When the sun was about to set, Max's group caught up to Anna and others who were travelling in the carriages.
Leticia, Lexi, Belen, Amara and Max sat in one carriage while Emily went over to Anna's.
While they were travelling toward the Elvin city, in the Claymore town, a mass exodus had started because the Viscount's mansion had issued the noticed that there would be a monster attack on the town within two days and everyone should evacuate and go to some big city where they can be safe, preferably the royal city.
When nearby towns got the news of what was happening, they also became alert and started moving, too. Of course, many didn't leave because they didn't believe the rumour.
Meanwhile, all academies had informed their disciples about the demons and their invasion. Disciples were shaken when they heard this and there was a chaos. Most of the disciples wanted to leave and bring their family to the academy.
However, apart from the Cloud academy, Green pagoda, and Adhara academy, none of the academies allowed their disciples to go out from the academy. When the disciples showed dissatisfaction, the higher ups killed many to make an example.
With countless people moving toward the royal capital, everyone throughout the kingdom realised that something was going to happen and soon, they got the news that blood thirsty demons were going to attack. This caused a chaos on a level that the green leaf kingdom had never seen before.
However, it was still insignificant compared to when people started encountering the demons. Whole kingdom and other nearby kingdoms immediately plunge into chaos.
In the Cloud academy, a young boy stood gazing at the sky with a blank look, muttering, "I wonder if the young master would be alright? He shouldn't have left the academy when he did."
Because carriages moved slowly and the Elvin city was very far, it took Max and the group almost a week to reach their destination.
During this week, Max trained his mana control with Emily. He even got Garima and the old granny to give him, Emily and others pointers once in a while. This helped everyone broaden their horizons and improve significantly in different aspects.
Apart from that, Max also focused on strengthening his mana core so there wouldn't be any problem when he rapidly improved his cultivation.
He also trained in his spells. Both [Calidus Brachium] and [Flame Barrier] had improved, especially the [Flame Barrier]. He could cast it with 4000 mana units and stop any attack at mid-stage three-star level.
Another thing to note was that they had started encountering groups of demons more frequently as the days passed. Most groups had mid-stage and high-stage three-star mages with one peak three-star mage like Mehak.
Max and others faced difficulty dealing with them because Garima and the old granny didn't help them, saying that they needed to train if they wanted to survive. They only helped when there was any four-star demon.
However, as the group's overall power increased with their guidance and training, their fights became increasingly easier.
Although Max still couldn't one-shot peak three-star mages, he wasn't having as much as difficulty killing them as he had when he fought Mehak.
After him, Emily was the one who improved the most. After using Max's core strengthening method, she had eaten the spirt fruits and broke through to the three-star realm.
With her exceptional mana and elemental control, she could behead most mid-stage demons before they could even react. Although she had difficulty killing high-stage mages, she could now fight them on without being at a disadvantage. If she gave it her all, she could even kill the weaker high-stage demons without being injured.
After her was Leticia. She was still at peak two-star and only enhanced a thousand or so mana units to the three-star level. However, her control over her bloodline improves quite a bit after Garima and the old granny guided her. She could now hold her ground against the weaker mid-stage three-star mages.
Then there was Belen. She was no longer as gloomy as before and had started training. However, Max had seen her crying in her sleeps every night, which pained him a lot.
As for Anna, although she was sad to see everyone leave her far behind, she didn't become pessimistic and started training even more ruthlessly.
Among his step-mothers, Esther improved the most because she trained under Garima's guidance who also had the Ice element just like her. Mina also improved but not by too much. Only Amelia didn't train and stayed by Ashton's side at all times, her mood gloomy.
Creak~! Creak~!
As their carriages arrived a few hundred meters away from the Elvin city's entrance, Max could see Rima, little Arya, and old man Raku standing there, looking at them with a smile. There were many fully armoured guards too, almost ten times more than before.
When their carriages arrived before the city gates, old man Raku stepped forward and greeted Max, Leticia, Belen and others.
"Long time no see. I hope your journey was safe."
"Yes, senior. We didn't have much problem." Max nodded. "I hope you've been well."
"Haha, yes. I've been quite well. If it wasn't for demons, I would've been even more well." Old man laughed.
After that, Leticia and Belen greeted him before walking over to Rima and started talking while little Arya hopped over to Max and gave him a hug.
"I missed you, big brother. Why didn't you come visit us sooner?"
Max lovingly ruffled her hair. "Aren't I here now?"
"Hmph!" Little Arya pouted, "You don't know how much big sister Rima and Big sister Maria missed you, especially big sister Maria. You should've come sooner."
Max smiled wryly and then looked at Rima, who was looking at him longingly. He went over to her and pulled her into a hug.
When he wanted to move away, Rima wouldn't let him. This made him smile bitterly because everyone was watching them. So, he patted her back and whispered in a voice that only she could hear,
"I'll meet you tonight. We can 'talk' then."
