PART II

 

*Whoosh*

She felt a warm breeze, and turned to the left, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Did I just imagine that?"

She looked at the statues again.

*Whoosh*

It was the same warm breeze, and she turned her head again, lifting her eyebrows. This time, she hadn't imagined it, or had she? She decided to test it, turning towards the statues.

*Pa*

Something hit the back of her head, and her heart skipped a beat. She turned around, raising her eyebrows.

"Seriously? Is it because I ignored you?"

Her words suddenly triggered a chain of whispers as people cast glances her way.

"Hey, look. She's talking to herself."

"She's so strange. I heard Lord Liam brought her here."

"What on earth is she doing here? Another one trying to climb the ranks by seducing him. How pathetic."

Mai ignored them and looked down at a dark hallway where the warm wind had come from. She was afraid of the dark, so she shook her head.

"Nope. Not today."

She turned around but felt something tug at her hair, making her turn back. She snorted and looked down the hallway again, furrowing her brows.

"Seriously?"

She gathered herself and walked slowly towards the hallway, following the warm wind that occasionally came to touch her. Every time she stopped, it emerged, and it felt like something invisible gently pulled at her, and her feet followed automatically. Suddenly, the wind stopped her in front of a black wooden door, which she cautiously opened.

*Creak*

The room was bright, with numerous large white pearls the size of an orb on a large round light stone altar that resembled the one she had lain on earlier, but this altar had a circle engraved in the stone. It was covered with pearls, forming a round carpet-like pattern. She approached the altar and gently held her right hand over the pearls, suddenly feeling a warm, strong stream shoot up into her palm. It tickled just like a warm wave.

*Ping*

Her stats suddenly appeared in front of her.

Skill points: 500

She blinked a few times and furrowed her brows.

"How did I get them?"

She looked down at the pearls and touched one that felt cold.

"Is it you who gave them to me?"

Her heart pounded fast, and she tried breath slowly, but it was challenging because she was damn excited.

"Heh. Does this mean I become invincible if I harvest pearls?"

But that meant she had to steal pearls from temples or boss steal, which she was against because she wasn't a thief.

She quickly distributed her points.

Name: Mai
Title: none
Attack: 85
Crit: 84
Pierce: 83
Resilience: 81
Defense: 81
Block: 81

HP: 1
Perception: 85

Charisma: 85

Wisdom: 85

Intelligence: 85

Block bonus: 36%

Crit bonus: 36%

She nodded and felt satisfied. The numbers still looked low, but it was always better than 0, as her little sister used to tell her. She was now reminded of her sister's health and checked her phone. To her shock, there was a flood of messages from her.

Anya: "Help. Where are you?"

Anya: "Help. There's a big monster here that's sucking souls out of us."

Her heart sank, and she felt a strange sensation in her stomach. All the messages were repeated and sent at the same time.

"2:58 pm."

It was 9:23 pm, and her sister lived in Malaga, Spain, which was about a 2.5-hour flight from here. She furrowed her brows.

"It's impossible for me to get there now."

She sighed and suddenly felt a throbbing in her forehead, a burning sensation, and was reminded of the sword from the demon lord. She hurried back, and since she had only come one way, there was only one way back. She stood again in front of the hospital hall, waiting in silence.

"I hope he hasn't noticed anything." she muttered.

Suddenly, the temple guardian came out and looked at her, and behind him stood Liam, staring at her, or rather, at her forehead. He raised his eyebrows and walked quickly toward her.

"What are you doing here?"

"I haven't been fully healed. I think there's a hole in me." Mai coughed lightly and made a worried face.

What else was she supposed to say? That a shadow-like demon lord stabbed her in the forehead?

"Lise, patch her up." ordered Liam.

A young woman with long red hair walked toward them, holding an aid kit in her hand, which made Mai raise her eyebrows. What the hell?

"I thought you were a Spirit Temple. Isn't it supposed to heal me with magic?"

Liam opened the kit, which consisted of small round compartments with small white pearls in them.

Mai raised her eyebrows at the sight and cleared her throat.

"I take back my words, sorry."

She was now very embarrassed.

Liam took a pearl and placed it, rubbing it on her forehead, but to his surprise, her forehead absorbed it. He raised his eyebrows and looked at Lise, who stood with her hand in front of her mouth with wide eyes.

"Oh my god."

"Holy mother," exclaimed the temple guardian, who looked like he had seen something he shouldn't have seen.

Mai, who had no idea what was happening, looked at them and then back at Liam. She couldn't feel anything on her forehead and wondered what he was up to.

"What's happening?"

Liam furrowed his brow, coughed lightly, and took out a new pearl, but before he could place it in front of her forehead, it automatically flew into her forehead. When Mai saw this, she thought he had used a wind element to make it fly toward her. She felt her forehead, but it was still red with blood, and she sighed.

"It's not working. It's a waste of pearls."

She felt a tingling on her forehead, touched it, and suddenly, the pearl flew out, and she felt a small physical bump. Her eyes widened, and she stared at it in her hand.

"Holy mother." she exclaimed, now also surprised.

Liam looked around but saw no one present. He sighed in relief and looked at the temple guardian and Lise.

"No one must know anything, or I'll come after you."

He turned to Mai with a pleading face.

"Can you take the other one out too?"

Mai didn't know how she had done it and covered her forehead again, but nothing happened. She massaged it a bit, felt a slight prick, and suddenly, she felt a small bump come out, and her heart skipped a beat. She gave the pearl to Liam and smiled slightly.

"Don't ask me to do that again."

She had a strange feeling inside, as if she were a glutton or succulent.

"Since these pearls don't help, there's no reason for you to stay here anymore."

Liam handed the aid kit back to Lise, and she left them without saying anything, still shocked.

Mai was reminded of her sister and looked at Liam.

"I'm not very keen on asking, but do you happen to have a jet plane I can borrow?"

Of course, he didn't.

"I..." Before Liam could answer, a group of five people appeared behind Mai, and he immediately looked over at them.

Mai turned around and saw a beautiful woman and four handsome men, one of whom stood out.

He wore a red cloak, chestnut brown hair, and a red headband on his head. His dark obsidian-like eyes radiated something mysterious, and his body emitted a dark purple aura resembling purple smoke. The man was Ezekiel, ranked number 1 in the world as the strongest person.

The purple color was Mai's favorite.

"Purple." she mumbled softly, but it was loud enough for Ezekiel to hear, and he looked at her, raising his eyebrows.

"God, Ezekiel, what are you doing here?" Liam asked, feigning ignorance.

The group approached them, and Ezekiel still stared at Mai.

"Don't call me god. That's ridiculous. Has Elder Wei not conveyed my message to you?"

He now looked at Liam.

"There are soul-sucking beasts that have appeared in different parts of the world. The government has evacuated several cities. I received a message earlier that Marbella is severely affected."

Mai's heart pounded fast, and she felt it crawl up her throat, swallowing hard.

"My sister lives there. When did you get the message?"

Ezekiel looked at her again with curious eyes and blinked.

"Who is this?"

"This is Mai. A... good friend," introduced Liam.

Mai tugged at his sleeve and gave him doe eyes.

"Do you have a jet plane?"