Chapter 166 - 166. Orange rune

"But they will be even more confused about our relationship like this!"

June complained, standing from his seat.

"Do you prefer to go through their harassment every day?"

June was silenced by Noah's retort.

"Anyway, it's just temporary. As soon as I leave the academy, things should calm down."

"Wait, will you leave soon?"

Ivor appeared from one of the adjacent rooms and shouted at Noah in confusion.

June too seemed surprised by his statement and waited attentively for his answer.

Noah shrugged his shoulders.

"We can't stay here much longer, it's already our third year. Instead of remaining here for the whole year, it's better to take a profession in the Royal city and stabilize our position."

Noah was already thinking about his job in the Hunters' guild.

He was constantly in need of materials for his experiments with the forging method and the position of a hunter could provide him with a wider assortment of resources.

Also, there was a problem with his power.

He was attracting too much attention on himself, he wanted to loosen the control that the Royals had on him inside the academy.

'I'm losing sight of my situation too. The academy is a peaceful place but the real world isn't. Here I feel that my hands are always tied, I'm just accumulating problems without solving any of them.'

All the troubles he had with Daniel's followers could be solved by simply killing the students.

However, that was prohibited due to his status as a student, and all those noble youths were left alive harboring hatred toward him.

'Once I become a rank 2 cultivator, I will leave. The faculties of the academy can't offer me much more at that level anyway.'

Places like the Sulfur domain lost their effectiveness on stronger cultivators.

After all, if they really could be useful at each rank, cultivators in the divine ranks would be a common sight.

June lowered her head in thought.

Noah's words made sense, they had to secure a position in order to ensure that their journey as a cultivator won't stop due to the lack of resources.

Also, leaving the academy didn't mean that they would lose access to the inventory, their status as students would be removed but they could still contact the Royals to make transactions.

It had to be said though that her situation was more complex that Noah's one.

He had to take care only of himself while June had a family full of expectations behind her.

"I think I won't stay much in Elbas city. I'm not really good at anything except for fighting and I can't be a Royal guard or I will neglect my family. Maybe, with the help of my Master, I might ensure a friendly relationship with the Royal dynasty and appoint my family in one of the areas near the capital but that's as much as I can do."

Noah understood the meaning of her words.

She could not freely cultivate like him, every noble heir that managed to be enrolled in the academy would have to shoulder enormous expectations.

They would become the pillars on which build the future of their families, most of them would aim for the position of patriarch!

However, in Noah's eyes, those things were pointless.

He couldn't care less about his status, he wanted only to become strong.

"So, will you stop trying to surpass me? I really can't imagine you as a calm person managing the Ballor family."

Noah mocked her lightly.

June snorted and returned to her usual wild nature.

"You will see! I will raise my family's status to the large-size one and take all the resources for me! I will definitely beat you then!"

"That means that you've given up on beating me while we are still students?"

"Shut up!"

June yelled and climbed the stairs for the first floor, the sound of slamming doors clearly resounded from there.

Noah shook his head and turned to Ivor.

"We have a new roommate."

Ivor sighed and sat on the floor, slowly sipping his wine.

Noah moved toward the basement but a strange sensation emerging on his right arm made him stop.

He checked the area and noticed that a faint orange rune was slowly moving toward his torso from under his skin.

"What are you doing?"

Ivor saw his strange behavior and asked in a curious voice.

"It's nothing."

Noah didn't explain and hastily went into the basement.

When he arrived there, he carefully inspected the slowly moving rune with cold eyes.

'Is it because I kind of trust June?'

He had already considered giving Eccentric's inheritance to June.

She was honest and had a straightforward character, she seemed quite friendly with him as well.

He was also quite sure that he could manage to be always stronger than her.

Yet, he never thought that he had to decide so soon, he wasn't even eighteen after all.

'I will wait a bit more, then I'll decide. June is surely the best candidate but I would like to have more insurances regarding our future relationship.'

The rune was still on his arm.

According to his deal with Eccentric Thunder, it had to reach his dantian for their agreement to be broken which meant that he had still time to carefully analyze the situation.

He put those thoughts in the back of his mind and began to focus on the Elemental forging method.

He had the material required for his experiments, he just needed the "Breath" to perform the inscription.

Inside his dantian, a small fragment of his solid "Breath" detached itself from the amassed black crystals and moved through his body.

As it reached Noah's head, his ethereal figure inside his sea of consciousness stretched its hands outside of his mental sphere and grabbed the small shard.

The solid "Breath" successfully entered his sphere and began to struggle madly.

Nevertheless, Noah was used by then to the struggles of the "Breath".

Mental energy immediately assaulted the shard, forcing away the will of Heaven and Earth from it.

In a few minutes, the "Breath" was inoffensive, ready to be refined.

'The pressure from the solid "Breath" is quite strong but I can bear it. The only problem is this damned headache.'

Of course, storing solid "Breath" in his mental sphere caused his headache to return.