n

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nFor everyone else who just entered the desert, monsters like the one Layn faced were dangerous. Many of them saw monsters like that one kill their companions. Yet, for Layn, this was nothing but a source of fresh and clean energy!

nFor the outsiders, the events took a quick turn. After a momentary standstill when neither the monster nor the archmage moved even an inch, the massive body of the monster simply started to fade away… Before it actually faded away.

nThump.

nThe sound of the monster's core falling on the sands of the desert was the only sound that announced the end of the fight.

nBut that was only an outsider's perspective. And the reality wasn't as simple as the observers could imagine.

nAs soon as Layn touched the flesh of the monster, he focused his own energy before forcefully pushing it inside the monster. Rather than starting the fight by frantically absorbing the energy to consume the monster, Layn's energy drilled itself into the monster, all the way to its core.

nThen, as if a flow hitting a rock, it washed over it, splitting into two streams before coming together behind the core. At that moment, when the connection between the magical projection of its body and the source of its power was cut, the monster was already dead. And only then Layn could start extracting all the energy its body had to offer.

n'Woah, the cultivation surely is taxing!' Layn thought, looking at how the energy of the entire monster barely sufficed for him to push halfway to his next breakthrough. 'But well, it would be naive to believe that what was great when I was beginning, would still have the same efficiency once I reach some kind of strength.'

nLayn approached the area where the monster used to be to pick up its stone.

n'A miss, huh?' Layn thought, confirming that it was a simple, grade one mana stone.

nThe main reason behind Layn's journey to the desert was the hope of obtaining the grade two stones and higher ones. With them, all the bottlenecks in his cultivation and energy stockpile would be broken, allowing for rapid growth of his strength.

n

"Well, now I think you guys should understand what I meant when claiming there won't be any injured folks during this mission,

" Layn said, turning his face back to the rest of the group. And out of twenty-three people that watched his clash with the monster, only Irea didn't have her lips parted in silent amazement.

n

"Sir…

" One of the mercenaries spoke up, moving a few steps forward.

"How did you do it?

" He added.

nLayn looked at the mercenary with curiosity in his eyes. The sheer amazement that his entire group was showering him with amounted to nothing. The civil courage to pursue answers to one's question was all that mattered to him right now.

nEven though the man who had said courage, didn't appear to have any exceptional talent towards magic at all.

n

"It's not yet the time for me to reveal it,

" Layn said, horizontally shaking his head in denial. 'After all, it would make for a pretty **ty bait if I were to give the answer already, wouldn't it?' Layn commented in his mind, smiling at his own thoughts.

n

"Well, let's not waste any more time. I want to consume at least five more monsters by the time we will set our camp!

" Layn said, throwing the stone he just picked towards the man who spoke up.

"Consider it an encouragement. If you won't ask the questions, you will never get answers for them.

"

nThe eyes of the young man lit up. He took part in this mission solely because of the price of a mana stone that Layn announced. And here he was, already earning one stone just by asking a question that wasn't even answered!

n

"Irea, come here for a bit,

" Layn said to the girl, gesturing at his side.

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"What's wrong?

" the girl asked, trodding forward without a care in the world. For her, this desert didn't look scary anymore. Not after everything that Layn has shown to her. Not after his self-made treasure brought her to the peak of the second stage of mind cultivation!

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"I absorbed a little bit too magic for my comfort. Mind taking some of it?

" Layn asked, not even stopping his march.

n

"Sure, I don't mind,

" Irea replied, pushing her body even closer to Layn's side.

n

"Ah, not like that. I meant this!

" Layn said, putting his hand behind the girl's head, before pushing his lips against her mouth. Out of habit, Irea instantly pushed her tongue inside, rubbing it all over the insides of Layn's jaws.

n'Here I go,' Layn thought, pushing all the excess energy from his aura, through the girl's lips into her own body. At first, there was a natural resistance of a body refusing a foreign power, but with Irea's complete trust in the archmage, even this hurdle quickly disappeared.

nPlack.

nThe sound of their lips parting was relatively loud. Layn pushed his face away, unable to steer his eyes clear from the silly look on Irea's face, or from how the strands of their mixed saliva broke apart once he moved away only to fall down on her chin.

n

"Guys, I understand that you like each other,

" Antion suddenly spoke up, hesitatingly approaching as he pointed his hand at the rest of the group behind them,

"but I'm worried that if you keep showing affection so openly…

" His words wavered as if the man was unsure whether he was in the place to say anything like that in the first place.

n

"Showing off like that will cause unrest, won't it?

" Layn said while clearing his lips from the remaining saliva.

n

"Exactly. We just entered the desert and you didn't really bother to bring some… funny girls if I were to put it like that, so people are bound to be jealous.

" Antion explained his opinion, still not daring to look Layn directly in the face. Rather than that, his eyes wandered over the mundane sands of the desert, as if he was trying to find some kind of bug that bit him in the leg before hiding in the sands.

n

"Yeah, I understand. There is no need to be so on edge,

" Layn reassured his promising companion, before turning his face to Irea.

"How did it work? Feeling strange or something?

" Layn asked, concerned with the girl's wellbeing.

n

"Well, it feels like you are all over my insides,

" Irea replied, before turning beet red when she realized how her own words sounded like.

"I mean, I can feel you in every cell of my body and,

" suddenly breaking her sentence, she raised her widened eyes on her partner,

"I just broke through.

"

nFor a moment, silence covered the entire area. All those who heard Irea's words directly, just stood in silence, unable to believe what they just heard. Those who failed to hear the girl simply adopted the actions of the rest.

n

"Raising awareness stage, huh?

" Layn asked in order to make sure he was on the same page as his girl.

n

"Yeah. And here I thought I would be stuck at Cleansing thoughts stage for a long time,

" Irea said while lowering her head. It was clear as a day that she herself had problems with how to cope with her sudden growth.

n

"Well, you are with me, so what else did you expect?

" Layn asked while making sure to keep his voice natural yet loud enough for the others to hear it.

"Did you think that bringing you from the middle stages of the first cultivation dimension to how powerful you are right now was just a fluke?

"

nLayn's words were directed not at the girl, but at all those eavesdropping on their conversation. With the ultimate purpose of this mission aimed at recruiting people with potential, Layn couldn't fail to keep dangling the bait right before their eyes, while making sure that they wouldn't get too much just from finishing the mission itself.

nWhat he needed to achieve, was to ingrain the idea that following him was worth the effort into all those who he deemed potentially fitting for his new regime.

n

"Nah, not at all,

" Irea replied while shaking her head.

"Cut me some slack, you know I didn't mean it in this way. It's just shocking… How easy you can induce growth in others.

" She added, rubbing the side of her head against Layn's shoulder.

"Don't worry though, I would love you even if you were to be ordinary.

"

nA small peck to Layn's cheek later, Irea moved away from his side. In the searing heat of the desert, this kind of intimacy was rather uncomfortable for both parties in the long term.

n

"Everyone, I'm sure you are jealous of me, right now, so here is my promise..

" Layn suddenly spoke out loud, this time openly addressing all the mercenaries under him.

"As long as you guys manage to hunt three monsters without my help today, I won't torture you with this kind of show anymore!

"

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