"If it doesn't acknowledge you, are you just going to stop living?"
"Father..."
"Learn from your younger brother. His talent was inferior to yours from childhood. Things you and Rowena could accomplish easily required Russell to train day and night. He didn't even awaken his Battle Qi Seed until just days before his coming-of-age ceremony!"
In the study of the tower, Baron Roman was counseling his heir, Roland, eldest son of the Fluorite Mushroom Family.
When speaking of Russell's achievements, he sighed endlessly. "I used to think talent determined a person's worth, but your brother changed my mind through hard work. He changed his fate with sweat and won the dragon's attention!"
"He's always so lucky..." Roland muttered softly.
Baron Roman immediately shot him a glare. "That isn't luck. That's strength earned through hard work. Russell never fantasized about riding dragons. He cultivated Battle Aura with determination, contracted Phantom Beasts whenever he had the chance, then fought hard to earn merit and establish himself. That was what gave him the opportunity to ride a dragon!"
"Yes." Roland had no choice but to admit it.
Baron Roman continued, "So stop clinging to unrealistic fantasies. Pick a Phantom Beast from Phantom Beast Paradise in Red Keep and buy it. Contract one as soon as possible."
"Father, I still want to try again!"
"Try my ass!" Baron Roman rarely cursed. "You're just like that dead Kunstan of yours—unrealistic, dreaming all day long! You won't even contract a Phantom Beast, yet all you think about is riding dragons! Why the hell would a dragon acknowledge either of you!"
Roland did not dare argue.
But inwardly, he grumbled that it had been Baron Roman himself who told him not to think about contracting a Phantom Beast so early, saying he should use his "virgin status"