SPLASH!
The group of Grayscale Candiru swiftly made their way to the massive ship, only slowing down when they had nearly reached their destination.
The monstrous creatures had the face of a catfish, with oily gray-colored bodies that gleamed under the setting sun. They had two pairs of barbels that danced in the air like they had minds of their own, as well as soulless, pitch-black eyes. They were as massive as an adult male, with muscular lizard-like limbs for fins and especially large hind-limbs, which they used to swiftly propel themselves in the water. They had webbed hands and feet, appearing like an abominable amalgamation of fish and reptile.
If not for the bent horn that proceeded from beneath their chin, calling them Dragons would be a stretch.
"SKRIEEEEK!"
The Grayscale Candiru opened their round mouths, revealing their razor-sharp teeth that dripped with mucus-looking saliva—clearly begging to be fed.
Low growls and screeches echoed from them as they quickly surrounded the ship and prepared to board it.
Then—
WHUUSH!
Water shot out like multiple geysers being released at once, and the Dragons charged out of the sea with their monstrous bodies. The orange sun reflected on their oily skin, giving them the appearance of fireballs descending upon the ship.
Within seconds of exiting the watery comforts of the sea, they began to land on the ship, their black eyes darting around for signs of their prey. Their leader remained in the water, observing the group with great resolve.
Its eyes shone with intelligence, clearly using strategy to test the strength of its adversaries.
And a few seconds after the first batch of Grayscale Candiru landed on the ships, their smoking corpses were sent crashing back into the sea.
The reason was obvious.
This wasn't a ship filled with naive and defenseless sailors.
It was filled with Dragon Hunters!
*********
"Hiya!"
The body of a Grayscale Candiru nearly exploded as Jet's powerful punch landed on its stomach, causing chunks of fishy flesh to fly out of the hole that his blow made. Sizzling smoke rose from its flesh as its guts spilled out, but before it could even give a final screech, Jet lashed a kick at it… sending it flying back to the sea it arose from.
He proceeded to attack his next prey, rushing at it before it could even get its bearings after landing.
BAM!
Another series of destruction, followed by forceful eviction from the ship.
As Jet did this, sweat spraying out of his bright heated skin, he glanced in the direction of a particular individual who was yet to achieve much in terms of both kills and overall defense of the ship.
His region was the most devastated of all the other ship sections, and he had also killed far fewer Dragons than Jet had. Overall, he was failing the test profusely, and Jet could feel his lips curling up with delight upon noticing this.
His grin intensified when he glanced at Dustan Kirklane, who had a troubled expression.
'Draco… what the hell are you doing? Hehe… even the Proctors are looking at you strangely, though they're not saying anything since they do not want to intervene.' Jet snickered as he thought to himself.
He couldn't complain, though, since Draco's embarrassing display only made him look better by comparison.
'Just as I suspected… your results at the Cave of Trials must have been a fluke.'
Jet had already killed at least a dozen Dragons, while Draco was simply on his third. This was because he was too sluggish, allowing the Dragons to slip past him without being able to do anything about it.
The ones who confronted him were oftentimes faster than he was, causing him to barely evade their attacks before rendering one of his own.
'How inefficient!' Jet smiled, killing one more Dragon as he noticed this. 'You should strike them down before they even get a chance to attack.'
As he was having this thought, he suddenly noticed something.
… A massive silhouette gathered around Draco!
"Hey, idiot! Watch out for—!" Jet shouted, stretching his hands in concern as his widened eyes captured what was descending.
His words came out too late, though.
BOOOM!
The Rank 2 Grayscale Candiru landed on the ship, causing the entire vessel to lose balance, swaying violently as it struggled to accommodate the horrible creature that had just gotten on board.
"Hehe…" Liquid dripped from its lips as it chuckled, its four pairs of barbels dancing around as it looked around it.
It had several whip-like appendages behind it, like thin tentacle strands, with a body thrice as large as the average Grayscale Candiru. Its oily skin was encased in a white shell-like armor, and its limbs had sharp claws to complement the razor-sharp teeth displayed from its watery maw.
This was clearly a different beast from the rest.
Not too long after it appeared, dozens of Grayscale Candiru appeared behind it, their sheer numbers frightening to the students in close proximity.
Before they realized it, they had all taken a few steps back in fear.
Even Jet, despite not retreating, was hesitant to step forward as he stared at the cold black eyes of the predator before him.
Could he win? It was highly doubtful!
Still…
"Hey!" Draco's voice suddenly echoed, breaking the deathly silence that pervaded the ship.
Everyone—including the Dragons—followed the sound of his voice, their eyes wide with shock upon seeing him right at the feet of the Rank 2 monstrosity. The primitive Grayscale Candiru were perplexed, but the Rank 2 was even more dumbfounded by the situation.
"You. Human. Feel. No fear?"
"Hehe! Why would I be afraid of a Rank 2 nobody like you?" At this point, Draco clenched his fist. "You nearly crashed into me just a second ago, so that counts as attacking me, right?"
"How. You. Understand. Me?" The Rank 2's voice, deep and majestic, displayed absolute shock and immense confusion. "But… How. I. Understand. You?"
Never before had it spoken to a human before, so this event was naturally surprising.
Unfortunately for it—
"Farewell!"
"Wait—!"
BOOOOOOOMM!!!
A single punch was all it took to completely eviscerate the Rank 2 Dragon, easily breaking through its shell-like defense and killing it on the spot.
Its body turned into massive chunks of meat that flew to all kinds of locations—most of them descending to the sea. Blood splattered the ship, staining its surface and the water beneath it in grayish green blood.
"Who's next?" Draco grinned maniacally, stretching his hands at them as he smiled. "Come get me!"
However, none of the Dragons approached.
They had just witnessed their leader die, so they instinctively knew they were no match at all.
SPLASH!
Hurriedly retreating, they descended back to the sea and were more than willing to abandon the prey they had set their eyes on. Draco saw this and quickly remembered his Secondary Quest, not willing to fail it.
'I can't draw them to me like this, which means…'
His eyes brightened as he followed the lead of the Dragons and jumped into the water with them.
"Draco, what are you doing?!" He could hear his Uncle Dustan's voice behind him, but he chose to ignore it and focus on the task at hand.
Once he entered the water, the dozens of Dragons suddenly stopped retreating and turned in his direction.
Instinctively, they knew he was in their territory, and their chances against him had just shot up considerably. Without thinking, they revealed their razor-sharp teeth and charged at him in their dozens.
'Yes!' Draco smiled like a madman. 'That's more like it!'