Being posed the question of whether or not she still wished to beco Ardea's apprentice, Lilia nodded her head in confirmation.
She wanted to be strong enough to protect those close to her and receiving instruction from soone as powerful as Ardea would allow her to make great strides in that regard.
Going through the special dungeon had already made her several tis more powerful, giving her more skills and allowing her to achieve the highest class of evolution. Still, she had a way to go to reach the realm of the truly powerful where Ardea was.
"Good, I am glad to see you are still interested. I know that it has not been quite three years yet, but I can already see that you have gotten much stronger. I doubt you will have any trouble reaching the standards I set when first thinking about taking you as an apprentice." Ardea said with a smile on her face.
After that the four of them talked for a few more minutes about what they had all been up to, until it was ti for bed.
"Ah, it has been too long. There is sothing comforting about one's own bed that cannot be experienced anywhere else." Marcus said as he threw himself onto his large fluffy mattress.
It had been a long ti since he used his own bed, and while he found Mrazivý's plenty comfortable, there was just sothing special about his own.
Swiftly Marcus shut his mind off and went to sleep. Wanting to recharge ntally from all the stress of planning a wedding.
The next day when he woke up, he felt much better since he did not have to worry about any wedding details. At least for the rest of the day.
Breakfast was soon served, and he ate along with Lilia, Jaela, and Ardea.
"You certainly like sweet things." Marcus said as he watched Jaela add a large serving of jam to her bread.
"Yeah, I mostly just eat fruits from the forest and even make my own preserves with them. It has caused to develop quite the sweet tooth.' Jaela said proudly as she took a bite out of her bread slathered in jam. Or as Marcus figured, her jam that was sitting atop a piece of bread.
The leisure ti of breakfast went on for nearly an hour, before Ardea suddenly fixed Lilia with a serious gaze.
"I think now is as good of a ti as any to test out just how far you have co in these three years."
Her eyes becoming sharp, Lilia was ready to show off the power and skills she had obtained.
Leading the way Marcus brought the four of them to a secluded area on the estate that was far away from the mansion as a precaution. He did not want it getting damaged in any way.
He also made sure that all of the servants and guards knew to stay far away, since if Lilia used a serious attack just the shockwaves could seriously hurt them.
"Now start with a normal punch. No enchantnts with any skills. Just a blow with all the force you can naturally put behind it."
Taking her stance Lilia prepared to do as Ardea asked. Bring her focus up to its peak.
Seeing how serious Lilia was and how much her form had improved, Ardea without thinking said, "Oh!" in genuine surprise.
Lilia had been far from weak the last ti Ardea had tested her, but that was three years ago, and Lilia today was like a completely different person.
With a loud clap Lilia disappeared from where she had been standing and punched out towards Ardea.
Her speed was sothing else, her physical abilities well beyond what anyone else at her level would have without using any skills or magic.
This was thanks to her new Supre Skill, Unmatched Entity, which gave her the sa buff as all of her unique skills from the Peerless series combined.
Ardea's lax posture quickly changed as she realized Lilia's attack was far greater than she had anticipated, and instead of simply taking it in the stomach as she planned, she reached out with her palm to et the strike.
When Lilia's fist connected with Ardea's palm, a burst of light shot out from the intense heat generated from her strike.
The force behind her attack was incredibly great, and even as Ardea reinforced the ground around them it still quaked and cracked apart.
Eventually the power and montum behind Lilia's attack waned and a puff of stead escaped as she separated from Ardea.
"To think you could have gotten this strong in only three years. You are already far more powerful than I was when I beca an apprentice. I had planned on giving you so other tests as well, but I see there is no need. You most certainly pass."
Hearing this Lilia's composure broke, and she began jumping up into the air and cheering. Looking far closer to her age than she had before when displaying such a serious expression.
"What a monster." Ardea mumbled as she looked at her hand.
She had t Lilia's attack head on without using any magic or skills to match Lilia. Yet, despite her level being nearly thirty higher than Lilia's, she felt a little sore for a mont before her regeneration kicked in.
This just went to show how absurdly high Lilia's base strength was.
Once Lilia had finished celebrating and cald down, Ardea told her to stand in front of her with a serious expression.
"Jaela, would you act as my witness?" Ardea asked.
A bit caught off guard by being asked this, Jaela's stood still in a daze for a mont before standing up straight and nodding her head.
"Sure, that is no problem. It is not really necessary, but I do not mind." Jaela said as she moved over and stood next to Ardea.
At this point both Marcus and Lilia were wondering what was going on but kept quiet since Ardea and Jaela seed to be doing sothing important.
"Now let us begin." Ardea said.
A few seconds later a large amount of mana began to pour out of her and ford a magic circle around her, Lilia, and Jaela.
For an instant Marcus was worried and nearly jumped in but held himself back.
"I Ardea Masgrel, the Grand Witch of the Peaks, hereby recognize Lilia Geist as my apprentice and successor."
"I Jaela Berdicesh, the Grand Witch of the Forests, stand witness to this binding. Should it be necessary, I shall assist Lilia in her duties to beco the next Grand Witch of the Peaks should Ardea fall before passing on all of her knowledge and stand behind her should her claim be challenged."
After the two of them said this the magic circle closed in around Lilia and began spinning around her.
"Lilia, do you accept the position of Apprentice of the Grand Witch of the Peaks?" Ardea asked.
With a resolute expression Lilia nodded her head, and said, "Yes I accept."
Once her confirmation was given the magic circle around her shrunk further, until it reached her feet and began climbing her body.
A soft brown colored glow released from Lillia's body for nearly a dozen seconds before fading away.
"Good, the ritual worked. You are now formally my appreciate and have received the title, Grand Witch of the Peaks Apprentice." Ardea said as she happily patted Lilia on the back.
Opening and closing her hands multiple tis and challenging her mana, Lilia could already feel a profound difference.
The title she had just received was actually her first, and the stats boost it gave was not insignificant.
"For a full grand witch, it is twelve percent and for an apprentice it is six percent. You will also find that it is easier to learn and wield earth magic since you are my apprentice. Though we will need to work on teaching you that since it is a requirent you will need to et." Ardea said to Lilia as she explained what being her apprentice ant.
While they were doing that Marcus walked over to Jaela and asked her about her part in the ritual.
"Oh, as another Grand Witch I am basically assuring Lilia's position. I know it is a bit dour to talk about, but death can co at any mont. If Ardea suddenly died before Lilia was ready to take her place as the next grand Witch of the Peaks, she could lose her title and soone else entirely could take it over. In the case a Grand Witch dies without their apprentice having the necessary qualification to take their place then all the Grand Witches get together to choose soone. There have been cases in the past where apprentices lost their masters early on and did not succeed them because we picked soone else we thought was better suited. But with my oath to assist Lilia should she need it, her position is secure so long as both of us don't die. Of course, this is only a precaution and likely will not co into play." Jaela explained.
"Thanks for doing that. I know that Lilia has been looking forward to this."
"No problem. I like you and your little sister and am willing to help out." Jaela said while shrugging her shoulder to show that it was not a big deal.
After a few minutes Lilia and Ardea finished talking and ca back over.
"We have decided that co fall Lilia will join to train as my apprentice. Until then she will stick around and finish any business she has here. Of course, you can feel free to visit her anyti Marcus." Ardea said.
She then turned to Jaela with a mischievous grin, and said, "Now you are the only one of us that does not have an apprentice. You are already getting close to being strong enough to leave this world, so you need to work quick to find soone."
Frowning, Jaela clearly was not thrilled with raising an apprentice.
She was a free spirit and did not like having to look after other people if she did not have to.
Yet as she was grumbling, she suddenly perked up and looked towards Marcus.
"You use a scythe and are already pretty high level. How about you be my apprentice? All you would need to do is learn to use nature magic. Heck, you could even just blow a load of skill points on it." Jaela said enthusiastically.
Obviously, she figured it would be easier to take Marcus as her apprentice since she would not really have to teach him much. The two main requirents to beco a Grand Witch were to have proficiency in a particular weapon and magic. Which for the Grand Witch of the Forests was the scythe and nature magic. And Marcus' skill with the scythe was already acceptable and all he would need to do was use skill points to purchase and level up nature magic.
"I think I will have to pass. I am already a great spirit."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. It would not work then. A grand witch cannot beco a great spirit at least." Jaela said, rembering sothing she had heard long ago.
Apparently, a few centuries ago there had been a spirit that was also a grand witch, but when they tried to beco a great spirit as well, they were unable to since the titles conflicted with each other.
"Jaela, you are just going to have to find one by searching hard like I did." Ardea said with a smug expression.
"Searched for my ass! You had Lilia handed to you on a silver platter!" Jaela yelled before chasing after Ardea angrily.
"They certainly are good friends." Marcus said as he and Lilia watched their display.
"Yeah, they are. And I know it is a bit late, but are you okay with this?"
"Yes, you are old enough to make your own choices now, and I trust Ardea. I am sure that she will teach you a lot and you will grow under her. Just make sure to co ho every now and then."
"Thank you, Marcus." Lilia said and gave him a hug that left a noticeable dent in his form.
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