The last few days had gone smoothly as far as Maxine was concerned. Although Emily had asked her a few questions about cultivation those few days, Maxine had been thrilled when she found that Emily had managed to form an essence strand the day after she taught her. Emilys progress was as swift as her own. It was a good thing that she was a quick learner. She was in a good mood those few days. Althrough, she was still somewhat displeased she had to wear a sling even though her arm had healed. She knew it was for appearances, but it was still annoying.
Unfortunately, today she was too worried to be overly concerned about that. It was friday and she was going to reach copper stage rank 2 soon. She was worried that during her rank up in strength she would attract more essence beasts. Hence she went to an isolated park to upgrade her strength after school had ended. She took several laps around the park and saw no one was there. She sat down on a bench and cultivated the last stretch to rank 2. She knew she had reached it when the flow of essence in her blood became twice as dense as when she had first formed her core. The denser essence slowly seeped to every fiber of her being She could mind expanding as her spiritual sense gradually increased until it had become double of what it had. She hadn't the time to enjoy this sensation when she formed her core.
However, Maxine didn't become lax in this state. If anything, she became more alert and scanned her surroundings with all of her senses. She could not see or hear any essence beasts. Nor could she detect anything within the range of her spiritual sense. However that didn't mean anything. She maintained her vigilance for nearly thirty minutes. Once it was clear nothing was going to happen, Maxine let out a breath of relief. She felt alittle dizzy maintaining such concentration for so long, but it seemed her fears had been unwarranted. In a way, it was a relief to her that she may not have attracted that swarm of Sadist rats at her school. However, Maxine still couldn't discount the possibility that she may attract essence beasts only during a breakthrough from one stage to the next. If that was the case, she would deal with it when the problem presents itself.
Maxine got up and wondered how far her spiritual sense could actually go and tried to scan objects at an increasingly greater distance. She first scanned trees, rocks and the occasional squirrel. The detail at least of her spiritual sense had improved. She extended it further and found the limit of how far her spiritual sense would reach. She estimated it was roughly two hundred feet. Since her spirtual strength had doubled, she concluded her original range at rank 1 had been one hundred feet. If that increase remains consistent, I will be able to sense up to one thousand feet away at bronze stage.
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Maxine started to walk home with a spring in her step. The walk home didn't seem as long as her walk there. By the time she made it home, it was almost time for her mother to get home. She wanted to eat something special tonight and looked through the refrigerator and cabinets for what she needed. It was a recipe from one of her former companions in her past life. That man had been on hell of a cook.
She easily found all the ingredients she needed for it and started up the stove. Just as she finished cooking the meal, her mother came home. Her mother looked exhausted, but as she smelled the meal Maxine had made her face brightened considerably. She sat down and they talked while they ate. It became quite embaressing for her when her mother asked about Emily and how far they had gotten in their relationship. Maxine hadn't been aware that her mother knew about her sexual orientation.
It was a peaceful evening. One that she thoroughly enjoyed. It wasn't until her mother recieved a phone call that it changed. It was her father's lawyer. He was going to have trail next week, but since they caught him hitting Maxine, it was nothing more than a formality. It was clear that her father would go to prison. Her mother looked both relieved at first but quickly became depressed. Maxine had a hard time understanding her mother's love for a man that hit her and her daughter for five years.
When she caught herself feeling bad for her mother, she shook her head and went to her room. What the hell is wrong with me? Why should I feel sorry for that child endangering bitch. Maxine had to keep reminding herself that her mother had covered for her father's abusive ways. If there was any justice, her mother should be right beside her father facing the court for child abuse, but part of her didn't want to see that happen. She knew the root cause of those feelings. The original Maxine's fragmented soul was still lingering on inside her body. It was faint but there. The poor girl had loved her parents even after everything they had done and those feelings were transfering over. Still Maxine couldn't change her plans regardless of these feelings. It would push her abilities to the limit to just to look after and teach the inexperienced Emily, let alone having the capability to protect a non-combatant. It felt wrong, but she would have to abandon her mother in order to survive what's coming. Not unless she could find an additional essence cultivator as an ally. Amanda might count as one, but unfortunately she didn't know of any others that would be able and willing. Convincing Amanda to leave would be challenging to say the least. Maxine had already been wondering how to convince Emily to flee with her as it was. Maxine knew that in order to appease the soul of the original Maxine and save her mother; she would have to figure out a way to convince them both. Maybe then the original Maxine could rest in peace.