*Growl*
Rio's stomach made a sound and he smiled in embarrassment at the girl beside him.
"Let's go back." Lia said to him and started leaving the room.
"It looks like she is finally gonna give me food." Rio spoke in his mind and hurriedly followed behind.
Sun was glistening in the sky as it fell on the couple's body. Their shadow hugged each other as they reached the Empress Villa.
"It would be night at my place on earth, they said the day cycle of our city and This land is opposite to each other." Rio thought inwardly.
Lia entered the Villa and sat on the couch. She gazed at Rio and patted the seat beside her.
Rio walked to the couch and sat beside her.
She extended her hands and a black hole appeared on top of her palm from which a white bottle came out.
"How did you do that?" Rio asked with his mouth agape.
"It's a rare beast soul that lets you store things." Lia answered Rio while inspecting the bottle in her hand that was the size of her index finger.
Rio saw a blue liquid was glowing inside the bottle. He curiously looked at It as he didn't know what it was.
Lia handed it to him and said "Drink it."
Rio took it and removed the stopper. He tried smelling it, placing it near his nose but he failed to find any scent.
He looked at Lia with a bittersweet smile. She glared at him which made him gulp all the content down.
His throat burned as if a flame was burning. The sensation went towards his stomach and his face became red. Sweats started pouring down.
"Close your eyes and use the breathing technique. It will help you form your mana core." Lia said to him with a nonchalant voice.
Rio did as he was asked but his eyes were scrunched and he was gritting his teeth. The cloth he was wearing had already become wet from all the sweat.
He activated the technique and his breathing pattern became stable. The flame in his stomach was becoming lower.
"Try feeling all the mana around you and send them your thoughts to enter your body." A melodious voice was heard beside him.
He could see darkness around him but as he stayed calm he could see tiny dots around him that were almost negligible to the eyes. They were glittering like stars.
He focused on these tiny mana particles but they didn't listen to him.
"If you love something, set them free. They will come to you if they want you." Lia saw his struggle and understood that he was doing it wrong.
Hearing her words, he stopped trying and only thought about those mana full of love.
He was calm like a 'Buddha' practitioner. He felt like he was disconnected from his surroundings.
Mana particles seeing his serenity felt an attraction towards him. They started observing him.
He saw, one of the mana particles had started flying towards him at a slow pace. It hovered around him as if thinking something.
After some hesitation it entered his body through his forehead. As the first one entered, the other mana particles all attention picked on Rio. They all started rushing towards him like blue butterflies dancing gracefully in pairs.
Like a broken dam, they entered his body. They started merging with the blue liquid he consumed earlier.
The blue liquid which formed the flame churned continuously and absorbed the mana that was coming towards Rio.
His stomach felt as if it would burst open.
"Argh…" He cried out in pain as blood spurted from his lips.
Lia, who was beside him, caressed his head with worries filling her eyes and whispered, "Just a little more, don't give up."
As if he got motivation, he ignored all the pain and became relaxed. Blood kept dripping from his lips. He stilled his heart and mind.
Lia wiped the dripping blood away with a towel like a caring mother while keeping her hand on his back to support him.
*Bang!*
A resounding sound came from Rio which alerted everyone nearby.
Guards came to check if their empress was safe. They saw the white haired beauty wiping blood from Rio's mouth.
They were Astonished but Yami, who also came out to see, waved them away as if they were flies.
Rio saw the blue flame which absorbed the mana splitting into two parts like Amoeba cell splitting into two daughter cells.
One part took the form of a root-like structure and moved towards his Dantian and the Second part moved towards his heart which was round in shape.
After they split up, more mana started flowing towards him which entered his body. Half was absorbed by the root-like structure and half was sucked by the round-shaped newly formed thing, which was known as a core.
The storm in his body came to a serenity and he could feel his body regaining tranquility.
He slowly opened his eyes and saw that Lia retrieved her hand back from his head which was covered in some reddish-black colored thing.
Not only her hands, even the towel in her other hand was covered in similar material which was giving off a rancid smell.
He saw information floating in front of him.
<<<<
[You have formed a Root.]
[You have formed a Core.]
[Your root has advanced to White stage.]
[Your Core has advanced to White stage.]
>>>>
He scrunched his nose and said "What's that, it's smelling bad."
Yami who was watching him said "Look at yourself you will understand."
Rio looked at his hands and body by turning his head down, sure enough he was covered in reddish black material. Even the couch was ruined because he was sitting on it.
"What's this?" He asked with a darkened face.
"To be daring enough to make our empress wipe your forehead with a towel and clean you while you're covered in that thing. You don't know how blessed you're. I wonder why she favors you a lot." Yami said to him with an annoyed voice.
She didn't like that her empress lowered herself for another person. She loved Lia a lot and understood that the empress wouldn't do something like this for anyone.
"You know I'm handsome and she loves me." Rio gave her a bright smile and turned to Lia to show her his AI watch, "See this."
Lia placed the towel on the couch and looked at the AI watch. Her face was filled with astonishment.
"That's pretty rare." Lia mumbled in his mind.
"What's rare?" He asked with a curious look and talked in her thoughts.
"I have never heard anyone forming a root and core together." Lia said while looking at him as if he was an alien.
As they were talking to each other in thought, Yami misunderstood them and continued saying, "Your highness, you didn't give that body refining liquid to me either. You even refused to give it to the young lady of the Mistblade clan who is your childhood friend even when the emperor asked you. Why did you give it to him then?"
She asked her as she was displeased seeing him getting better treatment.
Lia said with a cold voice, "Do I have to tell you everything and ask you for permission before doing it?"
"I'm sorry, your highness. I have forgotten my boundaries. Please forgive me." Yami bowed to her as she was confused why Lia talked to her this way for an outsider.
"Prepare a meal for us and ask someone to clean this up." Lia commanded her.
"You, follow me." She stood up and turned to walk upstairs towards her room.
Rio flashed a mischievous smile to Yami to show her that Lia loves him more and followed behind like a little child chasing his mother.
