Dustan Kirklane was a tall man, standing at about 6'3 feet, with his armored uniform making him appear much larger than normal.
He had a cap to cover his shabby brown hair, and his face was covered in battle scars—mostly burn marks and claw marks left behind by spiteful Dragons before they were killed. His sharp eyes had an ocean green lustre, perfectly complementing the dark green and black uniform he had on. He held a cane at his center, both hands resting on it, as he addressed the new students.
As the Chief Proctor of the Academy's Cave of Trials, his duty was to supervise the process of entry and exit without prejudice in any way.
During the two to three days time limit given to the potential students, Proctors could not interfere. However, the moment they emerged from the Cave of Trials alive, the examinees would be given emergency treatments, food, and whatever resources they required in order to get them settled in.
'Not that he needs any of that, though…' Dustan smiled with pride as he looked at his sworn brother's child, Draco.
He always knew Draco would make it out alive.
It was only a matter of when.
"That concludes the general orientation." Dustan Kirklane concluded his rousing speech, once again praising the new potential Dragon Hunters while encouraging them not to think about those who perished in the Cave of Trials.
They were simply too weak and unworthy, that was all.
"And now, for the ranking." His deep voice echoed as he began to list everyone's achievements from bottom to top. For every name called, they would bring forth their respective sacks as proof of their placements.
Since Draco arrived late, he missed the moment where every survivor had to report their total number of DragonHearts. However, considering the sheer mass of his own sack, it was evident to everyone that he was already the winner.
"... Third place goes to Lizbeth, who obtained a total of 9 DragonHearts."
Everyone maintained perfect decorum despite being plenty impressed with the names being called out by their Chief Proctor. The average number of DragonHearts in each sack was only about 3 to 5.
Anything beyond that was incredible.
"Second place goes to Jet Ashborne, who obtained a total of 15 DragonHearts."
This number was simply ridiculous to most people who heard it. After all, scoring in the double digits—especially as a mere human—was absolutely insane. Normally, most people would be drooling in admiration for Jet Ashborne, who was frowning deeply as he clenched his fist.
However, they were too distracted by someone else.
The undisputed first place!
"Now, we haven't yet recorded your results… so tell us how many you were able to gather." Dustan smiled at Draco while signalling one of the Proctors to go fetch the boy's sack.
"Just twenty or so." Draco shrugged.
Everyone's eyes widened at the sound of those words, especially with the way their fellow survivor casually mentioned it like it was nothing.
"Only that much?" Dustan frowned. "The sack looks bigger than that, though."
"Well, that's because—"
"Boss! You gotta see this!" Before Draco could tell the Chief Proctor about his findings, the other Proctor called the latter's attention to an amber rock in his hand, rushing over with Draco's sack while beaming with excitement.
"T-this…"
Dustan's eyes widened as he snatched the amber from his colleague, carefully looking at the object as it gleamed under the sunlight.
His pupils instantly shrunk as he stared at Draco with incredible pride and shock.
"Where did you get this? How many were you able to gather?!"
"I saw an entire—"
"No, hold on… we'll talk about this later." Dustan swiftly interrupted. "With everything presented thus far, it's clear that you win. Or is there anyone here who would like to contest that?"
No one dared to speak.
Jet Ashborne's frown deepened, but he accepted his second position in silence.
With this, it was evident that the true MVP of the Cave of Trials was Draco, and it wasn't even close.
"Now then… with the announcement of results and the rankings out of the way, it's time to begin packing up camp. We're heading back to the shore, and from there… we'll be leaving straight for Argos."
"Understood sir!"
Everyone immediately scattered, but Dustan called the attention of one in particular.
"Draco, one moment."
The two of them walked away from the crowd to continue the discussion regarding the Essence Stones privately. Draco already knew this would happen so he didn't even budge after everyone had dispersed.
His dark hair and charming blue eyes perfectly absorbed the afternoon's sunlight as he stood before his superior and uncle.
"First of all… congratulations on passing." Dustan began. "I knew you wouldn't disappoint."
"And thanks for holding down the fort for me. I know I was a little late, so it's a relief you didn't leave me behind." Draco responded with a sheepish smile. Contrary to his interactions with Dragons or his peers, the way he conversed with Dustan almost seemed childlike.
"Haha! Well, what was I supposed to do? Let the examinee with the most potential fail?"
"It means a lot that you think that way, uncle Dustan."
"Hehe… that's right, you cheeky kid." The man chuckled, his face weirdly seeming warm despite the grotesque scars on his face.
"In any case, tell me more about those Essence Stones you found."
Draco instantly nodded.
He understood the importance of Essence Stones and how vital such a resource was to Dragon Hunters. Without Essence Stones, Hunters could not harness the Essence required to power DragonHearts.
In essence, they wouldn't be able to use [Breaths].
'In modern terminology, DragonHearts are like machines while Essence Stones are like fuel.'
Both were necessary for the mechanism to function.
'Since humans can't naturally produce Essence, we require the aid of Essence Stones.' Draco smiled, knowing he was the exception to that rule.
He told his uncle Dustan everything about his experience in the Cave—starting from finding the white Dragon, sparing its life, and awakening a System with a Legendary Class. He also continued by mentioning his ability to tame Dragons, and how the System led him to the clearing where he saw the Essence Stones and Rank 3 Dragon.
"It was really difficult fighting it, but I managed to win in the end. As for the clearing, there are still a lot of Essence Stones there. I only decided to bring a few of them with me as proof of concept."
"I see…" Dustan nodded slowly, absorbing all the information he received.
Draco waited, his eyes wide with expectation.
"So that's how you found the clearing… you followed the Dragons there." He smiled, patting Draco on the head. "Good job stalking them just as I taught you."
Draco forced a smile the moment he heard this, realizing that his uncle did not hear the part regarding the System and the Dragon Tamer Class. In fact, reality seemed to distort right as he said those words, causing the man to hear completely different things.
'I guess the people on the Forum were right…' He sighed. 'No one in this world can recognize the System, and if we try to reveal it to them… they end up seeing something completely different.'
He could simply reveal his ability to tame a Dragon to his uncle, or even show the [Breath] he gained from his tamed Dragons, but without proof to justify his difference from the rest of humanity, wasn't it possible that they would recognize him as a freak of nature instead?
'What if I'm seen as a Dragon? Humans can't use these powers, to begin with.'
Draco recognized he would have to think very deeply about the matter first, and perhaps figure a few things out about his powers before making his decision. However, if it was for the greater good of mankind, he was determined to let everyone know of his power.
… No matter what!
[Emergency Quest Activated]
~Do not reveal details of your Legendary Class to anyone in this world~
[Penalty: Death]
'W-what?!'