Noah released a long exhale, then let himself fall backwards onto the ground. Flat on his back, he swiveled his head to look at the sun, which had begun to set. Within the span of a few hours, he had crushed an assassination attempt, reunited with two friends on the run, and now confronted a Hero for the second time. A long day had passed, but he still could not rest yet. With the influx of information he had just received, Noah had plenty of contemplation to do before he could get his well-deserved shut-eye.

He turned his gaze back upwards to look at the sky tinged with orange, and he let his mind think about the battle he had just had with the unnamed Hero. There was no denying that Noah had been utterly and completely toyed with. For the duration of the fight, the Hero had not once done anything similar to what he had pulled at the end, even though there was no reason to believe that he couldn't have pulled it out anytime he wanted to end it. Noah wanted to assume that what had happened at the end was merely the use of the Hero’s trump card, but telling himself that just felt like he was burying his head into the sand to hide from reality.

It had to be noted that while Noah had been injured severely and had to rely on regeneration several times to continue moving at full steam, the Hero had maintained his casual and arrogant demeanor throughout, fighting without a single drop of sweat, until Noah finally managed to get some proper damage in the form of a minor wound to his ear. It was the man considered the fight a walk in the park.

Also, Noah’s first encounter with the Hero was when the man had been on the continent for no more than three days. Now that three months had passed, an increase in power was a foregone conclusion, yet Noah had let himself be blind to that.

‘Started with lasers from only his index finger, and now to lasers as far as his sight extends. If he develops that even more, would he be able to deploy them anywhere within his perception? How is someone like that even meant to be defeated? No, first of all, to transcend a limitation of his skills like that…it shouldn't even be possible, right?’

Another long exhale escaped Noah.

‘Regardless of his power level, though, I think this incident confirms the importance of prioritizing flexibility over strength. My greatest strength has always been flexibility. The form I have that can exert the greatest strength is Ogre x 4, Vampire x 4. Yet, if I had gone with that, I wouldn't have received the protection of the forest, which could protect me against his lasers that I couldn't react to quickly enough to dodge unless I predicted them. Going with Cyrene was undoubtedly the best option here. Against Delor, I had chosen the form with greatest strength in that scenario, and with the Leviathan, I had placed too much emphasis on the strength of the arachne’s ropes. And this reliance on strength in these two scenario was what led to the flopping of plans I made in those cases.'

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Noah got up to his feet, shakily. It had been a long day for him, and he wanted nothing more than to crash into bed now. Yet he still had to deal with Evan’s mess and also talk about the mention of demons with Cedric and Ariel to work out the legitimacy of what the Hero had said, as well as countermeasures if he had spoken the truth.

“Haaaah…I just can't catch a break, can I?”

‘Mimicry - Wyvern!’

An arduous half-hour-long flight later, he was back at the estate, looking down at a still asleep couple.

“Say, Ariel, how long was I gone?”

“Slightly over an hour.”

“Right, and I've just recounted what just happened to you, so an additional fifteen minutes or so have passed, right?”

“I suppose.”

“And these lazy fuckers!-”

Noah cast the First Circle - Thunderclap, causing Evan and Ariel to jolt up out of bed at the noise that shook the entire room right above their heads.

“-are still asleep!”

“Noah! It really was you! Are we safe now?”

“Noah? And where did she…”

Two voices spoke at the same time.

"Yes, yes, the great Noah has saved you once again. Follow me; we have stuff to talk about. Questions later.”

A little over five minutes later, Noah, Evan, Elara, Ariel, Cedric, and the three archmages found themselves sitting around a table of darbean wood, with the archmages sitting on roughly made, uneven wooden chairs Noah had conjured up with a brief transformation to a Nymph, due to a lack of chairs.

“Alright. We'll start with a brief recount of how my days have passed so far, and then Evan, you'll follow. We'll also have the archmages talk about themselves after. We all in agreement?”

Heads nodded, and Noah began to speak about everything. From being ‘caught’ by Aeloria to his battle with the leviathan. He ended off by gesturing to the archmages, where he talked about how he made them his, in his words, 'employees' through the ability of a vampire to make thralls.

“Were you listening to what I had mentioned?”

Evan and Elara's gazes were fixed on Ariel since he mentioned his relationship with her, seeming like they hadn't heard anything he said after he mentioned it.

“Huh? Yeah, of course. Just, you said you were married to her? And this was with her consent? You didn't force her?”

“What he said. Explain, please, Ariel. Not you, Noah; you shush. Ariel, if he has forced you, blink twice. It's okay; we’ll ensure you get to safety if so.”

Noah watched, utterly dumbfounded. These guys…felt like he was so bad with women that he was more likely to have forced one into a relationship with him than actually have her consent!

‘I’m not even bad looking! If anything, the influence of warrior mana cultivation has made me look above average! And they're pulling this shit after I just saved them, too!’

“...I think you should be asking Noah that question instead.”

Upon Ariel’s belated response, both heads snapped over to Noah, who still sported an appalled expression. Understanding dawned within Evan and Elara as they looked back at Ariel, and they spoke simultaneously.

“I see...a few screws must be loose in her…then that relationship makes sense…”

‘Fuck you mean ‘makes sense’?!’

Ariel didn't notice Noah’s inner distress, and proceeded to add her own comment, in a voice that sounded like she was thinking out loud.

“You fought those three…they weren't friends? But you said they were...”