The old man, Leon's master, had always been peculiar in his ways of doing things—different from normal people, to say the least.

So, when he wrote “don’t worry” in his letter, it might truly mean that the apprentice he had raised since childhood had become embarrassingly weak.

If someone else called Leon weak, he’d simply give a scornful laugh.

*You think I’m weak? Come spar with me, and let’s see who’s really lacking.*

But if his master said it, Leon couldn’t help but take the matter seriously.

By now, it had been quite some time since he awakened.

Despite enduring constant torment from Roswitha during this period, and although his recovery speed had been slower than before, his physical condition had recently been steadily improving due to various reasons.

Returning to peak form was only a matter of time.

Roswitha should never have given him that two-week vacation—it had allowed him to conserve some energy. During the days when he held the reins of his own body, Leon had been methodical, carefully managing his stamina without overindulging.

So now, even though the balance of power was leveled again, if Roswitha wanted to control Leon as she had before, it wouldn’t be so easy. It would take a bit more effort on her part.

But Leon wasn’t a top-tier Dragon Slayer just because of brute strength.

What truly set him apart on the battlefield, enabling him to achieve countless victories and slay innumerable enemies, was his mastery of magical power.

Leon’s attribute was *lightning*—a fiercely offensive element that excelled at sweeping away hordes of enemies or delivering devastating attacks to Dragon Kings in single combat.

However, since waking up, Leon had attempted to harness his magical power but found it far inferior to the strength he wielded before his coma.

The first time he used magic after waking was when he refined the Black Dragon Bolus. Even then, he had vaguely sensed it: his magical energy was nearly depleted.

Later, during a sparring session with Roswitha, she attacked him with Dragon Flame and a barrage of magical techniques, while Leon could only evade—unable to muster enough magic to counterattack.

In a desperate moment, he had used the last vestiges of lightning magic to enhance himself, barely managing to wrestle a small victory.

But in the end, he still lost to Roswitha.

No matter how strong one’s physical body was, without magical enhancement, it was simply impossible to overcome an opponent on the level of a Dragon King.

After dinner, Leon sat in his nursery, pondering the issue of his magical power.

He stared at his palm, attempting to summon his magic.

A few lazy sparks of electricity flickered twice—

like an overworked office employee begrudgingly responding to their boss, exclaiming, “Here I come, here I come!” while making no effort to leave their desk.

Leon frowned at the faint sparks in his hand.

“Frankly, if you don’t want to spark, then don’t bother.”

Too weak.

The strength of his magic wasn’t even one-tenth of what it had been before his coma.

What was the cause of this?

Leon thought hard.

Had Roswitha done something to his body while he’d been unconscious?

He mulled over this possibility but quickly dismissed it.

If Roswitha had really wanted to tamper with his body, she wouldn’t have stopped at merely suppressing his magical power.

She could have gone further—preventing his physical recovery altogether. If that were the case, he’d have woken up perpetually frail, unable to spar with her as he was now.

Moreover, when Leon tried to harness his magic, he felt only pure exhaustion—there was no sensation of his power being suppressed or sealed.

If Roswitha wasn’t the cause, then the problem must lie with him.

Leon scratched his head and glanced at the books on his desk.

They were the same basic texts on magic and herbs he had flipped through repeatedly while teaching Noa and refining the Black Dragon Bolus. He was certain they didn’t contain any solutions to his magical depletion issue.

“Instead of randomly speculating here, I might as well find some useful books to study.”

He recalled seeing a library while wandering the sanctum with Muen.

It didn’t seem frequented, likely Roswitha’s private collection.

Surely, the books in there would hold the answers he sought.

After a moment’s hesitation, Leon stood and headed for Roswitha’s room next door.

She was in her study, dealing with unfinished paperwork from the day.

Hearing footsteps, the dragon queen glanced up. When she saw it was Leon, she lowered her gaze back to her desk. “Do you need something?”

Leaning against the doorway, Leon thought for a moment before saying, “Muen’s about to begin her magic training, right? I don’t have much experience with that, so I wanted to borrow some books from you to study.”

Roswitha, still focused on her work, tilted her chin slightly toward the shelves beside her, a graceful gesture. “Whatever you need, help yourself.”

Leon’s eyes darted across the shelves. He picked out a few books, flipping through them casually. Then he turned to Roswitha. “Not enough. Got any more?”

Roswitha paused her writing and glanced over. “For magic basics, this selection should suffice.”

Leon shrugged. “Well, after the basics, I’ll also need to guide her into foundational techniques. I don’t know much about your Dragon Clan’s magic curriculum, so I figured I’d take the chance to learn more.”

“I can teach her myself,” Roswitha said.

“You’re pretty busy most of the time. Let me handle it.”

Leon paused and added, “When I was prepping Noa for her admission test, you saw the results yourself—I’m pretty good at teaching kids.”

Roswitha thought it over and conceded he had a point.

Her workload was indeed heavy, and she often had to leave to patrol her territory, making it hard to provide consistent lessons for Muen.

Anna and the others were in similar situations.

All things considered, Leon indeed seemed the best fit.

She set down her pen, opened a drawer, and retrieved a key.

“On the fourth floor of the sanctum, far left, there’s a library. The books in there should meet your needs.”

Leon eyed the key on the table. While he maintained a calm exterior, his excitement surged within.

With unrestricted access to the library, finding solutions to his magical depletion would be much easier.

Never underestimate the speed of a top student navigating an ocean of knowledge!

Suppressing his elation, Leon picked up the key with feigned nonchalance. “Thanks.”

With that, he headed toward the door.

“Wait,” Roswitha suddenly called out.

Leon froze mid-step, wondering if the dragon queen was about to change her mind.

He turned back. “What now?”

“When you underwent magic awakening, what did you manifest?” Roswitha asked.

Relieved, Leon replied, “Lightning elemental magic.”

No matter the species, anyone who began practicing magic would go through the awakening stage.

The element they awakened represented their innate power source.

Of course, one could master other elemental magics through later study, but these would always be harder to control and slower to learn compared to one’s awakened element.

It’s worth noting that most magic users could only awaken one elemental attribute.

Those who awakened two were rare geniuses.

Even as a top human Dragon Slayer, Leon had only awakened one.

Roswitha nodded thoughtfully. “Oh, I see.”

“What about you?” Leon asked casually.

“Fire,” Roswitha replied. “Nearly all of us in the Dragon Clan awaken fire. Didn’t they teach you that at Dragon Slayer Academy?”

Leon chuckled. “They taught us. Just asking for the sake of asking—don’t overthink it.”

She rolled her eyes, dropped the topic, and returned her focus to her work.

This time, however, Leon didn’t leave right away.

If the Dragon Clan's members almost always awakened fire, while humans awakened a variety of elements, then…

What about half-dragons?

“What about Noa’s awakening?” he asked.

Roswitha’s pen hesitated briefly as if she found the question awkward. She mumbled something indistinct.

“What was that?” Leon pressed.

“…Lightning. Noa awakened lightning, the same as yours. Satisfied?”

Hearing this, Leon burst out laughing.

“Oh~~ like father, like daughter, huh?” Dangling the key in his hands, he approached her desk.

Leon had rarely passed up a chance to rub something in Roswitha’s face, and this opportunity was too good to miss.

“Sure, maybe I’ve become a bit pathetic. But my daughter inherited my power. And Noa’s a natural talent. Doesn’t this suggest that her father is also some kind of genius?”

Leon grinned. “I wonder if Muen will awaken lightning too. I have a good feeling about it.”

Roswitha shot him a sidelong glance. “Muen will definitely awaken fire.”

“Lightning.”

Roswitha’s strange sense of competitiveness flared, and she slapped the desk as she snapped,

“Fire! Just you wait and see!”