Dragon Necromancer: Starting With First Dragon Bloodline-Chapter 55: Hell and Hellfire

"Of course, I have to protect him, remember?" Thalia answered with a mischievous grin, and instead of staying in one place, she blinked into space and vanished.

This was a tier 3 spell called Blink.

It allowed the user to vanish and reappear in another spot.

But there was one more problem—something neither Noa nor Selaira could have predicted.

Blink required not only a complex sequence of mana patterns but also a massive amount of energy to cast.

Yet here she was, casting these difficult spells left and right.

And she was only a tier 2 mage with an uncommon beast.

’How is she so strong?’ Noa thought, eyeing the girl closely. ’I should have sparred with her back on our estate.’

Thalia was raised as a maid.

She barely had enough time to look after herself, let alone practice spells of this kind.

Still, when her family discovered her talent, they didn’t hold back.

Though she was trained in secret, and she also showed dedication to learn more about her abilities, her progress was limited.

There were so many times Thalia had failed to throw even a simple snow spear.

However, when she didn’t give up and tried her best, her skills became better—slowly, yes, but she was growing stronger for sure.

There was a final straw as well.

The moment Thalia saw Noa in her dream for the first time, everything clicked into place.

Suddenly, her secret practice sessions became easier.

Snow mana particles began to listen to her more closely. Even Luna was eager to aid her in training.

Above all, Thalia got the chance to attend classes with Darrik.

She listened to the mage carefully and noted everything she needed to know.

As a result, her progress skyrocketed, and her mana control improved drastically over the past few weeks.

Now, Noa and Selaira were watching the fruit of her efforts.

Mana froze around her, and spikes rose from the ground where she had stood only moments ago.

The queen had to defend herself.

Otherwise, she could have been seriously wounded.

"You are an exceptional mage," Selaira commented, her cold grin growing deeper. "But I doubt your beast can be categorized in the uncommon rank. It’s at least rare grade, but I believe it could be higher than that."

"Y-You mean that the grading was wrong?" Thalia asked, her eyes widening.

Selaira shook her head.

Her sword sliced through the frozen air, sending its chunks clattering at her feet. "No," she said finally. "I think your friend has evolved. Just not in tiers."

"Is that even possible?" Thalia questioned and used Blink once more.

At this point, it felt like she was boasting about her skills.

Or perhaps she was training mid-conversation, her legs aching for more action.

The queen, on the other hand, stood in one place.

She didn’t move, only deflected the swift blobs of snow with an unreadable expression. "In theory, yes. But I haven’t seen one in person. I doubt anyone in the academy has either."

Hearing this, Thalia clapped in excitement.

She never thought someone like Selaira would speak so highly of her.

It felt like a dream come true.

Heart racing, Thalia wanted the fight to continue—to prove, to show, and to learn more.

So she nodded to her opponent, clenching her fists.

Then, Luna’s presence channeled even deeper behind her, feeding her with even more energy than before.

Noa stepped back.

Somehow, this fight turned even more intense than his.

The two girls exchanged glances, their lips curling into thin smiles.

Thalia moved first. Again. With a soft twist of her wrist, swirling, cold spears appeared beside her, and instead of hovering in the air to threaten, they blinked into existence.

In an instant, Selaira was assaulted from five different directions. Simultaneously!

Fortunately for her, her sword sang with each strike, the sharp part of the blade cleanly separating spears into two equal parts.

But she had no room to breathe.

Every time she managed to defend herself, another wave of attacks rained down.

If it were an average mage, the girl could have stalled and waited for her mana to run out. After that, it could have been an easy finish.

However, instead of growing tired, Thalia’s assaults became faster, fiercer, and deadlier.

Every spell she cast was stronger than the last one before.

Snowy spikes.

Spears.

Frozen ground.

Razor-shaped snowflakes.

Thalia was using everything in her arsenal to corner her new friend and instructor.

Suddenly, Selaira’s boots sank deep into the thick snow.

Her movements were instantly restricted, and for the first time in this fight, her steps stalled.

Before Thalia could exclaim in victory, the other girl’s silver sword flashed.

With a single kick of her leg, the crystallized ice around her foot shattered, and in the same unseen motion, the tip of her blade touched Thalia’s throat.

The room was already cold.

Its temperature dropped even lower, but all the sounds vanished momentarily.

"Whoa!"

Thalia had the time to react, but this time it was because of her loss.

Everything happened so quickly that she couldn’t even glimpse how Selaira had done it.

Still, the fact that she enjoyed the battle hadn’t changed.

The queen’s voice was calm. "Not bad."

She didn’t show her feelings, but her eyes shone with unfamiliar brightness. "If you want to beat me, you shouldn’t be casting so blindly. Don’t throw spells just to throw them.

Look at me, judge my intent, and anticipate everything I might do. Be ready for every outcome and strike at the right time."

As Thalia nodded at her advice, Noa gulped.

He had been watching the fight without blinking once, and instead of thinking about his dry eyes, all he could think about was the view that was just etched into his mind.

It was intense, yes, but the idea itself was even harder to digest.

’So the fights could look like that?’ he considered, thinking of a future where he could have equal power.

He pictured it.

The visualization made him hungry.

He was thirsty as well. "So... what now?"

Selaira’s answer was immediate. It was short and direct in her style, too. "Drills. Until you can’t move, and I have to carry you to your rooms."

This time, Noa wasn’t the only one who gulped.

Compared to him, Thalia looked excited, like a true masochist, as if she couldn’t wait to suffer alongside him.

He, however, remembered the harsh training with Haric and hated the idea of going through the same experiences.

Still—

There was no way he would decline the offer.

Especially when he, too, wanted to get better and see how different Selaira’s training would be.

And that’s when the nightmare began.

Torture. Suffering. Hell.

Selaira forced the duo to experience all kinds of pain and tiredness.

Haric was at least kind enough to give him a stamina recovery potion.

The queen?

She didn’t even entertain the idea of letting them rest, let alone offering them a magical drink.

The so-called training felt less like pushing them to their limits and more like forcing them to go beyond.

From the moment she started the discipline, the arena was filled with crushing sounds of shallow breathing.

Thalia crouched low.

She was allowing snowflakes to spin between her fingers.

But under Selaira’s piercing gaze and oppressive pressure, she was losing focus.

"Too bad. You have to start again!" the queen demanded.

Meanwhile, Noa was drenched in sweat and bruises. He had to execute an offensive strike in a perfect formation.

It was her technique.

And she was willingly sharing it with Noa.

"Why?" he asked, his voice so shallow it barely went above a whisper.

"I don’t mind," the girl answered, her face displaying a rare sign of malice. "It’s my family’s secret art. I want to teach you, and I am doing it. No one can punish me for it."

Noa had already known there was more to the girl than met the eye.

’She has secrets,’ he thought. ’More than I suspected.’

Shadows coiled around Noa, and he was forced to gather every fragment in the room into one place.

It sounded ridiculous.

Noa had thought the same.

Even so, he was doing it with a tired smile on his face.

Whenever he missed even a single particle, she made him sprint after it—while still controlling the remaining specks on top of his palm.

As a result, not only were his endurance and stamina tested, but also his concentration had to work to the limit.

An hour passed in the blink of an eye.

Then another.

Suddenly, even the sun was gone from the horizon.

But Noa, Thalia, and Selaira remained in the practice grounds, spending ’quality’ time together.

Muscle spasms were the last thing he worried about.

Yes, running around and executing complex spells and techniques was physically demanding, but nothing came close to the uncomfortable feeling his brain was going through.

It pulsed with mana.

It also trembled because of it.

Yet, Selaira stood there this entire time scrutinizing them closely.

She rarely spoke, only hitting them if they stopped even for a second.

By the time moonlight shone upon them both, Noa and Thalia breathed purely on instinct.

They were half-asleep and their movements sloppier.

In one moment, the sounds faded, replaced by faint whispers of darkness asking him to rest.

And he did so.

Noa allowed the gloom to swallow him whole.

It was something he wanted—something he earned for himself.

In this darkness, there was nothing.

Except warmth.

Yet the same warmth turned into something terrifying—something that showed him familiar fire and a dream.