Has Lance encountered trouble?
This thought briefly crossed Mira’s mind, but then the blue vortex in front of her began to re-congeal. She felt the fluctuations of magic being reformed. She was puzzled. However, remembering that teleportation magic was an ancient and long-lost high-level spell, and that Lance was in poor condition, a momentary disconnection wasn’t particularly surprising.
She let out a sigh of relief and didn’t dare to delay even a second. She hurriedly picked up her belongings and stepped into the blue teleportation portal.
The scenery reappeared before her, hazy as if veiled by a thin layer of gauze. But the grayish tones, the dim yellow candlelight, and the lingering damp smell clearly told Mira that she was at the bottom of the tower.
The teleportation magic had worked.
Mira’s anxious heart gradually relaxed, but before the surroundings fully took shape, she saw a blue figure fall.
Her thoughts momentarily froze, then she realized it was Lance.
"Lance!" Mira immediately dropped the items she was holding and rushed to the figure that had fallen to the ground.
In just two or three steps, she had to slow down and eventually stop in front of him, studying the man lying on the floor.
He hadn’t fallen off a cushion; he had collapsed while trying to get up.
When this thought crossed her mind, Mira couldn’t help but think that he must have tried to stand up because he was worried about her.
Her gaze shifted to Lance’s injured legs.
Clearly, there was no need for him to force himself.
“I’m fine,” Lance gasped for breath, and when he saw Mira was safe, his tense nerves relaxed.
“I thought something had happened to you,” the blue dragon said. “You’re late.”
“I ran into some small trouble,” Mira explained, though she didn’t go into specifics. “It wasn’t anything serious,” she said, “I walked into your teleportation circle but couldn’t come back.”
“There was a little accident,” Lance smiled faintly. His face appeared unnaturally pale.
“Are you okay? Do you need to rest for a bit?” Mira asked.
Lance shook his head. “I’m fine. The magic failed, so I summoned another one.” In reality, it was because he had exhausted his energy and could no longer sustain the magic circle for long, but Mira’s entry into the teleportation circle had already sent the signal back.
He had no choice but to use more magic.
This time, he was completely drained. He couldn’t even maintain the levitation spell to support his body and collapsed to the floor in a heap.
Lance felt helpless and frustrated.
Facing Mira’s concern, he couldn’t let go of the pride of the blue dragon clan. For Lance, it was unimaginable. He could only say that he was fine.
But the beads of sweat on his forehead and his pale face exposed everything.
Lance’s consciousness quickly blurred, and he passed out.
Mira looked at the man lying on the ground, pouting in frustration.
Wasn’t he saying he was fine? Men were so stubborn.
But Mira couldn’t just leave him here. She stood up and tried to move Lance back to the bed.
He was already physically weak, and if he lay on the cold floor, it would only cause more problems.
Mira tugged at him, but Lance didn’t move.
He was tall and heavy.
Mira looked at Lance lying on the ground, estimating his height. Was he 1.8 meters? No, no, he definitely had to be over 1.9 meters.
For a frail, traditional mage, trying to lift Lance was incredibly difficult.
“Mages should do more physical training,” Mira muttered, hands on her hips, panting. “Annoying magic hubs. Why don’t spellcasters have to train?”
When she was younger, the magic hubs used to give younger apprentices some free time. But as she got older, the workload increased. Forget about free time—her sleep time was being squeezed out.
They always said that mages didn’t need physical training. They only needed to focus on studying magic, refining their mental power, and improving their control over magic.
But to Mira, it seemed that physical fitness was just as important for mages.
Take Lance, for example. He was a mage, but if not for his strong physical constitution, the dragon flames would’ve long since taken his life.
Mira sighed and cursed the magic hubs again in her mind. Her gaze fell on Lance.
His exposed arms had clear muscle definition.
She wondered which magic academy had trained him to develop such muscles.
For a mage, this was rare.
Mira crouched down.
Lance was unconscious, looking like he wasn’t in immediate danger. She took out a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Though her hand was gently wiping the sweat away, Mira couldn’t tear her eyes away from Lance’s arm.
She really wanted to know which magic academy could cultivate spellcasters with both strong magic abilities and physical strength. They must be incredible to still have long-lost spells like teleportation in their arsenal.
Mira stared at Lance’s muscles.
She hadn’t heard of such an academy before.
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As the largest magic academy on land, the Magic Nexus had always been a model for smaller academies. Most mages had frail bodies.
This was also why the stereotype of mages being weak existed.
The mages at the Magic Nexus were either thin or pudgy.
If she had to say, Mira’s mentor was more balanced in physique. She didn’t know if her mentor had a healthy body, as he always wore a pristine white mage robe.
At the Magic Nexus, mages of her mentor’s level wore white robes to symbolize pure, unblemished magical truth.
Mira had envied it for a long time, but she finally gathered the courage to stretch out her hand.
He wouldn’t know, she thought to herself, holding her breath like she was doing something wrong, and poked Lance’s perfectly toned arm.
Hard. With a gentle push of her fingertip, she left a small dent in his skin.
She retracted her hand and extended her own arm, bending it forcefully, but there was no muscle.
Mira pinched her arm.
Soft. It didn’t seem strong at all.
In reality, her strength wasn’t impressive.
Mira pouted. She wanted muscles too.
After all, she was a spellcaster. Lance’s muscle strength could rival a swordsman’s.
He was taller than most swordsmen, yet here he was, lying helplessly at the base of the tower.
It was strange.
Mira knew Lance had many secrets. And to him, she probably seemed the same.
However, neither of them had any intention of harming the other. Instead, within the Magic Dragon’s tower, they both had to take care of each other to survive.
Mira took out a medium crystal from her pocket.
She muttered the incantation and summoned wind magic to lift Lance’s body, gently placing him back on the cushion.
After the magic subsided, she put the crystal back in her pocket.
Lance was back on the cushion.
Even though he had a strong physique, he was still a frail patient in need of care from the young mage.
Mira stood up again.
She walked to the spot where the teleportation circle had vanished and picked up the basket she had set down.
Inside were the burn salves she had specifically bought and anti-inflammatory creams she had mixed based on advice from the pharmacy owner.
She had also purchased a few herbs she remembered from her alchemy course, but the town’s pharmacy couldn’t provide all the rare alchemical ingredients.
Mira sat down on the cushion, recalling what she had learned in her alchemy class. She stared at the herbs and burn salve, unsure of how to begin.
Her gaze moved between the salve and Lance’s chest and legs, where grotesque wounds marred his skin.
His clothes had almost been completely burned away by the lightning. Only a few ragged pieces covered his critical areas.
Mira controlled her mage mind, pushing away intrusive thoughts that wondered why his clothes were completely burned off, yet the key parts of him remained covered.
What she needed now was clean water.
And magic. Mira sighed. She took another medium crystal from her pocket.
She could only thank that the magic she was using was simple enough not to require too much crystal, or she would quickly run out of power.
Though she hated to waste the crystals, when her gaze fell on Lance, who was still sweating profusely...
He would dehydrate if he kept sweating like this.
Mira held the crystal and first created some water to clean the new pot she had bought. Then she filled the beautiful high-necked vase with water.
The vase was new and clean. There were no flowers here, so Mira used it as a water container.
The king had prepared extravagant decorations as part of her dowry.
Luckily, it didn’t leak.
Mira was satisfied. She tossed the handkerchief she used to wipe Lance’s sweat into the container meant for washing hands before meals. Now, it was being used as a bowl. It worked just as well.
Mira moved some stones from outside the tower to build a stove and started a fire with some gathered wood. Her modified spell always worked well.
The flames quickly blazed in the stove.
Mira placed the washed oats in the pot.
She had never cooked before. But she had eaten something similar to oatmeal in the dining hall, so she assumed cooking was like this.
As she worked, she periodically wiped sweat from Lance and gave him water.
Once the food was done, she finally cleaned her hands and took out the salve.
The pharmacy owner had said to simply apply it to the wounds.
She wasn’t sure how well it would work on the damage caused by dragon flames.
Mira sighed and opened the box of salve.
A faint herbal scent wafted out, subtle but pleasant.
Mira gently lifted the blanket covering Lance and dipped the salve.
But then she hesitated. Should she remove the charred parts before applying the salve?
That should be the first thing to do! Mira felt a pang of regret and cursed herself for being so dumb.
She put the salve down.
From her belongings, she retrieved a set of dissection tools. These were for magic experiments.
Mira disinfected the tools with magic and returned to Lance’s side.
“This might hurt a little,” she whispered, “try to bear with it.”
She knew Lance couldn’t hear her, but if he were awake, it might be even more painful. It was better to work quickly and remove all the charred layers while he was unconscious.
Mira took great care, constantly observing Lance’s facial expressions.
His condition was relatively stable, though he occasionally frowned or let out a groan. There was no sign that he was waking up.
What surprised Mira was that when she gently removed the surface layer of burned skin, she found that Lance’s legs already had a significant amount of new, healthy flesh, far more than she had expected, with less necrosis than she’d imagined.
What level of spellcaster was he? Mira’s curiosity deepened. If Lance could develop muscles through physical exercise, the speed at which his body healed couldn’t be due to exercise alone—he must have used body-enhancing magic.
The Magic Nexus seemed to have some magical techniques like that, but they were high-level secrets, ones that Mira, as a low-ranking apprentice, couldn’t access.
A spellcaster capable of single-handedly facing a dragon. Mira’s understanding of Lance deepened. But for now, he was just an unlucky injured person.
Mira looked away and took the salve, carefully applying it to Lance’s wounds.
After finishing all of that, she lowered the stove fire and waited for Lance to wake up.
His condition had stabilized significantly. Mira watched him quietly. Maybe because she hadn’t slept all night, she was now utterly exhausted.
Meditation spells couldn’t replace sleep, and it wasn’t long before Mira curled up in the corner of the cushion and fell asleep.
She slept for a long time.
By the time she woke up, Lance was already awake.
He propped himself up, using the pillow Mira had found for him as a cushion, leaning against the wall.
“You’re awake?” Mira rubbed her eyes.
“You applied the medicine for me,” Lance replied.
“Mm.” Mira wasn’t fully awake yet. “Your body is healing quickly.”
After all, he was a dragon. Lance turned his head.
Thanks to Mira’s care, the dark base of the tower was now lit with the warm glow of candles. A temporary stove had been set up some distance away, and the fire Mira had put out before resting still kept the food warm enough not to cool completely.
It looked like a place where people lived, not the dark and terrifying high tower.
Lance opened his mouth slightly.
He had woken up before Mira. Before she opened her eyes, Lance had already spent some time observing this strange girl.
Since entering the tower, it seemed like she had never rested quietly like she did earlier.
The great dragon could feel the state of his legs under the blanket.
Even in his unconscious state, he hadn’t completely lost awareness. Mira’s soft comforting voice, her gentle breath, and her careful movements—he had felt all of it.
What a strange girl.
The bride of the magic dragon. Lance recalled her excuse.
The magic dragon’s bride and her simple but practical magic.
Mira followed Lance’s gaze and saw the stove she had set up.
Thinking carefully, Lance hadn’t eaten anything since he arrived. And as a patient, he must be quite hungry by now.
With this thought in mind, Mira stood up from the cushion.
She took the bowls and dishes she had prepared earlier. Using a silver spoon, she slowly filled a bowl with porridge, placing the pancakes and roasted meat from this morning’s meal on the pot lid.
After some time, the food had cooled down, so Mira reheated it using the residual warmth from the fire.
Mira filled two bowls of porridge and took a spoonful to taste.
The oatmeal was bitter, unlike the one she had eaten in the dining hall.
Mira realized she had forgotten to buy sugar. If she added some, it would probably taste much better.
There was no time for that today. She’d go back to the market in a few days.
She glanced over at Lance, waiting for him to recover a bit more.
“Eat something,” Mira said, handing him the porridge and the pancakes and roasted meat she had packed earlier. “My cooking skills aren’t great, and it probably doesn’t taste very good,” she said honestly.
“However, sick people need to eat something light.”
The dragon silently stared at the oatmeal porridge in front of him, then his gaze moved to the bag in Mira’s hand, which contained the pancakes and roasted meat.
Lance said, “I want that.”
Mira reluctantly handed it over. Was he really this picky?
The blue dragon’s expression remained unchanged.
Dragons were strictly carnivorous.