Nero shook his head, "You have indeed gotten stronger, but your cultivation is not yet solid. Your Qi flow is still chaotic and unstable. If you don't solidify your foundation more, then your tyrannical Qi flow will burst your meridians."
Nero's tone was very casual with no hint of emotion behind it, it was like he was talking to a random stranger. However, his words were true.
In the path of cultivation, advancing from one to the other can be described as taking a big leap from a small hill to a giant mountain, totally astronomical! Even when martial artists are in the same realm but the stages differ, the difference in strength is as clear as day. As one advance in their cultivation, the benefits are said to be limitless. But the benefits can only truly materialize if one's foundation is solidified or at least stable enough. When one breaks through to another realm, their body, soul, meridians, dantian, and so on undergo some peculiar changes that can greatly increase their combat strength or their durability which play a very useful role in actual combat.
However, if the foundation of the breakthrough is not solid enough, it could cause a backlash which might lead to one's overall strength dropping drastically. In essence, if one's foundation isn't stable enough, they wouldn't be able to fully display their abilities due to the restrictions placed on their body by their unstable foundation.
Amaya knew this fact very well, but she didn't like hearing it from Nero. Nero has had a history of striking her where it hurts, and to him, he's just saying the truth as it is. Nero naturally wouldn't paint words to make her feel better. If one wants to get to greater heights, one must continuously struggle. That is, after all, the way of martial arts.
Amaya grumbled many times and sat down on a chair close to the table, crossing her hand across her chest with a frown on her face. Nero looked at Amaya's current expression and shook his head while slightly massaging his forehead.
'This is such a pain.' He thought to himself.
After a few seconds of silence, Nero asked again.
"Why are you here?"
"I felt bad for leaving you in your own here when you know nothing about this place. So I came here to accompany you but you always seem to anger me instead."
"If you knew I would anger you then why did you come?"
"….."
Amaya wanted to retort but didn't know what to say, Nero's words had completely thrown her off guard. As the one offended, an apology was supposed to be accorded to her, but instead, she got a more realistic question thrown at her. If only looks could kill then Nero would have completely turned to dust.
"I might have a way you could accompany me…" Nero's voice slightly pitched as he thought of something.
Hearing Nero's words, Amaya's mind flooded with many thoughts. How could a woman possibly accompany a man? As she thought this, her face started to turn bashful. The next moment Nero stood up and started walking towards her, his steps slow and meaningful. Seeing Nero approach her with such steps, Amaya's face transformed to more of a tomato than a human face. Her breath quickened as her mind raced. If Nero was to do anything to her she wouldn't have the strength to scream much less resist him.
As her mind raced with many thoughts, Nero drew closer and closer and suddenly he reached his hand towards her. Seeing this hand aim towards her direction, Amaya's body slightly trembled. If this was to happen what would be the outcome? She obviously didn't have the power to fight Nero and she couldn't say she knew Nero's character build except for the fact that he was a total arrogant bastard to her. She hasn't seen this aspect of Nero before so she didn't know what to expect.
As Amaya thought this, Nero's hand drew closer and closer till it brushed past her and reached for the table. On the table was a small piece of white paper and beside it was a small ink jar with a brush sticking out from it. Nero reached for the brush and paper on the table and started scribbling a few words. Amaya was left stunned…
What… just… happened?
Amaya had thought of many things that could happen when a man tells a woman to accompany him. Not that it was the general meaning behind it, but for some unknown reason, that was the first thing that popped into her head. At this point, Amaya's face turned so red that it looked like it could explode at any moment.
This was so embarrassing!
What she didn't know was that Nero hadn't taken into account her unusual behavior. To him, it was a casual walk to the table, but to her, it meant a lot more. All this happened in seconds but to Amaya to lasted for many hours, or at least enough to make her mind think of many case scenarios.
After Nero was done scribbling on the paper, he handed it over to Amaya.
"This is a list of materials I need for a project. As you said, I don't know anything about this place, so you're the only one I can trust to handle this. They are just a few unimportant materials I need, they shouldn't be hard for you to find."
As Nero spoke, he was able to sense the slight change in Amaya's countenance.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
"Mmmm." Amaya heavily nodded. She took hold of the paper and dashed out of the room.
Nero stood there as confused as ever. All of this happened so quickly that he wasn't able to understand what went wrong.
"What is wrong with that woman?" Nero wondered.
After much effort to try and understand what just happened, Nero still wasn't able to explain what happened so he gave up. He went back to his bed and sat cross-legged assuming his usual meditation.
Outside Nero's room, Amaya still leaned on the door trying to catch her breath; even she wasn't able to fully understand why she did what she did. As a beauty sought after by countless men, this was the first time she had experienced something like this, and it wasn't what she thought it might be! Not that she was anticipating anything but if something like that was to happen for real… what would she do?