Beast Taming? Nah, Dragon Herding is Way Better!

"Hehehe~~~ victory for me in two battlefronts!!!" she said proudly as if it is the biggest achievement she had ever attained in her entire life, her words causing a small laugh to escape not only out of the emperor-like young man, but out of his roommate as well.

Now looking at the three laughing at her, the elven princess couldn't help but join in as well, thinking that a moment like this for such intense competition is extremely rare, a thought shared not only by the four of them but also the other competitors that saw them acting like that.

Of course, despite seeing the four of them appearing to be letting their guards down, most of their fellow freshmen, the ones who have better head on top of their shoulders, who witnesses them laughing among themselves still refuses to take their chances and attempt on attacking them, said smarter competitors already learning that targeting this group wouldn't yield them any good results at all.

And seeing the ones smarter than them refusing to attack Diluc's group, the remaining freshmen also followed the example, now just focusing on passing through this part of the trial for the Primaria Class without offending those three, all while still aiming for the best place they can have as everyone knows that good results here will only amount to further advantages for them in the next round of the trial.

Cold weapons leave trails of sliver glow and crimson liquid along its path, spells revealing resplendent glow and creating phenomena altering the surrounding of the competitor, both martial artists and mages revealing their talents as they fought among each other while struggling to keep themselves from falling down the spires they are standing on, some relies on their smarts, some relies on their strength, and some relies on their control in order to compete for a place for the next round of competition.

All while this is happening, Diluc and his group merrily enjoys their peaceful time as there's no longer anyone who dares to fight with them, after all, witnessing how the emperor-like young man dealt with the five strongest contender of this competition all alone, and how the group of three beside him dealt with multiple talented competitors without even breaking a sweat, even the dumbest of people will have to think twice before crossing swords with them.

And so the first part of the competition ends with the elimination of majority of the freshmen, with less than half remaining to compete for the next round, all these remaining students proving their rights to fight for a place in the Primaria Class through their talents, whether this said talent is purely related to their combat power or their brilliant scheming minds.

"This is the end of the elimination trials, for the remaining students, you all have a one hour break before the one on one competition starts, the academy expects a great performance from all of you" looking at the winners of the elimination round, an academy staff, the very same one that told the freshmen about the rule of the trials, announced with a smile on his face, pointing towards a location where the entire wall just move upwards, revealing an intentionally built resting area for them, filled with all sorts of refreshments and good places to talk and relax, this place appearing to be quite off-place seeing that the entire arena has a more archaic vibes to it.

Of course, that wasn't of any concern to these group of young men and women as the only thing in their minds is the fact that they finally have some time for themselves after that intense battle they just gone through, some of them even letting out tears of joy as they hurriedly leap down from their spires and rush towards the resting area, proving just how difficult the trial is despite the short amount of time they experienced it.

As for Diluc and his group, the four of them looked at each other before they all smiled and nodded among themselves, agreeing that it would be a good time to rest before the individual competition, their gazes changing as they knew that the next time they meet in the arena, it will be as opponents rather than allies, and they must do everything in their power to triumph against their opponents.

"I expect you to not hold back should we fight each other, D~" looking at the emperor-like young man, Alfia said with a proud smile on her face, a hint of provocation audible in her voice that seems to be filled to the brim with a burning, competitive spirit, making Diluc smile as he nods at her words.

"Just because I am just a mage, you can't underestimate me too much, Diluc, I look forward to fighting against you~~" looking at the young man, her savior, as well, Alea said with the same proud smile on her face, her voice excited as she just couldn't wait to show off to this young man what she is capable of.

As Diluc smiles in response to her words, he also heard Michael's voice as he looks into him, the frail-looking young man's soft yet determined voice making him think like despite his usual antics, he is also a genius of their caliber as well.

"I look forward to exchanging pointers with you as well, Diluc" the usually timid Michael said in a firm tone making the emperor-like young man smile in approval, giving him a thumbs up as he replies to him with a smile on his face.

"That's how my roommate should be, let's enjoy the night after this trial!" Diluc said with a smile on his face, causing the frail-looking young man to fold back to his old antics again as he shyly blushed why looking down on the ground, causing Diluc to slap his own forehead once again.

"T-that… y-yeah, I think we should do that…" seemingly realizing something, Michael clears his throat as he tries to regain his bearing before agreeing with Diluc's suggestion, another completely different thought dissipating in his mind.

Hearing the two elven beauties laughing at him and his roommate, the emperor-like young man couldn't help but shake his head as he wryly smile as well, thinking that no matter what happen, this roommate of his will definitely return to this side of him, which isn't really all that bad but with all that blushing and shyness whenever he talks to him, he just couldn't help but feel shivers running down his spine, and not the good kind.

Deciding to give Michael time to recover himself, Diluc flew towards the nearby spire where two familiar figures can be seen conversing with each other, his presences causing said figures to perk up as they felt like some monster is staring at them from the distance and gradually approaching their location, their bodies tensing up until they saw the source of this feeling, and seeing said source amiably smiling at them, they just couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief.

"What brings you here, fellow classmate?" looking at the emperor-like young man's descending figure, Changsheng said with the same amiable smile on his face, just right beside him following the soft-spoken Zixiang as she greets the young man as well, curtly nodding at him before she stays silent as she lets her martial brother do all the talking.

"It looks you only have each other as companions, mind joining us?" reaching out his hand, Diluc said, his thoughts of these two are not bad at all, being respectful as a competitor and all, and his interest in the technique they are using mana is quite high due as well, thinking that it would also be good if he can learn something from their methods.

'Though I doubt I can get it for free… well, that's fine, fair trade is the foundation of good transactions after all…' he thought to himself as he maintains the smile on his face, hoping that this seemingly pessimistic young man would agree.

Hearing his words, Changsheng, despite still having some doubts whether this is the only reason for him to contact them, shakes his head as he shoved these thoughts in the back of his mind, smiling even better than before as he walks forward until he is just a short distance away from the emperor-like young man, reaching his hand out and shaking it, expressing his agreement.

"Diluc" as the two of them made contact, the emperor-like young man simply dropped his name as an introduction, prompting the man from the east to follow suit.

"I know, there are a lot of rumors about you even before the official academic period starts…" the young man said before he finally introduces himself.

"Changsheng" he stated his name as he looked at the handshake between the two of them, wondering when is the proper time to end this, resulting in an awkward air between the two of them.

"Well, this I'm kind of not used to doing this kind of greetings" seeing the awkward handshake between the two of them, Changsheng said with a similarly awkward smile on his face as an attempt to explain, prompting Diluc, who initially thought that he is quite the serious character, to laugh in amusement causing the other young man to feel all the more awkward.