The rain came down quickly and heavily. Mira stood still, turning her head to look at Lance, who had conjured the heavy rain with his magic.
Mira moved her lips, unsure of what to say.
Lance didn’t speak either.
He stepped closer, disregarding his disguised limp.
He stopped in front of Mira, and whether intentionally or not, his tall frame blocked her view of the bodies.
She lifted her head, and the cold raindrops avoided the small space around them. It was clearly the effect of Lance’s magic.
“Let’s head back,” Lance decided to abandon the mission. He briefly hated himself for not following Mira more closely. He should have been faster, not worrying about his limp.
Thinking back to the two corpses they had seen earlier, Lance’s expression grew serious. If anyone had to kill them, it should have been him.
Mira was too young. Many mages who were older and had more experience with life often went through a period of struggle after taking a life for the first time.
Mira hadn’t even reacted yet, still driven by anger. But as this anger faded, what would stay in her mind was the terrifying sensation of her body being pierced by lightning.
The way mages and warriors fought their enemies was different, but some emotions were shared. Whether using swords or natural magic, she would realize that this moment was a new, unfamiliar feeling.
The ability to decide the life or death of others.
“Alright,” Mira responded flatly. She also felt that it wasn’t the right time to continue, even though she didn’t know what had happened to the people they had taken away. But she couldn’t focus on them now; she couldn’t think about them at this moment.
Her mind was in chaos. She tightly covered Ina’s eyes with her hand, not knowing why she was doing this. It was just an instinct telling her not to let go.
She couldn’t let Ina see the two bodies. She couldn’t let anyone know she had killed people.
Lance looked back at the two bodies on the ground. Flames appeared with his will and ignited the bodies. The magical flames didn’t extinguish in the rain; they didn’t make a sound.
After doing this, the blue dragon used teleportation magic to bring the three of them back to their temporary shelter.
The oblivious descendant of the hero seemed to have already recovered from the earlier shock. Or perhaps, being so young, she didn’t even realize what had happened.
Ina, holding the wooden box with her father’s sword inside, looked around with curious eyes. When her gaze landed on Lance, there was a faint trace of contemplation in her eyes.
Magic was truly as powerful as the legends said. Swordsmanship, however, didn’t seem to have the expected effect.
Mira sat opposite her, drying her hair. Her clothes had already been dried by magic.
But the rain outside showed no sign of stopping. How long could Lance’s magic last? Would it wash away the bodies in the mountains? She didn’t know.
She saw that Lance had set fire to their bodies. The flames created by magic burned in the rain, and the two bodies, struck by lightning, would soon turn to ash. Then the rain would wash everything away, and no one would know that she had casually used magic to kill two people.
No one would know...
The rain poured down louder, almost as if to confirm Mira’s thoughts.
She wiped her hair with a clean cloth. In reality, Lance had already cast other spells to protect her and Ina from the rain. The dampness on her clothes was from the raindrops splashing on her, but her head had remained dry.
She wasn’t wiping her hair because she had to, but because she needed to do something to force her mind onto something else.
But it seemed useless.
Mira couldn’t bear the silence any longer. She had to do something, say something, to push away the flashbacks in her mind.
She turned to Ina. “Why are you here?” Mira’s gaze fixed on the wooden box on her leg.
“You stole this sword too?” Her tone wasn’t kind. However, it wasn’t entirely because of Ina. Mira knew that these emotional fluctuations were all stemming from her own chaotic thoughts at that moment.
Because she had just taken a life.
Ina, however, thought this was a complaint against her.
She only wanted to help—what was wrong with that? Her brother’s fate was unknown, and she was a descendant of the hero. Why couldn’t she protect her brother?
Ina stood her ground, refusing to back down. Even though she still didn’t have the ability to protect herself, if Mira hadn’t appeared in time, the consequences would have been disastrous.
“This is my father’s sword. Why are you accusing me of stealing it?” Ina responded without hesitation.
How ungrateful.
“Your swordsmanship can’t even protect yourself!” The harsh words slipped out in anger, like a sharp blade.
Mira was hurt, deeply pained.
She had just killed people to protect this girl. Killed people...
Even a simple thank you would have made her feel like what she did was right.
She was twelve. She was still a little girl.
And she was only eighteen, with so much left to experience.
Anger and sadness twisted into strange thoughts, and she reached out, magic appearing at her fingertips.
It would be easy to silence her, to force a thank you out of her. A girl who couldn’t even hold a sword steady... her magic...
Mira! Reason halted her fury.
Mira dispelled her magic and lowered her head in frustration.
Lance witnessed everything unfold in a flash. Mira’s magic gathered and then dissipated.
He breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, he didn’t have to step in to stop her.
Mira was a smart and brave girl. Sudden changes would make her falter, but they would never break her.
Lance reacted quickly, standing up and walking over to Mira, taking her hand.
Mira froze, staring at him. Lance’s profile was blurred, as tears were about to fall from her eyes.
Tears for killing two bad people?
Mira followed Lance out of the storage room. After leaving a protective magic, she walked with him up to the rooftop.
The rain was still falling, splashing onto the ground and forming puddles.
Mira deliberately stepped into the puddles, making splashing sounds.
The sound helped her feel a little bit better.
“Should I not have gotten angry with a little girl?” Mira looked up at Lance’s back. “She’s just a little girl, and I’m already grown. When I was young, I thought I could save the world.”
Lance chuckled. He looked around at the empty rooftop, with only some junk piled up in the corners, and the rest of the area damp from the rain, unsuitable for sitting.
He came up with a good idea. The blue dragon, always spontaneous, raised his hand, and light blue magic formed a beautiful swing on the rooftop.
After completing this, Lance confirmed Mira’s actions.
“You can definitely be angry with her,” Lance said, not stopping the rain. He used magic to protect the swing. “Even children must face the consequences of their choices. But right now, Mira, you’re the one taking on the consequences for her.”
“But I’m much older than her.” Mira lowered her head, pulling her hand away from Lance’s and avoiding his gaze.
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“I’m not a child anymore. Why am I getting angry with a little girl? And it’s not just about that… those two guys wanted…”
Mira lowered her head, unsure of how to continue.
“Does the grown-up Mira like swings?” Lance asked, throwing in a random question as he walked a few steps ahead. His gait was steady, without a limp.
Mira pressed her lips together, stepping into the puddles and sitting down on the swing.
“Adults can like swings in the rain, right?” Mira sat on the swing.
The swing was wide enough for two people. She hoped Lance would sit next to her.
“Here.” Mira patted the empty space beside her.
Lance obediently sat down.
He used magic to push the swing, making it sway back and forth.
Back and forth, it felt as though magic wrapped around them, and the swinging motion helped clear Mira’s cluttered thoughts. They no longer felt like a tangled mess in her chest but instead became a melody, each swing telling the story of her frustrations.
Lance was truly a powerful mage. Besides his immense magic power, he had a kind of strength that made people feel encouraged and at peace when they were close to him.
“I’m scared,” Mira whispered, her gaze fixed on her shoes.
“Mira.” He turned his body to face her.
Her soft black hair fell on her shoulders, and through the strands, Lance could see her lips pressed together.
“I’m glad.”
His words surprised Mira. She looked up at him in astonishment.
“Many mages fall into self-doubt when they realize the magic they’ve been learning can take away others’ lives. This usually happens after their first kill,” Lance said, releasing Mira’s hand.
Mira understood his meaning.
She hadn’t wanted to argue with Ina earlier. She could have used magic to silence her.
“You’re worried about me?” Mira hadn’t done so. She was confused and scared, but if she attacked Ina with magic, it would complicate things further.
“Yes. I was thinking about how to talk to you earlier,” Lance said. “I even thought it would have been more fitting for me to deal with those two scoundrels instead.”
“At the time, I wasn’t thinking about anything.” Mira recalled the situation. “I was just so angry. She’s just a little girl…”
“I know.” Lance reached out, gently running his hand through Mira’s smooth hair from top to bottom.
His touch triggered something. Mira’s fear, worries, anxiety, struggles, and guilt were all released in that instant.
Hurting lives like one’s own... even though Mira repeatedly told herself those two scoundrels deserved to die, it still troubled her.
Kindness and morality made her struggle. Lance was willing to be her outlet.
Mira had called Ina a little girl. But in reality, she was one too.
“I’m so scared. I thought they were bad people. Using magic to kill bad people should be the right thing, right? I don’t know... was I wrong? I didn’t think at all. I just said the incantation, and they died. I didn’t even think that magic would kill them. I just wanted to stop them.”
“I don’t think I was wrong. But I killed them. I think they deserved it, but my magic turned them to ash. I think I did the right thing. But if I’m making judgments using magic, calling it justice... then can anyone with this power use it as they see fit? Can anyone, with the title of justice, take others’ lives at will? Am I the one who should judge?”
Mira was a thoughtful girl who always questioned things.
Lance knew this. He understood she would think too much. Her active mind made her a great mage, but it also brought her unnecessary pain.
He gently stroked Mira’s hair.
There would be many people who thought Mira’s concerns were unnecessary. They might say she thought too much, and she would suffer—not because she killed two bad people, but because of all the complex thoughts swirling in her mind.
But these thoughts were part of who Mira was. If she lost her ability to think, lost her quirky ideas, it would be like destroying Mira.
Lance didn’t want Mira to lose her thoughts or to abandon magic because she saw its darker side.
Kindness was never a sign of weakness, but a painful choice.
He quietly listened to her thoughts, to her strange ideas and peculiar reasoning.
No answers were needed. Mira didn’t need answers. She just needed someone to listen, to let her voice her sudden thoughts.
If someone was willing to listen, it would make her strong.
Eventually, Mira felt dry in her throat. She had said too much, but it seemed like finally, the chaotic thoughts in her head had found their answers.
She didn’t enjoy killing. She would never casually take someone’s life. She had only been protecting Ina and herself at the time, but the consequences were beyond what she imagined.
Lance saw her slow down, and reached into the air to pull out a water pouch.
He handed it to Mira, who drank half of it before returning it to him.
Lance put the pouch away and said, “You’re still a little girl. It’s completely normal to have all these emotions. You can tell me about them, or just whisper them to yourself.”
“I’m not a little girl anymore…” Mira softly rebutted.
Lance looked at her.
“If you say you’re not, then you’re not.”
“I’m not.”
“Should the rain stop?”
“Yeah, it’s getting a bit cold. Make it stop.”
With a wave of his magic, the swing swayed higher and higher.
Mira had another nightmare.
She dreamt of two charred corpses bouncing after her, shouting, “Give me back my life, give me back my life!”
When she woke up, she sat on the mat, calming herself for a long time.
She knew that this shadow would take a long time to overcome. Emotional fluctuations like the ones she experienced last night would likely happen many more times, but for now, she no longer felt afraid.
Ina was sleeping beside her. Although she was somewhat dissatisfied with Mira, the fact that she had inherited the soul of the hero meant she still fit the “stereotype” of a hero in many ways.
Heroes didn’t hold grudges overnight.
Lance walked back in from outside. It seemed that his leg injury had healed, as there was no limp when he walked now.
Mira thought this was good; after all, there was nothing more important than good health.
She still remembered the way Lance looked when they first found him—lying in a pile of moldy books, looking as though he could die at any moment.
He recovered quickly. Not just because of magic, but also because he was strong in his own right.
So, he would be leaving soon, wouldn’t he?
If he was already better, Mira couldn’t think of a reason for him to stay in the tower.
She reached out and patted her cheek, trying to clear her thoughts.
At least, he wouldn’t leave right now.
“Time for breakfast,” Lance said to Mira.
He had also read magic cookbooks, and using a few simple spells to make food wasn’t difficult for the Blue Dragon.
Last night, after Mira and Ina had fallen asleep, Lance took a walk around the village.
This land was suffocating, shrouded in a gloomy mist.
Although it hadn’t yet become a place devoid of magic, if the death energy continued to spread, it wouldn’t be long before this place lost all its life.
On the other side of the city, Lance found the ruins left by the earthquake. Among the splintered wood, rocks, and white bones, he knew that the true Gegu Hill Town had been destroyed in the earthquake.
“Right, it was a prosperous town,” Ina said, eating the magic bread while telling Lance and Mira about what she had seen.
She had arrived here earlier than both Lance and Mira, and in Ina’s eyes, this decaying city was another sight altogether.
“I was afraid of too many people. Some might recognize my sword, so I didn’t dare go into the town. I went around it and up the mountain,” Ina shared her observations.
To Lance and Mira, this was undoubtedly an important clue.
Perhaps, this town appeared completely different depending on whether one had magic or not.
So, even though two years had passed since the earthquake, no one had discovered anything wrong here.
Because ordinary people still saw the bustling little town.
However, with Lance’s Dragon Eyes and Mira’s magic enhanced by her blue dragon scales, they were able to see through the town’s façade.
The reason they felt puzzled was that they had initially stepped into the secret of this town.
They would need to go to the mine again. Lance and Mira read the same message in each other’s eyes.
Their gaze shifted simultaneously and fell on Ina, who was eating.
Before that, they needed to send this girl back to the small town.
Naturally, this task fell to Mira.
Lance sent the two of them out of the town, casting several protective spells. He watched as Mira led the little girl away.
Lance turned around.
He coldly stared at the city in front of him. The loss of magic power made the Blue Dragon King feel an unprecedented anger.
An earthquake might be an unavoidable natural disaster. But those spellcasters who used natural disasters to fulfill their own selfish desires would not be let off easily.
Lance’s figure gradually blurred.
In the place where he disappeared, large patches of plants were crushed. His massive dragon claws pressed against the ground, and the dragon wings covered in scales spread wide. A shadow shot into the sky, soaring above the ruined city.
He flew toward the mountains, until he saw figures working in the open-air mining fields.
The giant dragon’s eyes scanned the area, searching for the spellcasters, then, after locking onto his target, he dove swiftly toward the depths of the mine.
“Can I learn magic?”
Ina looked at Mira, asking whether she was suited to learn magic.
Mira studied her, and the girl’s face showed an expression of eager anticipation.
“As long as you have enough talent and a good teacher, I think it’s possible,” Mira replied.
“How can I know if I have talent?” Ina’s eyes sparkled. She realized that her swordsmanship wasn’t powerful enough, and sword training could never compare to the dazzling magic.
Mira didn’t know what she was thinking, so she extended her hand.
“Whoosh.” With a brief sound, a ball of light appeared in her hand.
“Try it. As long as you can make a little light in your palm within ten attempts— it doesn’t have to be as big as mine, just a fluctuation of energy— that means you have talent.”
This was a simple test. The light spell, which provided illumination, was one of the simplest tricks.
It only required a brief incantation, and casting the spell didn’t need any mediation or filters. The casting process was so simple that Mira couldn’t even describe it precisely. Therefore, this spell was the most suitable for testing whether someone had the potential to cast magic.
Because it couldn’t be taught, it had to be felt.
It sounded easy enough. Ina stretched out her hand and tried to imitate Mira.
“Whoosh.” She eagerly looked at her palm, but instead of the radiant light like the sun that shone from Mira’s hand, there was nothing in her palm.
“Whoosh.” Ina stubbornly tried again.
Still, there was no reaction.
“Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.” She showed a frustrated expression and tried many more times, but there was still no response.
“It’s not just about reciting the spell,” Mira reminded her. “You need to sense the fluctuations of magical energy. The process is complex, but also simple. I can’t describe the feeling to you, but it’s like an inspiration that comes and goes in an instant. As long as you can grasp that fleeting moment of inspiration, casting the spell won’t be difficult.”
“Whoosh.” Mira demonstrated again. The sun-like light reappeared in her palm.
But Ina still couldn’t do it.
“Does this mean I don’t have any talent?” She had tried more than twenty times, but there was still no sign of magical energy.
“Maybe magic isn’t your strength,” Mira said frankly.
She remembered that Lance had said she carried the soul of a warrior, and perhaps she was more suited for swordsmanship than magic.
“Aren’t you good with a sword?” Mira asked.
“But I can’t defeat the bad guys with a sword.” Ina said, a little angry. “My brother and the others are just messing with me, doing it to make me happy. I can’t use a sword to fight enemies.”
“You’re still very young,” Mira thought for a moment. “When I was your age, I could only cast simple spells. I was very small back then, much shorter than you are now.” Mira gestured, “I was probably about the height of your shoulders, and I was also very weak.”
“Really?” Ina looked up at Mira, not quite believing her.
“We all have things we’re good at and things we’re not. Just like how I’m better at magic, but can’t wield a sword. You’re not good with magic, but you’re skilled with a sword. Isn’t that great?”
“Comparing ourselves to others makes us overlook our own strengths. In fact, you should just focus on your own advantages. Your swordsmanship is really impressive, and don’t forget, you’re still very young.” Mira thought for a moment— Ina lacked recognition, just like herself.
Lance had given her encouragement, maybe she could do the same.
“You’ll be a great warrior,” she said, looking at Ina. “And I will become a powerful mage.”