Eric chuckled and explained, "Imagine two short but heavy blades with long chains attached to their handles, and the other end of the chains is gripped by your hands."
He didn't need to explain further, as both girls were experts in weapon wielding.
As expected, Lyria's and Livy's eyes widened in realization.
Livy felt her heart beating faster with excitement.
How come she had not thought of such an obvious solution before?!
Just attaching a heavier object to the end would greatly enhance the speed of her whips! Although it would increase the stamina cost, her attacks would similarly become far deadlier, and even her control over them would increase! And this way of using weapons would also work perfectly with her fighting style!
In her excitement, Livy was about to try it within the tent when Eric stopped her.
"Try that later. This way of attacking has its advantages and also its disadvantages. Incorporating it into your fighting style will require you to practice. I am sure you will figure out the combat methods by yourself. For now, tell us about your next improvements."
Livy smiled happily and agreed. She was extremely excited to create her new fighting method using this new weapon design.
"My Mudskipper hasn't become as amazing as Lyria's agility ability. It's just that, unlike before when I could only 'skip' one foot away, I can now skip up to one meter and can skip a lot faster than before. I also now have much better control over this ability, like choosing how far to jump, but I still can't activate this ability consciously." She sighed; this ability barely showed as much improvement as the others.
"Perhaps in the future you will be able to use it consciously; there is no need to feel bad," Eric consoled her.
Lyria wholeheartedly agreed. From her perspective, Livy had already become much harder to strike.
Livy continued, "There is another thing about this ability. In the past, we tried and failed to use Mudskipper together with another person. However, this time I feel I can skip with another person while holding them. I still need to experiment to be sure."
Eric nodded. He also felt he could now blink with others without needing to cover their entire bodies with Mana.
"Go ahead, try it now. I will attack."
Livy nodded and grabbed Lyria's shoulder.
Eric poked toward both girls using a large index finger of his Telepathic Slap ability.
Suddenly, both Lyria and Livy appeared a meter up in midair and soon after fell back down due to gravity.
Lyria was completely flabbergasted. It was so fast that she hadn't even registered it until she stopped in midair.
After both landed, they sat back on their couches.
Livy smiled and continued, "My Hydro Explosion, as you know, I now have better control over. I can collect a hundred drops and then further combine them into a single, powerful explosion! Furthermore, each tiny drop is a little bit more powerful than before."
Eric and Lyria quickly nodded like good children. They didn't need a further demonstration of that.
The 100 into 1 Hydro Explosion was the deadliest attack they had in their arsenal at this moment, and perhaps it would remain so for a long time. The only handicap to this ability was that it required a massive amount of water and a few seconds to create and combine.
"My Vitality of Water is quite confusing," Livy paused, then continued with a thoughtful expression. "I feel I can regenerate twice as fast and require less energy to heal. But that aside, I feel my Constitution has been boosted due to its improvement, almost as if my organs and bones have gained an extra layer of inner protection. I am not sure by how much."
She looked at Eric with anticipation, "Perhaps Brother Eric can understand it after thoroughly examining me?" It had been a while since he 'deeply touched' her 'inside out,' and she was missing that 'hot' experience.
Eric sighed and shook his head, "I can't right now. I have received some injuries to my Mana Veins, and my inborn ability is temporarily out of use."
Unlike their regular abilities, inborn abilities could only be used with Mana; thus, they could indeed be crippled if Mana Veins were injured or sealed somehow. So, Eric's half-lie was reasonable.
Before either of the girls could show their concern, Eric smiled, "Don't worry, my Mana Veins should heal within a few months. For now, I cannot break through to the late-stage; otherwise, everything is working just fine, except I have a little less mana to use. You girls shouldn't slow down for me."
Lyria and Livy calmed down and agreed.
"Then what about your improvements, Brother Eric?" Lyria asked with anticipation.
Livy's eyes also gleamed with interest.
Eric had already figured out his improvements while bathing, so he began, "Unlike in the past where I could only use one palm with Telepathic Slap, I can now use two."
After saying this, without even moving his physical arms, he used his Telepathic Slap to lift both girls along with their couches a meter into the air and then slowly put them back down.
Before Lyria and Livy could congratulate him, Eric threw another bomb, "Not only that, unlike in the past where it could only exert equal Strength stat value, it has now become twice that!"
Hearing this, both Lyria and Livy wiped their foreheads. With Eric's already tripled Strength stat, and now twice that value being exerted, could he now slap an early Rank 4 to death?
"Previously I was unsure, but now I can clearly understand that my Telepathic Slap is as sturdy as my Constitution stat, and now it has also doubled after this improvement. Also, previously the largest palm size I could manifest was two meters; now it has become four meters. And finally, previously I could only move the palm up to ten meters away from me, and now I can move them twenty meters away."
Eric was most satisfied with his Telepathic Slap improvement; everything had doubled!
Lyria and Livy just stared with blank eyes. Eric's Telepathic Slap was already invincible. He could cancel the palms and recreate them anytime. And now it had become twice his Constitution and Strength!
He could now take them both down in no time! That thought somehow excited them for some unknown reason.
Eric didn't know what the girls were imagining—in fact, he didn't want to know—so he continued with his next ability, "My Disappearance is confusing; I only feel I can now stay in this state longer without too much energy consumption. Other than that... I need a volunteer."
"Me!" "Me!" Both Lyria and Livy stood up and swiftly turned to glare at each other.
"Alright, I might as well try it with both of you."
Eric first grabbed Livy's shoulder and used his Disappearance ability without even using his Mana to cover her.
Livy was confused as nothing seemed out of place, but Eric's eyes brightened. He could see it was a success.
Livy then noticed Lyria was looking everywhere as if she had lost sight of them. So, she immediately tried her luck, "Ly is a gorilla!"
Lyria frowned. She felt someone was cursing her, but both Livy and Eric had disappeared right before her eyes.
Eric's mouth quivered. He wanted to laugh but held back and just disabled his ability.
Livy noticed that Lyria could now see them. So, she smiled brightly at her and asked politely, "Sister Ly, did we both disappear? Did you hear anything I said?"
Lyria frowned even more. She had a feeling that Livy was mocking her, but for now she decided to be honest, "No, I didn't see either of you. Brother Eric, it's my turn now!"
"Fine." Eric did the same thing with Lyria.
"Liv, you crawling snake!" Lyria screamed at full volume.
Eric wasn't even surprised and just shook his head helplessly. He then disabled his ability.
"Ly, were you cursing me?" Livy glared at Lyria.
Lyria calmly waved her hand, "Nope, you must be hearing things."
"No, you were definitely cursing me! I felt it in my heart!"
Before things escalated further, Eric stepped forward, "Alright, let's see if it works with both of you together."
Eric then grabbed both girls and activated his ability.
Lyria and Livy didn't notice any difference like before, but Eric could see that it had failed.
So, for now, he couldn't use this ability with more than one person. It was better than nothing. He also had a weird feeling that his Intelligence stat was doubling somehow while using this ability; it was like his Telepathic Slap but also different. He would know in time, so he wasn't bothered.
After they all sat back down, Eric continued with his third ability, "My Blink... I already measured it during the last battle. I should now be able to blink 250 meters in one leap; previously it was only 50 meters. I also feel that it has become far less taxing than before."
Eric was very impressed with his Blink improvement as well.
It was similar to how an unfit person gets tired easily after doing some intense physical activity, while a fit person can do a lot more without getting fatigued. Blink's improvement gave him that kind of feeling.
Lyria and Livy nodded happily.
"My final ability, Space Shield. Previously I could only create one shield; now I can create two. Not only that, previously I could only create it a meter away from me, now I can summon it two meters away, and I also feel it is twice as thick now."
His Space Shield's thickness was hard to measure as it had no physical width. It usually was as thin as paper. He didn't dare to experiment with either Lyria or Livy, but he was certain the 'space' that could be packed inside his shield had increased.
Eric stood up and stretched. He then took out his pocket watch, which Lyria had handed to him earlier, and checked the time.
"It's still early. Let's pack up after we have our dinner. We will then head toward that village in the evening and spend the night there. Hopefully, they can provide us with accurate directions to Batley City."
Hearing this, Lyria giggled, "I only hope it doesn't turn out to be another haunted or Mana Beast-conquered village."
Eric and Livy couldn't help but laugh as well.
The previous two village adventures were both fun and strange.
Eric wouldn't mind some new surprises, but if possible, he now wished to meet some real living humans and have a less eventful journey until they reached Batley City.