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A ring engraved with a one-time-use spell, but its power was guaranteed.

– Thunder Calling.

This spell summoned a thunderbolt from the sky, not only delivering immense destructive power but also generating a fierce shockwave.

Even if something could somehow withstand it, it was still enough to ‘paralyze’ a Sandworm.

However…

Theo had another hypothesis.

– What if I awaken the artifact’s will using [Hatchling Synchronization]?

Hatchling Synchronization awakened the essence, or ‘will’, of an object.

Just as he had experienced Ice-White Swordsmanship through Ray’s sword, Theo thought he might be able to read the will of the artifact and amplify the power of the Thunder Calling spell embedded within it.

And the result was…

‘I didn’t expect it to take down the Sandworm in a single hit.’

The Sandworm didn’t even have time to resist. Not only its head but also its entire body had been split in half.

Crackle, crackle…

The ground was scorched black, and sparks flickered incessantly before fading away.

‘Hatchling Synchronization… This is going to be really useful from now on.’

If even a one-time-use artifact could show this much power, what if he could amplify the likes of Drake’s weapons or the Moon-White Sword?

Just imagining it sent a shiver down his spine.

Amplification Technique.

He had truly received an absurd favor from the Guardian Dragon.

“M-m-m-m, impossible…!”

Orient was still staring at him, his voice trembling.

But Theo paid no attention to him, instead sifting through the charred remains of the Sandworm’s body.

Thunder Calling shouldn’t have destroyed that.

As he worried over this, he finally found the item he was searching for.

“Although it’s a bit damaged, fortunately, it should still be usable.”

What Theo found was a magic bell.

A dark blue magic bell that had been hanging around the Sandworm’s neck.

The Inquisitor had said that simply ‘retrieving’ this item would earn him points, but…

‘There was a hidden piece here, just like with the totem.’

Having a keen eye for hidden pieces concealed in various places was also one of the evaluation criteria for the Blossoming Ceremony.

Theo turned the bell over.

Dots and lines with indiscernible meaning were engraved along the inner surface of the bell.

At first glance, they seemed like ordinary patterns.

But to Theo, who had been trained in the intelligence department, they appeared entirely different.

It was a cipher—a type of code created by breaking down letters.

‘If I combine these dots and lines… they become the runes that ancient Dragonkin used.’

And when those runes were arranged in a line, they formed a sentence.

– Lightning, being the fastest and most destructive force between the sky and the earth, if mishandled, could severely damage the body…

‘Thunder Breathing Technique. Found it.’

One corner of Theo’s mouth curled up.

As the House of Ragnar boasted a tradition of over a thousand years, it possessed countless types of breathing techniques.

However, among them, the highest-ranked breathing techniques were in a class of their own.

– Elemental Affiliation Breathing Technique.

Commonly known as the Attribute Breathing Technique.

Just as ancient Dragonkin had unique attributes based on their various colors, Attribute Breathing Techniques granted a specific attribute to magic power.

Thunder.

Frost.

Flame.

Water.

Wood.

Poison.

There were a total of six attributes.

However, due to its importance, Attribute Breathing Techniques was only bestowed upon those who were either highly ranked in the direct lineage or those who had achieved remarkable feats.

But there was one unique way to acquire these Attribute Breathing Techniques.

That was through the Second Blossoming Ceremony.

‘The six Attribute Breathing Techniques have been fragmented and engraved into various magic bells. If I can decipher them, I can obtain the techniques.’

Of course, the process was designed to be anything but easy.

‘Each Attribute Breathing Technique is divided into nine segments. That alone makes 54 fragments. But they’re all scattered across different bells, and the number of segments for each varies, making it almost impossible to combine them into one.’

Even if someone acquired one segment, if the next bell contained segments from different Attribute Breathing Techniques or duplicated ones, all of it would be useless.

‘Moreover, the magic bells that contain hidden pieces only appear in creatures summoned through totems.’

It was a hidden piece within a hidden piece.

‘The one I just found is the fourth segment, right? There are a total of nine segments, so I still need to find eight more.’

It was clear that obtaining a complete Attribute Breathing Technique during the Second Blossoming Ceremony was nearly impossible.

But nearly was the key word—because it wasn’t entirely impossible.

In fact, there were individuals who had accomplished it from time to time.

‘The monsters known to be closest to the true succession rights.’

One of the most famous examples was Torkel Ragnar of the Black Iron Cavalry.

Fortunately, Theo, relying on the memories from his past life, knew exactly how to combine the cipher.

And he had already decided which Attribute Breathing Technique he wanted to acquire.

Thunder.

The Thunder Breathing Technique.

Lightning was known for its exceptional speed and power.

The breathing technique could not have been more suited for Theo, who sought to complete The Three Fangs of the Dragon.

After reciting the passages by drawing upon his spiritual essence, Theo used his magic power to completely erase the words and then looked at Ray.

“…?”

Ray tilted her head in confusion, wondering what was going on.

‘For Ray, who is already practicing a sword technique with the Ice-White attribute, this would only be a detriment.’

Theo shook his head, indicating it was nothing, and slowly made his way toward Orien.

Step, step-

The boy continued to stare at him with a dazed expression.

“Orien.”

“U-ugh…! D-don’t come near me!”

There were only eight examinees left who had survived the appearance of the Sand Worm.

However, they were all in a state where fighting again would be nearly impossible, so it was essentially as if they had retired from the competition.

Still, Theo didn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt.

After all, they hadn’t just targeted Ray, but him as well.

‘The Gathering of the Hidden Dragons… I’ll take this chance to completely wipe them out.’

He was determined to uproot them so they would never run wild again.

* * *

“Axion, where are you?”

Boom…!

The giant beast, a Giant Bear, boasted an enormous body but now lay on the ground, covered in blood.

The examinees, who had been tense and gasping for breath, finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Haah! Yes, this is it!”

“We finally got it.”

“As expected of Axion. To take down something at a 7th-tier head-on.”

“Of course. The Dark Leopard’s reputation is well-earned, after all.”

While the examinees from the Gathering of the Hidden Dragons all praised Axion in unison, he remained expressionless as he ripped the magic seed from the beast’s neck.

A green magic seed.

With this, he must have accumulated a fairly decent score by now.

‘There’s another pattern here… what could it be?’

Axion noticed a pattern engraved on the inside of the magic seed, but after a moment of curiosity, he dismissed it, thinking it was nothing important.

He didn’t have time to worry about trivial things right now.

“You bastards! How can you even call yourselves human? Are you even human!?”

At that moment, one of the captives tied up in the corner screamed in rage.

He had lost many comrades and others were injured after being ambushed by the Gathering of the Hidden Dragons, who had summoned the beasts during their rest.

And now, with Axion having destroyed their totem, they had lost their base as well.

Naturally, he was filled with hostility, but—

Smack!

Axion kicked the man in the stomach.

“Ugh…!”

“The so-called Sword of Ragnar—where do you get off blaming others just because you were too weak to handle it? Survival of the fittest, only the strong prevail. Don’t you know that?”

Axion pressed his foot down on the back of the man’s head, which was already shoved into the ground.

“People like you, who only know how to harbor hatred, need to be completely wiped out.”

There was a glint of madness in Axion’s eyes.

He looked ready to kill at any moment.

In his mind, the man beneath his foot was turning into someone else.

Theo Ragnar.

The fool who dared to claim the top spot in the First Blossoming Ceremony, not knowing his place.

He was the one Axion planned to make bow his head to the ground just like this.

After a while, Axion finally lifted his foot off the man’s head.

The man had already lost consciousness, barely hanging on to life by a thread.

“Take all these bastards away. Feed them if they listen, and if they don’t, keep beating them.”

“You mean to keep doing what we’ve been doing so far? Hehe, that’s our specialty.”

His subordinates chuckled darkly as they dragged the unconscious and trembling captives out.

With this, the number of prisoners taken by the Gathering of the Hidden Dragons had reached around thirty.

More than half of the participants in the Second Blossoming Ceremony had fallen into Axion’s hands.

– The only ones still putting up a real fight are the Ranke siblings, Wellington, and Ray? This is too easy.

– Exactly. They’ll all get caught soon enough. It’s practically guaranteed that this Second Blossoming Ceremony is the stage for our Gathering of the Hidden Dragons.

– Even the guys from the Plum Blossom Palace have learned to bend to us. Heh!

– So, who’s next on the list to beat down? I’m dying of boredom since no one’s putting up a challenge, haha!

After Axion discovered that there were magical artifacts hidden in the totems that could summon beasts, the Gathering of the Hidden Dragons shifted their focus from hunting beasts to scouting out safe zones.

Most of the safe zones had examinees resting, letting their guard down, making them easy to ambush.

By breaking the totems, they could summon beasts effortlessly, allowing them to handle beast hunting, capturing prisoners, and resupplying materials all at once.

It was an efficient way to kill two birds with one stone, so there was no reason to pass it up.

Thanks to this tactic, Axion had quickly accumulated points, surpassing 500 and now aiming for 600.

“Ah, come to think of it, it’s about time for the rankings to be announced, right?”

Someone casually mentioned, and laughter broke out all around.

“Do you really need to see it to know?”

“Who cares who’s ranked first? That’s obviously going to be the boss. What matters is how we’re ranked among ourselves.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Alright then, how about this: the lower-ranked one has to treat the higher-ranked one as an elder. Deal?”

“Deal, you bastard!”

“Haha! Looks like I’m about to get myself an ugly little brother.”

“Talking nonsense as usual.”

While the subordinates bantered about pointless topics, Axion remained silent, waiting for the examiner to appear.

He had something he wanted to confirm as well.

‘Theo Ragnar. Where the hell are you?’

Shouldn’t he be showing up by now?

As these thoughts crossed his mind—

Thud!

The examiner suddenly dropped down to where Axion and the Gathering of the Hidden Dragons were gathered.

Every evening at 6 PM during the Second Blossoming Ceremony, an interim score announcement was made. This was done to motivate the examinees to push themselves further.

Naturally, all the examinees eagerly awaited this moment, wondering whether their rank had risen or fallen. If they had risen, how much higher did they need to go to reach their desired rank?

All eyes from the Gathering of the Hidden Dragons turned toward the examiner.

“I will now announce the interim rankings. Pay attention.”

The examiner, expressionless, scanned the wrecked surroundings before unfurling the scroll in his hand.

Swish—

And then—

“W-what is this…?”

“How did this happen…!”

The examinees of the Gathering of the Hidden Dragons were all shocked, faces filled with confusion.

Axion’s expression hardened as well.

The interim rankings were nothing like what they had expected.

1st. Ray Ragnar (572 points)
2nd. Axion Ragnar (561 points)
3rd. Wellington Narcio (479 points)
.
.
.

“……!”

“……!”

“Examiner, there must be some mistake with the ranking!”

Axion had dropped to second place, while Ray had risen to first.

What’s more, Theo, who had been quiet until now, had also appeared on the rankings.

36th. Theo Ragnar (82 points)

In just one day, Theo had already climbed up to the middle of the list.

Some began to protest the results, but—

“Are you accusing the main administration of incompetence, just because you’re trainee knights?”

The examiner’s cold gaze pierced through them, and their shoulders instinctively shrank back.

“No, that’s not what I meant…!”

“Examiners scattered across the Winter Mountains record the scores regularly. These are then processed and distributed to us by the central administration. If you want to contest it, prove yourself through your skills.”

“……”

“……”

All the examinees fell silent.

What in the world were Orien and his group doing?

If they had gone after Ray, there should have been some word by now, right?

Even if they had failed, it was hard to believe that someone could amass such a high score in just a single day.

– What’s up with that score?

– The score increase for Snow-White Sword and that crippled fool is almost the same.

– Are they working together as a team?

– But what kind of monsters could they have killed to get such a huge boost in their scores…?

The examinees of the Gathering of the Hidden Dragons whispered amongst themselves, all the while nervously glancing at Axion.

Grit—

Axion clenched his teeth so hard his face was turning red, veins bulging in frustration.

However, the shock that Axion and the Gathering of the Hidden Dragons were about to receive didn’t end there.

Moments later, one of their own, who had been missing from the gathering, came running up in a panic.

“Big… big trouble! It’s a disaster! Theo Ragnar and Ray Ragnar…!”

The one who had been stationed to guard the safe zone the Gathering of the Hidden Dragons had secured.

“Th-they’re raiding our base right now!”

“……!”