Adam took a deep breath.

Then he replied:

"The muscle was producing more force than the joint could properly transmit."

"Where?"

He pointed precisely to the area.

"There."

Vespera nodded.

"Good. Try again with ten percent less."

Adam looked at her.

"You’re really saying ’good’ after that?"

"You identified the mistake."

He sighed.

Then he started again.

This time...

Better result.

He gradually increased it.

Again.

Again.

Then another mistake.

Stop.

Heal.

Analysis.

Correction.

The session quickly took on a very different form from the previous day.

Adam was no longer just trying to succeed.

He was trying to understand why he was failing.

Too much mana in the muscle.

Not enough around the joint.

Distribution too slow.

Strengthening too abruptly.

Compression variation during a movement.

Desynchronization between two muscle groups.

Each mistake provided information.

And Adaptation seemed to absorb each one.

At first, Adam repeated the same problems several times.

Then less and less.

A corrected mistake tended not to recur in exactly the same way.

Vespera noticed.

Her eyes followed the flows attentively.

"Again."

Adam strengthened his legs.

Then attempted a jump.

This time, he distributed the energy better.

He landed.

A sharp pain appeared nonetheless.

But much less intense.

"Tendons," he said immediately.

Vespera nodded.

"Exactly."

They slightly modified the distribution.

Another try.

Better.

Again.

Then the arms.

There, the problems became even more apparent.

A rapid movement required synchronization of much more than just the arm.

Shoulder.

Back.

Torso.

Wrist.

Adam made several mistakes.

Some serious enough to force Vespera to immediately stop the exercise and repair the injuries before they could resume.

On several occasions, his arms or legs suffered fractures due to improperly distributed strengthening.

Nothing was left untreated.

Vespera intervened immediately each time.

Treatment.

Stabilization.

Then analysis.

She never let him continue with an injury.

But this didn’t make the experience pleasant.

Far from it.

Adam quickly discovered that internal strengthening errors were infinitely more painful than being thrown by Selene.

Because the problem didn’t come from outside.

The strength came from within his own body.

An over-strengthened muscle pulled on a structure unable to keep up.

A poorly supported joint absorbed abnormal stress.

An imbalance between several muscle groups could transform an otherwise simple movement into sheer agony.

After another mistake, Adam lay prone for a few seconds while Vespera finished stabilizing his arm.

"I take back everything I said about Selene."

Vespera didn’t look away from his plight.

"Why?"

"Her blows hurt less."

"She’ll be pleased to hear that."

Adam slowly turned his head toward her.

"Don’t you dare tell her that."

"Why?"

"She’ll make it harder." »

Vespera thought for a moment.

"Probably."

"There you go."

The treatment ended.

Adam moved his fingers slowly.

Everything was working normally.

He sat up.

"Again."

This time, Vespera remained silent for a second.

Then a slight smile appeared on her lips.

"Again."

Adam continued.

An hour passed.

Then more.

And something gradually changed.

The muscle strengthening in his legs became much more even.

He began to anticipate the stresses on his joints before they even became dangerous.

His skin strengthening also became much more uniform.

Above all...

His mind began to perceive his body as a connected whole.

He no longer thought:

Strengthening the leg.

But:

Main muscles.

Stabilizing muscles.

Joint.

Tendons.

Transmission to the pelvis.

He didn’t yet know how to properly strengthen all those structures.

But he was already beginning to feel their role.

It was a huge difference.

When he attempted a new movement, his mana distributed itself almost instinctively around several muscle groups even before Vespera gave him an instruction.

He took a reinforced step.

Then a second.

He stopped.

No pain.

Vespera said nothing.

Adam tried again.

A faster movement.

Then a slight jump.

Landing.

Stable.

He turned to her.

"It worked."

"Yes."

"Without correction."

"Yes."

Adam smiled.

Then he noticed her expression.

Vespera seemed genuinely surprised.

Not very surprised.

She remained Vespera.

But enough for him to see.

"What?"

She observed her energy flows again.

"Try again."

Adam tried again.

Same result.

Vespera approached.

She placed two fingers against his leg.

Then she checked several areas with her mana.

"Your body is already starting to automatically redistribute some of the strengthening around the areas of strain."

Adam smiled.

"Adaptation."

"Yes."

She thought for a moment.

"But faster than I anticipated."

Adam crossed his arms.

"I’m going to write that down somewhere."

Vespera looked up.

"Why?"

"Because managing to surprise you with my speed of progress probably deserves an official record."

She remained perfectly serious.

"If you like."

Adam stared at her.

Then he burst out laughing.

"Sometimes I really don’t know if you’re joking."

"It’s useful."

They continued for a little while longer.

But finally, Vespera raised her hand.

"Stop."

Adam stopped immediately.

"Already?"

"Yes."

He looked at the magic clock.

Then he froze.

"Ah."

The session had lasted much longer than he’d realized.

Vespera began to deactivate the training circles.

Adam gradually released the reinforcement.

But maintained his mana compression.

Even after everything he’d just been through...

It was still there.

Dense.

Thick.

Stable.

He noticed it.

Vespera did too.

She remained silent for several seconds.

Then simply said:

"Very good work."

Adam froze.

He turned slowly.

"Excuse me?"

Vespera looked at him.

"I said you did a very good job."

Adam placed a hand against his ear.

"I wanted to check that I hadn’t suffered too much damage."

Vespera sighed.

"Adam."

He smiled.

"Sorry."

She continued putting away the practice plates.

"Your progress today exceeded my expectations."

Adam remained silent.

This time, she wasn’t speaking to encourage him.

She was simply making an observation.

Which, coming from Vespera, was probably worth more than a long compliment.

"Thank you."

She nodded.

Adam stretched his arms slightly.

Then he winced.

Even though all his injuries had been treated...

His body remembered the pain all too well.

"However..."

Vespera turned.

"Yes?"

"That was probably the most painful session of my entire life."

"Probably."

"You really have no compassion when you answer like that."

"Your wounds are completely healed."

"My memory isn’t."

"It will be useful."

Adam remained silent.

"I hate the fact that you’re probably right."

Vespera finished packing up the equipment.

Then she retrieved her coat.

"Let’s go."

They left the room.

Then they descended in the space elevator.

In the lobby, the receptionist greeted them.

"Good evening, Mistress Vespera. Mr. Adam."

"Good evening."

"Good evening."

Adam and Vespera left the Mage Tower together.

Night had now fully fallen on Valoria.

The magical streetlights cast their light along the streets.

Many people were still out and about despite the late hour.

Merchants.

Adventurers.

Employees.

Residents returning home.

Adam walked calmly beside Vespera.

Then...

Without warning...

The dragon approached.

She slipped both hands around Adam’s arm.

And remained there.

Adam slowly lowered his gaze.

Then he looked at Vespera.

She continued walking quite normally.

"...Vespera?"

"Yes?"

"What are you doing?"

"I’m walking."

Adam remained silent.

That answer.

Exactly the same logic as Selene’s.

He looked at their arms.

Then at Vespera.

"You two really coordinated."

"No."

"Selene told me practically the same thing this morning."

Vespera thought for a moment.

"Then she was right."

Adam sighed.

Several people on the street had already noticed the scene.

And unlike Selene...

Vespera was perhaps even easier to recognize.

The mistress of the Tower of Mages strolling casually through Valoria, clinging to a man’s arm, was probably not a common sight.

The murmurs began almost immediately.

Adam felt several stares.

He stiffened slightly.

Vespera didn’t seem to care at all.

She simply kept walking.

Adam looked at the passersby.

Then at Vespera.

Then he thought back to the morning.

Selene.

Now Vespera.

And probably...

The others would follow sooner or later.

He exhaled slowly.

"I guess I’ll have to get used to it."

Vespera looked up at him.

"At what?"

"At the looks."

"They don’t matter."

Adam smiled slightly.

"Easy for you to say when you can probably scare half the street away just by frowning."

"I don’t need to frown."

Adam watched several people immediately look away when Vespera turned her head slightly.

He remained silent.

"Point granted."

They continued.

This time...

Adam didn’t even try to pull away.

On the contrary, after a few minutes, the awkwardness gradually began to disappear.

He remembered his thought from that morning.

If this were to become a habit...

We might as well stop worrying about every single person who looked at them.

So he simply turned his head toward Vespera.

"By the way, about the mana crystals..."

She looked up at him.

"Yes?"

"Does their color depend more on their element or their density?"

Vespera answered immediately.

"Both, but not exclusively."

Adam smiled.

The conversation resumed naturally.

Purity.

Elements.

Pressure.

Formation methods.

Uses in artifacts.

Market value.

Adam asked question after question.

Vespera answered each one.

And little by little...

The murmurs around them simply ceased to matter.

Adam walked through the streets of Valoria with the dragon clinging to his arm.

A few days earlier, this very idea would probably have made him extremely uncomfortable.

Now...

He was beginning to understand that this would likely become a perfectly normal part of his daily life.

And, strangely...

He didn’t dislike the idea.

They continued on their way to the manor.

All the while talking about magic.

As if the stares around them had vanished.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!

Report chapter

Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter