Chapter 181 DEVIANTS
Heavy breaths escaped the mouths of Noah's captives, and he felt pleasantly surprised to see them sit in a cross-legged position.
His cold smile never left his face, and he too soon adopted their sitting postures.
Noah could sense the fear in their eyes, and for reasons unknown to him he enjoyed it.
"Now that I have your full attentions; I have a few questions in mind," Noah started, his cold smile never leaving his face.
"I believe you wish to know why you are here," the fire mage spoke glancing at his frozen solid companion. Great pain spread in his heart at that sight. How things had turned out that way; he didn't understand.
"I didn't ask you to talk, but what is your name anyway" Noah announced raising an eyebrow.
"I am Bernard, a merecenary. Actually I am the leader of this group," the man mage spoke nonchalantly, he had already accepted his fate in front of that young monster.
"Good, Bernard. Why did you capture me?," Noah enquired with his smile still on.
"I have no obligations to answer that," Brenard answered, his gaze blank.
"If you want to keep you life, you will," Noah stated almost breaking into a laugh, but Brenard did, and his smile slowly faded.
"Keep my life? We both know you don't plan on doing that," Brenard spoke, ignoring Noah's cold gaze.
"If I'm going to die either way, why do I need to answer your questions," Brenard stated, his expression also turning cold.
A heavy silence fell upon them at that point. The six didn't want to speak so as to not anger Noah, but their leader seemed intent on doing that.
"Oh I see...." Noah muttered suddenly sweeping his gaze on the still silent six, a nasty idea forming Inside him.
He hesitated in carrying out the idea, but Brenards uncaring expression annoyed him.
"I might eventually not kill you..." Noah stated slowly shooting gaze's at the man's colleagues. He did so until their eyes widened in surprise, then fear.
Brenards expression flickered at the understanding of Noah's words. He planned to use his team against him.
"Are you going to be a coward and do such a dishonourable thing," Brenard spoke trying to bottle up his ever growing panic.
A big smile cracked on Noah's face at those words. "I can hear your heartbeat," he announced truly focusing on that detail. And he felt surprised to actually hear them.
He had never tried using his senses in that way, and the results left him stunned. Their heartbeats sounded like distant drums, not too close, but also not too far; just enough for him to clearly hear them.
Brenard limited himself to remain silent at Noah's words, he wasn't sure if the young man was bluffing, but that wasn't the point.
"You have tens seconds," Noah eventually announced.
"Nine...Eight....Seven.....Six.....Five..." Noah counted down to 2, then did Brenard raise his hand, and a bigger grin appeared on Noah's face.
"Go on," Noah ordered with his grin. He enjoys the whole scenario.
A sigh escaped Brenards mouth at that point. He caught glances of his colleagues sighs of relief, and felt he had done the right thing. Or had he?.
"We were hired by an expert to deliver dead or living humans," He stated.
"For what?" Noah immediately responded.
"For a ritual apparently," Brenard announced, and Noah's smile faded.
'A ritual,' he thought. At this point in his life he had began to accept every new thing he heard as the truth of that world. His constant shock at new information had started to subside.
"What type of ritual?," Noah asked. He doubted that the man knew that detail, but asked anyway.
"I don't know. We were only sent to bring bodies, and be paid for our service" Brenard promptly explained.
Seeing Noah's frown his mouth opened to voice more words.
"Nonetheless, we were given a few details. Mostly concerning the levels of those who would be performing the ritual," Brenard announced.
"Ohhh..how strong will they be?" Noah felt intrigued.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom
"Apparently middle-staged tier 3 cultivators to even the peak of tier 3 will be present," Brenard explained stroking his beardless chin. "Though a rumor from the other hired groups spread. The rumor spoke of even tier 4 experts being among the planners of that diabolical event."
Noah fell into thoughts at those words, he picked up the words like "other groups". Confirming that the whole ritual would be a large and well funded event.
He didn't desire to dabble into things such as rituals, as he didn't know much, or even events with such powerful cultivators.
"Where were you going to deliver me to?" Noah eventually spoke, his anger having subsided by a significant margin.
"We were journeying towards an abandoned mansion deep in the outskirts of the city," Brenard explained, his expression soon turning solemn.
"I see...Do you know who hired you," Noah asked blankly. He had lost most of his interest in that matter.
"No. The expert kept their face hidden during our conversation, but I suspect even he was but a messanger, although he had power in the middle-stage," Brenard explained.
"Hmmm.... troublesome," Noah shook his head. His lips parted to release words, but a red glowing object shot out of the frozen grasshopper, and floated towards Noah, who proceeded to play with it for a bit, before eventually storing it. But the beasts frozen body didn't disappear.
His audience had their mouths open.at that sight. They had never seen such an effortlessly extraction of mana cores in their lives until that point.
Now that they thought to it, the man before them had done something even more astonishing; by moving far faster than their eyes could follow.
Technically, they were supposed to be at least faster than he was, even if his body had more defense, which made for their surprise.
"Are you a Deviant?," Brenard suddenly threw a question at Noah.
Recalling that he had seen that word on the mutated snake's panel, Noah proceeded to ask questions on that matter, as even Aiden didn't have that knowledge.
"What is a Deviant?" he enquired, startling the group of seven.
Complicated expressions appeared on their faces at his words, they weren't certain if that question was a joke or not, as he could be testing them.
Not wanting to provoke the seemingly genuinely curious man, Brenard opened his mouth to answer that question to the best of his knowledege.
"Deviants, are as the word means. Those who deviate from the normal system. Most especially in elemental affinities, or abilities," he explained. "Deviants are also usually very powerful. Far powerful than the norm, causing for their immense value."
"What type of Deviants exist," Noah spoke, finding the topic Interesting.
"Well I don't know much, since individuals like that are really rare, and their abilities can also be really random according to what I read. But from what I've heard; there are deviants who have monstrous physical strength, or have the elemental affinity of plants, being able to manipulate them, and so on. You can literally input anything in the blank spaces,' Brnard explained.
"So basically, they are special amongst even the special," Noah stated.
"Yes," Brenard replied.
"Have you ever met one. A Deviant?" Noah asked.
"No," Brenard replied.
"That's nice knowledge, I guess," Noah announced getting up. He found himself having thoughts about the mutated snake in the valley, and wondered how much it would sell in the market.
"Are there Deviant magical beasts. And if there are how much are they worth in the market," Noah asked without giving a hint about his knowledge of a real deviant.
"Yes there are, though they are usually born from mutations, kind of like the beasts of the claw region, some Deviants were found there," Brenard explained, "As for how much one would go for in the market; I believe it would be Incredible. Even a tier 1 deviant beast could make a person as rich as a small sized noble family. That's how rare they are."
An excited smile threatened to break out on Noah's face at those words, but he managed to retain his cool.
He immediately promised himself to keep his findings a secret. Hopefully no one would find and kill it before he returned.
Stretching his body since a stiffness had appeared in his arms, Noah opened his mouth to speak.
ραпdα nᴏνa| сom "I don't think I'm a Deviant, and honestly I don't care," he stated flatly.
"Do you know where the head branch of the Divine Lightning guild is?" Noah asked, focusing his now cold gaze on the still seated experts.
"Yes," Brenard responded following Noah's arm movements with his eyes.
"Good, I need you to take me there," Noah announced, then a popping sound escaped his right arm.
Chapter 182 FIRST BATCH
Eh!" Brenard exclaimed, a deep frown appearing on his face.
"I'm sorry, but I can't do that. Not when my life isn't guaranteed," Brenard explained shaking his head.
Noah nodded his head in understanding, the man had fufilled his side of the forced deal, there was no reason to enforce anymore actions.
"I guess it's time to end this," Noah announced without the slightest bit of hesitation in his deep voice.
Panic spread in the minds of the seven cultivators, and each of them quickly shot glances of plea at Brenard. They wanted him to do something, anything.
Brenard saw all of this and his mind managed to produce an idea right before Noah acted.
"Wait!" Brenard called out, adopting a submissive position, by placing his forehead on the ground. The other six doing the same.
Noah saw this and frowned, but still responded to the man's call anyway.
"What do you want?" Noah asked.
"Is there anyway we can keep our lives," Brenard enquired, his voice dripping with utter respect.
Having had a conversation with Noah, he understood that the young monster wasn't an unreasonable person. Meaning he had to find a way to appeal to him.
An eyebrow inevitably rose on Noah's face at the man's words, and his mouth opened to make their situation clear.
"There isn't. You all have seen too much," Noah declared, beginning to move his essence.
'So that is it!' Brenard eyes widened, and a solution to Noah's insecurity rose.
"How about we all swear an oath," Brenard suggested rasing his head up for the first time since he began that conversation.
Noah furrowed his brows at those words and quick consulted the mighty system.
'Is that possible?' Noah enquired.
[[Yes. But the oath would have to be on your terms, since mana can't affect the essence you bear]]
'I thought only those stronger can form an oath with the weaker party,' Noah wondered.
[[Affirmative. Only those stronger than the oath-taker can be sure of the safety of the oath. But it is the purity of the energy the oathmaker bears that makes the difference]]
Understanding dawned on Noah at those words, and he quickly placed all the pieces of information he had to arrive at a rather obvious conclusion.
The speed forces's energy was something the entirety of Cregar didn't have access to, and apparently mana wasn't as powerful as it.
In short, any oath he made would continue to hold as long as the bearer of the oath doesn't achieve a purity of essence that matched the speed force.
"Hmmm...an oath," Noah muttered placing his left-hand on his beardless chin.
Seeing that Noah considered the idea, Brenard promptly continued.
"Yes. You can bound us by an oath that would keep your secret, our cores being at stake if we break the oath," he explained.
"It's the perfect way to keep your secret safe, and we our lives," he elaborated more on the idea, and soon lowered his head again, but a grin shone on his hidden face.
Knowing that the purity of a persons mana was a core path of an oath; he felt reasonably safe.
Although he couldn't sense what color Noah's core was, or even the man's power in general, but he remained certain that he wasn't in the middle-stage.
Being an expert who had an octahedral red-core about to spew into the yellow realm, he felt his freedom guaranteed.
And having a body at the peak of the first-grade further assured him.
"It is do-able," Noah announced, "But I'll need to add a few more conditions to it," Noah explained.
"Thank you for your consideration!" Brenard exclamained, a smirk spreading on his still hidden face.
'How do I make an oath,' Noah soon questioned the system.
[Do you wish to form an oath]
[Yes/No]
Picking yes, Noah saw another panel quickly appear in his eyes.
[Please input the terms in which you wish the oath to carry...]
Doing as the system told him to, Noah watched a few more panels pop up.
[Generating Oath.....]ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom
[Generation of Oath successful]
[Bringing oath into existence]
[Note: this will cost you a portion of your essence]
[Oath has been successful brought into existence]
A unique aura suddenly spread inside the enclosed cave, alerting the bowing cultivators, and Noah.
All immediately laid eyes on a bright yellow sphere the size of a man's fist.
The sphere of condensed speed essence, had runic symbols of an even deeper shade of yellow running on its surface, making for that aura.
Feeling an intense urge to inspect that floating orb of energy, Noah did as his Instincts wanted, and felt multiple waves Information seep into his mind at that action.
The oaths contents flowed into Noah's mind, and he nodded when he confirmed that it remained according to what he wanted.
The seven cultivators instead; felt astonished to see that floating orb. Oaths usually weren't in that refined form, as it seemed like something put together by an expert proficient in oathmaking.
A tinge of respect rose in their hearts at the quickness of the oaths creation, and its stunning beauty. However, one simple question rose in their minds.
Why is it yellow? They wondered.
Their mental waves soon moved to inspect the floating sphere, and a few waves of Information flowed into their minds.
Their expressions immediately went dark after they understood the oaths contents.
Accepting that oath would mean practically become slaves to Noah.
They would have to keep whatever he termed a secret, secret. And would have to obey his every orders. Failure to do both would result in their cores brutal destruction.
But if they complied with the oaths conditions Noah wouldn't kill them, but it wasn't stated what would happen to Noah if he actually decided to kill them without any real reason.
Complicated expressions remained on each of their faces after the inspection. Their eyes locked gazes multiple times as they struggled to make a next move.
Brenard had the idea of rasing an objection to the oaths conditions, but Noah's cold gaze trapped any words he had to say, in his throat.
Seeing the struggle evident on their faces, Noah's voice rang out.
"Do you have an objection to the oath," Noah asked. "If you do; raise your hand. I'm willing to listen," he declared.
Uncertain expressions appeared on their faces at those words, and they soon exchanged glances in hesitation.
"I promise I won't directly kill you," Noah smiled. But even that failed to calm their ever growing paranoia.
Seeing that no one looked ready to talk, Brenards eventually spoke up.
"Um...sir," he started, "The issue with the oath is that it doesn't state what would happen, if you went ahead and took our lives without any concrete reason," Brenard explained respectfully.
"Oh that's your worry," Noah giggled sinsterly.
pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ "Now, Brenard. I'll ask you one thing, why exactly should i have to be punished," Noah spoke slowly.
"I can end your exsitences on the spot if i so wanted. Yet I give you a chance to carry on with your lives, only with a few conditions," Noah paused.
"Why should I be punished for my act of mercy," Noah's voice reached an all-time cold, and a bolt of yellow electrical energy shot out of his figure to strike the caves frozen walls.
A heavy atmosphere fell on the seven at that point, as even more complicated expressions appeared on their faces.
Noah's words were valid, he didn't seem to need them. Even though he desired their help to one of the great guild; everyone knew where it was. He could simply ask around.
They found no way out of that situation, and could only remain silent.
"Notwithstanding, i want you all to trust me. I promise not to end your lives simply because i desire to, and i promise not to go back on my words," Noah declared sincerely. His icy blue eyes flickering with complex emotions.
Noah felt he spoke those words more to himself than the cultivators, as the true translation of those words were more personal, relating to his hate for the royal family, and the fact that he didn't want to be like them.
Heavy sighs escaped the mouths of the cultivators at that point, how were they supposed to hold on to his words. They had barely began talking for half an hour.
"I accept," Brenard eventually announced. For reasons he couldn't completely explain, he felt assured that the young man would do as he had promised.
The others saw this, and similar sentences soon escaped their mouths, even though they remained uncertain of their decision.
The whole cave shone with a blinding yellow radiance at that point, as Noah's first batch of allies, although slightly forced, was created.
Chapter 183 SEPARATE WAYS
Seven thin streams of yellow runic symbols exited the floating sphere to stretch towards the seven kneeling cultivators.
The streams shot into the lower part of their abdomen, where their core was and proceeded to imprint themselves on that vessel of power.
The end product of that event, was what looked like black chains wrapping around their mana cores, and Noah immediately felt a connection stretch between he and them.
With that done, singular yellow runic symbols floated towards their soul cores to also imprint themselves on the edges of that vessel of power.
Noah watched the body of the seven experts shine with a bright yellow radiance, totally overshadowing their black clothed figures.
[You have successfully made oath with Entities: >TexFariaDariusBrenardAnnaMarkDen<]
A smile shone on Noah's face at that prompt, and he immediately decided to wait a bit, to allow the current state of their realities sink in.
Brenard felt an intense force wrap around his mana core and soul core. Although it didn't hurt, it felt unhinderable.
The effects of the oath had been far more than he expected, and helplessness soon spread inside him.
In his over sixty years of life, he had never experienced an oath so powerful. Not to talk of one made by someone who was supposed to be weaker than he was.
Fear and regret soon replaced his helplessness, as something deep within him Informed him of the nigh-impossibility of breaking free of that oath.
The others experienced similar emotions, but not as strong as Brenards; who had formerly begun looking forward to his eventually escape, but his chances looked really slim now.
A few minutes passed, as Noah simply stood there cloth-lessly silent, his eyes Inspecting their expressions, and the uncertainty he expected to see was present.
"I'm sure your current situation has sunk in enough," Noah suddenly spoke, "I need to leave this place already," he stated.
"Does any of you have an attire I can wear," Noah enquired. He didn't want to enforce his authority just yet.
One of the males present, his name being Den, raised his hand, and a black long garment appeared in his hand.
Noah nodded his head, and brought the plain attire to himself, using his mental waves.
The females present shifted their gaze's in embarrassment, and Noah couldn't help but experience a tinge of that emotion himself.
Allowing them see him in that state had been bearable when he planned to kill them, but things had changed now. They would continue to live with that scene etched in their minds.
With that thought in mind, Noah couldn't help but stray into slightly unclean ideas.
'They have to obey my every order; even the females. Which means....' That thought process faded out as he fell into a daze. His rational mind struggled to battle the growing desire, but it eventually did.
The seven cultivators watched him stand still for whole minutes after he put on his clothes, and they couldn't help but feel uncomfortable.
Needless to say Noah eventually returned to their midst.
'That was close!' Noah exclamained inwardly. He could swear he felt his younger brother twitch, threatening to rise from his slumber.
'That surely would have been uncomfortable,' he sighed in relief.
Clearing his throat while unintentionally stealing glances of the two females, Noah proceeded to talk after that quick inspection.
"Like I said earlier, I need you to take me to the Divine Lightning guild," Noah began, regaining his seriousness.
"But I also want you to deliver your goods," Noah added.
"Since you have been hired to do so, and i really do not care what those existences plan to do, you are allowed to complete the mission. But that is after you've delivered me to my destination," Noah explained admiring the hood the garment had.
"But we needed a minimum of three bodies," Brenard explained, returning to his cross-legged position.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom
Noah had become his master, he had to retain his worth in his eyes.
"How many do you have," Noah frowned, he hated that topic.
"Two," Brenard stated.
"Well I'm sure someone will try to kill us on our journey. You'll take them," Noah shurgged.
Brenard furrowed his brows but said nothing more.
"Now how far is the guild from our current position," Noah enquired, and a map quickly appeared in front of Brenards figure, who immediately moved closer to Noah's position.
The other six did the same, and soon all were staring at a large brown map.
"The Divine Lightning guild is located on the western region of the city, and our destination is on the eastern side," Brenard explained pointing out the positions of their different destinations.
"Hmmmm..We are closer to your destination than mine," Noah muttered thinking up a plan.
"Is there a time limit for the first delivery?," Noah asked not shifting his gaze from the map.
pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ A surprise filled expression appeared on the faces of the seven, and Brenard quickly spoke up to explain the reason for that action, even though Noah hadn't seen them.
"Sir...this isn't our first delivery. It's the last. Making fifteen in total," Brenard explained, and Noah couldn't help but choke on his thoughts.
Silence fell on their figures as Noah blinked a few times to allow what he heard sink.
'Fifteen!' he shook his head, but didn't place too much focus on that detail.
"So is there a time limit or not," Noah swept his gaze on their figures.
"Well yes. We have three days to deliver the last batch, or we lose the money promised," Brenard explained.
"How long will it take to get to the guilds branch from here," Noah asked again.
"A minimum of ten days on foot," Brenards stated after a bit of thought, "On carriage it would take you a week. But I'm assuming you don't want that," Brenard explained.
"Troublesome....." Noah muttered falling into deep thought.
He desired to have his underlings on his way to the guild, but they also needed to deliver those bodies.
Noah felt their mission important since they would be a source of income whenever he didn't have much.
He could also decide to leave them and go his way, seeing as his super speed would really shorten that journey.
On that note, Noah felt a weird sensation rise up inside his mind.
He could tell or show the seven his uniqueness now that they were bound to keep his secret. Something he never thought he would get to do.
They would be the first persons he would be allowed to show his real power to without much fear, and that reality both excited him and saddened him. He had grown used to having to keep his secret.
"Ah yes! Before we proceed further into our plan; all that you've seen me do today should be kept a secret," Noah declared, and felt something inside him churn at that sentence.
He felt the connection he had with the seven grow stronger, as they too felt their connection to him deepen. His words seemed to apply a heavy pressure on their minds and cores, but it didn't hurt, strangely.
"Now that, that's settled. I've decided on our next move," Noah paused, a grin spreading on his blemishless face.
"You all are going to contribute a bit of your coins to me and we'll go our seperate ways. You'll slow me down if we don't," Noah announced.
Chapter 184 GIGGLES
Thinking about his decision, Noah felt it a rather obvious one. His mind remained set on getting into a guild at all cost. He had literally risked his existence for that goal.
Being so close to it; he didn't dare get carried away by a mere side mission, which didn't even hold any importance to him.
It reminded him of how a total waste of time bozolom had been, if only he had actually reaped the rewards that were rightfully his.
Joining a guild, one of the great ones, would open doors to more interesting missions, something like joining or stopping a ritual ddn't sound nice enough.
Noah felt surprised to find that his underlings sighed in relief at his decision, but he expected that much.
His eyes fell on their wounds, but they all seemed to look totally okay. Their statuses as tier 3 experts didn't allow such non-fatal physical injuries do much to them.
"How much do you want from us?" Brenard eventually enquired of Noah.
He felt his heart race at Noah's silence, for he feared the possibility of the young man being greedy, and asking for everything.
"Not much," Noah shrugged. "What I need, your purses combined would probably not be enough to achieve it. So just tell me how much you have, and I'll take a reasonable amount from it," Noah explained, ending his words with a light shurg.
The seven immediately went on to name the estimates of their purses, and Noah couldn't help but feel inferior as a result to the numbers they uttered.
'Over 2200 medium sized silver coins!' Noah's mind trembled in deep shock.
Each person had a minimum of over 300 medium silver coins!
Compared to them, he was poor.
Greed shone in Noah's eyes at that calculation, and the urge to gather half of their worth for himself, rapidly spread in his mind.
With that type of money he would be capable of buying the hundred beasts he needed. Even though his requirements weren't up to that anymore.
A problem arose however. His current calculation remained based on Kerieles economy, and that city was literally thousands of miles from his current position. Things were bound to be different.
The quality of the beasts would probably change, and the sellers were probably well fed existences who wanted to remain well fed. Price's had to be different, but the only currently way of confirming his hunch was before him.
"Say, Brenard. How much would a lower-stage tier 3 beast cost in the market," Noah asked, startling the expert who had not expected such a change of topics so quickly.
A difficult expression appeared on the experts face after the question, and his left hand rose to scratch his head, while his voice rang out.
"Well i can guess a few hundred small slivers," Brenard stated, and Noah's mind Instantly went blank.
"Why...." Noah spoke, his voice nearly shuddering.
"Well demand is high, and although there are a lot of tier 3's, most don't find hunting beasts profitable, since the chances of death are really high; which makes for low supply," he explained.
"Even I do not want to risk it. I can't imagine battling a peak orange core or even yellow core beast with power at the top of the lower-stage of tier 3" he shook his head.
"The fauna of this city is Incredible, even tier 4 beasts lurk in unexpected places since the mana desiity here is really high," Brenard added.
Naoh could only shake his head at those words. He understood that logic far more than he expected.
The system had built detailed battles in which Aiden has partook in, and it managed to simulate the struggles one relatively strong tier 3 beast brought to a whole group of about seven.
'How did you even simulate all these,' Noah couldn't help but wonder. The memories were so detailed that Noah found it hard to believe that those events never actually happened.
The system remained silent since the answers to Noah's words, he wasn't allowed to know.
"May i ask what you need then for?" Brenard soon spoke again, his voice still respectful.
"Oh it's nothing that concerns you, just a little project of mine," Noah waved his hand, but deep within him he knew those words weren't completely true.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom
Getting into the dungeon would let him level up again, which would allow him prepare adequately for the trials he would face by the time the bracelet turned to dust.
He hardly thought about his annoying situation so as to not kill himself with worries, but they really were the main reason he wanted to get strong so badly.
If he weren't in such a situation, he would probably been on an adventure or something, simply whiling away his time, afterall his life expectancy remained really high.
A heavy sigh eventually exited Noah's mouth after a few moments.
'The struggles of this world are a lot. But at least I have the system,' he thought.
Realizing that he hadn't given the system its due credit, Noah took that instant to do so.
He felt sure that he wouldn't be alive on Cregar it not for it.
It's crazy perks had allowed him quickly advance in strength in a really short period of time compared to the denizens of that planet.
'But I need more,' Noah concluded. His need for 100 beasts had slowed down his advance in power, and he didn't feel his current power enough for what was to come. Even tier 4 seemed to fall short In his mind.
"I want 50 medium silver coins from each of you" Noah announced, "Do not worry this'll probably be the first and last time I'll actually ask you for money," Noah added, even though he didn't need to.
While they didn't like the amount he requested, the exact sum he named, exited their rings to float towards him anyways.
Soon Noah found 350 medium silver coins floating in front of him, and words couldnt express his joy.
He had gone from barely 100 small silvers to 3500 worth of small silvers!
Noah's face shone brightly, and he soon waved his hand to store his gains.
"That's much of all we need-" Noah said, recalling something.
"How do we communicate," he asked, and unsurprisingly, Brenard already had a solution.
pαndα`noνɐ1--сoМ "We all own communication amulets, we'll simply add our contacts to yours," the man explained.
"Unfortunately i don't have one," Noah shrugged, he didn't need to hide such details about himself.
"Then one of us will have to give you ours," Brenard announced sweeping his gaze on his annoyingly silent colleagues.
"Seeing as no one will, I'll give you mine sir," Brenard declared, and an object appeared in his hand.
Noah watched this scene play out and couldn't help but feel a dirty feeling spread in his mind.
Brenard seemed to want to gain his favour, and looked ready to become a bootlicker to achieve it.
The round amulet landed in Noah's right palm, and he didn't hesitate to Inspect it. This was his first time holding one, disregarding Aiden's talk with the black clothed men.
Speaking of that; the communication amulet given to him by Williams wasn't on him anymore.
Aiden's fight with the grasshopper had destroyed it. He had hung it over his neck, and the beasts acid-like substance had destroyed it, effectively severing that eventual event from his list of to-do's.
The amulet resembled a normal amulet with a black gem, only bigger, and it's surface featured a series of metallic wires intricately welded to that glass like material.
At the center of the amulet was a blue swirling light that Noah confirmed to be condensed mana. How it hadn't blown up, he couldn't grasp.
"How do i use it?" Noah eventually asked, after staring at the object for a minute or so. And he uttered those words in flat tone.
The experts before him saw that question as the last straw, and unintentional giggles soon slipped out of their mouths.
Chapter 185 SHOW OFF
Their hands quickly shot towards their mouths to stop that action, and a tinge of fear inevitably spread inside their minds; immediately their eyes fell on Noah's frown.
No words were spoken for a while, as everyone waited for the breath-taking young man to talk. And his eventual words let out the nervous breaths each had been holding.
"I know it's funny and all, but i really do not know much about this world. I've mostly been dwelling in the poor settlements of this nation after all. I literally just got here a few days ago," Noah explained surprisingly calm, his frown also leaving his eyebrows.
"So how does it work?" He asked again.
His explanation managed to leave the experts stunned, as their minds tried to reason the possibility of such a reality.
After a few instants most confirmed that his words sounded acceptably true.
Nevertheless, a subject still bothered them deeply enough to cause them to doubt his words. His power.
How he had stayed decades with such incrediblness hidden inside of him, left them blown away.
His young looking age signified how fast he had advanced through the tiers of power, and the little prowess he had displayed told of how ridiculously unfair his potential was.
His dual elemental affinities of both rare elements, also emphasized his shocking and enviable potential.
Noah was the emodiment of perfection, and would be considered a genius even among top geniuses.
This obvious evaluation caused their minds to seriously ponder on how and why no bigshots of their nation had recruited him yet. Most of which would gladly kill to get someone as outrageous as him.
Then again, he did mention his desire to journey to one of the great guilds. That alone spoke of his intentions. And even they had to admit that he was worthy of such a prestigious establishment.
"You simply input your mental waves to activate it. Most of its functions can be accessed through that. The only thing you would need to do without your consciousness is charge it," Brenard explained.
"It's not a high tier amulet which is why you can sight the mana within it and not a mana stone. It also doesn't hold the many features that more expensive ones have. So when you desire to charge the device, you'll need to feed it the energy within a mana core," he stopped.
Noah immediately did as the man explained, and felt a series of names flow into his mind. But they were only those of the cultivators present there.
"I've cleared the non-useful contacts Informations and left ours. I've also severed my ownership with it. Which would allow your mind get notified when you recieve a call," Brenard explained further, his eyes beaming with a light of pride.
"Thank you," Noah simply uttered, getting up. He had all he needed now, which meant it was time to move.
The experts stood up as well, paving a path for him towards the still sealed entrance.
Noah lightly tapped on the ice wall, and it immediately shattered into millions of frozen flakes
The sunlight on the outside immediately shone on Noah's face at that point, further increasing the caves temperature. The sun had risen far higher than when they first entered that place.
The smell of the environment before him washed in an out his nostrils, but he barely focused on such unimportant details.
He had begun to stop minding the uniqueness of the environments of Creagar. Only things extraordinaril spectacular could fascinate him now.
Noah felt he had changed a lot in the three days he spent out of his body.
If it was due to Aiden's still present memories, he didn't know. Or simply because something within him had really begun to get serious, he still didn't know. But he perceived that a change had definitely happened within him.
He took a step forward, fully exiting that cave, then turned back to look at the experts after a few more steps.
They all seemed to wait for some sort of sign, but Noah wasn't going to give any.
He swept his gaze on the nervous looking experts, and giggled inwardly.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom
He wouldn't see them for a relatively long time, and might not even communicate with them much, but he didn't care.
He had gained people who could witness him in all his glory, and he didn't hesitate to show off.
He turned his head forward and took a deep breath, raising both his arms.
His environment seemed to tremble at that simple action, when a series of dense electrical sparks materialized around his figure; shooting out to obliterate most of the surrounding trees.
Not only that, ice spread beneath his feet covering a large surface area. Even the cave didn't escape that event.
Suddenly, tree-like structures of pure ice seemingly emerged out of the the frozen ground to replace the fallen trees.
He released the breath in his mouth, and a powerful gust of wind followed that action, but the ice trees managed to withstand the power in that blow.
Noah's white long hair fluttered in that scene, and the watching experts felt that image burn into their soul. Noah resembled a magestic being that had seen the peak of power.
The soft yellow glow the speed forces empowerment produced further emphasized that beautiful scene, but only Noah knew how much essence he had wasted on that action.
"I guess it's time for our separation," Noah announced wearing his poker face on making it seem as though the series of magical actions he executed had simply been refreshing.
""Yes"" They said in unison; immediately snapping out of their daze.
A mixture of emotions filled their minds at that moment, envy being one of them, but also reverence.
That display of power showed how Incredible the amount of comprehension he had achieved in both his affinities.
ραпdα nᴏνa| сom "You may need this," Brenard called out bringing forth the map they had previously inspected.
Noah nod his head and accepted the map, performing a quick inspection on it.
Brenard saw this and quickly gave him details on their current position, which was all Noah needed.
"I hope you find someone to complete the batch," Noah stated, his eyes slowly checking them out again.
Most of their injuries still remained, but none looked sickly pale. Their Injuries had also stopped bleeding.
"When next would we meet?" Brenard chipped in seeing that Noah looked ready.
"Whenever the time is right. I am about to go on an adventure that would spiral into other adventurers. It could take years before our next meeting, so do whatever you like," Noah explained blankly, but died of cringe on the inside.
Brenard nodded his head at that point, but his mouth quickly opened to release words again, another question escaping his lips. But it was one most of his colleagues also had in mind.
"Sir may we know your name!" Brenard stated loudly, performing a slight bow.
Noah fell into quick thoughts at that point. He understood that he could tell them his real name, but he already felt tired of "Noah" and opted for a name he currently had.
"Aiden," Noah announced; his body bursting out with powerful electrical energy, then he promptly took a step backwards, immediately turning into a bright yellow streak.
Needless to say, his unique departure to say the least, shocked the experts who failed to quickly process what had just happened.
Immediately after their minds settled down, regret almost instantly filled thier minds. Why?
Because their mouths would never be able to speak of the wonderous expert they had encountered on that journey.