Chapter 6

• Leona moves out of her room and finds herself inside the palace, wandering. She hears some voices from deeper within and she follows.
• She finds the other nine dragon warriors waiting. She slowly moves right next to a boy. She realises everyone is looking at her and that makes her feels anxious. 
• “So, you made it” Val comments. 
• “Yes I--” she gets interrupted by the announcer.
• “Please welcome the great Emperor and his son alongside the Grandmaster!”. 
• All ten of them bow down to show respect. The man leaves as the three men enter. The warriors aren’t allowed to look up till they are said so. 
• “At ease dragons” the Emperor gives the order. Leona notices his kind voice. He doesn’t seem so scary as she thought. 
• “Welcome. Today you became warriors. Tomorrow, you will protect this Kingdom with everything you got. Most of you are the same age with my son. That means that on your prime, my son is gonna be your Emperor. That said, you will be in close contact with him. He will learn to lead you and you will learn to follow him. I’ve worked closely with the warriors before you; this time, my son will continue doing that task. Make sure you do a good job. That is all”. 
• And with that speech, the Emperor disappeared and on his place, prince Ren is left.
• “You heard him. Your job isn’t to slack; your job is to protect. Impress me and do what is asked of you”. Leona is amazed by Ren’s soft voice. She is actually one of the people that has the same age as him; 16. 
• “Yes, sir!” was their response. Ren takes a step back and the Grandmaster comes into the picture. Leona was feeling a bit uneasy with him. Xialing informed her that he was the one that brought her in and that her clothes were a bit loose. That means that after the fight her clothes got messed up. Was this enough for someone to understand that she is a girl?
• “Congratulations my young generation. It’s good to have you with us. For the year that it is to come you will train under me and other Masters of the palace. After you learn the secrets of our culture as dragons you will follow your path here. Some of you may rise and one of you may become the Grandmaster”. 
• Everyone is excited about the last part; the ultimate goal, being the Grandmaster. But Leona isn’t looking that far ahead. She just wants to make it as a dragon warrior.
• The Grandmaster is looking at Leona. She feels he might know something and that creeps her out. 
• “Alright. We will move outside and start our basic training” and with that they followed him to the garden.
• The place is beautiful with flowers all over. It seems to have a good flow of energy around. The Grandmaster orders them to sit on the grass and he does the same, right in front of them .
• Prince Ren is further away, watching them carefully. 
• “Today we are gonna learn about harnessing your powers. What your Masters out there don’t know is how to train you individually. They have a set of things you should learn, and you use that. Some of these things though, aren’t your most powerful tool. Some of you look weak because of that”. 
• He is looking at Leona once more. 
• “For example, most of you learned to use your fists for everything. A dragon warrior has immense strength. That’s easy to teach and obtain, but it’s not your best tool”. 
• He then stands up and creates fire off his palms. 
• “This is a tool that comes mostly naturally to anyone of you. This one determined most of you as dragons. But it’s also hard to control. It can create chaos, or you can use it for creation”. 
• And with that, he flips his hand and the fire becomes a red blade.
• “WOW” everyone is in awe. 
• ‘I’ve never seen something like that’. 
• “Now, this is just a thing this gift can do. There are tons of stuff your inner dragon will manifest into. And for that, I’ll call up two names as a demonstration; Val and Leon”. 
• The warriors stand up and Leona can hear people’s whispers. 
• “Here we have a prodigy, Val. He excels in his abilities such as strategy, strength and fire manipulation”. 
• Everyone started clapping.
• ‘And then it’s me the idiot’. 
• “Here we have Leon. Everyone thought he wouldn't make it. Small structure, his strength average but good with fire. It seems he also runs out of stamina. But, here is the trick. Leon is blessed with a power that we haven’t seen for a while; the Dragon Light. It’s the ability to purify the land from evil by an intense light that burns bright. That means Leon is excelling in an ability that’s rear and powerful. This wouldn’t be picked up from an Academy out there. Here, you have that chance; to find your inner strength and become great”. 
• Leona looks up at Val. He seems a bit frustrated that a person like her was blessed, a coward as he believes. 
• All of the warriors get excited by the Grandmaster’s words. Leona notices a figure across the field. It’s a tall man with long blonde hair. His eyes are amber, resembling that of a dragon’s. 
• She feels uneasy as he stares at her. The Grandmaster tells them to sit down and calls up on the man. 
• “Khan, come forth” and he quickly does.
• “This is Master Khan. One of the greatest dragons and one day, will become the Grandmaster”. 
• Everyone is clapping and getting excited but Leona has a bad feelings that she can’t shake off. 
• “Hello Grandmaster. Did you want me?” his voice is soothing it makes her heart throb. 
• ‘What’s wrong with me? A minute ago I felt bad and now I’m excited?’. 
• “I want you to find the other Masters. You will meet the new dragons and a month from now, you will choose an apprentice”. 
• Leona’s mouth dropped. That means that she will train under one of them, exclusively. The Grandmaster is suppose to teach them the basics and then they will train under the great Masters. That is amazing except that she feels she shouldn’t end up with him.
• ‘He wouldn’t choose me, I mean he is the next Grandmaster. Val will do’. 
• She tries to ease her mind. 
• Khan does as he is said and the Grandmaster has them go 1vs1. She is against a buff boy named Rock. 
• ‘Seriously? Rock?’. 
• “You will do some fighting. Nothing much, just some punches and kicks. No usage of fire is allowed or extreme things. Start”. 
• Leona is quick and gets the first kick but unfortunately it barely moves him. He then punches her, throwing her across. The other boys laugh but the Grandmaster tells them to continue. 
• He goes up to her and says, “You can’t expect to win this way. You aren’t that strong cause you rely too much on your muscles. Well, you don’t have any. You aren’t him. You need to be quick and agile. You should draw strength from your whole body and not just one part. You have more stamina than others actually. Your Magma is great and you should draw power from it”.
• His words made Leona feel confident. She knows Master Yien tried to help her over the years but the Grandmaster spoke the right things. 
• She goes back against Rock once more. He throws a punch but she dives down. He tries to do the same with his other arm but she is swift and can’t get her. 
• ‘You should draw strength from your whole body and not just a part’ she thinks Grandmaster’s words. She notices Rock; he puts all his effort on his big arms, but what about his legs?
• She bends over and throws a kick to his knees. He immediately goes down, ending up with his face on the ground. 
• Everyone stopped fighting, seeing how quick she did that. They all look back and notice ten Masters looking at them, whispering. 
• Her eyes locked with Khan’s. She feels like he can read through her, and that scares her. He gives her a crooked smile and that makes her blush. 
• “What’s the matter Leon? You fell in love?” Val says in a teasing tone. 
• “Shut up” she says with a really manly voice.