Chapter 860: Advancing to Grandmaster Part I

"Have you noted everything?" Noel asked with a smile.

"Yes." Tristan and Livia answered at the same time.

"Then, I'll leave for a bit. Make sure to do everything before I return." Noel waved his hand while walking away.

Raincart, who was next to him, nodded in approval as they exchanged looks before accelerating. With their speed, horse or carriage was far too slow, especially for a small distance.

Even though Noel was a Spirit Master, he could easily keep up with his grandfather's speed.

There were already a few guards standing by, ready to spread out upon seeing Noel and Raincart.

"I will be waiting nearby. If you're done, return to the camp in the southeast. You can sleep, eat, or anything. If you have any injuries, inform me straight away. There are enough Demon Crystals to break through, so once you've reached the Grandmaster level, consolidate your strength before absorbing the ice element item. It should arrive by tomorrow."

"Understood." Noel nodded with a serious expression. When he broke through to the Spirit Master, he required a whole night to consolidate his strength. So, he expected that it would be much longer.

Even Ardagan was ready for the breakthrough.

After saying everything he wanted, Raincart finally stopped and waited with the soldiers. Meanwhile, Noel continued forward and found a lot of Demon Crystals lying on the ground. This was the necessary amount to break through. In fact, he believed that there were more than he originally stated. It seemed that his grandfather was worried that it wasn't enough.

"Thanks, Grandfather." Noel smiled.

Before attempting the breakthrough, Noel checked his status through Ardagan.

Name: Noel Ardagan

Job: Rune Swordsman

Weapon: Ardagan Sword

Main Medal: Demon Hunter Medal, Elite Medal

Honor Point: 120 Pts

Skill Point: 5 Pts

Status: Stamina +5.1%, Constitution +5.1%, Sword Mastery +4.3%, Spiritual Energy +4.5%, Rune Mastery +4.0%

Low Quality Crystal - 4580/5000

Mid Quality Crystal - 2102/3000

Advanced Quality Crystal - 350/1500

Peak Quality Crystal - 38/600

Superior Quality Crystal - 2/300

"It's not bad. In this advancement, I'm going to max out the Low Quality and Mid Quality ones. Since my limit is twice that of normal people and my conversion rate is at maximum, my Advanced and Peak Quality are still on the low side."

As he said, Noel had been absorbing a lot of Low Quality and Mid Quality Demon Crystals but still managed to reach Spirit Master. Even Anna had ingested more Advanced Quality and Peak Quality Crystals to become a Spirit Grandmaster.

This was the biggest advantage Noel had. If Noel continued at this pace and fully filled the Advanced and Peak Quality Crystals, he could easily surpass a Spirit Transcendence. By filling more Superior Crystals, he would reach the legendary Spirit King Stage.

However, finding a Superior Quality Crystal was easier said than done. Unless one ventured deep into the demon territory, they would hardly find any. And once they entered, they had to prepare to lay down their life.

That was why the Spirit King Stage was just a legend, let alone with not a perfect conversion rate.

Now that he had checked the amount, Noel tried to calculate the distance between him and the Spirit Grandmaster Stage.

"Hmm..." Noel glanced at the amount of crystals. "I guess I should absorb everything except for the excess Low and Mid Level Crystals. Normally, people wouldn't attempt such a thing because that excess energy can't be used properly. But I have two spirits as well as runes, so that excess energy is something I need."

After making sure everything had been prepared, Noel asked his spirits, "Are you ready, guys?"

[We're ready.]

Seeing Ardagan's notification put his mind at ease. He sat down next to the pile of crystals while grabbing some of them.

He began circulating his energy around the Spirit Seal and started sucking the energy from the crystals through those Spirit Seals.

Noel could feel the surge of energy that rushed through his veins, filling him up. Heisk's Spirit Seal got contaminated by the Spirit Link, turning the pure Spiritual Energy into Ice Spiritual Energy.

That cold energy rushed and spread all over his body, chilling him. No one could withstand that surge of energy without resting since it felt like the entire body was being frozen from the inside.

Fortunately, Noel wasn't an ordinary expert. All of a sudden, a fiery energy burst out and warmed his entire body. The intense heat met with the extreme cold, neutralizing each other.

While that clash of energy was pure torture, this was enough to balance everything out inside Noel's body, allowing him to continue for a long time.

The eruption of that energy felt like dry ice. It was extremely cold, but when it was touched, the coldness turned into a sharp pain as though one was burned. Yet, Noel remained calm.

The absorbing process went relatively calm, considering Noel had just to absorb and refine them.

Even Raincart wasn't too worried during this phase as he only asked someone to monitor Noel's situation.

Raincart, on the other hand, was handling a few things, such as what would happen if Noel's energy burst caused a problem. He had to prepare the soldiers well to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Noel might have lost his parents, even if it was only a scheme and they were still hiding somewhere. However, it didn't change the fact that he had lost the love and care he had received the whole time.

Due to that loss, Noel matured. He changed the way of life and pursued the ultimate strength.

But that path was extremely lonely. If Anna wasn't there, revenge would have clouded his mind. There was a high possibility that Noel would attempt something reckless just to fulfill his revenge.

So, Anna might be the greatest blessing he had in the past. However, Noel was aware he was personally responsible for Anna's interference. If he didn't ask Old Ru and use that power to turn back time, Anna wouldn't be there.

Of course, Anna had only told him about the alternate world, not about the regression part. But after seeing Old Ru, it was easy to deduce this part.

At the same time, there was one more fortune he got after losing his parents. It was his grandfather.

Because of the 'death' of his parents, Raincart became more concerned about Noel's situation. Noel fully understood that Raincart wouldn't support him this much if he didn't have this kind of talent. But Raincart would still give a considerable amount of support even if he couldn't awaken his spirits.

So, his grandfather was similar to Anna in his heart.

Hence, Noel had only one thought when attempting this breakthrough. He wanted to make sure that his grandfather was proud of him. That was probably the best thing to repay for his kindness.

Noel took a deep breath every few crystals. In just an hour, he managed to absorb 200 Low Level Crystals. If this continued, he should be able to fill up all the space for the Low Level Crystals in one more hour.

Although the absorption speed would be slower for the Mid Level Crystals, this speed was beyond anyone's imagination.

Even the soldier, who observed Noel from afar, notified Raincart of his concern. "Sir. It appears that he is ingesting those crystals at high speed..."

"Hmm? Is there something wrong? His conversion rate should be extremely high, so I'm not that worried." Raincart tilted his head in confusion.

"But he is at two hundred crystals per hour. Are you sure about this?"

"He what?" Raincart rushed to the front and checked the fluctuation of energy in Noel's body. To his surprise, the energy looked extremely stable. "What? Even I could only handle fifty crystals per hour. How did he do that?"

Raincart wanted to stop him, but because there was no anomaly, he could only watch for the time being. "Monitor him closely. If there is an unstable fluctuation coming out of his body, inform me and get ready to intercept."

"Understood, Sir."

The people began to raise their guards, seeing something unprecedented. The only reason why Noel could reach this speed was the two spirits in his body, the two opposite elements inside his body that supported each other instead of clashing.

Noel continued filling up his quota. After another hour, Noel picked up his last Low Level Crystal. Out of curiosity, he also grabbed another crystal. It was said that when the limit was reached, the energy absorbed from it would simply leak out of his body.

And he confirmed it after the first try. As soon as he filled up all the spots for his Low Level Crystals, he instantly felt full. It was hard to describe the sensation, but he knew that there was no more room for it. So, when he tried another one, the absorption was a bit chaotic.

Ultimately, Noel dropped that crystal, abandoning his thought for it.

After that, he continued with the Mid Level Crystals. As expected, the soldiers and his grandfather were shocked by his speed once again. It was clear that Noel's method was far better than any of them.

So, Raincart warned them not to disclose the information and continued observing Noel.