Chapter 372: Superb Illusion, Powerful Three-Good Student
"Ahhh… the finish line…"
Aaron, using all his strength, ran past the three Dragons with his two legs, panting heavily as he entered Area Four.
The Australian Opaleye Dragon showed a flicker of surprise in its eyes when it saw him, but this was immediately followed by a human-like look of appreciation.
It steadily pushed the Golden Egg out, and it rolled in the direction he had come from.
Smart.
Aaron immediately felt that the Opaleye was a good Dragon; a single sheep a day was truly an injustice to it, and he had to double its portion.
Just as Aaron reached out his hand, a sharp whooshing sound suddenly came from beside him.
He instinctively dodged sideways, and a greenish claw landed beside him.
The Golden Egg was thrown more than ten meters by the air current, and Aaron's gaze moved upwards with the golden glint, revealing a wholly emerald Welsh Green Dragon.
"Shit!
I forgot about you."
"One against four," Bageman's commentary rang out from the judges' stand, "We are truly lucky; the first Triwizard Tournament in over a century is already so exciting.
Without further ado, let us enjoy the performance of Champion Aaron Gaius."
Hearing this, Aaron's face darkened, and his already depressed mood became even more so.
Does he have to be so happy? My chance of getting out unscathed is gone!
"Haha!" Aaron skillfully displayed a gentle smile and, in a tone full of apology, spoke in Dragon language, "That was just a misunderstanding."
Roar!
The Welsh Green Dragon roared right in his face, and smelling the disgusting stench, Aaron subconsciously waved his hand.
But this action further enraged it, and it unhesitatingly swung its sharp claws.
Aaron immediately raised his shield to block, but the stone shield was no different from mud in front of the giant Dragon; it was easily shattered, and he himself was sent flying more than ten meters.
At the same time, the Swedish Short-Snout Dragon, the Chinese Fireball Dragon, and the Hungarian Horntail Dragon all landed in Area Four, and the four Dragons surrounded Aaron.
"Well, the worst-case scenario has still happened." Aaron sighed, his gaze constantly searching the arena, and he found the Golden Egg behind the Hungarian Horntail Dragon.
It was less than fifty meters from him, but it was as difficult to cross as a chasm.
Darn it! Surrounded by four Dragons, it would be almost impossible to get through their encirclement without revealing some abilities.
"Everyone, if I have offended anyone, I apologize to you all, but there's no need to pursue me so relentlessly, is there?"
However, his response was four pairs of cold, slit pupils, each pair filled with angry flames.
They hadn't initially taken Aaron seriously, but who told him to provoke them again and again?
Dragons are inherently proud, and even a Dragon Speaker cannot insult their dignity like this, so several Dragons of different species reached a tacit understanding at once.
"Alright! Then there's nothing to discuss."
Aaron shook his head helplessly, and a ball of red flame appeared in each of his left and right hands, adopting a stance of fighting to the death.
The Hungarian Horntail Dragon whipped its tail, the Chinese Fireball Dragon and the Welsh Green Dragonswung their sharp claws, and the Swedish Short-Snout Dragon flew overhead, spewing Dragonfire to seal off his last retreat.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Boom… After a series of fierce collisions, the three Dragons, except for the Swedish Short-Snout Dragon, let out painful wails.
These were all mother Dragons about to hatch eggs, and their mournful cries made one's heart twitch involuntarily.
Everyone looked curiously into the arena; the blue and white flames had extinguished, and the three Dragons were each clutching their scratched claws and tails.
But Aaron, who was surrounded by them, remained motionless; let alone injured, even his collar was no different from before.
Slap!
Aaron snapped his fingers and picked up the last Golden Egg from behind the Welsh Green Dragon.
With his appearance, the Aaron surrounded by the Dragons also vanished into an illusion.
"It's too irrational to go head-to-head with you all." Aaron provocatively held up the Golden Egg in his hand in front of the four Dragons, "The match is over; I won this time."
The Dragons seemed not to have reacted yet, and dozens of Dragon handlers, who had been guarding the edge of the enclosure, immediately stepped forward to soothe them.
"Is this an illusion?" Bagman said somewhat doubtfully, "But it's too realistic!
However, nothing matters now; Mr. Gaius has obtained the Golden Egg and successfully passed the first task of the first Triwizard Tournament."
Slytherin let out frenzied cheers, and others, including students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, joined in.
Although Aaron was the last to pass, his ability was absolutely beyond doubt; he didn't resort to tricks like Harry, but instead presented a spectacular performance.
Not to mention he also covered for the others; if it weren't for him, the other three Champions besides Harry would definitely not have sustained only minor injuries.
"Very clever illusion." Dumbledore clapped with a smile; with his ability, he could naturally see through this illusion, but most people couldn't, only realizing it after the match ended.
"Even more clever are his methods," Adrian rubbed Abe's Dragon head with some dissatisfaction, "From beginning to end, he only used one special magic that I don't understand; the Gaius family tradition is like this, if they can hide one part, they will never expose two.
But it doesn't matter, there are still two tasks, and I will definitely force out more of his trump cards."
Upon hearing this, Dumbledore's smile deepened, and he couldn't be happier.
He naturally welcomed Adrian's idea; he had always wanted to know Aaron's true strength, but had never had the opportunity, and he hadn't expected the Triwizard Tournament to fulfill his wish.
"It's time to score." Barty Crouch reminded, "For our last Champion, and the most outstanding Champion."
The judges all raised their wands, and numbers spewed out from their wands.
Barty Crouch gave nine points, Ludo Bagman gave ten points, Dumbledore gave ten points, Maxime gave nine points, and Karkaroff only gave eight points.
Out of a maximum of fifty, Aaron received forty-six points.
He was quite satisfied with this number, as he was aiming for the championship, and the more points he got in the first task, the better.
When he left the arena, Draco and a group of Slytherins surrounded him with smiles.
"That was brilliant, you actually fought a Dragon head-on." Draco said, pointing to the badge on his chest, "I think it's necessary to change the design."
"That's really not necessary; this is already upsetting me enough."
"Those were four Dragons, how did you do it?" Neville asked incredulously, "And Dragon language, we didn't even know you had that ability."
"Talent, mainly talent, you can't envy it." Aaron responded seriously.
"You can praise him anytime you want." Professor Snapesaid, "But for now, let Gaius go see Madam Pomfrey.
Aaron needs a quiet environment to rest, and no one should disturb him, at least Slytherin shouldn't disturb him."
"Professor." Aaron said emotionally, "You truly understand me."
"Go!" Snape nodded slightly, "Do you need someone to escort you?"
"We can." Several older and younger female students immediately stepped forward.
"That won't be necessary." Aaron firmly refused, then turned and walked towards the tent.
Just then, Abe ran over and crashed into Aaron's arms.
"Don't worry, your master is perfectly fine!" Aaron comforted, but as soon as he finished speaking, his mouth twitched.
Because there were still a ring of Dragon fruit seeds around Abe's mouth; this fellow was clearly carefree, still having the mood to eat while he was adventuring and fighting.
Aaron walked into the tent and smelled an indescribable scent.
Three of the four Champions were there; Fleur was drinking a bottle of some unknown colored Potion in her seat.
Madam Pomfrey was applying a bubbling purple solution to Cedric's wound, while Harry sat beside him, his shoulder wrapped in a thick bandage.
"You two are quite badly injured!" Aaron exclaimed.
"It's alright! I'll be fine after two days of rest." Cedric smiled.
"Two days?" Madam Pomfrey said angrily, "If you don't want to be disfigured, you'll rest properly for a week."
"Understood, Madam Pomfrey, I'll listen to you." Cedricshrugged, then looked at Aaron meaningfully, "Thanks to you, otherwise it wouldn't have been minor injuries.
If the other Dragons had interfered in our area, the consequences would truly have been unimaginable."
"Don't misunderstand." Aaron waved his hand, "I wasn't doing it for you; this is Adrian's first major event, and if someone were seriously injured in the first task, she wouldn't give me a good look."
Cedric was stunned for a moment, his mouth twitching as he said, "Regardless, thank you again this time."
"Um…" Fleur walked over, looking embarrassed, "I apologize to you, I always thought you were…"
"A beneficiary of connections, I understand, and I get it."
"I also had someone specifically inquire about your reputation at Hogwarts."
"I was that specific person." Cedric raised his hand weakly, "Not just you, I also told Delacour about Harry's situation, but everyone knows about that."
"No wonder I saw you two walking together several times." Harry suddenly realized, "So you were gathering intelligence on the two of us."
"Besides Diggory, I also asked others." Fleur smiled awkwardly but politely, "Many people rated you as an excellent Slytherin, but your excellence seemed to only manifest in your academic performance.
Harry Potter's exploits, however, are numerous; his reputation is much greater than yours, but besides the title of Savior and Quidditch, all that's left is breaking school rules."
"That's a truly fair assessment!" Harry's face showed a hint of embarrassment, but he didn't know how to refute it; it seemed to be true.
Aaron shrugged indifferently, feeling a little proud in his heart.
Facts proved that his persona at Hogwarts these past few years had been very successful; except for a few people, no one questioned his true strength.
However, after the Triwizard Tournament, his label would change from a good student to a powerful good student, which made him somewhat helpless, as he hadn't fully prepared for this yet.