Dragon Necromancer: Starting With First Dragon Bloodline-Chapter 53: No Pain No Gain

"You really have an elemental affinity," Selaira muttered seriously, studying Noa. "And it is a shadow, right?"

Silence settled over the room.

The air shifted, and the atmosphere tensed instantly.

Neither of them spoke.

They just observed each other in complete silence, waiting for the other to speak up.

"What?" Thalia exclaimed.

She was the first one to break the stillness. Spending most of her time with Noa made her believe that she was the one who knew the most about him.

Thanks to her prophetic abilities, Thalia had long since known about it.

She had seen Noa manipulating shadows in her dreams, and despite not noticing it in the real world, it didn’t mean she wasn’t aware of this information.

But what confused her wasn’t that Noa had an elemental affinity.

Nor was she surprised because Noa tried to keep it a secret.

The fact that Selaira had noticed it so precisely and even asked Noa about it baffled her.

"How?" Thalia then changed the question.

Noa, too, had the same things to ask the girl—hence his surprise, fear, and instinct kicked in momentarily.

His very first reaction was to protect himself and his secret.

The grip on his shabby sword tightened.

Mana in two separate forms swirled around him, deepening his bloodlust to uncontrollable degrees.

One was raw, pure, crude, and chaotic.

It had no real pattern, but pure pressure dropped the temperature.

The other was dark, eerie, and simpler.

It moved closer to Noa, as if guiding his thoughts and personality.

But then—

Before the bloodlust erupted and forced Noa to do something he might regret or get killed for, he managed to get hold of his emotions.

At first, he sighed, calming his heart.

Then he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. "When did you first notice it?"

"You are asking if you have made any mistakes," Selaira began, not breaking eye contact with him. "But that’s not it. Your cover was almost perfect. It’s just... your luck ran out when you met me."

It was the first time Selaira had looked this smug and innocent at the same time.

"What do you mean?" Noa’s eyes narrowed.

"I meant what I said. The reason I know you have a hidden elemental affinity isn’t that you did a poor job hiding it. I guessed it from my observations."

"Observation?" Noa repeated.

He wasn’t convinced. Not yet.

However, he looked curious, and wanting to know more, he listened to the girl carefully.

"Everyone has different strengths," she stated as a matter of fact. "Still, my abilities and knowledge are superior. I have no intention of explaining everything, but you might as well know that I can differentiate patterns better than anyone else.

I can even spot similarities and uniqueness between them, and it doesn’t just stop at patterns."

Hearing this, Noa exhaled deeply. "For someone who didn’t want to share much, don’t you think you are boasting a little too much?"

At the same time, waves of thoughts filled his head.

’There is no way her beast is only epic-ranked,’ he realized after confirming her uniqueness.

No such creature existed in Noa’s database that could offer such an outstanding boost in two different capabilities.

And if that wasn’t enough, she governed over four elements.

And even if that still wasn’t enough, Selaira was a warrior, and Noa had no clue what kind of augmentations her body had received.

But no matter how deeply he searched in his reliable ancient knowledge, no such beast existed.

Not epic-ranked and not even grades beyond it.

’Perhaps it is a fairly new species?’ Noa considered and shifted his attention back to the girl.

Selaira, meanwhile, didn’t seem to mind his teasing.

"Worry not," she declared suddenly. "I won’t disclose this information as long as you don’t endanger the academy. Our training won’t be affected either. We would just have to train in secret, right?"

Noa was caught off guard.

He hadn’t expected Selaira to be this cooperative.

What’s more, she didn’t seem to mind that the Graveworm boy had an elemental affinity.

She didn’t even seem surprised.

"It would work in our favor, too," she added and smirked. "It’s going to be an interesting year. The promise I made to the council wasn’t just me throwing words at them. I am confident you can do it."

"Well, of course. As the best beast tamer, I am being trained by one of the best herself. There is no way I will fail," Noa said and finally released the strong grip over the sword.

Yes, he didn’t trust the girl with his full heart.

However, she was his best bet at this moment, and there was nothing he could do, even with a creeping distrust in his heart.

"Are you really set on taking the warrior path?" Selaira questioned. "I can help you and Thalia with magic as well."

Noa was firm in his choice.

He would rather halt his mind’s progress than doom himself.

So he nodded slowly. "I won’t change my mind," he said, and corrected his posture again.

This time, he was ready—ready to meet Selaira’s attacks head-on and counter without holding back.

Seeing this, the girl nodded gently.

Her sword cut through the air as if it could separate the dimensions in half.

Thalia, however, watched the scene from the sidelines. Cheering for Noa, she was glad that he was getting along with Selaira, her excitement never fading.

As for the battle itself, it hushed all sounds around it.

Even the air made space for them, as if it was also interested in the fight and didn’t want to miss a second of it.

Noa was more eager to win.

As usual, his shadow senses didn’t solely rely on his vision, killing the disadvantage that had cost him two losses.

With sword in his hand and shadows by his side, Noa decided to make the first move.

In a flash of a second, he vanished from his previous spot.

In his wake, a blur of his figure was left.

A moment later, he appeared behind Selaira, his sword-bearing dominant hand descending to her naked neck.

Thalia held her breath.

Noa’s heart remained steady, but just as his dull sword was about to touch her skin, a heavy kick landed in his stomach, making him regret stuffing himself earlier.

The attack Selaira had punished his unplanned offense was painful.

Shadows couldn’t keep up with her either.

It wasn’t only because of her speed, but the way she moved through the darkness and light. Every step she took was so deceptive that she fooled even these two concepts, giving a brief opening for her to charge.

And when she did so, she was utterly brutal.

Noa had to train himself and his shadows as well.

They had to mimic her movements even before she started them, not right after them.

However, doing something like this wasn’t simple.

For one, it wasn’t a spell he could train with, and by following the patterns repeatedly, he couldn’t simply find the right way to use it.

It demanded more of an instinctual, innate ability that could only be honed with enough trials and errors.

Selaira didn’t stop after one try.

She just pushed Noa to the limit and increased the demand on him in each attack.

Sometimes her silver hair was pushed back as she arched her back in two different directions and lunged at Noa like she actually wanted to kill.

That was when her relentless pressure truly shone.

Noa’s shadows were getting better at identifying her moving patterns, and even though they appeared to be random, nothing could escape the darkness.

Still, every time Noa thought he got closer to predicting her next step, her blade locked his in place.

With a sudden throw, Noa was sent flying across the arena.

"I know I am not doing it wrong," he mumbled as his tense muscles stretched, letting shadows flow from his every vein to every part of his skin.

Slowly, shadow mana particles took the majority place around the arena.

The more they were, the easier it became for Noa to spy on her actions.

"Fascinating," the girl whispered when shadows around her thickened. "No other shadow master could improve at this terrifying speed. Even your muscles adapt so well. As if... they were designed for a fight."

Noa’s breathing slowed.

If at the start of the battle his lungs cried in pain, now they remained quiet.

In a sharp clash that rang across the chamber, Noa’s every fiber moved in sync with the shadows.

Still, Selaira was merciless.

Even when Noa thought he dodged her attack, he was rewarded with either a kick to his side or a punch to his gut.

Just then—

His body tensed, and something stirred in his blood.

His muscles expanded, then snapped.

The pain was immense.

A loud heartbeat rang in his chest, sharpening everything about him.

Thalia’s eyes widened in surprise. "You did it!"

Selaira smirked at him, watching the scene with a soft smirk.

Noa, on the other hand, lay on the ground and fought against the pain that drove him crazy.

After the muscles were reconstructed, it was time for his bones.

And in an instant, after his muscles had barely healed themselves, the bones snapped in half, increasing his twitching rate.

The maid wanted to help him.

She rushed in his direction when the queen stopped her. "Let him be. That’s the price of being this fast. But... It’s too fast. Terrifyingly so."

Thalia gulped.

She wanted to help him, but nothing could ease his suffering before something buzzed in his head.

[Ding!]