The Dragon Lizard’s body crashed to the ground with a thunderous impact, sending dust billowing into the air that lingered for a long time.
Xuan Xi dispersed the Water Blade, and the scales from her Dragon Transformation receded from her hands. The light of her Destiny Mark slowly dimmed. Her right arm hung limply at her side, her sleeve completely soaked through with blood and clinging to her skin. The wound on her face had already scabbed over. She stood there motionless—not because she didn’t want to move, but because her legs were trembling uncontrollably, from her ankles all the way up to her thighs. Several consecutive rounds of high-intensity Water Element spells had drained her Spiritual Energy completely, and combined with the injuries she’d sustained in battle, her body was on the verge of collapse.
SigrdrÃfa stood beside her, her silver-white hair lifted by the evening breeze. Her complexion was far paler than usual, and her amethyst eyes seemed dimmer than before. The Lightning Spear she had unleashed at the end was a high-tier Thunder Light spell that had consumed most of her Spiritual Energy. Elsa, on the other hand, was more direct about it—she simply collapsed onto the ground, her brown short hair plastered to her forehead with sweat. The Flame had long since extinguished. Her entire arm ached, but she never let go, maintaining her battle stance until the very last moment. Reggie stood in front of Elsa, both hands still pressed against the ground, his fingertips embedded in the gravel. There was blood at the corner of his mouth—he’d been struck by the Dragon Lizard’s tail earlier when he shielded Elsa. Only after confirming the Dragon Lizard wouldn’t move again did he withdraw his hands from the ground and silently wipe the blood from his lips.
Veralis leaned against a rock wall, her ice-blue eyes half-closed, her breathing extremely shallow. A few strands of golden hair hung beside her face, catching a faint glimmer in the twilight. From the very start of the battle, she had been applying damage-over-time effects to the Dragon Lizard without ever stopping. Her Ice Element Spiritual Energy was nearly exhausted, and she no longer had the strength to even raise her hand.
In the distance, the five members of the Wolf Squad were also slumped on the ground. Rex Wolf’s right arm was still in a sling, his broken sword tucked into the scabbard at his waist. His two teammates who could still stand were performing emergency treatment on the two who were lying down—splinting broken bones and flushing wounds with Healing Potion.
“My god! What happened here?” The Patrol Team’s voice arrived belatedly, echoing from the entrance of the canyon. The instructor leading them was a middle-aged male of the Dragon Race, wearing a dark gray uniform with a Patrol Badge pinned to his chest. His gaze swept across the current state of the canyon—cracks everywhere, and the massive Dragon Lizard corpse lying on the ground. His eyes first noted Xuan Xi and the others, battered but conscious. After confirming they were in no immediate danger, he turned his attention to the more severely injured Wolf Squad—broken arms, broken legs, people lying on the ground unable to move. Finally, he looked at the Dragon Lizard corpse, very much dead. “A Rock-armored Dragon Lizard. And it’s nearly a top-tier one.”
“Who killed it?”
“We did,” Reggie said, his voice somewhat hoarse. The Patrol Team Captain’s gaze shifted from the Dragon Lizard’s corpse to Reggie’s face.
“Both teams?”
“Actually, just the five of us were the main force,” Reggie added.
The Patrol Team Captain’s expression didn’t change noticeably, but the expressions of the younger instructors behind him did. A Half-step Top-tier Magical Beast. Ten first-year students had defeated a Half-step Top-tier Dragon Lizard on their very first Final Exam, and they’d all walked away with only injuries—no deaths.
“Medical Soldier!” Without turning his head, the Patrol Team Captain called out. Several medical soldiers in white uniforms came running from the back of the formation, carrying medical kits, stretchers, bandages, and splints. One medical soldier crouched in front of Xuan Xi and reached out to touch her right shoulder. “I can handle it myself.” Xuan Xi sidestepped to avoid the touch. The medical soldier’s hand froze midair. He glanced at her blood-soaked sleeve on her right arm, then at her pallid face. “Your bone—”
“It’s already been reset. It’s fine.”
“What about elsewhere? Aren’t you worried about aftereffects?” The medical soldier’s voice carried no emotion, but his hands were steady. He rolled up Xuan Xi’s sleeve, revealing her entire right arm. The dark cyan scales had receded, but the markings from the scales remained on her skin, like pale scars. From shoulder to forearm, there were large patches of bruising—dark purple and blue—along with several wounds cut open by gravel. The medical soldier said nothing. He took a bottle of Healing Potion from his kit and poured it over the wounds. As the potion made contact with her skin, Xuan Xi’s fingers clenched tightly, her shoulder giving a small jerk, but she held back from crying out.
SigrdrÃfa stood nearby, watching the wounds on Xuan Xi’s right arm. The dark purple bruising reflected in her amethyst eyes, and her heart ached with every beat. After the medical soldier finished treating Xuan Xi’s wounds, he moved on to Elsa. Elsa was already rubbing her own shoulder. The medical soldier pressed her hand away and applied an Ice Pack to the bruise. “Ice for three days. Remember to change the dressing twice a day.” Elsa hissed at the cold of the Ice Pack. Reggie didn’t ask for help—he wiped the blood from his mouth with a sterile gauze and called it done. Veralis was still leaning against the rock wall. The medical soldier walked over and gave her a few instructions. She hadn’t been injured, so no bandaging was needed—just rest.
The Patrol Team Captain stood beside the Dragon Lizard corpse, looking at the fallen beast. A third of its massive armored scales were shattered. Its right eye had been blinded by the Thunder Light first, and then the wound on its neck had been cut open by the Water Blade. At the weak point of its throat, there was a thin, charred mark—the aftermath of the high-tier Thunder Light spell, the Lightning Spear piercing through.
“This Dragon Lizard’s rank exceeds the scope of the Academy’s assessment.” His voice wasn’t loud, but it was clear. “Wait here for a while. I’ll report this to the Academy and note the situation in the assessment report. Rest well today.”
Xuan Xi sat on a rock. Her right arm was now wrapped in bandages, and a Band-Aid had been placed over the wound on her face. Her Spiritual Energy hadn’t fully recovered yet, her fractured ribs still ached—that kind of injury required treatment back at the Academy—and while her dislocated right shoulder had been reset, her entire arm still hurt and couldn’t bear any strength. She sat there, watching the sky gradually darken. The first star flickered to life through a gap in the clouds.
“Set up camp here,” the Patrol Team Captain gave the order. “We return to the Academy at dawn tomorrow.”