Chapter 284: Maleina's Decision, Progress
\'No other choice. I have to bet on the slightly nurtured seed. Erix, was it? Awaken your soul fast, kiddo. I don\'t want to wait any longer.\'
…
After an hour, Amu was finished while Lilith and Aria were exhausted.
"This will increase Soul stat by roughly three thousand points," Amu crackled while grinning as a palm-sized pristine white-gold crystal floated above.
"That much is going to bring adverse effects," Lilith said, but her eyes showed a clear desire for it.
"Umu," Amu nodded. "Absorbing this much pure Soul essence will mess you up. I\'ll divide it into six smaller soul essence crystals."
Maleina heard that and paused her potion brewing, slightly stunned. "Six?"
\'Rin, Erix, Lilith, Lily, Aria…and me too?\'
"Well, since you are in the group now, we can\'t have you remain weak," Amu snorted. "If only you took my test, your soul would have awakened by now."
"Anyway, Lilith," Amu turned to Lilith. "You will get the highest portion since your awakened soul can absorb more. Rin, Erix, and Lily won\'t be able to absorb much in their newly awakened soul, so I\'ll adjust the amount according to that."
"Aria can also absorb a similar amount as you, but her progress in soul will be naturally faster as her new life starts with untapped potential, so I\'ll adjust her portion according to that."
In a few seconds, Amu created six different crystals of varying size from the big one.
"Awesome," Lilith chuckled and patted Amu\'s head. "You made our work easier."
"Girl," Amu rolled its eyes but internally felt giddy.
"Alright, I\'ll store them for now," Amu said as those soul crystals vanished. "You two go back to training now."
Lilith and Aria were also tired, so they went into the pool and started meditation.
Maleina looked at the pond and bit her lips as her eyes showed multiple emotions.
\'Should I…\'
"Go in."
Amu suddenly popped before Maleina\'s face.
Maleina looked at Amu from the pond, hesitant evident in her eyes, "Really?"
"Believe in yourself and the vision you want for your future," Amu grinned. "Go."
\'I am not treated like shit, but like a servant. I was like that before under Dark Sterling Valen, but this party is better.\'
\'Even as a maid, I can\'t remain too behind,\' Maleina packed up the alchemy tools and stood up.
Maleina\'s eyes slowly turned determined, and she resolved with a nod. "Alright."
After taking a deep breath, she floated towards the pond and slowly entered inside after changing her clothes into a two-piece black bikini, showing a deep cleavage of her F-cup bust.
Soon, her consciousness drifted into Amu\'s test.
Lilith opened an eye and smiled. \'Be sure to pass, big maid.\'
Maleina had the qualities of a maid, and her presence was useful in the group, so Lilith felt it would be a shame if she failed the test and died.
\'Amu, don\'t go too hard on her if you can.\'
\'Of course. She is a good maid for our group, hehe. It\'s up to me who I pass and fail in the end,\' Amu playfully snickered. \'I won\'t kill her.\'
\'Instead, I\'ll try to increase her potential during the test. If she can encounter some drastic things in the test and improve in her specialties and even awaken her soul, it will be the best.\'
\'But she she lacked resolve, her potential would lower instead.\'
\'Mhmm, it\'s up to her,\' Lilith nodded. \'Also, I am close to losing the benefits of the pond. I won\'t have much benefits after several hours.\'
\'That\'s expected since you\'re already powerful. Aria is also the same as she had long lost benefits from the pond,\' Amu said.
\'How long until Erix, Rin, and Lily lose the benefits?\'
\'Forty-eight to sixty hours, including a three-hour break for the next two days.\'
\'After that, you all must fulfill the promise, okay?\'
Lilith chuckled. \'Of course. We will destroy the palace and do some more damage before leaving.\'
Amu had already made a plan yesterday and told them about it.
…
After fourteen hours, Rin\'s aura suddenly changed, and a strange power appeared on her, seemingly coating her.
Her figure started to mysteriously change age-wise, from fundamentals and her origin.
She turned into a young thirteen-year-old teen for a second and then turned into a mature beauty looking in her forties before returning to normal.
Rin had reached the 2nd realm in Time—Temporal Scribe—before the group entered the Elf kingdom.
After that, she was having a hard time progressing. It was slow. Meanwhile, Erix was progressing steadily in the Space element.
Erix had a fundamental catalyst that Tenebria gave him—the Babin Maw Hook, which put him on the path to Space since Tenebria sensed Space affinity from Erix.
However, Rin didn\'t awaken the initial essence of Time to put her on the path of understanding the Time element.
But she had an affinity or rather potential for it too, as proven by the Insight Scroll and her progress.
Still, the wall she hit was hard until she also got a catalyst—the pocket watch that Amu gave her.
It served as a sort of guidance that sped up her progress and finally allowed her to trailblaze it, reaching the 3rd realm in Time.
At the moment, she was experiencing a phenomenon birthed from reaching Delta-realm in the Time element—Temporal Storm.
\'I can influence many more things, and in unique ways…\' Rin was shocked and pleasantly surprised as she discovered and applied the newfound applications of the Time element.
\'These possibilities…\'
Rin\'s eyes shone as a grin spread across her face. \'Good. I should now focus on getting my Chronace element to 2nd realm.\'
However, Amu\'s voice rang in her head before she could enter meditation again.
\'It\'s break time!\'
Lily remained in her state while the rest opened their eyes.
"Eh? Maleina passed the test?" Erix was surprised upon seeing her.
Malelina also remained closed-eyed as Amu didn\'t bother her like Lily.
"Yes. She needed a push, and I gave it," Amu nodded. "Anyway, she doesn\'t need to take a break because I\'m helping her absorb the benefits faster like Lily since I am bored. I\'ll make sure she finishes along with you three, so we can enact the plan and depart together."
"That works," Rin chuckled and turned to Erix, "Alright, you go fast and suck them dry. We\'ll be waiting at some relaxing and fun spot somewhere."
"Yess," Aria giggled and said, "Don\'t worry about those assassination attempts. I\'ve learned my newfound powers, and Rin also taught me about many things and combat tricks, so we\'ll be safe."
"I\'ll beat all of them!"
Amu was glad that Aria was more confident and happy with new companions. Seeing her improving each day was a joy.
"Yeah, Aria is monstrously strong now," Rin wryly smiled.
Aria proudly smiled, showing a cute victory gesture at Erix.
"Haha, that\'s for sure. But we\'ll catch up to you, cutie pie," Erix grinned and winked at Aria before flying up. "Alright, I\'m going now. See you all soon."