Chapter 41: The Top Student Dragon, Claudia

"White Dragon, Claudia."

As Muria called out this name, all the dragons present turned their gazes towards a slender and petite white dragon, who, like the others, was a young dragon with a disproportionately large head and a smaller body.

This white dragon was clearly different from the others. She sat with a kind of intellectual elegance that made the white dragons sitting beside her feel inferior, instinctively gathering around her as if she was their leader.

Hearing her name called by Muria, Claudia, the white dragon, stood up and walked towards Muria on all fours, exuding a calm and confident demeanor, her eyes full of self-assurance.

"How infuriating, a white dragon, considered a disgrace to dragonkind, possesses such outstanding magical talent?"

"Hey, how many spells do you think Claudia has learned this time? How many rewards will she get from Muria?"

"Who knows, she's a freak among dragons. The rewards she gets alone are more than what ten dragons combined receive."

"I really doubt if Claudia is actually a white dragon. She's like a silver dragon in white dragon's skin."

"You think so too? I suspect one of her parents might be a crystal dragon. How could a white dragon be so abnormal!"

As Claudia, the young white dragon, left the area where the young dragons were staying, they started whispering among themselves as if a kind of invisible restraint was lifted, sharing their opinions and views.

"Claudia, show us the spells you've learned!" Unlike how he treated other dragons, Muria looked at the young white dragon with a faint smile, not specifying which spells she should perform because it wasn't necessary.

As the young dragons discussed, Claudia was a special kind of dragon. Unlike other dragons who learned spells for crystals, Claudia learned spells out of sheer interest. She had a strong passion for learning, a born spell-casting dragon.

"Bull's Strength!" "Cat's Grace!" "Eagle's Splendor!" "Fox's Cunning!" "Owl's Wisdom!"

In just a moment, Claudia cast five second-tier transmutation spells at once, the dazzling magical aura nearly blinding the many young dragons watching her.

"Almost instant casting… five spells." Muria was somewhat astonished by the little white dragon in front of him, feeling a slight sense of powerlessness. This dragon was just two years old, with a strength of only bronze tier three.

The key point was that her bronze tier three strength was gained through relentless meditation, day and night, because when Claudia was born, she only had the strength of bronze tier two. She was far more diligent than any other dragon.

"Hard work pays off" is the best description of the achievements obtained by Claudia, the white dragon.

"Is there more?" Muria looked at her with a hint of expectation. Claudia had already learned all the second-tier spells she could, including these five transmutation spells, which she had mastered long ago. Now, she was demonstrating her spellcasting capability to Muria.

Upon hearing Muria's words, Claudia, without a word, dispelled the effects of the five transmutation spells on herself. Then, she began chanting a spell, and a cold wind started to blow across the training field in sync with Claudia's rhythmic voice…

Dozens of ice balls, the size of soccer balls, formed in the air, tumbling around as Claudia chanted. Then, the young white dragon raised her paw, pointing at a bear-shaped wooden target. The ice balls turned into streaks of white light, shooting straight at the wooden target.

"Crack!" The impact of sixteen ice balls instantly shattered the five-meter-tall bear-shaped wooden target into a pile of frost-covered wood chips. The remaining ice balls continued to shoot straight, striking other targets and covering them with a layer of frost.

"A third-tier spell, Ice Storm." Muria gasped. Bronze tier could only cast first and second-tier spells, while it took silver tier to cast third-tier spells.

"Over-tier casting." On the training field, many young dragons cast their envious, jealous, or admiring gazes towards Claudia. Since they were also learning spells, they knew what Claudia's actions represented.

Muria looked at Claudia with a slightly complex gaze. In any world, there are beings whose abilities far surpass those of their peers. Not only that, but they also work harder than their peers, resulting in their extraordinary achievements.

"A third-tier spell, forty crystals as a reward. But, casting a third-tier spell with bronze tier strength, the reward is multiplied by ten. Plus, for almost instantly casting five second-tier spells, a hundred crystals as a reward."

Muria announced the reward for Claudia loudly, causing nearly all the young dragons to stir. A reward of five hundred crystals was an unimaginable treasure for dragons that had only been born a few years ago.

The young dragons' heated gazes turned towards Claudia, wishing they were the ones receiving Muria's reward. Claudia could feel the gazes on her, many of which were hostile, but she didn't care. In this dragon fortress, Muria was the absolute ruler, and now, this ruler was favoring her.

"Muria, can I exchange my reward for something else?" Just as Muria was about to retrieve the crystals for Claudia, she suddenly spoke up with a request.

"What would you like to exchange for?" Muria was taken aback for a moment but replied very kindly. He genuinely liked and admired such a studious dragon. He admitted to himself he couldn't be as diligent as Claudia.

Perhaps Claudia's talent was slightly better than that of an average white dragon, but Muria felt her current achievements and strength were the result of her relentless meditation, squeezing every bit of her free time to practice spells. There are rewards only for those who put in the effort.

"I would like magic crystals." The young white dragon looked up at Muria, a bit nervous. Claudia was smarter than the other young dragons; she knew that Muria rewarded them with crystals because he didn't care about them, considering them useless items that were just taking up space.

But magic crystals were different. These crystals, filled with elemental power, were a universally accepted currency, more valuable than gold or silver and practically never depreciating in value.

"Okay." To Claudia's surprise, Muria agreed after only a brief consideration, without the outrage she had anticipated. It seemed Muria was more generous than she thought.

"But if it's exchanged for magic crystals, it can't be five hundred." Muria told Claudia, "Ten crystals for one magic crystal. I'll award you fifty elemental crystals this time. Do you have any objections?"

"No, no!" The young white dragon's eyes twinkled with joy as she nodded eagerly. This number was beyond her expectations.

Then, in front of all the young dragons, she stored the shining sky-blue elemental magic crystals in her storage space, ignoring all the envious and jealous gazes.

...Thus, Muria didn't let his dragons live as those in Erathia, who spent their days eating and sleeping without a care. He carefully planned their daily routines and gave them learning tasks according to their individual abilities.

For the dragons that followed his rules and completed their learning tasks on time, he not only rewarded them with a large number of crystals but also allowed them to make additional requests. However, most of the young dragons qualified to make requests wanted to see the legendary White Jade Palace.

Yes, the White Jade Palace was a legend among the dragons raised in the fortress. Rumors had it that the palace's floors were paved with gold bricks, its roofs made of silver, and decorated with crystals and gemstones, with each room filled with unimaginable treasures for dragons.

This legend, which had circulated among the young dragons for who knows how long, became reality after Claudia, the top student dragon, returned from a visit to the White Jade Palace with Muria. The existence of the palace boosted the young dragons' eagerness to learn spells to an astonishing level, once again proving dragons' desire and greed for treasures.

For the young dragons striving to learn spells just to see the White Jade Palace, the six young red dragons who had reached the juvenile stage were dismissive. They had seen the construction of the White Jade Palace and even sneaked into the palace to steal. This fact somehow gave these six juvenile dragons an inexplicable sense of superiority.

Time flew as Muria raised and taught these young dragons. During this period, he had to strictly discipline a few troublesome dragons, which took some time to get used to.

By the time Muria turned eighteen, the first dragons began entering their slumber phase, with more and more young dragons following suit. They had passed their young dragon stage and needed to sleep to enter the juvenile stage, experiencing another growth spurt.

The number of young dragons learning decreased significantly due to this irresistible factor, initially making Muria quite uncomfortable. At that moment, he realized he didn't dislike these dragons as he claimed; instead, he had grown fond of these unruly, occasionally troublesome young dragons through their time together. Educating them had become a part of his life.

Fortunately, these dragons were born over three different years, so they entered their slumber phase at different times. Thus, there were always dragons under Muria's guidance, keeping him busy.

When Muria turned twenty, the dragon eggs given to him by the Golden Dragon Mother, Atris, hatched almost simultaneously, entering their slumber. Their juvenile stage had ended, and they would become six young dragons after waking up.

Hearing this news, Muria stayed silent in his room for a long time. Over the years, besides growing taller and stronger, reaching silver tier five, he hadn't changed much, still resembling a young child. When transformed into a human, he looked just like a little kid.

Muria's lifespan was much longer than that of dragons, naturally extending each of his life stages far beyond his previous life's imagination.

Funny, right? I just read some book reviews, and someone said I missed an update yesterday. Although I only post one update, I've never missed a day. Those who say I missed an update should wash their eyes or perhaps visit a doctor.