Behringer still far away?"
Now, time was running out quickly.
One by one, the students returned with their various summons.
Feeling thirsty, Professor Elizabeth asked for water.
"Could you pass me some water?"
"Of course, Professor. Here you go."
Accepting the bottle of water from her assistant Cars, Professor Elizabeth checked the time.
Just then, Lucius emerged from the bushes.
"Ah, Lucius. Welcome back."
Eleonor greeted him with a smile and a wave, then looked at him curiously.
Taming often involved a bit of struggle, evident from the scratches and dust covering all the students' uniforms except Emiria's.
However, Lucius's disheveled appearance suggested something beyond a simple taming session.
His uniform was burned and tattered all over due to the black flames when that man appeared in the cave.
From an outside perspective, it seemed like he had achieved something significant and would have brought back a large beast to confirm those expectations. But...
'Is that a King Wyvern?'
Perched on Lucius's head was a small golden dragon in the form of a King Wyvern.
"Pfft! Did you tame... a mere low-class Wyvern?"
"Incredible! Our first-year representative tamed a girl!"
"Hey, lower your voice. She can hear us! Pfft...!"
The students stifled their laughter.
I expected him to come back with a griffon or something like that. This is more surprising than I imagined.
Cars chuckled and then turned to Professor Elizabeth.
"Pft! Cough! Cough! Cough!"
Suddenly, sputtering, Professor Elizabeth spat water everywhere.
Amid the chorus of laughter and teasing, Professor Elizabeth looked at Lucius in astonishment.
'Did that boy form a bond with the King Wyvern?'
When a King Wyvern is just a baby, its form differs from that of a normal Wyvern.
Wyverns that don't resemble Wyverns are known as low-class Wyverns among the weaker ones.
The students assumed it was a low-class Wyvern, not even a low-rank summon.
But Professor Elizabeth, although at first glance she thought it was a wyvern king, could never think that it was actually a golden dragon.
However, since dragons are extinct, simply seeing a King Wyvern and not a dragon left the impression that it was definitely a King Wyvern.
"It really is a King Wyvern, though it feels somewhat different, but it definitely is."
She didn't know that it was actually a golden dragon.
Rather, due to its appearance alone, she believed it was the King Wyvern, a creature that is nearly impossible to tame, let alone form a bond with.
One of the highest-difficulty creatures.