Dragons begin with courage

Lu Mingfei sat in the chair, his fingertips tapping out a restless rhythm on the edge of the table. A short "tsk" escaped his throat, and the sunlight reflected off the shimmering light in his eyes—not cowardice, but sparks ignited after his dignity had been repeatedly trampled on.

"I'm not going." His voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the silence like a blade. "If you're 'sick,' treat yourselves. Don't drag me down with you."

"We are not sick."

Caesar's voice seemed to pierce through the screen.

Pacino's hand, holding the alien-shaped laptop, paused slightly. On the screen, Norton's desk resembled a judge's bench, with Caesar seated in the center, his blond hair shimmering like molten gold in the candlelight. Nono twirled a pen in her fingertips, while Zero sat quietly, eyes lowered, like a white birch tree in the snow.

"Last night, the principal and I finalized the decision: 'Project Bronze' will begin." Caesar's fingers interlaced, his voice steady as a bell. "The Three Gorges Dragon Guards have awakened. In February 2010, we will storm Bronze City, slay Samson, and even the sleeping King of Bronze and Fire, Norton. And you—" His gaze pierced through pixels, striking Lu Mingfei directly, "An S-class freshman, the only one capable of using the Word of Power 'Spiritual Vision' to sketch the entire map of Bronze City, you are the key to this battle."

Lu Mingfei suddenly burst out laughing, his fingertips trembling as he scratched his head: "Young Master Caesar, have you never been rejected by anyone since you were born, so you've become addicted, haven't you? I said I refused, do you not understand Chinese and need me to say it to you in Italian? I'm not going!"

Pacino's breath caught in his throat. The entire arena fell silent. Even the wind outside seemed to freeze.

"This is the second time you've rejected me." A smile played on Caesar's lips, but his eyes were icy. "Only two freshmen were selected. It's an honor."

"Glory? Glory my ass! Your brain's been bloated with a sense of honor!" (This is what Lu Mingfei wanted to say, but he only thought it and didn't say it aloud.)

Lu Mingfei abruptly stood up, the chair scraping against the floor with a jarring sound. He leaned close to the screen, his pupils churning with magma suppressed for six years: "Can glory feed you? Can it bring back my parents who haven't returned for six years? I, Lu Mingfei, am not a puppet of the student council, nor a dog of your Gattuso family!"

When the sound exploded, even the Coke can in Finger's hand dented with a "crack". Nono's pen stopped in mid-air, and Ling's eyelashes trembled slightly—that loser who always cowered in the corner shouting "Senior brother, save me!" was now standing tall with red eyes.

Caesar remained silent for three seconds, the candlelight casting a sharp shadow on his chin: "Accept it. Another first-year student has already accepted. Can you stop wasting your time?"

Lu Mingfei looked at Zero's image on the edge of the screen. Zero, dressed in a school uniform, sat quietly to the side, like a well-behaved Tsarist princess: "Hmph, Queen Zero, huh? I see. She goes her own way, and I'll guard my lousy dorm! Why should I be held hostage by someone else's 'courage'?"

The room was filled with elites, utterly silent. Some men's Adam's apples bobbed, while others avoided eye contact.

He revealed the truth that no one dared to say: slaying dragons is not an obligation, but a choice.

"All students in this academy have dragon blood, and their goal is to slay dragons. Everyone who comes here faces risks, risks their lives. If you don't want to slay dragons, why don't you leave? Just leave and go through the withdrawal procedures. The Executive Department has plenty of ways to erase your memory. When you return to China, they'll even fabricate your experiences in America, so you can still live your previous life." Caesar looked directly into Lu Mingfei's eyes. "Someone has told you all this, hasn't they?"

"Senior Sister Nuonuo told me that," Lu Mingfei said, looking directly into Caesar's eyes.

"Then why don't you choose to drop out of school?" Caesar asked.

"Whether I drop out of school or not is none of your business to judge me?" Lu Mingfei suddenly calmed down, his fingertips tracing the engravings on the Lionheart emblem on the corner of the table. "I stayed here because someone taught me: courage is not the absence of fear, but the courage to say 'no' even when you're trembling with fear."

He recalled the small print on the title page of "A First Look at Bloodshed," which Chu Zihang had handed him the night before: "True courage comes from within."

"Kassel isn't just about the Execution Department! I'd rather tighten screws in the Equipment Department, gnaw on dragon fossils with Professor Guderian, or even sweep the floors at the Lionheart Club—that's better than dying! To come here and immediately raid the Dragon King's lair? Am I, Lu Mingfei, tired of living or have I lost my mind?"

The room, filled with over a dozen people, was completely silent; you could hear everyone breathing. They were utterly speechless after Lu Mingfei's outburst.

Lu Mingfei was right. Kassel is not only the Executive Department, but also the Equipment Department that assists in logistics and the Dragon Scholars who study history. They are all part of Kassel.

"I don't want to repeat myself. That's it." Lu Mingfei abruptly slammed his fingers together on the screen! With a "snap!", darkness engulfed the candlelight in Norton Hall. Pacino stood frozen, his ears burning red: "This...this is an S-rank mission personally assigned by the principal!"

"Then you can go by yourself."

Lu Mingfei turned and opened the window, the river wind filling his shirt. He smiled and said, "Give my regards to the Gattuso family's 'Glory'—it's blocking the doorway, could you please move it?"

Lu Mingfei directly issued an order to leave, "inviting" Pacino out of the dormitory.

After the door closed softly, Fingel suddenly burst into laughter, tears streaming down his face: "Lu Mingfei! Lu Mingfei, is this the real you? Haha, I'm dying of laughter! Did you see Caesar's expression? He looked like he'd eaten shit."

Lu Mingfei leaned against the window frame, his fingertips unconsciously curling. The setting sun stretched his shadow long and thin, and the fire in his chest gradually cooled, leaving behind warm embers. This feeling was both strange and familiar—like when he was sixteen, when he threw his first punch for a classmate who was surrounded, the stinging pain on the back of his hand and the burning heat in his eyes.

"What is the real me?" he murmured to himself, a smile playing on his lips.

He's the Lu Mingfei who gets red-eyed at the word "loser," the Lu Mingfei who clenches his fists in the rain and says, "I refuse to accept my fate."

It turns out he never went far; he was just hidden too deeply by six years of silence.

Lu Mingfei shrank his neck and rubbed his arms, his voice barely audible: "Finger, I refused the principal's assignment. Am I really going to be expelled?"

"Drop out?" Fingel scoffed, patting him on the back. "Kassel isn't a black market! Execution Department missions are a two-way selection process—can the alchemists in the Equipment Department withstand Murasame attacks and slay dragons? Professor Guderian has been gnawing on dragon fossils for sixty years and is still a distinguished member of the academy!" He deliberately dragged out his words, his eyes darting around. "However… S-rank missions offer a ton of contribution points. Even if you just participate, winning will add up to a lot."

"Oh my god, why didn't you say so earlier?"

"You didn't ask either."

"Is it too late for me to regret licking Caesar's shoes?"

"Hahaha, I think it's not too late for you to lick me, you really dare to do it."

Of course, Lu Mingfei was just spouting nonsense; he had no intention of participating in this S-rank mission. There were two reasons. First, he knew his own strength; after only a month of training, his actual combat power was probably not even at the C-rank. Second, his Word of Power was actually fake. He had tried using the 'Full Map Cheat' later, but Norma seemed to have fixed it, and the full map didn't appear.

In other words, Lu Mingfei doesn't actually possess any "word spirit" at all. His "word spirit" is that strange little boy; it only exists when he speaks, and it doesn't exist when he doesn't.