Principal's Interview

Angers's office looked like an old garage hidden behind shrubbery from the outside, but pushing open the door felt like stepping into an upside-down maze of bookshelves.

The midsummer morning sunlight streamed through spotless frosted skylights, falling over bone china teacups, oil paintings, and ancient books stacked to the ceiling, creating an atmosphere both antiquated and keen-edged.

Li Lin and Xia Mi sat upright, while the legendary dragon slayer before them ground coffee beans.

Fine powder was slowly crushed in the grinder, and a rich aroma spread through the air.

"I assume you two have already had breakfast. Considering the course schedule that has left so many professors in awe, perhaps a cup of coffee would make you feel more comfortable right now?"

Angers expertly tamped down the coffee grounds and placed them in the coffeepot, saying apologetically, "Most of the beans in my office collection were nearly drunk dry by the previous class of students. This month, all that remains is some Emerald Geisha gifted by old friends."

At that, Xia Mi immediately pulled out her phone and searched up the price. Then she let out a startled "Wow!" "Two thousand yuan per kilogram!"

Smiling, Angers poured the steaming coffee into bone china cups and gently handed them to Li Lin and Xia Mi.

"Coffee is the most ordinary consumable in office culture, so there is no need to place too much importance on the price."

It was clear that Angers did not particularly enjoy coffee. Its heavy, intense, bitter, decadent flavor obviously did not suit this elderly man, whose bearing was as elegant and flamboyant as an aristocrat's.

Li Lin lifted his cup and took a small sip. It was too hot, so he calmly set the expensive bone china cup back down.

Xia Mi glanced at Li Lin's reaction and wisely did not take a sip.

Angers watched the little gestures between the young man and woman, then opened a drawer, found two contracts, and placed them on the desk.

"Regarding the special qualification exam scheduled for next week, quite a few objections were raised within the Board of Trustees some time ago. There are always stubborn conservatives who believe you might suddenly turn into Dead Servants in the examination room and endanger their heirs living on campus."

"I trust that after this brief period of campus life, along with the reminders from your preparatory class teachers, you should already understand what makes you special?"

Li Lin and Xia Mi exchanged a glance, then nodded in unison.

Before their bloodlines awakened, Mixed-Bloods naturally displayed learning efficiency and physical fitness far beyond ordinary people. But for sixteen-year-old preparatory students whose bloodlines had yet to awaken to demonstrate combat abilities that even veteran martial arts masters found inferior to their own, anyone would suspect their bloodlines were headed in a troubling direction.

If they had merely mastered the secrets of various martial arts, it could still vaguely be explained away as "exceptional talent."

But the displays in those combat videos—shattering floors with kicks and snapping carbon-fiber blades barehanded—were simply too shocking.

Technique alone could not achieve that. They needed exceptionally superior bloodlines as the foundation for such physical strength.

It was all Xia Mi's fault. She always loved showing off her martial arts in front of the cameras.

Li Lin repeatedly shot glares at the childhood friend beside him.

Xia Mi awkwardly lowered her head.

Although this girl had once shattered a stack of tiles taller than she was with a single slap, Xia Mi was not the person the Board of Trustees truly feared.

It was Li Lin, who had shown no reaction to the audio clip of "Word Spirit: Emperor."

If nearly all of Li Lin's Dragon Race genes were recessive, and he had already displayed such outstanding talent before awakening his bloodline, could he still be called human after it awakened?

Even Angers had no definite answer to that question.

But he was willing to believe that Li Lin was the one and only "The One" in this world. The judgment of a Mixed-Blood's rank had never depended on the proportion of dragon bloodline, but on the quantity of "effective genes," as well as one's restraint and control over power.

Angers had dealt with dragons for far too long. He had seen countless young people stray down the wrong path and become Dead Servants after losing control. He had seen the heaps of corpses before the steps leading to the "Hybrid Monarch."

Li Lin gave him an entirely different feeling.

This young man truly possessed mastery over the power within his body and firmly recognized himself as human.

That was rare, because most Mixed-Bloods gradually lost themselves in the superiority of their bloodlines, slowly coming to believe they had become a new "Dragon Race."

Although Li Lin himself often seemed surprised by his own "progress" and "growth," he had already integrated those inexplicably acquired powers and skills into himself.

Like an iron box: no matter how much a balloon inside it expanded, it could never exceed the control of humanity.

Angers pushed the two contracts forward.

"You would have had to sign these sooner or later. They have merely appeared one semester early."

"These are...?"

"If anything happens to either of you from now on, the school will be responsible for returning your bodies home intact."

"Wow, how humane." Xia Mi pursed her lips and gave a perfunctory round of applause.

"After all, from the second semester of your freshman year until graduation, you will be exposed to the 'Battlefield Practicum.' By then, you will encounter Dead Servants—and even real dragons—that previously existed only in textbooks and training videos."

Angers handed over another fountain pen for Xia Mi and Li Lin to share.

"Incidentally, if either of you is contaminated by Dragon Blood on the battlefield in the future and turns into a Dead Servant... then only ashes will be sent back home."

After saying that, he raised his own bone china cup and took a sip of coffee.

"I will personally proctor your 3E Exam. Given Li Lin's special circumstances, the preparatory class has been keeping you from hearing too many clips of 'Word Spirit: Emperor.' Because of that, a faction within the Board of Trustees has always believed that you might receive excessive stimulation in the examination room and transform into a Dead Servant."

Then what would you do if I listened to the entire recording this time and still had no reaction?

Li Lin grumbled inwardly, but then he felt that would not be so bad either. He had recently dug up quite a bit of information on the forums and confirmed that even a First-Generation Species would be unable to resist writing a few lines of dragon script to express its feelings after hearing the dragon language played during the 3E Exam.

Moreover, he had learned that Kassel was actually quite willing to accept ordinary people with no dragon bloodline or only thin bloodlines, provided they possessed exceptional skills.

If the Binding System truly was not as omnipotent as he had imagined and could not purify his bloodline, perhaps Cassel College would instead create an entirely new bloodline rank for him?

More likely, he would become the school's second "E-rank" student after Fingel.

Angers carefully put away the contracts Li Lin and Xia Mi had signed. He had called this pair of preparatory students over only because he wanted to personally confirm his own judgment.

There was no need to examine Xia Mi further. Her bloodline was stable, her talent exceptional; she was a dragon-slaying prospect found once in ten thousand.

Li Lin had been the one troubling Angers all along. His bloodline rank was uncertain, yet the talent he displayed was no less than Xia Mi's. Now that Angers had seen him in person, he felt that he had made the right bet.