50. Petting Your Hand, My Wife
In the backyard training area of the Silver Dragon Temple, Roswiser had her eyes slightly closed, hands spread wide apart, palms facing each other.
Before long, a milky white energy began to gather in her palms, surrounding her with a visible whirlwind.
The energy relentlessly concentrated in Roswiser’s hands, forming a ‘Primal Power’ great enough to incite Primordial Magic.
She compressed the Primal Power continuously until it condensed into a ball of light the size of a mung bean.
At this point, Roswiser finally let out a small sigh of relief.
In the past, today’s practice would have been considered done. Given the speed and efficiency with which she just condensed the Primal Power, claiming she had made rapid progress would not have been an exaggeration.
But Roswiser was not one to be satisfied with just that.
Since Leon had snagged her a “martial arts manual” on Primordial Magic from his master, she needed to crank up her practice and make it worthwhile.
She couldn’t let that Dog Man’s good intentions go to waste.
Of course, the most important reason was the burning desire within Roswiser to become stronger.
The human Empire was secretly colluding with certain Dragon Races, and their real goal was far more than just hunting Leon down.
No matter what sort of conspiracy they were hatching, as the queen of the Silver Dragons, Roswiser had an obligation to protect her people and stand strong in this chaotic world, ensuring they wouldn’t be swept away by the tides of time.
Primordial Magic was her stepping stone to the next stage.
She needed to get stronger—stronger than she was now… much stronger!
After a brief rest, Roswiser began to channel the already-concentrated Primal Power according to the basic exercises from the “Soul Judgment” manual.
However, this proved to be much more difficult than she anticipated.
Primal Power is vastly different from normal magic; controlling its elemental and form changes is incredibly challenging.
According to the book, the standard for practicing ‘Soul Judgment’ was “practitioners over five hundred years old with Dragon King-level power.”
As one ages, their understanding of magic deepens, making it relatively easier to practice Primordial Magic.
Dragon King-level power would also provide enough ‘cost’ for practicing—namely, the Primal Power.
Roswiser already satisfied the requirement of ‘Dragon King-level power’ and even had two Dragon Patterns to store more magical energy, which was above and beyond the standard.
But five hundred years… well, that was a bit of a headache.
But she surely couldn’t just sit around waiting three hundred years to start practicing, could she?
By then, the only things that would be cold would be not just the wilted flowers but possibly the ashes of Dog Man (at least that’s what he said).
So, Roswiser’s plan was:
Not enough age? Time to put in the hours.
If a five-hundred-year-old dragon needs to practice for six hours a day, she would practice for ten hours or more daily.
Who said the eldest daughter’s studiousness came solely from her Old Man?
Her Mom was also a hidden overachiever, alright!
Moreover, on another front, if Roswiser couldn’t quickly master this greater power, the road ahead for her and Leon would only get more difficult.
She had to hurry. She had to push herself!
The burning sensation in her hands snapped Roswiser back to reality.
She frowned slightly, beads of sweat running down her forehead and nose.
However, the Primal Power in her hands showed no noticeable change; it remained in its initial pure energy state.
“d*mn it… This practice is really hard…”
It was, after all, a power from ancient times, and its disappearance from history had a lot to do with its almost impossible practice difficulty.
But the Silver Dragon Queen wouldn’t stop just because of a little difficulty.
She thrived on the feeling of “conquest.”
If Roswiser could conquer that imperious man, she could certainly conquer this unruly Primal Power!
Energy surged explosively around her; the airwave lifted her silver hair like a dancing silver sprite.
Her dragon pupils narrowed, shooting fierce glimmers.
The corners of her eyes began to show signs of scales.
When dragons get emotional, they reveal certain original dragon traits, such as pupils and scales, even in their human forms.
“Dog thing! At least give me some kind of response!”
However, just as if the Primal Power had heard Roswiser complaining, it suddenly exploded in her hands, knocking her off balance and staggering backward.
Just as she was about to fall, someone appeared behind her and caught her just in time.
Leaning against that person, Roswiser looked up and heard them say,
“Tsk, it’s one thing to call me a dog, but why are you cursing at Primordial Magic? It can’t even talk back.”
Roswiser rolled her eyes. “I’m mad! When I’m mad, I can curse! Is that a problem?”
“What are you mad about?”
“Mad that I’m so stupid.”
“Yeah, you’re definitely right about that.”
“You!—”
Someone was getting exasperated.
I can call myself stupid, but how dare you just agree with me?
You should be comforting me, saying, “Wife, you’re not stupid! Let’s take a breather, okay?”
“You forgot to wear the pendant your grandmother gave you this morning, so are you really not stupid?”
As he said this, Leon pulled the pendant out of his pocket. “Look, I remember you always wore it.”
Roswiser paused, reached out to take the pendant, and whispered, “Oh… so this is what you consider stupid…”
“What did you think it was?”
“I thought I just couldn’t practice Soul Judgment well, so you called me stupid…”
Leon chuckled, ruffling the beautiful mess of her hair. “It’s normal to take things slow when practicing a completely unfamiliar magic.”
A blush spread across the queen’s cheeks as she smiled, just about to thank Leon for his comforting words.
But then she suddenly realized something.
“Why do I feel like you’re trying to comfort a daughter?”
Leon shrugged. “Your feeling is right. I often guide Noia like this.”
Roswiser was speechless. “I’m not a child, Leon.”
“But it works, doesn’t it? Just look at you—all red in the face.”
“I-I’m just blushing from the magical energy!”
“Whatever you say.”
Leon brushed her silver hair aside, exposing her slender, swan-like neck. “I’ll help you put on the pendant.”
“Um…”
Moments later, the couple sat down on the grass and began to reflect.
“By the way, what type of magic is Soul Judgment? Offensive? Or… something else?” Leon asked.
Roswiser thought for a bit, shook her head. “Traditional elemental magic can be divided into offensive, defensive, auxiliary, or other types. For example, your Thousand Birds is offensive, while the Illusion of Sumeru is defensive. But Primordial Magic doesn’t belong to any of those categories.”
Leon raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Doesn’t belong to any category?”
“Exactly.”
Roswiser explained, “The effectiveness of Soul Judgment doesn’t depend on the user but on the opponent.”
“Depends on the opponent?”
“Yeah. The more intense the opponent’s emotions, the more powerful the Soul Judgment becomes. If successfully cast, it can even purge any dark or negative emotions from the opponent.”
Leon’s eyes lit up at this description.
After all, current magic primarily focuses on elemental transformations; battles are usually a matter of elemental exchanges—whoever cries out in pain first.
And a magic like Soul Judgment, which was more “high-end”—now that was something unheard of.
To compare the two types of magic simply, normal magic is like a big chopping kn*fe, while Primordial Magic is like that same kn*fe doused in chili sauce.
One chop hurts like hell;
The other not only hurts but also includes ongoing burning damage.
“Truly a divine skill passed down from your Dragon Race ancestors, it’s quite interesting,” Leon remarked.
But Roswiser sighed softly. “It’s a divine skill, but if I can’t master it… what’s the point?”
Saying this, she slowly raised her right hand to look at her palm, which had some burn marks.
It’s inevitable to get burned while practicing magic, so Roswiser hadn’t paid much attention.
However, while she might not care, someone else was more than willing to care.
Leon gently grasped Roswiser’s wrist, placing her hand on his knee. He then fetched some ointment and started applying it to her wounds bit by bit.
Feeling the cool ointment, Roswiser smiled, “I told you I’m not a kid; this little injury is nothing.”
“I’m not worried about you.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“Just taking the opportunity to hold your hand.”
“……”
Help! Family, I can’t handle this cheesy married man dialogue!
“That’s enough with this one; give me the other one.”
Roswiser shot him a disgusted look but still obediently offered up her other injured little hand.
“If you still can’t practice well, why don’t we change our approach?” Leon suddenly hopped back to their earlier topic.
“Hmm… how do we change it?”
Leon’s gaze wandered the training ground, then he said, “Not having a practice partner makes breakthroughs quite difficult.”
Roswiser blinked. “A practice partner… but where am I supposed to find someone with intense emotions?”
Leon’s thoughts stirred, then he turned to Roswiser, confidently stating,
“Leave that to me.”
