Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot-Chapter 111 - 110 - A new group member?

The trial of the Valmoria Academy’s third-year students would be conducted in the Bestiary Mountain forest.

Of course, it would be far from the inner region that had more dangerous beasts, but it would be in the forest.

Above all, this trial was an event compulsory to attend.

No student could avoid the trial, as it contributed significantly to the final scores of the third-year results.

The trial was created with the help of every third-year teacher in the academy. They used everything in the test and filled the forest with challenges.

However, to do that, the teachers must come to this forest and keep an eye on everything. They must cast magic and create traps for the trial.

The teachers had to check whether the magic traps they had placed were functioning perfectly regularly.

Because of that, they kept patrolling the forest.

So, how did no teacher know about the attack of demonic humans in the forest?

Yeah, one could say that they didn’t know about the demons yet, but how could they not see the strangeness in the forest? How could they not know that demonic humans were going around killing beasts in the same forest?

It was clear that there was one or more than one person among the teachers who were helping the demonic humans.

Therefore, Raven and his group decided not to move with the students of the academy. They had left for the Bestiary Forest at night, arriving here hours before the others.

Of course, to make it look like they were just excited for the trial, they had left Lia behind, telling her to inform the teachers about their early departure to the forest.

Now, they had a few hours to look for what the demonic humans were doing here.

Lady luck, however, seemed to be on their side, as the moment they arrived at the forest, they found the demonic humans attacking a group of squirrels, and among them was Nibbles, their one and only beast companion.

To make things better, Nibbles knew why demonic humans were in the forest.

Heck, he had the reason for the demonic humans’ attack hidden behind him.

Raven’s group was about to find that out.

..................................

The sun had yet to come out of the horizon when the battle haze cleared.

Now, in a quiet clearing nestled deep in the heart of Bestiary Mountain, the unlikely heroes of this fluffy war sat in a wide circle, lit by soft firefly light and the faint glow of Clara’s enchantments.

At the center of the circle sat Alex, legs crossed, chest puffed out as he theatrically interpreted every squirrel squeak like a squirrel-born prophet.

Beside him stood Nibbles, fur disheveled but proud, still occasionally glancing at Flurry, who sat close enough to melt him.

Flurry blinked at everything with sparkling curiosity, occasionally fluttering her gliding wings, sending tiny puffs of wind into Nibbles’s face—which he pretended not to enjoy.

"Squeak!" Nibbles announced with great dramatic flair, raising his tail like a war banner.

Alex nodded sagely, then puffed out his cheeks and shouted, "HE SAYS—’The enemy seeks the Maiden of the Sky, whose aura is the last echo of the Forgotten Wind Bloodline.’"

A beat of silence.

’Is he back to normal?’ Everyone wondered as Alex had been in some enlightened state for a while.

They didn’t know why it had happened, but now that he was back to normal, they sighed in relief.

"...He said all that?" Jessy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I translate the emotion, not the words," Alex sniffed.

’Yep. That’s Alex.’

Raven sat back with a sigh, arms crossed.

His face was unreadable, but his soul was busy screaming, ’What do you mean ’Forgotten Wind Bloodline’—is this a romance subplot or a shonen arc?!’

On Raven’s right side, Clara leaned in possessively, her arm almost but not quite around his. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to because her smile said everything.

On Raven’s left, Siris had somehow slithered closer over the last ten minutes, her head resting on Raven’s shoulder like it belonged there.

Her eyes closed, humming softly like this was a vacation.

Across the circle, Selena sat with perfect posture, lips pressed tightly together.

Her eyes flickered toward the girls clinging to Raven, and for just a second, a flicker of dark mana rippled behind her irises.

Clara was fine, but looking at Siris so close to Raven instead of her made her almost attack the girl.

It wasn’t that Selena didn’t want Siris beside Raven. She didn’t care if Siris was there if she, herself, was also there.

But she wasn’t, and that was something she couldn’t accept.

’Calm down, me.’

However, she knew she had to be patient.

If she rushed, then things might get worse.

Above all, Clara had told her to wait on their way here. She had said that things could turn for the better, but she had to be patient.

Taking a deep breath, Selena picked up a flower and began twisting its petals like a stress toy.

Meanwhile, Rufus blinked at Flurry, scratching his chin. "Wait... so she’s like, the Airbender of squirrels?"

"More like the Glider Goddess of Glowy Fluff," Alex corrected, eyes twinkling.

"She’s most likely a beast with an ancient bloodline," Raven murmured aloud finally. "The demonic humans must be under contract to find her. Or maybe some higher-up of the demons must have ordered them to catch her."

Raven knew this because he could remember a plot related to this.

There was a mention of the demons finding a very rare ancient beast that had helped them upgrade their ways of overtaking human bodies.

He had even thought that they had already caught that beast, but it seemed like they hadn’t—which was a good thing.

Clara narrowed her eyes. "That makes her a target for more than just demons. Even humans, upon realizing her worth, would try to hunt her..."

"Squeak!" Nibbles snapped suddenly—his tone uncharacteristically serious.

Alex blinked, translating without exaggeration for once. "He says, ’Touch her and I nut.’"

"...Translate again," Raven said flatly, rolling his eyes.

"I-I mean snap! Snap! Nut and snap sound the same in squirrel tongue," Alex coughed, curling into a defensive posture.

Others deadpanned at him until Jake, who had been staring silently at the moon this whole time, finally spoke.

"...Why don’t we keep her?"

Everyone turned in surprise.

Jake didn’t look away from the moon.

Raven, however, caught sight of Nibbles, who was expectantly looking at him, his eyes filled with hope.

He could even see stars in the squirrel’s eyes, so he sighed.

"I can tell that she’s scared, valuable, and above all, she’s yours," Raven said, his expression serious. "But still, let me think for a minute. Decisions like this need to have at least a few paragraphs of contemplation."

Silence again.

Then Nibbles sniffled. "Squeak."

Alex wiped away a tear. "He says... ’You’re the brother I never asked for, but always deserved. Don’t worry and take your time.’"

Rufus tilted his head. "Wait, what does she say?"

Flurry perked up, looking around nervously.

"She says she’s thankful," Alex translated gently. "And... she’d like to stay near Nibbles. Because he smells like roasted almonds."

"That’s fair," Clara said. "He really does."

But then, she frowned. "Wait. You can also understand her?"

That question made everyone notice that point.

"Yes?" Alex tilted his head. "But I don’t know how. Maybe I’m some divine incarnate sent to this planet to help Nibbles and Fluffy get together."

Everyone stared at Alex, speechless, while Raven exhaled, rubbing his temples.

This was his life now.

War with demons.

Squirrels with ancient bloodlines.

Jealous girls at his side.

A guy who thinks that he is a divine incarnate.

And Rufus.

Always Rufus.

"Hey, uh..." Rufus suddenly brightened. "If Nibbles has a girl now... does that make her a squirrel princess?"

"...Do you want to marry her?" Jessy deadpanned.

Rufus blinked. "Is that even legal—?"

Clara threw a rock at him.

Selena didn’t throw a stone, but she wanted to. ’Why the fuck do you want to know that? Just say no.’

Siris casually reached for her dagger.

"NO," Raven said loudly, pulling Siris’s hand back down. "No stabbing teammates."

"...What if it’s just a small poke?" Siris muttered.

"Still a no."

"But he needs some pain to clear his mind."

"...Just leave him be."

Alex gasped, pointing at Flurry and Nibbles. "LOOK! THEY’RE TAIL-TWINNING!"

Everyone looked.

Sure enough, their tails were twisted together in a gentle loop, like a fuzzy pinky promise.

Even Jake cracked the faintest smirk.

Raven stared at the tails, then at the stars, then at the sword in his hand.

"...I’m fighting demons. What am I doing here?"

"Witnessing love," Jessy replied, shaking her head.

Clara, now half-latched onto Raven, cooed. "Aren’t they adorable? Just like us."

Siris narrowed her eyes, not backing down. "We were adorable first."

Selena bit through the flower she was holding. ’I also want to look adorable with him!’

Rufus, meanwhile, poked a mushroom, and it exploded in his face.

Everyone ignored him.

"Well," Raven said finally, standing up. "The girl is the target. The demons will be back."

"And she’s not safe here," Clara added, rising beside him.

"Since some teachers are probably in on this, they would try approaching us." Raven rubbed his chin, declaring, "So, let’s wait for them to make their move. For now, we will wait for the other students to arrive and act normal."

Jessy stood, flicking her sword back into its sheath. "We gonna hide her, or take her with us?"

Raven glanced at Nibbles, then at Flurry—who still clung nervously to her knight-squirrel like a sticky marshmallow.

It was finally the time to give the answer.

There had been more than a few paras.

"...She stays with us," Raven replied, and Nibbles beamed.

"Group pet?" Rufus asked brightly.

Clara threw another rock at him.

Selena inhaled sharply. "We’re not calling her that."

"Squeak!" Nibbles chirped. "Squeak."

"She’s a person," Alex translated. "A flying, fluffy miracle."

Then, as everyone turned to look at him strangely, he raised his hands.

"His words, not mine," he shrugged, pointing at Nibbles.

"She is quite fluffy," Siris agreed, nodding solemnly.

Alex spread his arm dramatically. "Then it’s settled. We travel... not just as warriors... but as protectors of the sky."

"Alex. No speeches," Raven said, starting to walk.

"...Just one?" Alex begged.

"Shut it or I’ll duct tape your mouth with tree sap," Clara smiled sweetly.

The group began packing up, the night still young.

For now, the group was safe.

For now, the fluff was saved.

..................................

Somewhere behind them, Flurry blinked up at Nibbles.

"...Did you mean it? The thing you said back there?"

Nibbles blushed under his fur.

"...Every nut of it."

And just like that, they walked into the dawn.

A squirrel prince.

His gliding goddess.

And a group of misfits standing between the world and the madness clawing at its edges.

This trial had just begun.

But someone should probably tell the academy that it might be canceled due to squirrel-related divine intervention.

Might be.

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