Chapter 340: Chapter 244: Prepare for Exchange!
There were still more than ten days to the scheduled date, but these dozen or so days were endless days without sunlight. At the same time, it was the period in which Wesley reaped the most benefits.
With the experienced fighter, Long Yi, Wesley was improving rapidly each day.
Of course, the other side of this meant that every day Wesley was tormented to the point of life and death. It was real torment; during these ten days, Wesley experienced at least six nights in a hospital, two of which resulted in him going into shock.
However, this was Wesley’s own request.
Wesley clearly understood, that within this small team, Long Yi being an anomaly was undeniable, and Ai Lin being a Fairy Dragon was incomparable. Those he interacted with the most were the Big Eye and Mosquito brothers. Despite their usual easygoing demeanor, their dedication even stood out among all the students in the academy. These two brothers indeed had excellent talents, but they never relied on them. Instead, they trained fervently to improve. Wesley, born into a merchant family, lacked impressive talents and didn’t have much support from his family. So, he could only rely on his determination.
In reality, during normal training, Wesley had always put forth his best effort. The Big Eye and Mosquito brothers helped him continuously, or else with Wesley’s talent, he wouldn’t have made such rapid progress.
This time, Wesley surpassed expectations.
On the day before the joint exercise, Wesley finally obtained his first Dragon Mark.
Advancing two levels of Fighting Aura was speed that no one, not even Long Yi, had anticipated. He thought that advancing to the nineteenth level of Fighting Aura was good enough but did not expect Wesley to pull through stubbornly and earn a Dragon Mark!
Indeed, people cornered to desperation truly have endless potential.
With a Dragon Mark, Wesley’s Observation Dragon finally evolved into an adult dragon. Its body was a small-sized dragon of ten meters long, excelling in agility. It had a pair of large, nimble eyes that could observe a wider range of color spectrums. It also had large ears, each capable of rotating 270 degrees to receive sounds from all directions.
Consequently, Wesley got to hone his Observation Technique to an even higher level.
How far had he reached? At least he could now find all of Long Yi’s weaknesses in action. Seeing the weaknesses was a good thing, but whether he could seize the opportunity depended on his strength.
Actually, part of Wesley’s rapid progress was due to his Observation Technique—a special talent that let him quickly grasp the details of what Long Yi taught him.
Still, this rate of progress was astounding.
At times, even Long Yi was jealous of Wesley because Wesley had Long Yi’s assistance in leveling up. Why couldn’t he find any suitable opponents for himself? Or perhaps he should train hard and graduate six years in advance to enter the so-called seventh grade and join the full-fledged service. Surely, the captain of the third legion’s Bone Crushing Squad, Ya Han, would be happy to welcome him.
However, that would have to wait until they returned from the Red Dragon Empire.
Long Yi had participated in many joint military exercises in his past life. As long as the two nations maintained peace on the surface, the military exercises would not cease. On one hand, they aimed at gaining information about each other and improving themselves. On the other hand, it was also for showing off their military power. The White Dragon Empire and the Red Dragon Empire were allies, so showcasing military strength held no meaning. The main intent was to enhance the interactions between dragon knights to assist each other on the battlefield in the future.
Of course, the phrase "joint exercise" was just a pretext—the true intention was competition, with friendship coming second.
All dragon knights were innately proud. Nobody wanted to play second fiddle.
This time, the emperor sent the First Legion’s dragon knights along with Long Yi and his group.
The First Legion was the first legion of dragon knights established at the founding of the White Dragon Empire. They had a long history and the most glorious record of victories. During the era of national conflicts, the First Legion name was renowned throughout the continent. Despite the end of wars and the arrival of peaceful times, the First Legion still dedicated themselves to maintaining the empire’s glory with utter diligence.
The First Dragon Knight Legion was composed almost entirely of military nobles, each of whom had achieved military exploits. By sending the First Legion to participate in the Red Dragon Empire’s joint exercise, the emperor was expressing the importance he placed on the friendship with the Red Dragon Empire.
The First Dragon Knight Legion had a total of four hundred members, and this time the vice captain led a forty-person team there. These forty people were carefully selected dragon knights, each with a unique specialty.
Obviously, the appearance of Long Yi at the First Legion’s training ground was a surprise to these soldiers.
When fighting at the borders, the main forces holding back the Black Dragon Empire were the Second and Fifth Dragon Knight Legions. The First Dragon Knight Legion was responsible for guarding the Imperial City. The emergence of Elsa and Long Yi’s eruption at the border deprived the First Dragon Knight Legion of the opportunity to shine, so they naturally heard of Long Yi’s fame. Of course, they remembered the rumors about his scandal with Elsa.
Basically, some people believed Long Yi genuinely had some level of strength, but most refused to believe that he contributed much to the victory at the border.
After all, in the eyes of the First Dragon Knight Legion, this beefy figure in front of them didn’t look capable of leading everyone to win a war.
The members of the First Dragon Knight Legion, looking at the Fairy Dragon Ai Lin by Long Yi’s side, thought sourly to themselves.
However, they were all from prestigious aristocratic families and had good etiquette. Even though they felt sour, none showed it, and merely gave a cold reaction. Long Yi didn’t mind this as he hadn’t even noticed their gazes.
He saw a familiar face.
Alec.
Alec came from a military family, his grandfather being a renowned general, and he himself was not lacking in strength either. It was sensible and justified that he could join the First Dragon Knight Squadron.
Long Yi still remembered his first meeting with Alec while in the sixth grade. When Long Yi entered the same grade, Alec had vanished, he had heard that Alec had gone to the Command College, and now he has reappeared in the First Dragon Knight Squadron.
"Long time no see!" Long Yi raised his hand in greeting. Alec shifted his gaze from Ai Lin, offered an awkward smile, and gave a distant salute. They were in formation, so Alec couldn’t move about carelessly.
Regret filled Alec’s heart; he regretted not allowing his family to arrange a marriage between him and Ai Lin when he had the opportunity. Ai Lin turned out to be a Fairy Dragon! A Fairy Dragon!! A Fairy Dragon!!! But taking a look at Long Yi by her side, Alec had a deep sense that he indeed did not match up to Ai Lin. Although he began training nonstop after losing to Long Yi, and ultimately joined the first legion with good results, he was still far behind Long Yi.
Just thinking about Long Yi’s well-known feats on the frontlines, the moment Long Yi officially joined the service, he was destined to be in the front row in whichever Legion he joined!
Ah, forget it, since he couldn’t have her, he might as well wish her happiness in silence.
Alec felt his eyes moisten.
"Reporting to Vice Captain Lin Qi! Long Yi’s squad, reporting in!"
Long Yi, filing to the front of the team, called out to the middle-aged man with the Vice Captain insignia on his uniform.
"You’re five minutes late!" Vice Captain Lin Qi turned his head, revealing a deeply sunken eye socket and a scar stretching from his forehead to his chin. The scar was tidily stitched all the way down.
"Report to the Vice Captain, if you have an issue with it, take it up with the Sentinel. We were held up at the camp gate for at least ten minutes."
"I’m not interested in the reasons for your tardiness; all I know is you were late. You and your team will run ten laps around the field immediately. Finish in ten minutes without using Fighting Aura. If you fail, you don’t need to participate this time!" Vice Captain Lin Qi’s remaining eye flashed coldly.
"Everybody! Run!"
Without uttering another word, Long Yi took off sprinting.
The First Legion’s training ground was huge. It would be impossible to complete a lap in under a minute at anything less than a sprint, and they couldn’t use Fighting Aura either.
Long Yi was leading at the front, with the Chef at the back.
Among them, Ai Lin ran with the most ease. Her half-dragon body allowed her explosive strength to last longer. However, Chef was a problem. Although he maintained pace initially, his weight eventually troubled him. Mosquito had to slow down and help him.
"Mosquito, concentrate on your own sprint, I’ll take care of Chef!"
Long Yi bellowed, hoisted Chef onto his back, and continued his rapid run.
In just under ten minutes, everyone returned to Vice-Captain Lin Qi. Ai Lin appeared unchanged, while Wesley was the most winded. Mosquito performed reasonably well. Long Yi was slightly sweaty, but otherwise unchanged. Chef, hoisted on Long Yi’s back, looked like he was about to die. The reason being, Long Yi’s shoulder was too hard, especially when he sprinted, his muscles were steel-like. Chef, riding on Long Yi’s shoulder, felt as if his stomach was going to burst apart.
Looking at Long Yi and others, Lin Qi began to form a comparison in his heart. His intent wasn’t to trouble them, rather, he wanted to determine the roles in Long Yi’s squad through this simple drill.
Clearly, Long Yi was the ultimate leader of this team. No one questioned his commands, which was evident right from the start. Recently, there had been many rumors about Long Yi. The most prevalent was about Long Yi’s strength. Typically, geniuses could be quite quirky. For this reason, Lin Qi was a bit worried if Long Yi would prove insubordinate. However, to his relief, this man named Long Yi showed no intention to object to command, which was a good sign. Moreover, he was able to haul a fat man while completing ten laps, evidently showcasing exceptional physical qualities.
Being a Fairy Dragon, Ai Lin had the best physical abilities among everyone; there wasn’t much to evaluate. The one called Chef had certain explosive power, but lacked endurance. The two dragons on his shoulders indicated he was a Dual Dragon Knight and should have considerable strength. Mosquito was clearly brothers with Chef and was the most nimble, with a touch of cunning. As a Nine Mosquito Dragon Knight, he might not excel in head-on battles. Wesley had the worst physical fitness, but his large eyes and ears were quite impressive. His Observation Dragon was the same; only, its characteristics were not known yet.
"Fall in!"
Having made his assessments, Lin Qi said nothing more and watched the five people standing aside. Clearly, he was about to give a pre-battle pep talk.
"Warriors! What is our objective!" Lin Qi suddenly roared out.
"Victory!" Everyone shouted, startling Long Yi.
"Good! Let’s go!"
So that’s it? What about the pre-battle pep talk? What about the inspiring speech? Even if you wouldn’t go for half an hour, at least give us ten minutes! One sentence and it’s over! (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to qidian.com to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
