A Dragon's Curiosity

Nisha met Tyne Pinewood for the first time a while ago in the [Royal Academy].

At the time, neither side knew much about the other beside a pressing danger sensed by both sides.

At the training yard with all the other students, the [Eternal Warrior] briefly showed off his image cultivated through diving in the Dungeon, then fell back into a lazy and somewhat disheveled apathy.

And now, the four chosen trainees learned about an even more crazy sight, where the languid man suddenly had a miraculous change of mind and transformed into a stern lecturer.

The ideal discipline for training, running.

Due to the thunderous reputation of the [Silvershroud] group, the four young students stood in the scorching sun, listening to the [Eternal Warrior] as he went on and on about the benefits brought by regular training via running.

“... it will also increase your lung capacity, or to put it into simple terms, you can go on for longer without panting like a dead dog.

In an extended fight, that might save your life.

On top of that, when your opponents have higher ranks in aura cultivation, the human physique cannot easily keep up with monsters and beasts, who almost always have an inborn advantage over us.

Without the ability to resist their speed and sturdy bodies, you will get turned into meat paste before you have a chance to really display your skills.”

When Tyne drew a deep breath to continue his monologue, the adolescent lady before him had enough and exploded with rage.

“Stop it! Do you have any idea how much the Silverwood family and the others spent to invite you as a teacher?

All you’re talking about is some basic body training to strengthen the foundation.

If running is so magical, why doesn’t everyone turn into a peerless expert by running all day long?

Since you people asked for a sky high price, you must pay the corresponding amount of effort to repay the crown, the academy and our families!”

Nisha felt admiration towards the noble girl for the first time.

Ever since she first saw Tyne Pinewood, her [Spirit Sight], survival instinct and sixth sense warned her about the terrible danger that lurked beneath the thin veneer of civility and calmness.

Perhaps people living in a city protected by soldiers and the king’s men did not often have a chance to grasp the law of the jungle, but the dragon knew that no rules applied to the strongest beings, and if the man struck down all of the students here and picked a new batch, no one would dare to hold him accountable for the situation.

Indeed, being interrupted while he praised the benefits of his chosen exercise, Tyne abruptly quieted down and stared deeply at the obstruction.

Perhaps a smidgen of animalistic survival instinct finally woke up through a close brush with death, the girl no longer demanded more things and shrunk back down, wondering whether or not she committed a mistake.

“You’re a Silverwood, right? And your friend is from a Blackburn branch, Ravenstone, correct?”

Instead of treating them as the offspring of major noble houses, the [Eternal Warrior] casually called out their backgrounds with a dismissive tone.

In front of his fame and experience it no longer mattered where the two came from, only his will was used as the benchmark for judgement.

“Yes … since you already know that, you should teach us more complex and secret techniques to make us stronger. It’s fine for those commoners to run all day long, but my cousin and me are the brightest talents of our generation, don’t waste our time.”

Instead of her overbearing attitude, the Silverwood student conducted herself more quietly and reserved, which masked her commands as requests instead.

Mirthless anger silently invaded the instructors grin.

As his last name resembled the Silverwood tradition of conferred last names to their family knights and followers, he or his family might have had a close connection to the Duke line in the past.

On top of that, he barely counted as a member of the older generation and it was frowned upon when those of his age made things difficult for a junior.

Teaching a lesson, on the other hand, was perfectly fine and gave Tyne Pinewood the excuse he was looking for.

“What you’re trying to say is, you’re different from the others and don’t want to do the training plan I have in mind, right?

No need to answer, you already made it clear, I’m just confirming it one more time.

Yes, I can use other means than running to train you, according to the value the different parties invested in the project.

Only, are you sure you want to go through with it?

You must know, after complaining and ordering me to change my mind this time, I won’t agree a second time.

I can guarantee the effectiveness, when you suffer through the hardships you will get the results you want.

Is that what you’re after?”

Whether it was his lazy magnetic tone before or the agitated and animated narration when talking about a topic of interest, the current ice cold and monotone speech given by the powerful instructor only further cemented Nisha’s decision to never get on his bad side.

Rather unfortunately, not everyone shared her acute judgement and survival instinct.

“Of course! We’re different from the commoners you picked, I don’t know why you did that in the first place.

As elites, we have to have the skills and mindset of elites, otherwise we will bring shame to our families.

Teach us whatever you can, my older cousin and me will endure it and power through!”

Perhaps his pride and instinct as a man reared their head, the young noble boy thumped his chest with his fist loudly and shot Nisha and the other youth a glance full of contempt.

Why do nobles always insist that they are better than others? Weston did the same, and this idiot is about to get himself killed.

For the first time in her life, Nisha discovered the strange attraction of morbid curiosity.

She perfectly knew what an absolute disaster could potentially happen if Tyne got upset or lashed out against the young man.

Nevertheless, the elf kept her mouth shut and watched the great play happen.

Perhaps the incoming disaster would show her the limit of the instructor’s aura cultivation.

From the state of the affair, the young noble lady also noticed the shift in the mood and hesitated to give her answer.

Alas, her partner in crime already assented and made a guarantee, so she had to show a united front to get what the house behind her wanted.

“Yes, if your methods are capable of doing what you promised, enduring some hardship is not a problem.

At most, we can discuss the arrangement again if there are still problems.”

“Truly the child of a distinguished family, still leaving a way out for yourself!

Do you think I have no methods to control you? As long as I kick you out and announce that you are not suitable to be taught, and have a difficult attitude and low talent in cultivation, the forces behind this training arrangement will find trouble for me or rather change their focus from you to another young talent and try again?

Before I came here for this assignment, I asked my team mate for some pointers how I should conduct the lessons and what to watch out for.

His advice, word for word, is to treat everyone equally and unearth the potential still hidden inside you all.

Frankly, I have to say that I disagree now!

Between you two trouble children and the other two, the most basic respect and willingness to follow my designs is like heaven and earth.

Instead of giving you tasks as a group, the ranking will strictly decide who gets the most resources and personal attention, while each of you gets an individual assignment you must complete before you can practice the next step.

Overall, the direction will enhance your strength and that is the only criterion for the ranking.

The strongest takes the most, while the descending order gets accordingly less.

Make up your mind, can you accept my methods and follow orders without complaining?

Otherwise, get lost right now and don’t bother me anymore!”

What started as a measured and rather quiet introspection almost thundered like lightning through the empty training yard.

Tyne Pinewood exuded the dominating air of a top master, the wind picked up dust and small leaves and formed an invisible field around the warrior as the center.

Instead of a human, the current scene showed an angry god holding judgement over a group of unfortunate souls.

The boy next to Nisha nervously gulped down his saliva, afraid to make any loud sounds that could attract this colossal rage onto him.

Similarly, the dragon pitied the two noble children, who managed to offend their teacher right from the start.

Fortunately, those two had an astute mind and reckless bravery from their upbringing where their opinion ruled over the adult servants and their kids.

“Huh, are you implying that we cannot compare to a bunch of commoners?

Don’t go back on your words later, as long as the training assignments are fair and the ranking rewards are distributed according to your words, my cousin and I will easily keep the first and second place!

Trying to goad us into action by favoring them won’t work!”

Since the polite mask on the surface already got torn off, the young noble boy released his domineering nature and promised to follow the conditions.

With a small voice, his female cousin also agreed after thinking things through.

The arrogance in her heart would never allow her to lose to other, not to mention that her family laos prepared a lot of resources for cultivation aside from those provided to the [Royal Academy].

Next to Nisha, the young commoner hesitated. He was elated when a living legend first picked him to join training under him, but agreeing to compete against the descendants of a duke and a count was similar to killing his own family.

“As long as you agree, I will assign someone to monitor the actions of you all to prevent the interference from the outside.

Only strength will speak, not background or wealth.

With my name as the guarantee, no one will make things difficult for you later on either.”

Tyne easily saw through his worries and added a condition of his own, which brought out a sound of agreement from the boy.

He already offended the nobles by being here anyway, so what did he have to fear now?

“I agree.”

As a mighty dragon, she feared neither the nobles schemes nor a direct fight with members of her generation.

Nisha might not guarantee that no one in history had overtaken her in cultivation speed, but for comprehensive strength, battle power and combat experience against wild monsters, there should not be more than a handful of characters that can compare to her.

“Since you prepared yourself, I will now adjust the training methods for all of you and announce your ranking when you go back.

Though, you cannot back out anymore. I will make sure no one will have any doubts about your moral character or future potential if you try to run away or refuse to do your assignments.

Those will all be ruined.”

With a strange smile, the [Eternal Warrior] found his lazy smile again and stared at the four experiments under his care.

It was time for a truly hellish training regime.