The winds howled and the coldness of snow swept the lands, or at least the mountaintop. Whiteness existed everywhere within a certain region of the mountain, mostly its peak, but that wasn't the only interesting detail there.
On a location hard to properly pinpoint due to the ever-present snow storm rivers of silver inscriptions floated across a radius of about 100m.
Tiny compared to the rest of the mountain but that simple sight contained far greater importance.
Lines and symbols rotated around a singular figure, out of whom new symbols and words manifested to shoot towards the already large amount of words, lines, and symbols.
Noah sat in a cross-legged posture, his palms on his knees and his eyes closed whilst calculations appeared in his mind and he made them into reality. It had been only a bit over two days. Only a few hours remained till the rescue of the lady started and thankfully he was actually done.
Finally parting his eyelid to allow his silver gaze to fall into the world around him, the flowing and constantly rotating river of inscriptions came to a sharp halt.
Whispering a few words that large mass of Inscriptions began to release a churning sound as they flew towards him only to begin to condense into silver orbs. He would later divide them.
The first orb carried the function of concealing the events of a certain range. A barrier. The second orb carried the function of negating eventual flares that would occur as a result of the first orb's functions.
The third orb could now display scenes that blended with the win and light in the environment to generate an illusion gotten from the recording of the activities of the three noble families.
The fourth orb radiated Noah's presence, and he would bestow that item upon those he would choose. This would allow them to go in and out of the barrier and now disrupt the illusion.
Noah had tested all four of those objects on small areas on the mountain, They worked perfectly. Even an extra one for future uses.
The moment all four orbs condensed Noah stood up, and Erolia appeared beside him having stayed outside of her soul space all this while.
"It is time," Noah announced and the place trembled. Erolia nodded and the two shot out of the mountain range to meet the others in their agreed location.
The duo arrived in no time and they found that three others had already arrived, one of them being James, and of course his invisible guard.
Noah had received the recorder that he kept for James' battle into the central city. In Honesty the man had barely done much but still won. A show just how much control he could exert.
"Aiden," James called out seeing the stunning man and his equally stunning partner arrive. In truth, he wondered how a girl that looked that young could possess as much power as she did. It was public knowledge that as one advanced in the various stages of power aging slowed down greatly.
But for her to have remained that age at that level meant she had achieved a great level from a young age. It was hard to imagine a 10-year-old possessing peak tier-3 prowess. Even at that, the terrible might in the fourth tier was still unexplainable. He simply believed she was not human.
"James. It's been a while. I heard from the others that you encountered trouble," Noah spoke first coming forward to meet the man.
James nodded revealing a helpless smile. "The orders people almost took too much interest in me and I had to change that."
"I see that you succeeded," Noah commented folding his arms behind him.
"Yes… you had vanished right after I took the stage then," James mentioned. Both of them knew exactly what he was on to.
"I knew you were going to win," Noah revealed in honesty. "I couldn't see you, an imperial knight losing to a mere dummy."
Taken aback by the revelation, James was at a loss for how to respond. He had somehow expected an excuse that sounded like a lie. But hear the saw honesty.
"You still could have watched. I wanted you to see my moves," the man joked trying quickly to mend whatever awkwardness could spring into existence.
Noah simply nods his head, not exactly answering the question.
"I asked around and no one knew where you went," James continued, adopting a light tone while sweeping his gaze on the world around them.
The meeting location was a relatively big forest. It however featured a clearing, this was where they stayed in wait for the others.
The night was nearing its arrival. The sunset cast a golden-orange light on the world around creating a nice vibe.
"I saw no reason in joining you since I trysted in your ability to utilize the information I provided. So I used the last few days in creating something that would aid our mission." Noah explained, once again telling the truth.
Seeing the surprise on James' face just as he expected, Noah spoke again.
"It's not much as I only recently picked up the path of inscriptions making. That's why it took me this long to actually complete it."
"Damn. I honestly didn't expect that" James admitted, defeated.
"Can I see the item, I also once studied inscriptions by I left that path many years ago. I still have basic knowledge, however."
Noah nodded and he waved his hand to reveal the said item he had created.
A shining blue and silver star-shaped mass of moving words and symbols appeared before them and a strange aura filled the world.
"What does it do?" James asked marveling at the aura that mass unleashed into the environment.
"It grants an increased movement speed for a certain amount of time," Noah explained and James raised his head in shock.
'Something that advanced and he says he's only just begun!'
"That's pretty in-depth for someone who just started," James remarked, a bit of difficulty appearing on his features.
"You'd have to understand the very meaning of speed and what it brings. Pretty hardcore stuff honestly. I'd love to try it out. It looks and feels stable." James raised his head.
"You can," Noah nodded allowing a piece of the star's pointy edge to break off, floating towards James who allowed it to land on his palm.
"Just squeeze it and its effects will be generated," Noah explained and James' eyebrow rose. The simpler the activation of an inscription was the deeper the person understood it. Since that understanding allowed them to optimize its activation.
"What about a power source?" James asked not yet squeezing it.
"When activated they feed off of ambient mana," Noah explained further making James feel surprised. Mako and Lora could not help but move closer to the duo to see what was happening.
Muttering something under his breath James squeezed the mass and watched several blue and silver lines rush forth from his right palm until they ran across his entire body. Bypassing his clothes to reach his skin.
James did not feel anything for a few seconds, wondering if it had failed. At least that was until a sudden sensation spread across his skin and he blinked in further shock.
"It's not invasive. I can barely notice that I have something so heavy on my figure. Its optimization of taking mana from the world around is already amazing. That feat is worthy of praise on its own…"
"Now let's test out its effects," James explained out loud whilst those blue lines pulsed with power on his skin before gradually beginning to fade.
James searched the area before looking up at the sky he tapped his feet on the ground and he honestly didn't know when his figure appeared high in the sky, almost passing the maximum height allowed.
The event startled the others since not only did he move quicker than they had expected, his acceleration had been utterly silent. Not even the wind moved too much.
James returned to the ground in the blink of an eye and his eyes shook.
"Aiden…. Just how long have you been practicing inscriptions?" He stared at his palm. He felt the difference in his speed. He'd need far less to not move too quickly.
"Less than three months," Noah revealed and silence roared with intensity due to astonishment.
"Eh?!"
