Chapter 113: Slay a dragon
Everyone around the dining table turned toward the unexpected voice.
Mu Yaochen stood several metres away near the kitchen entrance, dressed in the same immaculate dark robes as yesterday, one hand resting casually behind his back.
Xingluo stared at him for a moment before standing.
"Greetings, Senior Mu."
Ruan Mei and Tianhe rose almost immediately afterward and greeted him as well.
Only Xiaorou remained completely frozen.
She still held a piece of beast meat between her chopsticks, but her hand had stopped halfway toward her mouth as she looked from Mu Yaochen toward the three transfer students standing around her.
"Vice Dean Mu?"
Mu Yaochen glanced toward her. "Oh, you're here too."
That casual acknowledgment somehow made Xiaorou's expression even stranger.
She slowly lowered her chopsticks.
Xingluo barely noticed because Mu Yaochen's previous words had already returned to her mind.
"You changed the Hell Hound?"
"I did."
"Why?"
Mu Yaochen walked toward the table and examined the remaining breakfast before answering.
"When I examined you yesterday, your official information already failed to explain several things I had seen."
His gaze briefly settled upon Xingluo before moving toward the empty chair beside her.
"Then I learned that you had voluntarily accepted a challenge against a Level 299 beast."
Wuxia remained beside Xingluo without moving.
Mu Yaochen continued normally.
"The original opponent would have shown me very little, so I replaced it with something more suitable."
Xingluo stared at him.
"More suitable?"
"A King-bloodline Hell Hound seemed appropriate."
"You nearly got me killed."
Mu Yaochen gave her a calm look. "But you survived."
Xingluo's mouth opened slightly before closing again.
Beside her, Xiaorou slowly removed her glasses and cleaned them against the edge of her shirt as though poor vision might somehow explain what she had just heard.
"I knew something about that replacement was strange."
Nobody answered her aa she put the glasses back on and looked toward Mu Yaochen.
"But Vice Dean, that thing nearly destroyed three arena barriers."
"I was watching."
"Senior Xingluo nearly died."
"I noticed that as well."
Xiaorou stared at him before apparently deciding there was no safe direction to continue the argument.
Mu Yaochen finally pulled out the empty chair and sat down.
"The arena had emergency measures prepared, and I was personally present. If the situation exceeded what she could handle, the match would have ended."
Xingluo folded her arms.
"You could have mentioned that before throwing me inside."
"Then you would have known someone intended to interfere if things became dangerous."
"That sounds considerably better."
"It also would have changed how you fought."
Xingluo remained unconvinced.
Wuxia glanced toward Mu Yaochen before speaking through the Anchor Link.
At least we know the replacement wasn't an assassination attempt.
That does not make me feel better.
I didn't say it should.
Mu Yaochen suddenly looked away from Xingluo and toward Tianhe.
"Enough about yesterday. Tianhe, you're coming with me."
Tianhe paused.
"Today?"
"Did you believe I offered to train you so you could spend the next week eating breakfast?"
Tianhe looked toward the unfinished plate before answering carefully.
"I thought there might be some preparation first."
"There is."
Mu Yaochen smiled.
"Your preparation is finishing breakfast quickly."
Xiaorou turned toward Tianhe so sharply that her glasses nearly shifted again.
"Vice Dean Mu is personally training you?"
Tianhe looked at her. "Something like that."
Mu Yaochen immediately corrected him.
"Not something like that, I am personally correcting several years of wasted potential."
Xiaorou stared toward him with renewed interest.
"You really are becoming more intresting every time somebody explains something about you."
Ruan Mei took another drink from her glass. "You should probably stop asking."
Mu Yaochen's attention moved away from Tianhe and settled upon Xingluo and Ruan Mei.
He examined them for several moments before his eyebrows drew together slightly.
"Why are both of you still Level 99?"
Xingluo slowly looked toward Ruan Mei and Ruan Mei looked back.
"You didn't check yours either?" Ruan asked.
Xingluo hesitated. "I was busy."
"With what?"
Ruan Mei released a quiet sigh. "I forgot too."
Mu Yaochen looked between them as though reconsidering the quality of Dragon Military Academy's newest transfers.
"Open your Transition Missions."
Ruan Mei raised one hand first.
A translucent interface appeared before her eyes.
[First Transition Mission]
[Requirement: Personally kill 50 Level 100 Elite Beasts.]
She read the requirement twice before leaning back.
"Fifty Level 100 Elite Beasts."
Tianhe nodded. "Annoying, but not particularly unusual."
"That's going to take time."
"Dragon Military Academy has several suitable hunting regions," Mu Yaochen replied. "Finding enough targets will not be difficult."
Ruan Mei gave a small nod.
The requirement was troublesome, but nothing about it appeared impossible.
Xingluo relaxed slightly after hearing hers.
Fifty Elite Beasts isn't too terrible.
Wuxia looked toward her.
Do not celebrate before checking yours.
Why would mine be that different?
Wuxia said nothing.
Xingluo opened her interface.
A familiar panel appeared before her.
[First Transition Mission]
[Requirement: Slay a Dragon.]
Her expression froze.
Several seconds passed without her saying anything.
Ruan Mei noticed first.
"What happened?"
Xingluo continued staring at the panel.
Tianhe leaned slightly closer. "Xingluo?"
Wuxia moved beside her shoulder.
What did you get?
She did not answer him either.
Mu Yaochen watched her for another moment before asking, "What is the requirement?"
Xingluo finally raised her head.
"Kill a dragon."
Silence spread across the table.
Ruan Mei blinked once. "A what?"
"A dragon."
Tianhe's earlier amusement disappeared completely.
Even Xiaorou stopped eating.
She looked at Xingluo, then toward Mu Yaochen, apparently waiting for someone to explain why a Level 99 student had just been told to hunt one of the most dangerous races in existence.
Xingluo looked back toward the mission panel.
"What kind of bastard gives a Level 99 Awakener something like this?"
Wuxia stared at the requirement from beside her.
That is excessive even by your standards.
My standards?
Ridiculous things keep happening around you.
You are literally a dead man attached to me.
Fair point.
Xingluo rubbed her forehead.
"Even the weakest true dragons are born around Level 500. How exactly am I supposed to kill one before my First Transition?"
Ruan Mei looked toward her own mission again.
"Fifty Elite Beasts suddenly sounds very reasonable."
Xingluo gave her a miserable look.
"Do not rub it in."
"I wasn't."
"You sounded happy."
"I am becoming happier."
Tianhe tried not to smile.
Xingluo immediately pointed toward him. "You stay quiet."
Mu Yaochen remained considerably calmer than everyone else.
"Repeat the exact wording."
Xingluo looked toward the panel.
"Requirement: Slay a Dragon."
"Only that?"
"Yes."
Mu Yaochen rested one hand against the table and thought for several breaths.
"Then you are assuming more than the mission actually states."
Xingluo frowned. "What does that mean?"
"It says dragon. It does not specify a pure-blooded dragon, an adult dragon, or any particular level."
She stared at him.
Mu Yaochen continued, "Advancement conditions sometimes recognise descendants when their bloodline reaches a sufficient concentration. A beast possessing sufficiently pure dragon blood will probably satisfy the requirement."
Xingluo immediately caught the important part.
"Probably?"
Mu Yaochen looked at her calmly. "Would you prefer I lie?"
Xingluo became silent.
Xiaorou lowered her head toward her plate, but the small movement of her shoulders made it obvious she was trying not to laugh.
Wuxia studied the wording again.
He has a point.
You too?
The mission does not say true dragon.
And if a descendant doesn't work?
Then we start worrying properly.
Xingluo looked increasingly dissatisfied with everyone around her.
Mu Yaochen continued, "There are dragon-blooded beasts far below the level of true dragons. Find a manageable target with a strong enough bloodline and test whether the mission accepts it."
"And if it doesn't?"
"Then we find something closer to a true dragon."
Xingluo stared.
Mu Yaochen smiled faintly.
"Eventually."
That single word did little to improve her mood.
Xiaorou finally placed her chopsticks down.
"I came here because Senior Ruan invited me to breakfast."
Everyone looked toward her.
She adjusted her glasses.
"Since arriving, I learned that Vice Dean Mu casually visits your villa, personally changed Senior Xingluo's arena opponent, plans to train Senior Tianhe, and now Senior Xingluo needs to hunt a dragon before she can reach First Transition."
She paused.
"Can the three of you have one normal morning?"
Ruan Mei thought about it.
"Apparently not."
Tianhe nodded in agreement.
Xingluo dropped her forehead against one hand.
Mu Yaochen stood from his chair.
"Breakfast is over."
Tianhe looked down at his plate. "I still have—"
"Training."
Tianhe stopped immediately and stood.
Mu Yaochen looked toward Ruan Mei next.
"Prepare whatever equipment you need. Fifty Elite Beasts should not take long once you choose the right hunting region."
Ruan Mei nodded. "Understood."
His attention finally returned to Xingluo.
"And you should start looking for dragon-blooded targets instead of doing something foolish like searching for the nearest true dragon."
Xingluo frowned. "I wasn't going to do that."
Wuxia looked toward her.
She felt his stare immediately.
What?
Nothing.
Stop looking at me like that.
Mu Yaochen turned toward Tianhe and began walking away.
Xiaorou remained at the table, watching them leave with an expression suggesting she still had not completely accepted what kind of people she had befriended yesterday.
Xingluo looked back toward the panel floating before her.
[Requirement: Slay a Dragon.]
She stared at those words for several more seconds before releasing a long breath.
Reaching First Transition had somehow become a problem involving dragons.
At this point, she was beginning to miss the fifty Elite Beasts.