The morning sun filtered through the grand, stained-glass windows of the Zenith Spire, casting a kaleidoscope of colors across the S-Class desks. Kaiser Warborn sat in his coveted back-row window seat, resting his chin on his palm, the picture of aristocratic tranquility.
He was currently observing a very entertaining phenomenon: the complete psychological collapse of Lord Julian Vance.
Julian, the arrogant blue-haired noble who had threatened Kaiser the day before, was currently approaching Kaiser's desk with the stiff, unnatural gait of a man walking to his own execution. In his trembling hands, he held a steaming cup of imported elven herbal tea.
"W-Warborn," Julian squeaked, his voice cracking. He carefully set the teacup down on the corner of Kaiser's desk as if it were an explosive rune. "I... I noticed you didn't visit the cafeteria this morning. I took the liberty of... fetching this for you. S-Sir."
The rest of the S-Class stared in absolute bewilderment. Julian Vance was a notoriously elitist snob. Seeing him play the role of a subservient butler to an unpedigreed commoner was like watching a fish try to climb a tree.
Kaiser didn't immediately respond. He let the silence stretch, his crimson eyes lazily drifting from the window to Julian's pale, sweating face. He took the cup, took a slow sip, and offered a polite, dazzling smile.
"Chamomile and moon-lily. A soothing blend," Kaiser said smoothly, his voice pleasant but laced with a subtle, underlying gravity that only Julian could feel. "How thoughtful of you, Julian. You may return to your seat."
"Y-Yes! Thank you!" Julian bowed so fast he nearly headbutted the desk, before scuttling away to the absolute furthest corner of the room.
[Ding!]
[Target: Lyra Vesper is observing you. Current Affection: 16%. Target's internal monologue is currently oscillating between 'He used mind-control magic' and 'Julian is just a coward'.]
Kaiser suppressed a chuckle. He glanced over at the exiled Dark Elf princess. Lyra was sitting two rows ahead, pretending to read a grimoire, but her pointed ears were twitching, entirely focused on him. When he caught her eye, she immediately scowled, her cheeks dusting with a faint, violet blush before she aggressively buried her face back in her book.
She's like a feral cat, Kaiser mused happily. Hisses when you look at her, but wants to sleep at the foot of your bed.
Before Kaiser could ponder how to exploit Lyra's trust issues today, the front doors of the classroom were violently kicked open.
The heavy mahogany doors splintered off their hinges, crashing onto the marble floor. Standing in the doorway was a woman who instantly made the air in the room feel ten degrees hotter.
She was exceptionally tall, standing well over six feet. She wore a skin-tight, fire-resistant combat bodysuit that did absolutely nothing to hide her dangerously voluptuous curves. Two massive, jagged crimson horns curled back from her fiery red hair, and a thick, scaled dragon tail swished lazily behind her, cracking the floor tiles with every movement.
She held a massive, double-bladed battleaxe over her shoulder like it weighed less than a feather. She scanned the room with slitted, golden reptilian eyes, looking profoundly bored.
"Right. Listen up, brats," she growled, her voice a deep, rumbling purr that vibrated in everyone's chests. "I am Professor Ignis. I teach Practical Combat and Survival. I also hate teaching. I hate arrogant nobles. And I especially hate morning classes."
She yawned, revealing a row of razor-sharp fangs. "So, we're skipping the syllabus. Follow me to Training Ground Three. I want to see if any of you are worth remembering the names of, or if I should just use you as target practice."
[Ding!]
[New Target Identified.]
[Target Profile]
Name: Ignis Drakon
Race: Fire Dragonkin (Ancient Bloodline)
Status: S-Rank Adventurer / Combat Instructor
Difficulty Level: S+
Current Affection: 0% (Views Host as squishy meat)
Personality Archetype: Battle-Maniac, Lazy, Power-Worshipper.
Warning: Target possesses immense physical durability and explosive temper. Conventional seduction will result in the Host being incinerated.
An S+ difficulty battle-maniac teacher, Kaiser analyzed, his degenerate instincts flaring to life. If I buy her flowers, she'll eat them. If I recite poetry, she'll punch me through a wall. She only respects strength, but I can't reveal my full power yet. I need to demonstrate lethal cunning.
Ten minutes later, the S-Class stood in the center of Training Ground Three, a massive open field of scorched earth and reinforced magical barriers.
Ignis stood fifty paces away, casually leaning on her massive axe. "The rules are simple. All ten of you come at me at once. You have five minutes to make me take a single step backward. If you fail, I'm assigning you three hundred laps around the academy perimeter. With gravity weights."
"Professor!" A bright, heroic voice rang out. Arthur Pendragon, the Rank 1 human prodigy, stepped forward. He drew a gleaming broadsword, his blonde hair practically sparkling in the sunlight. "While I respect your strength, attacking a teacher simultaneously seems dishonorable. I, Arthur Pendragon, shall face you in single combat!"
Ignis blinked her golden eyes slowly. "Are you an idiot, or just suicidal?"
"I am a knight!" Arthur declared, charging forward, his sword glowing with intense holy magic. "Radiant Smite!"
He leaped into the air, bringing the glowing blade down with impressive force. Ignis didn't even shift her stance. She merely lifted a single, red-scaled finger and flicked Arthur square in the forehead.
BOOM!
A shockwave of pure physical force erupted. Arthur shot backward like a cannonball, skipping across the dirt three times before slamming headfirst into the magical barrier, instantly knocked unconscious.
The remaining nine students stared in horrified silence. The Rank 1 prodigy had been one-shot with a finger flick.
"Nine left," Ignis yawned. "Anyone else care about honor?"
The S-Class scattered, initiating a chaotic, uncoordinated assault. Elemental spells flew through the air—fireballs, ice lances, wind blades. Ignis didn't dodge. She simply let the magic wash over her. Her dragon scales absorbed the spells like water off a duck's back.
Lyra Vesper vanished into the shadows, her Dark Elf agility allowing her to flank the professor. She materialized directly behind Ignis, two poisoned daggers aimed precisely at the unscaled joints behind the Dragonkin's knees.
It was a perfect assassin's strike. But Ignis was a monster.
Without looking, Ignis whipped her heavy, scaled tail around. The sheer wind pressure of the tail swipe tore the daggers from Lyra's hands. Lyra's eyes widened in terror as the massive appendage barreled toward her ribs. At that speed, it would shatter every bone in her torso.
She braced for the agony, shutting her eyes.
But the impact never came.
Instead, a hand wrapped firmly around Lyra's waist. The world blurred violently, a strange sensation of gravity compressing and expanding.
Void Step.
Lyra opened her eyes. She was standing thirty feet away, entirely unharmed. Her back was pressed against a solid, warm chest. Kaiser's arm was still wrapped securely around her waist, holding her close. She could smell a faint, intoxicating scent of ozone and vanilla radiating from him.
"Careful, Princess," Kaiser whispered, his deep voice rumbling directly against her ear. "Dragons don't play fair."
Lyra's face erupted into a brilliant, glowing violet blush. She shoved him away, though not as violently as she usually would have. "I-I didn't need your help! I was going to dodge!" she stammered, entirely aware that she was lying.
Kaiser merely smiled, turning his attention back to Ignis.
[Ding!]
[Target: Lyra Vesper. Affection has increased! Current Affection: 22% (Flustered/Grateful).]
Ignis paused, her golden eyes locking onto Kaiser. She had felt that. The spatial distortion. It wasn't standard teleportation magic; it was something heavier. Darker.
"You," Ignis pointed a clawed finger at Kaiser. "You're the pretty boy who scored Rank 3. White hair. You're fast. Let's see if you hit hard."
Ignis grinned, showing all her fangs, and lunged. She covered the thirty-foot distance in a fraction of a second, bringing her massive battleaxe down in a brutal, two-handed overhead cleave.
Kaiser's mind operated in overdrive. He couldn't stop it with pure strength like he did with the bear—not without revealing his B+ strength and blowing his cover. He had to use technique.
'System. Calculate the exact weak point in the axe's haft and the minimum kinetic force required to deflect it using compressed air.'
[Calculating... Weak point identified three inches below the left blade. Required force: 4,200 Newtons. Angle of deflection: 45 degrees.]
Kaiser didn't retreat. As the axe descended, threatening to cleave him in half, he raised his right hand, two fingers extended. He channeled his Void magic, condensing it into a microscopic point of hyper-gravity on his fingertips, disguising the black energy with a shroud of crackling silver lightning.
He thrust his fingers upward, striking the exact weak point on the axe's haft just before the blade reached his head.
CLANG!
The condensed gravity exploded outward like a localized bomb. The sheer kinetic shockwave reverberated up the weapon and into Ignis's arms. The axe was violently violently deflected to the side, burying itself deep into the scorched earth.
Ignis's eyes widened in genuine shock. A human—a squishy, fragile human—had just parried her strike head-on. But Kaiser wasn't finished.
Using the momentum of his strike, Kaiser spun, his coat billowing around him like a white phantom. He channeled a sliver of lightning-disguised magic into his heel and delivered a lightning-fast, sweeping kick directly to the side of Ignis's jaw.
Crack!
It wasn't enough to hurt her. Her scales were too tough. But the force of the blow was perfectly calculated to snap her head to the side.
Ignis Drakon, the S-Rank S-Class instructor, took one, distinct step backward to catch her balance.
The training ground went dead silent, save for the crackling of Kaiser's residual silver lightning.
Kaiser immediately stepped back, dropping his combat stance and offering a polite, slightly winded bow. "Five minutes are up, Professor. I believe we've secured our passing grade."
Ignis stood frozen, her hand slowly coming up to touch the side of her jaw. There, barely visible on her impenetrable red scales, was a tiny, singular scratch.
She looked at the blood on her finger, then looked at Kaiser. The bored, lazy expression was completely gone from her face. It was replaced by a wide, feral, deeply unhinged grin. Her golden eyes dilated, locking onto Kaiser with the intensity of a starving predator that had just found the most delicious meal of its life.
The temperature in the training ground spiked noticeably.
"Well, well, well," Ignis purred, her tail swishing with agitated, thrilling energy. "It seems a little dragon-slayer slipped into my class. What did you say your name was, boy?"
"Kaiser Warborn, Professor," he replied, maintaining perfect eye contact.
"Kaiser," she repeated, rolling the name around in her mouth like a piece of fine candy. "I'm going to enjoy breaking you."
[Ding!]
[Target: Ignis Drakon. Affection has skyrocketed! Current Affection: 30% (Predatory Interest/Thrill).]
[Warning: Target's mating instincts have been mildly stimulated by a display of dominant combat prowess. Host is advised to sleep with one eye open.]
Over in the corner, Lyra watched the exchange, her hands clenching into tight fists. She glared at the professor, then at Kaiser, a strange, ugly feeling bubbling in her chest. She didn't like the way the dragon woman was looking at him. It made her want to throw a poisoned dagger.
Kaiser casually dusted off his sleeves, suppressing his triumphant smile.
Two yanderes in the making, and one fiercely possessive dragon. My absurd growth is right on schedule.