Chapter 53 - 239-249

Chapter 239 239. COMPROMISE

Surprise filled the insides of Noah's mind, and to his even more pleasant surprise, he felt no pain from that emotion.

Noah struggled to keep his figure on the island and had to result to going on all fours to maintain his balance. He didn't feel ready to test the depths of his seemingly bottomless soul realm.

With his soul core somewhere under his belly, Noah had to struggle to sit but eventually did.

Soon, the sight of a shining yellow figure sitting cross-legged on an island that looked too small for it unfolded. If only someone or something apart from the system could witness that scene.

Noah retained his facial features, but his color remained deep-yellow. The sense of incredible power continued to rage within him, and he understood why his Speed-essence was so potent on his mind whenever he utilized it.

With his soul-core right in the middle of his crossed legs, Noah could easily access it. The storm tried to rebuild itself, but with Noah's figure crunching down on a significant portion of the island, they had to settle for the small space in front of him.

Ignoring the raging storm smashing into his knees, Noah focused his gaze on the still stationary core. Its halves were still being linked with the multicolored strands; that Noah confirmed were raw power, even if they were neither Mana nor Speed-Essence.

Noah's general sitting height stood at about 700ft, making him a proper giant. But that detail wasn't his focus.

Stretching two fingers toward both halves of his corer, Noah felt confident in the temporary power he wielded.

A wave of violent power rushed into Noah's fingers upon contact, but due to the energy that now powered his ethereal structure, the waves of power found it almost impossible to meet each other.

Almost.

Multicolored mists radiating enough power to wipe out tier 3 cultivators, poured out of Noah's fingers to turn into tendrils of power, stretching towards themselves to continue their battle.

Unfortunately, Noah wouldn't allow non-living masses of energy to outsmart him.

All five of his fingers touched the halves of his soul core, effectively sucking all their power into his figure. It seemed being a part of Noah, caused the power in his soul-core to be attracted to his figure. With him now being able to withstand their might, the raw mass of energy had no choice but to bend to his will.

Taking a deep breath, or what felt like it, Noah shut his eyes to converse with the different ideals causing an imbalance.

Images flooded into his consciousness but didn't manage to hurt him in the slightest. In less than a minute Noah experienced the two sides of his soul core.

The system had been right. Different ideals and memories existed in the two halves, one was as the embodiment of the darkness that was his depression, anger, helplessness, regret, emptiness, blood lust, distrust, insecurity, and emotional pain.

He had experienced them long enough for his soul core to get tainted by those emotions, coupled with the pain he suffered at the hands of the royals, and the death of the blurry person. Noah had to utilize all the mental power currently available to him to not succumb to his darkness.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

Heck if not for his timely ejection from those deep insights, his figure had already started to lose its yellow luster, a dark shade beginning to taint its light.

The other half featured his good sides, his curiosity, drive for power, adventurous nature, friendliness, and growing emotional attachment.

Both sides were equally matched which was why they needed his approval to overwhelm the other. But Noah knew he wouldn't do such.

Both parts made him who he was, and taking only one could prove dangerous in the future, The only reason that problem arose was that the darker side of his existence gained a larger amount of experience enough to unsettle the balance that his good nature brought.

Noah felt to gaze at the depths of himself in ways he never thought possible. A deeper understanding of who he was, flowed into his mind, and he couldn't help but remain at a loss of what to do.

'Should I let the brighter part of me regain control,' Noah pondered but found the idea bad. He felt the same way about giving the darker side of his mind control since he didn't want to end up like the masked man; unable to carry on with his life due to his emptiness. And he also didn't want to remain a gullible expert just as he found his earlier life on Cregar. Dumb

Noah understood how unstable he would become if either part of his mind took control, so he tried to settle for a coexistence, just as the system had said

Needless to say, both sides raged at the idea. Unfortunately, all their power was comfortably withstood by Noah.

"When you're done, tell me," Noah declared apathetically. With the lack of almost all his emotions, he was able to think straight without considering what both sides were feeling.

This of course raised the idea of vanquishing his emotions. The idea even began to sound good at some point, but Noah cringed at the thought of being a cold machine-like entity, fully focused on his goal, and would be ready to do anything to achieve it.

"Saying it that way makes it look like a better option," Noah muttered. "But I still disapprove of the idea," he concluded glancing at his now trembling core or cores, seeing as it was split in two.

"You've reached a compromise?" Noah asked his sides. And he couldn't help but feel that their quick decision was based on the fact that he considered purging both sides.

A few seconds of listening to their ideas was all Noah needed to like them. The two sides had agreed on coexisting, but could also be given the chance to take full control. This would of course be at Noah's will.

pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ In essence, he would almost literally be able to flip a switch and change from friendly to outright murder machine in seconds. This would take some time to get used to, but he liked the idea every second he thought about it.

"I'll basically have two split personality who are still me, but simply different moods," Noah pondered. "It'll have its own disadvantages since my opponents will almost be totally capable of seeing through me. But there's no helping it, both sides are currently equally matched, this is the best I can do without losing the advantages both mindsets bring."

Noah soon agreed to the idea, and the entirety of his soul realm trembled at that point. To Noah's calm surprise, his split soul-core began to feed on the Speed Essence inside his structure. And in less than three seconds he had returned to his normal size.

Both halves of his soul core buzzed madly, as the multicolored strands connecting them saw an enlargement. Soon the strands gained enough power to begin pulling on both halves of his core. And immediately their surfaces touched; a blinding explosion of multicolored lights occurred spreading across the entire island. This event however, successfully shattered Noah's ethereal figure, sending him into a deep state of unconsciousness.

Chapter 240 240. UPGRADE

 All the time Noah spent within his soul realm only numbered a few ten minutes, so when he woke up ten hours later feeling far better than he remembered, he could only sigh in relief.

'That was hella dramatic,' Noah thought marveling at the nigh emptiness of the room assigned to him. There were literally only four individuals in there. Five, plus him. Even at that remained an incredibly small number.

The others still looked asleep, a detail Noah found normal. Feeling in a good mood, Noah figured that his brighter side was currently in control, and he didn't hesitate to check his soul realm out.

Feeling his consciousness get sucked into his body, Noah felt himself travel through a strange space to arrive inside a white environment.

Right at the center of the bottomless white environment, was an island.

Arriving on his island, Noah felt another wave of surprise sweep over him at the sight that lay before him.

His yellow-tainted island featured two sides; one heavily stormy, and the other calm and flourishing with the Speed Essence embedded into it. He immediately understood what was going on, but remained stunned anyway.

Moreover, a thin border not more than 5m across existed, where nothing was present not even land, only transparent ground. Noah could only wonder how such an environment was even generated but understood what it was.

'This is unexpected,' Noah thought, staring at the small area that allowed him to become apathetic. It seemed to keep things in a balanced state.

Glancing at his soul core, Noah felt relieved to see that it had merged well enough. Unfortunately, a white line existed on it, perfectly separating it into two halves.

'Is that a scar,' Noah wondered sliding his palm on the line. It felt just like the metallic material that made his core, but instead of black, it remained white.

Noah considered it to be the representation of the empty space on his island, but he also saw it as a scar to show how out of the norm his mind had become.

"Will it ever heal?" Noah asked the system, exiting his soul realm.

[[You'll need to undergo a significant advancement for that to happen]]

"So basically tier 4," he sighed getting off his bed. Feeling at his peak, Noah couldn't help but wonder how the change hadn't affected the system in any way. No panel, no nothing.

Ordering food from the platform. Noah ate to his heart's content. Partially surprisingly, his roommates were all asleep. Noah had further confirmed this after playing around their figures loudly.

"I wonder how long I was out," Noah thought, hoping the system would provide an answer for him.

[[Approximately 10 hours]]

"Oof!" he exclaimed wide-eyed. "We only have a bit more than an hour before the next stage begins. They better recover fast," he snorted.

With over an hour of free time available to him, Noah couldn't help tinker around with his newly gained assets.

"Is there anything I can do with a mana stone?" Noah enquired of the system, while playing with an orange mana core, and lying on his bed.

[[You can convert it into something usable]]

Feeling pleasantly surprised, Noah opened his mouth to speak, "Like what?" He asked now sitting up.

[[Speed force stones]]

Furrowing his brows at the words he read, Noah took a second or two to process it.

"Speed force stones," he muttered. "If it's anything like mana stones do you mean it'll be able to allow me to cultivate outside?" Noah muttered, directing his words at the system.

[[Affirmative]]

"Then let's do that!" He quickly responded.

[[Be aware that it'll be transformed into a rank 2-speed force stone. When you achieve rank 3 it would be useless]]

Noah relaxed at that point, soon falling into thought. The system's words were more of advice than anything. Now that he became so close to joining a guild that would allow him to earn, the gap between tier 4 and now had shortened exponentially.

Although it seemed he couldn't raise his comprehension of the speed force energy with the system, it could pull out something that could help later on. At least he hoped so.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

'It'll be useless in a while,' Noah sighed but thought of how inconvenient it was to always have to return to his cultivation room to refill. Or use potions that damaged his core. And he figured he would need to do so soon since he currently had only a little over 2,000SE.

"Let's still do it," Noah eventually replied. "If worse comes to worst; when I achieve rank 4 I'll simply find another one," he shrugged.

[Would you like to upgrade a Mana stone to a Speed force stone]

[Yes/No]

Raising an eyebrow at the upgrade word Noah chose the affirmative option.

[Browsing through inventory for available Mana stone.....]

[High tier Mana stone found]

[Are you sure you want to continue with Mana stone "Yellow"]

[Yes/No]

[Note that you will be unable to reverse the process if you proceed further]

Hesitation couldn't help but seep into Noah's mind at the last panel. "Can't I use the orange one?" he questioned.

[[No. An orange mana stone is not sturdy enough to contain the power of the speed force, You'll simply break it]]

Clicking his tongue at the system's words Noah continued with the process. A large amount of willpower had to go into actually choosing yes, and he tried his best to not regret his action.

[Teleporting mana stone to User's cultivation room where the procedure will begin]

[Estimating upgrade time....]

[Estimation complete]

[Upgrade will take 10 days]

Surprisingly a sigh of relief exited Noah's mouth rather than a complaint. He had honestly expected a far longer period than that and was glad it wouldn't take more than that.

A weird feeling of nostalgia appeared inside Noah when the countdown for the whole process began. The excitement behind the completion of the upgrade reminded him of online orders on Earth.

A chuckle couldn't help but escape his lips when that realization dawned on him. "I seriously need something to do with myself."

A few trips to the food platform before they were summoned occurred, and Noah could only shake his head when he found that the others showed no signs of waking up.

"At least they weren't disqualified," Noah muttered shoving a spoon full of what resembled dumplings; but weren't, into his mouth. The taste of the brown-looking balls sauced with a red stew of sorts reminded him of a hamburger sided with sweet fried potatoes.

How all that flavor could exist inside something so small continued to baffle him.

As expected, a knock on the door signified the end of their resting session. And immediately it opened to reveal the familiar faces of lady Sophie and her team, he got off his bed.

Seeing that he was the only one awake, the expressions of the trio flickered in surprise, and Noah noticed it.

"Are you okay?" one of the males in that group asked him while the other went towards the remaining four, checking them out.

"A bit," Noah lied seeing as the other individual was feeding his still unrecovered roommates something.

His mind quickly fell on mind potions, a very valuable resource in the world of cultivation, more valuable than even mana potions.

"Drink this to feel better," the young man said handing a bottle containing a leafy-green liquid content to Noah.

However, before Noah could even receive the bottle, multiple groans and even a yelp rang out in the room. The others were awake, and they even looked energetic.

Chapter 241 241. EXAMPLE

"Get ready to move out!" Lady Sophie's voice rang out towards all in the room, while Noah collected the potion to store it. This of course caught the attention of the three experts, but they didn't say anything, after all, it was his choice to utilize it or not.

The now small group of five lined up in front of the woman, ready to move out. Their eyes, although sharp still held some tiredness.

The door opened and the eight of them exited the room to arrive inside the hallway that led to the massive hall. By this point no one marveled at the beauty of that place, their minds were focused solely on the trials they were about to take part in.

Once again being at the forefront of the group, Noah casually swept his gaze on the other groups around them. The hallway was more silent than ever, and surprisingly their group had the lowest amount of individuals still participating.

'Weren't they supposed to be the really good experts,' Noah thought in disdain, recalling the man that had tried to make a fool of him on their first day in the room.

Now only one male apart from Noah remained, the others being females. The mind trial had been brutal to the others, as some almost died from the sheer amount of pressure they experienced. Or were outright traumatized by the scenes that portrayed their greatest fears.

Some saw themselves die in the illusions, while some saw their loved ones brutally killed. In short, the things seen and experienced by the various experts were different and raised to a level of difficulty that surpassed what Noah experienced.

Then again, Noah remained a very extraordinary expert, he had survived his soul core being split in two. An event that would translate as certain death to the others.

pαndα`noνɐ1--сoМ They eventually arrived inside the massive hall, and they didn't hesitate to run towards the pulpit in the distance.

Once again Lady Edna stood atop the pulpit, smiling at the arriving groups. The tier 1 experts were the last to arrive and were also the largest group, numbering about two thousand.

The tier 2's were the second-largest measuring at a bit over one-thousand-two-hundred. Of course, the tier 3's were the smallest numbering a bit more than four hundred.

"Good day young aspirants, I trust you all rested well," Lady Edna started, sweeping her gaze on the experts.

"You have arrived at the third day of the trials. And I'm sure you all know today will be focused on your mana cores and pools," she continued.

"The test will be simple, you are to cast as many spells as you can before running out of mana," she stated.

"It not much of a trial since no one would be disqualified in this stage, rather it is simply for us to see how much you can manage your reserves," she continued, her words bringing unimaginable relief to the ears of her audience.

Seeing their relieved expressions, Lady Edna explained further. "If any amongst you understands what mana cores or mana pools are you'll realize that there's really no trial able to test them that wouldn't outright kill you.'

"For tier 3's, by seeing the color and shape of your mana core we can estimate how strong you are, but there isn't any need to disqualify you on that basis. After all, you've survived the first two days."

"And for you tier 2's and 1's, you're still young, and finding a test that would be able to range how big of a mana pool you have is almost impossible. So we settled with just watching you cast low ranked spells," she explained,

The experts listening to her couldn't help but nod at her words when they processed them. Individuals were different, and so were things like their mana cores or even soul cores. Disqualifying them based on their cores or pools would be akin to disqualifying people because their fingers were shaped differently or too long or short.

Details like that didn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

"The test will happen here and will last for twelve hours in total. You'll have one-hour breaks between the three, three-hour sessions," she explained. This of course shocked the listening experts.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

"Yes three hours each," she affirmed. "The real test would be to minimize the amount of mana needed to cast a spell, while still making it potent. You all will be given a training dummy to attack, and it will feature a point-based system measuring how powerful the spell you threw at it was."

"Although you won't be disqualified for not meeting the base damage point, I assure you that not meeting it will be the reason for the downfall of some individuals tomorrow," she explained, dropping a hint for the race that would happen on the last day.

Needless to say, theories on what that meant appeared and disappeared in the minds of many, as they wondered what would happen but couldn't conclude since none knew how the race would be.

"I shall proceed to show you an example," she announced pulling them out of their thoughts.

Waving her hands, the aspirants watched in awe as a large brown dummy, towering over 30m in height and in the shape of a human emerged from a series of orange inscribed circles that appeared on the floor.

"You might want to stand back," Lady Edna announced pointing her left hand at the stationary dummy.

Needless to say, excitement bubbled in the minds of every single expert present there, not even the various group leaders managed to stay calm inwardly. A series of inscriptions lit up beneath the aspirants huddled up together in their various categories, and thin barriers whitish-gray in color emerged from the inscriptions preparing them for the event to occur.

The dummy being more than five kilometers from the experts lit up with golden inscriptions, but nothing happened.

"This is the weakest spell in my arsenal, and I believe even the others will consider it weak," Lady Edna said as she poured mana into the said spell.

A magical circle expanded on her palm, and the aspirants watched as flames begin to spin in front of that blue circle.

The small ball of flames started as orange and continued to condense until it turned yellow. By this point, the air around her had started to vanish from the sheer heat the spell produced.

A whirling sound continued to spread out as the small ball of flames no larger than a basketball continued to spin madly, eventually turning green. The floor boiled, but yellow inscriptions shone on them to defend their material from the heat.

Noah felt mesmerized at the sight of green flames, while also feeling danger. An incredible amount. Actually, his instincts raged at the sight of that attack.

With the ever getting louder whirling sound reaching a state that would be capable of rupturing the ears of even the tier 3's if not for the barrier standing all around them, everything fell silent immediately the flames turned blue.

At this point, Noah felt the darkness of death hang over him, he felt certain that nothing within his arsenal except the spell able to bring him to tier 4 would be able to help him. The transformation barely lasted three seconds, but it felt like hours to the watching expert.

The small ball of flames soon changed form and stood in the shape of an arrow no longer than 2m. At that sight, everyone quickly placed their focus on the dummy, knowing what was to come.

A thin streak of blue light shot towards the dummy at speeds Noah couldn't follow even after empowering his mind!

Immediately the attack arrived on the dummy, the most terrifying explosion Noah had ever experienced up close occurred, as the entire room went blinding white. This was all the weaker experts could see before the entire place shook so violently that they had to crouch to keep their balance.

For the first time in a while, Noah didn't just feel terror, he believed he would die at that moment.

Chapter 242 242. DISPLAY

The whiteness quickly vanished after a dense wave of blue flames spread out in all directions inside the room. The ground and the whole place shook, but nothing was actually damaged. The tier 4 spell had been powerful, but the building's structural integrity comfortably withstood its power.

The dense gray smoke the attack released eventually wore off, and a shocking, scene; one that most partially expected, but were shocked nonetheless unfolded in their eyes.

The brown dummy stood perfectly still in the distance unmoved by the terrifying spell. The only sort of damage that could be seen on its figure was the large black spot on its chest, but the golden inscriptions vanquished it, leaving it unchanged after the attack.

However, the golden numbers casually floating above the training dummy caught everyone's attention immediately after the quick inspection, and Lady Edna's voice soon rang out.

"One hundred and forty thousand! Not bad for my weakest spell," she chuckled slightly but found that her audience looked to be in shock.

'Fuck,' Noah thought staring at those numbers. If those points were even slightly close to how the system calculated damage, then he could understand how overwhelming the attack was. Noah even struggled to accept that scene. He knew tier 4's were untouchable by tier 3, but that was too much.

"In short; this is what you are going to do for the next three hours straight before your one-hour break arrives," Lady Edna announced to the mesmerized experts, before waving her right arm.

A series of barriers appeared in the room's expanse at her wave, and dummies rose from inscribed circles to fill them up.

"Tier ones are to take the area on the far left, tier three's the right and tier two's in the middle," Lady Edna declared gesturing at the different enclosed areas carefully planted and having enough space between them.

"Your group leaders will give you the rest of the information. You all have twenty minutes to be ready, after which you are to start," she explained waving her hand in a way that her audience translated as a go-ahead.

In less than ten minutes the various categories were inside the enclosed spaces apportioned for their level of power. Focusing on the tier 3 category, Noah found himself staring at a dummy identical to the one Lady Edna attacked, except that it stood only at 6ft in height.

"The base point for you all is 7000 per minute. You are to maintain this number for the entirety of the three hours given to you. The bracelets are connected to the dummies and at the end of the day will show how many times you failed to meet that requirement," A man who felt no less strong than lady Sophie explained. "You are allowed to cast as many spells or as little as you like, so long as they reach the 7000 points per minute mark. Note that if you exceed this number in one minute, there will be no transfers of any sort."

The expert taking was a man that looked to be in his late forties, he had short brown hair, black eyes, and a cold air surrounding him.

Noah stared at his dummy intently while thinking about his next action. 'I'm low on Essence,' he thought heaving a sigh. The only option available to him of course was his potions, and he could do nothing but utilize one of them. Thankfully two more had been added to his stash allowing him to utilize one comfortably.

Their short five minutes of preparation soon ended and a countdown appeared high above the experts signifying that they had started.

Essence bubbled within Noah's black and constantly rotating core. Browsing through his skill, he looked for the cheapest spell he had, since he felt sure that all his skills would meet the minimum requirement.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

[Lightning Bolts: Create bolts of lightning, Cost 100SE. Duration N/A, Cool-down N/A]

Noah felt less than five seconds go by before he activated his spell. He understood that he could create lightning bolts from his control over lightning, but it wouldn't be anything as cheap as the one the system provided. At least for now, from his calculations, he estimated that he would need to utilize his potions three times before the whole trial ended.

'I might be overdoing it with this,' Noah thought but activated the skill anyway.

ραпdα nᴏνa| сom A yellow magical circle quickly expanded on Noah's outstretched right palm. Having gained an understanding of how magical circles worked, at least by a bit, Noah understood that the more circles within a magical circle the higher its tier of power.

Meaning the magical circle that expanded on his palm contained three different circles, each holding its own set of runic symbols.

An intense crackling sound boomed out in Noah's surroundings, followed by the appearance of a bolt of yellow lightning more than twice the size of an average fully grown man.

The crackling mass of destructive energy shot out of the magical circle to travel the exactly 20m path between Noah and the dummy. They were allowed that distance to either move closer or farther away from the dummy. And Noah had chosen farther.

The lightning bolt's passage brightened up the environment, effectively catching the eye of everyone in the tier 3 category.

Its arrival on the dummy caused an incredible explosion to spread out. However, inscriptions lit up on the linear path allowed only to Noah; to block the effects of the explosion.

Needless to say, many glanced at him in bewilderment, his show of power defied the very reason for that trial, to learn effective management of their mana reserves.

The cloud of smoke eventually dispersed to reveal a shocking scene. Above Noah's dummy was a golden set of numbers, and its sight caused those who had not witnessed his display in the pond to see him in a new light.

'I definitely overdid it,' Noah chuckled inwardly when his eyes fell on the numbers above his dummy. "Twelve thousand points. Almost double the required number," he muttered.

Unknown to Noah, his display was being watched by the important individuals of that guild, who had already gained a deep interest in the white-haired man dominating every test thrown at him.

It quickly became common sense that such a young monster had to join their guild or the competition would snatch him. Thankfully it seemed he would succeed in the tests without needing them to break their fairness.

Chapter 243 243. CALCULATIONS

Noah continued to cast lightning bolts, but they weren't the ones provided by the system. He created bolts of lightning from his control over that element, opting to pour nothing more than 60SE into each discharge.

This shockingly also met the requirements of the 7000 per minute, even passing it by a bit. Which meant he only need to cast once every minute.

Needless to say, he quickly became bored. The limit of 7000 per minute allowed him to cast only one spell, but unlike the normal cultivators, he couldn't cultivate or at least refill his core during those long 50 seconds, which meant for him his ease in that test didn't bring any advantages The amount of essence he calculated would be utilized by the end of the first session remained the same.

At some point down the line, Noah began to search for familiar faces since they were lined up in two rows, both rows containing around 200 experts each, and were both backing each other.

Fortunately, due to the spacing between each of their figures, Noah got able to spot some faces, Nathaniel being part of them, and to his subliminal joy; Ariana.

The young blonde lady of the water element looked fine, but Noah could spot fatigue in her movements since she was on the opposite row, but wasn't too far from him.

Her hair looked disheveled, but such details didn't matter. If it weren't for the attire provided in the rewards, Noah would look worse.

Her spells mostly featured watery weapons, and she needed only two casts to meet the requirements. The others around him were the same, with some needing more casts to meet the requirement.

The lights of spells of different elements being unleashed around him flashed in Noah's eyes, but it didn't matter to him, more than half of his attention was focused on the countdown above them.

'Three...two...one!' Noah numbered inwardly, his excitement peaking when the initial countdown reached zero, then another featuring one-hour appearing.

The golden inscriptions on the dummies disappeared immediately after the countdown for the three-hour session ended, as any spells launched after that event wouldn't be counted.

Noah's excitement soon died down; his gaze falling on the experts around him. Every single one of them, except him, sat on the floor; tired. And he quickly imitated them, but not for the same reason.

Seeing that no one left their spot to interact, Noah could only heave a deep sigh. In theory, the break was just a slightly better event than the actual test sessions. During the break, he didn't have to cast spells, but also couldn't talk to anyone since they were all busy resting.

'It's such a hassle being extraordinary,' Noah sighed gazing blankly at the red numbers that were the countdown.

His mind instinctively found itself on the topic of the last stage. In honesty, Noah felt a tad bit nervous. Not because he feared the last stage. It would be a race. If races in Cregar were anything like they were on earth, then he already had it in the bag.

He felt nervous because of the reality that he would soon become a member of a great guild in that nation. That organization already felt immense due to the number of powerful cultivators it contained, and only a small number had even been revealed.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

That change of location and status felt like a totally different phase in his life. One that even his instincts knew would lead to greater heights. Speaking of location, Noah found it weird that the location of the guild had not been revealed to them yet.

They had flown across the skies to get there but never managed to see what the environments outside the trial areas looked like.

'I bet it won't be disappointing,' Noah concluded understanding that it was probably a location that the guild only wanted its members to be familiar with.

'I might actually become a tier 4 soon,' Noah mused, but the sheer amount of work he vaguely understood he would need to achieve it scared him.

pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ In reality, he remained a weak lower-stage tier 3 cultivator a bit above its bottom. Thankfully, the rank 2 essence allowed him to achieve far more power. Noah understood that had he not achieved rank 2 Speed Essence, all the feats he had performed would not have been possible. He also would have most likely been eliminated by now.

"Speaking of which," Noah muttered at the system. "I've been wondering, how do people not know that I'm not powered by mana? Not even tier fours," he asked the system.

[[A lot of the credit goes to the bracelet you received]]

[[The world remains unable to notice your existence currently, which means its children will be unable to perceive your difference, as the necessary parameters do have not been met. Your identity as someone who runs on Speed Essence and not mana provided by the world will be revealed when the bracelet is gone]]

"So I'm like a stranger in a home filled with over one thousand inhabitants. The inhabitants don't know I'm different because they can't know everyone living there. Coupled with the fact that the owner of the house hasn't spotted me yet. Immediately Cregar identifies me as a stranger, every other person will know," Noah pondered feeling worried, but only slightly.

'If I can at least reach tier four before then; I'll be able to properly protect myself, at least for a bit. The problem is; do I have that much time?' Noah pondered as a series of calculations appeared in his mind.

Possible outcomes were constructed and dis-constructed multiple times, but he could only reach a state of in-conclusion since he remained in the dark on how the guild did things.

His chances of achieving his desired level of power and not; were equally matched. This of course tried to make him worry deeply about the future, but he stopped such thoughts from surfacing and focused on the countdown, it was about to end.

Everyone prepared themselves for the second session of that trial, as they stood up with expressions filled with determination. Lady Edna's threat stuck to their minds like a tongue on ice. They each had a vague understanding of how dangerous things could be, and the recollection of the weight lifting stage strengthened their fear, but also boosted their determination.

The countdown quickly ended, and the lights of hundreds to thousands of spells filled that large room. This was how things went on the third day of the trials to join the Divine Lightning guild.

Chapter 244 244. DARK SIDE

Crashing onto the ground without any care for his lower body; Noah sat on the ground, his mouth releasing hot breaths. Sweat dripped down his forehead and face, but none of that perspiration affected his attire. The magical attire seemed to have dirt-repelling abilities.

Sweeping his gaze on the experts around him, Noah saw that they were in similar states, maybe even worse. In truth, his body wasn't exactly tired, but the fatigue that came with an empty core placed even him in a deep desire to rest.

Not an ounce of Speed Essence existed in Noah's core, and for the second time in his life on Cregar, he understood what being drained of energy felt like.

Heavy breaths continued to raise his chest, but thankfully they were done with the test.

'Nine hours in total of practically non-stop casting,' Noah thought bringing out a potion, and immediately chugging it down his throat.

This being his fourth bottle that day, Noah could only close his eyes to utilize it; convincing himself that it was for the best. At some point during the test, he had to cut costs by further reducing the amount of essence poured into each electrical discharge.

A cool yet strangely warm feeling flowed down Noah's throat to arrive on his spherical core. The liquid which was the potion; seeped into his core and a reaction immediately occurred.

Settling at the bottom of his black core, Noah watched as liquid-like essence began to bubble up until his core reached a half-filled state.

A tinge of that essence seeped out of his core to wash over his insides, vanquishing the fatigue he experienced.

In less than three seconds, Noah felt at his peak, but the same couldn't be said for his mind.

Mentally he couldn't say he felt drained, but not at his peak. Due to this, Noah gained a better understanding of why the sturdiness of one's soul island mattered in battles. Thankfully, it had been sturdy enough to allow him to manipulate the Speed Essence efficiently enough to generate the adequate amount of power needed to meet the points requirement, and not have a mental breakdown.

"You all did wonderfully well," Lady Edna announced while the dummies and barriers slowly vanished. "Before I let you go to rest, I want to wish you luck on tomorrow's trial, as I will not be your coordinator," she smiled before suddenly vanishing.

'Why does she do that,' Noah thought shaking his head in wonder. The various group leaders immediately began gathering the experts under their leadership.

This of course meant Noah had to walk towards lady Sophie, but he searched for Ariana anyway. They had not spoken since the first day, and although he didn't find it necessary, he desired to talk.

Unfortunately, by the time he could spot her, she had gathered in front of her now group of nine experts. However, their gazes managed to lock, and she smiled at him even if her face radiated exhaustion. Moreover, she even looked pale.

A slight smile shone on Noah's face toward her, and he quickly turned to walk toward lady Sophie. That had been all he needed. Noah could feel the change happening inside him, but he decided to not place too much focus on it.

The groups immediately began their journey toward the hallway entrances in the distance. That trial had been the only one that they could directly walk towards their rooms without having to go through teleports or spacial doors of sorts.

Most groups had to jog towards the entrances as a result of the exhaustion the experts experienced, and this was true for Noah's group, who looked on the verge of fainting.

Eventually arriving inside their room, no one bothered to chat or partake in any social activity, as each person walked towards his or her bed to immediately begin their resting.

Noah on the other hand, branched toward the food ordering platform to get food.

pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ 'That was unfavorable,' Noah grimaced laying on his bed to sleep. There hadn't been much he could do after eating than rest, so he had decided to try the soul core potion an action he now found stupid for taking.

The bitter substances flowed down his throat but didn't get to his belly, rather they spread through his body to move toward his head.

Upon arriving there, Noah felt it try to force itself on his brain, and this resulted in pain. A panel even popped up informing him of the incompatibility between the potion and his mind.

His Speed Essence instinctively flowed through his body to get rid of the substance, which it did effectively.

This of course leaves us to the scene of Noah casually laying on his bed with the intense desire to sleep, a side effect that his energy didn't seem able to fix.

With no thoughts on what the next day would hold, Noah closed his eyes to immerse himself in his desire to sleep, and in mere seconds he was sound asleep.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

*

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*

Opening his eyes after what felt like the best sleep of his three lives, Noah sat up to find that his five roommates were busy cultivating, and before he could react properly a knock sounded on the door, and lady Sophie and her two group members followed.

"I see you all had a good night's rest," she commented walking into the room. However, the eyes of her audience were on her different attire. All three of them wore something different than what they had on before.

Lady Sophie featured a darker-than-black satin gown, fitted so much that it emphasized her curves that had been non-existent when she wore long garments.

At the lower portion of the streamlined gown was a thigh-high slit revealing her legs up to the beginning of her thighs.

On her chest were golden embroidery patterns intricately sewn to converge in the shape of what resembled a lying beast with multiple tails made out of erratic lightning bolts. The beast resembled a fox, at least from Noah's inspection.

From that short inspection of her attire, Noah felt a meaning within the strange crest, and to his shock, he found that his view of her figure changed. Lady Sophie had a dense barrier of sparks so thin that they were invisible to the naked eyes only his senses could feel them. However the same didn't exist for her group members, who were dressed in fitted suit-like attires black and also featuring a similar crest.

'So higher ranked members get some sort of powerful outfit,' Noah wondered, 'Or is that a barrier made by her,' confusion tried to seep into his mind.

Lady Sophie felt his inspecting gaze and her mouth opened to speak. "It's a barrier created by the attire. Made by the best inscription masters we have in our guild. It'll allow us to be ready for any battle-like event," she explained waving her smooth and straight brown hair in ways that beautified that scene.

Her hands featured long thin gloves, totally black, but they radiated a sturdy aura. It seemed even elegant-looking attires were made for battle.

'What a weird world,' Noah thought glancing at his attire and the crest, all that remained for him was to gain the crest and he would officially be crowned a member.

"It's time to go," Lady Sophie announced, when a black cape featuring the same crest, suddenly materialized behind her. Just before she turned toward the door, Noah managed to realize how she had gradually stopped being cold to them, and a smile couldn't help but crack on his face.

The group walked out of the room only to suddenly arrive in a totally different environment!

The sound of cheers immediately found its way into Noah's ears, and he felt his heart tighten in emotional pain. In less than an instant; a part of him turned his dark side on, and Noah let it happen.

They had arrived inside an enclosed field surrounded by rising walls of seats filled with humans.

Nostalgia mixed with anger regret and pain, coursed through Noah's now raging mind. This, of course, caused the space around him to react to his emotions. Yellow sparks began to appear around him, and the wind tried to pick up, even that space experienced a steady drop in temperature.

However his rationality pierced the raging storm that was his emotions, and he soon began to worry about being seen. This thought process allowed him to turn calm for a bit, enough time to switch sides again and Noah felt his mind become devoid of emotions after the switch.

Noah's icy blue eyes seemed to glow in that bright environment. All three categories were gathered in that area and a beam of white light stood above them illuminating them, but obstructing their total view of the world outside of the light.

Noah however, didn't seem to care about the light shining from above, Speed Essence flowed into his eyes and he felt able to see everything in that environment.

There was a large curved illusory screen portraying the confusion of the aspirants who had walked out of their various rooms to suddenly arrive there.

The cheers continued to echo in Noah's ears, but he felt no emotion towards it. Although that scene reminded him of bozolom, his eyes remained calm, merely inspecting everything with an intense desire for details.

Before much could be done, a loud voice boomed around them.

"Good day aspirants, welcome to the last stage of your trials!" the male voice announced pulling everyone's attention to the sky.

Chapter 245 245. LESS SUCCESSFUL

A man seeming no older than thirty floated above the collesuem, his figure draped in a golden robe akin to that of a king. The young-looking man had long silver hair that he allowed to fall on his shoulders and even below it. His voice sounded firm but soft, old yet young, and his gaze seemed able to pierce their souls to uncover their secrets.

His figure shimmered within the light above them as his regal figure cast a shadow on their faces, but nobody could deny the incredible power he held even if they didn't like his sudden appearance.

The young-looking man's figure palpitated with so much power that from that over 200m distance the audience could see wisps of shockingly different elements flow freely out of his figure. Noah sense's felt unable to gain a vague idea of the man's power, and even the systems inspection proved futile.

However, Noah felt certain about one thing, that existence held far more power than any expert he had ever seen in his life on Cregar.

"Ah, it seems they are shocked," the man mused in a tone so eloquent and lively that Noah's emotionless mind almost shattered in outrage.

The individuals on the ground and even the ones in the various seats continued to stare at the breathtaking existence in utter awe and silence, as in the mere instants of his arrival the whole place had gone silent.

"If you would calm your excitement and bottle up your aura maybe they'll be able to react," a female voice rang out of nowhere, startling the entirety of the crowd.

Noah felt his eyes constrict to figure out where the person that talked was, and his eyes quickly landed on a figure equally as regal as the young man, only that her attire was white, filled with bluish spots that radiated coldness even from that distance!

For the first time in Cregar, Noah laid eyes on a white-haired maiden and felt blown away. Her long white hair reached her waist, perfectly matching her attire, her hair seemed to produce a glow of its own, further emphasized by the white light above them.

She looked young, younger than even the man, and her alluring curves were revealed to the world. Noah immediately considered her a top-class beauty, one that that seemed even prettier than Isabella.

'Maybe it's her power,' Noah's emotionless mind pondered, seeing that she felt on par with the man. The world truly was filled with monsters.

"I apologize, I feel glad that our great guild is about to admit new members; ones that have managed to succeed in even the complex tasks we set," the young man started, while the lady simply floated beside him, her expression unbothered.

Waving his hand in the air, the young man's action caused the light shining above them to disperse, and multicolored lights shone from the ceiling of that stadium-like location.

An "Ooh" escaped the mouths of the audience, but Noah felt unfazed. His eyes landed on a spot high in that collesuem, and a series of figures unfolded in his eyes. Every one of them looked exquisitely dressed, and Noah's mind quickly began to ponder about their potential identities since their attires gave a hint.

He quickly came to a conclusion that seemed suitable. 'They are from other guilds,' he thought before focusing his gaze on the duo above them.

"I am Adonis, you may refer to me as Elder Adonis," the expert started. "For today I shall be the one explaining your last task to gain entry into this great guild of mine."

"Do note that other important guild representatives are here, and will be willing to take you in if you show potential but do not succeed," he focused his attention on the regally dressed experts in the corner, his words confirming Noah's thoughts.

"This person beside me, is a very important individual from the Frozen prism guild, another of the great guild in our nation," Elder Adonis gestured at the lady beside him, and she limited herself to a slight smile.

"Now onto the topic of today. As your various coordinators have informed you, today's trial will be a race, but the details I ordered them to leave out was what would happen during the race," he paused sweeping his calm gaze on the whole area before eventually arriving on the various experts aspiring to become guild members.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

Suddenly waving his hand at thin air, the massive illusory screen stopped displaying the aspirants but depicted three white mountains.

"That is where the race will happen and your goal is to reach its top,' Elder Adonis continued.

"However my eager aspirants, you will not just be racing to the top to beat the time limit, you will also be tasked to gather 70 inscribed stones a minimum of 50."

"I'm well aware of your unfamiliarity with the term, and it's not a real resource, just stones inscribed by our inscription masters specifically for this event," he continued.

"In this stage unlike the rest, you'll be allowed to use your various abilities to take from your fellow aspirants. However, instead of eliminating them, all you are allowed to do is overwhelm them and force them to give their stones to you. No killing is allowed. Anyone who does kill someone will be immediately disqualified and will face other consequences," the expert explained.

"Also you all will be given exit stones, all you'll need to do is crush them to quit if you find the tasks too arduous," he continued.

"The second to the last detail is the existence of magical beasts attuned to fit the average of your cultivation levels. Note that these beasts will and are ready to kill you, it's either you kill them, or escape," he explained.

"There is no sort of reward for killing beasts but do remember to showcase your power to give the representatives a suitable understanding of your worth, in case you end up failing," he nodded.

"In summary, you are to gather seventy inscribed stones and make it to the top in the time given to you. Failing to gather the minimum of fifty but reaching the top will mean disqualification, and gathering seventy but not reaching the top will also result in disqualification."

"The reward for finishing with all seventy stones and reaching the top will be gaining top priority in our guild. More on that will be explained when you succeed," he paused, allowing the information he had released to sink in properly.

pαndα`noνɐ1--сoМ "The last but not least detail for this trial, is based on the test you partook in yesterday," the expert started, and Noah immediately heard individuals close to him hold their breaths in nervousness,"

"Those who failed to meet their required points 70 percent of the total time will be held back for a whole day. Note that only four days will be allowed in total," Elder Adonis explained, dropping a crucial detail.

Noah watched the countenance of many individuals around him fall. It seemed the test had been less successful for many than he initially thought.

___________________

*Authors note*

I know it's pretty late. I had to stare at a blank page for a long while to produce something. I hope you enjoyed it.

Updates will continue normally tomorrow.

Chapter 246 246. SNOWY

Noah felt able to smell the worry in the environment. The man's words managed to bring people to their mental knees, but once again he felt unbothered by the event, he had met the requirements without missing it once.

Their race would happen on a mountain, a snowy one at that. And they were tasked to gather stones that could be anywhere, a task that would be hard even if all of them were asked to start at once.

The one-day head-start that he and whoever managed to meet the requirements would allow them to empty the starting portions of the mountains of its stones, forcing the others to have to climb further before any hope of gathering stones could exist.

"You will all be teleported to the location together, only that does who failed to meet the requirement will have to sit back and wait until the barrier set, is open," Elder Adonis continued, his face revealing a slight but excited smile.

Waving his hand at them, the aspirants and audience on the seats watched as the grassy ground beneath the aspirants lit up with radiant inscriptions of golden colors. After which bracelets and rings appeared in front of each person signified as an aspirant.

Noah's emotionless mind watched as a black bracelet and a red ring appeared before him, slowly grabbing it, he glanced at Lady Sophie's figure. She noticed his gaze and turned to look at him.

Nodding her head at the sight of the items, Noah immediately wore them and felt a series of information flow into his mind.

An illusory leaderboard of sorts appeared on the bracelet at Noah's, and he felt unfazed to find that his name and face were at the top of the list. He had an outstanding one-hundred percent on the success rate in hitting the required damage points.

The second on that list was a female whose name was hidden. Actually, the names of the other aspirants were hidden apart from his, but their faces were revealed. The lady raked an astonishing ninety-five percent, while the percent of the third plunged to eighty-four. The fourth eighty-one.

They all could recognize each other, and soon their gazes locked. Ariana being the eight had seventy-four, a very close call. While many others had the same scores above the mark of 70 or on 70 itself.

Checking the ring, Noah found his consciousness within a room no less 3sq meters, and in it was a crystal-like stone, shimmering with different colored inscriptions and even a tiny magical circle.

He could immediately identify it as the exit stone, an object he felt sure he wouldn't be needing.

Elder Adonis gave them a few moments to check the items and make peace with their fate, and after what he considered the adequate moment had passed, he opened his mouth to draw their attention back to him.

"That is all there is to say, the rest will be up to you," he declared, when three portals shining with incredibly dense mana abruptly opened on the grassy field, a few hundred meters in front of the aspirants, and spaced out from the other.

"Tier one aspirants are to take the portal on the right, tier two's on the middle, and the tier three's are to take the portal on the left," Elder Adonis explained.

"Note that all who passed the seventy percent mark are to immediately begin," he explained while the three categories immediately started to enter the portals after forming single files.

The process was quick as in less than a minute more than half of the required aspirants had walked through the portal.

Noah found himself about to enter the portal but suddenly sensed someone's gaze land on him. His head rose to find that both floating experts actually had their eyes on him, but no one would notice their actions due to the process happening on the ground.

"He's also an ice affinity wielder," the lady conveyed to Elder Adonis through her consciousness, and he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that information.

Of course, being an important identity in the Divine lightning guild, he had been amongst the higher-ups who found interest in Noah or rather the man named Aiden.

"Who exactly is he to hold two rare affinities," the lady conveyed, her eyes never leaving Noah's figure.

"His identity remains unknown even to us, but even if it wasn't; I carry an oath to never release the identities of my our members unless it's very important or required of me," Elder Adonis replied momentarily glancing at her expressionless face.

"But he's not a member of your guild yet. And besides, we both know that the oath isn't capable of stopping you," the lady said returning his gaze. Needless to say, Elder Adonis's eyes sharpened at those words.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

He had known her long enough to understand the meaning behind her words.

"He's not likely to fail. He's the best amongst them after all," he replied to her, keeping a smirk off his face.

"Notwithstanding, if, by some unfortunate happening, he does fail; I want him for my guild," the lady calmly declared, watching Noah step into the portal and disappear.

She, being a wielder of the ice affinity understood that the environment the aspirants were sent to, would be nothing of a bother to the young man. She could sense his above-average comprehension even if he worked so hard to hide it.

They had chosen that environment due to how rare an ice affinity holder was, but his existence remained unfair nonetheless. But she cared not about that detail. Both of them didn't.

pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ "He has a third affinity," Elder Adonis eventually conveyed after a few moments of silence.

"I know," the lady calmly replied and the duo immediately fell into deep thought.

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A weird pressure applied itself to Noah's consciousness immediately after he stepped into the portal. Soon enough he felt his environment change.

A cold breeze slammed into his figure, but he casually shrugged it. That environment would be unable to bother him even if it wanted to.

Noah had already figured out why a cold environment was the site for the trial. Not many had an affinity for ice since if they did, they wouldn't be aspiring the join the Divine Lightning guild.

A series of red lights shone on Noah's face and the faces of the others that had already arrived there.

Taking a moment to inspect the mountain, Noah's calm mind could vaguely calculate how difficult the task ahead of him would be.

The mountain was as immense and majestic as one would expect a white landmass of such grandeur to be.

Because they were teleported to its base, the aspirants couldn't see its peak from that height, but everyone could see how thick the snow was; moving around it would be a hassle.

From his position, Noah could notice thick formations of trees and jagged edges. However, the silent nature of that environment contradicted the reality that magical beasts were present in it.

The environment for miles around the mountain proved to also be snowy and Noah couldn't help but wonder where they were. However, he quickly pushed that topic to the back of his mind since there was a barrier blocking their passage to the outside regions.

Those who were unable to meet the requirements found that they could not walk past the red barrier where everyone was initially teleported into. So when Noah's white-haired figure burst forward with crackling waves of power, sadness and helplessness quickly set in.

The trial had started, but they would be unable to partake in it for one whole day, and with monsters like Noah already in, their chances of succeeding took a deep dive.

Chapter 247 247. JAWED SPIDERS

Merely after a few minutes, Noah had arrived inside the lower forest of the mountain. Unfolding his consciousness to its max, he immediately picked up more than 20 individuals in a radius of about 3 kilometers. Most were also running, and they could sense his consciousness, however, they let him be.

Uncertainty of what the inscribed stones would be like, forced Noah into searching the trees around him. Thanks to the still low altitude there was still a visibility area of more than 10m, and the winds around him were still in a state of normality.

His consciousness picked up something interesting and he didn't hesitate to dash towards the over 400m distance to arrive in front of two large trees covered by a thick layer of snow, but he could still spot their green leaves.

A shining stone no more than 2inches in size lay on the soft white ground that was snow. Immediately picking it up, Noah felt his consciousness spot another one less than 100m from his position, he sprinted towards the position without empowering his body, and almost immediately arrived in front of it.

However, instead of one stone, Noah laid eyes on three stones shimmering with multiple shining lines. That success rate made him scour the radius of one whole kilometer around that area.

At the end of the tens minutes mark, he successfully gathered six more, an incredible finding. He had almost run into other aspirants, but his expert agility in moving at that speed allowed him to avoid anyone that could pose trouble.

In total, Noah had gathered ten stones in less than twenty minutes of beginning the stage, so he immediately moved towards places that had not been touched by anyone yet.

Noah didn't stop until a whole portion of the lower forest had been traversed by him, and at the end of the two-hour-long mission, he had gathered ten more!

This caused him to look towards the higher locations of the mountain and run towards it. There was no countdown of any sort, at least not yet, which meant the aspirants had to be careful of time.

Noah had to sprint for entire kilometers to exit the lower forest and burst out into a white plain.

Uncountable footsteps diverging in all directions appeared in front of him, as even his consciousness failed to pick up anyone in his area.

The others seemed to have traveled higher, and something told Noah that things would get harder from that point since the mountain path experienced a giant upward slope.

Taking a deep breath and reveling in the strength he experienced, Noah immersed himself in the coldness of that environment, for it strengthened him. A few seconds had to go by before he continued his journey.

At some point, he had to take a hard decision between scouring the area or continuing on the mountain path since the distance to the peak remained immense. It felt as though he hadn't even left its base yet. This was after traveling tens of kilometers to that location.

Noah's steps continued to remain rapid, as even the gradually increasing density of the snow couldn't make him stop.

Trees appeared in his sight again, followed closely by large rocks covered in white snow. That new elevation featured a heavy atmosphere, and very soon Noah's instincts warned him of the danger surrounding him.

Barely a minute into that treed environment, the sounds of different battles occurring reached his ears, but he felt unbothered. Noah continued to run on paths previously traversed by his fellow aspirants since the path featured no signs of combat.

To make their way to the top, the aspirants had to circle the mountain to reach higher elevations, but those paths were more than just a few kilometers in width and were capable of holding small forests spanning more than half their width and length.

The sounds of clashes quickly got louder. And Noah had to unfold his consciousness while he searched the areas relatively close to him for inscribed stones. Disappointment tried to reach his mind when he found nothing even after an hour of searching.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

By this point, most battles had died down, and the ones that were still on were distant.

Notwithstanding, this seeming safe reality didn't stop the ground beneath him from bursting forth with large spikes made out of the earth.

Of course, Noah simply sprinted away from his previous spot, while his unfolded consciousness spotted his attacker.

Noah soon laid eyes on his attacker, but instead of attacking back, he simply focused his gaze on a different location and ran toward it. The magical beast that had attacked him was a large brown bear, featuring multiple white patches of fur. The beast opened its jaws to voice a roar when it saw that Noah ran away.

Unfortunately for it, its targets figure quickly became unnoticeable in the whiteness of that environment.

Noah's decision had been based on the fact that he found it unnecessary to waste time and energy on something that wouldn't produce any benefit. Although its body would be stored and its orange mana core retrieved; he found it useless anyway. He would only begin to kill beasts when he had gathered more than fifty stones or was required to.

Gradually the wind began to pick up and it started to snow. The area of visibility plummeted to less than 5m, as it seemed like a white wall had appeared before his eyes.

Noah however, saw it as nothing. And although the day looked close to ending he had, gathered only four more stones, a result that would normally be depressing, but because he currently utilized the emotionless portion of his mind, he remained unfazed, merely running calculations on what moves to make next.

The darkness of the night eventually arrived, but Noah continued to run. His stamina proved once again how monstrous it was. Moreover, the coldness of that environment didn't deter him.

pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ 'I have to find a place to stay for the night,' Noah thought seeing as it had started to snow heavily, and it didn't look like that situation would change anytime soon.

Only a mentally sick person would be seen journeying in that environment, but because of the advantage his affinity granted him, he could do so comfortably.

The only issue remained the beasts that he could sense all around him. The mountain had stopped being silent hours ago, and things changed when tens of wild aura's sprung up in different directions. The mountain had come alive at night, a situation he felt unready to face.

With the visibility being around 2m Noah had to almost completely rely on his consciousness and instincts, so when both led him to arrive in front of a white cave, he could only nod in satisfaction.

However, to claim that natural spot as a resting place, he had to deal with the auras within it.

'Seven peak stage tier 2 beasts, and one middle stage,' Noah thought standing at the entrance of the dark cave.

His cold eyes fell on a series of crimson red lights in the cave, they felt like eyeballs since he could feel dangerous gazes from them. More so from the larger one at the far end of the cave. They all gazed at his cold and valiant figure.

Loud clacking sounds soon began to exit the cave. The creatures were trying to scare him away, but Noah limited himself to retrieving his daggers while inspecting the eyes that were in groups of eight each.

[Snowy mountain Jawed spiders:[8]]

Chapter 248 248. WEAK

The mountain's wind continued to howl behind Noah as he stood in front of the cave waiting for his targets to make a move. Snow continued to land on his back signaling the raging snowstorm on the outside. Only after getting under the cave's roof, did he fully understand the type of environmental mess he had been running in.

The clacking sounds of the spiders continued to resound in the cave, but compared to the sound of howls and roars happening in the forest all around them, that was nothing.

Eventually getting bored of the wait, Noah acted to illuminate the cave, since he had not fully laid eyes on the spiders.

Holding his second dagger with his left hand, Noah stretched his right palm towards the dark cave and a bolt of lightning shot out of his palm to land on a random spot in the cave.

The deep-yellow radiance of the attack lit up the cave and he quickly gained clear visuals of the spiders.

The spiders regardless of their power level were all naturally black, but a thick layer of white fur covered that black exoskeleton. A feature Noah guessed was for being stealthy in the white environment since spiders are normally cold-blooded.

The large red eyes of the spiders weren't glowing now that there was a light source, but Noah barely had his focus on that detail. In the span of an instant that it took the lightning bolt to strike, he laid eyes on the feature that made those spiders special.

On the portion of their bodies where their chelicerae were supposed to be, was a mammal-like jaw, large; as it was almost half their size, featuring a series of jagged teeth. In essence, they resembled the Brazilian wandering spider, only with white fur and powerful-looking jaws, plus their trauma-inducing size.

pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ Louder clacking sounds escaped the large jaws of the spiders immediately after the bolt of lightning hit.

An explosion resounded at the collusion of the spells and the wall, immediately killing three of the magical beasts or insects. However that bolt of lightning felt weak, and it was.

To not compromise the structural integrity of the cave, Noah had heavily reduced the amount of Essence he poured into the discharge. Even at that, three of the spiders turned into charred carcasses.

The middle-stage spider at the far end of the cave snapped its teeth multiple times at that sight, causing a powerful sound wave to spread out in the cave. Seemingly ordering the spiders to attack, the beast felt infuriated when it saw that its weaker specimen struggled to crawl forward. Then again it could vaguely understand their hesitation.

Noah's figure, although aura-less radiated terrifying power. His figure casually stood at the entrance not moving forward, but also not scared.

The biggest beast in the cave moved at that point.

Feeling his instincts tingle at the reality of an incoming attack, Noah's calm mind moved to carry out his reason for being there. Having concluded that he would kill the beasts as quickly as possible to reduce the noise that got to the outside, he took a step forward and instantly arrived in front of the tier 3 specimen.

The spider featured eight spiky legs, and its bulky frame stood at a height of 10ft. The tier 2 specimens measuring about 4ft.

A series of thin spikes forming multiple x-like shapes, barreled out of the cave's entrance, effectively sealing it up. But that had not been the reason for the attack.

Shock seemed to flow inside the spider's mind at Noah's disappearance, an even greater shock befalling it when he found that he stood in front of it.

The snapped its jaws open to try and crunch down on Noah's tiny figure. But before it could complete that quick action, a force of incredible proportions slammed into its head from beneath its jaw shutting it.

The force managed to raise it by a few feet, but it crashed into the 13ft high ceiling at that point, as it almost did a flip.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

Noah on the other hand calmly glanced at the Dagger in his hand, his eyebrows raised at it. He had attacked the spider with more than half his full strength, but the dagger hand barely pierced it, only its tip digging into its surprisingly hard exoskeleton.

Flicking his wrists at the spiders trying to attack him from behind, Noah bisected their figures in the blink of an eye. One tier 2 specimen remained, and it snapped its teeth in fear, trying to escape. However, it suddenly crunched into a gory ball of hard outsides and tender insides, blue blood pouring from its squished insides.

Noah had quickly disposed of the tier 2 beasts, a normal scene, but the lack of proper damage to the middle-stage specimen caused him to re-evaluate the dangerousness of the dagger. Regaining its balance the spider tried to crunch down on him again.

A powerful snapping sound resounded in the cave as the spider bit air. Noah however appeared at a father spot in the cave, close to its now sealed entrance.

'I can't one-shot middle-stage entities except I utilize spells or empower my body, but I can injure them. It's still a big step from before,' Noah concluded feeling his figure crackle with erratic energy.

The daggers were sharp enough to normally cut through tier 3 beats, but the thrust he executed wouldn't work well on the beast's Exoskeleton unless he inputted enough sheer force. He needed more, and that's what he got.

Noah shot forward with maddening power, as his figure turned into a yellow streak inside that enclosed and short space. Needless to say, immediately after his daggers arrived on the spider's jaws, it shattered it, going on to plunge into its insides.

Noah almost traveled the full length of the giant spider in that attack, his right arm being fully embedded inside it.

Blood spurted everywhere, as a nasty smell reached Noah's nostrils. However, the black attire he had on shone with a deep golden radiance, vanquishing any stain that tried to stick to him.

The beast's long legs crashed on itself since there wasn't any consciousness managing its function.

Removing his arm from the beast's insides, Noah was met with the weird sight of his daggers dripping with blue blood, but his arm was dry and free of any sort of stains.

A red core soon shot out of the beast, and he waved his hand to store it. Soon enough the spider's figure disappeared.

"It was weak, Its only strength was its incredible natural defense," Noah muttered. Ever since he gained that new strength merely around a week ago, he hadn't gained the chance to test himself against a proper tier 3 beast in the middle stage.

'Maybe the bear would have been better,' he mused while ice spread from beneath his feet to freeze every drop of blood and even the carcasses of the tier 2 spiders. Slamming his feet on the thin layer of ice and chunks, Noah shattered them but caused those shards to converge in front of him.

A frozen spherical object soon appeared in front of him, and for some reason he stored it.

Quickly settling in, Noah sat cross-legged in the cave's darkness, limiting himself to eating the food supplies he had in his inventory.

A new day quickly broke, and Noah set out just as fast. Things would be different that day, there would be more people and he would need to travel a reasonable distance closer to the mountain peak.

In actuality, he planned to travel the highest before fully beginning his hunt for inscribed stones; in an environment untouched by others.

Chapter 249 249. THICK FORMATION

Sending a bolt of lightning toward a rapidly moving shadow moving from tree to tree and even the ground, Noah's eyes darted in multiple directions, those organs blazing with the speed force's empowerment. The black shadow disappeared, effectively dodging the bolt; even if Noah had never planned to hit it, before appearing amongst the whiteness of its environment, and a series of spikes quickly burst out of the ground to shoot towards Noah's position.

Trees shattered and snapped at the power in the attack, but Noah simply took a few steps forward to directly burst out of the area of the attack. Seemingly picking a random direction, Noah lunged forward with his bare hands and caught hold of a solid figure.

Before the stunned entity could react, his figure turned to a yellow streak and he moved to bash the dark figure into every single tree within a radius of 50m. Needless to say, chaos spread out as explosions capable of seriously injuring lower stage tier 3 occurred in the area.

Eventually halting his incredibly rapid movement, Noah hurled the bloodied black figure towards a sturdy-looking tree only a few hundred meters from his position. The figure crashed into the tree and snapped it. But it didn't stand up from its position.

Noah managed to lay eyes on the magical beast attacking him, and he felt his curiosity get piqued at its sight. It resembled an ape, a really lean ape, and it stood at around 8ft in height and was incredibly light on its feet all four of them.

Its fur being darker-than-black caused its shadowy figure whenever it moved.

[Snowy mountain: Evolved ape]

[Tier: 3[middle-stage]]

[Affinity: Earth]

[Level of danger: Unknown]

It looked alive, but Noah felt no fear towards it. Their fight had barely lasted a minute. And from his short inspection, he confirmed that the beast lacked in the field of physical strength, merely possessing speed and agility. An attribute Noah had in abundance.

'It would be an issue for slower cultivators,' Noah thought while one of his daggers appeared in his hand. He remained unafraid of the ape didn't mean lowering his guard. It had an above-average cognitive level.

And just as he predicted, it tried to escape him. The ground beneath Noah turned loose, almost tripping him, unfortunately for the beast, Noah turned into a blur to arrive right behind it. His dagger flashed and he separated its relatively small head from its shoulders.

A red octahedral core shot out of the ape's body, and Noah quickly stored it. Merely a few seconds passed before its slender figure disappeared.

Noah had spent half of the day traveling towards the higher regions of the mountain, and in his rapid journey, he had managed to spot seven more stones. He understood that waiting to search would have allowed him to gather more, but seeing how far he remained from even seeing the top since a cloud shielded it from his eyes, he could only choose the wise decision of journeying farther.

During his hike of sorts, nine magical beasts had been unfortunate enough to encounter him, as what followed were short battles that ended in his victory.

Noah could only guess that the beasts of that mountain had been groomed to remain weak since none of the beasts he had encountered featured an orange core apart from the bear, which was over a kilometer below him.

Sweeping his emotionless gaze on his wrecked surroundings, Noah could only feel that his decision to remain without emotions had been a good idea. Notwithstanding he had begun to experience a headache. A backlash for utilizing that portion of his mind for too long.

Focusing his gaze on the path ahead, Noah took the moment to wonder if Ariana was okay down there. In truth, he felt unsure whether or not other aspirants had traversed his current position on the mountain, but he recalled leaving many in the cloud of snow his rapid movement created.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

pαndα`noνɐ1--сoМ Turning into a blur, Noah sprinted with the sheer power his body could muster, and the result was a white cloud zooming left and right between the trees.

The level of snow in that region had crossed the halfway mark to his knee, a few more inches and he would be knee-deep. Thankfully his rapid movement allowed him to run on the soft snow.

Noah continued his lone journey to the top for many hours, only thoughts of what his future in the guild would be crossing his mind. Occasionally, he would encounter roaming magical beasts but had limited himself to killing a few. Choosing to stop when he had hunted and killed twenty in total.

This brought the amount of beast he had stored for the dungeon to a bit over 50. Noah felt tempted to go hunting for more beasts, but each fight started taking longer, and he had to limit his movement due to the now steep regions he had arrived on.

Noah risked falling multiple times, and he couldn't imagine having to recross his already traversed areas because he fell.

Notwithstanding, he made sure to kill any beast that tried to attack him. However, such encounters had started getting rarer with each passing hour.

The night of the second day eventually arrived but he had only gathered a total of 42 stones. Noah figured the next day would be for finding stones since from his position, the peak of the mountain looked vaguely visible. A good sign.

Luckily for him, he didn't have to kill another set of beasts to find an empty cave, only that the cave he encountered was small.

The night was cold and an even bigger snowstorm occurred, bringing the thickness of the snow to around 28inches.

However, none of those conditions affected Noah apart from the fact that when the day broke he had to dig through the wall of snow that formed at the cave's entrance.

A pure white blanket seemed to cover everything in his line of sight, and even the trees had stopped featuring green leaves only pure white ones.

The cold in that place felt immense, enough for him to feel it, though only by a bit. The air density in that place had plunged, but such details didn't matter to him due to his uniqueness.

Unfolding his consciousness while white mist exited his mouth with each breath he took, Noah began the hunt for inscribed stones while also traveling higher. Though he focused mainly on finding the stones and didn't go higher than a few ten meters until he met the fifty inscribed stones mark and even exceeded it by a little bit.

Unfortunately, this took him more than half the entire day, and by the time the sun began to set, Noah had gone over 700m higher and had crossed the seventy mark of inscribed stones. Having in the red ring seventy-nine.

With only a bit more than one day left before the trial ending, Noah remained unfazed when powerful explosions began to resound from lower elevations of the mountain. His fellow aspirants were working their butt off to cross good distances, and even he had decided that there would be no rest for that night.

It would be full speed towards the still relatively distant peak.

It was with this thought that Noah ran higher into the mountain. And when he remained only a few hundred meters from his goal, he arrived in front of a thick formation of white trees spanning for few kilometers in length, and a strong presence lay inside it.

Noah felt his eyes grow cold when he realized that the aura within the forest belonged to something in the higher-stage.