Max reappeared in his room within the 2-star sector of the Great Ruler Empire, the familiar sight of his modest chamber greeting him with gentle lamplight flickering against polished stone walls.
He staggered a step forward, his face pale and streaked with dried blood, each breath still ragged from the earlier battle, and finally let out a shaky sigh as he slumped into the nearest chair. "It was good that I anchored the Space Anchor Sphere to my room here," he muttered under his breath, reaching into his storage space to pull out a handful of luminous mana crystals whose surfaces pulsed softly like captured stars.
He clutched them in his palms and felt the soothing tide of energy pour through his battered body, mending the torn muscles and shattered pathways left by the Third Elder's savage assault.
