After a while, Red striped black tiger was killed.
Following this, they didn't stop and continued exploring the forest. They encounter many beasts of different species.
After going into the deeper region, they wanted to rest as all of them were exhausted. Emily ordered the knights to grill some beast meat to fill their stomachs.
They chose to grill their first prey which was the Red striped black tiger, as its meat was highly nutritious and contained a very good amount of mana.
"Screech!"
Just as they were about to venture deeper into the forest to hunt some more beasts, a shrill screeching cry resounded in the area.
As they looked toward the origin of the sound. They were dumbfounded at the sight of a huge bird with a wingspan of eight to ten meters. It was a red hawk with a sharp beak and glistening red feathers.
"Shit! A two-star beast." A Knight cursed in horror.
"A two-star beast? Our luck is terrible to meet this beast today." Another Knight said in frustration.
"..."
After hearing the knights and seeing their faces filled with horror, Max instinctively looked toward Emily. After seeing that she wasn't panicked but had a grim expression on her face, Max didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
It was because her expression mostly remain indifferent. So he was relieved to see no sign of fear or panic which meant that he should not fear this bird as well, but at the same time, he was also afraid a little after seeing that grim look on her face.
'Can she defeat it or not?' Max thought.
"Young miss, it's a two-star beast. What should we do now? It has seen us therefore it won't let us go easily." A relatively aged Knight among their group spoke. Everyone turned to Emily to hear how she wanted to tackle this problem.
"First of all don't panic and just assist me while I fight it if I say so. Second, protect your young master at all costs while I handle this beast red hawk. If not, I shall be the one to kill you all if something were to happen to him. Understand?" Emily warned in a slightly harsh tone.
"Yes, Miss!" Everyone said in unison.
Max felt touched seeing her care for him but at the same time, he was also embarrassed by his weakness. If he was strong enough now he could just face this beast himself. As a man, his pride was hurt slightly but he couldn't do anything apart from watching Emily going at it to fight it.
"Screech~"
The beast came above them and with a screech, it dove down.
Emily Unsheathed her silver sword which was only three feet in length and was very slim.
"Wind slash!"
With a shout, she slashed at the beast. A sharp gust of wind in the of a slash was fired from her sword.
Feeling the threat from the slash, the Red hawk swiped its talons and shattered the attack easily.
Then it slashed with its talons in Emily's direction. It was the same move as Emily's but with double the power. Just like Emily, it also could control wind element.
At the same time, another red hawk appeared and went in Max and others' direction. Following this, a fight was started between knights and the second red hawk. Fortunately, This hawk wasn't as strong as the one Emily was fighting.
Although it was not a two-star beast, it was using its flight and insane speed optimally and gradually started to inflict injuries on them. Seeing this Emily lost her composure as it was only a matter of time until Max was also going to be injured or possibly killed.
"Phew~"
"Eight directional wind slashes!"
Emily inhaled a deep breath and lashed out Eight slashes in a row. Each slash was stronger than her previous attack.
Two of her slashes destroyed the red hawk's attack while the remaining six attacked it from different directions and targeted its talons and neck.
Bang!
Following a bang, its talons and neck had a deep cut, from which blood started raining down on the ground.
"Screech~"
The red hawk shrieked in pain and flapped its wings rapidly and flew away.
Emily didn't stop it from leaving, in fact, even she wanted she couldn't have as it was flying. She glanced at the other red hawk who also flew away right after.
Emily walked straight to Max and looked at him up and down. After not seeing any injuries she sighed in relief.
"Emily are you okay?" Max asked Emily who was panting heavily.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that I used most of my mana in a single attack." After speaking she took several deep breaths to calm her heavy breathing.
"We should return now. It seems not only the number but also the power of these beasts has increased. We are only halfway through the forest but we encountered a two-star beast. If we are to venture any deeper, it won't be us hunting beasts." Emily said in a grim tone.
She wasn't afraid to face any two-star beasts as she was capable of fighting them alone and possibly kill them too. But that will take a lot of time, if she was alone here she would definitely have killed that red hawk too but that wasn't the case because she had to worry about Max's safety.
Normally, A one-star beast and two-star beast and so on are stronger than the mages of the same level. But as Mages are versatile in the nature, beasts of low ranks can't easily win against them in a fight while some talented mages can even kill them.
"Yeah, let's return." Max nodded. Although he liked adventures, it didn't mean he wasn't able to tell that the situation was very dangerous for them right now.
"Let's go." Saying this Emily and others walked toward the outer area of the forest where their Horses were.
After walking for more than two hours without stopping and killing some beasts on their way out, they reached the area where two knights were guarding their horses.
Max was exhausted and panting heavily after walking this much. Lilly was supporting him. His left arm was draped over her shoulders.
Every knight looked at him with eyes filled with disdain. But they didn't say anything as he was one of their young master and Emily cared for him a little too much as she killed one of the knights who angrily rebuked Max for walking slowly. After that none dared to say anything.
"Let's rest for a bit before going," Emily ordered.
Everyone sat down to catch their breath. Emily walked up to him and gave him a round yellow pill.
"Take this. It will help you recover your stamina."
"Emily, can you give one to Lilly too? She is also exhausted after supporting me all the way here." Max asked her as Lilly was also a little out of breath.
Emily looked at Lilly who was sitting by his side for a second as if thinking something then gave her one pill.
After resting for half an hour, Everyone sat on their horses and rode to Garfield manor.
Max, the same as the previous time was sitting behind Lilly. As he was exhausted, he simply rested his head on her shoulder while his hands went around her slim waist.
As the horse was running, Max and Lilly were rubbing against each other thanks to the horse.
Soon his 'little brother' was aroused and started poking in her back. Max grabbed her waist and made her sit on his lap. He could feel his little brother between those two perky 'mounds'.
Lilly shuddered at this and unconsciously wanted to put some distance between them but Max didn't let her.
He then whispered in her ear "Stay like this until we reach home."
"Mhm..." Lilly nodded and stopped her resistance.
All the way to home, he could feel her warmth which aroused him further. Lilly, on the other hand, also had her breathing intensified.
When they reached their manor, Max let go of her and whispered "Go and take a bath and come to my room."
"Y-yes Young master." Lilly nodded while her cheeks were a little red.
"Good! And bring me something to eat too." Saying this Max went to his room.
