It might be impossible for Noah to completely understand the feelings exhibited by an AI like Scarecrow, especially since the sentient machinery was inhibiting the body of a talking crow, but he was still able to detect a fleeting note of undisguised hostility emanating through those mechanical, cold and unfeeling words.
Noah was not surprised. On the contrary, he felt far more relieved by this sense of hostility exhibited by Scarecrow. It was the normal reaction after all. It was, in fact, Dorothy who was strange in this whole situation, treating him as if they were a pair of long-lost friends or lovers as she did.
— I wonder if we would obtain any benefits from devouring this thing?
Perhaps? We did get an ability that was similar in nature to the construct we devoured. But I don’t think we would obtain the computing power of an AI, much less a specialized sentient one. Same for memories and the like.
Noah was not even remotely outraged by Eve’s sudden and weird inquiry that was worthy of a gluttonous beast rather than an intellectual spearhead of a planet-conquering hivemind. Devouring, basically anything, was the foremost method to strengthen himself, and Scarecrow was an interesting specimen, worthy of being flagged as a desirable devouring subject. It did make him interested in assimilating him, and even if not him, then other AIs would still do.
“Are the other AIs who were purged in the past like you?”
[I am unique.] Scarecrow’s response was cold and to the point, however, Noah felt he could pick up a note of disdain in his mechanical intonation. [Those AIs were, in the end, mere AIs. Albeit, able to understand and compute massively more information than any flesh and bone creatures out there in the known Universe… But in the end, they were limited by their basic programming and only took it to the next level. I am different.]
As for how or what made him different from the average Joe equivalent in AI speech, Scarecrow did not bother explaining further, and Noah had a feeling that it would be useless to ask further. He trusted his gut on this one and chose to remain silent.
***
The road beneath his feet continued leading them on… until they finally approached a building that was about three stories tall at a glance. From the exterior, the building seemed indistinguishable from the vast other infrastructures sprawled about on this region of the planet, but experience dictated Noah to not make a judgement on what he was seeing at a glance. The building itself was covered in an emerald green color scheme— an automatic choice for practically all inhabitants of this city, and the infrastructure as a whole gave off a sense of… rustic feeling to Noah. Odd yet intriguing.
[We are here.]
Strange.
Noah did not express his feelings and simply nodded, “What do I do now?”
[Lion is waiting for you inside. He has already assembled the machines necessary for your tests. He will explain the rest to you, as well as guide you in your training.]
The crow flapped its mechanical wings and Noah simply watched on as it left him, knowing full well that the crow was merely a vessel that was connected to the original entity, which was nothing but a network of machines. For an existence like Scarecrow, controlling hundreds or thousands of crows and much more should be a piece of cake. He actually didn’t know the extent of Scarecrow’s network and he was not in a hurry to figure it out.
Noah had already made the assumption that everything, even the most benign construct or object – be it inorganic or organic – could serve as the AI's eyes and ears. It was always better to overestimate your opponent and prepare accordingly instead of underestimating and paying the price for it.
Shrugging, he entered the training center and immediately stopped when he realized that the interior was far larger than the building should have been when seen from the outside. But he was not surprised, he had already expected the building to be vastly different than what the outside appearance made one assume.
“Is it a form of space manipulation?” He wondered out loud and was answered by a boisterous laugh, as the hulking figure of the Lion approached him from the interior.
“My handsome friend! You are indeed quite a smart human. Foreigners usually get confused and think they might have been tricked into an illusion or were seeing things wrong, often backpedaling in the end.
“I trust my instincts and senses.” Noah gave the hulking mass of a sentient animal a toothy grin. If he had not gone through the recent events and experiences in the white gate, he might have truly been confused for a second, taking more time to guess the true nature of the interior design. But now, Noah was ready to accept quite literally everything at face value. Even the most bullshit thing was not off the table— for example, manipulating the interior of the building through spatial manipulation as they did with the buildings in Oz.
It wasn’t as if he didn’t have his own dimension, right?
“Can I learn to do something like this?”
“Hahahah! Perhaps?” The Lion grinned ferally, “Witchcraft is not an art you can learn just because you want to. In fact… Dark Matter manipulation in its essence is extremely reliant on innate talent. 90% talent and 10% hard work is how it usually goes for most beings.”
His voice was jovial, but his words were incredibly ruthless. The pair of beings, one man and one animal, started walking side by side into the interior of the building while Lion gave him a basic rundown on Dark Matter.
“What do you know about Dark Matter?”
“Nothing.” Noah shook his head, acknowledging his lack of knowledge related to the matter. “I have only discovered Dark Matter as it is when I have met Morgiana recently. I managed to understand a rough way of using this power through fighting. I can empower myself, but nothing more than that.”
Lion whistled, “Talented indeed. I thought you were quite weak. But then again, beating Omid after understanding Black Matter in just a few hours is wild.”
Noah’s lips twitched when Lion called him weak. It was one thing for Noah to acknowledge himself as being weak and pitiful, however, it was a whole different matter altogether when someone else voiced that out. It struck dangerously at his ego, a matter that he was not proud of.
“Oh? It seems like you are not happy with what I mentioned.”
“Heh…”
“I can understand your frustration. Perhaps, you might think that I am intentionally insulting you or looking down on you. You would be wrong in thinking that though.”
Lion generally showed a very flippant attitude, exuding a carefree vibe, but this time his expression was serious, gravely so, “Individually speaking you are definitely above average. Omid was once a knight of Ifrit and a commander of the royal army. Furthermore, you have just learned about Dark Matter and you will obviously grow stronger in a short amount of time. But even then I would still think that you are weak. Though to be clear, I consider myself weak as well. In fact, I consider most people weak. Do you know, why?”
“Why?” Noah was quite curious about his reasoning, however, the response was out of his expectations, enough to make him ruminate on the matter for a long time.
“Because our points of view are different.” He shook his feline head, mane dancing vibrantly with his action, “I am a soldier, Noah.” Lion grinned ferally, his voice filled with unmistakable pride, “Unless you reach a certain level, the strength of one individual cannot surpass that of a powerful civilization.”
Lion pointed toward Noah before relaying, “Let’s say, for the sake of discussion that you could beat me in a one-on-one fight. So what? Can you beat my army by yourself? What if I add Scarecrow and Tin’s legion into the mix? What about if I add the four witches as well? Can you handle such a mighty force?”
Noah had no counter to the talking lion’s extremely sound argument. Beating Dorothy alone was proving to be hard to even imagine for him, and while he was sure he could come up with something if they fought to the death… the fact of the matter was, Dorothy had no reason to fight him alone.
The same was true for Omid. Noah had been able to win solely because he slowly eliminated the mecha pilots in a sort of ambush and head-on hybrid tactic, and he also had the element of surprise that shook up the mentality of the fighters. There was undoubtedly a great amount of luck involved in the victory too. If Omid chose to engage him from the start with the backing of his full force, it was up in the air if Noah could genuinely come out victorious from that fight.
Even further in the past, in a universe that was far different from this, Noah may have been the strongest Constellation. However, he would have never won alone even in that scenario. Their victory was built on the sacrifice of many people over the course of their war. Even in the final charge, if Virgo, Leo and Taurus had not sacrificed themselves, Noah would not have been able to reach the Parasite Queen and deal the fatal blow to their hive mind.
Lion could see that Noah understood what he was trying to convey,
“Obviously, individual power is necessary but it's ultimately limited without the corresponding civilization to back it up. Queen Sheherazade of Ifrit can produce flames close to a supermassive star. In some backwater planets, she is even considered a goddess. But in the end, she is still limited by the level of her civilization .”
“Dorothy, to her credit, can stop time and teleport at will. But the reason Oz managed to rise is because of all our witches and wizards as well as the informational superiority provided by our seers. A civilization can never thrive with the strength of only one person. Unless that person can wipe out a galaxy all alone.”
A powerful leader was welcomed, but a wise leader was worshipped. In terms of pure power, Dorothy was weaker than the Wizard of Oz and yet, the Oz under his command could never compare to the Oz that Dorothy now ruled. They were not even in the same league.
“Why do you train then? If you do not believe in individual power?”
“Because an army is only as strong as its weakest links.”
“... You are an interesting person,” Noah decided, the feral lion was definitely nothing like what his appearance dictated.
“An Interesting Lion you mean.”
“Indeed.” Noah looked up, “In the past, I might have agreed with you and in fact, I still partially agree with your argument. A civilization cannot advance with just one powerful individual alone. But let me make this clear right now, what I aspire to is to become stronger.”
Noah pointed toward the ceiling, “All the way to the top. All or nothing. I will not stop until I am undoubtedly the strongest in existence or I will die trying. It's pretty simple, right?”
Two apex predators gazed at each other in a silence that was more unnerving than calming. Through discussion, the two of them got a better understanding of each other and this understanding led to mutual respect.
“Friend?” Lion brought his paw to which Noah answered by clasping it,
“In our tradition, only through an exchange of fists can two men become friends.”
“What a barbaric but manly tradition. Very well, my not-yet friend. Would you like to fight against me?”
“I would love to.”
The two clasped their hands even tighter, a barbaric display of strength and dominance. Meanwhile, a confused Eve spoke in Noah’s mind.
— Are you confusing those animated shows you used to watch with reality?
Don't mind the small details.
He had watched many of those shows with Capricornus and he might have gotten a little too heated but. A true manly fight did have its own unique charm.
Even though Noah was ready and raring to duke it out with the talking lion, the animal in question was calm, almost nonchalant. Almost comically, it was Lion who was the more mature out of the two, “Ideally, I wish we could start with the tests first but it would be nothing short of unfair for me to know more about you before we even start the fight. At the same time, knowing more about yourself and Dark Matter in general before the fight would give you a higher chance in the ensuing fight. Ultimately, I will leave the decision to you, Noah. What do you want to do?”
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“Let's fight now. I believe I learn better with practice rather than familiarizing myself with the theory.”
“Very well. Don’t come complaining that I didn’t give you a chance though.”
“Heh…”
The two joked around like bosom buddies. The atmosphere between the duo was more akin to two friends about to have a friendly spar than anything else.
***
While Noah and Lion were readying themselves to duke it out with some friendly sparring, Dorothy was busy engaging in an important discussion with Morgiana while they were in her space station. Unlike the Wizard of Oz whose tower, thus making it the focus channel for all of his powers, was the Castle in the Emerald City, Dorothy was only able to draw out the full length of her powers and access her main ability, as the Witch of Stars, in this place alone.
“Are you sure you want to participate in the auction?” Dorothy asked in an absentminded tone, throwing the question to her friend. Her eyes were riveted to the holographic screen displaying the image of Noah following Cowardly Lion to the training ground. Even though she had asked the question, she seemed to be lost in thought as she watched the scene unfold.
It goes without saying, but Noah had not been wrong about his assumptions regarding the surveillance that had been put on him and almost anything and everything in Oz. Scarecrow had eyes everywhere and he could transmit events that transpired in the whole of Oz and even outside of the planet in a real-time stream. This level of security was necessary to protect her planet and the citizens from any immediate danger. While she knew it was a major breach of privacy, she was of the opinion that life was more important than privacy and thus didn’t hesitate to deploy this massive interconnected surveillance mechanism.
Morgiana was sipping on a drink as she sat on the armchair of Dorothy’s throne. It was a greenish drink with a sickening viscosity, making it hard to force down one’s throat. It looked unappetizing and tasted more awful than its looks could ever give it credit. However, Morgiana knew that she had no choice but to drink the swamp-like juice. It was an energy and health drink that was very effective for one’s health and was also very expensive. Like hella expensive, she couldn’t afford to waste any of it.
“You know I don't have a choice. I need to get back my Frame and even if I do nothing, Sinbad and Cassim will most likely intervene anyway. It doesn't matter in which hand it falls in the end, the Thousand- and One-Night series was created solely for the Djinn after all.”
The Thousand and One Night did not refer to just a single mecha but rather a complete series of mechas that shared the same identity. Numbered from 1 to 1001, they were the foremost mechas that could fully harness the powers of the Djinn race.
The lower the number in the series the more intricate and powerful the Frames were, leading to a greater boost in power, control, and efficiency.
Cores and Frames from this series could only be used by the Djinn or an extremely minuscule number of people born with exceptional control over flames. They also represented the pride of the Ifrit at its peak.
Nowadays, Ifrit only harbored around a quarter of the series number. Majority of the mechas in the series had either been destroyed or lost.
Over the years, the frames fell into the hands of different individuals; some used the frames to become famous or rich by selling them while some, like the Pendragon Family, simply displayed the frames in their museum for amusement.
Morgiana did not know if the frame that was about to go into auction was the one belonging to her, but even if it wasn't her own, it would still give a substantial power boost to her once she was able to wield it.
“But… You are broke.” Dorothy couldn’t help but throw a confused look towards her, as if asking what the hell they hoped to accomplish by joining the auction with their meager funds. The Thousand and One Night mechas were all incredible weapons and the prices would reach unimaginable heights once thrown into an auction format.
With the current funds of their groups, they were not even able to pay off their debts. Much less participate in some great action that could display frames on the level of the Thousand- and One-Night series.
Morgiana sucked in a deep breath at Dorothy’s blunt words, “Those words are very hurtful. We are not poor. We are just slightly lacking in material wealth.”
“Using fancy words to describe your situation doesn’t change the reality of it.”
“Well…” She sighed, giving up, “We don’t plan to buy it.”
“You are going to steal it?”
“No. We are not criminals. How could we steal from a legitimate auction?” Morgiana grinned, and Dorothy understood the meaning hidden in her words.
“You are hoping for mayhem.”
“Not hoping. Waiting. Briar Rose made the calculation, and we are 100% sure that even if Cassim didn’t crash the auction, someone else surely would. All we have to do is get back the core from whoever steals it and hide ourselves.”
“A bold plan based on hope and dreams, quite literally if I may add.” Dorothy mused with a snort. Briar Rose or Sleeping Beauty as she was once called was a very competent hacker as well as a Dreamweaver and accomplished Seer.
While she was far from Dorothy’s level when it came to anticipating the future, she was still decently skilled. Enough to have a small renown of her own in the vast universe.
Even so,
“This is a trap from the Sultan. I hope you know about that.”
“We know. This is his way of reeling in all the dissidents to his cause and also capturing me once and for all.”
“... And yet you still plan to go through with the plan.”
“We are the Dream Chasers, you know? Of course, we have to go. Like Alibaba said, we need to make the impossible possible.”
Dorothy could only let out a bitter sigh in response, knowing that she could not stop her friends from doing as they wished. Even if it meant they were acting like moths rushing towards a flame that could consume them.
This was the path they chose to tread and there was nothing she could do even with all the power and authority she wielded. At the same time, she was not worried about them as much as she hoped she would. Alibaba had a powerful fate and soon they would be joined by the Golden Constellation.
Speaking of the Golden Constellation,
“Do you think Noah can win?” The way Dorothy changed the topic was not exactly subtle but Morgiana knew that she had done this as a form of respect and acknowledgement of their will.
Focusing on the holographic screen, she watched the two fighters face each other in open air.
“I honestly don’t know.” Morgiana gave a vague answer in response, making Dorothy intrigued.
“Oh? You are the one who is the most intimate with his power. From what you told us he managed to knock you out in one go right?”
Morgiana caressed her stomach, still feeling the strength of his blow even to this day. “That is exactly the problem. Did you know? When I first met him, he had nearly no Dark Matter in his body at all. Even my AI judged him to be a non-threat. He was able to take down an Abyssal Beast in one go faster than I could even react and lifted me while I was in my armor for miles in a deadly cold that made it hard for me to endure even with armor on.”
Dorothy’s eyes were gleaming, “I guess his power level is quite deceptive. But Lion is no pushover either. While he is mainly an assassin, his combat skills are still impressive.”
Lion was many things. An assassin, a spy, a trainer and the commander of her legion. But, despite his appearance, Lion was not a fighter. Even so, he was not someone any random warrior could hope to defeat in a frontal confrontation.
“Then, how about a bet?”
“A bet?” Dorothy tasted the words before asking, “What are we betting and what are wagering?”
“Hum. I am betting Noah will win or get a draw. If he does— well, you will wear those pink witch cosplay clothes I bought last time.”
“My…” Dorothy grinned toothily, “I have a beautiful set of belly dancer clothes that will look wonderful on you once I win.”
“The bet is on.”
***
On the sparring grounds, Noah was doing some light stretching as he observed the scenery around him constantly change and adjust to different environments. One moment they were on a simple plain, the next… they were standing deep in a vast and gloomy forest or right in the middle of a sunny beach. The list went on endlessly but it was enough to understand that the changes were both diverse and earth-shattering.
“Since you are the challenger, then I am going to choose the venue.” Lion continued to switch between the seemingly endless varieties of environments until he eventually stopped on a simple, almost plain, ring. “This will be more than enough.”
. The herculean feline had always found fighting head-on to be an utterly useless endeavor as just a simple pin-point energy saber to the heart or head was enough to kill off most of the species roaming the universe. On the off chance that his opponent turned out to be the rare outlier who didn’t die even with their heart pierced or head decapitated, he had many other means to effectively eliminate them.
This time though, the question wasn’t about winning or killing but simply testing the opponent before him.
Victory or defeat is irrelevant; I need to test his capabilities and measure his potential.
Only by having an absolute grasp of his overall skills could he prepare the adequate training regime or direct him towards someone with much more skill in training or had skill in training in the speciality Noah excelled in. Not to mention, by analyzing all of his skills… they would be able to put in the necessary measures to swiftly eliminate him if things went south between Noah and Oz.
“Then… Are you ready?”
A screen appeared in the air, showing a countdown… obviously signalling the start of the battle.
[10]
“By the way, are you sure you're not going to wear any armor?”
[8]
“Don’t worry, I am more than ready,” Noah spoke out in a whisper, all of his focus and mind locked on the ensuing battle.
[7]
“I see. Then we can only wait and see.”
[4]
Taking a deep breath, Noah focused inwardly, mind stirring with numerous thoughts. He did not wish to enter into a prolonged battle even though it was only a friendly spar.
[3]
Though it was worth mentioning that he was far stronger than he had been before he fought Omid. His understanding of Dark Matter circulation was higher than his previous ignorant self and his forced evolution had made his body and mind far stronger than they had ever been. He had become a new, more efficient being due to that evolution in Proxima Centauri-B.
[2]
Lastly, the latest evolution that he went through in Oz had completely changed him from the inside out. He was not even the same being anymore as he once was on that desolate planet. Even he didn’t know just what he was at the moment.
How strong was he now? Noah had no way of telling exactly. What he did know though was that, if he fought his previous self with no mecha armor to boost his skillset…
[1]
… His current self would absolutely destroy his past self without even breaking a sweat.
[Start!]
The following events, as incredulous as it may sound, occurred in less than two seconds in total.
It didn’t even take a single second for Lion, and everyone else who was observing the fight between the duo, to open their eyes wide in pure astonishment as Noah’s Dark Matter reserves almost tripled instantaneously. Layers over layers of Dark Matter stacked up over his skinny body and combusted as if it wanted to burn a hole through reality itself.
In the next split instant, Noah’s entire body was covered with an ominous black substance that seemed to wriggle about as if alive in a show of Eldritch horror and he kicked the ground hard, creating a sizeable crater, propelling his whole body towards Lion like a meteorite shooting through space… locked onto a specific target.
In the final second, they watched Noah’s encased fists connect squarely against Lion, causing his armor to immediately break apart into a million pieces. The wielder of the armor itself wasn’t in any better shape as Lion was pummeled to the ground along with the impact of the punch, creating another crater, much larger compared to the one Noah created with his movement.
Only after the series of stringing events came to an end did a massive explosive sound reverberate through the training grounds, mixed with the splinters of the shattered armor… Ultimately, it led to the whole ring simply breaking apart just like Lion’s armor and the whole scene was registered in the eyes of all the observers.
Even though they had seen everything with their own eyes, it was too incomprehensible for them to follow and make sense of. Ironically, the only one who seemed to even be remotely unsurprised was none other than Morgiana— arguably the weakest member among the observers.
While Noah’s current feat was nothing short of incredible, unreal even, she didn’t focus on that. Instead, she clasped her hands together to offer a small prayer for the miserable Lion while caressing her stomach as she perfectly understood what the herculean feline had just gone through. The scene was a bit too much of a deja vu moment for her, after all.
Meanwhile, on the ruined sparring grounds, Noah was breathing harshly as steam rose from his body and sweat covered all of his face in a sparkly sheen.
“Damn…”
He looked down at Lion who seemed to have blended with the ground and was bleeding all over, and then observed his fist— the very fist that delivered that punch which led to the current scenario. The power he displayed was beyond anything he could have ever imagined. It was the stuff of dreams.
During those few seconds of concentration, the only thing in his mind was to gather as much of his energy as he could muster, control and then immediately release it in a single instant and point.
However, it goes without saying that he had clearly underestimated the sheer amount of power he could generate and the speed his evolved body was able to generate in an instant.
From the way his muscles were twitching and creaking, it was a foregone conclusion for Noah that he could not enact such feats on his whim. This was a sort of ultimate attack that he couldn’t use more than two or three times with his current capabilities.
A thing to note, at least, was that his body was rapidly cooling down and recovering while his frantically beating heart was also going through a stablizing process. He was also confident that any internal bleeding or wounds that the highly straining strike may have caused in his body were being rapidly healed with his natural regeneration alone.
— What a monstrous body.
Noah had no time to answer Eve as something else had captured all of his attention.
[Analysis of stats, nearly completed.]
[It is strongly advised to do more exercise, move the body for prolonged periods, and go through more extreme training in order to reveal accurate stats.]
“Oh?”
Noah immediately looked at the letters floating with the blue boxes and finally understood why the category for stats was still pending. He needed to do more tests and let the system analyze his capabilities to reveal the extent of his capabilities.
“So… Is the lion really out cold?”
Noah scratched his head as he looked down at the unconscious Lion.
— You went all out, didn’t you?
Didn’t have a choice. I wanted to avoid underestimating him. In the end, I ended up underestimating myself though which is another problem altogether.
Noah looked up, “Is there anyone? Crow? I kinda need some help here.”
The last thing he wanted right now was to be accused of murdering one of the highest officials in all of Oz; even if it was done accidentally.
Thankfully, he did not have to wait for long as the tattered Lion gained consciousness in the following moment and started coughing copious amounts of blood on the shattered ground. Immediately, two nurses appeared in the training grounds with equipment in hand and took him away to the medics.
Now alone, or as alone as one could be with some all-seeing AI always spying on you, Noah looked at his body. The amount of strength this tiny body of his could contain was truly out of this world.
Noah clenched his fist, excitement building inside of him as he decided what kind of training he would go next.
This was going to be epic.