Benjamin continued cheering from his cage with zeal, sure that Kinsoriel had won the fight. His hunch was confirmed as he saw them reappear while talking to each other, a satisfied look present on the black dragon’s face.

“-back for a chat sometime,” Seigill continued from another conversation. “I don’t often get to talk with others. You can even bring your servant.”

Kinsoriel chuckled with a rapport one might not expect so soon after a bloody duel. “Perhaps I’ll invite you over to my territory as well. I just need to take it back from that wretch first.”

“I’d be honored, elder one.”

Now with both of their attention on Ben, he waited patiently to be let out. The green dragon held down the floor of the cage while pulling the top portion up. It came apart in two pieces, the ease of which managed to frustrate the ex-Author.

“Go,” Seigill said with a head bob to the side. When Ben stepped away from it, the cage was snapped back together.

“May I please have my stuff back?” Benjamin asked as politely as possible.

The green dragon snorted and shrugged with his front limbs. “I don’t care to argue against that. I’ll be back shortly.”

Jumping off the cliff, Seigill flew towards the underside of the cliff, leaving him with his savior. He knew that his main character was going to come out on top, but was shocked as he finally saw how badly he’d been hurt. There were large slashes against his front arms and his torso, leaving dark purple stains where blood had dried.

“Oh my goodness, are you alright?” Ben asked with concern.

Kinsoriel looked down at his injuries and gave an amused laugh. “Worrying over me? Don’t be foolish, my pupil. These wounds are nothing to a dragon. I’ve had far worse.”

It was true that they wouldn’t last long-regeneration was another boon he’d given dragons after all-but Ben found this relaxed attitude very out of place. He nodded along and pretended to look away. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw something that left him feeling more worried: a flash of pain.

“I have returned,” Seigill announced as he landed next to the two of them. He dropped Benjamin’s pack without any care in front of him. Trying not to let the pettiness get to him, Ben picked it up, walking over to Kinsoriel once he did.

“May Isdri provide on your journey,” Seigill said with a bow of the head. After that, he flew away again.

“That’s enough distractions for today,” Kinsoriel said as he opened a hand for Benjamin, “let’s get going.”

Ben got onto his hand, bracing himself. They took off towards the southeast and were back on course.

An hour into the flight, he decided to look at those injuries again. The way he was held gave him a good view with a bit of head movement. They had closed up and looked a lot less raw, but they were undoubtedly painful. Especially that one on the torso; each flap had to be agitating it.

Benjamin frowned as he looked at them. For as difficult as the dragon was to get along with, he had still come to his rescue. He should have been happy that his main character was growing, and yet, he wasn’t. Temporary or not, that damage was because of him.

“Hey, Master,” Benjamin shouted to get his attention. He was brought up to eyesight level.

“What is it, servant?” he said with a tinge of impatience. “I’m trying to make up for lost time here.”

“It’s starting to get a bit late. Do you think we could stop at the next landmass?”

The dragon looked back to the sun before returning his gaze to the front. “We still have daylight to burn, why would we stop now?”

“I wanted to learn healing magic for my next lesson,” Benjamin explained.

Kinsoriel’s eyes went down from Ben to his arm. With a labored sigh, he said, “Very well, I suppose now would be ample time for that.”

True to his word, Kinsoriel landed at the next landmass they came across. The place was devoid of much other than a patch of palm trees. It wasn’t particularly big either, but they weren’t staying longer than a night anyway.

They made camp, but unlike prior nights, there wasn’t anything for them to hunt other than fish. Rather than get his claws wet, Kinsoriel pulled out leftovers from his pocket spell. The portions felt as hot as when they were first cooked, even emitting thin trails of steam. He wasn’t sure which part surprised him more; the unexpected freshness of the food, or the fact that there were leftovers at all with how much the dragon ate. Ben made a mental note to ask about that at a later time.

Being leftovers, the food went by faster than normal, at least for the big eater. Once Benjamin had also finished his portion, he moved closer to his teacher.

“Healing then…” Kinsoriel started, sounding almost unsure of himself. “It requires knowledge of the target’s species. What works on a human wouldn’t work on a bird, for example.” Benjamin soaked it in, focusing completely on the dragon’s words.

“Do you remember magic principle two?”

“Wasn’t that ‘The mind is a muscle’?” Benjamin responded. Brains weren’t muscles, obviously. It meant that you could ‘exercise’ it through practice. A clearer mental image made for a faster cast.

“Correct, and when it comes to healing, this becomes more literal. Much like a muscle, you can improve not only your strength, but also your accuracy and control.”

Raising an eyebrow, Ben waited for him to continue. “Unlike spells that create or alter, healing reverts. You must be able to envision what once was throughout.”

The gears in Benjamin’s head clicked into place as he heard this. “So I should think of what was there before a wound?”

Kinsoriel grumbled as he rolled his eyes. “That is dumbing it down to a degree, but yes, you could think of it like that.”

With a clap, Benjamin approached. Kinsoriel backed away one step.

“H-hold it!” The dragon uncharacteristically stammered. “You don’t know dragon anatomy, you’ll need to study first!” After saying this, he opened up his pocket spell again, pulling out a large tome. He held it in front of Benjamin like a cross to a vampire.

Benjamin pushed the tome aside and looked the dragon straight in the eyes. “I do, actually.”

Kinsoriel stared back with a confused look. “You do?” He furrowed his brow, placing a hand on each side of his head. “Why? Why would you know about that of all things?!”

“It’s useful to know.” If Benjamin were to answer truthfully, he would say that dragons fell under the ‘dangerous monsters’ category in that knowledge list of his. He couldn’t just say something like that though. Of the many reactions he could anticipate, none of them were good. Before Kinsoriel could object or press it further, Benjamin diverted away from that. “Will you show me how I can cast it already?”

The dragon’s fiery eyes betrayed a nervousness not usually shown. Was the pain acting up now or something?

“Before I do that,” he said with a lower tone, “you must swear to never speak of what I am about to tell you to any other.”

Ben wondered what had his main character acting like this. “What is it?”

“Swear it!” the dragon demanded.

“Okay,” Ben said while holding up his hands defensively, “I swear I won’t tell anyone what you are about to tell me.”

Looking from one side to another, Kinsoriel moved his head next to Benjamin and whispered. “I’ve never actually cast a healing spell.”

Ben struggled to keep his face straight. This ‘revelation’ would make him double over in laughter in any other situation. Unfortunately, he had a feeling that would get him smashed by the second ha, regardless of any promises. After composing himself enough, he could speak without potentially insulting the dragon.

“I see… you still know how to do it, right?”

The giant head next to him made a noise of relief before backing away. “Yes, and I thank you for your discretion.”

Now sitting back on his haunches, Kinsoriel put his hands together in a praying pose. “The simplest of the healing spells is called ‘Vitalitize’. From what I have read, the spell releases tendrils of light from your palms that seek out the intended injuries. You keep your hands like this and channel the mana until you can feel a slithering feeling from them.”

Benjamin copied the hand pose as he followed along. “This spell is unsuited for combat in just about any situation. Supposedly, it takes at least a full minute to finish forming it, also requiring your attention until the target is healed. As we’ve discussed before, it is also very painful for the recipient.”
He gave Ben a dirty look. “For that reason, you will only use this when it is asked of you, and not a moment sooner. Understood?”

Agreeing, Benjamin nodded vigorously. Satisfied, his teacher continued.

“Now then,” the dragon said while holding up his arms, “cast the spell. I will prepare myself.”

Closing his eyes, the ex-Author began the process as instructed. He imagined what his main character looked like before his injuries. Even if he wasn’t included on the knowledge list, Ben had seen plenty of the dragon over these past days for this to be a snap. These tendrils will undo those wounds, erasing them from existence. They’ll scrub away anything that even implies such a thing. He just had to provide the energy to make it happen.

This portion wasn’t exaggerated. It took far longer for the mana to form than any of the other spells he had cast before. He didn’t know how long it was till he felt that slithering feeling in his hands; but, it was longer than a minute.

“Vitalitize!” he declared as he opened his hands in front of him. Luminous white tendrils raced out from his hands and toward their targets. Kinsoriel seemed to tense up before the spell had even reached him. Almost like snakes, the tendrils reared back their ‘heads’ before striking against the dragon’s arms. They coiled up and around the arms until they finally touched tender flesh.

“Hruugh…” Kinsoriel painfully groaned. The tendrils constricted around the injuries tightly, their light now pulsing like a heartbeat. It was hard to make out, but Ben could see the edges of the cuts seem to shrink back under the spell. Within seconds, the snaking lights had unwound themselves and moved to his teacher’s torso. Though he had to keep up his concentration, Ben couldn't help but feel proud as he saw those arms in good shape.

The dragon’s tail thrashed around as his chest was mended. Just how painful was this? After the process had finished, the light broke away from Benjamin’s palms and dissipated in a shower of sparkles. He breathed deeply, finally free to relax his mind.

Kinsoriel looked over himself appraisingly. He held the faintest hint of a smile as he patted himself where the wounds once were. “Ah, results worthy of my tutelage. Well done.”

He then focused his gaze on Ben. “However, I am inclined to ask why you insisted on learning this now.”

“It was important to know this sooner than later,” Ben said while moving back over to his bedroll. Surprisingly silent for a creature so large, Kinsoriel lifted the bedroll with barely a sound. When he looked back, Ben saw him dangling the roll over the fire with two claws.

“That may be one reason, but it isn’t the reason. You will tell me right now, or,” he bobbed the roll up and down, “this thing will be our kindling for the evening.”

Suppressing a nervous sweat, Benjamin thought about what he should say. “Because I-” he began, stopping shortly after. Those bright eyes squinted at him.

“You what?” Kinsoriel snapped impatiently.

He was going to have to say it. This dragon just had to intuit lies, and now he wasn’t giving any other out. Embarrassed to admit this to his own damn character, Benjamin said, “I felt guilty seeing you hurt.”

Kinsoriel raised a brow as he put the roll back on the ground. “Guilty? Guilty about what?”

“You got those wounds saving me, and I wanted to do something to fix that.”

The black dragon burst into laughter at Benjamin’s sincere answer, placing a hand over his muzzle. “Oh, you are something else!” Benjamin tuned out the grating noise as he retrieved his toasty bed roll, a bitter look on his face.

Once he had reigned himself in a little, Kinsoriel continued. “I got those of my own accord. It was my choice to fight for what is mine; fights over ownership aren’t the fault of the object.”

Not interested in continuing the conversation any further, Benjamin got ready for bed. “I’ll keep that in mind then,” he said flatly while nestling himself into the roll. After a day like this one, sleep was upon him in no time. Checked out as he was, he didn’t manage to parse the last of his master’s words.

“Thank you.”