บท 19: 19. Threat
Noah was breathing roughly.
Now that the battle was over, he was overwhelmed by the tiredness of his body.
Even if he had decreased the quantity of "Breath" as he got used to killing the beasts, he still had almost none left.
He was constantly using the one in his legs to boost his speed and agility and still used a bit of the one in his arms to activate the perforating ability of the twin saber style.
He sat on the bloody ground to rest a bit and allow his acupoints to refill the "Breath" in his body.
"You did a good job for your first time."
William arrived from behind him, smiling and carrying some flowers in his hands.
"So now you know why I said that you would have been fine?"
Noah nodded and answered shortly.
"I use a rank 2 martial art, with just their rank 1 bodies they stood no chances."
William nodded.
"Yes! Martial arts and magic spells are what make humans the overlords of the world. A rank 2 martial art can damage a rank 3 body. The same goes for a rank 1 magic. Of course, if you don't have the corresponding quantity and quality of "Breath", you won't be able to use the full potential of the techniques, and you will be heavily limited in their usage."
Noah reviewed the battle he had just had in his mind as he was waiting for his body to recover.
'I indeed wasted a lot of "Breath" during the battle, and none of the wolves could keep up with my speed, so it was a one-sided battle. But I might run out of "Breath" if an enemy keeps dodging, and that's if I consider my opponent as a magical beast. Against a cultivator with the same martial art rank as mine, how would things go?'
He didn't like the answer he found.
The limits of having scarce "Breath" were evident.
William shook his head, he could vaguely understand what his disciple was thinking.
"You don't seem to realize that no other kid your age can slaughter a pack of rank 1 beasts without even getting hurt."
'Right, I almost forgot that I'm not even eleven.'
He really did forget his age in that world for a moment.
His morale was boosted a bit.
The duo waited for ten minutes before Noah stood up and nodded to his Master, signaling that they could go back.
When they could see the main gate of the Balvan mansion, William got closer to Noah and spoke with a low voice.
"I believe that your acupoints will stop working soon since you advanced so you will be ready for the second treatment. After you enter the second cycle, I will let you take on guard's missions."
.
.
.
Inside the guards' building, on a table in the courtyard, five men and a kid were sitting in a circle reading a sheet in their hands.
The kid was, of course, Noah.
He was wearing a black gym suit with two sabers tied on his back inside their respective sheaths, and his black hair was combed in a simple ponytail that fell on his back.
Six months had passed since his fight with the four-eyed wolves, and other than becoming eleven, he also went through the second treatment.
He was still short since his body was growing nonetheless, it seemed exceptionally sturdy with distinct muscles lightly bulging from his small limbs.
'Even though I've now been in the second cycle for the same time I did with the first one, my acupoints are still working at full speed. My body should be in the middle tier of the first rank right now.'
He thought before focusing again on the sheet in his hands.
Written on it, there was the description of a mission and the reason for that group of guards gathering together.
'Lilun village, five days of travel by horse going south. Request for help due to continuous attacks from giant spiders, presumably a nest of ironclad spiders is inside a cave nearby. The mission consists of finding and destroying the nest.'
Noah raised his eyes from the sheet and looked at the frowning faces of his companions for that mission and waited for their group captain to explain further.
The group captain was called Mason and was a senior member of the guards of the outer ring. He was a tall man in his fifties, with a long black beard and short red hair. His weapon of choice was a big two-handed ax.
Mason was waiting for everyone to finish their reading before nodding when he noticed the other five people looking at him.
"First, you must know that the ironclad spider is a rank 2 beast, and apart from a really hard body, it doesn't have any notable abilities. The only problem is that they reproduce at a really fast rate, so their nest will probably be filled with newborns of rank 1. We will take the classic approach for the mission: get to the village, find clues about the nest, wipe out their population little by little. Any questions?"
No one seemed to have any objection until a guard of the group stood up and pointed at Noah.
He had only one eye and a deep scar that cut the hollow eye cavity. He was a little shorter than Mason and he was bald with a short beard. Yet, even though he was pretty tall, he was also quite fat and sweaty.
"I have only one question, Mason, why the fuck are we taking a kid with us?"
Some of the other guards in the group were clearly questioning themselves about the same doubt, so they seemed really interested in Mason's reply.
Noah didn't even look at the fatty as he waited for the captain's answer.
"The vice-captain vouched for him, so he can come and help us. And Balor, when this mission starts, you must refer to me as captain or group captain."
Mason answered calmly, but at the words "help us", the fatty named Balor exploded into laughter.
"This one was good, group captain. You could have just said that part of the mission was to babysit this kid cause his mother was busy serving the inner circle. Hahaha, help us!"
While he said so, he neared Noah as to put his arm around his neck.
"Don't worry little kid, we will take good care of you, and maybe you can make me meet your mother in exchan---"
Balor stopped talking, or to better say, he had to stop.
A saber pointed at his left eye, and the kid he was trying to hug with his right arm had disappeared.
A threat sounded from his left side.
"Try to touch me, you fat pig, and I'll make you blind."
Noah was staring at him with icy eyes, his extraordinary mental energy intensified the coldness he was emanating, it caused pressure to fall on Balor's mind as his legs went soft and he kneeled on the ground. Yet, the saber always followed his remaining eye like it was attracted by it.
Noah kept looking at him, applying mental pressure on the guard's mind.
Then he moved the saber toward the powerless guard and retracted it only when it was about to cut him.
After that, Noah sat back on the table as if nothing happened.
****
Edited by: Alessandro Sica
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