Chapter 169 - 169. Beak
'She has a point.'
One of the biggest hindrances in the cultivation journey was the lack of resources.
With a noble family as a backing and a friendly relationship with the Royals, she would have access to both techniques and useful items.
In comparison, Noah had to cover every expense with his own wealth.
Just by thinking about the number of materials that he needed to experiment with the Elemental forging method, one could imagine the wealth required to train an inscription master.
However, if he had the backing of a family, he could simply focus on the experiments without the need to accumulate materials.
'Well, I can't do anything about that. I also have to constantly hold back for fear of being discovered.'
They continued to drink more, exchanging some jokes from time to time before calling it a day.
Noah returned to the basement deep in thought.
Eccentric's rune was moving closer to his dantian so he had to make a decision soon.
'She saw how those that loved her changed their behavior all of sudden so she began to rely only on her strength. She is not evil nor ungrateful, she might actually give me a share of the inheritance in order to feel less indebted with me.'
Noah was analyzing June's personality to be sure of their future relationship.
His most pressing question was: 'will she turn on me once I give her that power?'
The only answer he could find was: probably not.
Yet, that "probably" was what held him back from giving it to her immediately.
'I don't have a better candidate though, the only other youth of the thunder element that I know is Manuel and I don't think that we can become friends.'
In the end, he tossed those thoughts on the back of his mind and went to rest.
He didn't really mind giving the inheritance to June but he still had some time to know her better.
Days passed slowly in the academy.
Noah limited himself to one attempt in the forging each day and vastly reduced the quantity of "Breath" absorbed in his mental sphere when he had to refill it.
That allowed him to continue in his usual training without incurring in a splitting headache.
The third Kesier rune, his two blood companions, and the "Breath" propelled the growth of his mental sphere at an unbelievable speed, Noah could feel that the internal pressure was diminishing continuously.
The Yin body continued to nourish his body, slowly pushing it toward the peak of the third rank.
The Dark vortex cultivation technique enlarged his dantian to its limits, Noah felt that it wouldn't take much for him to reach the peak of the first rank.
His free time was spent with June.
They would fight twice a week and converse on the other days.
They would talk about their dreams, their future projects, what they liked and disliked, their relationship became vastly deeper compared to when they were only sparring partners.
Noah began to appreciate his time spent with her.
They had a similar nature in the first place and, since she was quite straightforward, he could relax and enjoy their talks.
They even did their bimestrial mission together, dividing their gains equally with Noah refilling his stash of darkness beast's bodies.
It was clear to her that Noah hid most of his personal information but she became used to that and stopped being bothered by it.
She understood that his situation was complicated and that he wouldn't lie if it wasn't important to him.
Noah was cold and indifferent, he wouldn't waste efforts to make up lies just for fun.
His first success arrived after the fourth month of his stay in the new accommodation.
Noah was in the basement, excitedly staring at a strange looking item in his hands.
It was originally the beak of a Moon owl, a bird-type magical beast that he and June hunted down in their last mission.
As a material, its element was darkness so it was perfect for Noah's experiments.
It was small and thin, only about twenty centimeters long, yet a clear sharpness was exuded from it.
'It seems stable!'
There were no cracks on its body and it looked quite sturdy.
That was his first stable creation!
The only problem was its form.
Due to its length, it had to be used as a throwing knife, yet its tip was curved, Noah didn't manage to bend it during the forging.
"Ivor!"
Noah called for his Master, when it came to inscriptions his judgment was far more accurate than Noah's one.
Ivor arrived after a few minutes and showed a surprised expression seeing the item in Noah's hands.
He carefully took it and inspected it for a while, he would nod repeatedly every time he changed the angle of observation.
"This is not quite usable but it's indeed an inscribed item."
In the end, he gave his judgment.
"Its power couldn't reach the higher tier of the first rank but it's not due to your "Breath", it was the original material that was lacking. Also, you clearly messed up when it was time to shape it. It's too short to be considered a small sword and too curved to be thrown successfully but you have finally managed to create something stable."
Noah nodded at his explanation, the conclusions that he had reached were the same as his.
"So, how do I improve?"
Noah asked.
"Familiarize with the process first, continue with this material until you manage to shape it as you wish. Then it will be time to find better materials and mix them together in order to find a good composition. I used four different materials in various quantities in order to create my knife and they were all from rank 4 magical beasts that fitted my needs."
'So much planning only for one item. I wonder what's the value of rank 4 beasts' bodies.'
He had sold a rank 3 beast once but he only managed to gain two Credits from it.
However, that was because its body was ruined after Noah went through the requirements of the Body-inscription spell.
"What do I do with this then?"
Noah pointed at the inscribed Owl beak.
"Just sell it. If it can't be useful to you, there is no point in keeping it."