“Should we go around?” Tina asked.

“There are only three of them. This is a good chance to get some practice against fire breathing dragons. Lillia, only jump in if we are about to be killed. Tina, work with me. And do not stand in one spot. Unlike wyverns, drakes are the closest thing to real dragons as you can get.” Blake said as he took out a sword. “Use what Lillia has taught you. Aim for the weak points while keeping on the move.”

“Got it!” Tina nodded and took out a sword from a space pouch that Lillia had given her.

The two quickly separated and moved towards the first drake that was further away from the other two. Tina watched as Blake made a few hand signs and quickly adjusted her position. Watching from afar, Lillia smiled as she saw the teamwork of the two. She was actually secretly blocking the other two drakes’ senses so that Blake and Tina could practice on the first one first. This would slow the reaction time of the other two without actually keeping them from attacking.

Blake rushed up and looked for the flame pouch that was not covered with scales. It was the only point on a drake besides their eyes that would be weak enough to cut through and would stop them from being able to spit fire. Tina had a sword in her right hand and a gun in her left as she raised it and aimed at the drake’s eyes.

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

*ROar!!!!!!!!!!*

Four shots rang out as Tina quickly moved towards a pile of cars that were stacked up and burnt out on the side of the road for cover. She was only able to hit one eye with her left hand. Her right hand was her dominant hand. But Blake told her to get used to shooting with her left hand as well.

With one eye taken out, the drake was angered beyond belief and began sucking in a deep breath. The flame pouch under its belly began to glow with an ominous orange color until it turned an orange white color and then let out a long stream of flames in the direction Tina was in.

Tina was not stupid enough to stay put as she jumped down off the side of the road into a ditch as the flames sprayed over her head. “Tina!” Blake called out as he rushed towards the drake and raised his sword. He slashed down at the flame pouch, slicing into it, and quickly slid under the drake as flames began to pour out of the wound.

*ROar!!!!!!!!!!*

He had to quickly dodge the drake’s rear legs as they stomped down towards him and rolled over to the side before finally standing up and yelling out: “Tina!” He was worried that she was just cooked alive!

“Blake, she’s fine! Watch your back!” Lillia yelled out. Blake turned around to see the other two drakes about to spray fire toward him and quickly waved his hand, creating a barrier in front of him. Two streams of flames shot towards him as a claw from the other drake was about to smash down on him. Blake had gotten into a position that was not easy to get out of! He was already using a good deal of mana to keep the barrier in front of him up to block the flames in front of him, that he did not have the ability to worry about the drake about to smash him.

“Don’t you dare!” Tina yelled out as she jumped up on top of the drake and ran up its back. Once she reached the head, she swung her sword into the last good eye of the drake piercing her sword directly into its brain. The drake’s body swayed back and forth as blood gushed from its eyes. Tina did not only stab it once but many times in a row. The body finally gave in to gravity as it fell to the ground. Tina quickly hid behind it and used its massive body to block the flames from the other two drakes.

“Humph! You dare try to hurt my loved ones!?” Lillia snorted as she instantly appeared in front of the two drakes. Their eyes suddenly showed fear and began to back up. But before they could do anything, a massive claw formed above them and smashed them into the ground, squishing them like bugs.

Blake, who witnessed this, suddenly realized that to Lillia, these kinds of dragons were just that, insects. They were not even worth mentioning to her. And because of this, Blake’s fire to grow stronger increased even more. He wanted to one day truly stand at her side as an equal. Three drakes were enough to put them in a bad position. He had gotten ahead of himself and forgot he was still weak. He clenched his fist as he watched as Lillia snorted and stored the two drakes away. She then turned and looked at Blake with an apologetic expression.

“Blake… I….” Lillia lowered her head. She hoped she did not hurt Blake’s pride by jumping in.

“It’s fine,” Blake said with a smile. “Lillia, thank you.”

“Mmm…” Lillia’s lips bloomed into a beautiful smile as she walked over. “You two were quite amazing. Tina, you adapted very well to the situation and even put up a barrier to ward off the dragon breath. Blake, you survived two breaths at the same time. If not for the fact that your mana pool is still too small, you could have easily blocked the other attack as well. And Tina, that killing blow was nicely done. You moved in perfectly and finished it off. In another year facing ten drakes will be easy for you, and maybe even a lesser dragon will be something you can easily take down with just the two of you.”

Lillia was full of praise, but Blake still felt he did not do enough. He had made a mistake and almost lost his life over it. He had forgotten about the other two drakes, and Lillia had to warn him. “Lillia, after we finish with things in the south. I want you to train me harder.”