Riya hesitated a little, but after some thought, she decided to speak her speculation directly.
"Actually... this Training Breakthrough. If everything goes how I am calculating, then you probably don't need to waste that much longer time passing it, as I will be able to calculate what needs to be done to cross it."
It was not too difficult for her to do this. With Mind Space and her involvement, it was actually fairly easy to calculate all that. In fact, the difficulty of figuring this out would be infinitely easier than stat increases that she has to actively work for with each increase, as there are too many things to take care of. She could even calculate for Lyria and Livy too, as long as they don't resist Eric's Mana within them.
Eric was impressed by Riya. She had everything prepared!
Just what did he do to receive such a pretty A.I. wife? He was not worthy!
Riya blushed and started fidgeting in embarrassment, though no one could see that.
The largest reason for her success was her own home and Eric's accidentally created useless capability—Mind Space. She just happened to be able to use it to its full extent, which even Eric himself would never be able to.
Eric coughed and spoke aloud to the two shameless girls who were busy taking advantage of his pure body without any intention of stopping.
"Let's return. I'm sure neither of you has informed Grandma of leaving to spend the night in the forest. She must be very worried by now."
Lyria and Livy sat back in embarrassment. Indeed, they had never informed Bella Noll of their decision to go deeper into the forest in search of Eric.
For some reason, both Lyria and Livy were extremely happy at this moment—so much so that they didn't know how to express it. So, they just blushed and acted like newlyweds.
Eric felt chills watching both girls. So, he quickly ignored them, stood up, and stretched.
"Let's first head back to those dead uncle-nephew pairs. I want to do a quick check and also need to chop Cooper's body into pieces with this sword."
Eric brought out his beautiful deep-green-looking sword from his ring and showed it to Lyria and Livy.
Both Lyria and Livy's eyes widened in shock and amazement at the sight of the exquisite deep-green sheath.
They wondered how stunning the weapon would be if the sheath itself was so gorgeous.
Even Livy couldn't help but try to reach out to see the sword for herself.
But Lyria was faster than Livy.
She snatched the sword so fast that even Eric was dumbfounded.
Lyria gave one quick glance at the sheath, felt the weight, and finally could no longer hold back—she pulled out the sword completely and was dazed.
Even Livy was stunned, marveling at the deep-greenish, transparent glass-like sword.
They had never seen anything close to as beautiful as this sword in their lives. Even Bella Noll's high-grade Tier 2 Blade was nothing compared to this sword in terms of beauty.
They both fell in love, especially Lyria, who was already tempted to cut her own hand with the sword... just to feel its sharpness...
Eric quickly snatched back the sword before Lyria did something that would give him a major heart attack.
Lyria blushed in embarrassment. She only now realized that she had actually snatched the sword from Eric's hand. But her eyes remained glued to the sword.
The leaf-like thing embedded in the sword made it look as if it had been created by a tree itself—something no human could craft.
"What a stunning sword, but is this sword even that sharp and sturdy? Won't it easily break when slashing Cooper's body? Also, why do we need to cut him into pieces?" Livy asked while staring at the sword, though her focus was more on glaring at Lyria for taking it from her.
"Try it, then." Eric chuckled and handed the sword to Livy while explaining, "If we leave Cooper's body here, a new Rank 1 undead might take this forest as its home in the future."
Since Eric couldn't turn Cooper to ash—all because he missed the Fire Element—chopping was the only solution.
"Ah... that's true..." Livy nodded while taking the sword.
She looked around for a place to test it, as she was very afraid it might snap—it looked as fragile as glass.
Lyria glared at Livy with hatred, but she couldn't snatch the sword back, as Eric himself had handed it to Livy.
Eric pointed at a half-meter-tall stone. "Go ahead, try it on that."
He was confident it wouldn't break, as he had stabbed the cliff wall multiple times with it.
Livy hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
She slashed vertically on the stone, and it was smoothly cut through as if it were a vegetable.
Even the inside of the rock was as smooth as a mirror—the cleanest cut either Lyria or Livy had ever seen.
Both of them gaped and quickly checked if the stone was just mud in disguise.
After confirming the truth, they stared at the sword in wonder.
Eric confirmed their thoughts. "This is a low-grade Tier 1 sword—far lower in grade than Grandma's blade—but the quality of this sword is very high. It could probably even match a mid- or high-grade Tier 1."
He had heard this from Elara. Even though both the sword and bow were low-tier, they seemed to have been crafted by a highly skilled High Elf blacksmith, and the metal was also of exceptional quality for its tier.
Seeing Livy caressing the sword lovingly while Lyria watched with deep jealousy, Eric smiled.
"Liv, you can keep the sword," Eric said.
He was certain that these low-grade Tier 1 weapons wouldn't be that helpful in the long term, as they'd likely craft far higher-tier weapons by the time they left the island.
"W-what? I also want a weapon! Let's have a competition between me and Liv, and let the victor have it!" Lyria protested immediately.
Livy gave Lyria a disdainful glance and snorted, "You don't even prefer using weapons—what do you need this sword for?"
"Humph! Even if I prefer fighting barehanded, that doesn't mean I can't use weapons! I'm far more worthy to hold that pretty sword than a monkey like you!" Lyria sneered.
"As a monkey, I'm far swifter than you, gorilla! Who's afraid of you? Let's fight!"
Livy couldn't lose a gift personally given by Eric, no matter what. She was determined to win against Lyria.
What was hers was rightfully hers!
Just as Lyria was about to charge, Eric stopped her helplessly. "Alright, stop."
He pulled out his bow from his ring and handed it to the gaping amber-eyed girl. "This bow is of the same quality, and it can still conjure arrows. Take it. It's yours, Gor—ahem, Ly!" He nearly went with Livy's flow.
Lyria was dumbstruck by such a pretty bow—one that seemed more like white flower petals than a killing weapon.
"A-are you sure, Brother Eric? Isn't this too expensive? Am I worthy..." Lyria asked while gently stroking the bow with adoration.
She had already fallen in love with its white crystal-feather design. It was simply too gorgeous. Even though it was the same grade, the bow was far heavier than the sword, and she could even smell Eric's scent lingering on it—as if he had used it extensively.
Even Livy was feeling butterflies fluttering as she watched the beautiful bow. It seemed less like a bow and more like an artistically decorative masterpiece.
"Of course. Don't worry—the bow is yours, Ly. Let's go. It's better if we can return to town before evening."
Eric didn't want either Lyria or Livy to become Mana Wielders inside the forest. Even though it would increase their traveling speed, he felt it was better if they became Mana Wielders in the presence of Bella Noll. She was, after all, their parent and mentor who didn't have long to live. At least this much they should do—which he himself wasn't able to.
And perhaps it would also give Bella Noll happiness. It was similar to watching her daughters get married, ahem.
Eric, Lyria, and Livy soon returned to the previous battle site.
Seeing the aftermath—dozens of giant trees uprooted as if a tornado had passed—both Lyria and Livy's eyebrows shot up in shock.
Previously, it had been dark, and they'd been too focused on the battle to notice their surroundings. Only now, looking at the catastrophic wreckage, did they realize what a Mana Wielder's battlefield truly meant—and they wondered how they, mere mortals, had survived.
Eric soon found Cooper's body beside a large tree and inspected it.
As expected, there was nothing—no Space Pouches, no Rings.
He turned to Livy. "Liv, can you give me the sword? If mincing this guy is too much for you."
Livy trembled but stood firm. "D-don't worry, Brother Eric! I'll do it!"
Even if she was soft-hearted, that didn't mean she couldn't cut someone—especially that hateful Cooper. She'd make sure to sever every limb.
Eric nodded and didn't mind.
He then walked toward the last place he'd seen Jack's body.
When Jack was bisected, Eric had noticed a pouch on his waist and two daggers or something similar sticking out.
Since the moment he pieced together what had happened, something had deeply puzzled him.
What had this uncle-nephew pair even wanted from Lyria and Livy? What were their motives?
If killing them was their goal, Jack wouldn't have needed to tag along—Cooper would've been faster alone.
So why? What were they betting on? It couldn't be as simple as forcing Lyria and Livy to follow them home—not while Bella Noll was still alive.
They absolutely won't give an opening for Bella Noll to point her finger at the Eldridge family; otherwise, even the town mayor, Jarvis, won't be able to survive Bella Noll's wrath.
Eric and everyone in the orphanage knew how much Bella Noll loved both Lyria and Livy. If anything terrible happened to them, she would pretty much use all her remaining lifespan to end Cooper's entire family—and perhaps all Mana Wielders in the town, if she felt like it, before she herself died.
Eric lifted and moved a thick tree to find Jack, who was crushed further and was just one step away from becoming 2D art.
Eric turned back and saw Lyria using Cooper's body as her archery practice while Livy watched in amazement at the power of the arrows, clapping her hands.
He shook his head with a smile and leaned down to take away the intact satchel on Jack's dissected lower body.