Dragonslayer’s Class Regression 22

Chapter 22

Duke’s face hardened at the mention of the Elder Dragon.

Arthur slowly began to speak.

“Under no circumstances can that relic fall into the Emperor’s hands.”

Duke nodded.

Arthur rose from his seat.

“While I’m away, watch the Emperor with your eyes and ears.”

“You always give me the troublesome tasks.”

“It’s not like you have to do physical work. Stop complaining and pay attention.”

Duke clicked his tongue and shook his head.

Being strong alone wasn’t enough to survive long as the head of House Draker.

The man before him had held the position of family head longer than any other in Draker history.

Though he was overly calculating, that’s exactly how he managed to handle so many enemies.

Duke finished his whiskey and stood up.

“I won’t see you out. Take care of yourself.”

Immediately after, Duke’s form vanished.

Left alone, Arthur Draker took a sip of whiskey and suddenly turned to look somewhere.

‘’I felt something. Was it my imagination?’’

Arthur hadn’t thought there could be a being capable of deceiving his senses.

* * *

‘’An Elder Dragon’s relic?’’

After meeting Arthur Draker, Zeke left the principal’s office but lingered near the main building.

Once outside, he eavesdropped on Arthur Draker and Duke’s conversation using his soul technique ‘Listen.’

A sharp ringing sound filled his ears.

As Zeke dispelled the Listen skill, he felt intense dizziness.

Though he could use soul skills after absorbing Bahamut’s heart, the side effects hadn’t completely disappeared.

Zeke closed his eyes and waited for the dizziness to pass before he could barely steady himself.

Soul technique used the power of the soul rather than aura, making it possible to eavesdrop on the two Black Knights’ conversation.

Heading back to the Platinum Floor, Zeke reviewed Arthur and Duke’s conversation.

Knowing the future, Zeke understood better than anyone how cold and calculating Arthur Draker was.

He wasn’t a naive thirteen-year-old anymore.

Having been through thick and thin, Zeke wasn’t innocent enough to be fooled by momentary kindness.

Suspecting the family head had ulterior motives, he secretly listened to the conversation with Duke.

Zeke pondered the words ‘Elder Dragon’s relic’ and ‘Ice Mountains’ that Arthur mentioned.

It seemed to refer to the black dragon statue he had brought before his death.

The issue was that Zeke discovered that relic in the Ice Mountains 19 years from now.

He hadn’t known the Emperor of the Roman Empire was searching for it since this time.

Zeke recalled when he found the relic before his regression.

‘’Even the Draker family head would find it impossible to locate where that relic is hidden.’’

Even Zeke himself only found it through an incredible series of coincidences.

Thinking about the circumstances, he understood why the Emperor hadn’t found the relic for over 19 years.

Zeke briefly thought and opened his status window to read his title.

[One Blessed by the Great Dragon]

It was certain that the relic he discovered was connected to beings called Elder Dragons.

However, he couldn’t understand the connection between this system he saw and the Emperor’s desired immortality.

It seemed the Emperor of Rom was on a wild goose chase.

‘’At least I’ve gained a clue about the relic’s identity.’’

Leaving the main building, Zeke mulled over Arthur Draker’s words.

The family head had called him trash who couldn’t even awaken aura.

Zeke clenched his fist.

Fear and tension toward Arthur Draker were gone.

He renewed his resolve to become the strongest, using House Draker as a stepping stone to put the entire continent under his feet.

He aimed to become the absolute ruler of not just the Central Continent, but also the Northern, Southern, and Eastern Continents.

‘I’ll make both the Draker family head and the Emperor kneel before me.’

* * *

After Family Head Arthur Draker’s visit, the Academy became busy with other matters.

The semester evaluation period was approaching.

As an educational institution created by Draker based on fierce competition, the Academy was filled with evaluations both big and small.

Among them, semester evaluations held the most important weight for advancement.

Without excellent performance here, advancing to Valhalla was impossible.

While graduating from the Academy alone earned good treatment in most kingdoms, it couldn’t compare to Valhalla graduates.

Just entering Valhalla practically guaranteed success.

The special class students who had an advantage in entering Valhalla were also busy preparing for their semester evaluations.

Those who received family sponsorship also received private tutoring from their family’s knights.

This was why Reina suggested family sponsorship to Zeke.

It was easier to manage grades and exceed Valhalla’s admission cutline when receiving tutoring from experienced knights who could help prepare according to the semester evaluation criteria.

However, this wasn’t much of an issue for Zeke.

“Damn evaluation exam. I know everything but it’s annoying to take it again.”

Zeke, who hadn’t awakened his Aura, was persistently harassed by the instructors.

The instructors deliberately gave Zeke, who had failed, more difficult additional tests to put mental pressure on him.

Since he was a direct descendant of the Drakers, they couldn’t expel him immediately, so they were sending signals for him to withdraw voluntarily through such pressure.

However, even while being bullied by students and instructors, Zeke endured until the end without withdrawing.

Nevertheless, in the end, Howard, the principal, personally stepped in to expel him from the academy.

Zeke gritted his teeth thinking about that time.

“This time, it absolutely won’t end up like that.”

Inside a private training room, Zeke gripped a practice claymore, tirelessly refining his swordsmanship.

The swordsmanship he was practicing was the Basic Dragon Slaying Technique consisting of eight forms.

The Basic Dragon Slaying Technique, which he had consistently practiced since his previous life, was the swordsmanship Zeke had trained in the longest.

While performing the Dragon Slaying Technique, he raised mana and overlaid soul energy.

Whoosh!

Mana containing the will of ‘Cut’ was overlaid on the sword.

Zeke then performed the First Form, First Cut – Sky Slash of the Dragon Slaying Technique.

Whoosh!

The moment he performed the Dragon Slaying Technique, the mana overlaid on the sword scattered.

Zeke looked down at his sword.

“Still doesn’t work.”

He tried testing if the Dragon Slaying Technique, which needed to be performed using Aura, was possible with mana, but it wasn’t.

The mana energy imbued in the sword scattered before he could properly perform the Dragon Slaying Technique.

Zeke overlaid the will of cutting again while holding the sword.

Whoosh!

When he performed a normal horizontal slash instead of the Dragon Slaying Technique, the mana didn’t scatter.

Zeke lowered his sword and sighed.

Although he had received soul energy training from his master whom he met in the forbidden Forgotten Forest, Zeke, who broke his oath and left the restricted area midway, hadn’t properly learned all the techniques.

As a result, because he only knew incomplete soul energy techniques, there were limitations to performing high-level swordsmanship without the sun sword Gram, that converts mana to Aura.

The problem was the semester evaluation.

For Zeke, who couldn’t use Aura, to take the evaluation, he needed Gelion’s sword, but after several months, there was still no news.

In the current situation, it was obvious he would fail just like before his regression if he took the evaluation.

However, he needed to go to Valhalla to open the secure archive of Terakan Draker.

Because it was a place forbidden to outsiders, the only way to enter was to be admitted.

“One hurdle after another.”

Zeke gave up on trying to perform the Dragon Slaying Technique with soul energy and devoted himself to sword training again.

Zeke, who had grasped the basic principles of the Wind Storm technique, had already attained the skill level of a Purple Knight.

Since Zeke had already reached the rank of a Red Knight in his previous life, his efforts to regain his previous level as quickly as possible had borne fruit.

After finishing training and returning to the floor, Decker approached Zeke.

“Young master. A fellow student has come to visit you.”

Since Zeke had no friends at the academy, there shouldn’t be anyone who could be called a fellow student.

When he went to the reception room wondering, an unexpected person was waiting for Zeke.

“Liam Stone.”

Liam Stone, the future Mercenary King, stood up from his seat with a stiff, tense posture.

Then he immediately approached Zeke and knelt before him.

Zeke spoke while looking at Liam.

“What is this about?”

Liam raised his head and said to Zeke.

“Please accept me.”

Zeke was taken aback by the unexpected words.

“Accept you? What do you mean?”

“If you will take me in, I will dedicate my complete loyalty.”

“Huh, are you saying you want to become my subordinate?”

“I wish to serve you as my lord.”

It was absurd to hear talk of loyalty and lords from someone who was only thirteen years old.

Zeke spoke while looking at Liam.

“Do you even know what it means to pledge loyalty?”

“I understand what you’re concerned about. Though distant, I too am of Draker bloodline . I fully understand the weight of a loyalty pledge.”

Zeke criticized his past self who had lectured Liam Stone like an old man.

He hadn’t expected that Liam would come to him to pledge loyalty.

“Is it because of Leon’s group? If there were continued unjust acts of violence after that…”

“It’s not because of an idiot like Leon Conrad. If they hit me, I take the hit. If they insult me, I endure it.”

“Then there would be no need to act like this with me.”

“I want to go to Valhalla.”

In his previous life, Liam couldn’t go to Valhalla.

This was because Jacken Valdek, who had him, didn’t watch his back.

In terms of skill alone, there was no reason Liam couldn’t go to Valhalla.

He had enough ability to break through the Red Knight’s wall by himself without anyone else’s help.

“You must know my evaluation from the academy well. It’s nonsense that you want to make a loyalty oath to me to go to Valhalla. Do you have something in mind?”

“It’s my intuition.”

“Intuition? You’re going to make a loyalty oath to me based on such an uncertain feeling?”

“I’ve always had good intuition. When I was with Jacken Valdek, I wasn’t satisfied, but I felt like there would be something to gain if I stayed with him.”

“But that intuition was wrong. Are you sure your intuition is good?”

“If it hadn’t been for the battle with Sir Zeke, Jacken wouldn’t have abandoned me.”

Jacken pretended to be generous, but he was the most petty among the cousins.

This was evident in how he immediately cast out Liam after his defeat to Zeke in Pankration.

He repeatedly pondered while looking at Liam kneeling before him.

‘’Should I accept this guy.’’

Zeke had several secrets that he couldn’t reveal to others.

If his secrets leaked out before properly building up his strength, he could die without anyone knowing.

Having experienced the harsh waves of life, Zeke was justified in thinking this way.

That’s when Liam spoke while looking at Zeke.

“If you tell me to become mute, I’ll become mute. If you tell me to become blind, I’ll become blind. If you tell me to become deaf, I’ll become deaf. Please just take me in.”

Zeke sensed some desperation from Liam.

It didn’t seem likely that the proud mercenary king would cling to him like this based on intuition alone.

He opened his mouth towards Liam.

“Stand up.”

Liam looked at Zeke with a start.

Zeke spoke again.

“I said stand up.”

Liam jumped to his feet.

“Follow me.”

Zeke took Liam to the training room.

Then he handed him a sword.

“If you can withstand my attack, I’ll accept you.”

Liam was surprised at those words.

“You mean I just need to endure it?”

Liam had awakened his aura and created his lower diantan with outstanding talent.

He had heard that Zeke received individual training from a high-ranking knight, but being the same age, he didn’t think there would be such a big difference.

Zeke said nothing more and picked up the claymore.

Then he used the dragon race skill ‘Dragon’s Dignity’.

Saaaaaaaaak!

Liam almost dropped his sword from the pressing pressure throughout his body and the killing intent piercing his lungs.

He barely held onto his sword and gritted his teeth to resist the pressing energy.

That’s when Zeke stepped forward holding his sword.

Whoosh!

A high-speed movement skill mixed with wind energy principles unfolded.

Simultaneously, a sword imbued with heavy energy fell towards Liam’s crown.

Liam forcibly moved his stiffened muscles to raise his sword to block Zeke’s sword.

Clang!

But the moment it clashed with Zeke’s sword, Liam couldn’t overcome the pressure and ended up dropping his sword.

At the same time, the energy pressing down on him disappeared.

“Huff, huff…”

With his palms completely torn from the momentary clash, Liam breathed heavily while covered in cold sweat.

Liam trembled in fear as he looked at Zeke standing before him.

Even though he hadn’t used aura, there was an insurmountable wall between him and himself.

That’s when Zeke spoke to Liam.

“Pathetic.”