Flying was only the first step.

  Over the next few days, I practiced constantly. My control improved little by little. I could stay in the air longer, adjust my direction, and even land without crashing most of the time.

  Most of the time.

  But flying alone wasn’t enough.

  The memory of the arrow at the stream still lingered in my mind.

  Pain.

  Shock.

  That brief moment where my body froze.

  If that had been a stronger enemy, hesitation alone could have killed me.

  So one evening, while resting near the entrance of my cave, I came to a simple conclusion.

  “I need to get used to pain.”

  Not just endure it.

  Function through it.

  More importantly, I needed to improve my use of the Life attribute.

  Life phoenixes were infamous for a reason.

  Their regeneration.

  For most creatures, a serious wound was the end of a fight.

  For dragons and phoenixes, things were different.

  Our bodies possessed extraordinary vitality. As long as the brain and heart remained relatively intact, even severe injuries were rarely fatal.

  But life phoenixes took that concept to another level.

  With enough mastery over the Life attribute, they could regenerate injuries that would be fatal even for other dragons or phoenixes.

  A crushed organ.

  Severely damaged tissue.

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  Even wounds that should have meant certain death.

  Experienced life phoenixes could recover from them in seconds.

  That was the reason they were so difficult to kill.

  In general, there were only two reliable ways to deal with them.

  The first was to suppress their regeneration and destroy their brain or heart.

  The second was simply to destroy the head completely.

  But in the case of a draco-phoenix like me—one carrying both life and death bloodlines—the situation was even more extreme.

  Destroying the head wouldn’t necessarily guarantee death.

  There was only one truly reliable method.

  Suppress regeneration…

  And completely destroy the heart.

  Of course, that mainly applied to adults.

  Right now?

  I was nowhere near that level.

  Still, the principle remained the same.

  If I wanted to survive future battles, I had to learn how to heal while moving.

  While escaping.

  And eventually…

  While fighting.

  Which meant I needed practice.

  Painful practice.

  I looked toward the tall rock formation outside my cave.

  “…This is probably a terrible idea.”

  Naturally, I decided to do it anyway.

  I took off and climbed higher into the air than usual, beating my wings until the cave and clearing below began to shrink.

  Not too high.

  But high enough.

  Then I folded my wings.

  The ground rushed toward me.

  Wind howled past my ears as gravity pulled me down.

  At the last moment, I opened my wings slightly—not enough to glide, just enough to control my fall.

  And then I landed.

  Hard.

  CRACK.

  Pain exploded through my legs as my four paws slammed into the ground.

  I collapsed immediately, my legs trembling from the impact.

  “….”

  I sucked in a sharp breath.

  The bones weren’t completely broken, but the damage was obvious. My legs throbbed violently, and standing felt unstable.

  Perfect.

  I focused inward.

  The Life attribute stirred inside my body like warm flowing water.

  Usually I would sit still and let the healing process work .

  But this time…

  I forced my wings open.

  “Up.”

  I flapped.

  Pain shot through my body as I tried to push myself off the ground.

  My injured legs protested violently, barely able to support my weight.

  But the Life attribute responded.

  Warm energy spread through the damaged muscles and bones.

  Regeneration began.

  Slow at first.

  Then faster.

  I flapped again.

  This time I managed to lift myself slightly off the ground.

  The pain hadn’t disappeared.

  But it was fading.

  Good.

  That was the point.

  I landed again, letting the regeneration finish the rest of the work.

  After a minute, my legs felt almost normal.

  I looked up at the sky.

  “…Again.”

  So I flew up.

  Dropped.

  Crashed.

  Healed while i tried to move and fly.

  And repeated the process.

  Again.

  And again.

  And again.

  After several attempts, I lay on the ground staring at the sky, breathing heavily.

  My legs were shaking.

  My wings were sore.

  And my entire body hurt.

  But there was progress.

  Each time I recovered faster.

  Each time I could take off sooner.

  Each time the pain bothered me a little less.

  Eventually, if I kept doing this…

  I would be able to heal while moving.

  While flying.

  While escaping.

  And one day…

  While fighting.

  I slowly stood up, stretching my wings again.

  The sky above looked calm.

  Which meant it was time for another fall.

  “…Again.”