Phew!
Max exhaled a deep breath and then released wisps of his fire elemental mana, getting rid of the chill that had seeped into his skin.
"Oh?!" Garima exclaimed, her brows raised slightly in surprise.
"What is it?" Max asked, a little unhappy.
Garima didn't answer, but released her soul sense and enveloped him.
(A/N: I'll use soul sense instead of divine sense from now on. Only mages above the mortal boundary can use soul sense, as for those below, they can only use Mana sense.)
Max frowned. From her expression, he knew he was being scanned, but he couldn't even feel it.
A moment later, a surprised expression appeared on her face.
"No wonder you can so easily get rid of my remnant mana. Your foundation is several times better than an ordinary three-star mage, and your mana is also so pure and strong." She muttered in realization.
Hearing this, Max understood why she scanned him, and he felt a little proud. Although the system's LPs played a big role, he had also endured quite a lot of pain to strengthen his foundation, so he naturally felt happy to hear her praise.
Garima, noticing his fleeting proud expression, snorted softly and said, "Tell me your conditions."
Max nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated.
"What?" Garima asked coldly when she saw this.
Max appeared to be in a dilemma but gritted his teeth and said, "The thing is… you might not like the condition I have and seeing how you tried to kill me just now, I'm afraid…"
Garima interrupted him and said in her usual emotionless voice, "I apologize for that, but… I wasn't going to kill you."
"My master had ordered me to keep you guys safe and I won't disobey her orders even if my life is on the line, so don't worry. I won't kill you even if I don't like your conditions. At most, I would just beat you."
Max sighed in relief and felt chills run down his spine at the same time when he heard her.
'Well, at least I won't get killed if she is telling the truth.' He thought, took a deep breath and said,
"I can give you the technique, but you need to become my woman first. That's my condition."
After saying this, he put his guard up, ready to take the beating that might follow, but surprisingly, Garima remained calm and just stared at him silently.
After a long, uncomfortable silence, Garima said, "Do you know I want to kill you right now?"
Max flinched at her words and asked gingerly, "Why?"
"Because you are the same as all other filthy men. You have a fairy-like wife, Lilly, and that demon girl also seemed to be in a relationship with you, but you are still eyeing me. You men's lust is insatiable," she said coldly said, a chilly light flashing through her icy eyes.
Max's eyes widened in shock when he heard her call Amara 'demon girl' and asked, "Y-You knew? How can that be possible? And if you knew, why didn't you kill her?"
When Garima saw the surprise on his face and heard his questions, and said indifferently,
"If she wasn't, you wouldn't have threatened me with the solution to my physique and would've just let them or me check her body. But you didn't want to let us. However, even then, I wasn't completely sure, but now I am."
Hearing this, Max nodded and then asked in a grim voice, "Are you going to kill her now since you are sure of her identity?"
"I should, but I won't." Garima said.
"Why?"
Garima gave him a sideways glance and said, "Because she is your woman and you may not give me the technique if I kill her. Besides, there would be tens of thousands of demons here in a few days. Killing just one wouldn't do any good."
"Thanks." Max nodded and then returned to the previous topic. "So, do you agree to be my woman or not?"
Garima narrowed her eyes and asked, "How do I know if you can really get the technique and it can save my life?"
Max shrugged in response and said, "You can't know. You just have to take the chance and believe me. But if it makes you feel any better, you can kill me or do whatever you want if I can't keep my promise."
Garima went silent when she heard this. After a long while, she looked at him and said, "I need some time to think about it."
The corner of Max's lips curled up slightly when he heard this and nodded. "Of course, but I'll appreciate if you don't take too much time."
"Mhm." She nodded as the ice barrier melted and disappeared.
Seeing this, Max headed out of the room.
Soon, three days passed. In these days, Max accompanied his sad step-mothers, Anna and Emily, sometimes met Gene and had some intimate time with Amara, earning 5000 LPs.
Another thing to note was that Eva seemed eager to meet him but couldn't because William was practically with her all the time.
Today they had prepared to leave the claymore town and head to the south-western border of the Green Leaf kingdom, where Max had accompanied Eliana on her mission to hunt the black beetles a few months ago.
They chose that place to hide because it was barren with no civilization, so the chances of demons heading there were quite low.
Max had informed Belen and Leticia about their destination and told them to meet on the way there. He wanted to inform Rima, but before he could, she had contacted him and told him about the invasion. Apparently, the Elves had also gotten the news.
When Max told her he already knew about it and that they were evacuating to the south-western border, she asked him to come to the Elvin city instead, where they would be safer under her master's protection.
Max thought about it. Although the demons were sure to attack the city, with Garima and the old granny in addition to the Elvin city's forces, they would be safer there. Moreover, his family wouldn't have to suffer in the unhabitable barren border.
So, he told this to Garima and the old granny. They were surprised but agreed to the proposal.
Right as they were leaving Claymore town, Max's communication crystal rang and after he heard the message, his expressions changed drastically.
