High-Risk Bloodline

Around noon.

The Bugatti Veyron 16C Galibier, still only at the concept car stage, drove out of the parking lot behind the student dormitories. The two-ton, four-door steel beast let out a muffled roar, seeming to tighten the air along the tree-lined road as every student they passed turned to stare at the multimillion-dollar luxury car.

Caesar coolly pressed the accelerator, one hand on the steering wheel and the other raising a wineglass of red wine to clink glasses with Li Lin, who sat in the passenger seat with a wineglass of his own.

Li Lin's glass contained sugar-free Diet Coke, delivered ten minutes earlier by an upperclasswoman from the Student Union responsible for errands, along with new pillowcases and bedding.

He looked down at the tie of his school uniform, which the fierce wind had whipped into disarray, while the wineglass in his hand remained perfectly steady, not spilling a drop of Coke.

Li Lin was, after all, a preparatory class student. He had long since grown used to the Mixed-Bloods' various bizarre and unreasonable displays.

It was only drinking and driving. With Caesar's bloodline, he probably would not even feel tipsy from that little alcohol.

Fingel, sitting in the back seat, was actually clutching a tablet, his fingers clattering across the screen as though he were locked in an intense battle on the Night Watchers Forum.

After finishing his wine, Caesar drove around the campus and eagerly began introducing the various facilities along the way to Li Lin.

For example, Odin Square, where the school held all kinds of important ceremonies and events, and Valhalla at the center of the square, where degree certificates were awarded every year.

It was clear that Caesar was most interested in the terraces of the girls' dormitories and the swimming pool at the gymnasium. His voice even brightened when he explained them, because the former offered views of young girls holding elegant, tranquil tea parties, while at the latter one could see them displaying skin fairer than frost and graceful curves in swimsuits beneath the sunlight.

Influenced by dragon bloodlines, every Mixed-Blood at Cassel College was a handsome man or beautiful woman. Toss any one of them into the outside world, and they could effortlessly outshine celebrity idols with their bare faces alone. Even Li Lin, who had received plenty of love letters in middle school, seemed somewhat ordinary by comparison.

After leaving through the passage beside Odin Square, Caesar pointed toward the principal's office in a corner of the square. It was a simple duplex building, as shabby as a garage, nestled amid the trees. As the sports car passed its entrance, Li Lin saw a sturdy old man standing on the balcony and waving at him.

"That's our principal." Caesar raised his right hand in greeting to the old man on the balcony, then said to Li Lin, "Now look at the church to the south. Our vice principal lives in the bell tower at the top."

"By the way, the principal is currently the most famous S-Rank Mixed-Blood in the college."

"The vice principal is S-Rank too." Hearing their discussion, Fingel set down his tablet and suddenly added, "Of course, the school will soon have another S-Rank."

At Fingel's unexpected words, even Caesar, who had not had time to browse the forum, looked surprised.

Then he immediately turned to look at Li Lin in the passenger seat. Remembering that Li Lin was only sixteen and had not even awakened his bloodline, he suddenly understood.

Li Lin noticed that Caesar's gaze had suddenly become incredibly fervent.

The feeling was somewhat familiar. He remembered the first time he had displayed his "rapidly improving" martial arts skills before Xia Mi in elementary school. She had worn a similar expression.

"Senior Caesar, don't tell me you want to take me on as a lackey too?"

Li Lin squeezed out the teasing remark, making Caesar laugh repeatedly from the driver's seat.

"How could it be 'lackey'? I've been thinking from the beginning about how to bring you into the Student Union. Since you've asked, I'll be direct. If you're willing to join the Student Union, then starting tomorrow, you'll be the vice president."

"Uh, I haven't taken the qualification exam yet. What if I'm not S-Rank?" Li Lin did not commit himself, because without the Dragon-Slaying Binding System, he felt that his bloodline rank might not even reach E-Rank.

"That doesn't matter. I've never doubted my own eye." Caesar did not care whether Li Lin was S-Rank or A-Rank. From analyzing the hundreds of combat videos shared by the Executive Department, Li Lin's bearing of a martial arts master and his battle-hardened aura when sparring with Xia Mi could not be faked.

Knowing clearly that Li Lin and Xia Mi were only sixteen, teachers and students across every grade at Cassel College had long been won over by the pair's talent.

Caesar had never doubted that Li Lin's bloodline might be below A-Rank.

Everyone at Cassel College believed that after completing the 3E Exam, he would be at least A-Rank, perhaps even S-Rank.

A child who had not awakened his bloodline could produce "sonic booms" with every punch in the gymnastics room. If they admitted that Li Lin's true bloodline rank was not even A-Rank, would that not amount to completely denying the bloodline theory that had run through the Mixed-Blood world for thousands of years?

But there were exceptions.

There was indeed a group at the school that suspected Li Lin's bloodline was neither A nor S, but rather represented the high risk of "instability."

Because the results of his blood tests showed that all his dragon genes were recessive, and neither Word Spirit: Emperor nor Word Spirit: Bloodline Jero could produce any reaction in him.

Yet every one of Li Lin's performances pointed to him being a Mixed-Blood with an exceptional bloodline.

So a few months earlier, a bloodline studies professor from the Executive Department had submitted a proposal to the Board of Trustees, believing that Li Lin might turn into a Dead Servant on the spot during the 3E Exam when excessive stimulation awakened his bloodline.

In the end, the principal made the decision to personally organize the exam for Li Lin and Xia Mi, thereby obtaining the Board of Trustees' approval for the process of specially admitting them.

Fingel stared at the back of Li Lin's head over the seat, unable to suppress his curiosity about what kind of Word Spirit this genius from the preparatory class would awaken.

"Li Lin, compared to your other abilities, do you have any unusual traits that you consider especially outstanding? For example, unbelievably fast running speed or reaction time, an extremely keen sense, or perhaps some affinity with fire, air currents, or liquids."

After hearing Fingel's question, Caesar even slowed the car, afraid of missing Li Lin's answer.

Li Lin was not suspicious. Teachers in the preparatory class asked him questions like that every year.

Apparently, such information could be used to roughly predict the Word Spirit one might awaken in the future.

Though many Mixed-Bloods had no similar sensations at all before awakening their bloodlines.

Li Lin included.

Before, he had always believed that he was an ordinary person, trapped in a sealed prison cell with no connection to supernatural abilities like Word Spirits.

But ever since that dream on the plane this morning...

It was as though someone had suddenly removed a board from the window. Although Li Lin was still trapped inside the cell, he could now see through the window the sights that had once belonged to him.

Like a blind man suddenly regaining the light, he could clearly sense the ever-present earth element flowing through the ground, one of the four foundations of alchemy. This was a talent he had possessed in his previous life as an Earthbending Master.