"I've gathered you all here to discuss the future development of the academy's students," Muria said as he sat at the head of the table, looking at the twelve ancient dragons below him. Together with these twelve, Muria would decide the direction of the Dragon Academy, a decision that would impact the future of two thousand dragons.
"What would you like to discuss, Lord Muria?" The ancient dragons exchanged glances before Leonine, an ancient gold dragon, spoke up.
"Do you all remember the combat demonstration when the academy opened?" Muria asked with a smile.
"Vividly."
"Unforgettable."
"Still fresh in my mind."
…The ancient dragons responded, clearly showing respect for Muria and also because they had been deeply impressed by the performance of the chromatic dragons that participated.
"And do you recall the fighting styles of the twelve chromatic dragons I taught?" Muria continued.
"Of course. The first to battle, the red dragon, stood out the most to me. It had a physique comparable to an adult gold dragon, especially its spellcasting abilities—I even wondered if it was born into the wrong species."
"That red dragon was indeed impressive, but I particularly admired the rune dragon that followed. Every scale on its body was inscribed with runes, enhancing its power with every movement, and it defeated an adult blue dragon with absolute superiority."
"I remember the black dragon that could breathe five different types of dragon breath…"
"It seems that the twelve dragons I trained left quite an impression on all of you!" Muria tapped the table gently, interrupting their discussion. "That brings me to what I want to discuss today: each of the twelve dragons that participated represents a potential path for the future of dragonkind."
"A dragon representing a development path?" The ancient dragons were somewhat surprised.
"The first to battle was Auston, the red dragon. He represents the most traditional, though perhaps mundane, path: through systematic education, a balanced diet, and rigorous training, a dragon can achieve greater strength than its peers and reach the limits of spellcasting for its age.
This path is suitable for the majority of dragons, but not for some of the more gifted and unique ones. That's why we have the other eleven dragons, each representing a different path—modifying their bodies, inscribing runes on their scales, transplanting organs, equipping magical armor, or even elementalizing their bodies. Each one shows a different possibility, allowing dragons to fully utilize their talents."
"Lord Muria, with all due respect, we believe that guiding our young dragons down the first path is sufficient. The other paths are mere deviations, without any clear future or promise," one of the ancient dragons interjected, unable to contain his thoughts as Muria's enthusiasm grew. He dismissed the other paths the eleven dragons represented as wayward and without potential.
"I agree. We should prohibit the young dragons from studying these misguided paths. They're wasting their time and energy. While these methods may seem powerful now, they offer no future. Can they carry these combat styles into the legendary ranks?"
"Lord Muria, I must concur. Relying on external aids to enhance oneself may provide temporary strength, but what about the future? These are dead ends. We should strictly forbid them."
"Very well, that's two who oppose." Muria nodded at the dragons suggesting prohibition. "Who else thinks we should ban these paths? Let me see."
Soon, a few more hands were raised, causing Muria's expression to grow increasingly calm. "Is there anyone who thinks we should encourage these dragons to continue their research and pursue these paths?"
Only one hand was raised, that of the ancient green dragon Fiona. Muria sighed, knowing she supported him unconditionally and without reservation, regardless of what he said.
"Do you want to stifle the potential for these paths to develop simply because they seem to lack a future?" Muria asked with a stern expression, golden arcs of electricity faintly crackling across his face, a sign of his anger.
"Such ignorance, such shortsightedness. I'd love to beat some sense into them," Muria thought, though he restrained himself. Instead, he posed a question to the ancient dragons, "Let me ask you, how many paths were available to humans when they first rose to power? How many professional systems did they have? According to the ancient texts I've read, they struggled immensely to discover just three paths: first, training their bodies and cultivating combat aura to become warriors; second, meditating to enhance their mental power and become mages; and third, praying to the gods to become clerics."
"But what about now? How many paths do humans have for their children to choose from? As far as I know, there are at least eleven basic professions—warrior, assassin, priest, mage, druid, ranger, and so on. And from these basic professions, many more specialized paths have emerged.
Take knights as an example: just from the knight profession, we now have healer knights, grail knights, central ring knights, wind knights, arcane knights, and even dragon knights. Additionally, there are even stronger legendary professions like elementalist, spellblade, archmage, and weapon master. You've all heard of these, so there's no need for me to list them all.
Now, consider how many branches of power humans have developed.
And what about us dragons? We're still stuck where we were ages ago. In ancient times, dragons relied on their bodies for combat. Today, most dragons still rely on their physical and bloodline abilities with little change.
But compared to the ancient dragons, what has changed for us? Our bloodlines are deteriorating; each generation of dragons is weaker than the last. In ancient times, ancestral dragons were common, but now? How many are left? If it weren't for the occasional emergence of dragon kings to slow the rate of bloodline decline, we'd be in an even worse state.
This situation should have changed long ago. We dragons need to find new paths suited to us instead of just relying on the bloodlines passed down from ancient times."
Muria stood at the center of the hall, chastising the ancient dragons. "If there's no path, then we must forge one, even if it costs lives. The dragon race must break free from its dependence on bloodlines."
Muria's reasoning, combined with a series of pointed questions, left the ancient dragons silent, their ears ringing. Upon reflection, they found that Muria's words made a lot of sense.
Indeed, for dragons, the present was not as good as the past. The dragon race was clearly deteriorating with each generation, a slow but noticeable decline.
And while the emergence of dragon kings could extend the time before this decline became irreversible, it couldn't stop it. The era of ancient beasts ruling the world had long since ended, and now was no longer the age of beasts.
No species in the world could dominate solely based on bloodline inheritance anymore. Even the world's strongest races, like the Titans and Seraphim, still forged weapons to enhance their defense and offense, studied techniques to improve themselves, and fully utilized their strength. They never rested on their powerful bloodlines alone.
"Lord Muria, you are right. We shouldn't remain stagnant. It's time for us to find new paths that will allow the dragon race to go further."
After some private exchanges, the metallic dragons had to concede to Muria. Moreover, his words sparked their curiosity, making them want to give these new paths a try, starting with the two thousand dragons at the Dragon Academy.
"Lord Muria, what should we do?" the ancient dragons asked eagerly.
"Nothing at all," Muria replied with a slight smile, saying something that left the ancient dragons utterly perplexed. "All you need to do is teach the young dragons everything you know, lay the most solid foundation for them, and then give them the freedom to explore and choose their paths."
"This…"
"Once the young dragons have a solid foundation, give them the freedom to develop." Muria, seated on his throne, outlined his plan. The youngest dragons in the Dragon Academy had just hatched, while the oldest were adolescent dragons, around the same age as Muria. He intended to let them grow with more freedom, focusing on self-directed learning.
"After all that talk, isn't this just what we suggested earlier—reducing their coursework?" a few ancient dragons remarked in disbelief. Giving them freedom sounded like just letting them play and avoid classes.
"Not at all. The prerequisite for giving them freedom is having a solid foundation, making sure they've mastered everything they need to know," Muria rejected their doubts. "If they know nothing, how can they develop? How can they create?"
"So how do we decide which dragons can skip classes and have the freedom to explore and find new paths for our race? They've already attended classes, but how well have they learned? We don't even know."
"That's simple. We'll conduct a final exam. Any dragon that passes will be exempt from the regular curriculum and granted freedom, along with the right to take on missions."
"Missions?"
"Yes. Freedom is relative—I won't let them just do as they please," Muria replied with a slight smile. If any dragon passed the exam, he would assign them missions through Synapse's teleportation arrays to various locations.
I'm really looking forward to seeing the expressions on the faces of those dragons who think they've earned the right to sleep in every day after passing the exam. But even more, I'm eagerly awaiting the day when, under my guidance, the dragon race will flourish in all its diversity.
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