After a few minutes, the SS-ranker cleared up the misunderstanding and told Liam about the general situation.
"So, you literally kidnapped me and brought me for an evaluation in this remote place?"
Liam gave strange looks to the man standing in front of him.
"Ahem, it's not like that. I, the leader of the Ice Dragon Clan, Themes, am a dragon of my word, and I can assure you that no harm will come to you or your friends..."
"In the first place, the only reason you guys are even taking part in this evaluation is because you guys yourself came to take part in the Dragon Festival..."
"And for the younger general, taking part in the Dragon Festival means that you will have to take this evaluation test..."
Hearing Themes's words, Liam couldn't argue back.
They agreed to participate in the dragon festival and came to the dragon valley of their own volition.
Now they can't blame the dragons for doing things according to their own customs.
'Ugh, if I had known that this would happen, I would have prepared a bit more...'
Liam and the group were under the impression that 'Dragon Festival' meant there would be a grand celebration and everything would be exciting to look at.
Although all of this is true, the younger generation still has to pass this evaluation test before they can go back and enjoy the real festival.
'Sometimes I feel that the older generation has nothing to do and feels bored, so they like to mess with the young ones on purpose...'
Liam had no choice but to comply with Themes's words.
Although he isn't going to completely trust the guy, he knows that there's no reason for an SS-ranker to deceive him.
If Themes was really an enemy, he could have already blasted him off the surface of the earth thousands of times by now.
But he didn't do so, even after Liam pissed him off earlier.
In other words, Themes's words are likely true; there really is an evaluation going on, and he has to pass it.
Thinking this far, Liam glanced at Themes and asked,
"By the way, what you said about my father is indeed quite shocking, but I will choose to believe it for now; I have always felt an ominous sense from him..."
"But I will try to look for more evidence later..."
Themes shook his head and said,
"There is no point in that; you can't possibly find evidence if the guy has already hidden everything..."
Liam sighed and said,
"Still, I need to try at least... I can ask Mr. Ashtel or Mr. Jin about it..."
When Themes heard Liam's words, he tilted his head in confusion and said,
"Jin? Who's that? Isn't your human race only has two SS rankers? Ashtel and Neo?"
Liam shook his head and said,
"You likely haven't gone to the outside world for a while if you don't know about it... But the human race now has four SS rankers... Raji Croft and Jin Walt are the new ones..."
Themes pondered briefly before speaking,
"Hmm, I have never heard about them; they are likely not as strong and famous as the other two if I haven't heard about them..."
Hearing those words, Liam shrugged his shoulders and said,
"Well, if you compare others to Mr. Ashtel's level of power, then everyone else will obviously look weak to you..."
Themes scratched the back of his neck and said,
"Haha, yes... Even I can't shatter the space-time fabric on such a scale as that man did to protect his kid... I was quite shocked when I heard news about that matter..."
"I don't think even the Dragon King will go that far just to protect a kid whose mere existence brought great disaster for the entire nation..."
Liam rolled his eyes and said,
"Yeah, Link is the type of guy who even made the heavens jealous just by being born in this world... Comparing yourself to the likes of him is straight-up madness..."
Even Themes shrugged his shoulders in response to those words.
"Well, he's the son of the strongest man after all; you can't possibly expect him to be weak... He didn't even have to take an evaluation; he was directly sent to the Dragon temple..." "To tell you the truth, even we SS-rank dragons rarely get the chance to go to that ancient temple... but the dragon king didn't even hesitate to invite him there..."
"As if he has seen something special in him that we can't see..."
Liam didn't want to continue hearing more praise about Link, so he changed the topic on the spot.
"Okay, forget about all that... Let's talk about the more important thing here: What do I need to do to pass your evaluation test..."
"The thing is, I came to the dragon valley because I wanted to know more about the dragons and what they generally like to eat and do, so I don't have time to waste with you here..."
"I will finish this evaluation and go to the festival to figure out what I came here for... So hurry up and tell me what I need to do..."
Liam can't use even the slightest bit of Ellie's power, and he can't even communicate with her as long as he's in the dragon valley.
If he tried to communicate, it's very likely that the Dragon King would sense her existence. Or other SS-rankers may find something amiss.
Thus, Liam wanted to hurry up and deal with all the things fast so that he could leave the dragon valley early and finally summon Ellie again.
Not being able to talk with Ellie for even one day is like a great torture to him, and he has to withstand this torture for several more days to come.
Which is already a very daunting task that will cost him a lot of patience.
His situation right now is somewhat similar to Link's when he was separated from Riya during the tournament of supreme talents.
...
"Tch, no need to be so impatient; we have all the time in the world anyway..."
"My evaluation test is simple; you just need to climb this mountain, without summoning your summoned beasts... I asked the same of the other kids of the dragon race..."
After hearing Themes's words, Liam tilted his head in confusion and asked,
"The Dragon Race has summoners too? Aren't dragons themselves quite strong and
inherently have some mastery over particular elements?"
Themes nodded his head and said,
"Obviously, we have summoners! All awakeners are fundamentally the same in the end; we
dragons are also no different... Also, those dragons who awaken to be summoners are usually
physically weaker than others most of the time..."
"Matter of fact, I myself am a summoner; you are literally standing on the back of my
summoned beast right now..."
Themes's words caught Liam off guard.
Only after Themes pointed it out did he sense that this whole mountain range is actually
located on the back of a gigantic turtle!
"Such a big turtle!? And why is it carrying such a big mountain on its back!?"
Themes frowned a bit and said,
"What are you talking about? This mountain is barely of average size; I actually use the topmost area of this mountain as a body cooler when I sleep in my dragon form..."
"The turtle is holding this mountain for my sake, as that snowy area is literally my home!"
Liam frowned a bit and said,
"So you kidnapped a kid to your home!? The more you talk, the more you become suspicious!
What do you want to do with me!?"
"Stay away, you fiend! I have a girlfriend!"
Themes rubbed his forehead to stop the headache.
'Ugh, as expected of the son of that shrewd guy, he's just as shrewd and irritating... If not for
the orders of the Dragon King to not harm the guests, I would have really beat up some sense
in this kid's head...'
The Dragon King himself said that no one's allowed to harm the guests, so Themes had no choice but to bear with Liam's annoying face.
Themes calmed down his anger, took a sip of the wine, and said in a calm voice,
"I have already explained to you the details of the test; get moving already! Keep in mind that you aren't allowed to summon your beasts, or you will get eliminated!"
With that said, Themes flew in the air like a rocket and disappeared somewhere in the sky.
But in fact, he was standing in the air while hiding his presence and was observing Liam and the other kids who were trying to climb from various directions.
The main reason why all these kids aren't able to encounter each other even while in the same location is because there is an illusion spell placed on all participants.
They won't be able to see each other even if they are standing side by side, and they will pass right through each other even if they somehow end up hitting each other.
This is the power of the insanely strong illusions created by Ayla; all evaluators are using this
power.
This is also the reason why Lia and Selain never found anyone else other than them. This illusion is so powerful that, due to her low mastery of her legendary power, even Riya was affected by it, and even Link would have been affected if they had cast it on him. Only Rio is the exception, as he has a triple-layered defense mechanism against illusions.
First, he has amazing mastery over sword intent; second, he has an imperfect sword heart; and lastly, he has true immunity.
It would be more strange if Rio fell for an illusion, even with all these defenses.
...
...
Author's Notes.
Yo! It's your beloved author here!
Question of the day:
Which test would you rather take?
1. The illusion forest test, where weird creatures wander.
2. Wandering in a dangerous garden and then answering Aria's questions.
3. Climbing up a massive mountain with no safety equipment, all while being stared at by a
drunkard.
By the way, don't forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.