Just as Eric was about to inspect his abilities' improvements, he heard a pleasant voice from outside the tent.
"Liv, I will check on Brother Eric; you should clean the plates first." It was Lyria's voice.
Lyria moved the tent curtain away and was about to enter; suddenly, she stopped and stood dazed.
Unsuppressible emotions started pouring out of her entire being, and her eyes turned moist.
She no longer held back and dashed toward Eric while crying out, "Brother Eric!"
Eric welcomed Lyria's hug like a mature adult man—calm and graceful.
He knew that he might have given the girls some minor heart attacks. So, they rightfully deserved some hugs.
The reason he was even alive at this moment was all thanks to both Lyria and Livy; otherwise, he might have been raped multiple times over by the Death Mistress.
He suddenly frowned internally. He seemed to recall something, but no matter how much he tried to think, it became a fleeting thought and soon disappeared like a dream.
Livy, who was about to wash their breakfast dishes, was startled by Lyria's cry.
'Did something happen to Brother Eric?'
She quickly charged straight inside the tent in a panic.
After entering, Livy was startled and then grew emotional.
She also jumped straight into a hug. She wanted to push Lyria, but Lyria was holding on too tightly, so Livy simply conquered the remaining portion of his chest.
"B-Brother Eric, y-you are finally a-awake," Livy sniffed.
Eric gladly took both girls into a big hug.
He wanted to tease them, but in the end, he didn't have the heart to after hearing them weeping right beside his ears.
They must have received quite a scare; after all, they had been completely helpless to do anything to assist him. He also hadn't known if he could come back alive or not. Before his heart exploded, he wasn't certain how he was going to die, or if he would survive at all. He had just made some guesses and taken precautions, but nothing was guaranteed.
Eric gently caressed Lyria and Livy's backs to ease their minds.
After they had cried and hugged Eric enough, they finally let him out of their tight embrace.
Just as Eric was about to speak, he noticed both girls' movements and quickly raised his arms in surrender.
"Alright, alright, don't bully your Brother Eric. I apologize; there's no need to be so violent."
Lyria's and Livy's faces turned red from embarrassment. They had just raised their hands, but there was no way they could actually hit Eric.
Lyria lightly thumped Eric's bare chest with her clenched fist and said in a sad tone, "D-Don't you ever do something like this alone again..." She then gently placed her forehead against his chest.
Livy sniffed, "Brother Eric, what you did wasn't good. W-we nearly lost our souls from fright."
Eric smiled awkwardly and nodded, "I will be careful..."
Lyria raised her head and glared at Eric with tear-streaked eyes, which looked like sparkling amber crystals.
"No, don't do such a third training breakthrough anymore, and please don't tell me there is a fourth one now!"
Eric laughed awkwardly. He would definitely do the third breakthrough again if it became possible in the future.
He shook his head and answered with a smile, "Don't worry, there's no fourth. I can feel this vividly."
His current inner experience felt as though he had eaten too much and pushed way beyond his limits. There was no easy way to explain it in logical words, but he knew instinctively that he shouldn't even be alive with his current stats.
If his Constitution stat had been lacking while only his other stats increased, then perhaps he wouldn't even have survived the breakthrough, no matter how much white elixir he drank.
Through this, he could now understand: if there was a possibility of a single stat trial on this third training breakthrough, then he would have died for sure the moment he broke through on any stat other than Constitution.
"How long was I asleep, and where are we?" Eric decided to change the subject.
Lyria and Livy glared at Eric; in the end, they didn't pursue the topic. They would talk about that later.
"Brother Eric, before that, how are you feeling? Your n-new heart..." Livy said with concern.
She didn't know how to explain it. As a girl who had been just a mortal not long ago, things like hearts blowing up and then regrowing were simply too shocking; it wasn't something she could take lightly without worrying.
Eric flashed a bright smile, "Don't worry. As you see, I am completely fine physically. Also, I have no problems with my newly grown heart or any other injuries."
Lyria and Livy nodded and released a relieved sigh together. They then both stared at Eric's mutilated chest with pain.
They had tried everything they could think of, but nothing helped fix Eric's chest back to normal. It had just healed itself into such gruesome scars, which shouldn't have happened since they had used proper potions.
Eric noticed both girls' expressions and knew what they were worried about. Before they could say anything, he asked, "Does my chest look too disgusting? Am I no longer handsome in your eyes?" he teased.
Lyria and Livy shook their heads in denial. What a joke; Eric would always be the most handsome in their eyes, no matter how he looked. After all, they weren't in love with him just for his physical looks—not to mention he had been devilishly handsome since the beginning.
Livy smiled, "Brother Eric, you look as attractive as ever. These scars—though I want them gone—make you look even more handsome. Maybe we will find some new sisters soon." She giggled, looking forward to a new sister.
Lyria just smiled. She felt Eric's scars might look unsightly or ugly to others, but from her view, it was captivating.
Eric's mouth twitched. He didn't want a new wife. Hell, he didn't even have one right now! Both Lyria and Livy were still on the waiting list!
Lyria gently stroked Eric's scars, her brow furrowing with concern.
She asked in a serious tone, "Brother Eric, do you have any idea why it turned out like this? Your potion wasn't able to heal this properly. I don't want to doubt the potion; instead, I am very grateful for it, but is it possible that Tier 3 ingredients mixed with Tier 2 were the reason?"
Livy's expression also turned serious. They had both talked about it and were very confused and worried. Normally, Mana Wielders wouldn't leave scars if they applied the necessary potion over the wound before it healed itself. Yet nothing seemed to work on Eric's scar.
Eric glanced at his scars and then shook his head, "I don't know, but the potion should not be at fault. I have a feeling there is some other reason for this. For now, let's leave it as it is. Everything inside is healed perfectly anyway, and since both of you don't find it repulsive, I am also good with it."
Hearing this, Lyria and Livy just smiled.
Lyria then started informing Eric of exactly what they had done after he fell unconscious.
She continued, "The river was heading toward the northeast, so we rode for a day before landing. Then we traveled north and finally found this small cave. Liv helped set up some arrays, so we are perfectly hidden without receiving any trouble from anyone."
"Today is the fifteenth day since we fought the Crimson Tide Spiders. The Rank 3's insides had mostly turned to mush from Livy's attack, but we did manage to recover its intact core. The white armor was also safely collected."
Eric nodded in understanding. He didn't mind too much about losing the Rank 3 spider's internal organs. The white armor was most precious, as well as its core.
Overall, it was a good spider harvest.
He was highly impressed by both girls' accomplishments. Lyria was correct in being cautious, and Livy... she was a monster, a water element user with firepower greater than any other element of the same rank. The world's Mana Wielders would probably vomit blood hearing this.
Eric was also dumbfounded to hear that the spider's white armor turned out to be Tier 4 armor! They now had a massive amount of it, too. It would be best if they didn't take it out within the Silvia Kingdom; in fact, it was best not to sell it anywhere until they found a better alternative. Unfortunately, Lyria couldn't work on it yet; they needed to wait until her stats reached high enough.
They also had to find information on the Rank 3 Crimson Tide Spider and its white armor. He would try later to see if Batley City had any details on it.
Eric praised her sincerely, "You did the right thing, Ly. There is indeed a high chance that some Master Rank has already been dispatched. It's great we didn't encounter them; even if they didn't kill us, we would still be in massive trouble."
Lyria nodded with a smile.
Livy giggled, "Since we took down a beast that takes at least a few Rank 4s to kill, are we as strong as Master Ranks now?"
Eric denied it without hesitation, "We only won because of how unpredictable our abilities are and because we made the best use of them at the right moment. If we had exposed our abilities beforehand, it definitely wouldn't have worked so nicely. Trust me, that Rank 3 Spider was way too smart. Fighting a Rank 4 currently is too risky, at least until we have seen one and understood their capabilities."
Lyria and Livy agreed.
Livy rubbed her palms and asked with excitement, "Brother Eric, have you awakened any new abilities after your breakthrough?"
Lyria's eyes also lit up. She was also very interested to know. The stronger Eric became, the happier they would always be.
Eric shook his head and answered with a smile, "No new abilities, but my training stats tripled!"
Lyria and Livy's eyes widened with shock.
To them, abilities were interesting, but stats were equally important; even a lot of their abilities depended directly on stats.
A threefold increase was a massive leap. They were incredibly excited for Eric and for all of them.
Lyria felt it was also the perfect time to inform Eric of their own progress as well, "Brother Eric, as you know, our abilities have also made great leaps. Just a single rise in level and we can do many things that were impossible before. Do you want to hear about it now?"
Livy also grew excited. She wanted to tell Eric about her new improvements as well.
Eric was highly interested. It was better to learn about them now while they were in private rather than later.
"Is our current location safe?" he asked.