I Level Up Dragons with My Evolution System

After the elders’ meeting ended and the director left, the room remained silent for a long time until Shawn broke the silence.

"Did any of you know about the animosity between the director and Owen? They’ve always gotten along well—in fact, Owen was the one who supported his candidacy."

"I understood there might be some rivalry between them since Owen is the leader of the Elders and is so highly regarded by the king and the ministers. But this doesn’t seem like rivalry." Enzo replied and looked at Jacob.

"It looks like a personal feud."

Jacob nodded and replied with a frown. "I agree. Owen has never been a man who acts on impulse, but what is making him act so recklessly?"

"Maybe it’s because of that student, Edward Lux?" Dave asked. "Maybe there’s something about him..."

Jacob frowned, just as Enzo and Shawn did. This argument had escalated solely because Owen didn’t want Edward Lux to be blamed.

A Lux is always a thorn in everyone’s side; getting rid of them as soon as possible is best. Even so, Owen is firmly opposed to getting rid of him.

The boy is also good. Not only is he smart, but he’s also quite strong. Rumors suggest he knows how to evolve his beasts, and that makes him far too dangerous a creature.

"And the director has clearly been protecting Robert Morris. As far as I know, Edward Lux and Robert Morris don’t get along, so maybe the director wants to get rid of that boy for his good," Enzo recalled.

Just then, the door opened again and a man walked in. He whispered something in Jacob’s ear and then left.

Jacob frowned when he heard this and remained silent for a long time.

"An informant?" Shawn asked.

"An anonymous source claims that Lux has managed to evolve one of his beasts into a new form," he said.

"Huh?" All the elders turned in shock. "The second evolution?" they asked in disbelief.

"That’s too fast. Is it a reliable source? According to rumors and claims from those who saw him fight, he had achieved the first evolution in some of his beasts... But it was only the first evolution."

"I don’t know the source, but if he came, it means it’s plausible. Besides, the second evolution of his beast..." Jacob paused.

"What is it? As far as I understand, the first was a butterfly. But butterflies usually evolve into many different forms in their second evolution. It would be amazing if it were some kind of worm or perhaps a poisonous snake."

"It’s a snake. But it’s not an ordinary one. It’s a winged snake."

"Huh?" The elders jumped to their feet. "A winged snake?!"

"Impossible."

"A winged snake..." Dave’s eyes widened. "Those usually evolve into dragons... It could be..."

"No way." Jacob shook his head with a mutter. "It must be misinformation. Winged snakes haven’t been seen in Línnava for hundreds of years."

"But if it were real, it would be a perfect explanation for why Owen values it so much," Shawn said.

"..."

Jacob couldn’t say a word.

"Getting a caterpillar to evolve is a really tough challenge. But getting a second evolution—and for that evolution to be a Winged Serpent—must be five times harder. Now, if that’s the case, can we use this kid?" Enzo asked.

"We can kill him," Jacob said firmly.

Shawn hesitated briefly. He knew a lot about evolution and understood just how impressive this was. Although they don’t have much power at first, they grow into dragons!

It’s the perfect beast because they’re pure dragons. They’re not like the Morris’s Shaggy Dragon, which is more like a giant snake with lion’s paws; it’s a genuine dragon.

The difference is stark, and the fear a dragon instills is felt throughout the world.

He was a good seed, but...

He’s a Lux.

No matter how good he is. It’s a cursed surname. He’s a young man who must die.

Despite his initial hesitation, Shawn agreed with Jacob. "Though fighting elder Owen would be pointless."

"That man is clever, Elder Shawn," Jacob said. "Maybe he doesn’t think much of Edward Lux, but rather he’s using him for his own purposes. We all know that Owen’s schemes aren’t easy to figure out."

"You’re right about that. Owen could very well be doing exactly what we think." Shawn laughed.

As they spoke, the other elders remained silent.

The director’s protection of Robert and his enmity toward Owen, who was protecting Edward Lux, would be a hot topic among them from now on.

--

Despite Arnold’s doubts and Edward and Aurora’s anticipation of news regarding Instructor Mervan’s death, the news did not turn out as they had expected.

A somewhat ambiguous explanation was given regarding the suspicions surrounding his killer. It’s believed to have been a settling of scores, but, coincidentally, strange items were found in Mervan’s room.

Things that linked him to traitors, so the investigation is still ongoing.

Even so, the strongest rumor among the students—though no one knows who started it—is that Edward’s group might have had something to do with it. Now, those are just baseless rumors, and several instructors and high-ranking staff consider them silly gossip from some daydreamer.

For Arnold, that came as a surprise.

’Didn’t they have that option on the table, or is the instructor’s murder something beyond their capabilities?’ he thought the moment he found out.

He understood the inner workings of the Academy very well. He knew something else was going on, though he didn’t care.

Edward found it strange, too. He hadn’t been there long, but he’d matured. He knew full well that those guys upstairs were pretty malicious.

In the Instructors’ Building, he now had to walk up to the upper floors to reach his destination.

Knock, knock.

After a quick knock on the door, an assistant came out.

"Are you Student Edward? Please, come in." She let him in before going back to her work.

It was a fairly large room, unlike Mervan’s. It had many partitions with more instructors and teachers who were subordinates of the Instructor sitting in the middle of the room.

Alric Dorne.

He didn’t stand out physically in any way. His body looked frail and quite thin. Although he was in good health, he appeared to be ill. He had been like this ever since he awaken. In reality, he is one of the most powerful men in the academy.

But as soon as he saw him, Edward frowned.

’That energy again...’ Edward swallowed hard. Before his eyes, the same energy he’d seen in those monsters inside the pitch-black carriage was emanating from Alric’s body.

The same energy he’d seen in Mervan before.

’Nothing can guarantee my safety in a place like this... No wonder Mr. Silas called them a rat’s nest.’

He approached the table without revealing his thoughts or his unease and greeted him. "Instructor Alric, I’m Edward Lux," he said, handing him the document Owen had given him.

"I’ve been briefed on you." Alric signed it. "The mandatory mission will be sent to you in a few days. Before that, could you explain how your group works and give me a preview of your capabilities?"

"Of course, Instructor." Although Edward would have difficulty carrying out the missions assigned by this man now that he knew about that energy, he was still thorough with him and gave him all the necessary information.

After talking for a while, Edward left the instructors’ building and walked through the academy. Doubt and uncertainty clouded his mind as he searched for clues about that energy.

He couldn’t understand what it was. Why could he see it now? Was it because he’d had contact with those monstrous beings? And if that were the case, who were those monstrous beings?

He sensed no power emanating from them. That was more dangerous than if he had sensed it. If he had sensed it, at least he could be sure they were within his own plane.

But he didn’t sense them. The danger increased tenfold simply because of that.

After a long walk that ended on the outskirts of the academy, having passed through the training center and various offices, Edward let out a long sigh.

He hadn’t reached any conclusions, other than the fact that he needed more information.

He turned around and walked back toward the academy.

Swosh!

Suddenly, a dry, cold breeze came whistling by, and a small piece of paper hit him on the forehead.

Edward frowned. ’Wind magic,’ he thought. He grabbed the paper and looked at the crowd of students at the entrance. Among them, a man dressed as a magic scholar was moving quickly.

No one but him noticed him.

It wasn’t strong, since he could easily detect it. But it wasn’t weak either, as that way of using wind magic was peculiar. At the very least, he had reached the peak of his understanding of this magic.

Edward unfolded the small piece of paper in his hand.

-We have your father. If you want to save him, come to this address alone.

-Lower Sector, 63rd Street, Abandoned Building Number 18.

Edward looked back again. The man was already gone.

Edward laughed coldly. ’And to think that, even though my father was a legendary man, I can’t ignore the possibility that he’s been kidnapped, even though I know it’s a trap.’ He sighed heavily.

He turned around and walked out of the academy.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand it was a trap. It was that he understood that, if it wasn’t, his father would die.