During this time, Ghillian Town is destined to be without laughter and joy.

Even though Lance and Mira had located the headquarters of the evil mage as quickly as possible, sacrifices had still been made.

Magic could heal injuries, but it couldn’t bring the dead back to life.

Mira withdrew her hand, having completed a healing spell. Her gaze moved over Ellin’s arm, confirming that the wounds on his body had completely healed. She stood up and walked toward the next injured villager.

She cast a simple healing spell. With the enhancement of dragon scales, the spell’s effects were quite impressive.

Thankfully, most of the villagers hadn’t suffered fatal injuries.

The townsfolk of Ghillian, who had been knocked unconscious by the narcotic, woke up one by one. They looked around at the familiar faces and, one after another, fell into silence.

Lance returned to the mountains to handle the task of bringing the youths imprisoned in the abandoned mine. Mira stayed outside the town, helping the villagers heal their wounds.

Some miners continued to work in the tunnels, but Lance and Mira had no plans to inform them of the happenings here. These men had stayed behind primarily out of greed. They had earned too much money while working here, and that money could almost be considered as compensation for their labor. But greed would be punished. There was no better punishment than watching the treasures they had been using to mine for gold turn into stone.

Lance opened the youths’ cages.

After the previous failed escape attempt, these children no longer trusted anyone easily.

They hadn’t seen Lance before, and their wariness toward him was no different from their wariness of the miners.

“I’m here to take you out,” Lance said.

They didn’t move, merely observing Lance to confirm whether he truly intended to let them go.

Lance’s expression remained unreadable.

People of this age always had their own ideas, thinking of themselves as independent individuals. But in reality, both physiologically and psychologically, they were still far from maturity. The most obvious trait was that they lacked the ability to protect themselves, yet they always acted as though they were clever.

Lance squinted his eyes, realizing it was quite a troublesome situation.

They had no magic, and Lance wasn’t eager to communicate with people who lacked magic.

“I’m here to rescue you,” he repeated.

This time, he didn’t care whether the youths wanted to follow him; he just turned and walked away.

The youths in the cage looked at each other, gradually coming to the conclusion that Lance meant them no harm. They stood up, hesitantly and silently, following behind him.

The failed escape attempt had taken a toll on them.

However, Lance wasn’t concerned about the state of these humans. They all carried the bloodline of heroes. If they decided to become heroes, every setback would serve as a foundation for growth.

Lance didn’t explain this to them; heroes needed to comprehend the key for themselves.

As far as Lance was concerned, he was simply fulfilling Mira’s request. She had asked him to bring these youths back because each of them had a family.

One of the bolder youths approached Lance. His movements were hesitant, yet filled with uncertainty.

Lance sensed the cautious gaze.

“What is it?” he asked the youth.

“Are you a hero?” The youth studied Lance, noting his tall stature and instinctively assuming he was the hero they had imagined.

“No,” Lance denied.

Upon receiving the negative response, the youth’s eyes showed a flicker of disappointment.

He lowered his head, but after a while, he looked back up at Lance. “Can you save our friend? Ellin. He still hasn’t come back…”

Lance paused.

The name sounded familiar.

He thought for a moment. Mira had referred to the lady in the town as Lady Ellin, and they had coincidentally picked up a young man from the underground lair of the mage’s Heart of Shadows.

“He’s fine,” Lance said. “He’s outside the town.”

Lance had answered his question and didn’t speak further.

For some reason, talking to humans other than Mira made him feel uneasy.

Fortunately, he didn’t need to have much conversation with humans outside of Mira.

Lance and Mira reunited at the front of Ghillian. The villagers were reunited with their children.

Some of the youths stood in place, looking lost, searching the crowd for the figures of their fathers. But they were destined to never find their relatives.

The group returned to the Hero Town the following evening.

The women of the town had anxiously awaited, but some were destined to never experience reunions.

Ghillian fell into prolonged sorrow.

Lance had originally planned to escort these humans back to the town and then head back to the tower. But the villagers invited them to stay.

Mira looked at Lance, asking for his opinion. Lance gazed back at Mira, waiting for her decision.

Neither of them could refuse, so they decided to stay for the time being.

The little girl from the inn waited for her father, just as they had agreed. She relayed to him the words Mira and Lance had said when they first arrived in the town.

After speaking, the girl looked up at her father with big, watery eyes, eagerly waiting for his praise.

Her father, of course, wouldn’t refuse to let the saviors stay at his inn. But instead of responding right away, he picked up his daughter and buried his face in her small shoulder for a long time.

“Daddy, you’re crying.” The little girl, feeling the wetness on his clothes, looked up at him with a worried expression. “Did I do something wrong?”

No one had told her what had happened. Even though it wasn’t a matter of agreement, everyone had tacitly decided not to tell her—being so young, they hadn’t wanted to burden her with the terrifying events that had taken place in the town.

But the sharp-eyed girl sensed something was wrong.

Hiding the truth hadn’t preserved the innocence they sought to protect. Instead, it made the young girl feel an unprecedented sense of unease.

Especially at this moment. When her once-invincible father rested his head on her shoulder and cried, the little girl felt confused and frightened. Gradually, she began to cry as well, releasing all the emotions she had accumulated over the past few days.

Mira, watching the scene before her, couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy.

These subtle changes didn’t escape Lance’s sharp eyes. He knew the reason, but didn’t know how to comfort Mira.

He thought of the letter that had surfaced in his mind.

When Mira remembered that letter, her heart felt sorrowful and pained.

“Mira.” Lance called her name.

His voice was neither too strong nor too weak, just enough to pull Mira from her rising emotions.

She looked up at Lance, who raised his hand and conjured a pale blue rose in front of her.

He handed the flower to Mira.

Mira looked at him, puzzled.

“They say girls like flowers,” Lance explained awkwardly, his voice mechanical.

“They? Who are they?”

“The authors of the magic books,” Lance answered seriously.

Some magic books not only documented the spells created by the caster, but also contained records of their lives. Autobiographies, in particular, often had such details.

Mira chuckled softly.

“I get it.” Mira had seen similar content in some of the magic books from the Magic Energy Hub.

Some mages would mix in strange stories with the serious magical content, like their entanglements with ex-wives or how a soprano at the theater inspired them to create a certain spell.

“Don’t read these books so much in the future,” Mira advised as she accepted the flower. “Those mages are quite flirtatious. They give flowers to their lovers.”

Mira blinked. Lovers?

She dismissed the strange thoughts that had popped into her mind. Lance clearly didn’t mean anything like that.

She looked at the pale blue rose in her hand, thinking it was really the fault of those troublesome books.

The flower was beautiful, though.

That night, Lance and Mira stayed at the town’s inn.

This time, Hero Town had lost six able-bodied men. The villagers would hold a funeral for them.

Since the deceased had no bodies, they would use the weapons they had wielded in life as substitutes.

The six dead villagers had all been retired heroes. To bury heroes, one must bury their swords.

It was a sad fate for these heroes, who had spent their lives protecting the world with weapons, only to die under greed, lies, and poison.

The town was enveloped in a sorrowful atmosphere, and Mira seemed especially downcast.

She thought of the eyeballs in the tower.

They had all come from heroes.

This time, when they returned, she couldn’t avoid it anymore. Though the eyeballs were indeed terrifying, Mira decided to hold a funeral for them.

She clenched her fists, silently making a vow in her heart.

She had learned magic to protect herself, not to harm others. She would never become a mage like Willowp.

With that thought in mind, Mira took the remaining two medium-sized crystal shards from her pocket that night, and without hesitation, threw them into the blazing fire of the bonfire.

Sitting in the shadows, Ellin watched Mira’s actions. The boy chewed on a blade of grass he had picked from somewhere, watching Mira toss the two stones into the fire.

His gaze lingered on her for a long time, remembering the offense from their first meeting.

His mind was filled with many questions.

He remembered what he had heard last time. Was she a princess? But he had heard others call her Mira.

She could use magic. Princesses were supposed to be protected in palaces; they couldn’t possibly know magic.

There was a silent and serious young man by her side, someone who could use magic and looked like a hero. But if she wasn’t a princess, why would she have such a powerful protector?

If she were a princess, how could the magic dragon tolerate her sacrifice staying with an adult male for so long?

Ellin’s head was about to explode from all the questions.

The blunt hero’s descendant decided to ask her directly.

Mira and Ina were playing with string at the campfire.

Ellin walked toward them.

Ina looked up, her face full of vigilance as she stared at her brother.

“What do you want?”

“I’ve got legs, so I can come over, can’t I?” Ellin retorted.

“Stop talking nonsense. I haven’t even settled the score with you for the lies you told me.” Ina clearly wasn’t convinced.

“I don’t have time to waste with you.” Ellin now had many questions and wanted answers, so he turned to Mira. “I need to talk to you.”

Mira looked up at him, furrowing her brow.

Wasn’t being electrocuted last time enough?

Ina sensed Ellin’s tone wasn’t right and quickly said to Mira, “Don’t listen to him, he’s got a problem. He thinks he can defeat the magic dragon and save the world. But this time, he was saved by someone else, and now he’s upset.”

“Go play somewhere else.” Ellin realized that if he didn’t get rid of his sister, he wouldn’t be able to talk to Mira properly that night.

“Why?” Ina stood up. “Who do you think you are, ordering me around?”

“If you stay here, I’ll tell Mom where you hide your secret stash of money, and I’ll also let her know about your little boyfriend,” Ellin said, pulling out his trump card.

Ina’s expression froze instantly, and her gaze became shifty.

“Stop making things up! I’ll tear your mouth off!” Although she said that, she found an excuse and walked away to another spot.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Mira looked surprised. Ina was only twelve years old. Did she really have a boyfriend? It was hard to imagine.

After exposing his trump card and getting his sister to leave, Ellin walked directly in front of Mira.

Without any preamble, his opening line was as simple and direct as any hero's.

“Who exactly are you?”

Mira looked up at him.

“What do you want?” This wasn’t the first time he had stopped her.

Last time, he had also said some unnecessary words. The general idea was that he hoped Mira would lead him into the tower.

Dragon slaying?

If it weren't for Lance, he might have died under that mage's magic. Thankfully, the Dragon was not in the tower; otherwise, Ellin would have been nothing but ashes under the dragon's flames.

"Who exactly are you?" Ellin did not answer Mira's question, instead repeating his own.

Mira suddenly found it amusing and even laughed.

"You’re interesting. Why should I tell you?"

Ellin thought there was some truth to what she said. After a brief pause, he spoke again: "I saw it. There was a girl about your age in the group coming down from the tower. I heard them calling her Princess Maria."

Mira raised an eyebrow.

"The kingdom's princess is named Maria, and you're named Mira." His reasoning was simple, yet it made sense to him.

"So, you're not the princess. Then who are you?" Ellin didn’t understand.

Last time, she disappeared at the end of the alley, and no one could confirm if she really came from the tower.

If she were the princess, how could the Dragon easily let her go?

"Are you curious about why all this matters?" Mira knew the answer.

Ellin wanted to slay the dragon. But whether in strength or mindset, he was still too immature.

She didn’t have a good impression of Ellin. But Lady Ellin was a very good woman. She had already lost her husband and one son, and could not lose another.

So, Ellin could not go slay the dragon.

"If you help me, tell me what I want to know, I will kill the dragon." Ellin's expression was unusually serious.

"By killing the dragon, everyone in Ghillian Town, and the farmers and herders across the nation, will live better lives."

His reasoning surprised Mira.

It seemed that heroes were all obsessed with slaying dragons. But Ellin’s reason was special—not to save the princess kidnapped by the dragon, but for the sake of ordinary people.

"If you were the princess, you’d have this responsibility." Ellin's expression was serious. He stared at Mira, waiting for her response.

"Are you or are you not the princess?"

"Whether I am the princess doesn't matter." Mira stood up. "What people need is a princess willing to sacrifice for the future of the kingdom. Whether she’s truly the princess, does anyone care about that?"

Mira understood the logic behind it.

The king couldn’t bear to lose his daughter and didn’t dare to oppose the dragon. So, he sacrificed other people’s daughters.

However, Mira was willing to walk into the tower as an orphan. The treasures he gave her were out of his own guilt.

"Endless submission will only lead to harsher exploitation," Ellin emphasized his point. "Because the king never resisted, the dragon took whatever it wanted—cattle, grain, treasures, even the princess. Because the king always backed down, the dragon's appetite grew larger."

"If you were the princess, you’d understand that you were raised on the blood of the common people. If you’re not the princess, you should still understand that every moment of your life is a cost paid because of the king’s cowardice."

"Do you know how much tax the king has been collecting from the nearby towns? Out of fear of the dragon’s wrath, the king spread that terror to the people. I don’t care if you're the princess or not—you’re definitely not a starving poor child." Ellin stared at Mira. "You have to tell me how to get to the tower. I have to kill the dragon, and only then..."

"Enough." Mira interrupted him. His accusatory tone made her uncomfortable. She had only come here in place of the princess out of helplessness, and from the moment she entered the tower, she had prepared herself to walk into the dragon’s lair.

Mira didn’t want to label her actions as a sacrifice. She wasn’t so noble as to save everyone. She just wanted a chance to survive.

The dragon was terrifying, but the magic hub wasn’t a good place either.

Her actions were only for herself, but didn’t it also spare them from the dragon’s wrath?

Lance driving off the dragon was already an unexpected outcome.

Yet, he stood on the moral high ground and criticized her mercilessly.

What right did he have? He wasn’t her.

Mira didn’t need anyone to empathize with her situation, but he shouldn’t judge her so easily.

She only wanted to live on. She had done nothing wrong.

"You selfish jerk," Ellin, oblivious to her unusual reaction, didn’t realize how out of place his words were. As a hero, he despised evil and looked down on people who couldn’t face ugliness the way he did.

Even though Mira had just saved him, it didn’t change her selfish nature in his eyes.

"What about you? Foolish, reckless oaf." Mira wasn’t going to be lenient with him. Not using magic to strike him was already a mercy on her part.

"You want to kill the dragon? With you? You’re nowhere near ready. You can't even beat me. Not telling you how to get up the mountain is to save you from failing before you even start." She recalled those eyes. "It’s because Lady Ellin couldn’t bear to lose another child. With the state you’re in now, challenging the dragon would only give it another prize to collect."

Ellin fell silent.

What she said was the truth.

"I’ll grow stronger," he stubbornly said. "One day, I’ll defeat the dragon."

"Let’s talk when that day comes." Mira stood up. She was filled with anger and was ready to go back.

"Wait." Ellin called out to her.

"So, are you the princess?" He still hadn’t figured out the answer to that question.

Mira snorted. With that little bit of judgment, he thought he could slay the dragon?

She didn’t answer him, turning her back and leaving.

The immature hero could never match the seasoned mage.

As Mira thought this, her pace quickened. Lance was still waiting for her back at the inn.

The next morning, Lance and Mira set out to return to the tower. Along with them were a small group of people from Hero Town, including Ellin, who had argued with Mira the day before.

They were tasked with taking the outdated hero's sword to the Sword Burial Tomb.

In addition to the six fallen heroes, there was the seventh sword—belonging to Ellin's father, the one Ellin carried on his back.

After parting ways with the others at the town's entrance, Mira and Lance walked to a secluded corner.

This time, Mira was going to attempt casting a teleportation spell to take Lance back to the tower.

It was a plan they had agreed upon. Mira was eager to try. She took out a dragon scale and, following Lance's instructions, infused energy into it, gradually completing the three steps.

A blue teleportation portal appeared before them, and the two stepped through it, returning to the tower.

Mira's face lit up with joy, and Lance gave her a nod of approval.

"Well done."

The praise boosted Mira's confidence, and a smile spread across her face. The gloom caused by the events in Ghillian Town had finally lifted.

Lance also appreciated her lively spirit, always brimming with strange ideas.

The oppressive silence and gloom did not suit Mira.

As expected, the first thing Mira did upon returning to the tower was to organize the room filled with eyes.

Mira had mentally prepared herself, but upon entering the room, she couldn’t help but feel fear and unease.

One jar after another, floating with pairs of eyes.

Lance followed Mira into the storage room.

Seeing the eyes floating in unknown liquids, he raised an eyebrow.

Lance helped Mira by moving the jars from the storage room one by one.

Mira saw how the townspeople at the foot of the mountain created the "Garment Tombs."

She estimated the number of eyes stored in the tower and realized that trying to dig enough graves on the mountain to accommodate all of them was an impossible task.

She wanted to take all the eyes out, place them in a large pit, and ask Lance to use fire magic to burn them to ashes.

Mira also started singing the funeral songs that the townspeople had sung.

She knew that this act was more for her own comfort than anything else, but it was better than doing nothing at all.

Lance was happy to help.

He thought of the swords stored in some layer of the tower. If possible, Lance wanted to return those swords to their rightful owners.

At first, Mira felt scared while moving the eyes, but as time passed, she couldn’t help but grow numb to the task.

Pairs of eyes were placed into the large pit that had been dug beforehand, until the last pair of eyes was laid into the hole.

There were a total of 1,436 pairs of eyes. Representing over a thousand families destroyed by the dragon.

Mira knelt by the deep pit.

She remembered the tune the women had sung that night in the town and softly began chanting the prayer song.

She didn't know these people, their appearance, their voices, or their hair color. But she knew the color of their eyes, and she knew that these people had come to kill the brutal dragon.

She softly recited the tune, hoping that they would find their way to a heaven protected by the gods.

The righteous, brave, and self-sacrificing heroes had tried to fight the terrifying dragon with nothing but their mortal strength.

Though they hadn't won, their deeds would not be forgotten.

Mira gently sang the hymn, praying earnestly that the heroes would receive the blessings of the gods.

Spring quickly passed by.

In the past, Mira had not had a good impression of summer. The scorching heat and the mosquitoes made her retreat into her small room, and every night was a struggle to endure.

But this year was different. In the base of the tower, Mira experienced what it truly meant to have a natural summer retreat.

Lance brought an energy crystal from the mines, and Mira fixed it onto the wall, providing them with a stable light source.

Mira rearranged the layout of her room. She moved her desk under the energy crystal, and the bookshelf was placed nearby.

The bookshelf now held the books that had once weighed down Lance.

On Mira's desk was a spellbook for the Seven-Ring Spells. She had only flipped through a few pages before leaving it aside. Recently, Mira's thoughts were occupied with other things.

Lance’s injury had fully healed. He was now healthy and followed a strict routine, waking up at fixed times, exercising, meditating, and practicing magic. His lifestyle was particularly disciplined. Mira occasionally let herself be lazy in bed, but with such a hardworking roommate, her own life began to follow a similar pattern.

Lance had only one flaw: he was very picky about food. There were many things he refused to eat. Besides magical bread, he only ate meat. His appetite was enormous—he could eat three or four times the amount that Mira could.

What Mira couldn’t understand was that he never gained weight. In contrast, Mira, trying to cater to his likes, kept preparing meat dishes in various ways, eating alongside him, and ended up gaining a lot of weight.

She had no choice but to add exercise to her daily plan.

But as a mage, Mira really didn’t enjoy physical exercise. She preferred activities that consumed her physical energy but also brought her some rewards.

Mira stood in the open space in front of the tower.

The dragon definitely didn’t care about cleanliness. She looked at the piles of bones scattered on the ground. In summer, these bones would inevitably attract mosquitoes and flies. Although they dared not enter the tower, they swarmed around the open space in front.

It was almost unbearable.

While secretly eating in the library, Lance heard strange noises from outside the tower. He waved his hand, sending the small paper figure, Xingxing, to check the situation.

Lance was hiding in a private room, carefully controlling his dragon form while focusing on the beef in front of him.

"Master, Miss Mira has knocked over the pile of bones in the open space," Xingxing reported back honestly.

The blue dragon curled up in the room, using one paw to hold down the beef.

"She’s already inside the tower," Xingxing reminded Lance.

After the blue energy waves dissipated, a young figure with blood on his lips appeared in the storage room.

The room instantly went from crowded to spacious.

Lance elegantly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief conjured by magic.

"Why did she knock over the pile of bones?"

"I don’t know," Xingxing answered truthfully.

Lance thought that Mira must have come up with some crazy idea again.

Over the past few months, Mira had completely transformed the lower level of the tower.

She had only left a few things in the storage rooms untouched. After learning teleportation magic, Mira frequently traveled between the town and the tower, bringing various items to decorate her living space.

She divided the lower part of the tower into rooms, built a kitchen, and made a stove from clay and stone, which she used to prepare daily meals.

Mira seemed to enjoy this kind of work. Lance thought that perhaps Mira’s inner desire was to make up for the lack of a home.

"Lance! Lance!" The voice of the girl came from the bottom of the tower.

Lance adjusted his clothes, waved his hand, and tidied up the storage room with magic.

The bones of the cow were thrown out of the window, landing in the pile of bones outside.

Mira rushed back to the tower.

Lance, however, walked out slowly from the shadows.

"It looks like you’ve gotten yourself into trouble," Lance said, standing still, watching the flustered Mira.

Mira scratched her head awkwardly. "I accidentally knocked over the pile of bones in the open space while practicing magic just now."

"How about we clean this place up?" Mira suggested to Lance, carefully observing his reaction. "That way we’ll have a large yard."

Mira led Lance outside the tower.

The blue dragon squinted slightly and immediately spotted the skeleton he had just thrown down.

He turned and blocked Mira’s view, using magic to press the suspicious bones to the bottom of the pile.

The food Mira made for him was indeed delicious. But as a dragon, his appetite was a little bigger than Mira had expected.

He had to sneak into the library whenever Mira was focused on other things, ordering Xingxing to stand guard. He would then transform into his giant dragon form and secretly eat.

The bones from the dead would be tossed outside, blending in with the other bones. No one would notice any difference.

Except for Mira.

"Why did you suddenly want to clean this place up?" Lance asked, blocking Mira's view and inquiring about the reason behind her idea.

"Well," Mira thought for a moment. "It’s summer now, and if we don’t clean up these bones in time, mosquitoes will come, and there’ll be flies. Buzz, buzz, buzz, and it’ll disturb your meditation, Lance."

The blue dragon listened to her amusing explanation.

"Those mosquitoes and flies won’t dare to enter the tower," he reminded Mira. With the terrifying pressure of the dragon, those small creatures would be eager to stay far away.

"Oh." Mira realized that was true. She hadn’t been bothered by those annoying mosquitoes in the tower during the summer.

"Well then," Mira said, "I want to find some physical activity to do. We have such a large yard. If we clear out these bones..."

She thought about what she could do with the yard and remembered the flowerpot on her desk, with the blue rose Lance had given her growing inside.

"We can use the yard to plant flowers," Mira suggested. "We can also plant magical herbs, put up a grape trellis, and plant grapevines. Then we can have wine."

"Can you brew wine?"

"Uh, I can learn," Mira replied confidently.

After all, the pile of bones was ruining the beautiful view at the mountaintop.

"Then what about your magic?" Lance kindly reminded her. If the pile of bones were cleared, the bones from his secret meals would become troublesome to deal with.

"You haven’t been reading your books lately," Lance tried to distract her.

Mira stiffened.

Her voice became stammering.

"Ah, that’s true," Mira turned around, realizing she had forgotten the most important thing.

"Then I’ll go study now."

"Wait." Lance stopped her. To prevent Mira from coming up with that strange idea again, he decided to keep her a little busy.

"Starting tomorrow, meditate with me," Lance said to Mira. "Meditate in the morning, and in the afternoon, I’ll guide you through the Seven-Ring Spells."

He purposely put on a serious expression. "Mira, I think you should know that the Sixth Ring is a crucial stage for mages, right?"

Mira nodded, recalling the knowledge from the books. "The Sixth Ring is the critical period that distinguishes high-level magic from basic magic. Once a caster reaches the Sixth Ring, they can begin learning higher-level spells above the Seventh Ring. At this stage, both talent and the medium play a crucial role in daily learning..."

"Exactly." Lance waved his hand, restoring the scattered bones to their original place.

"That’s it. You are at a critical stage right now. You can’t let other things distract you from your magical studies."

Mira knew she had been slacking off recently.

"I understand." She lowered her head, temporarily setting aside the idea of tidying up the yard.

She lowered her head, hiding the mischievous smile that had formed.

Lance had been acting mysteriously lately, often hiding in the library, doing who knows what.

Now, they could spend every day together.

Learning magic. A powerful mage teaching her magic personally.

Mira curled her lips into a smile, but her voice still sounded a little subdued.

"I’ll study hard."

Both Lance and Mira had their own plans. Lance kept his pile of bones safe, and Mira got the chance to study magic with Lance.

The next morning, Mira woke up early.

After finishing her grooming, she hummed a song and went to her homemade kitchen to prepare breakfast.

She took out some meat ribs she had frozen using ice magic, skillfully defrosted them, and placed them in the iron pan.

Flames appeared from the magic, and the girl's face showed pure joy.

With the help of magic, she quickly prepared today's breakfast.

Lance returned from his outdoor workout, his body covered in moisture.

"Did it rain outside?" Mira asked, puzzled by his appearance.

"No," the blue dragon replied. "It's cloudy today, and the humidity is high."

He hadn’t transformed into his dragon form in a while. To keep his flying skills sharp and stretch his body, Lance changed into his dragon form and flew a few laps through the clouds above the tower.

Otherwise, his bones would start to rust.

It was because he was flying through the clouds that his clothes became damp.

Mira hadn’t been outside yet, so she wasn’t aware of the situation.

She smiled and said, “You came back just in time. We can have breakfast now.” She brought out two plates from the kitchen.

“Lance’s steak, Mira’s bread and fried eggs.” She placed the plates and eagerly sat down in her spot. "Lance, what are we learning today in the morning?" Mira had already skimmed through the spellbook for the seventh ring spells, and there were many magics she found intriguing.

One of them was the Freeze Rain spell Lance had written on a scroll. She still remembered the effect when the magic was cast.

Just thinking about being able to learn such a powerful area-of-effect spell made Mira feel uncontrollable excitement.

"Morning?" Lance thought for a moment. "Let’s have a test first."

"What?" This was completely different from Mira’s expectations. She had thought Lance would perform a magic demonstration before starting the lessons.

But his first class turned out to be an exam.

"What are we testing?" Mira couldn’t help but feel nervous. She vaguely guessed the content of the exam, her heart racing with anticipation.

And Lance’s next words confirmed her guess.

"We’ll test your progress with the first six rings of spells," Lance said seriously, looking at Mira.

"Real combat, not a drill."

Real combat!

Mira’s eyes widened in surprise.

She had guessed the exam content but never expected the method would be real combat.

"How are we going to test?"

When she was at the Mana Hub, Mira had taken exams before. But apprentice-level spellcasters didn’t have practical combat exams.

Lance smiled mysteriously and looked up at the tower.

"This tower has many rooms. Let’s pick one and take a look."

"Don’t keep me in suspense!" Mira became anxious, her curiosity making it hard to endure.

Lance knew exactly what kind of person she was, so he was teasing her on purpose.

Seeing the smile on his face, Mira immediately guessed what he was thinking.

Lance decided to stop playing with her.

He revealed a secret about the tower.

"There are many legendary spells inside the tower, and one of the floors is a virtual world. It contains many projections of spellcasters. We’ll use this as the test," Lance said to Mira. "During breakfast, you can think about who you want to face in your first real combat. I’ll control the projection to be at the sixth ring, so anyone you can think of can be your sparring partner."

Mira was astonished.

This magic was incredibly amazing. The tower's mages had become even more impressive in her mind.

Lance smiled slightly. "Alright, Mira, you can eat now. After breakfast, you can tell me..."

"I’ve already made my decision," Mira couldn’t wait for breakfast to end.

As soon as Lance explained the rules, a name immediately appeared in her mind.

If the opponent for the test was him, Mira would give it her all.

Lance raised an eyebrow, noticing the eager expression on Mira’s face.

"Already decided?" He was a little excited. Would Mira want to compete against him? Lance had reached the sixth ring when he was very young, so if his projection from that time was used, it would probably be a mini dragon, right?

"Dragon," Mira’s answer slowly aligned with what Lance had imagined.

"I want to try and defeat the dragon."