Fire Dragon Lord Academy. It was the Academy located in the southern part of the continent, far beyond the empire's territory, there were magnificent buildings towering high into the sky that were connected to each other. Close to the mountainous region on the west side and the ocean on the east side.

The place where the followers of the Fire Dragon Lord are trained. As orphans like the Bearwood brothers, namely Kai and Liona, living in the Academy when they were young wasn't that different from anywhere else, no, it was actually much better.

Although it is located in a place where road access is lacking. The giant academy of the followers is well-maintained without any economic problems, because the east wind brings clouds making the rainfall there quite high, plus the fertile soil of volcanic ash causes agricultural problems to be resolved.

It is not a problem for the administrators to care for some children who have been victims of war, victims of robbery, or children who have lost their village and family. Although nobles generally viewed children without families as nothing more than a problem for their finances, but for the Academy Professors, this was a great opportunity to increase their following.

There was no second choice for Kai but to rely on the kindness the Academy had to offer.

First year. It is when Kai and Liona are four years old, eat and play and then start to grow every year, they live life like normal children, their caretaker is a professor who teaches how important learning is for survival.

The years went by so fast, until Kai started to enter elementary school where he could feel sitting on a chair smelling the smell of books every morning. Even though he had known his classmates since they were in the orphanage, the only difference was when Kai looked at the private room of the Academy dormitory while chuckling when Liona did something stupid.

Learning is not a problem from the start, even before they start school, children are actually very good at reading. If age wasn't taken into account, maybe they could get administrative work in a noble's mansion, of course with the fact that most people in every country are not taught to read or write being a major factor in the need for educated people. Studying at the Academy was a luxury for ordinary people.

Here Kai and Liona are taught the basics of being a true follower. Just like when people's habits if done continuously will eventually become a culture, the habits that someone has done since childhood will eventually become their personality. Something that when viewed from a general point of view will be considered Irrational, it will become Rational in their eyes.

Fire Dragon Lord is everything. Carrying on the followers' teachings in order to survive is an obligation as a servant, he is the reason why they live, and he is the reason why a servant can obtain magic.

Such a strong doctrine, has deep roots.

Kai since childhood has loved to practice swordsmanship, and fortunately there is a professor who is willing to teach. However, survival skills are very important for a follower, whether talent or something else makes Kai's sword skills increase very rapidly.

Kai at first thought that he was very suitable to be a knight.

Until finally where the final exam was held. It was a test where the professors drew conclusions based on what they had sown and observed for a long time, without the students realizing it, if the professors stated outright it would end up being a failure from the start.

The goal is clear. To find potential students who are able to think structured, systematic, and logical, and think based on the law of cause and effect. reasoning ability that is able to predict accurately while preparing a prevention plan in a relatively short time.

Not only magic and sword skills, but also the power of reasoning that can combine them into one perfection.

And Kai is one of the few children who are suitable when the professors know his potential magical abilities, although not as big as Liona, but Kai has the ability to become a magician.

A person like Kai is very suitable to be a Magic Swordsman. Unlike pure magicians or swordsmen who could make up for deficiencies with teamwork, Magic Swordman were able to do it alone without teamwork. At least the professors saw it that way.

Plus Kai's thinking ability is far above students his age when the test results are announced, making many eyes glance at him. Liona saw Kai as an admirable brother, soon after they separated. Kai becomes one of the special class students to become a true follower from the eyes of the professors.

The learning method is like hell, where the things that make human abilities are pushed to the very end, racking their heads to find solutions and use what they have to survive.

Drops of blood and the sacrifice of comrades are only avenues to gain strength.

Almost every month, Kai's comrades disappear one by one, to the point where Kai sees his dead comrades as nothing more than a collection of data than a piece of paper.

Like how a lump of iron is polished to become a sword, Kai grows up to be a person who has no feelings who thinks rationally without morality.

Years passed in training. Kai fully understands how the environment around him acts, and what the professors really want of him, so Kai has a plan for the final exams later.

Exam day is held. That place is a terrible labyrinth near the Academy, Kai and his colleagues are tasked with exterminating the Chimera Drakness Dragon Lord.

If Kai was faced with an opponent he couldn't beat, there were only a few options, one of which was to retreat and prepare a plan or move forward to negotiate. But the real problem is the fact that the Chimera is just a creature that acts on a killing instinct, there's no negotiation option from the start, especially in a situation where Kai and his teammates have to fight against the Chimera who blocked their escape route from the start.

Therefore Kai must carry out his plan, a plan where Kai reduces the enemy's strength at the expense of a manipulated partner and then stabs the Chimera in the head when the creature is powerless.

The applause of the professors with ghastly smiles filled with madness grew louder when they saw Kai the only survivor. This was what the professors wanted, Kai realized early on as the piece of information that was deliberately spread out he carefully read.

Not only energy, the ability to think is also strength.

A person who doesn't realize their own strength and the strength of their opponent's later, and then goes to war clinging to luck and a bottomless spirit and then wins miraculously, only exists in book children's fairy tales.

Where in the end the book will be burned by the professors because they teach real stupidity to their students.

Unlike Kai, Liona enjoyed school comfortably like most of the other Fire Dragon Lord followers. Peaceful days as usual, full of happiness and teamwork.

Kai who regards Liona as the only family, makes Kai have to put on a smiling face like a normal student behind his deep-rooted madness instinct, all for the sake of his sister.

After the two of them graduated, the Academy gave them two choices, firstly whether they wanted to stay here and live a normal life or go out looking for information about the situation to write down and send it to the Academy.

Liona chose the second option.

Time went on long enough. Even though at first it was just a lie but if it continues to be done it will eventually become the truth, Little by little Kai's thinking ability and madness instincts are getting thinner, all because Kai always fulfills Liona's request.

.....

A person in a dark prison-like room opened his eyes. It's Kai.

Started to wake up then opened his eyes and looked into the darkness. The stench of blood wafted from all sides.

"Where is this?"

Kai started to get up and then walked, but the chains around his neck made Kai fall backwards. Dimly, Kai saw it was like an illusion.

"Ahh.. it's probably because of the beer I drank last night."

After his consciousness began to recover, Kai began to look around. His hand grabbed the chain and tried to untie it.

"Wait, where is this?"

Kai started to wonder in his mind what really happened. Until when a glimmer of light from a corner begins to illuminate the darkness.

The gruesome sight of a fleshless man, lying right in the other prison. The person was still breathing but his eyes could only stare without saying anything.

The only thing on Kai's mind when he saw it was someone's name.

"Where's Liona?"

Looking left and right, there was only one person inside the iron bars. There was no figure of Liona wherever he looked, instead it was a gruesome sight when Kai saw the other bars, each filled with human corpses.

"NO!!..NO!!!....LIONA!!"

He Moved his hand forward while chanting the incantation.

"O great Fire Dragon Lord.. Please lend me your power----"

The magic circle that was starting to form, suddenly shattered instantly. That's all because in the middle of the prison there is an iron pillar that contains some kind of spell writing engraved there.

"No way. Anti-magic?"

Kai never imagined this situation while with Liona. Liona is a pretty smart girl, Kai doesn't need to think about anything troublesome as long as the two of them are together, it dulls Kai's thinking instincts, and instead he can live like a normal adventurer.

"Tch!.."

Kai clicked his tongue at his past self, who hadn't foreseen the possibility of Liona being tricked by an ally from behind.

An uneasy feeling filled Kai.

Magic Swordman without magic will only be an ordinary person, if only Kai was a pure swordsman maybe he could destroy iron bars with physical alone.

As if starting to despair, a magic spell was then chanted. And every time the magic circle starts to form it starts to crumble instantly.

"O Fire Dragon Lord---.. O Fire Dragon Lord---.... O Fire Drago---"

Little by little Kai's magic mana began to drain.

"O Fire Dragon Lord---.. O Fire Dra---.... O Fi---"

Kai's energy began to drain and consciousness began to blur. However, suddenly a dazzling light appeared from Kai's chest, the light was so bright as it formed a magic circle right under his feet.

Kai who saw that realized something.

He Holds the necklace on the chest then throws it.

DUARRR!!

The sound of the explosion sounded so loud it made echoes in the previously silent hallway. The fog was starting to cover the view, and the huge hole from the explosion above Kai was now visible.

The chain that had tied Kai's neck was now broken in several parts so that Kai could release it.

The dome of fire that protected Kai from the explosion, began to be swallowed up by the earth.