Bang!
A giant boulder which was 10 meters big was destroyed by a single punch. The one who broke the boulder was a beginner 5th-order mutant fire ant. Accompanying this mutant fire ant, there was 100 more 3rd and 4th-order mutant fire ants.
"I don't sense any Aura in his area. Should we keep searching?" One of the beginner 3rd-order mutant fire ants asked the beginner 5th-order mutant fire ant.
"There is no need to search the area and waste our time here. Since we can't sense any Aura in his area, it means that our target is not here. Let's leave." The beginner 5th-order mutant fire ant did not want to waste their time here. All the mutant fire ants were personally given a mission of searching for the Crown prince, the princess, and three other beings that were hiding in the Heavenly Hemlock forest.
The entire Heavenly Hemlock forest was even bigger than the Ethereal Empire. Searching every corner of this forest was would have taken a long time. But since the number of mutant fire ants number is too big and the ants have spread throughout the forest, it was not so difficult for the mutant fire ants to search for the remaining 5 people on the expedition team.
After the beginner 5th-order, mutant ants and his followers left the area, Aditya and others sighed. It was not that Aditya and others were afraid of facing the mutant fire ants, if Aditya or someone else faced off against a mutant fire ant, that ant can send a message to its queen, informing the queen about their location. The queen in return would command her ant army to march into their hideout.
Sigh!
"It looks like the ants have left."
"This was the 3rd time, a group of mutant fire ants has come to this area to look for us." If Aditya had not sealed the entire cave, the mutant fire ants would have sensed their Aura and would have found their location.
"If a 5th-order or a 4th-order mutant fire ant comes near the cave, I am afraid that the ants will be able to sense our Aura." The seals that Aditya drew across the cave didn't completely block off their Auras. It instead reduced their Auras to a level where it was impossible for even a Beginner 5th-order being to sense their Auras. Unless a 4th-order or a 5th-order ant comes near this cave, it was not possible for the ants to sense their Auras.
"If a 5th-order or a 4th-order mutant fire ant does find us, we will just kill them and change our location." It has been more than 6 hours since Aditya, Alicia, Noah, Nora, and Sylvie took shelter in this cave.
The cave wasn't that big. It was around 8 meters big and was rectangular shaped. The whole cave was dark but Sylvie, Nora, and Aditya they were able to see things in the darkness. But as Alicia and Noah cannot see in darkness, a small candle was lit at the center of the cave. Aditya had a skill that allowed him to see in the darkness while Nora and Sylvie had the natural ability to see things in darkness as they were 5th-order cultivators. The winter weather did not affect anyone as their bodies were tough and resistant to cold.
The walls of the cave were made from stones. The remaining 5 members were sitting a few meters away from each other with their backs resting against the wall.
"Here take this." Sylvie took out some dry food from her storage ring and gave it to Noah and Alicia. The dry food included some biscuits, cake, and various kinds of fresh and tasty loaves of bread.
Seeing Noah looking at the loaves of bread, Sylvie decided to explain. "Don't worry, these loaves of bread are fresh. This morning, before coming here, I had bought them from the local bakery." Sylvie had a thing for freshly baked loaves of bread. She always has loaves of bread in the morning. The bread was Sylvie's one of the most favorite food.
"Aditya, do you want some?" Alicia asked Aditya.
By now most of Aditya had recovered half of his health. The earring that Sylvie gave him had increased his stamina which in turn increased his natural healing speed and also the earring increased his healing speed by 50%. But now that his health had been recovered by half, the second function of the earring will be deactivated. The big holes on his right wing had now shrunken in size. The condition of his right arm also had improved. While the broken bones on his right shoulder were now completely healed. The wound on his right cheek also had healed unfortunately his right eye showed no sign of healing.
Aditya looked at the bread that Alicia was offering him for a few seconds. He was deciding if he should eat it. Right now Aditya had reached a state where even if he doesn't eat anything for a few weeks, he will still live without losing any fat or muscle. As for Sylvie and Nora, as 5th-order cultivators, even if they didn't eat anything for a year or two, they still won't feel hungry nor they will lose any percentage of their fat.
"Sure." Aditya decided to accept Alicia's offer.
"As soon as I heal, we will leave this place. This time we won't stop. Every mutant fire ant that stands in our way will die." Aditya felt it would take him another day to completely heal. Now that the second function of the Peak 4-star earring which increased his healing speed by 50% had stopped, Aditya's healing speed also had dropped. He estimates that in a day his whole body would recover.
In front of a Peak 5-star healing pill, lower-grade healing pills are nothing. Aditya already had consumed the Peak 5-star healing pill, the power of the pill currently was his healing speed without consuming his stamina. One could ask why Aditya is not eating other healing pills. Since Aditya already had consumed one high-grade healing pill, any lower-grade pill won't give him any benefits. Even if Aditya takes another Peak 5-star healing pill, other than a slight boost in his healing speed, he won't receive any other benefits.
'If I was alone, I just could have leveled up. By leveling up, I could have increased my stamina and health points. I also could have added the free stats points to my stamina. Currently, I have an almost endless amount of experience points. If I use all these experience points, I can instantly reach the 5th order but doing that would raise suspicion. Besides, I will need time to master my powers. With each new order, I receive a new class and a new set of skills. It is very important to master all of my skills before I try to get new ones.'
Speaking of skills, Aditya was thinking of getting health recovery skills or something similar. It would be even more better if his next class was a healing-type class. With his stupidly high mana reserve, Aditya can basically heal anyone on the battlefield.
"By now the news of all the elite soldier's deaths should have reached his Majesty's ears. Knowing that we're still alive, I am sure his Majesty is going to send all the Ethereal army to Heavenly Hemlock forest." Hearing Nora's words, Alicia, Sylvie, and Noah's eyes lit up. Aditya noticed that Nora's words made them slightly relaxed. There was even a small relieved smile on Noah's face.
"How would His Majesty know about the deaths of the elite soldiers?" Aditya asked with a confused look. When he asked this question, Aditya couldn't help but feel a little sad about all the elite soldiers. These soldiers were the future powerhouse and pillars of the Ethereal Empire. Aditya can only imagine the absurd amount of resources it must have taken for the Ethereal Empire to cultivate these elite soldiers. In terms of power and cultivation, the elite soldiers stood at the very top of the Ethereal Empire's military.
But now that everyone had died, Aditya is sure that the Ethereal Empire's military has been weakened. Not to mention the death of beginner 5th-order elder Tate. Even though Tate betrayed them, his death also made the Ethereal Empire even weaker than before. What worried Aditya is the future of the Ethereal Empire. The Ethereal Empire and the other Empires in the central region had managed to make a balance. But now that the strongest Empire has lost 94 of its elite soldiers and one 5th-order elder, the Ethereal Empire was no longer the strongest Empire on the Westnia continent. The other Empires might try to take advantage of this situation and might even try to start an all-out war.
"There is a unique crystal called the soul crystal...." Alicia decided to explain.
"I see." While Aditya and Alicia were busy talking, others noticed how close they were. Especially Sylvie and Noah. Even though Alicia had bought Aditya as her boyfriend, Noah had seen her keep a certain distance from Aditya. It was as if there was a barrier before. But now this barrier had disappeared. Now his sister was always taking the initiative to close the distance. Although Noah is not an expert when it comes to love or relationship advice, he can see and feel the changes happening in his little sister.
'I bet Alicia already has forgotten the fact that Aditya is not even her real boyfriend. Yet she is acting like his real girlfriend.' A part of Sylvie felt happy for Alicia. The white lotus guild leader also felt jealous and envious. She also wanted to graduate from her virginity and find a good handsome-looking Husband.
'Almost like Aditya or maybe Aditya...' Realizing what she was thinking the dark elf blushed and looked in another direction.
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