"Is this our mother's seal?" Leila inquired.

"I doubt it," Aurianna shook her head. "Our mother's seal is filled with hostility towards us, but these ones seem protective, with a purple hue mixed with black sparkles."

"Could it be Iris protecting us?" Leila pondered.

"Well, she did appear as a kind sister in those dreams," Aurianna shrugged.

"I'm surprised to hear you say that the Black Gemaris is protecting you. It's rare for her to show concern for anyone," the Queen commented, her expression slightly displeased.

"Our sister is now the owner of the Black Gemaris," Aurianna clarified.

"I see. But I strongly advise you to avoid her. The former Gemaris who possessed the Black Gemaris became an insane and cruel woman so probably her inheritor would also descend into insanity. She would have the power to corrupt the minds of those she meets," the Queen warned gravely.

"I fail to see the problem," Aurianna shrugged.

"The problem is she might attempt to kill you," the Queen calmly replied.

‘Hmm, the more I hear about Iris, the more I wonder if she's really that bad,’ Aurianna thought, noting the Queen's concern.

"Oh well, I'll listen to your advice, Queen," Aurianna sighed, and the Queen's face brightened.

"Same for me," Leila added.

"Well, I hope everything goes smoothly for you, my Masters. I hope to see you soon!" the Queen said with a warm smile before disappearing.

"Oh, and Leila, once I'm done with King, I'll return him to you," Aurianna said with a thumbs up.

"You'll give him back to me?!" Leila asked, surprised.

"Why? Don't you want him?" Aurianna raised an eyebrow.

"It's not that, but Queen seems more useful than him," Leila nervously blurted out, scratching her cheek.

"I'm very hurt, Master," King's voice resonated in Aurianna and Leila's minds.

"No, no, you're useful, but only in a one-time attack. Which isn't so favorable in a one versus many fight, especially with your low accuracy to aim a powerful attack," Leila nervously explained.

"Leila, you're making King even sadder," Aurianna shook her head, and Leila looked guilty. But she couldn't deny that she didn't want King back.

"I'm sorry, King," Leila apologized, looking gloomy.

"Are you two finished?" Gumura asked as he suddenly appeared beside them.

"Oh yes, we're just wrapping up," Leila said, and Aurianna looked slightly disappointed that their conversation had to end so abruptly.

"Oh, Dokjil, you're finally here!" Leila chirped as she noticed a large blob of slime panting, resting on the ground, slowly morphing.

"You two have finally reached the stage where I can teach you!" Gumura said excitedly, standing before them.

"But first, you must eat these," Carol interrupted, walking towards Aurianna and Leila, handing them each a small gray ball.

"I can feel pain just by looking at it," Leila grimaced, and Aurianna nodded in agreement.

"How many monsters were killed to make these?" Aurianna asked, holding the ball between her fingers.

"Hehehe, more than a thousand high-level monsters for each of you!" Carol declared proudly.

"Hmm, I can see the souls hovering around it," Aurianna mumbled, noticing the flying balls of light and as she touched them they were quickly absorbed into her body.

"Well, let's eat!" she exclaimed, and she and Leila immediately swallowed the balls whole.

As soon as the ball settled into their stomachs, Aurianna and Leila immediately collapsed to the ground, hysterically screaming in pain. Their flesh began to melt and reform repeatedly, the poisons of those monsters destroying their bodies. However, their poison resistance and healing powers fought back, struggling to reduce the damage.

"Will they be alright?" Gumura asked, staring at them with an emotionless gaze.

"They'll just die and revive for a month due to the mana concentration and poison in those monsters. But they'll live, so there's no need to worry," Carol assured him, and Gumura nodded.

"I can't help but feel a bit worried," Gumura admitted.

"While they're in this state, they're vulnerable, so let's protect them!" Carol exclaimed.

"Wouldn't it have been better if they were inside the building instead of having spasms on the ground?" Gumura questioned. "They'll just get themselves dirty with all that dirt. Who knows which monsters had died there over the years? I've killed monsters who came into my territory."

"Inside the building? With them throwing hands and crushing the ground like that?" Carol retorted, pointing to Leila, who kept hitting the ground around her as she tried to endure the pain, while Aurianna was barely conscious.

"I suppose not," Gumura conceded, finally understanding Carol's point.

"Good, so now we wait," Carol said.

After a month and a half, Aurianna was busy vomiting in a corner, looking blue and sickly. Once she was done, she came to sit by Leila on a dusty chair. Leila too had a sickly expression, holding onto toilet paper tightly.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Aurianna patted her on the back, and Leila cried tears of shame.

"I felt horrible," Leila admitted.

"Me too. I hope such an experience never happens to me again. But I doubt such a wish would be fulfilled as long as we come here," Aurianna sighed.

"I agree," Leila nodded.

"Well, I can finally teach you girls poison magic. And once I'm done, you'll spar with Kisho and Dokgil," Gumura announced, but Aurianna and Leila still looked sickly.

"I just came to greet you, Master. I had no plans to be involved in this," Kisho shook his head frantically.

"Well, now you're involved!" Gumura declared with clasped hands.

"This old man!" Kisho gritted his teeth.

‘Well, I am interested in sparring with Kisho. He looks strong!’ Aurianna thought as she eyed the gloomy Kisho.

"Wait, before we spar, we train," Leila stated, looking at Gumura.

"Honestly, the training manual Eva gave me isn't so useful. Poison magic has all sorts of possibilities, and the only way to train with it is to consume more poisonous monsters. There's really nothing to teach once you've acquired the skills you want," Gumura shrugged.

"He has a point," Leila muttered, her chin resting on her hand in a thoughtful manner.

"So, are we going to be fighting monsters as well as Kisho and Dokgil?" Aurianna asked.

"Not yet," Gumura shook his head. "I want to stabilize the poisons in your system and also add my portion of poison into your body to enhance your poison magic!" Gumura stated happily, though his eyes remained cold, which Aurianna and Leila noticed.

"Free levels without years of rigorous training? Sounds good to me!" Aurianna exclaimed happily.

"I shall take it too," Leila nodded calmly.

"It will feel like hell, worse compared to what happened to you girls after eating those monsters Carol gave you."

"At this point, do you think I care how painful it is?" Aurianna said before biting her lips betraying the hesitation on her face and eyes.

“Well, I don't know,” Gumura shrugged.

"Don't worry, I guess we can handle it," Leila assured, but her voice wavered a bit.

"Aurianna screamed a lot, like a banshee, but I'm sure she can handle it," Carol added with a thumbs up, and Aurianna got up, glaring at her with a red face.

"Who the hell are you calling a banshee?" Aurianna asked coldly with her fists clenched on her sides.

"Aurianna, calm down," Leila intervened, placing her hand on Aurianna's shoulder. "It's not worth it," she shook her head. "She'll just solve this with force."

"Peh!" Aurianna scoffed, her embarrassed expression still visible, as she reluctantly sat back down.

"Let's do this, Gumura. I can take in the poison!" Aurianna raised her fist with a confident expression.

"Okay, then you two should come inside," Gumura said, gesturing towards a tall modern hotel building that looked strange to both Aurianna and Leila. Its beautiful design looked so out of place in the gloomy apocalypse type landscape.

"We're not lying on the ground?" Aurianna asked with a surprised expression.

"How filthy can you girls be? Ugh, why lie on this dirty, filthy ground when you can lie on a bed? If you'll thrash around and break stuff, I'll just immobilize your bodies," Gumura said with disdain and he shook his head.

"Well..." Aurianna and Leila both said as their eyes traced to Carol, Kisho, and Dokgil who stood nearby.

"Hey, why are you staring at us?" Kisho and Dokgil asked, feeling uncomfortable under the girls' scrutinizing gaze and they both exchanged confused glances.

"You should've been like your master!" Leila huffed as she eyed Dokgil.

"Leila's right!" Aurianna backed her up.

"Humph!" Both girls huffed, crossing their arms.

"I don't understand them," Kisho mumbled with a heavy sigh.

"Me neither," Dokgil shook his head, a confused expression on his face.

______

"Now, I want you two girls to lie down and try to be calm," Gumura instructed as Aurianna and Leila both lay on separate beds, with Gumura standing between them.

"I'm going to inject multiple toxins into you girls. It will be painful, but you told me you can endure it. Remember, you won't be able to move your bodies to vent out your pain," Gumura warned, making Aurianna and Leila feel nervous, but they yelled, "Bring it on!"

_____

"In the end, you were screaming like a banshee," Carol shook her head with crossed arms.

"If not for me having diarrhea, I'd try and fight her and land a slap!" Aurianna gritted her teeth, clenching her waist, though it didn't help the pain in her tummy, which caused her to frown in discomfort.

"Aurianna, it's not worth it," Leila shook her head as she had ghostly expression. After Gumura finally freed their bodies after injecting all that poison into them, Aurianna and Leila became best friends with the toilets for three consecutive days. Before they were out, they took a shower. However the pain still lingered in their stomachs.

"And Leila was trying to act all tough, but I saw she was crying. She's just a baby," Carol added with a teasing tone, a more fiery insult hurting Leila's pride and causing her to pout.

"On second thought, let's kill her," Leila said with an embarrassed expression.

"Agreed," Aurianna nodded.

"Ladies, calm down," Gumura intervened.

"In the end, your goal has been fulfilled. It's really crazy how my Poison Magic jumped from several levels to level 980," Aurianna said.

"Mine is 1190," Leila added proudly.

"But isn't this a cheat for us? I mean, I could just let a Light Magic domain master inject Light Magic into me, and it would increase my Light Magic level," Aurianna claimed excitedly with a cheeky smile.

"It doesn't work like that," Carol shook her head.

"Huh, why?" Aurianna asked, scrunching up her face.

"It only works for poison. Light Magic works better when you consume beings with Light Magic," Carol explained.

"Shit!" Aurianna cursed under her breath, frustration evident in her tone.

"Don't try to run away from hard work, Aurianna!" Carol berated her, her voice stern.

"I know, I know," Aurianna agreed begrudgingly, sinking back into the comfortable, clean chair she shared with Leila.

"Hmm, I feel like I'm forgetting something very important," Aurianna mumbled, furrowing her brow in concentration.

"Like the Hex Weaver?" Leila suggested.

"Ah, yes, the Hex Weaver!" Aurianna exclaimed, her eyes lighting up as the memory rushed back to her.

"Wait, how did you know?" Aurianna asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow as she turned to Leila.

"We share memories," Leila explained calmly.

"Oh, yeah," Aurianna nodded in understanding, her skepticism dissipating.

"They got over it more quickly than I expected," Gumura observed, taking a sip of his tea as he watched the two girls, with Koro, the butterfly monster, standing beside him quietly.

"That's how they are," Carol shrugged nonchalantly, her expression unreadable.

"So, what did Eva promise you for training them?" Gumura inquired, curiosity gleaming in his eyes.

"Well, I asked her to reduce my sentence," Carol replied, her gaze calm.

"Same for me!" Gumura chimed in.

"But I don't want to leave now, especially with those crazy Regals roaming the galaxies. I know I'm crazy, but those guys are monsters," Carol confessed, her expression troubled.

"Yess, I guess you can say that. They were the only beings, apart from Eva, that I'm terrified of. So, I don't think life here is too bad, you know?" Gumura remarked, his tone thoughtful.

"I guess you can say that," Carol agreed calmly, her gaze distant.

"And don't try reaching for my waist, you pervert!" Carol snapped suddenly, catching Gumura's hand behind her back and squeezing it until her hand started sizzling, before releasing it.

"Oh, come on, Carol, I believe I'm a good man!" Gumura protested innocently, rubbing his hand with a pained expression.

"I'd rather not melt! And you are too perverted!" Carol retorted sharply, her eyes narrowing.

"Hah, can you blame a man like myself who hasn't touched a lady in more than a hundred thousand years?" Gumura mumbled, stirring his tea slowly with a sulking expression.

"This is no time for you to be sulking!" Carol scolded him, her tone sharp.

"Ahhh, I forgot my promise I made to him. But I remember that I promised that when I had a very high level, I'll come back and try to make a contract with him. Thanks for reminding me, Leila," Aurianna said.

"You're welcome, but will that even work?" Leila asked curiously, her brow furrowed in thought.

"The Hex Weaver? You mean the one that owns that maze-like forest?" Carol interjected, her interest piqued as she overheard their conversation.