Max smiled as he watched the arrows curving mid-air, flying toward him.
He could, if he wanted, take them down with his Magic Bullets skill, but he didn't want to reveal too much of his strength to others. Therefore, he decided to handle them with just his sword.
With his Three Dimensional Body skill, Max instantly analyzed the trajectory and movement of the six blazing arrows. Their fiery arcs appeared almost sluggish to his heightened senses as they streaked toward him.
With perfect timing, he stepped forward and positioned himself firmly. His grip tightened around his sword as he unleashed his 'Flurry Strike' skill.
In a blur of motion, Max shot forward with six rapid thrusts, each strike slicing through the air with unparalleled speed.
Six sword shadows surged out from his sword—sharp and precise—racing to intercept the incoming blazing arrows.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
With a series of deafening explosions, each of the six blazing arrows detonated mid-air, their fiery energy dissipating harmlessly into the surrounding space. The sword shadows had intercepted each arrow perfectly, neutralizing their explosive power before they could reach Max.
"This!" Alice stood frozen, her eyes wide in disbelief as she tried to process what had just happened. What she had seen earlier was impressive, but this... this was on a completely different level.
She had watched Max intercept her arrow with impressive precision before, but the way his sword shadows sliced through the air, effortlessly deflecting the blazing projectiles, was beyond anything she could easily understand.
A deep curiosity stirred in Alice. 'Who is he?' She couldn't shake the growing realization that Max was far more than she had initially thought.
"Alright, last attack." Max said, smiling. "Let's finish this quickly. We also need to go to the boss chamber, right?"
Alice nodded, taking out her sword. 'If I'm not mistaken, he must have awakened a swordmaster class, but even so, that still wouldn't be enough for him to battle someone at level 8 with his level 4 strength.' She couldn't make sense of Max's strength, so she stopped thinking about it and focused on her final move.
"Ready?" she asked.
"Born ready," Max replied confidently.
"Then take my sword!" Alice shouted as she dashed toward him. Once she reached him, she attacked. Her sword immediately blazed with red flames as she swung it down in a full, powerful slash.
Seeing the attack, Max held his sword firmly in front of him.
CLANG!
A deep metallic clash reverberated throughout the entire charred forest as the two swords collided.
"This! How?!" Alice was once again stunned, even more shocked than before.
Their swords interlocked, but Max was hardly even trying. He simply stood there with his sword while her blade blazed with red flames. Yet, she couldn't budge his sword at all.
It was like she had attacked a metallic wall not a person holding a sword.
"Alright, you win." Alice sighed, accepting her defeat and retreating. She then tossed a ring to Max.
Max caught the ring. 'Could this be a storage ring?' he thought, sensing the items inside. What he saw inside shocked him to the core. "So many mana crystals?"
"Apparently, this lava serpent had collected all the mana crystals in the charred forest region for its advancement to level 10," Alice shrugged, explaining the details.
Max nodded, his hands trembling with excitement. 'My days of becoming rich are here again.' he thought, stashing the storage ring away.
Looking back at Alice, Max smiled slyly. "You didn't even use your full strength in the sword attack just now, did you?"
"You got it wrong." Alice shook her head, trying to dismiss the thought, but deep down, she knew it was true. In fact, she hadn't used even half of her strength—she had barely used 10% of it, just enough to let Max win the bet between them.
The reason was simple: Max's talent.
Alice firmly believed that if Max joined the Phoenix Order, he would undoubtedly stir up waves that would shock the entire guild. And if that meant she had to lose for that to happen, then so be it. It was not like she would really lose if she had used her true strength.
Max smiled, noticing how Alice avoided the topic, but he didn't press her further. He understood her reasoning perfectly—why she had done what she did.
'It seems trying to show off my strength worked,' Max mused. He had a hunch that these two girls held certain positions in the Phoenix Order guild; otherwise, they wouldn't have been escorted by an old man whose strength he couldn't see through.
From that, Max deduced that the old man was likely a bodyguard for the two ladies. It was clear their status was high enough to warrant being escorted by a protector wherever they went.
'Anyway, it's a win-win situation for me,' Max thought, smiling.
"What's your name?" Alice asked at that moment.
Max's eyes widened slightly as he realized he hadn't even asked their names.
"I am Max... Max Morgan," he said, pausing briefly. He didn't want to reveal his 'Voidwalker' surname to others. He believed his family had named him Morgan for a reason.
"What about you two?" he asked, taking the opportunity.
"I am Alice, and she is my friend, Amy," Alice introduced herself and her maid.
Max nodded and asked, "So, Alice, I take it you're recommending me to your guild?"
Alice contemplated for a moment before asking, "Why do you want to join the Phoenix Order?"
Max frowned at her question. "Why? Is that even a question?" He shrugged. "Because I want to learn how to control flames. It's as simple as that."
"Do you have flame-related skills? Is your class flame-oriented?" Alice asked two questions in quick succession.
"Of course, my class is flame-oriented." Max scoffed. "Otherwise, why would I have come to this stupid dungeon? I know about the secret chamber in this dungeon, and it holds a fire-related skill... probably... that's what I'm here for." He explained.
Alice nodded in contemplation. "Alright, which city do you live in?"
"Inner Circle, Dustfall District, Crestford City," Max replied.
Alice nodded, tapping her wrist. A hologram displaying a map of the entire Inner Circle appeared before her. She marked Max's city and swiped her hand to put everything away.
"I've noted down your city," Alice said, looking at Max. "On the day the branch of our guild holds the recruitment test, someone will come for you."
She added, "But know that your entry isn't guaranteed."
"What do you mean?" Max asked, frowning.
Alice explained, "I can only recommend you. It will be the guild's management who will send a member down to your city in the Inner Circle on the day of the recruitment. If you can impress that person with your strength, your entry to the Core Region is fixed. Otherwise, forget about it."
Max pondered for a moment and nodded. "Fine by me," he replied, smiling. If revealing a bit of strength would increase his chances of being recruited into the Phoenix Order, then he wouldn't mind doing so.