The Magic is Gone

Lilith was stunned for a moment. She took a deep breath, her expression becoming much more serious. She began chanting the incantation again, this time with a slow, deliberate, and solemn tone. The white glow in her hands grew slightly stronger. Under this faint light, the dragon's wound started to heal a little, appearing to be a healing spell. However, the white light was still too weak, only illuminating a small area around Lilith's hand.

Considering the dragon's massive size, such a feeble healing spell was far from sufficient.

Moreover, Lilith's healing spell could only partially mend a small cut on the dragon's claw, sustained during the fall. Exhausted, Lilith swayed and then collapsed to the ground, her face pale. She shook her head vigorously, staring at her empty hands as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

"My... my magic... it's not working!"

Freyr was taken aback. "What did you say?!"

"My magic... it's not working," Lilith repeated, her voice choked with tears.

Not working? Freyr was surprised. He had been counting on the Witch to heal the dragon so they could leave this place.

Surrounded by the silent forest, they had no idea where they were. During their chaotic escape, they had flown in an unknown direction for most of the night.

"Are you out of magic power? Are you mentally exhausted?" Freyr asked cautiously. "Try meditating for a while to replenish your magic."

"No, that's not it. I can feel my magic, but I just can't cast any spells!" Lilith said, trembling.

Freyr was stunned. After a moment of thought, he frowned and said, "Your magic isn't working? Try casting some other spells."

Lilith immediately attempted several spells, but the results were disappointing for both of them.

For some unknown reason, Lilith's magical abilities had suddenly regressed significantly.

When she tried fire magic, she could barely conjure a couple of small fireballs before becoming utterly exhausted. As for advanced spells like Blue Flame Movement, they were completely beyond her reach. Even basic spells required tremendous effort, often consuming most of her mental strength to produce the simplest magic with significantly reduced power.

Lilith was truly terrified this time. Magic had been her only talent since childhood, and her entire reliance was on her extraordinary magical prowess. Now, with her powerful magic abilities almost entirely gone, how could she not be afraid? She stared wide-eyed, unable to utter a single word.

Freyr was also surprised but couldn't figure out the reason. Finally, he could only attribute it to some spell or injury inflicted by the ice beauty during the battle.

Without her magic, Lilith's already timid nature became even more pronounced. She was so scared that she couldn't even speak a complete sentence, her face full of fear and tears streaming down. Freyr, helpless, could only comfort her gently, "You must be injured... or perhaps your sister cast some spell on you. Don't worry, your magical strength is so formidable, it will surely return. You have a powerful teacher, right? I'm sure your teacher can help you recover."

Mentioning her teacher, Lilith seemed to regain some composure. Her immense trust and admiration for her teacher were evident as she immediately stood up, "I... I need to see my teacher!"

"Alright!" Freyr said. "I need to return too, but we must be cautious of your sister. She chased us all night and we only managed to lose her at dawn. With your magic gone, we can't fend her off if we encounter her again." He pointed to the dragon. "Can your dragon still fly?"

Lilith shook her head and explained to Freyr with effort: After a dragon gets injured, it can heal itself with its own magic, but the process is slow. Until it recovers, it won't be able to fly again. Given the severity of its injuries, it might take a year or more of sleep for the dragon to fully recover.

With the hope of riding the dragon out of there dashed, Freyr could only sigh and decided to explore the surroundings to figure out where they were. Ideally, they would find the edge of the forest and perhaps meet some locals who could guide them to the nearest town.

The dragon, unable to move, had to stay and rest to slowly heal. Lilith refused to leave her precious "Sunfire," and Freyr, feeling a sense of indebtedness to the girl, treated her more kindly. He set off alone to scout the area.

Breaking off a tree branch to clear his path, Freyr chose a direction and started walking. He didn't dare venture too far, intending only to find a way out of the forest.

Fortunately, Freyr's luck held, though it was mixed.

His plan to walk out of the forest succeeded.

After walking for less than half an hour, he emerged from the trees onto an open expanse...

The sea.

When he saw the beach in front of him, Freyr was stunned.

Had they flown all the way to the coast?

Without thinking too much, he turned around and walked back. The further he walked, the more uneasy he felt.

Anxiety growing, Freyr ran back to where Lilith and the dragon were resting. Panting heavily, he shouted at the Witch, "Quick! Can you still use the Flight spell? Fly up and check the surrounding terrain! Quickly!!"