After around three hours, Max finally woke up.
"Good morning." A sweet voice sounded in his ears. Max looked and saw Anna in his embrace. Her head rested on his chest as she looked up at him with a smile.
"Good morning." He smiled and took a deep breath, inhaling her intoxicating scent.
This action of his caused Anna's face to redden, and she looked down.
Max noticed this and smiled wryly. He had forgotten that she was looking at him.
"Cough. You didn't go to train today?" He asked, trying to dispel the awkward atmosphere.
"I couldn't." Anna looked at him and said in a slightly complaining voice.
"Oh?" Max suddenly understood. He was hugging her so tightly; how could she have gone out without waking him up?
After that, there was an awkward silence, and they stayed in the same position.
"How about we get out of the bed now?" Anna finally broke the silence and asked.
"Okay." Max nodded and let go of her, albeit reluctantly.
…
After an hour, both were sitting, eating their breakfast, and talking.
"So, tomorrow is your mission assignment day," Anna said in a downcast voice after hearing he would be out on the mission after tomorrow.
"Yes. But don't worry. Maybe I'll get some mission that doesn't require me to go out." Max said after seeing her mood becoming a bit sadder.
"No, you won't. Most of the missions are for the outside world. There are only a few missions that one can do in the academy, but they are usually for the outer sector disciples like us to do." Anna said.
"Right, now that you are a two-star mage, You can apply to become an inner sector disciple, right?" Max asked.
Anna knew he was trying to change the topic, but she still nodded. "Yes, I can."
After that, they talked about the test she had to pass to become an inner disciple. What surprised Max was that Anna was absolutely confident about passing the test.
Seeing him surprised, Anna proudly said, "To become an inner disciple, the academy requires disciples to have higher than average battle power. I believe that very few under my age can surpass me in terms of battle power. As for the Mana affinity, Mine is a little bit higher than six."
Max nodded. He knew her battle power was even higher than some two-star mages if they didn't use their high Mana advantage.
However, after hearing her last part, his brows furrowed, and he asked, "If you have such high Mana affinity, how come you didn't break through to the two-star realm in this more than one year?"
Anna's expression dimmed after hearing his question, and her eyes flickered with intense murderous intent, which surprised Max.
However, she soon regained her calm and said, "It's because when I joined the academy, most of the disciples looked down on me, saying I entered through the back door and not because of my strength and because I was weaker than the other outer sector disciples, some started to bully me and would snatch away my monthly resources and wouldn't let me cultivate in peace."
She then sighed. "Therefore, for more than half a year, I couldn't cultivate at all. After that, I made a few friends during a mission who helped me, and I could finally cultivate and improve my fighting skills and cultivation level."
After hearing this, Max became so angry that he could barely control himself and said, "Tell me, who are those guys that bullied you?"
Anna suddenly giggled devilishly. "Hehe, little Max, you don't need to worry about them. More than half of them are already dead. As for the rest of them, I've beaten the crap out of them many times. Or do you think I'm easy to bully?"
Max shivered upon hearing this as he understood what her words implied. In his memory, Anna was always a kind-hearted and happy-go-lucky type of girl who was only serious when it came to training.
Therefore, it was hard for him to believe that she could be cruel enough to kill those who offended her directly. At the same time, he also let out a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, she was cruel enough, or she would have suffered much more given that this strength-based world wasn't merciful to kind-hearted people.
Seeing his expression, Anna looked at him anxiously and asked, "Little Max, do you dislike me now that you found out that I'm not like you thought I was?"
"No. Why would I?" Max shook his head and smiled.
Anna visibly relaxed hearing this and stood up. "Okay, I'm going to train now."
"Wait. Let's go together." Max also stood up since he was done eating.
After that, both of them walked out together. Anna went toward the fighting arena while Max went toward the training ground.
…
Unlike yesterday, the rooms on the first floor were functional. Therefore, even though the number of disciples was higher than yesterday, it wasn't as crowded.
Max took the entrance token from the Elder, and after waiting for some time, he entered the training room.
After the door closed, he started training by first casting [Defensive Flame]. His target today was to become familiar with it and try to reduce the casting time of [Calidus Brachium] as much as possible.
Weng~
The mana around him became chaotic as he started to circulate his elemental Mana according to the chant of the [Defensive Flame].
A thin flame barrier started to flicker around him. After fifteen or so seconds, the crimson-colored flame barrier fully materialized.
Huu…
Max took a deep breath and was pleased to see that the cast time of [Defensive Flame] was much lower than [Calidus Brachium]'s.
'Unfortunately, I can't see how much defensive power it has since there isn't anything to test it with.' Max sighed and started to cast [Calidus Brachium].
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The room was soon filled with the collision sounds of Max's fist hitting the wall.
…
On a mysterious mountain in a far away place…
"Master, I've already broken through to the three-star realm. Can I go out to see young master?" A sweet feminine voice tinged with hints of begging sounded in a palace-like building.
