The Almighty Dragon Rider Returns

"So... you are not coming back to the academy ever again?" Nymeria asked, with her eyes fixed on Professor Valerius.

Valerius shook his head slightly. "I never know for now. I will be coming to check on a few things and then going back again." He paused, his expression getting serious now. "Just keep an eye on Reynold Starweaver."

Nymeria paused, then nodded. "Sure. I can do that."

"Thanks."

Nymeria suddenly grinned and teased a little. "If I did not know any better, I’d say the Starweaver boy is your son, because of how much you look out for him."

Professor Valerius chuckled. "Don’t overthink it, Nymeria."

She just shrugged her shoulders and raised her hands in surrender.

Valerius let out a low chuckle. "I will be leaving now."

Nymeria nodded. "Be safe."

"I will." He turned and left the room.

Professor Valerius stopped outside a dorm room at the riders’ quarters.

He stood there staring at the open dorm room window.

From outside, he could see a shirtless young man was walking around inside the room.

Valerius stood there for five minutes with out moving.

Finally, he let out a heavy sigh, pulled the hood of his cloak over his head, and walked away.

Location: The Aether Kingdom

Queen Hadassah hissed slightly as Keturah cleaned up her injury and bandage it again. The wound from the arrow shot has not fully healed.

Once Keturah finished, she put the tools back into the first aid kit and closed it. Then, she gently helped Hadassah put on her royal gown.

Hadassah stood up, and leaned in to kiss Keturah, and muttered, "Love you."

Keturah returned the kiss. "Love you too."

Hadassah walked out of the room, following the hallway until she reached the top view balcony.

Below, crowds had gathered around Elder Corvan Dresh, who was hangs. He was wearing only short trousers with no shirt.

The people were shouting angrily at him..

"Kill that filthy bastard!"

"Fu*king bastard."

"Burn the piece of shit."

"Cut the traitor’s throat."

"Rot in hell, you piece of sh*t!"

"Die, you worthless traitor!"

Hadassah looked down, while placing her hands on the railing of the balcony. She gave a single, cold nod to the guards standing near Elder Corvan.

One of the guards turned to the burning pit of charcoal with a a long iron rod in it.

He pulled the long iron out and stepped toward Corvan, slamming the hot iron across the old man’s shirtless back.

Corvan let out a blood-curdling groan as his flesh burned and bled.

The crowd erupted into cheers.

"Yes! Beat him to death!"

"He deserves to rot!"

"He’s a bloody monster!"

The guards kept striking him with the iron. Soon every part of his back was covered in open wounds and blood.

After the guard finished whipping him, they released the rope and Corvan collapsed heavily onto the stone floor.

One guard grabbed his arm and forced the hand into the hot charcoal.

Corvan screamed that the sound echoed across the yard.

Location: The Inn

Professor Valerius pulled down his hood as he walked into the inn.

Sabel looked up, and a warm smile spread across her face. She picked up a metal shaker, mixed a drink with a quick rattle, and poured it into a cup.

She slid the cup across the counter toward Valerius, who had just stopped in front of her.

"You are back," Sabel said.

Valerius nodded, picking up the cup to take a sip. "Yeah."

Sabel grinned. "So you weren’t joking when you said you’d be crashing here for a while."

Valerius took another sip. "Enjoy it, babe. I’m forever stuck with you."

Sabel’s smile disappeared for a second. She paused, studying him closely. "Is everything okay with you? You know I’ve got your back and you can tell me anything."

Valerius kept his voice light. "I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me."

Then, he lowered his voice so Sabel can not hear, he added, "I just need to make sure she does not get out of that realm... and make sure she does not have any alliance."

....

Location: Wyrmwood Academy

Reynold stared up at the weathered stone walls of Building 2.

Compared to the sleek and modern architecture of the riders’ building, this place looked very old, and same was the stone walls and gate.

Reynold pulled out a folded note from his hoodie pocket and opened it again.

Building 2.

He glanced up at the lintel above the heavy wooden doors. Building 2was deeply carved into the stone.

"Here we go," he muttered and tucked the note away and pushed open the gate.

The inside look of the building surprised him.

The cavernous hall was filled with bronze carvings and ancient artifacts depicting dragons and magical relics.

Reynold walked down the corridor, and scanning the inside at the same time.

He was genuinely impressed by the craftsmanship.

Then, his gaze stopped on a massive bronze head.. The bronze head was standing on a pedestal. The carved hair was deep blue, with streak of white running down the middle.

Even as a bronze artifact, the aura coming from it was very suffocating.

Damm! What kind of a bronze head have this strong aura?

Reynold thought. His eyes stayed on it for a moment before he shake his head and continue walking down the hall.

When he reached the main briefing room, other representatives were already there.

A professor was at the front stage beside a wide, glowing magical display board.

The professor spotted Reynold at the door.

"Ah, you’re finally here. Now we can begin."

Reynold scanned the room. His eyes stopped onto Briar Coldwater.

Look like him and Briar was the year-one rider representative.

Reynold look away, and his eyes landed on Nymeria. She was standing near the opposite side of the hall.

Reynold walked to the back and stood at an empty empty spot at the back.

Tap. Tap. Flip

A rhythmic clack-flip sound caught Reynold’s attention.

Standing right beside him was a boy he had never seen before. The boy was casually flipping through a deck of cards while staring straight at the front stage.

Wait, Reynold blinked his eyes. Is he the master of gambles?

"Do you wanna play?" the boy asked quietly, his eyes still on the front stage.

Reynold shifted his gaze to his face

He paused, and then shook his head. "No."

The boy did not say another word. He kept shuffling the card.

Reynold turned his attention to the front stage.

The professor’s voice sounded through the hall as she outlined the nature of the upcoming tournament.

"The competition involves four rounds, one for each academic year. Your objective is simple: locate and strike the opposition’s flag before they strike yours."

With a flick of the professor’s hand, the magical board lit up, displaying two different banners side by side.

"Our academy flag is light blue and white. Noble-High Academy’s flag is dark red. Dragon riders must strike the opposing flag using their dragon fire, while magic users use their magic." The professor swallowed. "The hunt takes place inside a large, enclosed wildland field, that is sealed off by the Magic Line."

She flicked her wrist again, and the board projected a map of a big forest that has glowing white lines at the edge.

"The white magical line is the elimination boundary," the professor continued. "If your opponent knocks you off across that line, you are instantly eliminated from the hunt and cannot re-enter. Your team will have to finish with a man down."

She raised her hand and the display board changed to a series of different flag sizes. "There are five flags in total. Three minor flags, worth one point each. One medium flag, worth three points. And finally, the command flag, worth five points. The hunt only ends when the command flag is down."

"Boring, boring, boring..."

Reynold glanced sideways. The card-playing boy next to him was softly muttering the words under his breath, and still flipping his card.

Reynold swallowed a sigh. The boy weird.

He returned his eyes to the stage.

"Next, the rules and conduct," the professor announced. "For riders: you are not allowed to use dragon fire on your opponent. You are allowed to compete using physical presence only—wing-buffets, tail-sweeps, body-blocks, to knock down your opponent . For magic users: no harsh offensive spells. You may use tracking spells to locate the flags if you can."

A murmur sounded through the crowd.

Someone near the front scoffed loudly, "Doesn’t matter. I am still going to kick some ass."

The professor waited patiently for the noise to subside before asking if there were any questions.

A cadet near the middle raised his hand.

"That bronze head with the blue hair at the entrance... what is it? I have never felt an aura like that from a statue before."

"When I asked for questions," the professor said calmly, "I meant concerning the tournament."

After a brief pause, she added. "That bronze head represents the first-ever Blue-Hair King. Blue-hair kings are extraordinarily rare, born only once every few decades."

"Damn," someone muttered. "That head had insane aura."

Another cadet called out, "Does that mean Weston from Noble-High Academy is a blue-hair king? His hair is blue."

"No," the professor replied quickly. "Weston is not a blue-hair king. The boy simply dyes his hair blue in honor of the historical kings."

A scoff sounded from the crowd. "So, that dude ain’t any shit but he is acting like one. Can’t wait to see his ass get busted on the field."

"Class dismissed," the professor stated, clapping her hands. "Everyone out."

Location: Noble-High Academy

At Noble-High, senior cadet Phineas was standing before their representatives.

His eyes shifted over to Weston. "Can you handle the Starweaver boy if he makes the cut?"

Weston did not answer right away. The only time he had crossed paths with Reynold was at the library. That boy have a heavy dangerous aura.

Weston let our a confident nod. "I can take him."

Phineas turned his stare back to the rest of the representatives. "Bring your A-game to the tournament. I won’t tolerate losing to Nymeria and her cadets. If you make me lose, I will turn the rest of your time at this academy into a living hell."

Without another word, Phineas turned on his heel and walked out.

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