Avatar

"So, in summary, we cannot kill a prepared Dragon King. Those First-Generation Species can always be reborn from cocoons hidden in advance. But that also reveals the only way to truly kill them: destroy their cocoons, or cut off their heads before they can form one."

"Unfortunately, immortality and reincarnation both come at a price. Their souls and bodies cannot be fully synchronized the moment they emerge from their cocoons. Before their strength and memories return, First-Generation Species will 'grow' an entirely new self, indistinguishable from an ordinary person in every way. That is why we have never found a definitive opportunity to kill a First-Generation Species."

"Perhaps they are living in some town near Chicago right now, living among us..."

"..."

The old man strolled along the aisle of the semicircular lecture hall, the lights reflected in his pupils like burning torches.

As the class neared its end, the dragon slayer who had lectured on history for a full hour suddenly shed an educator's mildness and revealed to the students the bloodiness seeping through the lines of their textbooks.

No matter how relaxed and peaceful Cassel College might seem, no matter what major they chose, every young person graduating from here would eventually step onto the battlefield against dragons.

Angers glanced down at the pocket watch he shook out from his sleeve, then returned to the podium and used the textbook on the desk to tap the blackboard.

"Class dismissed."

As his words fell, the bell rang from the loudspeakers at just the right moment.

A scattered rustle immediately rose around the room as students began packing their bags for the break.

Li Lin had intended to leave as well, but the moment he stood up, Xia Mi tugged at the hem of his clothes.

"Hey, Word Spiritology for third-years starts here in fifteen minutes. Where are you planning to go?"

Xia Mi looked at Li Lin with a mischievous, almost wicked smile.

Having actually listened through an entire class for once, Li Lin only now belatedly remembered that he had signed up for the exact same schedule as Xia Mi...

To torment people, Xia Mi had packed her timetable with nothing but eight-in-the-morning classes, deliberately choosing courses from different years whose times overlapped.

Li Lin sat back down with a dark expression. The manga he had just bought had gone unread last class anyway; at worst, he could keep reading it this period.

So he put Dragon Family Genealogy back in his bag, then pulled out an equally thick copy of Word Spiritology and propped it in front of the manga.

But after opening Word Spiritology and pretending to pay attention, Li Lin suddenly hesitated. Seeing the passage that said, "Most First-Generation Species, as descendants of the Black King, can freely control the four basic elements," gave him a powerful sense of déjà vu.

Th-this was the Avatar King, wasn't it?!

Although Li Lin had been born blind in his previous life, he had not only heard the stories of Avatar since childhood, but had also accompanied the current Avatar in the war against the Fire Nation.

Legend had it that every so often, an Avatar born with mastery over all four bending arts would appear in the world.

Just as First-Generation Species among dragons could achieve rebirth through reincarnation by forming cocoons.

Avatar also underwent reincarnation again and again. Each generation of Avatar could inherit every bending technique and all combat experience from all their past lives.

Li Lin suddenly remembered that he, too, was reincarnated, though he was merely an ordinary human with barely any dragon blood.

Then was it possible that, from this moment on, he was the first-generation Avatar of this world...

He quickly dismissed that bizarre daydream.

This world did not have a convenient concept like bending.

Though abilities to control elements did exist, they were entirely achieved through Word Spirits or Alchemy.

Li Lin thought that if he really awakened a Word Spirit capable of controlling every element within a domain during the exam, he would probably be mistaken for an awakened Dragon King and hunted down by the whole school within a minute.

But the strength of whatever Word Spirit he awakened in the future seemed to depend on Xia Mi's performance.

Remembering the mysterious Dragon-Slaying Binding System, he turned to look at Xia Mi.

"Xia Mi, next Monday is the 3E Exam."

"Mm-hmm?"

"Whatever you do, don't awaken some especially broken Word Spirit."

"Such as?"

"Something that creates a domain and directly controls all four basic elements."

The moment he finished speaking, Xia Mi slapped Li Lin across the back.

"Hey! Don't tell me that after hearing that lecherous old man's lecture, you've started suspecting I'm a dragon disguised as a Mixed-Blood?!"

"So Mixed-Bloods can't awaken that kind of power?"

"Of course not. That's the privilege of monarchs! Even normal Second-Generation Species can't possess that kind of power!"

Xia Mi smugly showed off the results of her "advance studying," making Li Lin want to tease her.

"It's fine. I could tell at a glance that you weren't human."

"Of course. This young lady is as beautiful as a demon."

Xia Mi did not take the bait, casually adapting a line from The Legend of the White Snake.

Then she changed the subject and looked at Li Lin with a cheerful smile.

"If I really were a First-Generation Species or Second-Generation Species disguised as a human, you wouldn't have made it out of the school gates ten years ago."

Not necessarily. Li Lin noticed a system pop-up in the corner of his vision.

[Your understanding of Dragon Family Genealogy has increased slightly.]

After considering it, he spoke in a sincere tone.

"Actually... it would be fine if you were a dragon."

"You just can't let this topic go, can you?! Fine, just wait for death. If I really am a dragon, the moment my identity is exposed, you'll be the first one I kill!"

Seeing that Xia Mi seemed a little angry, Li Lin swiftly turned away and began flipping through his book as if nothing had happened.

Xia Mi's little temper had always come quickly and gone even faster. Before the class bell even rang, she leaned close to Li Lin and whispered to him.

"Don't say things like that carelessly in the future. You know Cassel College is backed by the Secret Party, and they're extremely sensitive about these subjects."

"I get it. You're afraid of being tortured into confessing."

"Exactly, exactly... Wherever there are people, there are factions. Besides, Europe made quite a fuss over that 'great witch hunt' in the Middle Ages. I'd say those Mixed-Blood lords are all blue-blooded aristocrats through and through. Who knows, they might have inherited their ancestors' fine traditions."

By now, some third-year students had taken their seats in the classroom. Though they were surprised and excited to see Li Lin and Xia Mi, with class about to begin and graduation pressure weighing on them, the upperclassmen did not eagerly swarm over.

Suddenly, a gray-haired old man returned to the classroom and beckoned to the two preparatory-class students in the back row.

"Li Lin, Xia Mi, I suggest you skip this class and come to my office to discuss the exam."

At once, the course professor beside Angers cast him a slightly displeased look.