Ancient Dragon in Arknights

Nesario could sense the glint of swords behind him with a little thought; this was definitely not normal, and the Aslan girl hiding in the slums was definitely involved in this matter.

Fighting is exhilarating, but politics is an absolute nightmare.

Nesario was about to slip away when the strange phenomenon that followed stopped him in his tracks.

[Draco, do you know what your meeting with Vina means?]

With a flash of golden light, a golden lion appeared in the narrow, dark alley.

With its robust limbs, a mane that shimmers like the sun, and the occasional glimpse of its fangs, this is a true king of beasts.

However, he did not possess the bloodthirsty disorder of a beast. On the contrary, this guy wore human goggles, and his golden eyes shone with wisdom. His choice of words was full of gentlemanly charm.

"I am not some Draco, I am Vayvan. I salute you, great being."

[Hmm...but no matter how you look at it, you're a pureblood Drak. What color are your flames?]

"Huh? Flames? I don't have any talent for Originium Arts, let alone the color of flames."

"I understand. Child, Vina's path has nothing to do with you, and your meeting is not a good thing. On the contrary, it will bring trouble to both of you. Fortunately, no one knows about this."

After saying that, the golden lion vanished as if it had never been there at all.

Vina suppressed her hostility, expressionlessly picked up her weapon, and prepared to leave.

She listened to her teacher, who had just made his meaning very clear.

Nesario watched Vina leave without saying much. Too much had just happened, and his mind was a bit of a mess. He needed time to sort things out.

But what concerned him even more was what the lion had said about Drak.

'I was indeed adopted, but my appearance is largely due to the Odogaron. Of course, some of it is my own genetic makeup.'

Nesario touched his horn; this unique crown-shaped hexagon was clearly not something a grotesque dragon had, that guy had a flat head.

"Could I really be Draco, a wanderer? It can't be such a coincidence..."

Also, what does the color of fire mean? Could it not refer to Originium Arts, but rather to an abstract concept similar to "will"?

Then I'll have to show you my Will of Fire!

Kidding.

Nesario knew nothing about fire; he was a pure fighter, a pure warrior.

To avoid trouble, he chose to run away.

The narrow alley fell into complete silence, just as the lion had said, no one had seen today's farce.

......

"Teacher, what race is that guy? I've never seen Draco before, but he does look a lot like Vayvan."

Vina, you haven't met Draco. If you had, you would know they are completely different beings. As for that boy... he hasn't awakened yet. When he does, the truth will naturally come to light.

Drak are all born masters of fire; the mastery of fire is ingrained in their blood, but this power is not something they are born with.

Instead, they awaken only when each Draco finds their own meaning in existence, and their awakened will will affect the effects of the flames.

You can tell what kind of person Draco is just by looking at his flames.

Gawain was eager to see what color Neltharion's flames would be.

Chapter Eight: To Stay or to Leave?

"Damn it... I forgot about this."

Nesario clicked his tongue. He was shocked by the incident involving the giant lion and Miss Aslan, and he ran away at an extraordinary speed.

When he rushed back to his dormitory, he realized that he still had a letter and a gift in his pocket.

Fortunately, Saria didn't know where he was. If she found out that her brother didn't take his sister's authority seriously, Nesario would be in big trouble.

"Never mind, it doesn't matter. Going tomorrow will be the same."

There were more important things to do right now, so Nesario carefully recalled everything that had happened that day and wrote it down in his notebook in great detail.

He highlighted several key words: "Aslan," "Lion," and "Draco."

'Who exactly is Miss Aslan? What happened to her? None of that matters to me. She's struggling in the slums, and if all else fails, the Lion will be there to protect her. My troubles are far greater.'

"The extinction of the Drak line could be due to the race's poor reproductive ability. But as royalty, even if there is no successor, a stallion should still produce one."

"More importantly—after their extinction, the story of the Draco is slowly disappearing, as if they never existed on Terra. There is definitely a conspiracy behind this; someone is deliberately erasing the Draco."

Neltharion made the most logical deduction: the destruction of Drak was indeed shrouded in mystery, and it was precisely this mystery that revealed the crisis.

With Draco's influence completely gone, who will be the biggest beneficiary?

Of course, it's Aslan, who is also royalty. The person who most wants you dead is definitely someone in your profession—and being an emperor is even more dangerous and fraught with peril.

But... Aslan is also nearing his end.

Open the history book—the last king was executed, and no new king emerged after his death; open the newspaper, and all political matters are promulgated and amended by Parliament.

The descendant of Aslan couldn't even afford decent clothes, so her accommodations were naturally not very good; as for her personal manners... at least Nesario had a good impression of her, although she was young and impulsive, which was much better than being despicable and cowardly.

"Could it be other powerful figures? Did they strangle Aslan and Draco together with invisible ropes? That's terrifying..."

Nesario had knowledge of social structures in his mind—emperors, nobles—things that should indeed be swept into the dustbin of history.

But this idea won't work in Terra. To overthrow feudal rule, the first thing that needs to be awakened is the saying: "Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?!"

The royal nobles of Terra are truly courageous!

Those special races are born with different powers, and the lower limit of some races even exceeds the limit of others.

Nesario's sister, Saria, is the best example—a woman, but a Vayvan woman; her explosive combat power, stamina, and other physical attributes far surpass those of adult males of other races.

Neltharion had even heard that the dragon nobles of the East had incredibly long lifespans, with a hundred years not being their end. What's the point of rebelling? They could outlive you to death like that.

“I have no interest in my biological parents, my identity, or my bloodline. But other people don’t think so… If someone thinks I’m Draco, it could bring trouble upon me.”

The best and wisest choice right now is to abandon the study abroad plan. At this point, Nazario will not lose too much by packing his things and fleeing back to Colombia.

For his own abilities and for Celia's sake, Trimont University will definitely accept him again.

But he didn't like this feeling.

“Yes, Victoria is in danger. Although I can’t see or touch it, it definitely exists, and we’ll have to confront it someday. But are we going to run away because of this little bit of trouble?”

The dragon race's strengths are obvious—unparalleled power; but its weaknesses are equally prominent—arrogance, greed, and uncontrollable rage when its sore spot is touched.

Neltharion had been subtly altered by this nature; if he were to run away today because of this speculation, he would feel utterly despicable. What difference would that make him from a foolish dragon?

Having made up his mind, Nesario not only wouldn't run away. He was even determined that if anyone dared to provoke him, he would absolutely make them die a horrible death, burning them to ashes!

After tearing out and burning his thoroughly analyzed notes, Nesario lay down on the bed and drifted off to sleep.

......

The next day, classes still hadn't started at the academy, giving Nesario plenty of time to familiarize himself with the city.

He quickly located the contact point of the messengers from all nations and successfully sent the letter and gifts to Celia in Colombia.

After settling this matter, he chose to go to the Sadion district again. Yesterday's sparring with that Aslan was purely accidental. Nesario's goal remained unchanged—to find the stronghold of the Fang Gang or the Glasgow Gang, and then become a good neighbor superhero and beat them down.

"Valerie's Cake Shop is newly opened, and everything in the store is half price this week?"

Looking at the advertisement in front of him, Nesario was somewhat tempted. His personal opinion on sweets was neither particularly good nor bad—they were indeed delicious, but not essential.

The key is that there are bargains to be had, and it's fun to join in the fun, isn't it?

Soon, guided by both the advertisement and the map, Nesario quickly found the cake shop.

The cake shop is located on a very wide road, decorated in a classic Victorian style, which is elegant and luxurious. The road is very clean and tidy, and the shops on the street are mostly boutique clothing stores and luxury goods stores.

Valerie's style is not much different from that of other bakeries. If you don't pay attention to the cakes in the store, you might not even realize that it is a cake shop.

A clear, ringing sound of wind chimes rang out the moment Nesario pushed open the door.

"Welcome, sir."

"Hello, is there anything I can help you with?"

A woman named Felin with long blonde hair approached to serve Nesario; there were actually other people in the shop besides him. But the woman seemed to ignore the others and walked straight toward Nesario.

Young Vaivayans with Colombian accents—in Victoria's mind, they were symbols of money.

Colombia did indeed have a "modern era" of extravagance and debauchery decades ago, when Colombians were the richest suckers in all of Terra.

Luxury brands love it, and so do kidnappers and robbers.

Today, the modern era has passed, and Colombia's wealth has fallen into the hands of tycoons; ordinary people can no longer afford to spend money like water.

However, the wealth of ordinary Colombians still far exceeds that of people in other Terran countries; perhaps this is the advantage of the system.

Chapter Nine: An Encounter at the Cake Shop

Do you have any cake recommendations?

"Is this a gift, or will you enjoy it yourself, sir?"

"Try it for yourself."

Nesario was new to the area and had no one to give him a gift to.

"Then I highly recommend this series of cakes."

The waitress led Nesario to the cake stand at the very center of the store, where Nesario calmly surveyed it—good heavens! This was the most expensive spot in the entire store!

Is it really okay for you to start doing this as soon as you open for business? Aren't you afraid of losing all your repeat customers?

"Mousse and chiffon cakes—these two cakes may look very similar, but they taste completely different. If you're interested, you can buy one of each, as our store is newly opened and you can enjoy a 50% discount."

After saying that, Miss Felin winked at Nesario.

Nesario was not pleased with this.

He decided to rely on himself to make the choice. Sometimes price can only be used as a reference. Street stalls are not necessarily worse than high-end restaurants. The difference between the two lies in style, environment, and so-called face.

The same applies to cakes. Some colorful cakes can skyrocket in value just by having a catchy name, while others are disliked simply because of their appearance.

Sure enough, Nesario quickly found something he liked.