For two days, Max slept for only four hours, and spent the rest of his time on familiarizing himself with his mana pathways, and training his mana control. Although it was hard for him to do because he hadn’t trained with such focus and pressure, he managed to do it and the results left him satisfied.
He had familiarized himself with his mana pathways and as long as he paid a little attention, his mana flowed through them in a very smooth fashion.
Of course, the current mana circulation efficiency couldn’t compare to before. But he knew given enough time, and with some more effort on his end, it would reach the same level. Furthermore, despite the fact that manually circulating mana was slightly inconvenient for him, it gave him a strange sense of satisfaction. He felt as though everything was in his control.
The system’s absence hadn’t affected his mana control much, but after his two days’ training, it also improved which indirectly helped him familiarize with mana pathways quicker.
‘If I’m not wrong, my current combat strength should be around 80% of my peak.But I should verify it in a fight. Maybe a fight will help me even more.’ Max thought. He then left the building where he was huddled away, and went to find Emily.
Emily was sitting cross-legged, cultivating with a pile of mana stones around her. When she sensed him arrive, she opened her eyes.
“How was your training?” She asked.
“It was great. But I need a good fight, so let’s spar.” Max said.
Emily wasn’t all too surprised by his request and immediately agreed. Soon, they were standing, facing each other in an open area some distance away from their temporary residences.
After they stretched for a while, and got ready to fight, Max suddenly said, “Don’t use your full power at the start, give me time to get used to it.”
Emily raised her brows at this. Get used to what? Although confused, she didn’t ask anything, and just nodded.
Swoosh!
Wind elemental mana gushed out of her, causing her robes and long black hair to flap wildly. Max’s eyes lit up when he saw this because strangely, Emily looked very charming in her battle form. However, he couldn’t admire the beautiful scenery in front of him for long because she seemed to teleport in front of him before throwing a punch at his chest.
Wind ranged around her fist, and before it even landed, Max could feel pressure on his chest. He focused his mind, and took a small step back before slapping a palm at her fist.
Emily’s gaze sharpened when she saw this. Although she wasn’t using all her strength as he requested, seeing how he responded with a normal palm without using any mana, she thought he was underestimating her. But in the next second, she found out he wasn’t because as soon as his palm met her fist, the wind around it was neutralized and her fist was grabbed.
Although she was a little surprised, it didn’t stop or delay her from making her next move. She moved a step forward, so she was close to him, flexed her hand before thrusting her elbow towards his chin.
Snap!
The speed and strength behind her elbow strike caused air to snap, but unfortunately, her attack missed its target because as soon as she had stepped towards him, Max knew what her next was. So, he immediately released her fist and slid back, easily dodging the strike.
A tiny, proud smile appeared on Emily’s face. She was happy to see his battle awareness. In the next moment, however, she appeared before him, twisted her body and kicked at his chest.
Bang!
Max tried to dodge, but was slightly slow to react. The kick connected and he was sent flying.
Whoosh!
Bang!
Thud!
Before he could regain his balance and land, Emily appeared beside him and elbowed his stomach hard which made him blanch, and crash into the ground.
Tap!
After that, she gracefully landed beside the small crater and looked down at Max with a hint of mischief in her eyes. However, when the dust cleared and she saw Max had blood traces on the corner of his lips, she shook, and asked in a slightly trembling voice, “A-Are you alright? Sorry, I was too harsh. I’ll try to hold back more.”
Max looked at her, speechless. If he didn’t know her well enough, he would’ve thought she was being sarcastic.
But seeing how anxious and apologetic she was, he sighed as he stood up, casually wiped the blood away and said, “It’s fine. Since we are sparring, some injuries are inevitable. You don’t need to feel sorry. Also, please don’t hold back too much. If you do, there will be no point in sparring.”
“Okay.” Emily calmly nodded. “Let’s continue then.” Inwardly, however, she was feeling embarrassed and scolded herself, ‘Why was I so anxious? It’s normal to get injured when sparring. Now I’ve destroyed my image.’
Max didn’t know what she was thinking or his expression would’ve been interesting. As her younger brother, he, of course, knew her ‘cold and emotionless lady’ persona was not genuine and she had ‘copied’ it from her mother, Esther.
Soon, the second round started. This time, Emily didn’t go out of control, and gradually increased her strength. When she starting using a little less than half of her peak strength, Max stopped relying on his Barbarian God Physique, and started using mana. His physique was only at level one after all, and therefore, wasn’t strong enough.
Still, he was quite satisfied to see he could force her to utilise almost half of her strength with just his physique. One should know Emily wasn’t an ordinary high-stage three-star mage, and she with half of her peak strength was probably equal to an average high-stage three-star elemental mage.
Whoosh!…
Swoosh!…
Bang!…
Boom!…
…
The fight continued for over an hour. Apart from their strongest offensive attacks, they utilise everything.
Both Max and Emily were quite surprised to see how strong each other was. Emily already knew he was very strong, but she subconsciously gave the credit to the thunder sword, and his ability to instantly cast spells. But today, he didn’t use the sword, or utilize his instant cast ability, but he still fought to a draw with her. Also, she could feel he was holding back, no, wasn’t able to utilise his strength properly. If not, she wouldn’t be his match.
As for Max, he was also surprised by her strength. He knew she was strong, but how strong, he didn’t know. But now, he knew she could easily fight normal early-stage four-star experts and if she pushed herself and used her trump cards, she could fight and even kill normal mid-stage four-star experts. Furthermore, she was just a high-stage three-star mage like him, when she reached peak three-star level, her strength would only increase.
“You are strong!” Emily emotionally said. Just a few months ago, he was just an ordinary guy, who others had to protect. But now, he was even stronger than her, who had devoted most of her life in training and cultivation. So, how could she not be emotional? Of course, she wasn’t jealous or anything but happy for him.
He is not a weak boy who I need to protect anymore. Now, he is more than capable to protect me. She thought. Although she already knew this, but was still subconsciously thinking he was her little, vulnerable baby brother. But now, she had realised that wasn’t the case.
This is good. I no longer have to worry about our family’s protection all time and can focus more on my goal. Supreme realm, I’ll definitely achieve it. She clenched her fists and a fire blazed in her eyes.
The 10 Bonus Chapter Mass release between 10-15 November!
