Chapter Nineteen: Welcome to Kassel Academy

“Coffee or hot chocolate?” Gudrian leaned against the wall, behind him a massive painting concealed by a canvas. “We also have strong liquor here.”

“Hot chocolate, please.”

Luminafei didn’t really like these numbing drinks.

The human brain develops tolerance to substances like caffeine and alcohol; abstaining from them normally means when rationality falters, these stimulants can be doubly effective.

But now was nearly that critical moment.

The boy’s repeated appearances created a huge logical paradox, and the terrifying truth hidden within made him shudder instinctively.

If everything continued to spiral toward the worst outcome, Luminafei’s fate would be beyond even the darkest damnation.

If not for having witnessed unimaginable spectacles before, he couldn’t have maintained his composure now.

For someone like him, already condemned to eternal torment, being granted a second chance was an unfathomable blessing.

And he was still alive and well, wasn’t he?

By taking all possible precautions in advance and leaving the rest to fate, why brood over things beyond one’s control?

He took a hearty sip of the hot chocolate Fingal had brought, looking like a sycophant. The rich sweetness and cocoa butter aroma eased him. He asked:

“Professor, is it alright to share what you didn’t say back at the Regent Hotel?”

Professor Gudrian nodded solemnly and handed him a document.

“First, apologies for my delay—I was held up in Russia for quite some time. Upon returning to the academy, I found a scheduling error and hadn’t received your notice, so I decided to follow the car here.

“Second, the academy requires every student to pass an entrance qualification exam, which we call the ‘3E’ test. Without passing, enrollment is impossible, and your scholarship will not be activated.

“Once you sign this confidentiality agreement, your enrollment guidance will officially begin.”

Luminafei nodded and casually signed his name on the strange document written in a mixture of Latin and English.

---

As Gudrian carefully put away the document, he explained:

“As a legitimate university registered with the U.S. Department of Education, Kassel Academy has always been committed to providing high-quality education to exceptionally gifted students and recommending them for employment. Our standard program lasts four years. Students like Fingal, who have studied eight years without graduating, are extremely rare. Our school follows a classical closed education system; all students must live on campus. Upon completion, we issue an official degree certificate.

“However, regrettably, our degree may not correspond to equivalent programs at other universities. So if you wish to pursue a master’s or doctoral degree, you will have to continue here.”

Luminafei praised:

“The local occult scene is quite resourceful—true masters hidden in plain sight.”

He had long hoped his cult, formed in a shadowy otherworldly organization, would emerge from the sewers, but even summoning Nyarlathotep hadn’t succeeded.

“‘Masters hidden in plain sight’—is that a Chinese proverb?” Gudrian showed enthusiasm for learning Chinese but didn’t let that interrupt his introduction. “Our degrees revolve around one research focus, which is—”

Suddenly, Gudrian whipped the canvas covering the enormous painting behind him.

The oppressive aura of the image nearly pinned Luminafei’s frail body to the chair.

“Oh!” Luminafei exclaimed again. “Dragons!”

Though he had studied several summoning arts for dragon-like creatures, none matched the beauty and grandeur of the one before him.

In the painting, the sky was a steel-blue mingled with flames. A solitary colossal tree stood, its dead branches stretching in all directions, weaving a dense web that upheld a cracked sky. The wasteland was strewn with bones; a black behemoth rose from the bone heaps, its wings hung with skulls. Spreading its vast membranous wings, it tilted its head skyward, spewing black flames.

If not for the stylistic difference from the meticulous brushwork of deranged artists inspired by the great Cthulhu, Luminafei might have suspected that the Lord of R’lyeh sleeping beneath the Atlantic also existed here and was beginning to awaken.

“Yes, dragons. More precisely, the Dragon Emperor Nidhogg. According to the Norse myth ‘Elder Edda,’ during Ragnarok, it will gnaw through the roots of the World Tree Yggdrasil. On that day, the world will perish.”

Every world had its own apocalypse prophecy, but Luminafei found them unreliable.

For example, in the otherworld he had traveled to, the end times were prophesied to come after the stars aligned, with R’lyeh rising and Cthulhu’s return, bringing humanity’s extinction.

But what happened?

The Earth didn’t even wait for the stars to align before Luminafei shattered it.

---

Gudrian’s fingers swept across the neatly arranged hardcover tomes on the bookshelf.

“If you understand Latin, you’ll recognize titles like *Dragon Lineage Studies*, *Dragons and Spoken Magic*, *The Key of Solomon*, *Dragon Bloodline Theory*, *Dragon Genetics*...

“These represent millennia of accumulated knowledge, countless generations searching for and studying dragons. Kassel Academy is the culmination.

“At Kassel, you can choose disciplines like Alchemical Engineering, Magical Mechanical Design, Dragon Kin Theory. The ultimate goal of all courses is,” he looked Luminafei squarely in the eyes, “dragon slaying!”

Luminafei glanced again at the painting on the train. Though the black dragon didn’t share the twisted ugliness of the Old Ones lurking in history’s shadows, its ferocity, power, and nobility were unmistakable.

“These dragons look formidable. Can frail humans really kill them?”

Gudrian shook his head.

“No, the dignity and might of dragons surpass what fragile humans can imagine. The hardships behind humanity’s dominion over Earth cannot be summed up in a few words. You will come to understand more during your studies here. For now, let us continue.”

Luminafei nodded.

“Where you don’t know, the war between humans and dragons has raged for thousands of years; humans have written a history without dragons, but in another history, every line bears the shadow of dragons.

“But this secret is so shocking that if revealed, the consequences would be unpredictable. Therefore, certain families known as the ‘Bloodline Descendants’ have guarded this secret for millennia and borne the mission of dragon slaying. They have continuously trained descendants skilled in combat, spells, magic, and alchemy, sending them to the dragon-slaying battlefield, burying every attempt at dragon resurgence.

“Until today, Kassel Academy has inherited their legacy.”

It sounded implausible. No secret could be hidden for thousands of years unless those who concealed it had long since passed into unknown graves alongside it.

Luminafei raised another question:

“A legacy? They’re all dead, aren’t they?”

“Minfei, those heroic spirits who protected us deserve respect!” Gudrian’s aged face grew stern. “But sadly, most historical dragon-slaying families have perished. In this new era, we cannot rely on family heritage and must adopt modern educational systems.

“And you will be among the best of them! Welcome to Kassel Academy, Luminafei!”