Max had an unwilling expression when he heard the system's words. It was because the system had told him that he needed at least 150,000 LPs or 300,000 mid-grade Mana stones to open the teleportation portal to the demon continent.
Needless to say, when Max heard this, he flew into a rage, but there was nothing he could do about it since the system had threatened him with interest on his debt.
"I know." He sighed and murmured, "It seems I would need to have another session with one of the ladies before I've enough LPs to open the teleportation portal."
"However, now that Elena had started the Mana gathering formations in our rooms, it's unlikely they would come to me anytime soon." He smiled bitterly, then sighed, "It's fine. I'll find some time with them when they are free since I still have a week until the deadline."
Although he could also use Mana stones, where would he find 300,000 of them? Not to mention they weren't low-grade stones but mid-grade stones. Moreover, even if they were low-grade ones, he wouldn't be able to collect so many of them.
'It would be great if these were mid-grade stones.' He looked at the spatial bag in his hand and sighed.
"Oh, right." Suddenly he remembered something and took out a small black ring from his pocket. This was the spatial ring he obtained after killing the three-star dark mage in the underground cave. But because he was unconscious for a few days after the fight, he forgot to check it."
He then tried to 'see' what was inside the ring, but much to his surprise, he was unable to.
"Huh? Why can't I check it?" A puzzled expression appeared on his face. He then tried it with the spatial bag and found out that he could clearly 'see' the things stored inside, and if he willed it, he could easily take them out.
"System, why can't I explore this spatial ring? Is there something wrong with it?" He decided to ask the system.
[Host, there is nothing wrong with the spatial ring.] The system took a moment before it replied.
"Then why can't I use it while I can use the spatial bag easily?"
[If the host wants to use a spatial ring, first, you would need to establish ownership over it. Only after you do that will you be able to use it.] The system replied.
"And how can I do that?" Max nodded in understanding before asking.
[It isn't difficult. The host only needs to use a drop of blood, infuse it with your Mana and drip it on the ring.] The system replied in an impatient voice before falling silent.
"Okay." Max nodded and proceeded with establishing ownership.
...
Somewhere far away, In a dark underground palace, a handsome man was lying on an altar located at the centre of a small lake filled with blood-red liquid.
If someone were to see him and disregard the fact that his eyes were half-opened, they would think that he was dead.
"I shouldn't have taken over the control of the system. This kid is going to annoy me to death with his questions." The man murmured in an almost inaudible voice before closing his eyes.
...
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two figures flashed through the forest in the direction of the small town where Max and the company stayed before departing for Ninam city with the Elvin family. One was a skinny middle-aged man in scarlet robes, while the other one was an average-looking young woman garbed in yellow clothes.
"That's the town, my lord." Although from her words, it would seem that she was respectful to him, her tone was indifferent, and she didn't think too highly of him.
"Are you sure that kid is there?" The middle-aged man asked sceptically.
This middle-aged man was a three-star Mage who was sent by the dalton family on Dalton's orders to kill Max.
"Are you doubting our intelligence network?" The woman's tone became even more chilling when she heard this.
"You!" The middle-aged man was enraged by her reaction. However, he forcibly calmed down and said, "I'm not doubting you but merely want the confirmation."
The woman's expression eased up slightly when she heard this and replied in a plain voice, "Well, I'm not sure whether he is currently in that town or not. But from the report I received from our informant, he was there with his companions until three days ago."
"Why don't you ask your informant?" He asked.
"I would have if I could. However, for some reason, he stopped responding to us three days ago." As she replied, her eyes gleamed when she glanced toward the town in the distance. She sighed inwardly as she thought, 'He must have died. If not, there is no way he wouldn't inform me about the target's current whereabouts. Did the target find him and kill him?'
After they entered the city and asked around, they quickly found the inn where Max and the company were staying.
"They left with the Elves two days ago." After asking the innkeeper, they found out that Max and others had already left.
"If they left with elves, they must be heading to their city and from what I know, only the Ninam city is the closest Elvin city." The yellow-clothed woman informed the middle-aged man in a timely manner.
"Ninam city?" The middle-aged man's expression became a bit grim when he heard this before he smiled bitterly, "It has become a bit tricky now."
He then took out a communication crystal, and after infusing his Mana into it, he spoke, "Young master, from what I found out, that kid has gone to an Elvin city. So, It is going to take some time before I would be able to kill him."
A few moments later, a frustrated voice sounded in his ears, "If that's the case, you go to that Elvin city and wait for him to come out. Don't return without killing him."
"Yes, young master." The middle-aged man nodded and put away the communication crystal. He then turned to the yellow-clothed woman and said, "You can go now."
Whoosh!
Without waiting for her reply, he flashed out in the direction of Ninam city.
The woman watched him leave with an emotionless expression before she also headed out deeper into the town.
...
Sizzle~
After Max dropped his blood drop on the spatial ring, the blood drop sizzled before it vanished into the ring.
"Huh? I can feel a connection with the ring." Max was surprised by the strange sensation he felt after the blood drop vanished into the ring.
'I should be able to check what is inside now, right?' He thought.
"The space is almost three times bigger than the space inside the spatial bags." He exclaimed when he 'saw' how big the space was inside the ring.
He then shifted his attention to the stuff stored in it. Apart from daily use items, there were a few jars of dark red liquid, a few bottles of pills, three paper talismans and three hundred Mana stones which seemed to be of higher quality than the low-grade Mana stones.
'These seem to be mid-grade Mana stones?' He thought and took them out. When he tried to 'cultivate' with them, he found that the Mana in these stones was of higher quality. 'These should speed up the ladies' cultivation speed.'
"This is blood?" Max almost threw up when he opened one of the jars with dark red liquid.
Bang!
He hurriedly closed its lid and stored all the blood-filled jars in a separate spatial bag.
He then checked the talismans and pill bottles. Needless to say, he didn't recognise any of them.
"Forget it. I'll ask Belen, she will know what are these. For now, let's use this Mana-rich environment to train." He shrugged and stored all the stuff back in the spatial ring before he stood in the centre of the room.
Whoosh!
Mana surged out from his body and enveloped him before it formed a flaming barrier around him. He intended to train his [Flame barrier] until it was time to go out to explore the city.
...
Huff! Huff!
After approximately two hours of continuous training, Max was gasping for breath as sweat trickled down his forehead.
"I didn't expect to make such improvements in just two hours." Although he was exhausted, a bright smile was plastered on his face.
Knock! Knock!
"Big brother. It's time. Let's go." Just then, Little Arya's melodious voice sounded out from outside the room.
