"How long are you going to keep hiding?"

No one answered, as if Merlin were talking to himself.

"Still pretending? Fine. I'll play along."

He picked up a rock from the ground, imbued it with magic, and threw it at one of the trees in front of him.

Boom!

The rock shattered the tree. At the same moment, a shadow darted swiftly to the side.

"Finally showing yourself?" Merlin chuckled softly.

He fixed his gaze on the shadow, which revealed itself to be a girl of the dragon race.

She was tall, only a head shorter than him.

Her body was well-developed, with a slim waist and a full chest.

Two horns protruded from her head, giving her an intimidating appearance.

Her beautiful face looked cold, and her pupils resembled Lyserra's.

"As expected of the current number one," the girl said sincerely. "You're sharp and strong, Merlin Clay. Unfortunately, I'll be taking your place as the top champion. Prepare yourself!"

Whoosh!

Her figure burst forward and appeared right in front of Merlin. She raised her right hand, sharp claws extending from her fingers.

She aimed straight for Merlin's chest, clearly intending to kill him in a single strike.

Merlin did not panic. He channeled mana into his legs and stepped back twice.

The attack missed, but the dragon girl did not stop. She launched one strike after another, all of them failing.

Annoyed, she gritted her teeth and snapped, "All you do is dodge like a coward!"

She leapt into the air and kicked toward the right side of Merlin's face.

Merlin raised his hand and effortlessly deflected the attack.

The dragon girl was startled and tried to twist her body to launch another attack, but Merlin stopped her.

He grabbed her leg, throwing off her balance and preventing her from turning.

Then he clenched his fist, coated in mana, and drove it into her stomach.

Bang!

The dragon girl was sent flying more than a hundred meters, crashing through two trees and knocking them down.

"The girl's stomach is quite soft," he remarked with a small nod.

"[Ugh…]" the system's disgusted voice echoed in his mind.

Merlin frowned and complained, "What? Are you unhappy that I hit her? Don't blame me. She started it."

Although Merlin believed in equality, he generally disliked hitting women.

Unfortunately, the dragon girl had attacked first—and she had clearly intended to kill him.

There was no way he could just stand there and not fight back, right?

The system didn't reply, but Merlin could still feel its lingering disgust, which irritated him.

"Ahem! You're very strong, Merlin Clay," the dragon girl said, coughing.

She stood up with a pained expression. Strangely, however, Merlin noticed a hint of joy on her face, as if she were enjoying the pain.

"But this isn't over! I will defeat you!"

After saying that, she pressed her palms together, and a powerful red aura burst from her body.

Merlin sensed the danger, but he made no move to interfere.

He waited, curious to see what the dragon girl would do next.

The next second, the girl's body slowly transformed into a young white dragon, standing four meters tall.

Judging by her appearance, she was far less ferocious than Lyserra or Calystron.

Perhaps because of her young age, her form was not particularly terrifying.

Roar!

She let out a powerful roar that instantly destroyed the surrounding trees.

Then, with a single flap of her wings, she lunged at Merlin.

"Die!"

She raised her massive claws and swung them down at him.

If it had been any other student, they would have been defeated instantly. Dragons were extremely powerful, especially in terms of physical strength.

Those of the same level had little chance of defeating one.

Unfortunately, her opponent was Merlin.

He had Lyserra by his side and the blessing of Calystron, the powerful dragon spirit.

Facing the young dragon before him posed no difficulty at all.

Boom!

The ground where Merlin had been standing exploded, sending dust flying in all directions.

"Hahaha! I won!" the young dragon laughed triumphantly.

There had never been a single opponent who could defeat her in dragon form.

Even humans stronger than her had been forced to kneel and admit defeat.

"Defeated? Little girl, you're far too naive."

A playful voice sounded from behind her.

The young dragon froze and tried to turn around, but a powerful blow struck her head and sent her flying dozens of meters away.

Not stopping there, she felt her body slammed into the ground, unable to move a single finger.

As panic overwhelmed her, Merlin appeared with his hands in his pockets.

Above him, a red magic circle five meters in diameter spun slowly.

"You want to defeat me? Pfft. Sorry, but that only happens in your dreams."

A smile spread across his face, sending chills down the young dragon's spine.

"Wait… I… I…"

Just as she was about to give up, a fireball shot out from the magic circle and struck her head-on.

Merlin landed on the ground and whispered softly, 'It's a pity she had to be eliminated so early. But who told her to come looking for me to fight?'

He turned his gaze to the young dragon, who was still burning and writhing in pain.

Second after second passed, yet strangely, she did not die and was not eliminated. Instead, she remained there, as if stubbornly refusing to leave the test.

Merlin quickly extinguished the flames, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief.

Even so, the burns covering her body could not be ignored. Her massive form slowly reverted to that of a dragon girl.

Perhaps because of her injuries, she managed to hold on only for a moment before completely losing consciousness.

Merlin walked over and stopped right beside her. He opened his right palm, and a ball of fire formed above it.

He was about to kill her, but in the end, he restrained himself.

It wasn't because he was tempted by her beauty, but because he felt a strange sense of familiarity, as if he had seen her somewhere before.

"System, open her status panel."

Name: Nerixa Obryx

Age: 10 years old

Identity: First Princess of the Dragon Race

Talent: S

Rank: Fifth Stage of Transformation

Bloodline: Dragon Emperor (Gold)

Favorability: 40

The moment Merlin saw her identity, he froze.

"Nerixa Obryx? The princess of the dragon family?"

Only then did he understand why she had felt familiar. She was one of the heroines from the novel.

"What kind of luck is this?" Merlin muttered in amazement. "How did I end up meeting a heroine from the dragon race?"

Nerixa Obryx was the daughter of the Dragon Queen, who was also a heroine.

In other words, Abel would eventually have both mother and daughter.

Of course, in the original novel, the protagonist had yet to conquer Nerixa.

That was because Abel wasn't strong enough to defeat her completely.

After all, she only acknowledged those who were stronger than herself.

"Good thing I didn't kill her outright," Merlin whispered in relief. "Otherwise, she'd definitely bear a grudge after this trial ends."

Without hesitation, he picked her up and carried her to the cave where he had stayed the previous night.

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