"Dragon?"
Lu Chen looked puzzled, pointing at the red dragon hatchling in the glass jar. "This thing?"
It wasn't arrogance on his part; the creature in the jar did look somewhat miraculous and had a hint of majesty. But it was limited—like a Tibetan Mastiff's puppy pouncing on you and barking, it didn't evoke much fear.
Schneider: ...
Luticia: ...
Meanwhile, Chu Zihang shared the same gaze as Lu Chen.
"The strength of dragons cannot be judged solely by size and appearance," Schneider explained. "Though it may be young, once awakened, its dragon flames are enough to destroy a village. Moreover, most dragons are not like this hatchling; it's a rare specimen, which makes it precious."
Schneider covered the glass jar again, momentarily thrown off by Lu Chen's interruption, almost forgetting what he was going to say next.
"You may have doubts and suspicions about the power within yourselves," Schneider continued. "But I can tell you plainly that we carry a portion of dragon blood in our veins. In a sense, these creatures are our ancestors, and we are hybrids."
Pointing to the covered glass jar, Schneider said, "You'll learn more about the history of hybrids in the academy, so I won't go into detail. You both have made a resolute decision, and I believe that even after learning the truth about the academy, you won't want to turn back. So let's talk about what awaits you after enrollment."
Lu Chen and Chu Zihang listened attentively, while Luticia wore a bewildered expression. It was the shortest orientation she had ever witnessed... not that she had seen anyone else receive an orientation.
Back when she was a student, her mentor, Manshutain, had talked for a whole hour, citing various sources and providing substantial evidence before finally concluding the orientation. It was frustrating for her, as she already knew everything as someone from a family with deep knowledge of such matters, yet she had to patiently sit through it.
But these two students, who had been isolated from the mixed-blood world until now, accepted the brief explanation without any questions. It was quite surprising.
"Before boarding, you should have seen that your student cards display an A-level blood rating," Schneider continued. "But this is just an estimate. Your final rating will be determined after undergoing the physical and 3E exams upon enrollment. Depending on the results, your blood rating may decrease... or increase."
As Schneider spoke, his gaze shifted between Chu Zihang and Lu Chen.
"The 3E exam?" Lu Chen and Chu Zihang echoed in confusion.
"I cannot disclose the specifics of the 3E exam, but you need not worry," Schneider assured them. "The 3E exam is the most stable. It won't cause you to perform poorly for any reason. As long as you have dragon blood, you will resonate with it."
Schneider's words didn't ease Lu Chen's mind, especially the part about needing dragon blood.
In this compartment, everyone was a hybrid, but he... wasn't. It finally dawned on him why the difficulty level for the task included getting through the exams at Cassel Academy, as it wasn't something he could brute force his way through.
"They only take little dragonfolk, not secret-blood warriors."
"If nothing unexpected happens, I'll be your mentor from today onwards. I hope you both achieve good results. Once you arrive at the academy, adjust to the time difference and try to perform well in the physical tests."
After saying these words, Schneider coughed a few times; he rarely spoke this much in one go.
Lu Chen felt a weight in his heart. "If nothing unexpected happens"... but I am the unexpected one, Mentor.
"Luticia, right?" Schneider looked towards Luticia, who stood there like an obedient child.
"Yes, Teacher," Luticia straightened her posture.
"You've done well this time. Take them to get their school uniforms," Schneider said wearily, giving Lu Chen a somewhat peculiar look. He thought, It's quite strange-looking up close; this attire is really out of the ordinary.
"Yes."
...
Several minutes later, when Lu Chen and Chu Zihang emerged from the changing room at the back of the compartment, Luticia's expression changed.
Indeed, clothes do make the man, and this phenomenon was magnified to the extreme on Lu Chen.
With a white shirt, a dark green suit with silver edges, and a deep rose-red tie embroidered with the emblem of Cassel Academy's half-decayed world tree on the chest pocket, the academy tailor had made the clothes fit him perfectly, even though they had never measured Lu Chen's figure.
Putting on this outfit transformed the country boy, who usually wore martial arts training clothes, into a "gentleman," suddenly turning into a handsome and noble young aristocrat. Moreover, the inexplicable military aura emanating from him added a touch of masculinity, causing people to take notice.
"Thanks, Chu... classmate," Lu Chen thanked Chu Zihang when he came out. His habit nearly made him say "Chu Bro," but he realized it didn't quite fit the current worldview.
Changing clothes shouldn't have taken that long, but Lu Chen and Chu Zihang took over ten minutes because of a few minor mishaps. Fortunately, with Chu Zihang's help, Lu Chen managed to dress appropriately before reappearing in the compartment.
"Lu, you're too polite," Chu Zihang nodded, indicating it was no big deal.
Meanwhile, Luticia, who had been daydreaming while looking at the two beautiful youths, had a strange expression at that moment. She looked at Lu Chen, then at Chu Zihang, and then glanced at the time on her watch, her eyes becoming even more peculiar.
She wondered if these two juniors had crossed the boundaries of friendship directly after their honest encounter and entered a new world.
Lu Chen and Chu Zihang were oblivious to what was going on in Luticia's corrupted mind. They had just returned to their seats when they noticed that the train had arrived at the station.
Luticia led Lu Chen and Chu Zihang off the train, bidding farewell to Minister Schneider before preparing to find their dormitories...
Ah, no, she corrected herself, find their rooms.
"Classmate, there should be a message from Norma on your phone. Take a look," she said to Lu Chen, as Chu Zihang had already provided his dormitory number, "Block One, Room 302." It seemed he had done his homework in advance.
The message from Norma was an email, not a text message, so Lu Chen hadn't seen it.
"I'll do it," Luticia took Lu Chen's phone and, after a bit of tinkering, smiled when she saw the dormitory number. "You two are quite fortunate. You both landed on the same day and even got rooms with consecutive numbers. Block One, Room 303. Convenient, and you won't need to go out of your way."
Lu Chen glanced at Chu Zihang in surprise. He hadn't expected them to be neighbors, meaning they would likely bump into each other often in the future.
His impression of this peer was quite good. Although he seemed aloof at first glance, he was actually warm-hearted. He had taken the initiative to help when Lu Chen had trouble with his clothes earlier.