Looking at the condition of the house in front of them, Max and the group couldn't imagine a king ranked mage living here.
Little Arya giggled upon seeing their expressions, "Hehe, big brother, big sisters, you are thinking why my aunt is living here, right?"
Belen narrowed her eyes slightly at little Arya before asking in an amused tone, "If I'm not wrong, what we are seeing right is nothing but an illusion, right?"
"Illusion?" Max, Rima and Leticia were confused while old man Raku and little Arya revealed surprised expressions.
"Big sister, you knew?" Little Arya asked in surprised.
"No, I didn't." Belen smilingly shook her head.
"Then how could you tell...?"
Old man Raku patted her little head and chuckled, "From your expression. Anyone could see that something is out of the ordinary with this place from your expression and with her knowledge and understanding, it isn't surprising that she could guess what is going on."
"Huh? Is that true, big sister?" Little Arya asked.
Belen nodded.
Seeing her nod, little Arya put on a thoughtful expression and after a few seconds, she nodded and mumbled, "From now on, I'll imitate my mother's expression when asking something. That way, no one will be able to guess what I'm thinking."
Everyone couldn't help but laugh at this.
"Okay. Let's enter." Old man Raku took out the square token and entered the door. Max and the party followed him closely.
Suddenly, the scenery in front of them changed. A beautiful garden with many different coloured flowers and trees replaced the old, withered house.
There was also a small stream of clear water flowing through the garden leading to a lake. In front of the lake was a beautiful wooden house.
In front of the house was a big rocking chair and currently, a beautiful Elvin woman dressed in light green clothes was lying in it, her eyes closed.
As the group's eyes landed on the woman, the beautiful surrounding which they were just admiring seemed to pale in comparison.
"So, she is your master, Rima. She is so beautiful." Leticia unconsciously blurted out.
Rima nodded. Even though she herself was quite beautiful and secretly felt proud of it, she had to admit defeat in front of this woman that most likely was her future master. Be it beauty, temperament or charm, she surpassed her in every aspect.
She and Belen exchanged looks and smiled bitterly. Even without saying anything, they knew what the other was thinking.
After arriving in this city, their self-confidence was given blow after blow. Be it Elena, the elegant city lord, Siana, the charming auction host, or this aloof beauty, every one of them was leagues above them.
They glanced at Max, expecting to see him looking at her with an awestruck expression, but to their surprise, they found him frowning.
Before they could ask him anything, the beautiful elf opened her eyes and swept her gaze across them. As she did so, all of them felt as if they were standing in front of a cold-blooded predator. Chills ran down their spines and they took a step back.
'She seems to be stronger than that white-haired woman.' Max thought, struggling to keep his expression calm. The white-haired woman was the one who took Lilly with her. However, what he didn't know was that the white-haired woman was stronger than Aria. She just hadn't released all of her aura back then, since she didn't want Lilly to hate her.
Seeing this, old man Raku sighed ruefully and with an apologetic expression, he apologised, "Little friends, please forgive her for this. She must have done this out of habit."
Max glanced at him and then at little Arya, who were completely unaffected, and asked, "Are you sure about it?"
Old man Raku could only shake his head at his question and stay silent since he couldn't say that Aria hated humans because that would make them rethink if Rima becoming her disciple was a good idea.
"Big brother, why are we standing here? Let's go~" Little Arya excitedly pulled him toward Aria.
Aria watched impassively as they reached near her. When they reached near, little Arya released his hand and jumped onto Arya, who had stood up from her chair, while sweetly calling out, "Aunty. I missed you."
Aria's stony expression finally melted, and she lovingly hugged her. "Aunty missed you, too." She then put on a stern expression and flicked her forehead. "I heard you've been too disobedient lately."
"Oww... No, aunty. I didn..." Little Arya rubbed her forehead and with a pitiful expression, she shook her head, about to say that she behaved but seeing her expression, she was cowed and shut her mouth before saying in a low voice, "I'm sorry, aunty. I didn't know that it will put us in trouble."
"It's alright. But remember, this never happens again and be sure to listen to your parents. If I hear any complaint about you, I'll punish you myself." Aria sternly said. However, her tone wasn't so stern.
She then glanced at Max and others. "So, these humans saved you guys, huh? Why don't you introduce us?"
Little Arya excitedly nodded.
Pointing to Max, she excitedly said, "This is big brother Max. He is very strong. He killed the leader of those bad people in punch."
Aria nodded, giving Max a deep glance. In that instant, Max felt as if he was naked and completely vulnerable. He frowned, not liking the feeling at all. Fortunately, it was only for a split second before she moved her gaze away.
As for Aria, a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes when she scanned Max but she quickly concealed it and inwardly thought, 'What an extraordinary foundation!'
Mages above the mortal boundary (above four-star realm) could scan a person weaker than them thoroughly know everything about them such as the quality of their Mana core, their power level etc unlike mages below five-star realm who doesn't have this ability.
Seeing the quality of his Mana core, Aria expectantly turned her attention to the girls, hoping to see the same in them because she knew her soon to be student was among these three girls and if her foundation was of the same quality, she was destined to reach higher heights and as her master, she will benefit from it too.
