Bang!
A sharp wheel made of mana collided with the giant claw above her head which changed its trajectory by half a foot. Therefore, the claw only scraped past her shoulder but still left a deep gash.
The moment claw was diverted, Leticia moved back at her fastest speed. Only after moving 100 meters away did she catch her breath and felt the pain in her shoulder which was bleeding profusely and her shoulder bone had also been broken.
She hurriedly took out a healing pill and consumed it but the pain was making her want to scream loudly but she tried her best and gritted her teeth to prevent herself from screaming.
She had to learn how to endure the pain and not lose focus while fighting or death would be near. Other reason was that she didn't want to show her miserable side in front of Max.
"Arghh…"
She tried her best but the moment healing pill started to work, she started stinging pain in her wound making her unable to hold it in and let out a pained groan. Right after, she gained clarity and started casting her [Wind bullets].
Howl!
Just then she heard the pained cry of bear and when she looked towards it, she was surprised to find that the hand with which it struck at her was severed and blood was pouring out like a fountain.
ROAR!
It turned towards Rima and roared murderously before charging at her. Just when the bear was about to kill Leticia, she had used her [Destruction wheel] and cut its hands off.
"So, this is the true power of her spell." Leticia mumbled before hastening the speed of casting her [Wind bullets].
Rima didn't wait after using her spell and retreated behind the trees.
She could cast the [Destruction wheel] only two times with her current mana reserves and would even feel the strain on her mana core while casting it second time.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
However, her speed was a lot slower than the bear's and it was catching up to her very fast. But she didn't panic and ran in zigzag trying to throw it off.
"Should we assist?" Belen asked looking at her struggling to escape.
"No need." Haory said, her voice was a bit colder than usual.
She was the one who improved the least in terms of mana. Even Rima had surpassed her who was behind her initially. She could've but unlike other women in the group, she was unwilling to accept Max's proposition as she believed that she could rely on herself to improve.
However, even without Max's 'help', she successfully broke into the middle stage showing her outstanding talent and reinforcing her belief.
Max could only sigh at this. He really wanted her but he wasn't someone who would force someone just to satisfy his lust.
"Hmm?" Belen frowned hearing her. Max smiled at her and pointed at Rima "Look carefully and you would know what she want to do."
Belen nodded and looked towards her and found that Rima was trying to stall for time and was leading it towards Leticia in a roundabout manner.
"Oh, I understand now." She didn't pay attention in her worry since she was most compassionate one and her relationship with everyone in the group was very good.
…
Phew!
Leticia exhaled. Three wind orbs were floating around her. She looked towards Bear that was only two meters behind Rima but she was using trees as her shield and was able to last until now.
"Go." Leticia pointed at the bear and all of the three wind orbs pierced the air at lightening speeds and ignoring Rima who was in front, attacked the bear from three different directions.
The black bear saw this but it didn't have time to dodge. Therefore, it slapped at the one wind bullet which was targeting its head and the mana form of its claw materialised which also slapped at it.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Although its claw strike was very powerful, it could barely destroy the wind bullet. However, the remaining two still struck on its chest and neck and pierced easily.
HOWL!!
It howled in pain but its pain cry soon died down as the wind bullet destroyed its neck and the other one destroyed its heart, effectively killing it.
"Hah… Hah…"
Leticia flopped on the ground and took deep breaths. Her face had a radiant smile which expressed her joy and she glanced at Max.
Max and others walked towards her with smiles on their faces.
Seeing the expectant look in her eyes. Max crouched in front of her and patted her head "You did a great job. Your wind bullets have become very deadly almost every middle stage beast should be seriously injured when struck."
"Hehe. Of course. I practiced a lot." Leticia puffed out her chest proudly and giggled happily.
Max looked at her lovingly and nodded. Even though her injury was hurting, she was acting as if it was nothing.
"Let's rest here for a while." He said and then turned towards Rima who was standing behind him looking at him slight expectation in her beautiful eyes.
"You were great just then. Good job." Hearing this, she nodded as a smile also appeared on her face.
After which, they took out the bear's beast core and rested while Rima and Leticia meditated to recover their mana and Leticia also refined the healing pill to hasten the healing process. In 20 minutes, her injury had healed around 20%.
After that they continued moving forwards. In just one day, they encountered three two-star beast which were slain by Belen, Haory and Rima without much difficulty.
…
While Max and others were travelling towards the gathering point, eleven figures were moving through the forest and soon entered the valley.
"No one is here. It seems they have left." The one leading them said who's face was disfigured. He was obviously Bartan. After escaping from Max, he wandered around and found two groups of disciples who agreed to help him kill Max in exchange for some resources.
"They must be heading towards the gathering point." A woman whose face was covered with black mask, said in hoarse voice.
"Right. Let's go. We've to kill them before they reach there." Bartan said and ran in northwest direction followed by others.
