Jasmine glanced at the maid and said coldly, "I'm going to sleep now. If he comes, tell him to go back." She then walked back to her room.
"Yes, my lady." The maid bowed toward her.
...
Early morning, the next day...
Rumble~
Max's eyes opened when he heard his stomach rumble.
"Fuck. I'm starving. What time is it?" Max got up and rubbed his sleepy eyes. Because he was too exhausted and passed out, he didn't have dinner and was famished right now.
"Argh!"
Just as he got up, a surge of pain assaulted him. It was from his Mana core, but fortunately, it was bearable. "Now I have to spend the day strengthening the core." He helplessly shook his head.
He had to admit that he didn't have patience like other people. If he didn't have the system, with his lazy and lusty personality, he couldn't have reached the two-star realm, even if his aptitude for Mana was normal.
"Hm? Jasmine must be angry too." He remembered that he told her maid to pass on his message that he would come yesterday. This gave him another headache. He didn't want to enrage her since she was his primary source of LPs right now, which he needed a ton of.
"Well, let's freshen up first and have some breakfast before worrying about anything else." He shrugged and went into the bathroom.
After a while, he exited his room and went to a nearby restaurant to have breakfast since he didn't know how to cook food.
When alone in the wilderness, he usually ate the food prepared by Anna. Thanks to spatial items, food wouldn't go bad for a long time, and when all of his stored food was finished, he would grill some magic beast meat. Although it wouldn't be too tasty, it would be edible.
"Welcome, customer!" A young lady in a maid's dress welcomed him. He nodded and entered the restaurant. As he looked around to search for an empty table, he noticed a familiar figure ordering food. It was Haory. Since he had seen her, he walked toward her.
"Mm?" Haory noticed someone coming toward her and raised her head to look. and was surprised after seeing that it was Max. "Oh? It's you."
"Yeah, it's me. Hello, by the way." He said, somewhat speechless. This girl was still the same as before.
"Hello. You are here for breakfast, right? Please sit." Haory said, after seeing that she was somewhat rude.
Max nodded and sat down. He then called a maid and ordered some dishes.
Meanwhile, Hoary was looking at him strangely.
"What is it?" Asked Max.
"How come you are here alone? Haven't Belen and others returned from their missions yet?"
"No. They haven't returned yet. It might take them a few more days. When did you return?" Max shook his head and asked.
"A few hours ago." She replied.
Just then, some waiters came toward them with plates full of food in their hands. They placed them on the table and said politely, "Please enjoy!" Before going away.
"Let's eat," Haory said and started eating. After waking up early in the morning, she had started traveling back to the academy without eating anything and, thus, was starving. Max nodded and focused on eating his food since he was even hungrier than her.
It didn't take them long to finish all the dishes present, but they weren't full yet. Max looked at her and smiled, "Shall we order more?"
"Yes." Haory nodded, a bit embarrassed.
After that, they ordered some more food and quickly finished it. Finally, their hunger was satiated. Haory stood up, ready to pay, but Max stopped her and paid for her share too.
Haory looked at him appreciatively and said, "Thank you!"
"It's fine. That's just a few stones." Max shook his head and walked out of the restaurant with her.
Suddenly, Haory asked, "Are you going to participate in the selection competition?" She remembered that he didn't show much interest when Belen and others had told him about it. So, she was curious whether he was going to participate or not.
"Yeah. I'm planning to. Are you?" Max nodded and asked.
"That's right." She nodded with a determined look.
After chatting for a while, Max found out that she was about to reach the high-stage two-star realm in a few days, which surprised him.
But that didn't last long when he remembered how she was completely focused on cultivation and training, and coupled with her talent, which was certainly good, and the resources in the academy, it was to be expected that her cultivation speed was faster.
'I wonder if Belen and others can make it?' He thought. Belen had reached the high stage in the two-star realm a few weeks ago and was progressing at a steady pace. As for Rima and Leticia, they were progressing well too, but it would take them some time before they could brake past the middle stage, especially for Rima because she was focused on training her spells.
After parting ways with Haory, Max didn't go to Jasmine's or to check whether Belen and others had come because the pain in his Mana core, although bearable, was making it uncomfortable for him to move around.
Therefore, he returned to his dorm and started cultivating.
When he was done, it was already evening. Although he was spent after so many hours of continuous cultivation, his core had returned to normal.
However, he shook his head, 'I can't go on like this. I should first merge at least a few dozen or so enhanced Mana units in my core to prevent this suffering.' Max decided. He didn't want to bear this pain every time he enhanced his Mana.
He then lay in his bed and rested until night to recover his stamina. Following this, he stood up and walked out of his room. He was hungry and needed to visit Jasmine, too, to appease her anger and tell her that he would be busy for a few days.
...
"Oh? So you finally found some time to come here, huh?" Jasmine asked in a cold tone, clearly displeased.
Max knew she was being sarcastic because he didn't show up yesterday. Trying to keep his voice calm, he said, "Well, it's because I couldn't come yesterday because-"
"It's fine. I don't want to hear your excuse. You can go now. I'm busy today." Jasmine interrupted him before he could finish his statement.
Max stared at her in silence. He didn't expect a mature woman like her to behave like some teenage girl. He found it amusing. However, he didn't say anything about it and simply nodded, "Okay then. I'll come back in a few days. Make sure you are free by then."
After saying this, he turned around and left, leaving a stunned Jasmine.
She had thought that he would try to appease her anger and ask her to do it, but he acted the opposite. Suddenly, she thought of something, and her face fell, 'Could it be that he is starting to lose interest in me?'
As this thought crossed her mind, she became afraid and angry at the same time. She then bolted out of her room to stop him, but he was already gone.
"What happened, my lady?" Her maid saw her run out in a hurry and asked.
"Nothing." Jasmine shook her head and thought, 'It's okay. He said he would come back in a few days, right? I'll make sure to please him then so he doesn't think about it anymore.'
Although Max sometimes did things that enraged her, she had to admit that he would leave her satisfied every time. That's why she didn't want to lose him.
"Oh, right." She suddenly remembered something and waved her hand. Two crystal bottles appeared in front of her that flew toward her maid, "In a while, go and deliver these to him."
The maid grabbed the bottles and bowed, "Yes, my lady. Should I give him some message from you?" She asked carefully.
"No," Jasmine said and returned to her room.
...
Max returned to his dorm and sat on his bed, cross-legged. He had dinner before going to meet Jasmine. So, he was planning to cultivate for a few hours before sleeping.
Half an hour later, someone knocked on his door, forcing him to stop his cultivation.
Unhappy as he was, he still went to open the door. Who knows whether it was Anna or some of his women who he was waiting for?
Creak~
However, he was disappointed after seeing that it was Jasmine's maid. "What is it?" He asked with raised brows.
"Um, Sir, mistress has sent these." She took out two bottles and gave them to him.
"Oh?" Max recognized that they were bottles of high-tier grade two foundation strengthening liquid.
"She is quite generous. Gifting two simultaneously." Max chuckled lightly. He remembered that the day before, she promised to give him a bottle if he satisfied her, but she forgot to give him, and Max also forgot about asking her since she was acting all grumpy.
"Did she say something?" He asked curiously.
"No. She only ordered me to deliver these." The maid replied and then excused herself.
'Well, it's good. I will be able to merge a few more units thanks to these.' He thought, closed the door continued his cultivation.
For the next five days, he didn't do anything apart from eating, sleeping, and cultivating. When bored, he would go out to take a stroll around the academy and check if any of his women had returned and then resume his schedule.
On the sixth day, he had to stop his cultivation because Belen and Leticia had returned.
