Chapter 146: Dragon Loot
"An orphan?"
The teacher frowned at Silas before turning to Cameron.
"He claims to be the leader of a team," he said slowly. "The same team that includes Cher Avaron."
He had never met Silas before today, but he had known Cameron for more than a month. He knew exactly who the young man was, the clan he came from, and the promising future waiting for him.
Even so, he wasn’t the type to dismiss a deal based on a few words alone.
"Everything he said..."
Cameron climbed the few steps leading to the stage without the slightest hurry before stopping opposite Silas. Standing face to face, the contrast between them was impossible to ignore. Their age played a part, but their backgrounds spoke even louder.
One was tall, healthy, and broad-shouldered. The other looked lean, pale, and almost frail.
"...is true."
Silas had expected a lie. Instead, Cameron gave out the truth.
"And yet..."
His voice remained calm.
"He is indeed an orphan, and Cher Avaron, the daughter of the great Black Lightning Asura, is indeed in his team. However..."
Taking another measured step forward, Cameron stopped only an arm’s length away and looked straight into Silas’s eyes.
"She is an outcast."
"Neither her father nor the Avaron Clan supports her anymore."
Silence fell over the classroom. Not a single student dared to make a sound.
Silas swept his gaze across the room before looking back at Cameron. The older student wasn’t merely confident. His presence dominated everyone around him without relying on threats or arrogance.
’Is this what true influence feels like?’
Strangely, Cameron’s bearing fascinated him far more than the worry about the revelation about Cher.
’I like that.’
’I want that kind of presence.’
Cameron stood there without showing off, his confidence restrained instead of flaunted. There was a balance between power and self-control that Silas couldn’t help but admire.
’However...’
’I don’t want to become him.’
Behind that composed exterior lurked a venomous serpent. Silas despised snakes, and he despised people who smiled while hiding their fangs even more.
’I’ll become someone far better.’
The thought settled firmly in his mind.
From that moment on, Cameron ceased to matter. Silas turned his back on him without hesitation and faced the teacher instead.
"It’s true," he said calmly. "I’m an orphan who came from nowhere."
He saw no reason to deny it. In fact, he couldn’t understand why anyone considered the word insulting.
People were always introduced through their clans and their origins.
’Even Cher was introduced as the daughter of the Black Lightning Asura.’
His thoughts drifted back to the mine.
’And even so... he still lost to me.’
The memory strengthened his resolve.
"That is why I don’t know how treasures are measured," Silas continued. "For example..."
He glanced at Cameron.
"During my last mission, I encountered a dragon, fought it, and escaped alive."
His eyes returned to the teacher.
"If a dragon is the standard, then how valuable are other treasures by comparison?"
His words were not empty boasting.
Ever since returning from the mission, one question had remained unanswered.
The dragon blood had stolen everyone’s attention, while his worsening condition had occupied his own. His teammates had thrown themselves into training, worried about his deteriorating state, and no one had mentioned the flower the dragon had pursued so desperately.
Perhaps they had simply forgotten it.
Silas still had no idea what that flower truly was or how valuable it might be. In his eyes, exchanging such an item for something that could solve his curse sounded perfectly reasonable.
"A dragon?"
The teacher almost laughed.
He wanted to dismiss the claim outright, but Cameron’s presence made him hesitate. Instead, he turned toward the academy prodigy.
"Well?"
"That part..."
Cameron answered without the slightest change in expression.
"...did happen."
Silas narrowed his eyes.
’He expected me to bring this topic up.’
The danger Cameron represented rose another level in his mind.
"But it wasn’t his achievement."
Cameron raised his wrist.
Unlike the standard academy watches, his device was noticeably larger, fitted with multiple displays and several additional controls. It looked sophisticated, expensive, and exceptionally rare. Silas had never seen anything similar among the students from the G-Clans in the first year students.
After pressing a few buttons, a projection materialized above the device.
A fierce-looking middle-aged man appeared first, standing before a younger man wearing a crown. Though young, the crowned figure radiated overwhelming authority, carrying himself with the quiet confidence of someone born to rule.
"This is Chaz Avaron’s reward ceremony after slaying the dragon."
Cameron enlarged the projection until it occupied nearly half the stage.
"He was showered with rewards and granted a noble title by our king."
As the image settled into place, Cameron shifted his gaze toward Silas, expecting to find despair or disbelief reflected in his eyes.
Instead, Silas was thinking about something entirely different.
’So... this is Cher’s father?’
The resemblance was unmistakable. Their features carried the same cold, restrained expression, and even their bearing felt similar, radiating quiet strength without a single unnecessary movement.
This was the first time Silas had actually seen the man whose name had echoed throughout the dragon blood quest.
Seeing genuine curiosity instead of fear unsettled Cameron.
Still, he believed he had already cornered his opponent, and no amount of pretending would change that.
"If he was the one who did all this..."
"Then why wasn’t he the one rewarded by the king?"
Certain that Silas had exposed his own ignorance, Cameron looked toward the teacher, already anticipating the answer that would dismiss whatever Silas wanted from him.
Although he had arrived late, he had already heard that a first-year student had somehow made his way into this classroom. At first, Cameron assumed Silas had come after hearing about him, wanting to see the person who would eventually become his greatest rival.
That assumption had changed the moment Klain explained what had happened.
’No matter what you’re planning... I won’t let you rely on my teacher.’
His thoughts raced as he waited for the teacher’s response.
’I don’t know what game you’re playing... but Rune Rocks can do miracles to anyone. I won’t let you keep helping Cher... Never.’
The more he dwelled on those thoughts, the more satisfied he became. If he truly wanted to, crushing Silas would be effortless, yet there was no reason to act now.
His schemes reached far beyond a petty confrontation, stretching toward a far darker objective that ultimately revolved around a single person: Cher.
"So he really did fight a dragon."
Contrary to Cameron’s expectations, the teacher reacted with unmistakable excitement instead of dismissal.
Cameron put everything into his consideration, except the true nature of his teacher.
"If that’s the case, then let me give you a proper comparison."
For reasons only he understood, the teacher’s voice grew increasingly louder. His round belly trembled faintly as he spoke, a familiar sign that Cameron recognized immediately, along with nearly every student seated in the classroom.
It was all the proof Cameron and other students needed to know that the teacher was eager to close a deal, one that promised an unexpected fortune.
Before Cameron could even understand what was happening, the teacher slowly raised a thick finger.
"A single dragon scale is considered an S-grade treasure."
Silas frowned, unsure what the man was trying to imply.
’A dragon scale? Does he think I have one?’
He cleared his throat before testing the waters.
"What if I offered something dragons would risk their lives to obtain?"
"Useless."
The answer came without a moment’s hesitation.
"Anything other than dragon loot is worthless."
Unlike before, the teacher no longer thought Silas was wasting his time. Instead, he assumed the youngster was simply trying to negotiate a better bargain without parting with the treasures he had taken from the dragon.
Cameron, however, failed to grasp the truth. To him, the ceremony proved everything. To the teacher, it proved almost nothing. Public ceremonies celebrated famous names, while those who truly accomplished impossible feats often remained hidden behind their imposing shadows.
The moment he heard that Silas had confronted a dragon and survived, he reached only one conclusion.
’That boy...’
’He has dragon loot.’
That single assumption completely transformed his attitude toward Silas.
"Normally, my services require a B-grade treasure," the teacher said.
Seeing Silas hesitate, he felt an unusual sense of urgency. Opportunities to obtain dragon loot simply did not exist, and he had no intention of letting this one slip away.
’I need to make him an offer he can’t refuse.’
Years of bargaining had taught him that hesitation meant defeat. If Silas walked away now, someone else would eventually claim whatever dragon treasure he possessed.
"However, I’m willing to work exclusively for you in exchange for a treasure of a higher grade."
"Exclusively?"
Silas glanced between the teacher and Cameron.
"For how long?"
"If it’s a dragon scale..." The teacher paused before answering with complete confidence. "An entire month."
"Not interested."
Silas rejected the offer without the slightest hesitation. The teacher’s eagerness had revealed more than enough. If the man desired dragon loot this desperately, there was no reason to give him an answer right away.
’I don’t have a dragon scale, you greedy master.’
He simply turned around and walked down the stairs, leaving behind the speechless teacher, a bewildered Cameron, and a classroom that had fallen completely silent.