The first class of the afternoon was practical combat training. This was one of the most core courses at Dragonborn Academy, and all freshmen were required to attend.
Unlike the morning’s theory classes, there were no textbooks to preview for combat training. The only preparation was to be mentally ready to get beaten.
However, before even stepping into the training field, Xuanxi first noticed a school rule posted on the bulletin board.
“Fighting in dragon form is strictly prohibited outside of designated areas. Violators will face penalties ranging from demerits to expulsion, depending on the severity.”
“Practical combat training within the training field must be conducted under the supervision of an instructor, and a venue usage permit must be applied for in advance.”
The signature was from the Academy Discipline Committee, and below the seal was a small line of text: “According to statistics, the damage rate of dragon form to facilities is more than seventeen times that of human form. Please take good care of public property.”
After reading it, Xuanxi silently committed this rule to memory.
‘Seventeen times—I wonder who came up with that number, but it sounds plausible enough.’
The training field was located on the north side of the academy, more than three hundred meters in diameter. The ground was paved with a dark gray impact-resistant stone, covered in various scratches and burn marks.
Tall barrier pillars stood around the field, and a light blue translucent barrier enveloped the entire area.
Its purpose was not only to prevent attacks from spilling outside but also to withstand the “seventeen times” greater destructive power of dragon-form combat.
At the moment, several dozen students were already standing in the field, most of them remaining in human form.
In human form, it was easier to control power output and also more convenient—after all, no one wanted to be swept away by a classmate’s tail while standing in line.
Xuanxi noticed that although these students were chatting or warming up, their gazes unconsciously drifted in the same direction. At the innermost side of the training field, a figure with silver-white long hair stood alone.
Hildegrifa von Edelstein stood quietly at the edge of the field, arms crossed, expressionlessly staring ahead.
She wore a form-fitting dark training suit, her silver-white hair loosely tied at the back of her head, with a few loose strands hanging by her cheeks, as if she had barely bothered to tidy up before leaving.
But even so, no other student dared to get within five meters of her. Not because she was emitting any pressure, but simply because—people fear fame, dragons fear strength.
“That’s the eldest legitimate daughter of the Edelstein Family,” a voice came from behind Xuanxi, tinged with a hint of emotion.
“S-Class Bloodline, thunder-fire dual affinity. Among the younger generation of the entire Western Dragon Domain, I think there are only three people with S-Class Bloodlines, and she’s one of them.”
Xuanxi turned to see a tall male dragon student walking toward her with a smile. He had short dark brown hair and amber eyes. His face wasn’t particularly handsome, but it had a reassuring friendliness.
“You know her too?” Xuanxi asked.
“In Dragonborn Academy, who doesn’t know the famous Hildegrifa von Edelstein?” The guy shrugged.
“The Edelstein Family itself is a longstanding dragon clan, and she’s the sole direct heir of this generation. Her bloodline concentration is said to be thirty percent higher than the current head of the family. She’s truly one of the strongest of the new generation.”
As he spoke, he extended his right hand. “Reginald Steelmane. Call me Reggie. B-Class Bloodline, earth affinity.”
Xuanxi shook his hand. “Xuanxi Herras.”
Reggie blinked, his gaze lingering on her face for two seconds—or more precisely, on the pattern below her right eye.
“Herras?” He repeated the surname, a subtle look on his face. “I’ve never heard of that family. What’s your bloodline rating?”
“No rating for now,” Xuanxi said.
That was the truth. Her bloodline column had been empty for as long as she could remember.
Her foster father had taken her for tests, but the result was always the same—it didn’t belong to any known Western dragon bloodline category, and could not be rated.
The fact that she was an adopted daughter was never a secret in the border town, but here at the academy, she was gradually realizing it would become a problem.
In the Western Dragon Domain, bloodline determined everything. S-Class stood at the top of the pyramid, followed by A-Class, B-Class, and so on. People without a bloodline rating, in some eyes, weren’t even worthy of being called “dragons.”
Reggie’s expression didn’t change, but his eyes betrayed him. Fortunately, before he could respond, the instructor arrived.
In human form, the instructor was a bald, burly man with a fierce scar running from his forehead to his jaw. His name was Vald, and he was said to be the strictest instructor at the academy, bar none.
“Everyone, fall in!” Vald’s voice wasn’t loud, but every word struck like a hammer in everyone’s heart.
The students quickly lined up, and Xuanxi was pushed to the back of the formation. Reggie loyally stood beside her, not avoiding her because of her “no bloodline rating.”
Vald’s gaze swept through the student lines before finally landing on the figure with silver-white long hair.
“Edelstein.”
Hildegrifa raised her head, her amethyst-colored eyes calmly meeting the instructor’s gaze.
“For today’s training, please remember to stay in human form,” Vald said. “Last time you used dragon form and cracked the training field’s barrier. The repair costs still haven’t been settled.”
A few low laughs came from the ranks.
Hildegrifa’s expression didn’t change at all. She simply said one word flatly: “Fine.”
“Today’s training is simple,” Vald said, hands behind his back as he stood at the front of the formation. “One-on-one. No rules—fight until one side admits defeat or loses combat ability.”
“Everyone must stay in human form. Dragon transformation is strictly forbidden. If anyone dares to destroy the training field in my class, I’ll have them move stones to fix it in human form.”
A low murmur rippled through the formation. Engaging in actual combat on the first day of school—this pace was way too fast.
But what surprised the students even more was the rule “dragon transformation strictly forbidden.” The combat system of the Western dragon race heavily relied on dragon form.
In human form, combat power was usually only thirty to fifty percent of that in dragon form. Restricting dragon transformation was like making everyone fight in shackles.
“Quiet!” Vald roared, immediately suppressing the murmurs. “I said this is an assessment. I need to know the measure of each of you. Matchups are random—by drawing lots.”
He waved his right hand, and dozens of golden light specks flew from his palm, hovering and spinning above each person’s head.
“Catch it.”
Xuanxi reached out and grabbed the golden speck above her head. The instant it touched her palm, it exploded into a line of text:
“Match: Xuanxi Herras vs. Reginald Steelmane.”
She turned to look at Reggie beside her.
Reggie’s expression was a little subtle—a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.
‘…What a coincidence.’
Xuanxi also thought it was quite the coincidence. A B-Class Bloodline, earth affinity, against someone with “no bloodline rating, no affinity.”
Even a fool could guess the outcome. The fights erupted right from the first group.
The field was divided into four areas, with four pairs fighting simultaneously.
Flames, frost, lightning, earth spikes—various elemental attacks intertwined, and the deafening roars rose and fell one after another. The barrier rippled from the attacks but remained as solid as a rock.
Xuanxi quickly noticed that although these freshmen weren’t at high tiers, their fighting styles were very straightforward—head-on collisions, simple and crude.
This was the essence of the Western dragon battle style: bombard with elements, endure with defense. Whoever had stronger elements or thicker defense won.
But that wasn’t her style. To be precise, it wasn’t a style she could follow. She had no Western dragon elemental attributes, no powerful physical defense, and wasn’t even allowed to use dragon form in this training.
Her ability system was completely different from that of Western dragons.
“Next group.”
Vald’s voice rang out. Xuanxi and Reggie walked into the field at the same time.
“Herras vs. Steelmane, get ready.”
Xuanxi and Reggie stood facing each other in the center of the field, about twenty meters apart.
Reggie’s expression had adjusted—no longer that subtle awkwardness, but a serious, even slightly excited look. Regardless of who his opponent was, he clearly intended to take this match seriously.
“I won’t hold back,” he said.
“I didn’t think you would,” Xuanxi replied.
Vald raised his right hand. “Begin.”
Reggie reacted extremely fast. He stomped his right foot heavily on the ground. The ground instantly cracked, and a two-meter-high stone wall rose from the ground in front of Xuanxi, blocking her view. The real attack came from the side.
Xuanxi heard the faint sound of air being split. Earth spikes—coming from the left.
She didn’t try to block directly. Instead, she sidestepped and retreated, just barely dodging the first earth spike. The second one followed immediately, faster this time. She couldn’t avoid it completely, so she raised her arm to block.
The earth spike grazed her forearm, tearing a gash. Blood welled up.
But she felt no pain. This was a strange trait of her body: her sense of pain was much duller than that of an ordinary dragon, especially when injured.
Reggie didn’t give her a chance to catch her breath. The stone wall shattered, and he charged through, his right arm covered in a thick layer of rock armor, throwing a punch directly at Xuanxi’s face.
That punch had enough force to shatter a boulder. Xuanxi didn’t retreat. Instead, she stepped forward, tilting her body slightly so the punch grazed past her ear. Then—she reached out and grabbed Reggie’s arm.
Four ounces deflect a thousand pounds! Using the momentum of Reggie’s punch, she flipped herself along his arm, drawing an arc in the air, and landed behind Reggie.
Reggie was startled and quickly turned around, but Xuanxi had already distanced herself.
This movement wasn’t a Western dragon’s fighting method. There was no battle of strength—pure combat technique.
Low exclamations came from the sidelines.
“What was that move she just did?”
“Doesn’t seem like a dragon’s fighting style—it’s more like…”
“Eastern martial arts?” someone said the word uncertainly.
In the center of the field, Reggie’s expression changed.
He had originally thought his opponent was an ordinary person with no bloodline rating and no tier, someone he could take down without much effort. But that move just now made him realize that this girl’s combat instincts far exceeded his expectations.
“Have you studied combat techniques?” he asked.
“Not really,” Xuanxi said. “I’ve just been in a lot of fights.”
That wasn’t a lie. In the border town, she was the only “odd one out.” There were plenty of Western dragon kids looking for trouble with her.
When she couldn’t win, she ran. When she couldn’t run, she had to figure something out. Over a dozen years, she had developed a crude style that didn’t belong to any school.
Reggie took a deep breath and stopped holding back.
He crossed his arms in front of him, and his entire body glowed with a deep brown light.
The ground began to tremble, and pieces of gravel floated up from the surface, forming a spinning rock armor shield around his body. This was a signature skill of earth-attribute dragons—condensing elemental power to its limit without transforming into a dragon.
“You’d better give up,” Reggie said, his voice low and serious. “You might not be able to withstand my full-power strike.”
Xuanxi looked at the thick rock armor shield. Her amber-golden eyes held no fear, only a very calm… calculation.
What did she need to do to avoid losing too badly?
She didn’t need to win. She just needed to prove she wasn’t a pushover.
Dragon transformation?
No. The school rules forbade dragon transformation outside designated areas, and this practical training explicitly required staying in human form.
If she actually transformed, she’d probably spend the rest of her life working off the debt to the academy.
So she would have to finish this in human form. She closed her eyes. Inside her, there was a power—completely different from the elemental power of Western dragons.
It was gentler, deeper, usually as quiet as a sleeping pool of water, only rippling when her emotions were touched.
She didn’t need to fully awaken it. She just needed to borrow a little.
“I won’t give up,” she said, opening her eyes and looking at Reggie.
Reggie moved.
He didn’t attack with remote earth spikes—in the rock armor shield state, his movement speed dropped significantly, but in exchange, his defense and attack power approached that of dragon form. He slammed his fist into the ground, and a shockwave spread across the ground toward Xuanxi.
Xuanxi leaped up, dodging the shockwave, flipped in midair, and by the time she landed, she had already closed in to Reggie’s side.
She reached out to grab his arm, trying to repeat the same trick. But this time, Reggie had learned.
The moment her fingers touched his arm, a thin layer of rock armor covered his forearm, making the grip point smooth and uncontrollable. Xuanxi’s fingers slipped on the rock armor, throwing her off balance, and she staggered a step upon landing.
Reggie seized the opportunity and threw a punch with his other hand.
Xuanxi couldn’t dodge, so she could only cross her arms to block.
Bang!
She was sent backward five or six steps, her arms numb and her palms aching. If her bones weren’t tougher than an ordinary dragon’s, that punch would have fractured both her arms.
Reggie didn’t pursue. He stood still, the rock armor shield slowly spinning around his body like a silent fortress.
“Your technique is impressive,” he said. “But in human form, you can’t break through my defense.”
He was telling the truth. Xuanxi had no long-range attack methods, no elemental power. In human form, her strength was far from enough to penetrate the earth-type rock armor.
Reggie’s tactic was simple—he didn’t need to defeat her. He just needed to hold his ground and wait for her stamina to run out.
This was an open scheme. Xuanxi lowered her arms and looked at her numb hands.
She was thinking about one question. If she couldn’t break his defense, could she make him break his own defense?
She looked up, a glimmer flashing in her amber-golden eyes.
“You’re right,” she said. “I can’t break your defense.”
Reggie was momentarily stunned.
“But you can.”
She moved. This time, she didn’t try to get close. Instead, she ran around Reggie at high speed, nearly twice as fast as before. Reggie’s rock armor shield made him slow, so he could only rotate his body to keep facing Xuanxi.
One lap, two laps, three laps.
Reggie started getting dizzy. His rock armor shield required a continuous output of elemental power to maintain, and the constant spinning made his elemental output unstable.
Xuanxi saw that unstable moment. She abruptly changed direction and charged toward Reggie’s left side.
Reggie instinctively turned to meet her, but just as she was about to make contact, Xuanxi suddenly crouched low, slipped under his arm, and appeared directly behind him.
The rock armor shield was thinnest at the exact rear position—because he had been defending from the front, and the elemental supply from behind couldn’t keep up in time.
Xuanxi didn’t attack the shield. Instead, she kicked the back of Reggie’s knee.
Reggie’s leg buckled, his body leaned forward, and the rock armor shield momentarily flickered and broke due to his imbalance.
Xuanxi seized the opportunity, turned her right hand into a palm, and precisely chopped at the side of his neck—right where his inverse scale was.
Reggie’s vision went black. His body wobbled, and he fell to one knee. The rock armor shield completely dissipated.
The entire field fell silent.
A girl with no bloodline rating, no tier, and no dragon transformation had brought a B-Class Bloodline, earth-affinity opponent to his knees.
Not through overwhelming power, not through elemental advantage—just pure technique and wit.
Reggie knelt on the ground, stunned for several seconds. Then he slowly raised his head and looked at Xuanxi with a complicated expression.
“You…” He opened his mouth. “Who exactly are you?”
Xuanxi withdrew her hand, flexed her numb fingers, and said calmly, “I already told you. Xuanxi Herras. Adopted daughter of the Herras family.”
Vald stood at the edge of the field, his gray-white eyes fixed on Xuanxi. He was silent for about five seconds.
“Herras wins.”
His voice was still devoid of emotion, but Xuanxi noticed that his gray-white eyes lingered on the pattern below her right eye for a moment longer than usual.
Xuanxi walked off the training field and realized her hand was trembling slightly.
That fight had drained too much of her energy and focus. The muscles in her thighs were quivering. The wound on her arm from the earth spike was still seeping blood, droplets falling to the ground.
She found a corner to sit down, pulled out the healing potion her foster father had given her, uncorked it, and poured some on the wound on her forearm. White mist rose, and the wound healed at a visible rate, but the pain still lingered.
“Your fighting style is very interesting.”
Xuanxi looked up to find Hildegrifa standing in front of her, still in human form, still expressionless. But in those amethyst-colored eyes, something was different—not curiosity, more like… recognition? Or appreciation?
Xuanxi wasn’t sure.
Hildegrifa took something out of her own pocket and handed it to Xuanxi—a small roll of bandages.
“Your potion can only stop bleeding, not heal wounds,” she said. “Use this. My family produces them. They work well.”
Xuanxi looked at the roll of bandages, then at Hildegrifa’s face. She reached out and took them.
“Thank you.”
Hildegrifa didn’t say anything more. She turned and walked away.
Xuanxi watched her back as she wrapped the bandages around her arm.
She suddenly recalled what Reggie had said earlier: “Who doesn’t know Hildegrifa von Edelstein?”
S-Class Bloodline, thunder-fire dual affinity, eldest legitimate daughter of the Edelstein Family. One of the three strongest among the younger generation in the Western Dragon Domain.
But for someone standing at the very top of the pyramid, why would she carry bandages with her, and why would she specifically come over to give them?
Xuanxi wrapped the bandage around her arm several times, tied a knot, and looked up at the sky. The sunset glow was thick.
The first day at Dragonborn Academy quietly ended under the evening sun.
What she didn’t know was that while she was wrapping the bandage, on the other side of the training field, Instructor Vald was frowning at a simple data sheet.
On that sheet was written her name: “Xuanxi Herras.”
Bloodline rating: None.
Affinity: None.
In the remarks column, he had hastily scribbled a line:
“Non-Western dragon. Fighting style completely different. Unable to assess upper limit for now.”
He put down his pen, looked out the window at the dark blue-green-haired girl wrapping a bandage around her arm, and a complex emotion flickered in his gray-white eyes.
‘An Eastern dragon,’ he silently said to himself. ‘No mistake about it.’