A Dragon's Curiosity

Nisha had sent off her aunt earlier and took the words she had received to heart.

Concepts, laws and rules remained a mysterious topic and Bael only said that it would hinder her in learning them rather benefit the elf if she explained further and left it at that.

Teasing her about such interesting things and then leaving like a mischievous forest sprite luring an innocent traveller deep into the woods …

It was a fitting image for the green haired beauty.

Nonetheless, Nisha practiced the [Golem Creation] a while longer and then prepared for the morning.

Since her consciousness could easily spend the night inside her [Inner World] without consequences towards the rest needed for her physical body, she always woke up on time and already knew what the day had in store for the elf.

Accalia complained about being rudely torn from her comfy resting place and out of a pleasant dream involving a feast of grilled monsters, yet ultimately cheered up when she was told that they were going on another trip with the warrior class.

Therefore, the duo arrived at the practice field early as usual and chased each other around in a friendly manner.

Only when most of the other students trickled in did they stop.

Nisha prepared to look for her friends Unico and Lisa to talk about their strategy for the upcoming excursion, when a different teacher than their usual instructor took to the raised stage in front of the training yard.

Overlooking the few early youths running around, he raised his voice.

“Attention!”

The early birds stopped playing around with the training equipment and the conversations between them.

They gathered towards the teacher and looked at him with expectant eyes.

Since he appeared here instead of their teacher, something interesting was bound to happen.

Mr. Oak always had a friendly demeanor and taught them to the best of his abilities, so the students also treated him with proper respect and became attached to him.

“Due to the Academy inviting an important guest as a temporary teacher, there will be a delay regarding the trip today.

To make it easier on the guest, all classes will assemble on the field and wait for his visit.

After the esteemed guest has made his decision and picked suitable students, we will depart as usual to the destination picked by the school.

Make sure to show your best side when the visit starts, this is a chance that can only be encountered by chance, and not sought after!”

Regardless of how many students actually heard the announcement, the foreign teacher sat on the edge of the platform and no longer spoke to them, not even when one of the early students approached him for a more thorough introduction.

Nisha shrugged her shoulders and went off in search for her two friends with an unwilling Little Lia behind her.

The wolf certainly preferred the luxurious bed in the elf’s bedroom, but the ground was also good enough if it allowed the contracted beast to enjoy some more sleep.

Close to the appointed departure time, most of the remaining students slowly trickled onto the field, among them the two friends the elf was waiting for.

“Over here!”

Waving her hand, it did not take Unico and Lisa long to spot her and wander over.

As always, Unico wore the traditional robes of his kingdom with grace and not a single spot everywhere, while Lisa had to swipe strands of her blonde hair out of her face in order to rub the corners of her eyes.

Perhaps Little Lia happened to be her spirit animal, as the girl looked ready to fall asleep while standing.

“What’s up with the teacher? Where’s Mr. Oak?”

The girl slurred her words ever so lightly, blinking against the light blinding here and trying to make sense of the setup.

Unico bowed his head and then turned around to observe the other students, while listening with one ear to the conversation that was about to happen.

“See that guy over there? He announced earlier that a guest will visit before we can go on the trip, something about a precious chance and so on.

Since then, he’s just sitting there and ignoring us.

Don’t know what his deal is.”

Nisha hardly cared about the opportunity that was alluded to, her cultivation had hit the peak of the third rank again.

In the overall scheme of things, that put her at the peak of all citizens, only knights and wizards had higher ranks.

Furthermore, this happened after she had already broken through the divide once in the past, with the [Dragon Force] perfecting her physical form and lowering her level somewhat.

Although the dragon had no proof, fighting against a fourth ranked knight, peak or middle of that level, should be no problem for her.

Perhaps an early fifth ranked wizard or fighter would end up matching her in pure physical or magical strength.

She still lacked proper techniques to apply that strength and wield it properly compared to her [Dragon Breath] and pure physical combat using her huge frame and durable scales, but she would make up for that inadequacy in the future.

“A chance? What does that even mean?”

Startled, yet too tired to care, Lisa yawned with all her might and slumped down cross legged.

Since they already knew each other from the last excursion, the blonde haired girl largely got over apprehension against contracted monsters and grabbed the wolf lying nearby like an oversized pillow.

“Yes, but he did not go into detail. Only that we need to wait until that guest comes around.”

Finished with scanning the grounds, this was the moment where Unico turned back towards the two girls again and asked about their two days off.

More and more students filled the yard, while the trio exchanged stories.

Right after the bell rung loud to announce the morning period, the inactive man sitting on the podium stood up.

“Alright, quiet down! The first period started, cease the chattering.

To your great fortune, the [Royal Academy] secured a fateful encounter for all the freshmen.

A legendary warrior, the [Eternal Warrior], leader and founder of Leandar’s most renowned A Rank adventurer group, agreed to check through the new classes and see if there are any suitable warriors.

In case that his expectations are met, the Ser agreed to pass down an advanced technique during this turn.

To make this opportunity absolutely clear, this is not a bronze or silver star ranked skill, you cannot find a skill book for these advanced skills.

Countless fighters dream to grasp even a fraction of these powerful techniques.

The peak of the most powerful fighters, so to say. No matter how much money or prestige you have, unless you are prepared to part with a fortune worth a small city, they will not agree to teach anyone casually.”

With each passing word, the man’s chest swelled with pride, almost as if he was talking about his own exploits.

Nisha wondered why he got so excited. From her [Spirit Sight], the current announcer barely reached the peak of the second aura rank.

Even if you tied one of her arms behind her back, she was confident to beat him black and blue in a spar.

“How exciting! I heard of them, their group is called [Silvershroud]. They bought from my parent’s store before, high quality health potions and silver extract to fight against an undead boss deep inside the Dungeon.

It’s used to disturb the mana circulation inside their body, and makes their defense harshly fall …”

Lisa droned on about the uses of the merchandise sold by the shop, which made the corners of Unico’s smile twitch from time to time.

“You know that adventurer group then? Have you met them before?”

Nisha perked up at that idea, it intrigued her that a rather small kingdom, at least compared to the Twin Kingdoms, the Terus empire, or the Southern Alliance, had a number of A class adventurer teams.

To attain A rank, warriors or wizards under the guild had to breach the eighth rank of their discipline.

If they accepted a title bestowment by the kingdom, they had the potential to establish a mid tier noble house, given that they stayed united and worked together

Still, Leandar had little luck when it came to recruiting high class adventurers, the guild frowned upon their members taking up local titles.

Since the [Adventurer’s Guild] had branches in nearly all established spheres of influences on Ator, there existed a real chance that their members would declare war on each other when these powers clashed.

That did not mean that they prevented these people from straying from the guild, if they were tempted by the local powers.

However, any and all support from then on would cease from the guilds side. At the beginning, they were drunk on the power originating from their new title, but these deserters quickly learned that nobles also frowned on the volatile power represented by powerful characters not bound by the commonly accepted rules in the game between aristocrats.

Hence, the general sentiment over time turned into an agreement that nobles were indeed allowed to register with the guild, but straying from their membership after reaching a high rank led to ruin.

“Oh no, they don’t have to personally run errands.

When the [Silvershroud] party needs materials or supplies, the guild will send out a purveyor on their behalf, gathering everything at discounted prices.

Still, being the chosen shop for high ranked adventurer parties is a honor in itself.

No matter what you need, the [Golden Cauldron] has it all.”

The last sentence sounded more like a slogan for the shop than her opinion, yet Nisha found it strangely appealing.

She also developed an interest towards their group, since only the king and several high nobles that she had seen before treaded on the boundary to the ninth rank in either mana or aura, or had entered the highest level of cultivation in all of Leandar.

To think that there were several humans that matched them in strength under the guild.

No wonder that they can abstain from involving themselves in political struggles and focus on making a profit instead.

With a few hints, the dragon figured out how massive an entity the [Adventurer’s Guild] truly was.

Regular citizens barely reached the third rank in their lifetimes if they were lucky, while a few soldiers made it beyond the first great barrier towards the fourth rank or higher.

Only commanders, nobles and very rich merchants had the necessary foundation to spend a fortune and aim for the second great barrier, with a few fated individuals stepping beyond that.

Furthermore, it took a fortuitous encounter or a very long accumulation to break through the seventh rank and beyond, with talent and inborn aptitude determining if they had a shot at surpassing the limit again and again, obtaining the rare eighth or supreme ninth rank.

Only top families from the few major noble houses held a few of these individuals, with the national power gathered around the royal family, which offered superior cultivating grounds and resources.

Parallel to that, the [Adventurer’s Guild] brought up a large amount of parties and fighters that worked on their own among all ranks, regardless of social status.

Despite the numerous dangers, the only limit for adventurers came from their willingness to dive in the Dungeon again.

The profits from defeating a boss tier monster and obtaining their loot easily outclassed the earning of a small store, increasing exponentially in the deeper layers.

Investing that money again into better gear, more skills and consumables to increase the length of their next journey down under.

Of course, the process weeded out many parties and produced many tragedies.

The high mortality rate and forced retirements after grievous injuries shaped the adventurer community into a pyramid.

To see one of those standing at the top soon did interest the elf.

Perhaps, the [Eternal Warrior] was going to pleasantly surprise Nisha.