A myriad emotions rose inside Ronan’s heart to which he had no explanations for. This was by far his first defeat ever and he did not know how to handle it with grace.

For the first 5 minutes, he was in denial. He could not accept the result of the match as he tried to make excuses. He was lost in thought.

‘What kind of a match is a first blood match? You fight till you knock someone out unconscious, this was stupid!’

‘That power… That searing heat… That was no elemental power. That guy is a variant! A mutated elemental user, a freak! How can my skin burn upon mere contact? What kind of a mutation is that ? , I have never heard of it !’

For a while, Ronan thought of a dozen different excuses to pacify his heart. However, none of them seemed to work as the logical side of his brain kept rejecting those excuses. Slowly, he was forced to come to terms with the reality of the situation._.

When he finally accepted the fact that he had lost, inadvertently, tears started forming in his eyes. They dripped one by one to the ground below, soaking it wet in small, round raindrops.

Ronan had never cried. Not even when he was beaten to a pulp while being trained in the palace, or when he was called derogatory names when he lived on the streets. However, today, he cried as he felt his false pride shatter along with the misconception that he was ‘special’.

Although he never explicitly stated it, Ronan understood that he had an above-average talent, especially since everyone always treated him like a monstrous genius. The losses that Ronan suffered back in the palace, he always attributed those to a severe level difference and a lack of battle experience and took it as a learning curve and a lesson.

He was naturally aware of how other kids spent their childhoods playing happily and did not bother themselves with training, and he looked at them with contempt, thinking that because he worked harder than them today, he would always have an advantage over them tomorrow.

Coming to the academy, Ronan only ever thought of reaching the heights of Percy and beating him in battle. However, never did he ever put the other kids in his eyes, none were worth sparing a second glance from him , or so he believed up until now.

His contempt grew once he saw how low-levelled everyone else was and how inexperienced the seniors with higher levels than him were. On the very first day, Ronan was ready to become a solitary wolf detached from the pack, as he was sure that mingling with weaklings would serve him no purpose.

Which is why this defeat hurt him so much. The fact that his opponent was 16 levels weaker than him, and because he should not have, in any scenario, gotten a one-up on him , someone who trained day and night since age 3, the taste of defeat shook Ronan’s mental fortitude as he was forced to face the fact that there were a lot of special people in this world, and he was just one amongst them.

After ten minutes of bawling and sniveling, Ronan dusted himself off as he got back to his feet, taking steady, deep breaths. He carefully looked at his wound, and swore that this particular injury would remind him to always be humble in life and to never judge a book by its cover.

The clumsy stuttering kid who he looked on as a weakling defeated him today with one hit! It would always be a reminder for him to never underestimate someone just because they did not exude murderous aura.

He promised to not judge people by their power levels. He would never again walk inside the corridors of the academy with a sense of superiority As now, he was finally in a mindset to start ‘learning’ and making the most of his opportunity to study here in the national academy of Avalon.

Percy’s timely intervention stopped Ronan from going down a wrong path, as that small incident had seriously altered the young man’s perception towards life in a positive manner. Thankfully, it came at the very first day of the academy, as the lectures were about to start and nothing was lost yet.

Although Ronan did not notice him, Percy was looking in his direction from a distance, a small smile appearing on his face while seeing his brother pick himself back up after this upset.

Ronan meant the world to Percy. He was the reason why Percy conducted himself in an upright manner and trained as hard as he did, in order for him to become the ideal role model for his younger brother to follow.

Percy had, in truth, trained like a maniac in the last one year, sleeping only 4 hours a day just for the chance to show Ronan his power level today and motivate him to work hard inside the academy.

He knew that the moment he slowed down his work-rate, the tremendously talented brother of his would out-shine him in a glance. Although Percy understood that it was going to become an inevitable reality someday, he did not wish for that day to come before Ronan matured as a person. As, presently, Ronan’s greatest motivation in life was to surpass his older brother. And he knew that very well.

For that very reason, Percy wanted to be as tall of a mountain as he could. That way, Ronan would not realize it , That, by the time he surpassed Percy, Ronan would become an even taller mountain.

Had Ronan fallen into despair after such a small incident, it would have caused Percy heartbreak. However, the young Draco was of a strong mentality as he knew how to take his losses like a man.

Smiling in the dark, Percy mumbled in a nostalgic tone, “That’s right, Ronan. Avalon is too small for you. You’re meant for something much bigger. Yet, the path is perilous. Be humble. Learn, grow, and then soar. Soar like the dragon you are! And let none stand as your equal! Not even me!”

His voice turned sombre, a trace of sadness hidden within.

“Not even me…”

/// A/N :- Thank you to everyone who has supported my book so far! The book is henceforth going to be locked and premium.

I sincerely hope that the support you all have shown this work till this point will only grow. Every chapter here on out will be edited professionally by an editor, as I wish to provide the best quality for the coins I charge.

Chapter length tomorrow onwards will be 1400-1800 words (8-10 coins).

A sincere thank you to sivanthe for the 5000 coin supergift! ///