In the practice room, the floor was filled with small craters following the arduous battle that had taken place. Some places were littered with shredded vines, while others were charred by lightning.
At the center of this room, Edward and Lisa were lying on the floor, bruised and gasping for air. In front of them, Adam victoriously stood with his hands behind his back and a faint smile on his lips.
"Not bad. Your teamwork has improved quite a lot since last time," he sincerely praised. Although the mocking grin on his face said otherwise.
Lisa gritted her teeth as she raised her head and glanced at the raven-haired youth. "Is the gap between the Organ Stage and Neural Stage so vast?"
Thinking back to the battle just now where her attacks couldn't even touch the hems of Adam's clothes, she was extremely agitated. She felt as if all her hard work up till now had been useless.
"Nah, I'm just that strong," Adam grinned.
"But on a serious note, though." He stroked his chin, thinking of the right words to say. "Once you get to the Neural Stage, you get your vision right. This, in turn, sets your footwork straight. With this, a Magus can increase their proficiency in actual fights."
The couple ruminated over Adam's words.
"Anyway, it seems like you guys aren't far from advancing to the Neural Stage," he added with a smile. "You still have the Crimson Ambrosia fruits, yes?"
Edward and Lisa nodded. The latter replied, "We still haven't consumed it."
"Good. Bring it to me when you think you're close to advancing. I'll make a potion with it. It will greatly aid you in your advancement," Adam replied.
The Crimson Ambrosia fruits grew on the Mystic Mangrove Tree and were very precious to Rank 1 Magi. These magical fruits aided the Magi in solidifying their foundations and advancing through the minor ranks of Mana Foundation.
Adam had gotten his hands on these fruits inside the Soaring River Secret Plane. While he consumed the core of the Mystic Mangrove tree, he gave one Crimson Ambrosia to Valerian to munch on and gave one each to Edward and Lisa.
"Alright!" Edward was ecstatic and so was Lisa.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"I'll catch you guys later then," Adam stated as he walked past them and headed out of the training room.
"Where are you headed?" Lisa asked curiously.
Adam replied without turning back, "I'm going to meet the old man." With that said, he exited the room.
Lisa then glanced at Edward and asked with a warm smile, "What are your plans now? Do you want to go to Mystic Lane with me?"
Edward's heart fluttered when he saw the beautiful smile on his partner's face. Seeing that, he couldn't help but smile brightly.
But the next moment, he recalled Adam's words.
You've lost that fire. Find it back!
Edward's expression gradually fell and he couldn't help but sigh as he shook his head. "Forgive me, Lisa. I'm going to practice mindfulness. I've realized I've been slacking too much lately."
Lisa was first taken aback, but she soon realized. "Is it because of Adam?"
"Yes," the blue-eyed youth replied with a bitter smile. "He came from nothing, yet he's accomplished so much. Meanwhile, we… we were far more fortunate than he ever was, but look at us."
Lisa slowly raised her hands and clenched them tightly, her eyes spewing fire. "You're right!"
Edward flinched seeing the young lady get so fired up. But he soon smiled. "So let's work hard. Or do you wish to be forever left behind by Adam?"
"Of course not!" Lisa got to her feet. She then grabbed Edward's hand and dragged him out of the practice room. "Let's go to another practice room and practice mindfulness. This place is too messy."
"W-Wait." Edward's lips twitched. "It's fine to take a short break, right?"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"No breaks!" Lisa huffed and walked out with newfound determination.
Edward could only helplessly sigh and follow after her.
…
Outside the entrance of Herbs & More, Valerian stood on all fours with a menacing expression.
"Myuu…" The young dragon crouched low, his muscles coiling like springs. The next moment, with incredible speed he pounced at the black puppy sitting in front of him.
The black puppy rolled his eyes when he saw the little one come at him yet again. He raised his tiny paw and then swatted Valerian on the head, causing the latter to fall miserably to the side.
Valerian grabbed his forehead in the most dramatic fashion and started crying. "Myu-uu-uu!"
Blackie felt bad for hurting the little guy. So he got to his feet and walked toward Valerian. He raised his paw and gently caressed the little guy's head.
"Woof-woof."
Suddenly, Valerian's topaz eyes gleamed with a cunning glint. With lightning-fast speed, he got up to his feet and then pounced at the black puppy once again, hoping to take him by surprise.
However, Blackie only scoffed and effortlessly smacked away the little guy once again.
POW!
"Myuuu…" Valerian once again found himself lying face down on the ground. No matter how many times he played with Blackie, the latter would never let him win.
Blackie looked at the young dragon and his lips curled up into a smirk. Seeing this, Valerian felt even more aggrieved and his eyes became teary.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})He looked up at the sky with a wronged expression and flailed his limbs around. "Myuuu!"
Suddenly, the two of them heard footsteps coming in their direction. They turned around and their gaze fell on a tall youth with plain facial features, wearing a black robe and pointy hat of the same color walking toward them with a smile.
Seeing this newcomer, their eyes lit up and they rushed toward him.
"Myu!"
"Woof!"
"Haha, did you guys miss me?" Adam crouched down on one knee and welcomed the two furry bundles of joy with open arms.
Blackie and Valerian buried themselves in the youth's arms and then started licking his cheeks. Adam couldn't help but have his heart melted by their actions.
"Alright, alright, I missed you too." The youth got to his feet in a joyful mood. He then placed the magical beasts on each of his shoulders and entered Herbs & More.
Inside, Berger was sitting at his usual place—behind the counter
—and reading an arcane textbook while smoking from his pipe.
The old gnome raised his head and glanced at the youth. "You're here, boy."
"Yes, sir."
"Alright, go upstairs." Berger returned to reading. "The golem should have prepared it by now."
Been a while since we've seen Blackie. Did you miss him?
