Summoned as an SSS-Rank Hero… with My Stepmom and Stepsisters?! Chapter 36: The Azure Roar — Entrance to the Academy

The Academy courtyard spread out before like a battlefield that had not yet decided who would be the victor. Black stone cobbles, polished by the centuries and burning under the sun, colossal statues of dragons with wings unfurled, mouths frozen in an eternal roar... and behind them, the towers of the Academy, rising like volcanic spears, their runic doors shining with a cold light.

We were thirteen, lined up in the center. Thirteen heroes, supposed to be the elite of this world. But the truth was, we mostly looked like a line of convicts waiting for judgnt.

The draconic ones were to my left. Four arrogant silhouettes, standing straight, chins lifted. Just from the way they breathed, you could tell they already thought themselves superior. Their eyes skimd over us as if we were tolerated vermin.

A bit further on, the three elves. Pale, perfect, stiff as stakes. They stood like blades planted in the earth, icy, distant. The wooden weapons strapped to their backs glowed with a strange, almost living aura. I’d seen runic weapons before — forged, enchanted. But this... damn, it felt like the tree itself was still breathing through their blades.

The dwarves, anwhile, were barely chest-high compared to , but damn... I had a hard ti looking away from their armor. Not a single centiter of skin visible. tal engraved with runes, axes and hamrs that seed worth more than the entire fortress of Duskfall put together. Even Aurelia in my hand felt almost naked next to their arsenal.

And then there was us. The humans. Four survivors. Four busted faces from Duskfall. Our clothes still bore the marks of war, our gazes dragged shadows the others would never understand. I could already feel their eyes on us, their silent murmurs: "How are rags like them still alive?"

I lowered my head for a second, my fingers clenched on Aurelia. The bitter taste of Duskfall’s dust and blood returned to my mouth. And this thought imposed itself, raw, without filter:

Fuck... it looks like we’ll be killing each other before even entering class.

A leaden silence had fallen over the courtyard, punctuated only by the sound of armor clinking in the wind and boots scraping the stone. Even the sun, high in the sky, seed to linger to watch us judge one another.

Then, suddenly, a roar split the sky like a tear. Not an animal’s cry. Not a natural sound. It was the world itself being ripped from its guts. My ears scread, my chest vibrated, and a tallic taste sprang into my mouth at once.

I looked up.

Shadow swallowed us. A blue mass, gigantic, dove from the sky, tearing the clouds. Its wings snapped like sails in flas, each beat raising scorching gusts that swept the courtyard. The ground shook, the statues creaked, and we, pitiful insects, instinctively fell back.

It landed in the center. A dragon. Azure. Colossal. Its scales shimred like polished blades, its fangs made the sun glitter, and a hot vapor slling of sulfur and ozone escaped from its nostrils. Every inhale sounded like a forge, every breath crushed the air.

I didn’t need soone to explain it: this being could reduce us to ash with a single cry. Even the elves, those arrogant statues, paled. The dwarves clenched their axes until the tal groaned. And ... I gripped Aurelia, but my arm trembled despite myself.

Fuck. This was brute force. Not titles. Not blessings. Just the living incarnation of this world reminding us where our place was.

Then the impossible happened.

Its body contracted, its wings folded. Scales began to fall like a rain of shards of glass, lting in the air before hitting the ground. The gigantic beast shrank. Each second its mass compressed, its roars turned into human breath. When the light dissipated, she was there.

A woman.

I stood speechless. Her silhouette had retained an unreal majesty. Her silver hair, streaked with blue highlights, flowed like a cascade down to the base of her back. Two fine, glossy-black horns erged from her temples. Her eyes... damn, her eyes. Two shards of azure that pierced you like blades, and yet seed hesitant. A draconic tail still beat behind her, nervous, uncontrolled.

Her dress... thin. Too light for her status. A pale blue fabric, almost transparent in places, clung to her skin still warm from the change. The neckline plunged enough to reveal a heavy, firm chest that looked too human to belong to a dragon princess. Her marked hips ford a generous curve, and the gown, slit on the side, revealed a smooth thigh dotted with fine, shining scales.

She raised her arms, awkward, and her voice escaped, hesitant:

— Oops... damn. I forgot to transform before arriving.

She grimaced, ran a hand behind her neck, almost childlike.

— It’s been a long ti since I spoke to other people. Sorry... if I scared you.

I swore I heard a dwarf mumble a curse into his beard. Even the elves blinked, as if unable to understand how such a monster could apologize in such a voice.

I stared at her, unable to tell whether to laugh or tremble. A clumsy princess who had nearly killed us simply by breathing.

She drew a deep breath, took a more solemn, more official tone:

— I am Ka’ha’Uhala, daughter of Rhaz’Thoryn, King of Dragons.

The words struck like a slap. Even the cobbles seed to hold their breath.

— I will be one of your supervisors at the Academy. Here, the elite of the nations gather: noble humans, highborn elves, exceptional smiths among the dwarves, and of course the draconic heirs. You will join this prestigious institution. You will learn. You will survive.

She left a silence, her eyes sweeping the line of heroes. Her pupils t mine for an instant. I had the impression she saw through , down to my dirtiest mories. My gut tightened.

Then her face softened. She offered an awkward smile, put her arms behind her head, and winking, lifted her leg like an idol on stage.

— And... don’t hesitate to co see if you need help!

I froze.

She was... cute... damn yes. But seriously? She looked like a lost VTuber at a convention. Is that the dragon princess?

A nervous laugh tickled my throat, but I held back. Her blue aura still vibrated in the air, a cruel reminder that beneath the awkwardness hid a beast capable of annihilating an army.

She waved at us, then her body shone again, her translucent wings spread for a mont, and she rose into the air.

The courtyard returned to silence. But in my chest, the rumble of her roar kept beating.

Then, as if it had been planned from the start, she appeared at the far end of the courtyard.

A slow silhouette, but not hesitant. Each step rang against the black stone like a sentence. Her hair, snowy white, shimred with red highlights in the light. Her eyes... damn, her eyes. Golden, burning, heavy like two extinguished suns. When they landed on , I felt as if they were trying to rummage through my entrails, to count each of my scars, each of my lies.

Her body bore the mark of ti, but not as a weakness. Her ancient scales, cracked in places, told the story of battles none of us would survive. She didn’t need to roar or puff up her chest. Her re presence pinned us to the ground.

A murmur ran through the ranks. Even the dragons, arrogant monts before, slightly bowed their chins. That said a lot.

I swallowed. My palms were clammy on Aurelia. And in my head, this raw, shaful thought:

If Ka’ha’Uhala was the clumsy fla of a cute princess... then this woman was the dormant volcano that could ignite at will and raze us in a second.

She stopped in front of us. Tilted her head slightly up. Her voice fell, deep, rasping, but clear as the iron you pull from a forge:

— I am Sahr’Veyra. Rector of the Academy.

The na clapped in the air like a verdict.

She swept her gaze over the line of thirteen, one by one. When her eyes passed over , my stomach knotted. It was like being stripped naked without her needing to tear off my clothes. I wanted to look away, but it was worse. I felt judged, weighed, and for a second I was sure she’d found too light.

Then she spoke again, and her voice vibrated down to my bones:

— Here, you are not children. But you are not yet heroes either.

Her words crashed on us like hamr blows.

Miyu clenched her teeth. Hikari lowered her eyes. Reina, straight as a statue, tensed nonetheless. Aya remained impassive.

I took a deep breath. My rasping inhale burned my throat.

Not yet heroes, huh... Even though we survived Duskfall, Sarhael, the war? Fuck... and worst of all, she was right. We were still kids playing with weapons too big for them.

I clenched Aurelia until my knuckles went white.

And I surprised myself by smiling.

Because yeah. If she still saw us as children... then it ant there was a path. That we could still beco sothing other than battered survivors. And damn, I intended to take it, no matter what stood in my way.

Sahr’Veyra swept the courtyard with a heavy look.

— Give your nas. Let your voices carry more than your weapons.

The dwarves were first. Two blocks of steel that hamred the stone with every step.

The male stepped forward, his runic hamr resting on his shoulder.

— Dvarim Brôkhund.

Beside him, a woman with black braids tied into her fine beard slamd her axe against her breastplate.

— Brunna Kaelgrun.

Their voices resonated like echoes in a cavern. Even together, they gave the impression of weighing more than an entire army.

Then it was the elves’ turn. Three pale, graceful, icy shadows who seed to glide rather than walk.

The first tilted his chin, his face carved by coldness.

— Elyren Syltharis.

The second, thin and pale, sketched a smile that imdiately made want to smash his teeth.

— Varis Caelond.

The third, softer in features but not in her eyes, spoke in a voice that vibrated like a harp.

— Shaliel Aenwyn.

Their nas snapped like haughty music. They didn’t even look at us, certain they were worth more than our lives.

Then ca the draconids.

Four silhouettes stepped forward, and everything changed. Their re presence bent the air. Humanoid, yes, but every detail scread beast: horns, fangs, scales that shone like fragnts of living tal, tails beating the ground with a dull slap. Just their gait made it clear they’d never needed to prove they were superior: it was obvious.

The first, imnse, broad like a fortress wall, laid his halberd down with a crash that made the cobbles vibrate.

— Rhazkyr’Veyrath.

His voice thundered like an avalanche.

The second, lanky, with fine horns curved backward, a carnivorous smile on his lips, crossed his arms as he sized us up from above.

— Kaelith’Dravorn.

A curt, scornful tone, as if pronouncing his na to remind us we were worth nothing next to him.

Then her.

Fuck.

The female draconid stepped forward with a calculated slowness, almost feline. Each step made her hips roll, her thighs streaked with fine scales catching the light like gems embedded in skin. Her heavy chest, tight under an overly snug tunic, bounced slightly with each breath. Even her tail, nervous, sotis lifted the fabric, revealing flashes of skin more intimate than she seed to realize.

When her feline, golden, burning eyes t mine, my gut clenched. I hated it. The power she had just by looking at .

— Sylvara’Khareth.

Her na rolled in the air like a poisoned caress. And damn, I found myself clenching my teeth to avoid imagining what it would be whispered in an ear.

Finally, the last. Slighter, but her gaze was a whip. Her fangs glinted behind tight lips, and her rigid arms trembled with martial discipline.

— Iryss’Thalvar.

Their tails beat in rhythm, slapping the stone. These were not four students who had just introduced themselves. They were a pack of predators.

And then... us.

Miyu stepped forward, fists clenched, her voice vibrating:

— Miyu.

Reina followed, cold as a blade.

— Reina.

Hikari, hesitant but determined, raised her eyes.

— Hikari.

Aya, confident:

— Aya.

And finally . I plunged Aurelia into the ground, my single eye fixed on Sahr’Veyra.

— Kaito.

The silence lasted a second. Then it cracked.

An elf snickered softly.

— Not even a family na?

A murmur ran through the ranks.

— I figured... just commoners...

— Survivors, not heirs...

I felt blood hamr at my temples. My body scread at to raise my lance and drive it into the first mouth that opened too wide. But I remained still.

Where did this urge to defend myself more than necessary co from, was my character changing little by little? I hadn’t been so hot-headed a few days ago; was it Duskfall and that damn noble that had changed so much?

Sahr’Veyra, motionless, assessed us. Her golden eyes slid over each of us, and I had the sensation that her gaze burned my mories, my scars, my guts. She drew a deep breath, and when she spoke, her voice struck like an axe falling on an anvil:

— First lesson: team up so you don’t die.

A shiver ran up my spine. She hadn’t said "to succeed." Not "to progress." Just... "so you don’t die." As if this Academy wasn’t a school, but a pit.

And before I could convince myself it was just a figure of speech, her body changed.

Her white hair ignited with red reflections, her skin cracked like lava under a black crust. Scales burst forth, covering her arms, torso, face. Her silhouette broadened, her bones cracked with a monstrous racket. In a few seconds, she was no longer an old draconid woman...but a titan.

An ancient red dragon.

Her shadow swallowed the entire courtyard. Her wings unfolded, darkening the sun. Each beat made the ground vibrate, each breath set the air ablaze with cinders.

I stepped back without even realizing it. My teeth chattered, my fingers clenched on Aurelia. I had already seen death up close, already felt despair eat at Duskfall. But this... this was on another level.

She raised her head and roared.

The roar was not a sound. It was a storm. An earthquake. My ribs vibrated, my ears scread, and I had the impression my chest was being crushed from the inside. The stone under my boots cracked, the dragon statues trembled, and the sky itself seed to hesitate to collapse.

I swore my heart missed a beat.

And in that infernal din, a single thought managed to assert itself in my burning skull:

Fuck... if that’s just the introductory lesson, then the Draconic Academy is going to devour us alive.