Combat Maid Harem

"Alright. I now understand what happened to all of you this past year," Lawrend said.

He was satisfied with all of them. Even if Grape just slept, he was still satisfied. She deserved a life of leisure after what happened to her.

"Are we leaving already, Master?" Aleshia asked.

They were waiting for him to wake up. Since he had already finished practicing magic, he should be strong enough to defend himself against the emperor.

"Not yet. I want to spend more time with all of you," Lawrend said.

He was regretful that he didn't spend time with them. They might lose their love for him if he stopped showing them affection.

"Aww… Master."

His words touched Aleshia and the others. Wide smiles formed on their faces, and they felt that the year they spent without him was worth it.

"Master, do you want to join a competition?" Humility suddenly asked.

"Huh? There is a competition for Earth Mages in this continent?" Lawrend asked in surprise.

Currently, his strength was comparable to an Earth Mage while he was still a Grand Mage in reality. She wouldn't ask him if it wasn't at that level.

"No, Master. It is for Grand Mages. The city mayor told me that he would give us foreigners a permanent living permit for the federation if we win the Grand Mage contest," Humility explained.

"Permanent living permit? You want to live here?" Lawrend asked.

"...I don't know, Master. I currently enjoy managing this inn. The benefits include that I could expand my business to other industries."

She was torn between returning back to her kingdom and expanding her business here. It was like a drug. Once she started doing business, she liked doing it more and more.

It was the only thing that she was naturally good at. Of course, she would like to do it.

"I see. Okay. I will help you," Lawrend replied and nodded his head.

She wanted to do business, so he would support her.

"Thank you, Master. Sister Elena doesn't have to leave her children now," Humility replied and slightly bowed to him.

"That makes my decision even better. When is it?" Lawrend asked.

He was happy to allow Elena to continue tending to her children. They were numerous and required delicate care, after all.

"It's next month, Master. It's located at the Bear City State," Humility replied.

"Is it far?" Lawrend asked.

He needed to consider everything, so he didn't miss it.

"Here is the map of the whole Altro Federation."

Humility passed him a big scroll. The others helped him unfurl it on the wall.

"Wow. How big is this continent compared to the Primitus Continent?" Lawrend asked in amazement.

There were many dots and descriptions on the map. He could not imagine how people were living on such a big continent.

"It is about as big, Master. But I heard that they have 17 Heaven Mages. They jointly control the whole continent," Humility replied.

"1-17?"

Lawrend was amazed. He can't imagine how strong a Heaven Mage was since he never met one, but he could guess they should be similar to gods on earth. Aside from a Divine Mage, no one would be able to oppose them.

For the Altro Federation to contain 17 Heaven Mages, they must be really strong and have a talented population. Just Valentina was powerful enough for her soul to last for 10,000 years.

He doesn't know how long Heaven Mages' lifespan was, but it shouldn't be less than 4,000 years as Earth Mages already got 2,000 years of lifespan. Who knows how much knowledge they had amassed at such a long lifespan.

"Speaking of, where is Valentina?" Lawrend asked.

Suddenly, a puff of smoke shot out from Lawrend's storage ring. It coalesced to Valentina.

"I was waiting for you to remember me, Master," Valentina said with a pout on her face.

She was listening to them all this time. She tested if he would remember her.

"I thought you were busy with something," Lawrend replied.

He really thought that she was busy. If she weren't, she would have already spoken the moment he woke up.

"Tch. You're right. I only realized it a few minutes earlier…" Valentina admitted.

She turned her head away from him in annoyance.

"Ahahaha! No need to be annoyed. I know you, after all," Lawrend said as he shook his head.

"Forget it, Master. I'm already an Arch Mage with my soul," Valentina said.

"A-Arch Mage!? That fast!?"

"What, Master? You didn't find it weird when you became an Arch Mage in 4 months, right? I'm not as good as you," Valentina replied and lowered her head.

She was a proud Heaven Mage. She already knew everything in magic, but it still took her a year. Compared to Lawrend, she was nothing.

"I took more than a year to advance from Arch Mage to Grand Mage. I'm definitely not that good."

In his mind, that was really bad. Usually, he would only need a few weeks to become stronger. Now it had become very slow.

"It's not surprising. An Arch Mage and a Grand Mage are very different compared to each other. Their difference is like the difference between gold and dirt. An Arch Mage uses the purest mana, but they don't use it efficiently. Only a Grand Mage could use that pure mana and bring forth even more power," Valentina said.

"Wait. Then Beginner Mage to Arch Mage was only purifying the mana, and then it's different after that?" Lawrend asked as he realized something from her words.

"Correct, Master. At Grand Mage and above, you use calculations to utilize your mana. By calculating the most efficient way to cast a spell, you would be able to bring forth power greater than an Arch Mage."

Imagine a round hole, an Arch Mage would simply force a cube in it while a Grand Mage would change the shape of the cube so that it would fit better. That was the difference in their essence.

"So to create a Grand Mage spell, I would need to think of a more efficient way to cast spells…"