Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot-Chapter 123 - 122 - The Trail Ends.

That evening.

The clearing where the enumeration was held buzzed with tension.

Beneath the tall banners of the Velmoria Academy, students formed uneven lines—tired, scraped, mud-covered, and more emotionally destroyed than a failed midterm right before winter break.

Professors sat at long, enchanted tables, clipboards floating beside them, noting gem counts as the long line of third-year students approached, one by one.

"I got one," a bruised student mumbled, holding up a single red gem like a defeated lottery winner.

The nearest professor, a thin man with ink-stained fingers, raised an eyebrow. "One?"

"Y-yeah. I almost died four times."

The professor looked at the guy from head to toe, only to shake his head.

"Next!"

The next in line walked up, smiling.

"I got two!" He said proudly. "One was under a giant toad, and the other one tried to teleport away from me. I may have insulted its mother to make it stay."

"Fascinating." The professor nodded, impressed by his techniques, before he called, "Next."

"I didn’t get any," whimpered the girl next in line. There were still some spider legs clinging to her hair. "But I made friends with a rock."

The professor shook his head. "Next."

Yulenne, standing at the head table with arms folded and face unreadable, adjusted her glasses again.

Her jaw twitched.

She had been hearing the same nonsense on repeat for the past hour. Most students had collected between zero and two gems.

Three was considered "impossible" and earned suspicious glances from classmates who’d spent the night crying into bushes.

Yet—somehow—every report was... consistent.

Too consistent.

Callen, frowning beside her, whispered, "This shouldn’t be happening. The trial is difficult, yes, but not this difficult. There were more than enough gems scattered across the forest."

Larth, from the side, gave a sharp nod. "Could it be that someone is hoarding them?"

Yulenne didn’t respond.

She was already glancing around.

’Where is the Vaise group?’

Almost as if summoned by tension and dramatic timing, they appeared—emerging casually from the trees at the edge of the clearing.

Raven walked at the front, hands in pockets, face calm.

Clara walked beside him, adjusting her gloves.

Selena clung to his arm, still sleepy.

Siris followed with a blank smile, dagger humming in her hands like it had tea to spill.

Rufus and Jake carried training dummies on their backs for some reason.

Jessy looked like she’d rather be anywhere else.

Alex was chewing a leaf. Again. freeweɓnøvel~com

Finally, Lia was walking between Raven’s group, only her face visible to others.

One thing, however, was noticed by everyone.

They were... empty-handed.

Yulenne narrowed her eyes.

Not a single gem in sight.

Around them, whispers rose like boiling water.

"Even they didn’t get much?"

"Guess the trial really was impossible..."

"Wait, what if they only got, like, three? That would mean no one was lying..."

"Oh, thank gods. I don’t feel like a failure anymore."

Yulenne cleared her throat. "Raven Von Vaise. Group Twelve. Step forward."

They did.

The silence was unnatural now. Even the wind seemed curious.

"Please display your collected gems," Yulenne said calmly.

Raven turned to his group.

They exchanged glances.

Then, without a word, Raven raised a small, bone-carved whistle to his lips... and blew.

PHWEEEEEEEE!

At first, nothing.

Then—

Rustle. Rustle. Chitter. Chitter.

The forest... responded.

From every bush, tree, and suspicious pile of moss, squirrels began to emerge.

At first, a dozen.

Then three dozen.

Then hundreds.

Each squirrel carried one or two glowing gems in their tiny paws or dragged them in tiny sleds made of bark.

One squirrel had tied gems to his tail like a festive parade float. Another was flying—yes, flying—using magical fart bursts like a rocket, dragging a long chain of red gems like a wedding train.

"Oh my gods," a student whispered.

"They have an air force?" Gasped another.

One squirrel waddled forward using a mechanical leg made from a spring and spoons, squeaking proudly as it deposited its load.

Another had a monocle and walked like a butler, gently laying the gems down and giving Raven a nod.

Behind Raven’s group, the pile grew.

One gem.

Five gems.

Ten.

Fifty.

Hundreds.

A glowing mound of mana crystals now shimmered in the sun like a hoarded dragon’s nap spot.

For one solid minute, the world went silent.

Only the occasional squeak or squirrel battle cry could be heard.

Raven scratched the back of his neck and gave an awkward smile. "...Oops. I guess we collected most of them. By mistake."

The students exploded.

"What the hell?!"

"They cheated!"

"That’s not fair!"

"They used animals! That’s illegal, right? RIGHT?!"

Yulenne’s jaw twitched.

Callen looked like he might vomit.

Larth blinked slowly, like his life choices were catching up to him.

Even the other professors looked... uncertain.

The mood turned.

Some students looked impressed.

But others looked bitter.

Then a particularly loud boy from a lesser noble family stomped forward. "This isn’t fair! You cheated! You used creatures! That’s a violation of the spirit of the test!"

Raven’s eyes narrowed.

The next moment—

BOOM.

His aura hit the clearing like a divine hammer.

The earth trembled faintly.

The trees rustled.

Mana bent toward him.

Several students stumbled back. A few outright collapsed to one knee.

Even some professors paled.

Because this was no ordinary aura.

This was the presence of a plate-four magic swordsman. Not a normal one, but one who could defeat a sixth circle mage and a layer six knight.

It was a unique, condensed pressure that felt like it could cleave the sky and boil mana in its path.

Raven stepped forward.

His voice, calm but cutting, echoed through the clearing.

"You use a sword, right?" He asked the protester.

The guy nodded, gulping.

"And you," Raven pointed at another, "use a staff?"

Another nod.

"Those are tools you control. Tools you’re capable of using. Same with me. I’m capable of using squirrels. They listen to me. They fight for me. They serve me. So I use them. If you could, you would have. But you couldn’t. So don’t talk about what’s fair. Talk about what’s possible."

Silence.

Dead silence.

Even the professors didn’t interrupt.

The squirrel with the monocle sipped tea from a thimble on cue.

Finally, Yulenne coughed into her hand and composed herself. "...Noted. Now then, Vaise. The gems are in one pile. Who among your group gathered the most?"

Raven turned, glanced at his group, and shrugged.

"We all did, so every one of us. The squirrels worked for all of us equally. So—same number."

Yulenne raised a brow. "You’re saying all seven of you tied for first?"

"Yes."

She sighed. "Typical."

Then she raised her voice and turned to the crowd. "With that, the third-year forest trials come to an end. Rankings will be updated accordingly. Dismissed."

The crowd either groaned or cheered—or just sat in stunned disbelief.

Raven turned toward his group.

Selena smiled and leaned closer. "You always make a scene."

"Not my fault people don’t respect squirrel warfare," he muttered.

Jessy yawned. "Wanna bet Travis is screaming in his demon realm right now?"

"Probably choking on envy," Clara added.

From the top of the gem pile, Nibbles struck a victory pose.

A squirrel behind him blew into a horn made of a snail shell.

The squirrels had won.

Their humans had won.

Siris, looking at all this, suddenly whispered to Raven. "You said the squirrels serve you."

Raven Raised a brow. "And?"

Siris grinned. "That means you are ready to take over the squirrel emperor’s throne!"

Raven facepalmed. ’What was I even expecting from her?’

With that, the trail ended, and Raven’s group, despite having their dynamic changed, ended up in first place.

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