Chapter 580 580. Maturity

Noah felt a bit relieved when he heard that message.

He didn't really mind that the news of him submitting a magical beast spread inside the Hive.

After all, the original exploration team had seen him communicating with the sandworms inside the desert, it wasn't a secret that he could speak with those creatures.

Yet, he didn't want the rank 5 elders to become interested in that ability.

There was a chance that both his training and freedom would be affected, which was why he had decided to make his stance clear with Elder Jason.

His words seemed to have the wanted effect since Elder Jason had immediately offered his excuses on the matter.

'Not hiding is one thing, but revealing all my secrets is something that I still need to avoid. There are too many eyes on me right now, and I can't expose my uniqueness until I have confidence in dealing with higher-ups of the other nations. Well, I managed to complete the modifications on the Warp spell, at least.'

Noah thought as he continued to fly toward the forest of White woods.

Those years of isolation had greatly benefitted him, and it wasn't something that concerned only his centers of power.

He had completed the modifications required on the Warp spell and added its improved effects on his combat style.

That achievement gave him a lot of confidence in his battle prowess since he had finally removed one of his most evident weaknesses.

That confidence though also brought something else.

Noah had learnt to fight like a magical beast and to behave like one, but there was something that he had never been interested in learning.

That was the ability to control other magical beasts.

He had always relied on himself in his second life, using someone else's power had never been his priority.

Yet, when that confidence arrived, he instinctively felt that he was ready to rule.

Noah believed that feeling to be something that magical beasts naturally felt when they reached a certain maturity, but it was something strange to experience nonetheless.

Of course, he didn't give all the credit to his confidence.

He was sure that his conversation with Elder Julia had influenced the arrival of that ability, it was as if his mindset had changed enough to allow the arrival of such power.

As for what concerned his centers of power, they improved at an unbelievable speed for the standards of the heroic ranks.

They were still in the same stages and tiers, but Noah felt that he was completely different from when he had just broken through.

Yet, he also felt that he needed to gather more experiences if he wanted to quicken the arrival of his enlightenments, which was why he had immediately accepted the mission.

'I guess I'm still growing, both as a human and as a magical beast.'

Noah couldn't help but have those thoughts when he sensed Elder Jason behind him.

Back then, he would have just lied or attacked whenever someone tried to probe him.

Now instead, he had explained part of his abilities without minding it too much.

'Well, I did think about killing him for a moment.'

Noah smiled internally when he thought that.

He had instinctively thought about killing Jason when the latter spoke about Elder Julia, but he had immediately suppressed that idea.

He didn't need to hide anymore, his path led him out in the open where he could affect the world with blinding darkness.

Elder Jason eventually accelerated to reach Noah, he was anxious that his outburst from before had angered the Prince.

However, Noah simply took the report that he had previously stored and began to ask about the specifics of the mission.

"I understand that this is an exchange and the reason behind it. However, why does it require only one cultivator for each faction? And why is it in the territories of the Papral nation?"

Noah asked Jason while pointing at the report in his hands.

"It's a matter of glory and pride, Prince. The three big nations and the Hive will send their most promising heroic cultivators to the meeting as a sign that they can carry the responsibilities of the organizations behind them. You will probably meet cultivators that will be assigned to important positions in the future."

Elder Jason explained without even trying to hide the meaning behind his words.

Noah was the Demon Prince, that alone meant that the Hive expected a lot from him.

However, the big nations had fragmented political environments, so the identity of those representatives couldn't be understood easily.

"As for the location, that was up to the three big nations. It's not bad at all though, the territory is on the western coast, so your safety should be assured."

Elder Jason continued to explain, but Noah didn't really like that situation.

Four rank 4 cultivators from different factions would meet in a territory unknown to three of them, and all of them would carry a high number of precious diagrams.

Noah could clearly predict that the atmosphere in the meeting would be tense.

"I need a list of the diagrams to prioritize. I guess those of the fire element are a must, and I will surely go all out to obtain those of the darkness element, but I need more information about the requirements of the Hive."

Noah said as he stored the report again.

The Hive would obviously need spells for cultivators with a fire aptitude in the imminent future.

The lava lake was the perfect training area for cultivators with that element, it wasn't hard to predict that the Hive would see their number increase in the following years.

Also, he didn't hide the fact that he would prioritize the spells of the darkness element since it was in his interest to obtain them.

Yet, he wanted to know what the Hive needed the most to complete his mission.

"I will contact Elder Julia, I'm sure that she has already prepared a list that will help you."

Noah nodded when he heard Jason's answer.

The meeting was at a few months from then, there was time to prepare for the worst.

'It doesn't look like a trap, and it should also be impossible to plan one due to the pact sealed by the rank 6 existences. However, even if I'm overthinking, I should still forge a few explosive devices as a contingency plan.'

Noah thought and spent the rest of the flight in silence, thinking about what he could do to be prepared for unexpected situations.