“Don’t be like this, Arthur. You’re a Fire Dragon Knight, not a Shadow Dragon Knight. Even if other types of dragons imitate until they die of old age, they could never master the unique skills of the Shadow Dragon. Big brother Goddard’s Shadow Dragon is naturally skilled at hiding and concealing its presence—when it comes to ambushes and one-hit kills, no one can compare. That’s just for surprise attacks, though. If it’s a head-on confrontation, your combination with Michael definitely has the upper hand. The power of a Dragon Knight requires both the knight and their dragon partner to use their wisdom to control it, not just let the power run wild. You and Michael need to think it through. I believe the fire element should be all about attack, attack, and more attack—the best offense is the best defense. Overwhelm your opponent so they can’t fight back. Why would you even need defensive tactics?” Morgan kindly reminded Arthur not to keep making the same mistake. Honestly, a sneaky Fire Dragon pretending to be stealthy is just a clownish joke wherever it appears—such a disgrace to dragons. Morgan could even imagine Arthur being stripped of the honor of being a Dragon Knight by the old dragons for teaching Michael the wrong things.

Morgan’s gold-element dragon, Gold Coin, had already covered one eye with its claw. Poor Michael, how did he end up with someone like Arthur as his knight? Maybe he should just secretly get rid of Arthur and free this poor little Fire Dragon.

The golden dragon Gold Coin secretly ground its ivory fangs, wondering whether it should add a little human snack to its menu.

Every Dragon Knight is a solitary wielder of supreme power, always keeping their abilities a closely guarded secret. The more secrets they hide, the more likely those secrets will become their trump card for survival or victory at a critical moment. A Dragon Knight’s unique skills are known only to their mentor and disciple; even a lifelong partner might not know a thing. Usually, people in the same profession are very wary of letting others know their secret techniques—they’d rather everyone else be far inferior to themselves.

If Arthur weren’t Morgan’s friend from the training camp, and a noble at that, who was lucky enough to become a Dragon Knight alongside him, Morgan wouldn’t be interested in giving him any advice.

A dragon’s elemental power comes from the gifts of the gods, and there’s no inherent superiority or inferiority. The difference in strength depends only on how it’s used. Even water and fire, if controlled to the ultimate degree, can achieve miraculous mutual generation and restraint.

“Morgan, now that you say that, I think I get it a bit. The old guys in our clan just sleep all day and never teach the younger generation anything. All they ever say is that dragons don’t need to learn, that a long life will teach a dragon everything it needs to know.” The fire-element dragon Michael, who hadn’t spoken until now, gave Morgan a grateful smile. With those rows of sharp white teeth, honestly, the smile wasn’t cute at all—it looked like he was about to eat someone. The young dragon then turned his head and rolled his eyes dramatically at his knight: “Arthur, you’re such a brainless guy!”

Hearing this from the fire dragon, the gold dragon Gold Coin on the side gave ten thousand degrees of sympathy. Knights choose dragons, but dragons also choose their knights.

A Dragon Knight is not just a dragon’s partner, but also its guide in wisdom. It takes only a dozen or so years for a human to grow from child to adult, but a dragon takes at least a thousand years to reach adulthood. For dragons, a lifespan of tens of thousands of years can make them bored out of their minds.

The knowledge and innate skills passed down through bloodlines are enough for a dragon to survive and live independently once it grows to a certain point, so the dragon race simply takes a hands-off approach, letting each dragon slowly learn and master everything on its own, so it won’t feel lonely during its long life.

“Michael, don’t say that about me! At least give me a little dignity.” Arthur looked aggrieved. Being looked down on by your own dragon partner in front of others is really embarrassing, even in front of your best friend Morgan. For the sake of his pride, he waved his hands excitedly like a monkey and tried to defend himself: “I’m just doing it for both of us! Hehe, wouldn’t it be awesome if big brother Goddard saw us suddenly use a Shadow Dragon’s special move? That would be so cool.”

“Ugh… what a stupid guy. Don’t you know that opposing elements will conflict with each other? Otherwise, up to now, there would have been multi-element or even all-element dragons in the dragon race. Even a dragon with the rare talent of two elements is something you only see once in a million years. And even if such a mutant dragon existed, would it ever become a mount for a little knight like you? It would never be among the contract dragons.” Seeing Arthur’s exaggerated gestures, the gold dragon Gold Coin beside him acted like an ostrich, slamming its huge, hard head deep into a pile of rocks with a loud thud—obviously shocked. In front of a metal dragon, even the hardest rocks are softer than tofu. Then the gold dragon Gold Coin jumped up, one wing shaking out several sharp, sword-like metal blades, pointing straight at Arthur, and said to the fire dragon Michael: “Little Fire Dragon, want me to get rid of this clueless, idiotic knight for you? Being with him is a disgrace to our dragon race.”

Section 4: The Annoying Rotten Apple