Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Instructor Jinis was the chief instructor for practical training every year.

There were several other instructors that worked in rotation under him.

He had been working here for over five years already.

As for his hobby, it was riding on his dragon. His job.

Us First-Years were able to watch the Second-Years train for several days.

Many had been stunned at first, but after a while, they stopped shrinking back and running away immediately when a dragon came near. By the end, they were able to return to their old selves and fool around while a dragon was right next to them.

Familiarity was scary. Besides, fooling around like that was still dangerous.

As for the smaller dragons, if they crashed into you, it could easily result in your bones being broken. If they stepped on your foot, it would get crushed completely.

In other words, we should be fully aware of the dangers of dragons before getting so accustomed to them. That was what Instructor Jinis taught us.

“So, it seems that you are finally used to seeing the dragons now, fledglings.”

“Yes, I’m fine now.”

One of the students answered.

“I am glad to hear that.”

“Thank you!”

“Thank you!”

“Thank you!”

Everyone except for me shouted.

This was weird.

“Are you really not scared?”

“We’re not scared!!”

“We’re not scared!!”

“We’re not scared!!”

Did they not see it?

Where this was going…

“Alright, fledglings. That means you must be perfectly fine with moving on to the next step. Now get on.”

This wasn’t just about showing us dragons so we could become familiar with them. It was also for the benefit of the Second-Years as well.

In other words, they were going to train by having us ride with them.

Of course, this would be their first time riding the dragons with a passenger.

What this meant was…

“A human sacrifice.”

Look, they are going to have to carry people with them eventually, so we’re going to use you students as training tools.

“…”

My classmates suddenly realized the danger they were in.

“Bah. Even if you do fall off, there is a good chance that you won’t die. So don’t worry.”

“…”

“Um, Instructor.”

“What? Ah, Leon. If you have a question, let’s hear it.”

“What are the chances of us being injured if we fall off of the dragon’s back?”

“You think it’s possible to fall off without being injured?”

He looked at me with a puzzled expression. So, we were sure to get hurt then.

While it would be tight, a small dragon could carry six to seven people.

Obviously, it was going to be dangerous when it moved quickly, and the people riding would be nervous the whole time.

And so for safety reasons, it was decided that each Dragon Master would be assigned just one passenger.

It wasn’t enough added weight to really affect the dragon.

In other words, it would be able to go incredibly fast.

“Now, team up with your roommates and ride together.”

“…Ye-yes.”

They were all hesitant now. I knew how they felt.

I ended up teaming up with Marty.

“I’ll try to keep the swaying to a minimum, but you’ll have to hold on tight.”

“Got it.”

As this was their first time carrying someone else, the Second-Years also looked quite nervous.

They could barely even ride the dragons a few months ago, so it was no surprise.

“There sure is a lot of practical training.”

“We don’t have that much time left at the Academy. It’s a tough job, making full-fledged Dragon Masters out of us in such a short time.”

While they had been chosen by the dragons, they were still just ordinary people.

They hadn’t undergone any special training before that.

It wasn’t until the dragon mark appeared that they started training. Some of them still didn’t seem to understand what this would mean for them.

With just one year left, I could only imagine how tough the remainder of their training would be.

“Alright, we’ll start by just moving straight. And then I’ll slowly move on to other things, like turning and suddenly stopping and starting.”

“Uh, Marty. Do you have a fixed list of things you have to do?”

“Yeah, that’s the whole point. And if we can’t do it all, we’ll have to do some extra training. We lose points if you fall off or get hurt. There’s also a penalty if you die. So I’m going to try and prevent getting that penalty.”

“You better do more than try.”

“Haha! Yes. Alright, let’s go.”

Ultimately, this training lasted for fifteen days.

On the last day, they made them carry passengers through an obstacle race.

And to no one’s surprise, several people were thrown off of the dragons.

And while they were injured, no one was hurt too badly or ended up dead.

Did they really do this every year?

I asked Marty about it. ‘They did it last year. But there was no obstacle race.’ He replied lazily.

So, the race was something they just did this year. Why?

I arrived in the Royal Capital in March, and the opening ceremony ended in April.

After that, we had lessons and built up our bodies. Now it was nearing the end of May.

Most of our lessons this month had been with the Second-Years. Which meant we spent a lot of time with the dragons.

While our days were hectic, they were also fulfilling. In fact, I had completely forgotten about a certain matter.