Wild Dragon of Rome 14 (Patreon)

Lillian looked at me, shocked, while I used the opportunity to recover my mana. 

The moment I let go of the elemental cores, exhaustion hit me hard, while the darkness of the cave started to get domineering. I would have turned blind if it wasn’t for the multi-colored light of the active dragon heart. I focused on the water core, trying to hasten my recovery. 

I was lucky that none of the claws or bites had hit an artery, or it wouldn’t have been as simple as relying on the passive recovery of water element. I would have to rely on fire element for a quicker way to stop the blood … and that was never fun. 

The worst of the bleeding stopped quickly as I fed the water core with the mana from the dragon heart to its limit, the rest slowly recovering my reserves. Unfortunately, many lacerations that covered my body weren’t as easy to recover. 

It was going to be a long, painful night. 

Meanwhile, Lillian stumbled toward me, showing she was about to collapse. “All that blood…” she gasped. “You need healing!” 

“It’s not as bad as it looks. Most of the blood is from the beast,” I said. 

Her expression sharpened as she put her hand on my shoulder. I felt a stirring. “Don’t try to lie to me,” she said. “I might not be an expert healer, but I’m not blind.” 

“Alright, but you need to recover your mana first,” I said, then raised the dragon heart once I noticed that she was looking for the defeated water-natured possum. “Just wait your turn.” 

She looked at the dragon heart, her expression dismissive at first. “A crystallized piece is not even enough to recover your reserves —” she started, only to freeze in shock, finally paying attention to what I had in hand. “Is this a dragon heart?” she asked. 

Her shock was understandable, and so was dismissing it as some kind of crystallized piece of mana. Dragon hearts were not the kind of treasures one expected to find in the hands of a random apprentice mage on an uninhabited island; or anywhere but the most guarded compounds, surrounded by hundreds of guards. 

I nodded. 

“How?” she gasped. 

“Sweetie, it’s a long story with an even longer answer,” I said. “Why don’t you just close your eyes and rest a bit while I finish draining it, and then you can replenish your mana,” I offered. She nodded absentmindedly and sat against the wall, trembling. “Do you know a way to enhance your body with your element?” I asked. 

She shook her head. “No, I never thought that it would be necessary,” she answered, dipping her head down in shame. 

“Don’t feel bad. It’s not exactly normal to develop alternative elemental expressions,” I said. Personally, I thought it was stupid to miss such a critical aspect, but there was no point raking her over and ruining her mood. It wasn’t like I could change her past. And, I had no doubt that, if we managed to get away, she would be far more willing to go address that particular deficiency. “Tell me what exactly you can do?” 

“Other than using my magic to farm some extremely rare and delicate plants?” she asked with a derisive tone. 

“Hey, using magic to make a fortune is a perfectly acceptable way to live,” I answered. 

She smiled sadly. “I can use some simple elemental attacks, and I know healing to handle open wounds, but nothing else that’s useful under the circumstances. I’m useless.” 

“Hey, you’re the one that killed the beast,” I reminded her, finding myself with the unusual task of consoling her depression. It came surprisingly easy, just imagine what my old man would say … and say the exact opposite. 

Once the dragon heart’s dancing colors faded, I brought it to her. Let only a drop of your blood on it, and make sure to absorb all the mana it lets out,” I explained to her. 

“Where are you going, you’re still wounded,” she said rather than reaching for the dragon heart immediately. I looked at her face, trying to see if she was trying to play me, but only saw honesty. Kind…

But also very naive, showing just how sheltered she had been raised. 

“I need to get rid of the blood, and maybe also clean the beast,” I said. “I prefer to deal with it before the rain stops. That way, it’ll be easier to get rid of the blood and the mess.” 

Lillian nodded. “I can help with the rest if you can bring some water while returning,” she said. 

“Sure,” I said as I climbed the slope of the tunnel. I walked some distance away until I found a nice stream created by the rainwater, picked a nice rock on the way back, creating a stone knife with a sharp edge before I processed the beast, getting rid of the blood and other mess but kept everything else, including most of the internal organs and all of the bones. 

Every part of a second-order beast was a treasure. Even getting rid of the blood and some other stuff was annoying. Even they were enough to go for at least a denarii for the right buyer. 

Once the initial processing had finished, I washed myself under the rain, including my ruined pants, getting rid of the blood. On the way back, I found a nice hollowed-out rock that could work as a water bowl, filled it, and returned to the cave. 

Lillian was still exhausted, but with her mana depletion solved, she looked better, but considering she looked like she was about to keel over, it was not an incredible improvement. She was still shivering due to the cold, the mana from the dragon heart not a solution to it. The dragon heart was still glowing in her hand, while her eyes stayed closed, not letting even a hint of mana escape. 

As a mage, she was better than me absorbing the radiating mana. 

“Come here, I’m going to heal you,” she said the moment I walked in. I chuckled at her attitude, but I had to admit, it was good to have someone care about my wounds. It was a rare experience. 

I followed her command only after placing the improvised stone basin and the butchered beast parts in the corner. I sat next to her, and she put her left hand on my cheek, while her right hand danced over my open wounds, a soft blue glow hastening my recovery many times. 

“Well, I have to admit, it went well,” I said. Normally, healing like that was not advisable, but I had many ways to deal with an internal infection, particularly if I decided to rely on fire for healing. 

“Yeah, I can see,” she said, still trembling. Yet, she ignored it and waved her hand, gently pulling the water from the stone basin, and used the flowing water to clean the cave of the dust, blood, and other mess before dropping it to a corner, making the cave a much more livable place. 

Not exactly the most important thing, but she clearly wanted to contribute, so I didn’t say anything. However, as I watched her, I realized that her trembling was getting more intense. I touched her arm. “You’re freezing,” I said. 

“Can’t we start a fire? I can dry the wood with my spells.” 

“I wish, but it won’t go well in a cave,” I said. “And, even if you can dry them, wood would create too much smoke. It increases the risk of getting caught too much, not to mention the smell might alert the surrounding beasts.” 

“Sorry to be a burden,” she whispered, ducking her head. 

I sighed as I wrapped my arms around her, and pulled her against my chest. 

“W-what are you doing?” she stammered. 

“Benefits of being a four-element apprentice. I can self-heat,” I said even as I used fire to heat myself up, until her cold skin felt uncomfortable against mine. 

“But this is…” she whispered, clearly feeling shy. I didn’t have trouble understanding her point, as having a poorly dressed beautiful blonde in my arms wasn’t exactly the easiest feeling to resist, particularly after spending the whole day fighting for my life. 

“Think of it me as a blanket,” I said. 

“You’re the best blanket I ever had,” she said, chuckling. Not the best joke, barely even qualifying as one, but I found myself chuckling with her, which then turned into laughter that went on for a while, leaving us exhausted. 

“Coming from a noble, 

“You’re talking like you’re not a noble,” she said. “You’re the one from a patrician house.” 

“A failed patrician house that managed to get exiled out of Rome long before I was born, and a banished bastard,” I answered. “Not sure I qualify to be one.” 

“I would have argued but…” she said, not even able to finish her sentence before a big yawn interrupted her. “I’m spent.” 

“Make sure to stay awake until the dragon heart dims again. It’s just a few minutes,” I said. “I don’t know if it’s possible to use the mana created by someone else’s blood, but I prefer not to test it.” 

“Just pinch me if I fall asleep,” she said. I decided to ignore the implication. She shuffled in my arms but managed to stay awake until the glow of the dragon heart faded. Only then, she collapsed against my chest. 

“Not bad for a spoiled noble,” I said with a chuckle as I took the dragon heart off her hand, and dripped a drop of blood … but, after a momentary concern, added three more drops, and channeled the mana flow into my cores. 

Trying to quicken my breakthrough to mage rank was risky, but, at this point, I didn’t feel like I had an option.

Not after my plan to hide in an uninhabited island had crashed and burned so spectacularly…