Hǎiyáng woke to the now-familiar sound of small rocks pelting his window. He groaned, rolling over and burying his face in the pillow, but the clinking noise persisted.
"Go away…" he mumbled, pulling the blanket over his head.
But the universe, it seemed, had other plans.
Clink, clink.
With a frustrated growl, Hǎiyáng threw off the blanket and stumbled to the window. He yanked it open to find a group of students grinning up at him, one of them mid-throw with another rock.
"Okay, okay! I'm coming!" he shouted, waving them off.
The students laughed. "Don't take too long, Frog Boy!"
He slammed the window shut, muttering under his breath. "Frog Boy… Frog Boy…" The nickname grated on him, a cruel reminder of his new label.
Ever since the infamous announcement by Xuě Jīn Mán declaring him the "future son-in-law of the marquis," the school had erupted into chaos. No longer was he merely "the orphaned XF tamer with SSS beasts." Now, whispers of "the orphaned XF frog who dreams of the Snow Princess" followed him wherever he went.
It was absurd. He didn't even know Xuě Fù Fèn personally, beyond fleeting glimpses in the school corridors. Yet somehow, the rumor had grown legs, hopping through the student body like an unstoppable amphibian.
Now, every day brought new challenges. Students eager to test his strength, humiliate him, or simply satisfy their curiosity bombarded him with duel requests. Some were his batchmates; others were seniors looking to prove themselves.
This morning was no different. As Hǎiyáng stepped into the courtyard, his latest challenger was already waiting—a tall, cocky senior with a smug grin.
Senior Lí Mó stood in the center of the courtyard, a smirk plastered across his face as he prepared to summon his beast."You ready, Frog Boy?"
The younger students whispered excitedly, their anticipation growing as they pointed at the senior's confident stance.
"He's bringing out that beast," one student murmured.
"I heard it's enormous!" another added.
When Lí Mó called his summoning beast, the ground itself seemed to tremble. A burst of light shot upward, and from the glowing circle emerged a massive lionfish, its vibrant scales shimmering in the sunlight.
The beast was far larger than anything natural—easily fifteen feet from nose to tail. Its sharp, venomous spikes glistened ominously, and its gills flared as it let out a deep, guttural growl.
Gasps rippled through the crowd as students backed away instinctively, their eyes wide with awe and fear.
"It's huge!"
"Those spikes… one scratch could kill you!"
Even Hǎiyáng hesitated, his gaze fixed on the looming beast. The lionfish's colors were mesmerizing, but its sheer size and lethal presence made it clear this was no ordinary creature.
"Well?" Lí Mó taunted, his voice cutting through the murmurs. "Are you going to summon something, or are you too scared, Frog Boy?"
Hǎiyáng narrowed his eyes and reached for his summoning medallion, preparing to call forth one of his own beasts. But before he could complete the summoning, a soft blue light appeared beside him.
"Oh, no…" Hǎiyáng groaned as Xiǎolóng materialized unbidden.
Xiǎolóng appeared as his usual self—a sleek, young water dragon with black and blue scales. His long, giraffe-like body coiled slightly as he surveyed the lionfish, his sharp eyes narrowing in interest. To the onlookers, he seemed woefully small compared to Lí Mó's massive beast.
"What is that supposed to be?" Lí Mó sneered. "A pet lizard?"
The crowd chuckled nervously, though some students remained wary. They had heard stories of Hǎiyáng's beasts, and they knew better than to underestimate him.
Xiǎolóng ignored the taunts, his gaze fixed on the lionfish. His tail flicked once, and without warning, he lunged forward.
The crowd gasped as Xiǎolóng's sleek form blurred, his small frame suddenly enveloped by a massive shadow. For a brief moment, his true nature was revealed: the shadow of a mystical water dragon, its body stretching over fifteen feet long, loomed behind him. Its gaping jaws, lined with sharp teeth, opened wide enough to swallow the lionfish whole.
The lionfish thrashed violently, its venomous spikes flaring in a desperate attempt to deter the attack. But Xiǎolóng's shadowy jaws snapped shut with a deafening crunch, and the lionfish disappeared completely.
The courtyard fell silent.
When the shadow faded, Xiǎolóng returned to his smaller form, sitting contentedly as he rubbed his belly. He let out a soft burp before disappearing back into his summoning space, leaving behind a stunned crowd and a very distraught Lí Mó.
"WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! My lionfish!" Lí Mó shrieked, his voice cracking with panic. "What did you do?!"
Hǎiyáng raised his hands in defense, his expression as baffled as the senior's. "Don't look at me! It wasn't my idea!"
"Get it back!" Lí Mó demanded, his face pale with desperation.
Hǎiyáng raised his hands defensively. "Hey, I didn't do anything! That was all him!"
"My beast! Bring it back!" the senior demanded, his face pale with shock.
"Fine, fine! Let me try."
Hǎiyáng closed his eyes and focused on Xiǎolóng's summoning circle. The dragon reappeared, looking utterly unbothered.
"Spit it out," Hǎiyáng said, pointing at the senior.
Xiǎolóng blinked lazily, flopped onto the ground, and curled up into a tight coil. He showed no intention of complying.
"Seriously?" Hǎiyáng groaned.
The senior grabbed Hǎiyáng by the collar. "You'd better fix this, Frog Boy, or else!"
"Calm down!" Hǎiyáng snapped, pushing the senior's hand away. He turned back to Xiǎolóng, sighing deeply. "Okay, what's it going to take? A trade? Bribery?"
The dragon flicked his tail, clearly uninterested in negotiations.
Hǎiyáng thought for a moment before turning back to the senior. "Do you have any fish?"
"What?!"
"Big ones. Lots of them," Hǎiyáng said.
The senior stared at him, his mouth agape. "You can't be serious."
"If you want your lionfish back, you'll need to offer something in return," Hǎiyáng explained with a shrug.
Begrudgingly, the senior stormed off. An hour later, he returned with two large baskets filled with fish of every kind. The moment the scent reached Xiǎolóng, the dragon's eyes lit up.
"There we go," Hǎiyáng said, holding up a particularly fat fish. "You want this? Trade the lionfish for it."
Xiǎolóng snorted, sniffing at the offering. Finally, with a reluctant growl, he opened his mouth, and the lionfish tumbled out onto the ground, looking dazed but unharmed.
The senior snatched up his beast and shot Hǎiyáng a venomous glare. "This isn't over, Frog Boy!"
Hǎiyáng waved him off, turning back to Xiǎolóng. The dragon was happily munching on his fish, his tail wagging slightly.
"You're going to get me expelled one of these days, you know that?" Hǎiyáng muttered.
Xiǎolóng ignored him, too busy savoring his meal.
Hǎiyáng leaned back against the wall, watching the sun rise higher into the sky. Life as an orphaned frog wasn't easy—but it certainly wasn't boring.
The Ripple Effect
The events of the courtyard duel rippled through Snow City Beast Fighting School, leaving whispers and lingering questions in their wake. Xiǎo Hǎiyáng, once dismissed as just an orphaned XF tamer, was now the center of both awe and suspicion.
"They say that little lizard of his turns into a giant water dragon when it's hungry!" one student exclaimed, recounting the shocking scene.
Others, however, weren't convinced. "But wasn't that dragon supposed to be F level?" a skeptical voice countered. "How could something so 'weak' devour a mystical lionfish? Did the pillar and even examiner make a mistake, or were we all deceived?"
Doubt began to creep into conversations about the reliability of the scoring pillar and even the examiner's judgment. What had seemed certain during Hǎiyáng's evaluations was now shrouded in mystery.
Some students pointed out another pattern: "Both times he summoned a beast in public, we didn't even see it properly. The first second, there was that eerie, unnatural pressure in the air. The next second, we saw the shadow of something majestic—like a dragon—but never the creature itself."
These observations only fueled the growing fascination around Hǎiyáng and his beasts. Were his creatures truly as incredible as rumors suggested, or was there more to his connection with them than anyone understood?
One thing was clear: the name Xiǎo Hǎiyáng had become synonymous with intrigue, power, and the unknown, leaving the students of Snow City Beast Fighting School to wonder just how deep the mysteries surrounding him really went.
Wait, is his name Xiǎo or Hóng ?