Chapter 337: Abhorred [1]
The Mana Sword would soon awaken with all its might, and such mere fire wasn’t even worth its attention.
It didn’t take long before I was proven right, as the air around us began to vibrate once again, the only difference being... these vibrations were a lot stronger than before.
Mana from the entirety of the area around us, as well as from the nearby grounds of the academy, began to be absorbed towards the mana vortex that had formed behind Noah.
The size of the vortex enlarged, and now it was around three times its original size.
But that wasn’t the end of it, as the vortex kept increasing its size by feeding on the mana in the air around us.
And—
Hm?
The clouds high up in the sky began to converge at a single point that was just above where Noah sat... with his legs now crossed into a position which was the most suitable for cultivation.
The only reason I was now able to clearly see Noah’s figure was the growing vortex of mana behind him.
The vortex seemed to have absorbed the excess mana around Noah’s body, resulting in the decrease of the shining light that was being emitted by him.
The sky rumbled once, then twice, and soon lightning began to cover the entirety of the sky above our heads.
Despite the chaos that was enveloping the surroundings around us, I couldn’t sense the presence of any of the instructors who should by now have already been informed about the situation.
Were they observing everything from afar?
But why would they not rush here to protect their students—
Maybe it was on the orders of the headmaster.
For him, the situation would have surely become quite an interesting thing to watch.
Neither Ashlyn, Ana, nor Victoria spoke anything, as all of us observed the phenomenon before us in silence.
Noah... the guy sure knew how to make things dramatic.
There was no way the world would now stay silent after knowing about whatever had happened today... and a commoner being responsible for it, no less.
Noah was going to be a lot more famous, for sure.
***
The moment Victoria’s sword had pierced through the shin of his leg, Noah’s mind had blanked out.
It wasn’t the pain, but the realization that he was close to his defeat that had made Noah’s blood boil.
Noah had wanted to defeat Victoria... defeat Kael, and show the world that he wasn’t weaker than any of them.
That he could stand in the same place as them, and he wasn’t inferior to anyone in the academy.
He had to grow stronger than his current self, and Noah knew that... but power wasn’t something that could be achieved on a whim... at least for most people.
One had to work hard, train every day, and only then would one be able to grow stronger over years of hard work and sacrifices.
Even after knowing that, Noah wanted it... power that could shatter the standard norms of the world.
Something that was above the reach of mortals.
A power that could even put the gods to shame, and plant the seeds of envy in their vast minds that enveloped the entirety of the world in its influence.
"I want it."
The words left Noah’s mouth, and—
His core shattered.
Rays of bright light began to be emitted from Noah’s mana core, and soon mana from the surroundings was attracted towards him.
The cracks that had appeared on Noah’s mana core began to repair themselves, but the core shattered once again.
The pain had become overwhelming for Noah, but he wasn’t in the state of mind to register it.
More cracks appeared on the surface of his core, but they were mended the next moment as huge amounts of mana entered his body.
At first Noah had to control the process, but soon the amount of mana entering his body became so vast that Noah lost all of his control over it.
Still... the process continued, as if it was being commanded by some greater power to do so.
Noah could feel the mana levels in his body surging like a tide, but he couldn’t do anything other than feeling his body like a spectator standing on the side.
Seconds soon turned into minutes, and then Noah felt his mana core evolving after being shattered, mended, and then compressed several times.
A faint golden light shone brightly as the entire core pulsed with mana.
Noah could feel his control over the mana in his body returning with every passing moment, but—
The realization lasted for a fraction of a second, as once again Noah was cut off from his mana core—
No.
He wasn’t completely cut off from his mana core, but it was just that something was using its superior authority to suppress Noah’s control.
Noah tried to resist at first, but he was humbled within the next few moments, as his mana core began to vibrate with an intensity that made small cracks appear on not only his core but the entirety of his body.
The shock from the realization was soon turned into fear, as Noah made repeated attempts to gain back control over his mana core.
But in the end he failed miserably and had to silently deal with the pain of having his body broken down like a statue made of marble.
Just as Noah had the thought of giving up, he felt the mana in his surroundings once again surging towards him as if trying to engulf him, and then—
His mana core pulsed with something that Noah couldn’t understand.
Before he could feel his core on a deeper level, a pillar of mana shot out from him before colliding with the clouds that were forming in the sky above.
Noah couldn’t open his eyes, but he was sure that the cracks that should have formed over his body had already disappeared.
Was it an illusion... Noah didn’t know and neither could he care for it—
Another frown appeared on Noah’s face.