"What is it, mother?" Leticia asked. Max and others also paid attention.
Gulp!
Leticia's mother, Lexi, gulped when she saw Max, who was still all bloody, and Amara, look at her.
Max and Amara exchanged glances, smiling wryly. She was afraid of Amara because she was a demon and, as for Max, after seeing him torture that demon, she developed some fear toward him too.
When Leticia saw this, she hurriedly said, "Mother, please don't be afraid of him. He is a very good person. Just now—"
"I know, little girl." Lexi nodded, took a deep breath, apologised to Amara and Max, and then said,
"Before escaping, that demoness had taken out her communication and said something in it. After that, she looked at all of you with a malicious gaze. I'm worried that she may have… called for reinforcements."
Everyone's expression changed when they heard this. Emily glanced at Max and said, "That's entirely possible. We should leave as soon as possible, since we can't afford to fight another battle."
"Alright." Max nodded. He also understood the gravity of the situation. Then, he quickly went over to the demon corpses, dug out their demon cores before returning.
He then glanced at Belen and said, "Belen, let little Scarlet out. We'll fly out."
"Un." Belen nodded blankly and waved her hand.
Whoosh!
A giant scarlet sparrow appeared in front of them. It seemed to have become larger than it was last time.
Little Scarlet glanced at the people present, flinched when it saw Max because she remembered he was the one who caused her pain when they first met her. It then rubbed her furry head against Leticia and then Belen, who didn't respond to it, making the bird screech anxiously.
"Let's go." Max sighed, walked over to Belen, lifted her in princess carry and with a jump, he landed on little Scarlet's back.
Emily helped Lexi climb, while Amara helped Leticia.
"Belen… tell little Scarlet to fly toward the Elvin city." Max said after everyone had climbed up.
Belen nodded blankly look and patted little Scarlet.
Scree~!
Swoosh!
Little Scarlet screeched and then flapped her wings, taking off to the sky. Within a few moments, they disappeared on the horizon.
Outside the valley, the demoness who had escaped watched them go with a malevolent look in her eyes.
"You'll regret it."
As little Scarlet flew through the sky, Max wiped the blood off his body and changed his robes.
He then took out a wooden box from his inventory. Amara and Emily looked at him with puzzled looks. Only Leticia seemed to have recognised the box and knew what he wanted to do. Belen would've recognised it too if she wasn't staring off into the distance.
Max opened it to reveal to fist sized fruits lying in it. As soon as he opened it, a refreshing aroma wafted out but was quickly blown away by the wind.
They were the sprit fruits he got from little Arya's father as a gift.
"They are… spirit fruits?" Emily asked, surprised. She knew it wasn't easy to buy them even if you have money but remembering how he knew someone from the Elvin city, her surprised waned a little.
"Yes." Max nodded, took out and handed it to her, "Eat this. It will help you increase your cultivation by a minor stage."
Emily stared at him for a moment, and then a small smile appeared on her face. She remembered she gave him the golden vitality fruits a few months ago and now he was giving her a spirit fruits, countless times more valuable. Of course, she knew he wasn't trying to repay or something like that. After all, they were family and there was no need for repayment.
"Thank you." She took the fruit and stored it away.
"Mm? Aren't you going to eat it?" Max asked.
"Not yet. I need to strengthen my core a little before I can increase my cultivation." She explained.
"Okay." Max nodded in understanding and then took out the last fruit and glanced at Amara. "I'll give you something else."
"It's alright, master. I've all the resources I need." Amara smiled charmingly. His concern was already enough for her.
"Hm." Max nodded. "I'll still find something else for you." Saying this, he started eating the fruit.
Emily raised her brows when she saw this and asked, "I heard you've only recently broke through to the three-star realm?"
"That's correct. Just four days to be precise." Max said, taking another bite. With each bite, a refreshing burst of energy would explode within his mouth before travelling to every part of his body before converging toward his mana core.
"Then, shouldn't you also strengthen your core first? It will be a huge problem in the future if you hastily increase your cultivation." She said,
Hearing this, Max quickly took a few more bites, finishing the fruit and then smiled. "I know about that, but don't worry. My core is quite sturdy. Even if I raise my cultivation directly to the peak three-star, there won't be much problem."
"Is that so?" Emily thought and then nodded. Since this was the case, then it was alright.
"Alright. I'm going to digest the fruit's energy now." He said and closed his eyes.
Phew!
After over four hours, he opened his eyes and exhaled a deep breath, a satisfied expression appearing on his face. Not only did his exhausted mana recover fully, he also smoothly managed to break through to the mid-stage three-star realm after he digested all the fruit's energy.
[Mana: 26000/26000]
'With this much mana, I can use [Calidus Brachium] four times, but just 6000 mana unit cast isn't enough to kill peak three-star mages or demons. I should also train it and [Flame Barrier] too.' He thought.
"Congratulations, master!" Amara congratulated him with a bright smile on her face. Leticia, Lexi, and Emily also did the same.
"Thank you!" He nodded and then turned to Belen, who still hadn't recovered.
Frowning, he asked Leticia why she was being this way and when he heard that she had lost her mother and younger brother, her only living blood family, he understood and felt bad for her.
However, he didn't say anything because he knew she needed some alone time right now rather than his comforting words.
