The system screen hovered in front of Lin Z for several seconds.
NEW MAIN QUEST UNLOCKED
Dragon Apex Academy Entrance Exam
Difficulty: Unknown
Warning: Rival Candidates May Attempt Beast Seizure
Reward: Unlock Sealed Sovereign Evolution Layer
Lin Z stared at the message.
"…Why do I feel like every quest gets worse?"
Scrappy sat on his shoulder.
"Sneeze."
A tiny flame popped into the air.
Lin Z sighed.
"Yeah. I know."
The Forgotten Dragon Ruins behind them suddenly trembled.
Not violently.
Quietly.
Like something beneath the earth had shifted position.
Then—
CRACK
A massive fracture tore across the skull-shaped mountain.
Ancient stone began collapsing inward.
The entire ruin was disappearing.
System text flashed.
SYSTEM NOTICE:
The Forgotten Dragon Ruins have completed activation.
Location collapsing in 30 seconds.
Lin Z blinked.
"Wait… what?!"
The ground beneath him split apart.
Chunks of floating stone began falling upward into the sky.
Reality distortion spread everywhere.
Scrappy's eyes widened.
Inside Lin Z's mind, he heard him.
"Run."
Lin Z sprinted.
Behind him, the entire ruin began folding inward like a giant piece of paper being crumpled by invisible hands.
The dragon skull shattered.
Massive pieces vanished into black space.
The staircase disappeared.
Even the sky began peeling apart.
Lin Z jumped across collapsing rock platforms.
"WHY DOES EVERYTHING TRY TO KILL ME?!"
Scrappy sneezed.
BOOF
Tiny flame.
Lin Z gritted his teeth.
"This is not helping!"
Then
A blue portal opened in front of them.
Too sudden.
Too precise.
Lin Z stopped immediately.
Someone was waiting.
A woman stepped through first.
She wore a black academy coat lined with silver dragon markings.
Long white hair.
Cold crimson eyes.
Behind her stood a massive beast.
A giant wolf-dragon hybrid covered in frozen crystal armor.
The temperature instantly dropped.
System alert appeared.
SYSTEM NOTICE:
High-Rank Beast Tamer Detected
Designation: Lyra Noctis
Dragon Apex Academy Rank: S Candidate
She looked at Lin Z.
Then at Scrappy.
Her expression changed slightly.
"…So it's true."
Lin Z frowned.
"Can everybody stop staring at my dragon?"
Lyra ignored him.
Instead, she stared directly at Scrappy.
And quietly said
"You shouldn't exist."
Scrappy growled.
Not loudly.
But enough.
The crystal beast behind Lyra instantly bared its teeth.
Lyra crossed her arms.
"Kael Draven already reported to the Academy."
Lin Z narrowed his eyes.
"Of course he did."
Lyra continued.
"The Academy Council has decided."
"Anyone who captures the Sovereign Beast…"
She paused.
"…receives direct entry into the Inner Dragon Court."
Silence.
Lin Z slowly processed that.
Then laughed.
"Oh good."
"So now everybody wants to kidnap my dragon."
Lyra nodded.
"Yes."
Very serious.
Suddenly
Scrappy jumped off Lin Z's shoulder.
His body began glowing gold again.
Not evolving.
Reacting.
The air around him distorted.
System warnings appeared rapidly.
WARNING
Unknown Signal Detected
Source: Dragon Apex Academy
Far above the sky
Something massive awakened.
Not the Dragon Council.
Something else.
A colossal floating island appeared beyond the clouds.
An entire city in the sky.
Massive towers.
Floating bridges.
Dragons circling endlessly.
Ancient structures glowing with blue energy.
Lin Z stared upward.
"What… is that?"
Lyra answered.
Her voice calm.
"Dragon Apex Academy."
The floating city pulsed once.
Then a voice echoed across the entire world.
Deep.
Ancient.
Absolute.
"Candidate detected."
"Sovereign resonance confirmed."
"Emergency examination protocol initiated."
Lin Z blinked.
"Wait."
"What exam?"
System responded instantly.
EMERGENCY QUEST ACTIVATED
Dragon Apex Academy Entrance Trial
Objective: Survive.
Opponent Count: 100 Candidates
Time Limit: 1 Hour
Rules: None
Lin Z stared.
"…One hundred?"
Scrappy sneezed.
BOOF
Tiny fire.
Lyra smiled slightly.
First emotion she had shown.
"Welcome to the Academy."
Then
Her beast attacked.
A giant ice claw slammed downward.
Lin Z rolled sideways.
The entire mountain exploded behind him.
"SCRAPPY!"
Scrappy flew upward.
But before he could counterattack
Ten portals opened around the battlefield.
Then twenty.
Then fifty.
Students stepped out one by one.
Every single one radiated power far above Kael.
Different dragons.
Phoenixes.
Shadow beasts.
Lightning serpents.
Titan creatures.
All staring at one thing.
Scrappy.
One student laughed.
"There it is."
Another cracked his knuckles.
"Whoever wins gets the Sovereign Beast."
A third summoned a giant thunder dragon.
"Take him alive."
Lin Z slowly stood.
Dust covering his face.
He looked around.
One hundred enemies.
All stronger than him.
All hunting Scrappy.
System glitched.
Then
A new message appeared.
One Lin Z had never seen before.
The text was gold.
Not blue.
SOVEREIGN PROTOCOL DETECTED
Secondary User Authorization Available
Would you like to awaken Fragment Memory Layer 2?
WARNING:
Host body may not survive synchronization.
YES / NO
Lin Z stared at the message.
Sweat rolled down his face.
Scrappy landed beside him.
Golden eyes glowing brighter than ever.
Inside Lin Z's mind
Scrappy whispered.
Very quietly.
Very seriously.
"If you press yes…"
A pause.
Then—
"…I may never stay small again."
The hundred beast tamers charged.
The floating academy above watched silently.
Kael Draven stood on one of the towers.
Smiling.
And Lin Z slowly raised his hand toward the glowing System screen.