Slacker Second Gen C47

Chapter 47: Dragon Dad 17

The unprecedented frequency of inter-school exchanges and course changes made students vaguely aware of an impending storm.

Yet, this year’s graduation task still shook them to the core.

The mission: travel to the Red Sand Ruins Desert and eliminate the magical beasts appearing there.

“Magical beasts” had long since disappeared, existing only in historical war records, adventure novels, horror stories, and occasionally in the songs of bards.

The students’ understanding of them was limited to a few lines in textbooks. Even though teachers had been emphasizing knowledge about magical beasts lately, the students had never truly believed they would encounter them.

Because the appearance of magical beasts signified the possible outbreak of a magical beast tide, endless dangers, and the prelude to complete chaos.

Young boys and girls, reading history books about heroes who emerged in times of great calamities, often felt their blood boil. Some even secretly wondered—if I lived in that era, would I be just as dazzling, leaving my mark on history?

But when disaster truly loomed before them, even the most mischievous students felt a trace of confusion.

“Don’t be lost. Just like your ancestors, protect yourselves, guard your homeland, and never retreat.”

Lacia, the fearsome teacher who never minced words and frequently assaulted students with ice storms, showed a rare moment of genuine gentleness in the eyes of these young students.

But that look vanished in an instant as the great demon king returned to form, his voice turning harsh.

“This graduation task—if you don’t give it your all, you might actually die. So, from now on, get rid of your lazy thoughts and fight for your own lives!”

Advancing from eighth grade to ninth grade, this final year culminated in the graduation task.

This year’s eighth-grade class included the prince and princess of the Canglong Empire. The king had summoned them back to the palace, hoping they would not participate in this mission.

Several other noble families had issued similar demands to their children.

Yet, on the day of departure, every single eighth-grade student was present.

It was said that the prince and princess, who had been locked inside the palace, had disguised themselves in royal guard uniforms and rushed to the scene on beastback at the last moment, exchanging high-fives with their friends.

“We promised to complete the graduation task together—I won’t break that promise!”

“I want to see the legendary magical beasts with my own eyes! How could I miss this?”

“We’ve personally seen Lacia summon wraiths and a skeletal prince! Magical beasts are nothing to be afraid of—they’re just a little bigger than normal beasts!”

“Yeah! We’ve been through plenty of real combat. Those magical creatures were terrifying too, but as long as we find the right method, they’re easy to deal with.”

Encouraging each other, the students bolstered their confidence.

Individually, magical beasts weren’t too difficult to handle. What truly made them terrifying was the possibility of a massive magical beast tide in the future.

Led by three teachers, the students rode their beast mounts towards the remote Red Sand Ruins Desert.

As they set off, the shadow of a massive dragon passed overhead.

The students looked up, their expressions unconsciously relaxing. This time, they truly felt no fear.

“Is Teacher Lacia coming with us?!”

“That’s great!”

Lacia’s indifferent voice drifted over, “I’m just taking Qian somewhere. We happen to be passing through the Red Sand Ruins Desert—it’s just on the way.”

“I won’t interfere with your graduation task.”

But the students weren’t discouraged by his cold words. They exchanged glances and broke into delighted laughter.

“This is great! Even if Teacher Lacia does nothing, just seeing him makes me feel at ease.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Come to think of it, how could magical beasts be scarier than Teacher Lacia? We’ve already faced the most terrifying creature—what’s there to be afraid of?”

This last remark gained unanimous agreement.

Yet their fear, their solemnity, their courage, and their resolve lasted less than a day.

Halfway through the journey, they reverted to their usual carefree selves—messing around, playing pranks, and remaining worry-free.

As they neared their destination, the Red Sand Ruins Desert, a faint sense of tension returned.

“Wait, why isn’t the sand red?”

Teacher Fizke crossed his arms and explained, “The ‘Red Sand’ refers to the way the sand turns blood-red at sunset. Since twilight lasts particularly long here, you’ll see red sand for an extended period.”

The students responded with an understanding, “Oh! What about the ruins? What kind of ruins are they? Where are they?”

Fizke glanced up at the dragon in the sky and coughed lightly.

“The ruins aren’t actual ruins. They’re just a projection of a certain place. If you’re lucky, you might briefly catch sight of its shadow in the sky.”

Of course, he wouldn’t reveal that this was the homeland of dragons—the mysterious Dragon Island, whose projection sometimes appeared in this desert.

No one knew the true location of Dragon Island. Only dragons could reach that place, while humans could at best catch a hazy glimpse of its reflection in the Red Sand Desert, using it to imagine what the island might look like.

“Alright,” Fizke refocused the students, “from here on, you’ll need to use your knowledge to track magical beasts in this desert.”

“While we continue traveling, I’ll teach you more about the weaknesses and dangers of magical beasts, as well as which spells are most effective against them.”

Teacher Medman had gone ahead to observe magical beasts firsthand. Now, as one of the leading teachers, she provided students with intensive training.

Under her endless lecture, the students spent a full day walking through the desert without encountering a single magical beast.

By evening, they finally saw the blood-red sand.

That crimson hue wasn’t terrifying—on the contrary, it was a pure, breathtaking sight that left the students in silent awe.

Night fell, and the black bear, Teacher Bookby, selected a campsite, allowing the students to start their own fire and cook their own meals.

A group of students fumbled around, setting up camp and preparing food, while Bookby had already used magic to diligently construct a small house, inviting Teacher Lacia to land and rest.

Fizke took out various magical seasonings and began roasting meat.

Lacia landed, holding Qian in his arms. Medman came over and let out a teasing sound.

“Qian slept the whole day again?”

Of course. Since their departure, she had only flown for a short while before clinging to her father, refusing to fly on her own.

Lacia had long noticed that his young dragon was a bit lazy. But she was just a hatchling—what was the harm in being a little lazy?

Placing the child down, Qian stepped onto the sand, sinking slightly.

She lifted her foot, shaking off the sand, walked forward a couple of steps, and found the terrain unsuitable for walking. Looking up, she stretched out her hands toward her father, asking to be held again.

The doting father, of course, picked her up once more.

Bookby came over, rubbing his head and jokingly saying, “Qian, you’re too lazy! You won’t even walk on your own! If this keeps up, your legs will degenerate!”

Lacia immediately lifted his foot and kicked the thick-skinned, rough-fleshed bear away.

He could think his little dragon was lazy, but others weren’t allowed to say it.

Fizke, long accustomed to the teacher’s protective nature and doting love, came over with fragrant roasted meat.

“Qian, are you hungry? Come eat some meat.”

Fizke specially cut the meat into small pieces and fed her.

“Does it taste good, Qian?”

“Delicious!” The young dragon said, her cheeks puffed up.

Fizke grinned and fed her another bite.

“Then, Qian, do you like me?”

“I do!”

Lacia took the roasted meat from Fizke, then kicked his own student away as well, deciding to feed his child himself.

Nearby, the exhausted and hungry students once again shed tears of envy.

—

Late at night, a student was awakened by rustling noises, sensing something was wrong.

A startled cry rang out.

“What?! What is that?!”

“A magical beast? Are we under attack?!”

“No, it’s a scorpion! A huge scorpion!”

“It has purple markings on its back! We learned about this in class—it’s a magical creature, a sand scorpion!”

Immediately, magic spells flew in all directions.

The teachers listened as the students handled the situation themselves before finally yawning and leaning against the door to comment.

“Not bad. Your reaction was fast enough. At least you woke up before the scorpions bit you.”

“This desert is very dangerous. There aren’t just magical beasts—you need to stay vigilant.”

The students, clutching their magic wands, wailed, “Teacher, why didn’t you warn us?!”

Teacher: “It’s not like this was an exam.”

Students: “…”

—

In the following days, the students roamed the vast desert. Though they didn’t encounter any magical beasts at first, they did run into many dangerous magical creatures.

They started out in complete disarray, but over time, they became more skilled, learning to coordinate with each other.

As time passed, the once-inexperienced students had grown. Now, they could even gang up on a desert centipede over ten meters long.

Lacia observed their progress and remarked, “Now this is starting to look decent.”

“Almost there. Tomorrow, we’ll have them hunt magical beasts.”

After leading the students on a long detour, the teachers finally brought them to the right location.

From the sky, Lacia watched as the students worked together to take down a group of ferocious magical beasts. Only after they defeated the last one and cheered in triumph did he suddenly flap his wings, soaring higher and disappearing into the clouds above the desert.

The young warriors had just slain their first magical beast. Once the excitement and joy faded, they realized that magical beasts weren’t as terrifying as they had imagined. They weren’t much different from the magical creatures they had faced before.

“Congratulations! You’ve completed your graduation task,” the teachers applauded.

However, after their initial excitement, the students made a new request.

“Teacher, are there more magical beasts nearby? Please let us deal with them!”

“There will only be more magical beasts in the future. This is no time to celebrate. We believe that right now, we should hunt as many as possible.”

“The more we kill now, the safer everyone will be in the future.”

—

Though disaster loomed over the world like a dark cloud, there were still those who burned brightly, piercing through the gloom and illuminating the land.

Qian lay sprawled on the back of the frost dragon, watching as the figures below grew smaller and more distant, their cheering voices fading away.

Breaking through the clouds, she called out to her father. In response, a deep, calming dragon’s roar echoed, as if soothing her.

Listening to the sound, she felt at peace, watching as the surrounding clouds gradually shifted in color.

The dazzling clouds all looked alike, and she slowly lost track of the path ahead and the one behind. But the great dragon pressed onward, unwavering and steady.

A rainbow-colored halo appeared in the clouds.

Suddenly, Qian felt a surge of energy. Her body stretched and elongated, transforming into a long, sinuous azure dragon.

She spiraled around the silver-white dragon, the large and small figures flying together into the radiant ring of light, vanishing from sight.

—

A vast, pure blue sky filled Qian’s vision.

Below, an ocean of the same shade stretched endlessly, its crystalline waters revealing white reefs beneath the surface.

Scattered across this boundless shallow sea were islands made of bones—bones belonging to dragons.

The skeletal remains of dragons of all shapes and sizes were partially submerged in the sea, yet much of them remained above the surface.

Over time, the white bones had become covered with green grass, forming islands interwoven with white and green.

This was the homeland of dragons—the place where their lineage first emerged and where they returned to rest.

Every dragon, sensing their approaching death, would return here.

Some would find their kin’s remains, lying beside them in silence, awaiting their own end.

When they passed, their flesh would turn into life itself, allowing grass and flowers to grow upon their bones, connecting them to their family, forming larger and larger islands.

Solitary dragons, withdrawn by nature, would choose a more distant part of the sea to perish alone, becoming small isolated islands.

The silver dragon led the young azure dragon, flying over each island, even the farthest and most isolated ones, as if introducing her to the fallen members of their clan.