06. I MUST GET STRONGER

Noah was both excited and scared. Excited because he couldn't wait to be powerful enough to instill fear in the hearts of men, just because of his presence.

Scared, because if Gerald so wanted, he could crush Noah and he wouldn't be able to do a thing. During this realization, a panel popped up

[Gerald: Tier 2]

[Race: Human]

[level: 38]

[Danger level: Impossible]

Noah's mind experienced a new level of shock. He had not expected the system to have the capability of reading the levels of humans who didn't even possess a system.

But mostly because it showed him that if he and Gerald were to get into a fight the only thing he would be able to do was to run, even with his current strength.

'it seems what he said about tiers is true,' Noah thought to himself, with a slight nod.

Truth be told, he didn't understand why the system gave Gerald a level and stats, so he simply pushed the matter to the back of his mind, knowing that Gerald didn't have an answer for it.

Gerald opened his eyes to find that Noah was staring at the air.

"Why did you stop?" Gerald asked with a tinge of annoyance in his voice.

"I can feel it," Noah replied

"Huh," Gerald immediately explained, "You can feel the Mana in the air?" he asked, his voice oozing his surprise.

"Yes I can," Noah stated with a nod.

Gerald had been so astonished that he sat in his position for a whole minute without moving before he snapped out of his shock.

"Then let's proceed to the real training," He eventually said.

"Though I won't be surprised if it takes you longer to complete this exercise. After all, it took me a whole month to start circulating Mana through my body. So don't get discouraged if you don't get it now. Just continue the practice and you will get it eventually," Gerald explained.

Noah simply nodded, he wasn't hoping it would take him a month to complete the practice. That hope was reinforced by the fact that he believed that the system would assist him.

"To circulate Mana through your body, you must first be able to perceive it. Which you have learned and then be able to pull it towards your body," Gerald said

"To do that, close your eyes. Now feel that strange wind blowing around you. Imagine it as multiple specks of dust, and use your mind to pull those specks towards your body.

Gather them together in any shape you like and force the mass of energy into your body. I would advise you do that in the space under your chest," Gerald explained.

Noah simultaneously listened and did as the man said. Gerald continued to advise Noah after that last line, but Noah wasn't listening anymore. Gerald's voice faded as Noah achieved a state of pure, undiluted focus.

For a few minutes, nothing happened. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, he simply guessed.

Then after a while, he saw it, or more correctly his consciousness saw it.

Specks of tiny particles that glowed in different colors floated around him, and he found that pulling them towards his body; was akin to pushing an SUV uphill with its hand brake on. Doable but very difficult.

After a few minutes or so he had gathered those radiant particles in the shape of a ball. With that, he decided it was time to put it inside of him.

This was even more difficult, but he was determined to finish it, so he pulled the glowing ball with all the force his consciousness could muster.

At first, nothing seemed to happen. The ball of glowing particles does not move an inch.

But then it started to, though slowly, his consciousness began pulling it towards his body.

But for some reason, he found that although his eyes were closed, he could somehow see the ball of energy close to his body.

And when it was like an inch or two, he followed Gerald's advice and let it enter through the space below his rib cage.

For a while he couldn't feel anything after the ball of energy had entered him, but suddenly it started. Noah could immediately feel the insides of his body and his skin get hot, so hot that it became unbearable.

He lost his concentration and started to roll on the ground furiously. it continued for just a minute, but those minutes felt like years to Noah's mind.

After a minute or so, the heat vanished so quickly that Noah began second-guessing if he had experienced that sensation.

And suddenly got hit by a cool sensation that spread through his whole body.

After a few more minutes, he opened his eyes to find Gerald looking at him.

Contrary to the worried expression he expected to see, all Noah could see on the man's face was a surprise, and for some reason, Noah did not like it.

'I mean didn't he see that I was in pain. I know he is cool-headed and all, but at least he should show some compassion,' Noah thought, annoyed.

He was beginning to feel like punching this man. To not make a mistake that could cost him his life, he shifted his gaze to the panel that had appeared.

[New skill Mana circulation (Active) gained]

[You have gained exp]

[You have leveled up twice]

[You have gained 5 points to all your stats]

[You have 10 stat points to distribute]

[Mana circulation [Active]: When activated, the user begins to draw Mana from the environment. Users can use this to refill their Mp or level up after long use: It costs no Mana and can be activated without meditation.

Noah felt surprised. He didn't expect that little training to make level up, twice at that.

Noah couldn't hide the grin that formed on his face. He felt like he had hit a gold mine, or more correctly an exp mine. Ignoring the questions that Gerald kept asking he went back to the training.

This time instead of visualizing the process he simply activated the skill.

Currently, he could feel the Mana around him draw closer to him and enter his body.

He did just that for a few minutes, he even went on to close his eyes but nothing happened.

He could feel his body get stronger but it was so minuscule that he could ignore it. After about ten more minutes he stopped; his hopes of getting stronger fast without much work shattering.

During his time of disappointment, he heard Gerald talk.

"Have you gotten it?" the man asked, even though he knew that Noah had.

But he didn't want to believe that Noah could achieve in just a few minutes something that took him a whole month to achieve after constant training.

"Yes, I have," Noah answered in a dejected tone, still sad about what happened.

"Amazing!," Gerald explained. "You have that much talent in magic, I would not be surprised if you get into one of the three great guilds due to your talent," Gerald said with his surprised tone.

"Yeah" Noah simply said still looking dejected,

"Is something wrong?" Gerald asked, seeing that Noah was not as happy about his geniuses as he should be.

"Oh there is nothing wrong," Noah answered, immediately getting rid of his dejected expression, to avoid being asked more questions than he would not answer.

"Oh....." Gerald remarked, "Then how about we rest for the night," said, "You look tired."

"Uh..." Noah felt surprised, he didn't feel tired one bit.

Looking at himself, then did he realize that he was drained in sweat, the exercise had made him sweat a lot. He didn't notice it due to his short-lived excitement.

"Yeah ok," Noah said getting up. His figure was about to walk out when he turned around to say something but Gerald beat him to it.

"Where are you going?" Gerald asked, with an eyebrow raised.

"I don't know. I was going to look for a place to sleep outside," Noah replied.

"Why don't you sleep in here. That was one of the reasons I brought you into my tent," Gerald said, scratching his head.

Noah, once again felt surprised by the man's carelessness. Though they had spoken for a while, Noah remained a stranger.

"Aren't you worried that I might do something to you while you are asleep? I am still a stranger after all." Noah asked, narrowing his eyes.

Gerald looked at him for a few seconds before bursting into laughter as if he had just heard a joke.

Noah wasn't sure why he was laughing. Did he say something wrong? Before he could continue Gerald gave him the answer to his question

"You. Do something to me. You are just a tier 1, though you seem stronger than most tier 1's, compared to me who is a tier 2 about to advance into the higher stage, you are nothing. So why would I be worried when you would not be able to hurt me even if you wanted," Gerald said switching between his laughing tone and serious tone.

At the end of his sentence, Gerald let his aura seep out of his figure.

Noah felt powerless in the presence of Gerald, sheer willpower helped him not to kneel out of the weak feeling his body experienced.

The air was tense for a few seconds. During those seconds Gerald let his aura continue to flow, before stopping it and going back to his normal self.

"Are you going to stand there all day," Gerald eventually said, with a smile of amusement.

He was amazed that Noah had not fallen on his knees even after he released his aura. The young man had guts.

"Ah I'm sorry," Noah replied, relaxing. Immediately Gerald had stopped his aura, Noah noticed that he had stopped breathing during those few seconds and that cold sweat drenched his back.

Noah lay on the mat before wishing Gerald a good night.

All that ran through his mind was the sentence, "I must get stronger," before his consciousness drifted into sleep.