Lord of Cinder in American Comics

"How could a mage fight like a warrior? They'd even be required to wear heavy armor, which is the kind of equipment medieval knights should have."

Knowing that Coulson would be relegated to a cleaning job upon returning to S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury said nothing. He turned the computer screen on his desk toward Coulson, where Constantine was shown charging toward the Men in Black, throwing fireballs with one hand and wielding a magic sword with the other.

Upon seeing this, Coulson promptly shut his mouth; the way Constantine slashed the orc's sword in the scene was something he could never do.

"How should we prepare, trainees? After all, there's only one week left."

“There’s another group of students at S.H.I.E.L.D. University who are very talented. I’ll speak with Dean Damdugan about it. Also, to avoid any other issues, go and summon Clint back. We need to be prepared for both possibilities. If the students aren’t up to it, the soldiers might be able to.”

After assigning Coulson a new task and waiting for Coulson to leave the office, Fury hesitantly took out his phone and called Pierce.

After all, this matter needs to be reported to the Security Council; we can no longer keep the benefits for ourselves.

With his heart bleeding, Fury dialed Pierce's number: "Pierce, there's news from the magicians. They're recruiting new students for Dragon Academy."

## Chapter 121: Heading Towards 6,000 Meters (QQ Group Number: 483542220)

Pierce, after receiving Fury's call, looked at his men.

Pierce had basically placed all of his men in S.H.I.E.L.D. as agents, with only a few remaining hidden in the shadows.

As the head of this organization, it was an easy task for Pierce to plant his own people from S.H.I.E.L.D. into the Dragon Academy. At the same time, for the sake of Hydra's grand scheme, Pierce also shared this information with the other heads of the organization.

Pierce was initially overjoyed, thinking that the news he brought would give him more say and dominance within Hydra, but to his surprise, only Baron Strucker, who was interested in superhumans, made a clear statement.

Lady Viper, being a member of the Inhuman race and naturally gifted with the ability to make money, was not interested in this matter.

Anim Zola is still buried underground. Nobody likes this little guy. Aside from using him to cover Hydra's operations in the network day after day, nobody talks to Zola. As a result, Zola is the only Hydra leader without any armed forces.

Crossbones? Crossbones is still in the hospital. After being beaten up by the orc with Hulk's Hurricane, the doctor really did mark every bone on his head with an X. Now he truly deserves the name Crossbones.

Upon receiving Constantine's message, the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. and Security Council sprang into action, gathering all potentially suitable cadets and soldiers.

At S.H.I.E.L.D., Leo Fitz hides his notebook in his pocket and sneaks into a lab where a class is in session, where he secretly gestures to Gemma Simmons from a corner.

The two slipped out of the laboratory through the back door one after the other and met up at a secluded corner of the corridor.

"What's wrong, Fitz? I still have two lab reports to write!"

Fitz took the notebook out of his pocket, pointed to a top-secret document on it, and said, "Look what I found."

"You've secretly hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s servers again, haven't you! Principal Dugan will find you soon. Don't forget that last time you were caught, you were tied up at the shooting range and had to listen to gunfire all day."

Simmons complained bitterly about Fitz, a friend who was out of touch with reality and spent most of his time in his online world, while the rest of the time he was with Simmons.

Simmons and Fitz, whenever one of them is not in the lab or the other puts down his computer, will definitely be together, like an old married couple.

Fitz, still holding his laptop, explained, "No, this time it's different. I found evidence from S.H.I.E.L.D. regarding supernatural events."

"Yes, the whole of New York knows that there is a priest who can summon angels, and the whole world has seen that huge blood-red vortex. Hasn't it already been defined as a dimensional invasion event? Why are you still talking about this?"

Just as a wife criticizes her husband, Simmons's criticism of Fitz is exactly the same.

However, Fitz pointed to two names on the file and said, "Look, our names are on this list, Simmons. We might be coming into contact with real supernatural events!"

"So, does that mean we can see angels?!"

At Fitz's insistence, Simmons saw his name on the file and shouted excitedly. He grabbed Fitz's arm and jumped up, causing Fitz to stumble and fall into Simmons' arms.

Other trainees heard the shouts and peeked out from around the corner, only to see Simmons holding Fitz tightly in his arms.

"Uh~ I didn't see anything, you guys continue..."

After being discovered, the two quickly separated and tidied their clothes, which had been disheveled from the physical contact. Fitz faced the wall, looking like a wronged girl who had been violated, while Simmons continued to berate Fitz in a nonchalant manner.

Unexpectedly, the trainee who had just flashed by reappeared around the corner. Looking at the scene after the incident, he said somewhat embarrassedly, "Excuse me again, Dean Dugan wants you to go to his office, and Fitz, you will be reporting to the shooting range to serve as a hostage target for a whole day of assault training."

After saying that, the guy quickly slipped away, and it would have been better if the flash hadn't gone off the instant he left.

"Fitz!! It won't be long before our photos are all over S.H.I.E.L.D.! It's all your fault!"

Simmons called Fitz's name and began to grope him angrily until Fitz curled up in a corner and wept bitterly.

"I can set up a program that intelligently searches for relevant text and images, and set up an interception algorithm so that no one will see it."

Like a small animal, Fitz huddled in the corner, speaking timidly, but even so, he didn't put down his computer.

"You pass. Let's go to the dean's place quickly."

After saying that, Simmons grabbed Fitz and rushed out, leaving Fitz's vague words behind.

"Let's go slowly, I still need to be a target later, the slower the better..."

Time flies, and soon the appointed time with Constantine arrived.

Ash originally planned to meet the monks at the southern foot of Mount Everest, but then he thought that might expose the mages in Kathmandu too early.

Thus, in Constantine's mouth, it became any mountain with an altitude of over six thousand meters.

There is only one mountain in Amy that exceeds 6,000 meters, namely Denali in Alaska, which is 6193 meters high. Apart from this peak, the highest peak in the other 48 contiguous states is Mount Whitney, which is only 4418 meters high.

S.H.I.E.L.D. originally planned to land the students and soldiers on the mountaintop by helicopter, or at the very least by rappelling or parachuting.

But to her surprise, when Natasha informed Constantine of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s decision, she was met with Constantine's merciless mockery.

"You can't even climb a 6,000-meter mountain, yet you want to get into Dragon Academy? Go home and drink your milk!"

This statement led S.H.I.E.L.D. to mistakenly believe that mountain climbing was also part of the test, and in order to avoid dissatisfaction from the recruiting unit, Dragon Academy, they had no choice but to start from the bottom of the mountain step by step.

In order to catch up with the Dragon Academy's enrollment, S.H.I.E.L.D. mobilized its personnel as soon as they were ready and sent them to Alaska to train them in snow survival and climbing while they set off toward the mountaintop.

Although some of the climbers were SHIELD cadets and people planted by the Security Council, the majority were just soldiers there to make up the numbers.

These soldiers had received varying degrees of training in snow warfare and possessed some experience in climbing. More importantly, their obedience was far superior.

With the help and assistance of the soldiers, these students were able to avoid falling behind or disappearing in the vast snow-capped mountains.

## Chapter 122: Enrollment Begins (QQ Group Number: 483542220)

Clint drew his bow and shot an arrow into a nearby rock. The specially structured arrow split from the tip, securing itself firmly in place.

The arrow had a rope attached to its back, which was secured to Clint's waist.

After pulling on the rope to make sure it could support his weight, Clint threw himself off the cliff, allowing the others below to grab onto and secure the rope.

And so, Clint shot an arrow every so often as he climbed a certain distance, then fixed it in place. He repeated this process until he reached the top of the cliff.

Standing on the cliff, with the ropes secured, Clint watched as one person after another climbed up.

"Thank you so much, Clint. It's good to have you here."

These words were spoken by Grant Ward, a covert operations specialist at S.H.I.E.L.D., who, like Hawkeye Clint, was just a filler soldier this time.

Grant Ward had his reasons for saying that. Just look at the others who kept their mouths tightly shut.

If firearms or other projectiles are used, the resulting noise on this snowy mountain could easily trigger an avalanche, burying everyone inside.

Hawkeye's bow and arrows can avoid this situation, and because of his agility, he can also act as a navigator for everyone.

The group rested on a platform on the cliff, which was already over 6,000 meters above sea level, but there was still no reaction.

Grant crept up to Hawkeye Clint and whispered, "Clint, do you have any news? It's said that your guarantor, Natasha, is with that sorcerer, but we haven't seen any of him yet."

Everyone who could get up here was a participant in the Dragon Academy recruitment event, and Natasha's news was no secret among them, so Grant's inquiry did not arouse any suspicion.

Klink thought for a moment and said, "I just reported the itinerary to the department, and I just spoke with Natasha. She said they are still in NY and haven't left yet. I don't know what means the magicians have to arrive so quickly."

The straight-line distance from New York to the highest peak in Alaska is over 3,000 kilometers, and even by supersonic plane, it would take three hours to reach.

The wizards are currently in New York City, which means they will have to wait here for at least three hours.

Seeing the students scrambling to find places to squat down, Grant could only tell them to keep moving around or eat to replenish their energy, so as to prevent them from losing body heat and dying in the freezing cold.

Just then, a crow's cry rang out, the loud noise drawing everyone's attention. Some quick-thinking people had already begun to dodge towards the bottom of the cliff to avoid being swept away by the avalanche.

However, the enormous noise did not cause any problems; instead, the S.H.I.E.L.D. cadets went into a frenzy.

"Fitz, did you hear that?"

Simon pulled Fitz behind a boulder, looking at the snow-capped peak of the mountain, and asked Fitz how he felt.

Fitz, holding his laptop and observing the data on it, said, "I heard it, but there was no vibration at all. It was as if the sound went directly into our hearts."

While everyone was still searching for the source of the sound, Clint, living up to his reputation as Hawkeye, was the first to notice something different.

The shadows of the higher clouds in the sky had an unusual appearance, as if a huge creature was flying above the clouds.

Seeing Clint looking up, Grant also noticed something was amiss.

Just as the two looked up, an enormous crow broke through the clouds and swooped down towards them.

High on the snow-capped mountain, not daring to warn loudly, Clint and Grant could only whisper warnings to the crowd and pull a smoke stick to attract their attention.

As the crows swarmed towards him, Clint drew his bow, ready to fight to the death, when he finally saw two figures under the crows' claws.

Before it could send out any new signals, the crow had already reached the platform.

Just as the crow was about to swoop down onto the platform, it adjusted the angle of its wings, spread its feathers, and changed from a swooping posture to a landing posture.

The moment it touched the platform, it dropped the two people under its claws and flapped its wings to return to the clouds.

Meanwhile, the still-shaken crowd was frantically searching for shelter.

Looking at everything before him, Constantine said nonchalantly, "That's it? That's it? This is the elite trainee sent by S.H.I.E.L.D."

Pointing at a few of the most unruly individuals, Constantine said bluntly, "You, you, you, and you, go home. You panic over such a small matter. We don't need students like you. And who is in charge of this group? Organize your men and don't let them cause trouble."

After saying that, Constantine lit a cigarette and waited for the S.H.I.E.L.D. students to regroup.

Fitz and Simmons climbed out from under the boulder and regrouped under the leader's command.

Simmons pointed at Constantine, who was smoking, and Natasha, who was standing at the front of the line helping to count heads, and said, "Hey, Fitz, did you see that?"

"Yes, I saw it. Perhaps this is the secret of magic."

Fitz understood Simmons's meaning. At this moment, at an altitude of 6,000 meters, Constantine was wearing a black single-layer robe, while Natasha was wearing an overcoat over a tight-fitting combat suit.

For every 100 meters increase in altitude, the temperature drops by about 0.6 degrees Celsius. At an altitude of 6,000 meters, the temperature is already below minus ten degrees Celsius, and the two of them had no other warm clothing, not even windproof scarves.

After Natasha finished counting the people, the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel were divided into two lines: soldiers and cadets. Outside of these two lines, there were a few scattered individuals who hadn't been grouped into any of the ranks.

These unfortunate fellows were the panicked people Constantine had mentioned. At this moment, everyone was a competitor, and no one cared about the poor guys who had been driven away by Constantine.

Seeing Natasha's signal, Constantine stepped to the front of the group and said, "Next, discard all your weapons, equipment, and electronic devices."