Asura Ryuu, Asura Tenka, the Princess and some other children could resist the faint aura of oppression coming from the beast. In fact, the Asura pair felt nothing. Others were the ones who resisted it. The Qilin's lazy eyes suddenly turned to Asura Ryuu's group unconsciously. When Asura Ryuu saw those eyes, he suddenly understood why they seemed familiar - Xun Bao had the same eyes almost every day, wanting to laze around and sleep at every given chance. However, the Qilin wasn't feeling as carefree as Asura Ryuu.
When it met Asura Tenka's eyes, there was a feeling of suppression coming from them even though she did nothing.
The Qilin's eyes turned serious the moment it noticed her. It then scanned the Xun Siblings with interest but aside from noticing Xun Bao who gave it a familiar feeling and Xun Meng that gave off a strange feeling, it found nothing else. Only when its eyes met Asura Ryuu did genuine fear manifest in its soul for an instant, followed by a feeling of reverence.
Its blood became agitated when it met the black abyss within Asura Ryuu's eyes, as if its great ancestor was gazing at it. Feeling the restlessness from below him, the man on the Qilin's back looked at the same direction as the beast, but he found nothing out of the ordinary. Just at that moment, the lying Qilin slowly rose, its head inclining to the sky.
Being infected by the look in Asura Ryuu's eyes, the Qilin's excited blood also released its original aura - an aura that stemmed from the blood of the True Qilin. Along with the aura came a roar aimed at the heavens, so powerful that even the ground was slightly trembling in from its might.
The clouds above the city gates flashed with deep blue thunder along with the unrestrained roar, as if responding to the Qilin. The man standing on its back showed surprise on his face. The Qilin didn't obey anyone's command as far as he knew. Having it release its breath when he told it to, the happiness was visible in the man's eyes. If he could truly bond with this Qilin, then he may have the chance to become its master - after all, the Qilin rejected all previous people who tried and didn't listen to anyone. It was the first time today that it listened to someone's command, and that someone was him. How could he not be happy?
But even though he was happy, the dignified look on his face stayed the same. He needed to show the corresponding bearing of a senior in front of these children. He glanced at the Princess and saw her slightly furrowed brows and a bit of doubt in her eyes as she looked at the Qilin. The happiness in his heart rose even more.
"The princess surely must be wondering why the legendary untamable Qilin would listen to my command. It truly is a great fortune for me today! If the Princess remembers my name and tells the Emperor, then that will be the greatest fortune I have struck in my life!", the man thought.
With a conceited look in his eyes, the man suddenly spoke: "Welcome everyone! I am sure everybody knows what this place is, but let me once again remind everyone of its significance. All of you are standing before the Crimson Star City's Ancestral Gate where the greatest battle for our race and this Empire took place many years ago! It is only natural to pay respects to the fallen warriors as you pass through it, don't forget that! You may be children, but you still owe that much to our ancestors that defended our motherland."
The man swept his eyes through the crowd once again and saw the curious big eyes of the children with a layer of shock which resulted from the Qilin's roar and the suppression it had on their blood from before. The shock was still present in their eyes as they looked at the man speaking to them from the gate which gave him the same impression as if everyone was marveling at his existence, as if he forgot about the Qilin beneath him.
Asura Ryuu saw the arrogant and conceited look in his eyes and immediately recognized it, which caused the impression of this man to be very poor in his eyes. Asura Tenka was the same. She had seen this kind of face too many times being held captive, and if not for Asura Ryuu clutching her hand, there may have suddenly appeared another aura far stronger than the Qilin's because of that disgusting look on the man's face.
Xun Bao and Xun Meng too had a repulsive look in their eyes for some reason even they didn't know of, but this man gave them a poor impression as well. Asura Ryuu was wondering why would the academy send this kind of man to welcome them. Are most members of the academy as disgusting as this middle-aged man? If that's the case then there'll be lots of trouble later.
The man introduced himself, but the four didn't even remember his name because they didn't find him pleasant. Why would they remember the name of someone like that? Only those innocent kids who didn't have the knowledge of the actual world were full of respect and awe at the one who could stand on the Qilin's back.
Asura Ryuu also wondered why the Qilin would even allow that kind of man on its back. Is it under some restrictive spell or does it not give a damn about anything except sleeping that much? As he was wondering, he noticed the Qilin's eyes looking at himself with a curious look.
Asura Ryuu thought: "Eh? Is it interested in me?"
With that thought, he pointed with his thumb to himself to which the Qilin responded by blinking once and slightly lowering its head as its eyes glistened. Asura Ryuu smiled to it and nodded to the Qilin while taking the chance of nobody looking at him. The Qilin straightened a bit while its long tail swept from one side to another, which resembled a cheerful dog wagging its tail out of happiness.
Asura Ryuu smiled, thinking this beast was interesting and quite funny. If others knew what he was thinking about the well-known blue Qilin from the legends, they'd be shocked. There were many stories about this Qilin and how it killed many enemies with its lightning, hence many children were amazed when they saw the true incarnation of the legendary beast they've been told about - the true member of the ancestors protecting this city told about in tales and one of the symbols of Crimson Star Academy.
With the legend of the Qilin being recited once again by the man standing on its back as arrogance in his eyes increased with each sentence, Asura Ryuu concluded that there was definitely some shady stuff going on about this Qilin, otherwise it won't be willing to let someone so blindly arrogant and self-conceited on its back. It was a shame even for its lazy self to carry such a person. This was also what the Princess was thinking of, but the man thought she was just wondering why the Qilin listened to its commands.
However, nobody apart from the Qilin knew that the loud roar it let out wasn't because of this punny human's existence on its back but because it saw someone important among the crowd - someone with the breath much stronger than its ancestors! It saw the two little monsters down there, but even they didn't realize the cause for the Qilin's excitement was them!