"It's break time!"
Amu popped up and announced as everyone except for Lily opened their eyes.
"Amu, Lily will take a few days since she used Insight Scroll," Lilith said with a smile. "If you can, help her absorb the pond's benefits while she is in this enlightenment state."
"Alright," Amu nodded.
"How's the progress going with Aria?" Erix asked.
"She will finish after twenty hours, and I'll have you take the break a bit earlier when she wakes up, okay?"
The slime's golden eyes showed a sharp, cold, and ruthless sheen.
"We have to plan some things in the next break."
"Alright."
As the group left the pond cavern, Erix said, "Those two bitches will have planned something. If not, then I'll have to lead them."
Rin raised an eyebrow. "You mean, give them an idea and lure them to make a move on us?"
"That can work," Lilith grinned. "But you have to passively give them the hint at the opportunity when they ask something about our schedule or something like that."
Erix shrugged. "Well then, I hope they have a plan ready. I'll go and check it out. What's our today's plan during the break?"
"We're going to buy passive skills and armor-sets. Since you two reached Royal-order, it's time to revamp and empower yourselves."
"How long will it take you today?" Rin asked.
"I'll be going as fast as I can," Erix grinned. "Two hours max, but I'll try to finish sucking them dry before that."
...
Almost two hours passed by before Erix left the room after draining the mother-daughter duo.
Immediately after leaving, he contacted Rin.
[Erix: Did you sense someone tailing you or anything like that?]
[Rin: Yes. They acted fast, but Lilith was faster. What did you find?]
[Erix: Just like how a kid throws a tantrum, Runia is similar. She wants to kill you all as fast as possible. They will make a move on you tomorrow. Plain and simple attempt of assassinations.]
[Rin: Hahaha. And you are making them more thirsty by screwing them crazily. Anyway, how's your progress?]
[Erix: 81.6%. Sigh, close yet far.]
Lilith joined in the call.
[Lilith: For now, come behind the mountains, ninety kilometers straight ahead at another chain of mountains past the forest. There's an interesting thing I found that can help you progress in balancing.]
...
Erix soon met up with Rin and Lilith on one of the mountains in the mountain range.
They entered a cave entrance leading into the mountain and saw a magical plant oozing out powerful life-power.
However, Erix was surprised to find a bunch of corpses around it, approximately fifty.
Lilith emphasized, "If you do, it will release all of its power, making the plant useless for Erix to absorb even if we acquire it."
"On my signal, locate its roots with your Spiritual Mystic Eye and send combat and small attacks to its roots. We have to cut off its connection to the mountain's core first to reduce its attack power."
Lilith counted to three before Rin and Erix released makeshift attacks as Lilith removed her barrier.
Rin released a sharp, small, and quick blade slash while Erix released a punch projectile.
Both entered a wormhole that Erix created, which connected directly to its roots.
Lilith's eyes glinted as a barrier of dark red threads surrounded the plant above the ground, sealing it.
'Tricky shit,' Lilith clicked her tongue as she could feel the flower absorbing her vitality through her attack.
But she couldn't just destroy it even if she could do it.
"Good job," Lilith smiled as she felt the plant's connection severing from the mountain's core with Rin's and Erix's attacks.
Right after that, Lilith conjured a black thread around the plant's stem and swiftly cut it off.
"Done."
However, Rin and Erix were dumbfounded and quite shocked to see Lilith's vitality getting drained by 7% in just that brief second.
Erix's eyes twitched. "What a little shit! It absorbs your vitality from any fucking connection?"
"Seriously..." Rin clicked her tongue, speechless.
"Well, the one who grew this is going to be furious since we've just reaped all the hard work," Lilith grinned. "Let's go elsewhere first. Erix, this might really give you some significant progress and something more."
The trio flew to somewhere discreet, in the middle of a jungle at a riverbank before stopping.
"Erix, it's best to absorb its power directly because it already refined its life power into very pure essence after absorbing others," Lilith said as the plant floated between her and Erix.
"However, you'll have to be careful while absorbing its power. Don't hold back on consuming your spirit force alongside your Prana when you extract it. Rin, you will support Erix and give him more Spirit force during this."
After saying that, Lilith removed the seal around the plant.
"Let's begin."
...
Into the forbidden zone near the Pale Hunger Swamp, an old lady in a mysterious abode screamed, sharp and creepy.
This happened right after Lilith uprooted and contained Belrugian Vitalis.
"My...my son..." the old lady with a fat belly and long dark silver curly hair trembled after screaming.
"You killed my son..."
"Who killed my son?"
"Die."
"Curse, curse, curse."
"Die."
The old witch's chaotic and obsessed eyes glowed before she left her abode and flew straight towards the Elven territory, Langriss Elf Kingdom.