Reward followed work. Usually, more work equates to a greater reward. Noah had certainly worked hard.
"And now it's time for Papa to earn his coin."
The malicious expression spread on Noah's face as he thought about the money he was due to earn. Every part of the leviathan was more valuable than its weight in gold. Scales and bones? Sold to make armour. Flesh? The flesh of monsters was tastier the stronger they were due to more mana being infused within it, making it a priceless delicacy.
When Noah first returned to the Odir estate, he had to listen to Cedric's lecture on how he thought Noah would lessen his burden but only made it worse instead.
'The man yapped for six hours straight. We were gone for what, two weeks? It's not that big of a deal.'
Noah then spent a full week flying back and forth from the site where the Leviathan died and the estate to retrieve his goods one by one to store in a warehouse. After all, the leviathan was truly massive. Retrieving its body wasn't an overnight endeavour. Luckily, with his use of Wyvern x 8, he was able to easily fly at the speed of several machs, which means he didn't have to spend weeks on the sea to get to its body every time. The fact that the leviathan's meat didn't really deteriorate due to the tremendous mana that infused it, along with the fact that other monsters still feared this area due to a belief that it was the territory of a leviathan and thus did not try to munch on the dead titan's meat, also helped him in collecting it to profit from it at a later date.
With that profit, he could elevate the Odir territory, bringing it closer to being a duchy.
During this week, in his down periods, he had regularly spent time in training with Ariel. She had been possessed by an even greater will to train ever since his fight with the leviathan, and he was sensitive enough to know why and not to ask. The training also allowed him to test his 'mimicry stacking', as he had taken to calling it, and he had discovered a number of things about himself.
For one, his spirit, already freakishly large due to being an otherworlder, had grown even larger from the added volume of the scarring. He had also heard that he was supposed to be capable of transporting mana through them, which was why many chose to call them mana canyons in the first place. It was tricky, though. Mana flowed too quickly through them, and it took some getting used to. When he eventually got the hang of it, however, he found that he could circulate mana at a speed surpassing that of any sovereign-ranked warrior, theoretically meaning he was more powerful than them.
Practitioners of spirit splitting rather than spirit building were expected to experience increases in mana circulation due to the presence of mana canyons, but his were so wide and expansive that he had experienced an increase that no one had probably experienced before. As shocking and incredible as this discovery was, though, he didn't really feel impressed.
'I've had my fair share of feeling awe at my own power in that fight that day. Huh. Guess I'm just all out of awe.'
He didn't make a big deal out of it publicly, though. The biggest reason was because he knew that Eldoria might make a fuss if too many people found out. A big clause for them letting go of him was that he would let the new heroes be free to make their impact. If he rose to fame once again, he would get in the way. Truth be told, a part of him wanted to mess with them, but he knew that creating infighting amongst humans, especially with the country responsible for summoning the greatest weapon against demons, was basically inviting a demonic invasion. If the power you wanted to crush was embroiled in civil war, you'd be a fool to miss it. The demons certainly would not. Noah had people he cared about as well, and they weren't all as powerful as him. He would be inviting trouble for them from Eldoria if he picked a fight with them. One day, he would, but not today.
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Blinking his eyes, he realised he had zoned out while he watched Ariel practice her spear strikes. She would do this at least a thousand times every day for a few different techniques before she got any sparring in.
'Mimicry - Siren x 8'
Noah let out a soft coo, and Ariel, who heard it, looked around to see a hairless and feminine figure wearing a familiar high-collar black coat.
"No need to thank me; dear husband over here's just being a good one."
She blinked, then softly smiled in thanks at the sight she saw around her. Sirens could usually only make clumsy illusions, only enough to disguise people or make doors seemingly disappear. What Noah had done was to overlap the abilities of multiple Sirens to create an advanced illusion, the same one Emma had used to help Mia train her swordsmanship to the level it was.
Ariel was currently seeing red trajectories and targets around her, similar to a game's training mode, which she could target to draw a perfect trajectory with her practice strikes.
As the couple trained, things were happening in Eldoria.
"You are dismissed."
As King Thorian walked into his study, he cast the Third Circle - Sound Barrier around the perimeter to seal all noises that escaped the room.
"That bastard! Bastard, bastard, bastard!"
King Thorian was understandably upset. Following the death of his Commander, he sent men to investigate, only to find a battlefield that indicated a battle with Noah and the body of Delor. The battle scars that only a few monsters could leave were a clear indicator, along with the vampire bite mark on Delor's dead body.
King Thorian had not ordered any offensive action against Noah. Of course, he would not go through the mess of conquering Haldor just for Noah for several reasons, including that he knew it was ridiculous to do that over just one man. An assassination was certainly possible, but he knew that they could not gain anything tangible from assassinating Noah and that it was Delor himself who probably unreasonably engaged in a fight.
However, over the past few weeks, King Thorian had been forced to fill in for Delor along with act as King due to being the only other being able to, and every hit that he took, every cut that was left on his skin, was pain that reminded him of Noah's actions and filled him with fury.
"The imprudence, the gall! After I generously spared him too!"
It seemed his brain had replaced the threat of Heavenly King Spatialon with his own generosity. King Thorian froze, realising he had shattered every piece of furniture in the room and that going any further would break the walls of the study itself.
He slowly clenched his outstretched hand and let out a restrained and angry sigh, then opened his eyes slowly after sorting his thoughts.
"The bastard must be eliminated."