"The White Dragon?" Viker repeated the words, and it seemed to jog his memory slightly. A while back, he remembered his clan, not just his, but many clans were talking about a new star in the Dark Faction, and they had nicknamed him the White Dragon.
He was the person that had managed to best the main disciples, and those who had watched the fight said it was a spectacle of a future star, dubbing him the name White Dragon.
"That's him" Viker had a more careful eye on him, but his name, his story, it didn't make any sense. A person who could hardly breathe, tired after a single strike, this couldn't be the White Dragon.
Even if he was, it didn't explain why all the other members were loyal to him.
"How did this happen, aren't you embarrassed of yourself, look at you two, the two of you are main disciples and yet you're working directly under a no-name, he doesn't even belong to a clan, do your heads even know about this!"
It seemed absurd. The two main disciples of the top clans were working under a no-name. It was impossible for Viker to comprehend. No matter how strong he was, even then wouldn't another clan invite him into theirs, and still, he would have to serve under the clan head.
"Hey new guy, don't get jealous now just because you're not my type," Ricktor smiled. "And don't go around swinging your sword at any of us, because I can assure you that any one of us can take you on, it's not just me because I'm a main disciple, you have a lot to learn, and if you don't learn fast, you're going to end up dead."
In the middle of the conversation, a couple of people had tried to move, trying to strike Raze or get past, but the old group of Red Headbands was swiftly able to deal with anything that came their way.
After all, they were 2 to 3 stages above all of the other Red Headbands. Even if their skills were subpar, there was just too much of a gap in strength.
They didn't try again, and when the place was silent once more, Raze was done with his training and started to head back to the main building.
Once he was gone, Ricktor lifted his own sword and the rest followed as they headed back to the courtyard. The new Red Headband students had a slightly sour taste in their mouths.
The new students eventually started to settle in for the rest of the day. Some of them stayed in their room, while others were outside training. They would glance over at the old students, trying to keep up with them once in a while, but they didn't dare go up to them and ask for advice.
After their arrogance, they now felt like they truly were in a lower position compared to before. The sun was starting to set slightly, and Opus was starting to heal from his wounds.
The Red Headband teacher had actually gotten some ointment to put on the wound across his chest, and allowed the rest of his body to heal up. When Opus eventually opened his eyes, he found himself in one of the student's rooms, with the teacher and Viker inside.
"I already know what happened, I'm sorry for embarrassing you, Viker," Opus declared immediately. He thought he could help Viker reach the top of the academy and he would be by his side.
Opus knew his strength. So he was trying to raise his position by staying close to those that he knew would rise.
The thing was, Viker didn't say anything back, he had nothing to complain about. After all, he didn't witness the humiliation that had happened to them all.
"I have to ask though, who was that guy? I mean, how did a wooden sword manage to slash through my skin like that? My Qi was activated in my body as well," Opus stated. "Did he hide some type of sword here, isn't that against the rules, shouldn't he be punished?"
The teacher, who was present now seeing that Opus was fine, stood up from his seat and was ready to leave.
"Teacher, who is he!" Opus asked again.
"I believe your friend already knows the answer to that one. It's a good thing that you learned now and not later," the teacher claimed.
When they left the room, Viker finally spoke.
"The one who attacked you, he's the one that is known as the White Dragon. You said you went up against him in the assessment before, right? I'm sure you would have heard that name as well."
It took a while for Opus to put two and two together. Even when he had heard the news of the White Dragon he just never envisioned that it would be a no-name of all people.
From his information, Raze had even been placed in the Blue Headband group, which was why he assumed his position was one that wasn't earned but given due to him being one of the few survivors.
"But, his strike, I saw it when he hit me, there was still something wrong with him. I think he's got to be quite sick or something, right? Maybe he was poisoned," Opus claimed.
Viker thought about this as well. It was clear that the White Dragon was only able to do one strike and no more after that. It would be easy for anyone to take him out and earn the title of Dragon Slayer, becoming the new star.
The larger issue at hand was all of those around him that were protecting him. It would be impossible to take him out, and the more he thought about it, the more it still didn't make sense why the clan leaders would be looking after him.
"I'm thinking of one or two things, I haven't given up just yet," Viker claimed. "We still need to prove ourselves, we need to take out those around them one by one, lowering their guard and then go for the White Dragon."
In his head, when he was scanning around at the old group of Red Headbands, there were two that stood out to him that appeared to be complete idiots. The dark-skinned warrior and the one with the eyepatch.
'The two of them look to be the easiest to deal with, and are away from the others most of the time as well.'
There was a thought in the back of Viker's mind though, and it was the words from Ricktor, about how every single one from the old group was able to best him.
'I can see there being a big gap between me and you, but I can't see me being weaker than all of the old group. It's only been a couple of months since they entered this academy. They are still just looking down at us all.'
Still, just in case, Viker felt like he needed a backup plan.
"Also, I'm wondering if I can speak to the principal or the other Clan Heads, to see what they think about them working for the White Dragon. I'm sure they will be quite surprised and might even decide to act themselves."