Chapter 859: Preparation

"That's perfect." Tristan said out loud while pointing at the drawing Livia had just created.

"Is that so?" Livia smiled. "I have never thought that your memory would be this extraordinary. We'll be learning from the same teacher, so I'm happy to meet you."

"Did Teacher accept you too?"

"Yes. What is your name?"

"I'm Tristan."

"I'm Livia. Since we've done our homework, should we visit him?"

"I want to do that, but Teacher is doing his best to get stronger. I'm afraid that I will be in his way if I interrupt him." Tristan shook his head helplessly.

"We're not going to disturb him. We just visit him and see him from afar. If he is free, then we will come to him. How about that?"

"I think we can do that..." Tristan nodded in agreement. This was the first time he had finished his homework this fast, so he didn't know what to do with his spare time.

Tristan and Livia ended up visiting the garden to see Noel's progress. He had been practicing in the same place, so it didn't take too long for them to discover him.

However, they were stopped by the guards more than thirty meters away.

"I'm sorry, you can't visit this area."

Tristan and Livia were confused. But their doubt was answered soon as the heat emanating from Noel brushed their skin.

"!!!" Both of them trembled as they exchanged looks, asking the same thing. "Did you smell it?"

Their attention soon shifted to the figure sitting far away from them. It looked like a simple meditation, but the entire ground had been burned to a crisp.

There was no grass or flower that remained standing after that heat wave. Occasionally, a black fire flared up and soon disappeared.

Those flares shot out a heat wave so strong that most of the guards had taken off their helmets as they couldn't withstand the heat. The only thing stopping them was their huge shield that blocked the airflow.

All the guards around Noel had been on high alert, stopping Noel from getting out of hand.

While they were doing their best to block Noel's power, the latter felt the calmest during his stay with the Ezenholm Family.

When he opened his eyes, he realized that his consciousness had traveled back to meet his spirits.

"Ardagan..." Noel muttered, finding Ardagan floating above him. Instead of saying anything, a blue screen popped out.

[Mission: Advancing to the Spirit Grandmaster]

[Description: After mastering the Undying Fire, it's time to become the Spirit Grandmaster.]

[Reward: Spirit Step]

[Mission: Forging Spirit Link]

[Description: Once becoming a Grandmaster, Ardagan is fulfilling its promise.]

[Reward: Undying Fire Will]

[Mission: Force Awakening]

[Description: Once creating a Spirit Link, it's time to upgrade the Spirit Link by the Force Awakening Pills.]

[Reward: ???]

Noel was startled to find three missions at once. On the one hand, two missions only gave one skill each. On the other hand, he knew that Spirit Grandmaster was a major breakthrough, so that reward must be extraordinary. There was even one '???' reward.

"Arda—" Noel tried to call him, but his vision turned dark again as his consciousness returned.

"Haa...?" Noel gasped for air, waking up from his meditation. He looked around and noticed that the guards had been standing far from their usual position while staring at him in fear.

Perplexed, Noel tried to figure out the situation and noticed something changed drastically.

His meditation spot had turned into a crater not because of force but because the ground underneath him had been burned into nothing. Even so, he could see the destruction expanded far more than he originally expected.

Seeing the guards' conditions could give him the gist of the situation of what had truly happened.

"Did I do all this?" Noel muttered while glancing at the guard leader, who had been talking to him in the past few days.

With a wry smile, he approached Noel and explained, "I apologize, Sir. It's just the heat coming from you is too much for us to handle. I'm afraid that we have to require some Ice Element Spirit Magician if it's going to be much worse."

"I see." Noel thought for a moment and asked, "Is my grandfather here?"

"Sir Raincart has been away since yesterday. He is supposed to come back today, but we don't have a specific schedule."

"Understood. I'll stop for today and wait until my grandfather returns before continuing this."

"Thank you for your consideration."

Noel nodded before noticing that both Tristan and Livia were visiting him. He waved his hand to the guard leader and walked to his students. "What's wrong with you two? Since when are you so free?"

"We've completed our homework earlier. So, we visit you, wondering if there is anything you want us to do." Livia explained since she was the one suggesting Tristan to visit Noel.

"Well..." Noel contemplated for a moment. "I think I'll be leaving for a few days. So, I'll give you a lot of work to the point you can't complete it in a week. So, prepare for it."

"..." Livia and Tristan were speechless. On the one hand, they wanted to do a lot of things to master the runes. On the other hand, the way Noel worded it sounded like he truly meant it. In fact, it might be an understatement.

Before he could say more, a guard and Raincart had rushed to the garden, worried that Noel's fire would become even more uncontrollable and that it would harm nearby people.

"Noel!" Raincart shouted before realizing that Noel had stopped and nothing really happened.

"Grandfather? You've come back." Noel greeted him with an innocent expression.

"I thought you were going to burn the entire house." Raincart let out a sigh of relief while asking, "Are you done?"

"Yes. I'm thinking about waiting for the Demon Crystal to break through to Spirit Grandmaster. I have kind of mastered my fire, but I need to become a Spirit Grandmaster to fully grasp that concept. Also, as soon as I become a Spirit Grandmaster, I'm going to absorb the ice element item before forging a Spirit Link with my fire spirit. If everything is set up correctly, I can awaken my Spirit Link and evolve it even further."

"Then I have good news for you." Raincart smirked. "The royal family has accepted the condition. They are still escorting all those things, but if you're aiming for the Spirit Grandmaster, the Ezenholm Family can give those Demon Crystals first. If you feel bad about it, we can deduct it from what you've got."

"I see. How long do I have to wait?" Noel asked.

"Since the message arrives after one day, they should arrive in another three days."

"I can absorb the required Demon Crystals in a flash, but breaking through will require more than one day. In that case, I'll teach Tristan and Livia for the next two days."

"Got it. Do you need anything? Considering you've caused this much scene just by mastering your ability, I'm afraid that you're going to burn my house down when becoming a Grandmaster."

"Ahaha, you're exaggerating. Well, if you don't mind, I want a spacious place to break through. If possible, there is nothing I can burn there."

"How about the plain not far from our territory? I will be going with you to freeze everything extraordinary while trying not to disturb you."

"The entire process might take an entire week, you know."

"Yeah. I don't mind. I have nothing to do anyway." Raincart shrugged. "Though, I hope you give me a scene that I will never forget. Don't disappoint me."

"You know how to create pressure." Noel chuckled. "I just hope that it's not going to be too big that I can't leave this country."

"That's true." Raincart nodded in agreement. After seeing Noel's fire and ice, Raincart realized that while the ice was doing its best to improve, the fire had yet to reveal its true nature.

According to his estimation, Noel had only exerted twenty to thirty percent of the fire's ability. If becoming a Spirit Grandmaster allowed him to tap that remaining seventy percent, he was afraid that he would become uncontrollable.

That was why he decided to accompany him this time. He was the only one who had the power to prevent anything bad from happening.

'Anna Stargaze has shocked the world by harnessing that level of power, and my grandson is no less than her. I'm afraid that he will show me something so unbelievable that I can't prevent it. More importantly, there is a possibility that the fire element will dominate the entire system and completely devour the ice spirit. While it shows the strength of the fire spirit, it won't have any good effect on Noel's body.

Meanwhile, Noel turned to Tristan and Livia. "There you have it. Since I can't teach you for a while, I'll cram everything on you for the next two days. So, don't expect any sleep."

"Yes." Tristan and Livia replied while straightening their backs.

Unbeknownst to them, Noel would surpass even the wildest dream of Raincart.