is a Japanese light novel series written by Shiki Mizuchi, illustrated by Kohada Shimesaba, and published by Media Factory under the MF Bunko J imprint. The first volume was released on June 25, 2010, with a total of 20 volumes available in Japan so far. A manga adaptation by the illustrator, Ran, began serialization in Monthly Comic Alive during its June 2011 issue. It was one of five MF Bunko J light novel anime adaptations announced at Media Factory's Summer School Festival event on July 28, 2013. It has been licensed for North America by Funimation.
Plot On the continent of Arc Strada, civilians called Breeders raise and train their , dragons bonded to Breeders via a magical link called the Astral Flow. Races of dragons are born from Breeders who are deemed worthy and marked with a at a young age by the Mother Dragon at the Orphan Rite. Breeders may eventually achieve the rank of nobility by helping their Par become a Maestro, or Holy Dragon.
Learning to ride and tame dragons comes easily to most students at Ansarivan Dragonar Academy—except for Ash Blake, a first-year student who is known by his classmates as the "problem child". Despite Ash having an unusually large seikoku that marks him as a future dragon master, his Par had never appeared, until now. While challenging a fellow student, Princess Silvia Lautreamont, to a dragon race, Ash's dragon appears, but in a form different than any dragon ever seen before—a beautiful girl. Ash names her "Eco" and soon discovers that this new dragon has attitude to spare, as she promptly informs him that she is the master, and he, her servant. Ash's problems with dragon riding have only just begun.
Characters
Main characters
A 16-year-old student at the academy whose dragon Par hasn't awakened. He is known as a problem child due to his tendency to react violently to any perceived insult to his yet-to-be-born dragon. Despite his poor reputation, he has an unusual talent—a phenomenon called Chalice that makes him the only human (aside from his sister, Linda) able to ride other people's dragons. As a child he had no interest in becoming a Breeder, but he met Silvia Lautreamont—who was determined to be a Breeder—by chance during the Orphan Rite and assisted her in finding the Mother Dragon. After finding the Mother Dragon, he is chosen to become a Breeder; not Silvia. He was given the dragon Par (later named Eco) by the Mother Dragon who was aware of his ability to ride any dragon. After saving the town during the Necromancia incident, he is deified as the Arch-bearing "Silver Knight", which corresponds to a noble rank. He is later knighted by Paladin Oswald, granting him the title Dragona shortly after accepting the position of student council general affairs. He is also called the Knight of Avalon due to him being Eco's master. In his second year, he takes the student council president position where he becomes the founder of The Independent Order of the Avalon Knights.
Eco is a special dragon Par, who takes the form of a human girl. Although she develops a fondness for Ash, she treats him as though he was her servant, much to his annoyance. Eco is fully aware that Ash is her master and that she is the "pet" (as she describes herself), but she doesn't want to admit it because of her pride. She also believes that if she submits that she will be nothing but a "tamed pet" and will never be loved as anything more than just a pet, which is not the kind of love she wants from Ash. Eco accesses Dragweiss, a place where she can gathers the ability to give Ash a magical suit of armor known as an Ark and when she does, they also receive an Ark Weapon infused with elemental power. She is later revealed to be the Imperial Princess of the Emperor's Family of Avalon's Holy Dragons, and her full name is Eco Aurora-Christa Pendragon Lena Anherusu-Ilya Roransu Liliane-Muriel-Octavia-Robertine de la Rosa Resuperansu van de Compostela Avalon. According to the Mother Dragon, Eco is both human and dragon. This was arranged in order for her to breed with Ash and save the dragon race from extinction.
Fourth princess of the Lautreamont Knight Family and a Dragonar. Her Par is a white Maestro Dragon named Lancelot. It is revealed that she wasn't supposed to become a Dragonar, but she did when Ash yielded Lancelot to her when the two of them met as children during the Orphan Rite. Neither of them remember meeting nor the subsequent events. Silvia soon joins the student council with Ash and is in charge of public morals. She is completely terrified of her older sister, Veronica, but overcomes her fears when Veronica recognizes her skills. Despite Silvia being the 4th child of the King, her older siblings are either not interested in politics, or have gone missing, which has left her as heir-presumptive to the throne. During their second visit to Albion Forest to search for the Mother Dragon as part of an examination, Silvia and Ash regain their lost memories. Silvia finally realizes the magnitude of everything that Ash has done for her, such as giving up Lancelot and getting injured in the process, and so she declares her love for him and kisses him, causing her to forever quarrel with Eco, and will stop at nothing to have Ash be engaged to her. In later volumes, Silvia also becomes an Arch Dragonar and vice president of the academy.
Ansarivan Dragon Riding Academy
Third-year student and student council president. Her dragon Par is a Maestro named Cú Chulainn. She is a powerful Arch Dragonar armor-user capable of summoning an unstoppable spear named Gae Bulg. She likes teasing Ash to make the other girls who like him jealous. However, she may have feelings for Ash as well. When she graduates from the academy, she leaves the position of student council president to Ash.
Ash's friend and a self-proclaimed "ladies' man". His Par is an Earth Dragon named Brigid. He, Ash, and Maximilian have known each other for a long time and were once roommates when they were younger. Raymond is one of the very few students outside the student council to know about Ash's identity as the famous Silver Knight who had saved the town from a Necromantia dragon. In his second year, he takes the position of general affairs while Ash is promoted to student council president and has a seat on the Order of the Avalon Knights.
Rebecca's childhood friend who sees her as her rival. Although Jessica acts like she's from nobility, the truth is the Valentine family have been servants of the Randall family for generations, and Rebecca threatens to expose her whenever she causes trouble. She was the president of the Silver Knight Fan Club, and when she finds out that the Silver Knight is Ash, she wishes to bear his children in order to gain nobility. To cover it up, Rebecca has her resign as president of the fan club and join the student council. Her Par is a Hydra named Rhiannon.
The student council secretary. An Eckbald or elf of the forest, Lukka is the youngest person to ever become a Dragonar. Her Par is a Maestro Dragon named Gawain. After an accident where she fell off Gawain, she developed a fear of riding her dragon. In addition, Gawain has since refused to let her ride due to his concern for his rider. However, Lukka is eventually able to overcome her fear with Ash's help. She then becomes attached to him and more open to others. As an Eckbaldian Dragonar, she practices the Dragon Dance, a battle style that wins the battle against the Necromantia at the Willingham Mausoleum.
The student council treasurer. Maximillian's Par is a Wyvern named Airanlot. He is known to be a clean freak and does not tolerate any kind of untidiness. He, Ash, and Raymond have known each other for a long time and were once roommates in their earlier school years.
The student council vice president who is a girl masquerading as a boy and is often absent from school lectures and activities. According to Rebecca, Oscar's skills as a Dragonar are exceptional. Likewise, Oscar wishes to make Rebecca her 'first wife'. Oscar is the daughter of the king of Chevron. After Oscar's mother's death, the king took Oscar on as a son and hid her true gender. She became the first Breeder of the land of Chevron with her Par Tristan and became an exchange student at the academy. She has an eye-patch maid named Celestine. When they were introduced, Oscar and Ash were initially on bad terms because Oscar forcibly took Eco for strength to obtain her throne.
Ash's younger sister. Like her older brother Ash, Linda is able to ride any dragon. Her Par, Percival is the reincarnation of the Mother Dragon. Originally, Eco was intended to be Linda's Par but instead was given to Ash because he had given Lancelot to Silvia. To compensate, Linda is given a holy dragon since both she and Ash share the Chalice phenomena and have greater potential to be Breeders.
Lautreamont Knight Country
Lautreamont Royal Family
The head of the Lautreamont family and the current ruler of the country, called the Paladin. He is a widower and a very cheerful man who dotes on his children but is often scolded by Silvia, which he seems to enjoy—it reminds him of Silvia's late mother Elizabeth. He asks to meet Ash at the continental congress and grants Ash knighthood but warns him not to pursue a relationship with Silvia. The Paladin was unable to bear seeing his only son Julius killed for the crime of murdering his dragon, and so he banished Julius instead without realizing the reasons behind his son's actions.
First princess of the Lautreamont family and the eldest of the four sisters. Nicknamed the Iron Blood Valkyrie, Veronica always wears her armor except while bathing or sleeping. Silvia is terrified of her due to the harsh training Veronica subjected her to when she was little. Although Veronica was not selected as a Breeder, she decided to train her body and hone her swordsmanship to compensate for the lack. Despite her harsh treatment of Silvia, she loves her sister dearly and, according to Julius, even has pictures of Silvia and a Silvia doll in her room. She apparently does not respect her father and wishes for Silvia to be the next Paladin, the country's ruler, telling her to "try to make me kneel before you".
The only son of the Lautreamont family. He was supposedly executed for the charge of slaughtering his own dragon but was secretly spared and exiled by Oswald instead. The reason he killed his dragon was because he realized that his dragon, Mordred, was the reincarnation of an evil dragon. Unfortunately, this caused Mordred's spirit to possess him, thus creating the persona of Milgauss. He was later freed when Mordred chose to possess Eco instead.
Second daughter of the Lautreamont family, currently missing.
Third daughter of the Lautreamont family. She took the position as Ansarivan Dragon Riding Academy's principal after the previous principal retired. She has a cold but calm demeanor and is usually seen drinking tea even in the middle ceremonies or meetings. According to Silvia, she is a scholar who is studying and doing research abroad. She became Ansarivan's principal on Veronica's orders to watch over Eco, but she admits that she came for another reason and that she does not care for Veronica's orders. According to Ash, she does not seem to respect Veronica at all, having referred to her eldest sister a "muscle freak".
Citizens
An expert in the field of dragons. She kidnapped Eco and tried to vivisect her, but was stopped by Ash. Afterwards, so that she can observe Ash and Eco, she becomes the new homeroom teacher of Ash's class, much to the surprise of Ash and Silvia and the delight of all the other male students. She and Julius knew each other before his supposed execution, and she is hinted to have feelings for him. Because of this, she is the first person to realize Milgaus's true identity.