Lyria and Livy exchanged a glance before Lyria answered, "Yes, we are safe. When we arrived here eleven days ago, we scouted the nearby area, and Liv actually managed to find a small village. Other than that, nothing has happened since then."
Lyria turned toward Livy for her to elaborate.
Livy began, "Ten days ago, when I was checking from the top of a mountain, I saw a village or perhaps a small town. It is situated around ten miles west of here. I didn't get a clear view, but I don't think any Master Rank would reside in such a village."
Eric agreed. Ten days was long enough for anyone to attack them if they had found Livy or Lyria; after all, they were just mid-stage Rank 1...
"Oh right, you girls have broken through; good decision."
Lyria smiled apologetically, "We originally planned to break through after you. But to carry away the giant spider's corpse, we decided to do so back then."
Eric nodded approvingly, "Don't wait for me; charge toward Rank 2 as well."
Lyria and Livy agreed completely. Previously, they had wanted to stay one step behind Eric or at least cross ranks after him, but they now understood that would be too foolish. This was not a beautiful, safe, and romantic journey; they didn't have the luxury to play childish games. Either way, Eric's stats were far higher than theirs.
"Since this place is safe enough, tell me about your improvements... Wait, let me take a bath first."
Hearing this, Lyria and Livy blushed. They had washed Eric's upper body every day, though as Mana Wielders, they didn't really need to wash every single day like mortals to remain clean.
After both girls left the tent, Eric's expression turned grim. Instead of leaving for a bath, he closed his eyes to check his mana veins.
Before Lyria had entered the tent, he felt there was something not quite right with them.
After observing thoroughly, he sighed with relief. His mana veins were injured, but thankfully the damage was not as severe as he had imagined.
As a Rank 1, he still couldn't see his mana veins entirely. But with his high Intelligence stat, he didn't have trouble sensing that some veins were damaged.
The Intelligence stat didn't indicate how intelligent one was. It encompassed various things throughout the body, not just in the brain. One benefit of having higher Intelligence and Constitution stats was having better senses, both inwardly and outwardly.
Normally, mana veins couldn't get injured easily; however, due to what had happened to him, the mana veins in his chest region had received some minor injuries.
The good news was that it was nothing major and his capabilities wouldn't be restricted in any way. The injuries were also healing steadily.
He roughly calculated and figured out that, unlike a process taking years, he probably needed only three to four months to heal fully.
Eric thought a little and decided to let it heal naturally instead of taking the elixir. Most elixirs' effects got reduced with each intake. Since it was nothing major, there was no need to use foreign substances to heal.
The only negative effect was that he couldn't break through to the late-stage until he was completely healed.
It was fine anyway. He also didn't want to increase his stats further for a few months at least. He had consumed too many stats; his stomach would blow up if he didn't take a break. Thankfully, a Mana Wielder's Rank stats and Training stats worked separately, or else he probably wouldn't be able to break through in rank ever.
Eric entered the attached bathroom in his tent to clean up. After that, he wore casual, high-grade Tier 1 home attire made exclusively by his personal tailor, Lady Lyriana.
Leaving his tent, he noticed it was inside a cave.
The cave was spacious but not deep—possibly a Newborn stage Rank 1 Mana Beast's past dwelling.
After walking out of the cave, he noticed the sun was already up; it was currently midday.
He casually stretched, and soon Lyria and Livy jogged toward him with beautiful smiles on their model-like faces.
All three of them then returned inside the tent for private talks.
They all sat comfortably on the couches.
"I will start," Lyria spoke. "My Crushing Blows can now release up to three times my Strength stat! Previously, it was only twice. And now I can also release it from anywhere on my body; previously, I could only release it through punching or palming."
Eric and Livy sucked in a deep breath.
Three times Lyria's current strength was 720! And it was not just pure strength, as her crushing blow was far more devastating than a simple physical attack.
Eric wanted to cry. It seemed his Constitution was still not strong enough to take Lyria's hit directly.
Yep, he definitely needed to continue with more third training breakthroughs.
Lyria was very excited. She was now far more capable than in the past.
She continued, "My Whirlwind Sprint is now four times my Agility stat! Previously, it was three times. And that's not all! An amazing thing has happened. I can now actually take 'steps' in mid-air, or 'nothing' should be the right word. Though I can only take ten steps at this moment; after that, I need to rest or else my legs will get too strained and could get injured."
Livy already knew this, and once again felt her jealousy rising sky-high. Lyria's agility was already top-notch, and now she could even fly! Damn it!
Eric was amazed. Lyria could now even run in the air, but ten steps were not too many.
"How much distance can your ten steps cover?" he asked curiously.
"I have already measured it. I can move a hundred meters with one step in a clear field, and it's the same in the air, so it will be a thousand meters in total. And I don't necessarily need to only run; I can even jump in a single place ten times as well."
Lyria stood up, jumped half a meter into the air, and then kicked the 'air' to raise herself a foot higher. She kicked a few more times to demonstrate and then gently landed back on the tent carpet.
Both Eric and Livy started clapping their hands in awe.
Lyria blushed and quietly sat back down in her seat.
Eric and Livy stared at Lyria with anticipation, waiting for her to show her next magic.
Lyria continued while blushing, "My Absolute Gravity is now two times my Strength stat; previously, it was only the same as the Strength stat value. Other than that, I have better control and can release it in a wider arc without pushing everything away."
She was especially glad about this improvement, as that meant she didn't need to kick her allies' butts as well when using it on all sides.
"Finally, my Hardening is now four times my Constitution, just like Whirlwind Sprint."
She was quite relieved, as she could now survive for at least a few seconds if Livy suddenly decided to eliminate her to take away her big sister position.
"Why are your improvements so much more useful than mine?!" Livy said with thick jealousy.
Lyria shrugged and glanced at Livy smugly.
Just as Livy was about to explode, Eric coughed, "Don't worry, Liv; your firepower and cutting power are the strongest among us."
Lyria immediately trembled, recalling Livy's 100 into 1 Hydro Explosion that had reduced the inside of a Rank 3 Beast to nothing. She was certain that even her Hardening wouldn't be able to take a hit from it.
Livy smiled happily at Eric's praise.
"It's my turn now. My WaterJet Dual-Wield can reach up to twenty meters now! Previously, it was ten meters, and its sharpness has also increased from its previous two times my Agility stat to three times!"
Eric felt his spine shiver with dread. Livy could practically cut him into pieces!
Lyria too trembled, despite already knowing that fact.
Eric once again increased his resolve to have more third training breakthroughs in the future.
Only by dying could he now save his life!
Livy's voice suddenly turned depressed. "...Even though twenty meters long is amazing, this is also becoming useless..."
"Oh, why so?" Eric was amused. How the hell was a twenty-meter blade useless?! If this went on, then one day Livy might even cleave the planet in half! Of course, it wouldn't happen so easily. Celestia seemed countless times larger than Earth.
"Sigh... I noticed this during my fight with the Rank 2 Crimson Tide Spider. Though my whip can reach long distances, it slows down too much if the range is long. This speed can be deadly for anyone of lower agility, but against a highly agile opponent, they can easily dodge it. And I am also having a little difficulty integrating it with my fighting style."
Eric understood. Livy's preferred fighting style was moving while attacking, and not staying in one place for too long. Although whips could support that to some extent, if they grew too long, they became equally troublesome to control, especially at the ends of the whips.
Lyria was confused. "Didn't you once say that you can increase its weight by putting in more Stamina or Mana? If you increase your whips' weight, won't it be easier to control at long range as well?"
Livy shook her head and sighed, "I can increase the weight to some degree, but it's still too slow. It's slower compared to our agility, but for others of our rank, it might still be deadly, and that is not really my concern." After all, she could easily defeat a Rank 1 or 2 Mana Wielder without even using her WaterJet Whip.
Eric thought a little, and then smiled enigmatically.
"I think I have a perfect solution. This will definitely increase your long-distance attacking speed and power compared to now."
Hearing this, Livy's eyes shone brightly. She nearly jumped to perch on Eric's thighs, but she held back as that would be very unladylike. So, she straightened her posture and waited for Eric's explanation with anticipation.
Lyria listened with a solemn expression, as this would definitely increase Livy's strength, and this in turn would threaten her position as the big sister.
"Ahem, you can try making your whip into the 'Blade of Chaos'."
"Blade of Chaos?" Both Lyria and Livy tilted their heads in confusion. They had never heard of such a weapon before.