Two young men walked leisurely side by side, their small dragons perched on their shoulders appearing to be more familiar with each other than their quiet masters. They stopped in front of a designated room, and Teshia was the first to push the door open.

    Creak... Whoosh!!

    Their icy blue and silver eyes surveyed everyone inside the room coolly—from their drenched classmates, victims of a small prank by the seniors who had rigged a bucket of water above the door, to the seniors themselves, who wore expressions of disappointment that the newest arrivals had agilely dodged the water ambush.

    "Brr... It's so cold," grumbled one voice, drawing the blue eyes to its source—Kyre, the troublemaker warrior, stood shivering at the forefront, his dragon Fera flapping its wings to shake off the water. It was clear he had arrived just before Teshia since the other early comers had already used magic to dry their clothes.

    The Twilight Knight glared at the seniors with its fiery red eyes, annoyed that the water had nearly hit his young master.

    "Alright, everyone's here, let's start then," declared Senior Ena, prompting all the seniors to gather around the freshmen and join hands. As their eyes closed, a resounding chant echoed,

    "Dragon is One!!!"

    Flash... The light vanished, and although everyone was still there, the setting had completely changed from a room to a sparse forest under a bright moon in a pitch-black sky. The blue eyes, including everyone’s, looked around apprehensively, their small dragons scanning cautiously, guarding their masters.

    "Alright, everyone, listen up before we begin," Senior Raph broke the silence.

    "Your task is to find a way out of this forest, all of you together." Blue eyes narrowed, knowing well it wasn’t going to be that simple.

    "No dragons, no vanishing spells, no levitation here—seniors have sealed off those powers," the senior added, earning frustrated looks from the freshmen. Their magical dampening meant no one could simply fly away to escape.

    "Good luck, and remember, Dragon is One..." were Senior Frank's last words before the seniors vanished from sight.

    Left alone in the middle of the forest, the freshmen exchanged wary glances, hesitant to make decisions and reluctant to trust each other. Coming from various backgrounds, it was no surprise they lacked trust in one another.

    The beautiful blue eyes looked up at the night sky, a sardonic smile spreading across his face. He was one who didn't trust easily and relied on no one's power but his own. Teshia flicked his hand out to the side of his body, summoning a hidden dagger.

    "What are you going to do?" A cold voice asked from beside him, the narrowing silver eyes scrutinizing him.

    "Testing the energy barrier," responded with a flat tone, accompanied by raising the dagger and swiftly hurling it into the night sky before the questioner could react.

    Crack! Crack! Crack!!

    However, the dagger was blocked by the energy barrier created by the collective will of the seniors. The force of the dagger's collision with the barrier expanded the energy field, making it palpable to everyone around. Ultimately...

    Whoosh... Thud!!

    The immense force rebounded the dagger back to its owner. The blade of the dagger plunged into the ground right in front of the sweet-faced young man, burying its hilt in the dirt. Teshia stooped to retrieve the dagger and shook his head.

    The power of the seniors, who had forged this barrier, didn't concern him in the least. He could break through the energy barrier and leave at any moment, but Teshia chose not to because he understood that this freshman reception wasn't just for the seniors' amusement; it was meant for everyone here to learn about each other.

    Well... although he believed he wouldn't end up trusting anyone here, for now, he decided to go with the flow.

    "What should we do now?" a young man asked. He was Crowne Feder, a wizard from Lake, his eyes looking up at the sky before turning back to his peers.

    "Be a man and stop whining," a sweet voice of the young woman chimed in. Beautiful golden eyes contrasting with her orange hair, she was Delene Caden, a sorceress from Feris.

    After assessing the two, the blue-eyed gaze moved to the other two women. The first was self-assured and robust, her dark brown eyes revealing a trace of dissatisfaction, her light brown hair neatly tied back.

    The last lady, pretty and tender-looking, matched well with her dark blue hair, her sea-like eyes reminiscent of Kyre's.

    "And what about the women? What are they doing?" another male voice teased, grating on the nerves. This was Bas Seya, a warrior from Kezen.

    Kyre watched the unfolding scene with amusement, like Fok who perched on Teshia's shoulder. In truth, each friend here wasn’t concerned as he imagined. Being capable of enrolling at Seteria School meant they all had skills, but no one wanted to show their hand yet due to mistrust.

    Whoosh... The sound of the dagger cutting through the air resonated, swiftly passing between the arguing pair so fast that both could only widen their eyes in shock. It was so fast that they couldn't even see it, feeling only the gust of wind it left on their faces.

    "Deafening," the icy voice cold enough to freeze commented. Teshia disliked those annoying sounds because they did nothing to improve the current situation. Since no one seemed willing to offer a practical solution, it seemed they would all have to rely on themselves. Although Teshia would listen to whatever everyone suggested, whether he followed it was another matter entirely.

    "Fok, revert to your true form," the young man commanded his dragon, the Twilight Knight, who responded with a roar before it returned to its original large size.

    “Fayse, revert to your true form,” the prince beside him similarly commanded his ice dragon. Once both dragons had returned to their original sizes, their owners immediately leaped onto their backs.

    “Ascend,” both commanded in unison, prompting the dragons to swiftly comply.

    “Why are you imitating me?” Teshia asked irritably. He had commanded his dragon to fly because he was still pondering the seniors’ earlier statement. The dagger he had thrown earlier had traveled far before being stopped by the energy barrier, indicating a gap between the ground and the barrier—suggesting that flying with a dragon might still be possible.

    "I should be the one asking you that," came the cool retort almost instantly.

    "Teshia, you can’t use a dragon to fly, remember?" Kyre shouted, recalling the seniors' words.

    "Look," the young man turned back and commanded irritably, as both dragons almost cleared the forest, leaving their friends baffled. Why wasn’t the energy barrier working?

    Teshia looked up, feeling the energy barrier just within reach. He flicked his wrist and the dagger was swiftly drawn. He grasped the dagger and thrust it towards the barrier.

    Crack! Crack! Crack!!

    The sound of the barrier activating was familiar as it precisely pinpointed the barrier's location. The young man quickly withdrew his hand, but it was too late.

    Whoosh... The barrier’s force retaliated against Teshia instantly. His slender body was flung from the back of Fok at high speed, plummeting dangerously amid the wide-eyed stares of his friends preparing spells to catch his falling body. Fok screamed loudly before diving down closely after its young master. Teshia eyed the ground ahead—falling there meant only one thing: no chance of survival!!

    The young man extended his right hand to cast a spell to save his own life.

    Even though his friends were already casting spells to save him, he trusted no one completely. However, before he could utter any spell,

    Thud... Teshia found his slender figure caught in the arms of someone. The icy silver eyes of his rescuer betrayed a hint of confusion at their own actions, while the blue eyes showed surprise at the actions of the man on the ice dragon.

    Everyone stood stunned, not expecting the usually cold-hearted Prince of Sivia to readily reach out to help someone, especially someone who was both a rival and antagonist.

    The scene would surely look adorable if it involved a man and a woman instead of two men. Struggling to free himself from the tall figure, Teshia, once standing on Fayse again, quickly leaped onto the back of the Twilight Knight. His blue eyes were impassive, although his face flushed slightly. He shook off the thoughts and turned his attention to the situation at hand.

    "It's too dangerous to fly over the treetops," the blue-haired young man informed everyone after having precisely identified the seniors' power barrier's location.

    "Then we only have walking left," a brown-haired woman commented anxiously, eyeing the dark forest.

    "No, we will use the dragons," Teshia stated flatly, his beautiful eyes scanning the forest around them.

    "You find the way out," Teshia instantly handed the responsibility to Seius. The icy silver eyes briefly showed displeasure before fading. The regal bearing of a warrior king evident in his posture as he stood on Fayse, the prince closed his eyes and spoke powerfully.

    "Winds and earth, heed my call. Find the way out of this thicket and lead the way!!” As if obeying the command, the ground trembled while the wind intensified in response to the magic wielder’s power and desire. Soon after, the trembling earth calmed, and the once gusty wind turned into a mere gentle breeze.

    “That is the only way out of the forest,” a cool voice stated after receiving all the necessary information from the earth and the winds.

    “We must pass through a cave,” Seius added, furrowing his brows due to an ominous premonition.

    “Who here isn’t skilled at controlling dragons in the forest?” the young man with sweet features asked, his blue eyes scanning everyone. No one raised their hand, seeing which, the blue-haired young man leaped onto his own dragon.

    "Suit yourself. If you’re riding alone, make your dragons full-sized," everyone hurriedly complied with Teshia’s command. Once ready, Fok spread its wings and soared forward swiftly, leaving those behind staring in astonishment.

    How could he be that skilled?!!

    But before they could finish their thought, someone else's dragon also surged forward with equal speed, compelling those left behind to quickly mount their dragons and follow, thinking to themselves: those guys are beyond human!!

    Navigating through the dark and almost indiscernible forest proved a challenge, yet the prince riding the ice dragon led without difficulty. Apart from being unaffected by the darkness, the densely packed trees also did not slow down the ice dragon's speed.

    The real challenge fell to the friends following behind. In addition to dodging trees, they also had to keep up with the ice dragon's extreme speed, although this evidently didn’t include the person riding next to Seius at the moment.

    "Prince, when will we reach the cave?" a calm but irritating voice in the prince's mind asked. The blue eyes remained focused forward.

    "Not far," the cool voice responded, cutting off any argument since he was not in the mood to bicker with the person riding the Twilight Knight next to him.

    Screech... The cry of the last dragon in line caused the blue and silver eyes to meet. Teshia sighed before commanding Fok to slow down and go back because he knew he was the only one who could do it while Seius still needed to lead.

    "What’s the matter?" the young man asked in a calm voice, his blue eyes remained indifferent as the Twilight Knight steadily decreased its speed to match pace with the Forest Dragon that had cried out earlier.

    "Dem's just tired, that's all," the young man with purple hair replied politely. His eyes, the same shade as his hair, looked at his dragon with concern. The Forest Dragon was not particularly adept at flying fast and pushing it to its limits for so long was nearing its endurance.

    "Then come onto Fok," the flat-toned voice suggested quickly, not wanting to waste time.

    "Thanks for the trouble," the young man said, jumping onto Fok. He didn’t push his own dragon further, knowing its limits well. What was most important was that he didn’t want this initiation to drag on. The Forest Dragon shrank to a smaller size and hurriedly flew to perch on its owner’s shoulder.

    "I am Ken Kiya, a priest of Feris," the person behind introduced himself politely. It would be rather rude not to introduce oneself after riding a dragon with someone else. He wasn't sure if the sweet-faced young man wanted to know his name, but they would be studying together for a long time, so it was better to be friendly.

    The blue-haired young man nodded in response. Feris is known as a land of priests, but not everyone there is a priest. Take Kyre, for example; he's from Feris but is a warrior. It’s just well-known for its priests.

    "Hold on tight," the cool voice commanded before pushing Fok to surge forward at an extraordinary speed.

    "You're going too fast, Mr. Teshia!" Ken called out, struggling against the wind. Unfortunately, his dragon wasn’t used to such speed.

    "Hold on tight, I'm going to catch up to the one in front!!" The flat voice responded. The cool blue eyes swept around, scanning the surroundings. The area ahead looked like a steep cliff, leading up to a high mountain filled with rocks. The blue-haired young man watched as the ice dragon led all the other dragons closer to the cave. The sound of their wings echoed intermittently.

    Boom... Just then, a blast sounded from above, startling every creature in the sky and causing a loud outcry, but Teshia still commanded Fok to keep flying.

    Rumble... Twang! Twang! Twang!!

    The giant rock at the top of the cave started to wobble before it began rolling down the steep path towards all the dragons nearby.

    "Watch out, Delene!" Bas shouted loudly when he saw the trajectory of the rock was headed straight for the young woman.

    "Ken, hold on tight," Teshia turned to instruct his rear companion, as Fok increased its speed even further, leaving the young man and the Forest Dragon behind, both gaping in shock. But what was truly surprising was the figure commanding the lead, standing fearlessly. One hand stretched forward.

    "Ascend now! Sky-Soaring Dragon!" A white light shot from the young man's hand, morphing into a wingless, long serpentine dragon. The dragon opened its mouth wide and roared loudly as it collided with the giant rock, shattering it into pieces.

    Seius, witnessing the entire scene, relaxed the power in his hand when everything seemed to calm down. If Teshia hadn't acted, he would have had to.

    "Thanks for helping," Delene said after she and her dragon narrowly escaped being crushed by the rock.

    "I didn't help you," the young man replied coldly.

    "But if you were missing, the initiation wouldn't pass," he concluded, and the Twilight Knight soared past Delene’s dragon of light without caring how his words might affect the listener and the friends who overheard.

    "Hurry, we're almost there," the voice of Keven Zela, the wizard of Neya, urged the others and sped up his sky dragon to catch up to the ice dragon and the Twilight Knight who had entered the cave ahead.