Chapter 148: Meeting Robert
Electa was still translating the book of the incubus, but from what she had already translated, they knew that the dual cultivation they were practicing depended on the cultivation of each side. Liam would benefit more the stronger his partners were, especially if they were virgins during their first session together, while his partners would benefit more if he was the stronger side.
As they had already experienced, every cultivation session could be beneficial to their magical growth. Even the strongest could benefit from cultivating with a weak partner.
The special herbs he already knew and used played a good role in improving things for the stronger side, making it more interesting to cultivate, even with low efficiency to the stronger side.
However, Liam wasn't the kind of man who needed to improve with every cultivation to be interested in the whole thing. He loved to possess his women, and for him, cultivating with Electa and Mary was too good; even if the effects completely disappeared for him, he would still have sex with them.
The fact that dual cultivation strengthened him was just a bonus!
He loved kissing his women, touching them, feeling their warm, wet insides, and hearing and seeing them come.
Despite the significant improvement of the day before, neither of the women had advanced, although they were getting closer to their crucial moment.
Electa was already at the last level of the second realm, and her breakthrough would be difficult to achieve. As for Mary, she was nearing the end of the 6-Star level, but since she had only just advanced, her cultivation with Liam the day before had not been enough.
Still, the two women had had their highlight of the day in their meeting with Liam, who had also talked to them about plans and their affairs in City Thirteen.
Yesterday, Myles and Enos had met in the arena and fought their long-awaited match for several outer disciples. Liam hadn't bothered to waste his time watching the fight. He was more concerned with his problems, and when he wasn't cultivating with his women, he focused his time on training the Mana Mask and having Thal'Korr cultivate in search of the third realm.
It was Electa who brought him news of this match between two top 5 members of the rank. As many expected, Myles had held his position and won!
But this result didn't come easily. The two Spirit Masters had battled in the arena for ten minutes, summoning all of their Spirits for the match and fighting to the limit.
Myles had won and had suffered none serious injuries, but he had come down from the platform with several cuts on his body and a slightly deformed face. Enos suffered more and was sent to the Infirmary unconscious.
Unfortunately for Liam, Enos didn't die—his death would have been an added relief for Liam.
The leader of Emerald Owls was not in critical condition and would only need a few days of rest to get back to 100%.
Today, Liam planned to go to the Beasts Hall to complete his weekly duties, having already planned to go to the Battle Hall the next day. As soon as he woke up in the morning, he followed his usual routine of eating something and then making his way to the Runes Hall.
His competitors in the Runes Hall already knew he had entered the Second Class, so there was no point in hiding it any longer. From now on, he planned to produce as many enchantments as possible until the day of the hall's big test for new Second Class Runemasters.
...
In the middle of the morning, Liam made his way to the coliseum, working his Mana Mask to the limit as he walked down the street.
He could feel the technique floating between the second phase and the first phase, a clear sign he was about to advance to the second phase of the technique.
Advancing to the next level of technique was not like advancing to the next level of cultivation.
When a cultivator cultivated, their task was to fill the space in their soul with mana until they reached their limits. At that point, the Spirit Master would have to inflate their soul, which was a delicate and dangerous task—for this reason, it was dangerous to interfere with a Spirit Master's cultivation.
Progress within a technique was gradual and variable. The user would improve their ability to use it gradually, sometimes with better performance, sometimes with less.
When the user reached the critical point between one phase and another, they would vary their efficiency in using the technique between the two phases, much like a faulty airplane trying to maintain its altitude.
The key to saying that one had reached the second phase of a technique was that the cultivator could use it most of the time above a certain level.
Liam was just at the point where he was trying to keep his efficiency in using the Mana Mask above the minimum level of the second phase, which would guarantee him much better effects with the technique. But for now, he was still experiencing instability, a sign that he still needed to consolidate his progress and use of the technique at a higher level.
With that in mind, he entered the coliseum and made his way to the cages' wing, where he should spend his next five hours.
"Liam, when you're done, come find me. Boss Robert is back and wants to talk to you," Lazarus said as he saw Liam on the underground level, where the groups responsible for the cages met to divide up their duties.
Liam picked up some equipment, already knowing what he had to do for the next few hours. When he heard Lazarus, he didn't think it was strange and promised to be back in five hours.
He and Mary had passed the Leopard's invitation to Electa and Jane. Electa had accepted it. She had never joined a faction before, because the local groups didn't keep an eye on her, and she didn't want to give up her freedom for minor roles. But after the recent incident, it made sense for her to have more support.
Jane declined the invitation, although she was grateful for the offer. The girl, according to Mary, had advanced to 7-Star the day before and had no plans to get involved in problems like the previous one.
She had fought Emerald Owls because they had put her life in danger. But now that they had killed some of the key members of the group and the situation seemed calmer, she preferred to continue focusing on her plants in the Essences Hall.
Neither Liam nor Leopard saw a problem with Jane's refusal, and everything was more or less fine for the group, at least as far as he was concerned.
Soon he would enter the first cage he had to work in this morning, the cage of a third realm beast, a creature five times his size, but which no longer frightened him.
Easily controlling the creature with the tools of the coliseum, Liam massaged its neck, a being that looked like a large bull with dragon characteristics.
"That's it, good boy, you're really calm, Hercules. Keep it up and we won't have problems," Liam said to the creature, which looked at him with its big black eyes and let out a long moo of complaint.
All the beasts in the coliseum had their nicknames, even if the bosses in the area didn't like it. But the men always ended up using names to refer to each creature, and some nicknames had become popular.
Hercules, despite his strength, was quite easy to handle, a docile creature that Liam would have no trouble keeping around a farm.
Liam grinned at the creature. He liked beasts. Working in the Beasts Hall was rarely boring for him. Whenever he was around the creatures, he thought about his future, his escape, and the aftermath.
His plans included hiding for a while after his escape. Live in the wild, maybe have some animals to look after and entertain himself, away from human eyes.
Giving the black bull's neck a gentle rub, Liam secured Hercules in a corner of the cage. He then proceeded to clean the area, replenishing the food and refreshing the water in the bull's tank.
He had Hercules' cage and three others to go through in the next few hours, something he would do with ease.
At the end of his work, sweaty and smelly, Liam would stop by the coliseum members' locker room to shower. As soon as he was done, he would make his way to Lazarus so the man could take him to the faction leader.
Based on his recent conversations with Ester, Liam imagined that Robert's call had something to do with the Silver-Winged Leopard. When he entered the man's office, he was prepared to hear about it.
"Liam, I've been hearing that you've been having quite a blast these past few weeks," remarked a burly man sporting a beard and a head of black hair. Dressed as a hunter in this charmingly retro room, he caught Liam's attention with his playful tone.