"Hmph... Hmph... Ughh! Just a little more!" Raum cried as he squeezed himself through the small hole in the wall.

"Did I become fat? Maybe? After all those snacks from the girls, I won't be surprised if I gain more weight."

It's worth mentioning that Raum is very popular among the women in the warehouse. Most of them had never seen a talking bird, and coupled with the way Raum was trying to behave like a tough guy or something, it made him look 'cute' in their eyes.

So they bribed him with food just to play with him when he was guarding the warehouse while Aron, Pethra, and Kasumi went shopping. Luna was the first to approach him, and Raum really liked the shy Elf.

Fully passing through the hole, Raum found himself on the other side of the wall. He glanced around and found traces of the two girls.

Sniff. Sniff

He began to feel nervous when a foul smell of rotten flesh entered his nose. Fearing the worst outcome, he immediately flew in the opposite direction, following the smell.

…

"Wait! Get back in here, you little shits!" Maxwell shouted at Luna and Pethra.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't catch them. Due to his condition, running was difficult for him. However, he had an advantage against the two girls. Maxwell knew the layout of this Castle very well because he had spent more than half a year in this place, and the turn that Pethra and Luna took was a dead-end.

"!!!" Pethra and Luna immediately came to a halt when they saw yet another wall blocking their path.

"Let's go back and try a different path," Pethra said in a hurry as she turned around, but Luna immediately grabbed her arm.

"We can't. He's already here," she said, referring to Maxwell, who appeared shortly after.

"Humph... There you are! Physical exercise is not good for my health... Humph... But you two forced me to run after you all the way."

"Tell me, who are you? And what are you doing here? And don't try to lie to me. You're not one of my faction members," he asked, trying to extract information from them.

However, Pethra was not in the mood to answer any questions. First, she was forced to be separated from Aron.

Secondly, she was also separated from her group along with Luna, and now the Leader of the Rat faction himself was trying to capture her and extract information from her.

So what did the little blond mage do? Well, she raised her staff in the air and cast an earth spell, 'earth arrows,' a simple yet powerful spell that creates arrows, as the name suggests.

Swoosh.

"..." Maxwell raised an eyebrow when he saw that one of the girls was a mage, and she actually attacked him all of a sudden. His surprise quickly turned into anger as the earth's arrows flew towards him.

Reacting swiftly, he summoned a magical shield made from a green liquid. When the arrows collided with the green shield, they instantly dissolved into nothing, unable to penetrate or cause any harm to him.

'Tsk, not good,' Pethra clicked her tongue. She looked around for other ways to use her magic. However, these ruins were made of a material that Pethra couldn't apply her earth magic to.

This is the difference between a Master mage and a novice one. When a mage reaches a higher level of mastery over their own magic, they can use their Mana to materialize an Element.

For example, if an Earth Master was here, they could use their Mana to cast any earth spell without the need for existing dirt and mud on the ground, unlike a novice or even some higher-tier mages who still hadn't reached that level of mastery. They could only use their Mana to manipulate an existing element. A Water mage needs to be close to water, a fire mage to fire, earth mages to earth, etc.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

However, this only applies to medium-level spells and above. Anyone can cast a low-level spell with ease, like filling a cup with water or starting a small flame on the tip of their fingers, or in Pethra's case, firing earth arrows.

This was one of the reasons Pethra assumed that Aron was an Arch-mage when she saw him cast a high-level Fire spell out of nothing, but alas, that was all because he is a Dragon.

Pethra, on the other hand, hadn't reached that level of mastery over her magic. Some may consider her a genius for just being able to manipulate the earth to some degree, like when she made the earth swallow Vincent's mansion as a whole. That alone was a huge feat, given her young age.

"That was a bad mistake," Maxwell said in anger, and he immediately pointed his finger at Pethra, releasing a green liquid that flew in her direction at high speed.

As Maxwell unleashed his attack, Pethra's eyes widened in alarm. She quickly realized that she needed to defend herself against the incoming green liquid. Thinking on her feet, Pethra conjured another volley of earth arrows, sending them flying toward Maxwell's green liquid attack with a swift motion.

Pethra managed to snipe his attack with her arrows, but the arrows that made contact with that green liquid immediately began to dissolve as if they were hit by highly concentrated acid or something.

'A poison magic!' Pethra opened her eyes in shock, her heart racing as she recognized Maxwell's green liquid attack as a potent poison. She knew she had to be careful, as any contact with the substance could have dire consequences.

Luna, behind her, remained silent. She kept gazing at Maxwell dangerously while slowly preparing her water magic. She carefully pulled Pethra's robe from behind.

Pethra glanced slightly out of the corner of her eyes and saw water gathering around Luna's hand.

"I advise you two to surrender peacefully," Maxwell suddenly spoke, "or I won't guarantee your lives."

Pethra smirked. "Surrender? Guarantee? Oh, please! We are not that stupid. You'll kill us the moment you get what you need from us."

"..." Maxwell narrowed his eyes and took a step forward, but Pethra quickly shouted at him.

"STOP! Don't come any closer."

Maxwell smiled, thinking that the girls were scared of him. He believed that this way, he could force them to surrender.

However, Pethra covered her nose. "You smell like a dead rat."

Maxwell's smile threatened to break. "You insolent brat!" he growled.

"AAAAH! Don't speak. Your breath smells like shit! What have you been eating so far?" Pethra interrupted him with a disgusted expression on her face.

The reason for her insults was just to buy time for Luna; also, Pethra noticed something strange. Blood was dripping from Maxwell's finger, the same one he used to cast his spell. Also, some bandages on his body turned red, showing Pethra that some parts of Maxwell's body were bleeding slightly under those bandages.

Pethra was smart enough to understand that his magic affected him somehow. She quickly made the assumption that he couldn't use his magic for too long without damaging his health.

"You dare insult me! Brat! Ripping your limbs apart won't be enough. I'll have your organs melted with my poison." Maxwell's anger intensified as Pethra insulted him, his threats becoming more sinister. He was determined to punish her for her insolence and make her suffer.

"Pfft HAHAHA~" Pethra began laughing for some reason, confusing Maxwell and even Luna.

"HAAA! I advise you not to do that, for your own sake."

Maxwell narrowed his sick eyes and asked, "Why is that?"

Pethra displayed a dark and sadistic smile that caught both Maxwell and Luna off guard.

"You'll suffer a thousand years of torture without the ability to die."

Maxwell was surprised when he heard Pethra's chilling words, and for a moment, he believed her words completely.

Luna, standing behind Pethra, felt a shiver run down her spine. She wondered how Pethra could have this level of courage. Pethra didn't back down or allow this sick man to threaten her in any way.

Pethra's smile widened, sending chills down Maxwell's spine. He realized that there was more to this seemingly innocent girl than met the eye.

"What... What are you talking about?" Maxwell stuttered, his confidence shaken for a moment.

Pethra maintained her unnerving smile, enjoying the fear she had instilled in Maxwell. She spoke in a low, sinister tone, her eyes fixed on him.

"You see, I have a very obsessive and overprotective man who cares deeply about me, and he happens to be a powerful and terrifying existence. You will die a million times before you get the chance to harm me."

What she said was true. Aron wouldn't allow anyone, no matter who they were, to harm his 'treasures.'

'Funny, who would have thought that I'd have the courage to say something like this to a Faction leader? From the moment Aron became my family, I began to feel more confident in myself.'

Maxwell's mind raced, trying to comprehend the implications of Pethra's words. Who could be this person she spoke of? And how powerful and terrifying could they really be? Was she speaking the truth or bluffing?

After a moment of silence, Maxwell sighed as he gazed at the ceiling.

"You almost got me. For a moment, I believed your words."

"Luna, whatever you're planning to do, do it quickly."

Luna raised two fingers at Pethra. "Give me two minutes."

"I don't think we have two minutes."

Maxwell lowered his head and gazed at the two girls.

"Even if your words are true, if you die, no one is going to find out."

And with that, a powerful surge of poison magic burst out from his hands in the shape of green balls, heading towards the two girls at high speed.