The first class of the afternoon was combat training.
This was one of Dragonborn Academy’s core courses, and all freshmen were required to attend.
Unlike the morning’s theoretical classes, combat training had no textbooks to preview in advance.
The only preparation was to be ready to get beaten up.
However, before entering the training ground, Xuan Xi first noticed a school rule on the bulletin board.
“It is strictly forbidden to engage in any form of fighting in Dragon Form outside designated areas. Violators will receive penalties ranging from demerits to expulsion depending on the severity. Combat training within the training ground must be conducted under the supervision of an instructor, and a venue usage permit must be applied for in advance.”
The signature was the Academy Disciplinary Committee.
Below the seal was a line of small text: “According to statistics, the damage rate of Dragon Form to the venue is more than seventeen times that of Human Form. Please take care of public facilities, students.”
After reading it, Xuan Xi silently committed this school rule to memory.
‘Seventeen times. I wonder who came up with that statistic, but it sounds very reasonable.’
The training ground was located on the north side of the academy.
It had a diameter of over 300 meters and was paved with a dark gray impact-resistant stone covered with various scratches and burn marks.
Around the venue stood towering barrier pillars, with a pale blue translucent barrier enveloping the entire area.
The purpose of this barrier was not only to prevent attacks from affecting the outside, but also to withstand the extra “seventeen times” destructive power from Dragon Form battles.
At that moment, several dozen students were already standing on the field, most maintaining Human Form.
In Human Form, it was easier to control power output and more convenient—after all, no one wanted to be swept away by a nearby classmate’s tail while queuing.
Xuan Xi noticed that although these students were chatting or warming up, their gazes unconsciously drifted in the same direction.
At the innermost part of the training ground, a figure with silver-white long hair was standing alone.
Hildegarda von Edelstein stood quietly at the edge of the field, arms crossed, expressionlessly looking ahead.
She wore a form-fitting dark training suit, her silver-white hair loosely tied back, with a few strands hanging by her face, looking as if she had just thrown herself together and left the house.
But even so, no other students dared to approach within five meters of her.
Not because she was emitting any pressure, but simply because people fear fame, dragons fear strength.
A voice sounded from behind Xuan Xi, tinged with emotion.
“That’s the legitimate heiress of the Edelstein family. S-Rank bloodline, Thunder-Fire Dual Affinity. Among the younger generation of the entire Western Dragon Domain, there seem to be only three people with S-Rank bloodlines, and she is one of them.”
Xuan Xi turned around and saw a tall dragon boy walking toward her with a smile.
He had short dark brown hair and amber eyes. His face wasn’t particularly handsome, but there was a comfortable kind of warmth about him.
“Do you know her too?” Xuan Xi asked.
“In the Dragon Domain Academy, who doesn’t know the famous Hildegarda von Edelstein?” The boy shrugged.
“The Edelstein family itself is an old-established dragon clan, and she is the only legitimate heir of this generation. Her bloodline density is said to be thirty percent higher than the current family head. She is truly one of the strongest of the new generation.”
He extended his right hand.
“Reginald Gangzong, just call me Reggie. B-Rank bloodline, Earth Element.”
“Xuan Xi Hellas.” She shook his hand.
Reggie blinked, his gaze lingering on her face for two seconds—more precisely, on the marking below her right eye.
“Hellas?” he repeated the surname, his expression a bit strange. “I’ve never heard of that family. What’s your bloodline rating?”
“No rating for now,” Xuan Xi said.
It 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 did not belong to any known Western dragon bloodline category and could not be rated.
That she was an adopted daughter was never a secret in the border town. But in the academy, she gradually realized this would be a problem.
In the Western Dragon Domain, bloodline determines everything. S-Rank stands at the top of the pyramid, followed by A-Rank, B-Rank, and so on.
People without a bloodline rating were not even considered worthy of being called “dragons” in some people’s eyes.
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 Wald, and he was said to be the strictest instructor in the academy, without exception.
“Fall in!” Wald’s voice wasn’t loud, but every word struck like a hammer on everyone present.
The students quickly lined up. Xuan Xi was squeezed to the back of the formation.
Reggie, however, loyally stood beside her, not avoiding her because of her “no bloodline rating.”
Wald’s gaze swept across the student formation and finally landed on the silver-white-haired figure.
“Edelstein.”
Hildegarda lifted her head, her amethyst-colored eyes calmly meeting the instructor’s.
“For today’s training, please remember to stay in Human Form,” Wald said.
“Last time you used Dragon Form, you cracked the barrier of the training ground. The repair bill hasn’t been settled yet.”
A few low laughs came from the formation.
Hildegarda’s expression didn’t change. She simply said one word: “Fine.”
“Today’s training content is simple.” Wald stood at the front of the formation with his hands behind his back.
“One-on-one duels. No rules. Fight until one side admits defeat or loses combat ability. Remember, everyone must stay in Human Form. Dragonification is strictly prohibited. Anyone who dares to destroy the training ground in my class will have to use their Human Form to carry stones for repairs.”
A low commotion arose in the formation. On the first day of enrollment, they were already doing actual combat? This pace seemed too fast.
But what surprised the students even more was the rule forbidding dragonification.
The combat system of Western dragons heavily relied on Dragon Form. Combat effectiveness in Human Form was usually only thirty to fifty percent of that in Dragon Form.
Restricting dragonification was like making everyone fight with shackles on.
“Quiet!” Wald roared, instantly suppressing the commotion.
“I said, this is a baseline test. I need to know how capable each of you is. Matches are random, decided by lot.”
He waved his right hand, and dozens of golden specks of light flew from his palm, hovering and spinning above everyone’s head.
“Catch it.”
Xuan Xi reached out and caught the golden speck above her head.
The speck burst the moment it touched her palm, turning into a line of text—
“Match: Xuan Xi Hellas VS Reginald Gangzong.”
She turned to look at Reggie beside him.
Reggie’s expression was a bit strange, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.
“What a coincidence,” he said.
Xuan Xi also found it coincidental. A B-Rank bloodline, Earth Element, against someone with “no bloodline rating, no element.”
Even a fool could guess the outcome. The battles started with a bang in the first group.
The field was divided into four areas, with four duels happening simultaneously.
Fire, ice, lightning, stone spikes—various elemental attacks intertwined, with deafening roars rising one after another. The barrier rippled from the attacks but remained as firm as a rock.
Xuan Xi quickly noticed that although these freshmen weren’t high in rank, their fighting style was very direct—meeting force with force, simple and crude.
This was the combat style of Western dragons: bombard with elements, tank with defense. Whoever had stronger elements and thicker defense would win.
But this wasn’t her style.
To be precise, it wasn’t a style she could adopt. She didn’t have the elemental attributes of a Western dragon, nor the strong physical defense.
Even Dragon Form was not allowed in this training.
Her ability system was completely different from that of Western dragons.
“Next group.”
Wald’s voice rang out. Xuan Xi and Reggie walked onto the field at the same time.
“Hellas versus Gangzong, ready.”
Xuan Xi and Reggie stood facing each other in the center of the field, about twenty meters apart.
Reggie had adjusted his expression.
No longer that slight awkwardness from before, but a serious, even slightly excited look.
Regardless of who his opponent was, he clearly intended to take this match seriously.
“I won’t go easy on you,” he said.
“I didn’t expect you to,” Xuan Xi said.
Wald raised his right hand. “Begin.”
Reggie reacted extremely fast. He stomped his right foot hard on the ground, which instantly cracked, and a two-meter-high stone wall rose up in front of Xuan Xi, blocking her view.
The real attack came from the side.
Xuan Xi heard a faint sound of something cutting through the air. Stone spikes were flying from the left.
She didn’t try to block head-on.
Instead, she sidestepped and barely dodged the first stone spike. The second followed immediately, faster.
She couldn’t avoid it completely and had to block with her arm.
The stone spike grazed her forearm, tearing open a gash, and blood flowed out.
But she didn’t feel pain. This was a strange characteristic of her body: her sense of pain was much duller than normal dragons, especially when injured.
Reggie didn’t give her a chance to catch her breath.
The stone wall shattered, and he charged out, his right arm covered in thick rock armor as he punched toward Xuan Xi’s face.