Ophelia and The Dragons

Chapter 18

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

-Abraham Lincoln-

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Ophelia's P.O.V

I had no idea what to expect as I had never seen Helios went to the kitchen and cooked a meal on his own.

Usually I would accompany him if he wanted to try something, but not this time. I remembered he cooked for me once and it was edible, but it might just be beginner's luck.

From my bedroom, I could hear the metal utensils being used. I wondered what he was making? In the meantime, as I waited for him, I closed my eyes and arranged the flow of my body.

A few moments later, the door was opened and Helios entered the room with a tray of herbal chicken porridge in his hand and a cup of warm honey water.

"Lia, please eat them. These are all good for your health. It's my first time making them, I am not sure about the taste, but they would still help you recuperate." He stated as he took a seat beside me.

"I can eat them on my own, Helios. You may leave now."

"No, you are still weak. I will feed you." He would not let me touch the food on my own. Instead, he picked up the bowl and blew the spoon before feeding it to me.

"Open up, master, let me feed you." I sighed and let him fed me. For someone who barely ever cooked at all, it didn't taste too bad.

"How is it, Lia? Is it good?" He asked with glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"It's not bad." I admitted. I didn't want to praise him too much, but I appreciated the effort he put for me." A small smile appeared on his face.

"I'm glad, at least it's edible for you. I was a bit worried since I couldn't taste it myself." He was still too innocent when it came down to daily things like that.

He could just taste the food while he was cooking. But he wanted to keep everything sanitize and pure for me. How adorable.

I was used to doing everything by myself for almost four hundred years until he came to my life. It didn't feel too bad to have someone took care of you.

I was just a bit scared that I would get too used to this feeling.

Once I was done with the meal, I drank the warm honey water. My body instantly felt so much better. As expected, the best cure in life is good food.

"Is there anything else you want, Lia? I will bring them to you. Your body is still weak, I don't want you to move too much for the day." He asked out of concern.

"Helios, at this point, you might as well be my servant." I made a sarcastic remark.

"I don't mind, I am already your familiar anyway. Your wish is my command. Whatever you want, I will get them for you, Lia." He replied casually, not understanding that I was just being sarcastic.

For some reason, my heart felt a little warm. I puffed. I couldn't possibly be swayed by the words of someone four hundred years younger than me.

This little dragon, he was probably being cheeky. At the same time, I could see sincerity in his eyes.

"Hm, then why don't you give me a shoulder and foot massage? The cultivation had depleted me of my energy right now and my whole body feels sore." Upon the request, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"No problem, Lia. I will gladly do it for you." He helped me to sit down and turned around so he could start massaging my shoulder.

I almost yelped in pain. His hands were big, they almost covered the entire part of my shoulder and the pressure used was immense.

Perhaps because it was his first time giving a massage, he still had no control over his own strength. I knew he was trying to be gentle but it was still pretty painful.

"Are you trying to crush my shoulder bone?" I asked him.

"No, I'm sorry. I must have used too much strength. I will be gentler, Lia." He replied quickly in panic.

I knew he didn't want to hurt me, but it still hurt. The next time he pressed his fingers on my shoulder, it was a lot gentler.

He really took my advice into heart. It felt good, once the pressure and rhythm was right, my shoulder felt a lot better.

"Okay, that's enough for the shoulder. You can move to the feet now." I ordered him. He didn't take long to switch his position. He went to the edge of the seat and started massaging my feet. This time the pressure was just right.

"How do you feel, Lia? Is it good? Am I doing a good job?" He asked innocently.

"Yes, it is. Keep going." I said. There was a lot of silence between the two of us during this time. Before long, I could feel my body relaxing and I fell asleep.

When I woke up, it was already morning. I walked outside, instantly welcomed by a delicious smell in the air.

"Is Helios cooking again?" I wondered.

"Good morning, Lia. I made breakfast for you. Do you feel better now?" He asked as he placed two plates of butter bread, eggs, baked chicken and a glass of milk.

These are basic meals he had learnt to master even without me. So I was confident in the taste.

"I feel better, I will test out my new power later, to see what I developed." I replied as I took a bite of the eggs.

Once breakfast was over, I headed outside to feel the sun for the first time in nearly four days. It felt good. Being in nature never failed to cure me.

Helios followed right behind me and I prepared myself to showcase my new power.

I raised my hand and concentrated the power to the tip of my finger and then shot it to the tree in front of me.

For a few moments, nothing happened until the tree suddenly fell down, shocking both me and Helios.

"What in the world was that?" I asked myself. It was a strange power, a complete opposite of the magic I had before.

I used to always use healing magic. But this time, my magic could bring down a tree. It's an offense power.

"You can attack others now, Lia. No one can harm you like before. Even if I am not around, you can protect yourself." A huge smile appeared on Helios' face.

"Yes, I am surprised, but also glad at the same time. I wouldn't use this power if it's not necessary, but at least now I wouldn't be so weak." I replied to him.

"You gained this magic just by doing a three days cultivation. I could only imagine how powerful you would be if you continued cultivating it."

"I'm wondering about the same thing. Just how far exactly could I go? Healing witch normally wouldn't develop this kind of magic. But I guess magic is a very fluid thing. You never know about the limit. If the limit even existed in the first place."

I looked at my hand. It felt incredible. Having this kind of power would be useful in the future. I would have to continue the cultivation.

I continued to practice it to see what other abilities I had and Helios watched me from afar. A few hours passed and it was time to head back.

"Let's come inside, I'm starting to get hungry." He said.

"Yeah, sure."

As I was about to enter the house, I could faintly feel someone's presence in the wood, watching me from afar.

"What's wrong, Lia?" He asked since I stopped mid-way.

"No, it's nothing, must be my imagination." I replied.

What was that presence I felt? Why did it feel so familiar?