Still in his thoughts, Aiden was startled when he suddenly heard the heaving, exasperated voice of her Master talking in his mind.

'So… What do you say, kid? How did I do?' She asked, whilst her figure kept on heaving madly.

Aiden couldn't respond immediately, he was still under the effect of the tremendous amount of energy she seemingly consumed but was still left with enough to keep standing. Even worse, her mental tone still felt as if her thirst for battle wasn't completely quenched, as if she wanted even more.

Taking a few moments to gather his thoughts, Aiden eventually responded.

'Yes, Master. Your proficiency in handling your new energy surprised me. I thought you said you don't know how to use it? What happened then?' He asked, trying to control his burning curiosity and sound just mildly interested.

From being a wobbling, unstable mess from just a bit more than an hour ago, to be able to gather, compress and release such a high volume of her reserves was an astounding leap, even for Aiden.

'Hmm…' Number 3's voice came after a bit. She seemed to be in deep thought herself as if not entirely certain of what she did was deliberate. 'Truth be told, I'm not sure I can explain it… It just feels natural during combat… Yet, now, I'm not sure if I could repeat the same…' She explained.

As the dust slowly dissipated her figure was now becoming visible, causing Aiden to sigh at her sight.

Her clothes that she just took out from the ring that was now acting as an extension of herself and she could make material appear of disappear with just a single thought, was once again ragged and torn to shreds. The explosion burnt most of it away, leaving only a bit to cover up her delicate parts.

Yet, it seemed that she didn't seem to mind, or be bothered about it. Her interest was in something entirely different. As she looked up and her gaze matched with her disciples, the grin that stretched across her weary face was unmistakable.

Aiden's calm look instantly soured as she saw that hungry gaze, unconsciously taking a step back, and raising his hands in protest.

'No… Master, you are already tired, it wouldn't be fair…' He tried to argue, however, to no avail.

Her master's voice came almost instantly, her stern, strict, commanding tone leaving no room for further discussion or arguing.

'Aiden! Do not argue with me! Stand up in front of me, and fight! I need you to push me to my limits to see where this new body's full potential lies!'

Aiden could only sigh, and acquiesce to his elder's order. It was clear that before Number 3 felt spent, and at the same time, satisfied, she wouldn't allow anyone to move forward.

Knowing that he had around a bit over a full day to spend in Haven before he would need to return to the Mistress' mansion and that more than half of that time was already wasted with only just a bit of progress in regards to his original goal, he wanted to put an end to these tests finally and move on to work on his own skills finally.

Yet, he also couldn't deny that the thought of going all out and testing his new limits was a welcome prospect, Aiden quickly decided to agree to her request. Also, from what he had just seen, he was sure that her power was at the very least somewhere close to his, or maybe even higher…

Calmly, he walked forward, taking his place where the rest of his servants stood just barely a few minutes ago. Seeing all the wanton destruction the previous duel had caused, a thought sparked in his mind.

'Give me a moment, Master… Let me fix this…' He sent a quick note to Number 3 as he quickly brought up the System's interface, navigating to the top-down view of the landscape.

In the next moment, to Number 3's great surprise, suddenly the ground began to tremble. A light earthquake shook the land only for a brief moment, as the newly made crater, they were now standing in, was miraculously pushed up from below. In mere moments the field that was turned into a barren, scorched wasteland, shifted as if the last couple of minutes had never even happened.

The ground became flat, even once more, whilst the burnt, dark patches of land vanished at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving behind nothing but the healthy-looking deep, vibrant brown dirt under their feet.

A gust of wind blew, wafting away all the smoke and uncanny smell, giving way to the fresh, healthy Haven air to replace it in the next instant.

Everything happened at a lightning-fast speed causing Number 3 to be confused and dart her eyes from left to right, trying to process everything that was happening around her.

In the end, she turned to Aiden, who was now gazing at her with his usual calm, cool smile and nonchalant stature.

'What happened? What did you do?' She asked through their mental channel, finding it increasingly more convenient to rely on it rather than using her lips.

Aiden simply smiled, not responding to her question.

He took his place standing a few dozen or so yards away from his Master. Though he wasn't looking overly serious, his arms were now hanging beside his body, his hands were in a clawed position.

Then suddenly, his eyes flared up, glowing with all their glorious golden luster. His power unfolded, the draconic aura of his innate ability unfolded, putting an invisible pressure on the startled woman.

Still, though caught off-guard for a brief second, Number 3 quickly shifted, and straightened her pose, entering into a battle-ready stance once more. Unlike before, this time she was ready to act, and wasn't just lazing around like when she faced Aiden's group of servants.

She knew that this fight wouldn't be like anything before. Quite some time passed since the last time they trained and even then, she could feel that she couldn't so easily contend with the boy anymore, but had to put her focus and skills into the battle, fully committing to it.

However, a lot of things have happened since then, and while she stagnated for most of it, he did nothing but continued growing more and more powerful each passing day. He grew so strong, that she even doubted that if she were in her old body, she might not be able to contest him any longer.

Yet, this was exactly what she now wanted. Not knowing how far she could push this new, still unfamiliar body of hers, where the limits of her new strength lied, she needed a challenge that could actually test her.

Unfortunately, the four servants, Roas, Glohn, Gob, and the little Thuk were just not enough, they -though powerful in their own right- were just not enough to even begin to force her to unleash herself.

Seeing how the very air itself suddenly turned cold, and heavy, Number 3's excitement didn't falter. On the contrary, it merely reached new heights, as she gazed at her disciple standing like a fierce warrior of the legends in front of her.

Like that, she swiftly raised her arms to form a cross in front of her, just at the very same time as Aiden's figure suddenly vanished from his spot…

---

AN: Hey there Readers!

Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying the story through Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods!

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