Chapter 445: Praise

Another day passes by, and before he knew it, it was time for him to meet the girls.

He woke up before the sun's rays started trailing inside through the window and went into his hut. There, he took a small bit of the pure Gaia Essence and mixed it with some herbs and water to create the [Gaia Serum].

As he finished mixing the serum, he sensed a presence moving outside thanks to his spirit reading.

To his surprise, it was Gwen.

Now that he was sure of the figure's intentions, he placed the bottle on the table and opened the door. 

Their eyes met and the beautiful girl gave him a tender, loving smile that warmed his heart. After what happened last night, her smile felt like a soothing balm.

For so many years, he had pined for her and last night they finally managed to show each other their feelings. 

"Why so early, Gwen?" Emery returned her smile and asked.

"I am sure you haven't eaten breakfast yet. Here, I prepared one for you."

Emery looked down and smelled a savory scent. She brought him a bowl of mushroom soup made with milk, some meat and vegetables, along with a piece of soft bread inside a pair of wooden bowls. 

"Did you bring this and walk all the way here from the village?"

Gwen nodded and smiled, Emery moved aside to let her in.

"Thank you, Gwen, but you don't really have to…" Emery rubbed the back of his head.

"Do you… Not like it?" Gwen asked, with a slight waver in her voice.

"No… What I meant is yes, I like it, but did you realize you rarely see me eating?"

"Yeah, I noticed that, what's up with it?"

Emery asked Gwen to come in and they sat on a medium-sized rectangular table enough to hold 10 people. Gwen served the meal in front of Emery, before sitting across from him. 

While eating, Emery explained that, when someone manages to cultivate to a certain level, they will barely need to eat, their bodies will grow stronger and their lifespan will increase. 

At this chance Emery felt like he needed to catch up a lot of information with her. Not about the magus academy, but generally about becoming a magus.

She needed to know this, if they ever wanted a chance to be together. After all, a relationship built on lies would not last.

As expected, the information came as quite a shock to her. 

"Live longer… like past 100 years old?"

Emery nodded and tried to keep his expression even, but it was hard to hide his thoughts from her. From his tone alone, Gwen knew it's way more than that.

"200 years old? That would be amazing..."

Emery knew even people like Meave and Lady of the lake were more than 200 years old and they had not yet reached the magus stage.

"Can you even reach 300!? That's crazy!" Gwen's eyes widened.

Emery merely stared at her. He was hesitant to mention the fact that like Lord Izta, a magus could live past 2000 years.

It was at this moment that noises could be heard from outside. The fey sisters have arrived.

As usual, Glita walked with a spring to her steps and shouted with joy almost all the way, while the others were quieter in comparison. They barged into the door without knocking, only to see Emery was eating while talking with Gwen.

"Whoa, what soup is this? Where's our share? Is that only for brother Emery? That's not fair!" Glita walked closer to Emery and pouted at Gwen.

The group chatted for a while, before Emery started to test their blood again. 

As always, everyone offered their hand to Emery in excitement, except for Morgana. Now that he paid attention to her, he realized that since the red-haired girl entered the hut, she was more quiet than usual.

After checking their test, finally, the result could be seen.

Glita

[Battle Power - 26]

[Spirit Force - 60]

Tyra

[Battle power - 25]

[Spirit force - 60]

Lilith

[Battle power - 25]

[Spirit force - 60]

Lelith

[Battle power - 25]

[Spirit force - 60]

Gwen

[Battle power - 23]

[Spirit force - 60]

Morgana

[Battle power - 29]

[Spirit force - 65]

After a total of 6 months of training, except Morgana, who managed to break through to rank 5, all the girls reached the peak spirit force of rank 4. 

For one month, there was no increase in the girls' spirit force except for Gwen. At one point, Gwen had the lowest aptitude amongst them, but she finally caught up.

This further proof that [Gaia serum] had finally reached its limit. 

"Alright, let me see how your skills are progressing," said Emery 

When Emery invited all the girls outside to the clearing, he noticed Morgana stay back. The girl stared at him, as if trying to convey something, but then she changed her mind and left the hut. 

When all has gathered, then their weekly training has started

For sword-fighting techniques, all 6 had already mastered level 3 and, since then, Emery has been teaching them how to use spells instead.

Right now, all the fey girls showed off their progress with the [Entangle] spell. 

Plant roots started to spur from the ground and moved with each of their commands, swinging, twirling in the air.

Tyra, Lilith, and Lelith managed to cast and control two roots at the same time, Glita could cast three and the A-rank aptitude Morgana, the most talented among them all, managed to cast 4 roots at the same time.

Meanwhile, for Gwen, as she had no plant affinity, Emery taught her one of his water element spells.

After months of training, Gwen was barely able to lift up one splash of water and form a ball. She successfully cast [Whip Splash] that could knock down some fruits on the trees, but it could barely hurt any people.

It was to be expected, for the former princess only has a measly D aptitude. But, she looked so happy as she was finally able to cast magic. Looking at her reminded Emery of his first few days in the Magus Academy, when he struggled to even reach the minimum amount of spirit force required to stay there.

This made Emery quickly praise Gwen's successful attempt. "Congratulations, you did really well."

The fact that such a simple spell made Emery praise the former princess quickly ignited the other girls' jealousy.

Not willing to accept such unfair treatment, Glita said. "Hey, brother Emery, did you know sister Morgana has been hiding something from you?" 

Emery was startled, but Morgana was even more surprised. From where she stood, the girl glared at Glita, as if her eyes were enough to send a message.

"Come on, sister, be brave!"

Emery gave her a kind smile, but Morgana froze in her tracks.

"I… I…"

"Hey sis, don't embarrass us!" Glita added.

Morgana stared at her little sister, now even more confused.

"Sis, you showed us a new skill yesterday, right? Show it to brother Emery! What are you waiting for?"

Morgana let out a sigh in relief, it appeared she mistook Glita's intent, she turned back to approach Emery and showed the skill to him.

With the aid of his spirit reading, Emery could sense an energy buildup in her body. "Are you going to transform?"

Morgana's right hand was instantly covered in black fur and her fingers turned into claws. It's a partial fey transformation. 

She howled and both of her feet also transformed, giving her an extra boost in strength and speed.

"Amazing!" Emery exclaimed, excited to see Morganna show off how her speed had increased tremendously. 

A fey transformation would give her at least a 10 point increase in battle power, and with this, Emery believed no one in Briton, even multiple gold knights, would be able to defeat her except probably Maeve.

"Congratulations, Morgana!" Emery gave her a proud, sincere smile and, in that instant, Morgana's day was made brighter.

But, his next words quickly ruined the mood.

"I'm happy for you girls, but… I have to announce that for now, there's not much I can do to help your training. Until I can find a better recipe and better potion, at the moment I will have to focus on my own training. I expect you all also would always try to increase your cultivation as thought."

This quickly made the girls feel disappointed, especially Morgana. Finally, their 6 months of training together reached an end.

But it appeared Gwen would not let him go easily, as usual, she wanted to do something for the group.

"Emery… Can we at least… Can we complete one more target?"

She was forceful and headstrong, that much Emery knew since they were childhood friends. He sighed in exasperation, before nodding with a smile.

The fey sisters all felt. There were a few second moments between the two that somehow felt different than before.

From a bit further, Morgana watched them. It was obvious there was something going on between the two.

Her fey sense only confirmed it, and this time instead of feeling a rage bubble from her heart, she felt a sharp pain,... something on her chest felt hurt.