Behind the old man, the guards too rushed into action, using the last bit of mana to try cutting off the anchors that the abomination had landed launched. 

Away from them, the large magic circle rotated mid-air collecting a large amount of mana from the surroundings. This was the last attack that Eric poured all his mana into. It was a make-or-break moment for him. "Burn away!! Haaaaahhhh!!!" 

His mouth opened wide with the shout as he poured every ounce of mana into the magic circle. They can't take any chances. In case this creature survives, this town was doomed. There was practically no one present apart from them who could even stall the creature to let the common people evacuate. 

The circle grew brightly as it descended. Sweat dripped down Paula's head, drenching her clothes. The wound on her chest had opened up and blood flowed ceaselessly from it. But the woman kept her concentration, holding the creature in place.

*Scrreech* Scrreech* As soon as the circle fell on the creature it began writhing in despair. Its skin was instantly set ablaze with the bright orange fire. It tried to shrink its body but it was of no use, the circle kept falling on it until it landed on the ground. 

*Gggrrrshhh* *Hhhrrsshhh* Loud inhumane sounds echoed all over and right at that moment Lyod had cut apart the last tentacle. Paula had lost all strength in her body, haphazardly landing on her feet. Eric on the other hand can't relax just yet. He had to see this through.

The creature was unable to step outside the magic circle, rather it was better to say the circle had locked on, moving along with it. Eric had his hands raised, his mind focussed on the spell while his body landed close to Paula.

"It's trying to escape through the portal. Should I stop it?" Paula recognized its plans to leave their dimension through the same portal that is used to land here. "Not required. It will die before it could leave." Eric began walking towards the crawling krypto monster who looked extremely pathetic now, with all its arms cut off and all its body now charred from the burns.

*Shhhrrrggg* Under the watchful gaze the abomination thrashed around covered in large flames. Slowly but surely its body lost all signs of life, falling in a mush. The fire didn't stop until everything was burnt to literal ashes. 

"It's done!" Eric fell on his knees. Even standing was proving to be difficult. Thankfully, Paula had walked close to him. She held his arm over her shoulder and picked up the man. "You did good, brat. Looks like you have grown up." 

Eric was very glad. All his life, he had been put down by the elites despite having an extraordinary talent just because of his low birth. But then in this same life, he had met some wonderful people, who had encouraged him at each step. "Thanks, lady Paula. It's an honor to receive an acknowledgment from your esteem self." 

Paula was not expecting a sincere reply from the guy and for a moment didn't know how to respond. "Ahem.. It's only natural that the younger generation will surpass the previous ones. I know you must have felt that you were wronged but remember this. These fists, train them so hard that you gain the ability to punch anyone who talks shit with you." She waved her fist in the air to emphasize her words.

"Hahaha.. as ruthless as ever.. haha.. cough.. cough.." Eric can only laugh out loud before a fit of coughs stopped his train of laughter. "I will remember it well, lady. Don't worry, I am self-motivated from my childhood. It's not easy to demotivate me with just trash talk." 

Lyod wanted to walk to his wife to check on her but he was stopped by the guards. "Please stop, master Lyod. Your wound!! We need to treat it. You might lose your arm if we don't treat it." His shoulder had been pretty much destroyed and he can't even feel his arm right now. 

The men realized the seriousness of his wounds and thus as soon as serenity prevailed over the battlefield, they forced Lyod to sit down and they began hurriedly dressing his shoulder. Eric might have destroyed the abomination in the end but everyone knew that the one who fought the hardest was this old man. 

"Are we sure it's completely dead?" Paula still had her doubts staring down at the doused flames, with only cinders left in place of the monster. Eric nodded his head. "Can't feel any life force from it. Let's head back. Master Lyod had been injured very badly." 

Paula was reminded of her husband and she immediately turned around to leave with Eric. Out in the distance she smiled at the man sitting right in the middle of the charred ground with multiple bandages all over his body. "He has seen worse. I am sure he will survive haha.. hmm?" 

Her laughter ended abruptly as her sense tingled with a dangerous feeling. "Get away!!!" Eric didn't realize it but his body was suddenly thrown tens of meters away by the old lady. 

Lyod had replied to Paula with a smile when suddenly his senses tracked something ominous. Right in front of his eyes, he saw a dark body reveal itself from the hill of ash. A large spike shot towards Paula and Eric, to which only the lady was able to respond in time. To protect Eric she had pushed the guy away from her. 

A sand barrier had been pulled up like a curtain but it was not enough. Lyod saw the spike peirce through Paula's abdomen and wrapping all around her waist. Next second Lyod was already on his feet, sprinting towards his wife but alas, the abomination had captured Paula's body and rushed back into the open portal before Lyod can reach them. 

On the other hand, Eric was not able to do anything despite being the closest one. All of that happened in a blink of an eye, even before he had landed on the ground, Paula had been pierced. His body lacked the necessary energy to help out. 

Lyod fell back on the ground. The portal had closed as soon as Paula was dragged in. It meant there was nothing they could do to rescue her. For the next few minutes, Lyod can't make sense of the situation. "Is this a nightmare?" Paula was gone. Just like that? 

Hate. Extreme hate bubbled in his mind but with no one to direct it at, he fell in despair. It was clear to him that the target for the capture was Eric but Paula sacrificed herself to save the man. 

Eric's condition was not any better. Having fought so many battles, how can he not tell what Paula had done. She had saved his life but had to sacrifice her own in return.

"Haaahhh!!" Paula woke up from another nightmare gasping for breath. She lay alone in her bed, staring at her the blackish ceiling of her room. A blanket hid her naked body. "Ahhhh.." A headache assaulted her right after. 

During most of her sleep, she will be bombarded by an array of blurry images like they were part of someone's life events. She would regularly dream about being trapped inside a human female's body, going through her life. 

"Dammit.. was I a human in my last life?" She left the bed and moved to the bathroom. Stepping in the small pool she let her body sink to the bottom. She was an artificial life created by master Ergon, was it even possible for her to have a past life?

It was very hard to determine as she would not be able to recall any particular details from her nightmares that can provide any clue to her. She can't even recall the faces or even the names of anyone involved. Sighing in vanity, Paula let her body submerge in the cold water. 

***

Today Ryu and his gang returned to Jake's house instead of their own homes. He invited them inside and brought them straight to the back garden. There were three small ditches filled with water. "Are these good enough?" He directed his question towards his green-haired friend. 

"Yeah, it's great. Anyhow, I just need you guys to be able to keep your entire body submerged." Jake nodded but Kyro and Kira were not unfazed like him. Ryu randomly told them to accompany him to Jake's house today. Kyro being the impatient soul he was, kept arguing with Ryu about the reason, only to me mercilessly ignored. 

Realizing the futility, Kira chose not to try her own luck. Instead, she waited for Ryu to explain the usage of these two ditches. "So now that we are here, let me explain. These are low-grade body refinement potions. I want you guys to use them." He took out small vials of red liquid from his pocket, handing out one to each of them.

"Low-grade body refinement potion? Wow.. is this for real?" Kyro suddenly felt like the vial grew many times heavier after he registered the words. "Yup, pretty much. Don't ask me how I got my hands on these because I won't tell hehe.." 

Jake knew that Ryu was not as simple as he looked. He probably have a hidden source of income that he had kept secret from even his best friends. All of this made sense to him, recalling how easily the boy managed to arrange the funds to buy his mother back from the Dark Wings auction house. 

"Good then. If I am not wrong, we need to pour it in the water and soak in it on a regular basis?" Ryu picked the vial back from Kira's hands and helped her break its seal before emptying it in her trench. "Yes, you got that right. Now all of you need to strip." 

All three of them began removing their clothes. Among them, Kyro was the one most excited about it. Who cared where his cousin got these potions? Point was that he had offered it to them and he was not someone who will shy away from accepting help, especially if it can help him grow his cultivation.

Jake had some idea of what was coming hence he made sure to prepare his mind before pouring the contents of the bottle into the pit. "One more thing. Before I allow you to soak in, all of you need to promise me two things." All three of them nodded in response, waiting for him to continue.

"Firstly, keep it a secret. Secondly, if you decide to use this, you will have to complete the whole course. That means, keep soaking for a week, once every day. Remember this, it's not going to be a walk in a park. Rather, it will cause excruciating pains but that's what you have to pay if you want to improve." His gaze rested on Kyro, who visibly gulped. 

"It can't be that bad, can it?" His face showed signs of chickening out and he looked at Jake for some respite only to see the boy jump in without a care in the world. *Splash* Even Kira had jumped in without any hesitation, leaving him sweating profusely with a devilishly smiling Ryu. 

"Are you going in or do you want me to force you in?" Ryu looked nothing less than a smiling devil right now. Reluctantly, he dropped the content of his vial in the pit before placing his right foot in. "It's not that bad, brother Kyro. You need to be strong. Otherwise, you will be left behind by us hehe..." 

Glancing at the girl's face, be realized it might not be as bad as Ryu was making it out to be. If so, how can someone as delicate as Kira can handle it with such ease? Calming his rapidly beating heart he too jumped in. 

Two minutes had passed when Kyro opened his eyes. There was no pain. Instead, a soothing sensation prevailed all over his body, like he was undergoing a massage after a fresh bath. "Huh.. you call this painful? I can't feel anything haha... Don't tell me it scared you this much brother." Ryu only smirked back before sitting down and starting his cultivation. "We will know soon enough." He uttered without opening his eyes. 

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