UNLIMITED SPEED

Noah continued to cast lightning bolts, but they weren't the ones provided by the system. He created bolts of lightning from his control over that element, opting to pour nothing more than 60SE into each discharge.

This shockingly also met the requirements of the 7000 per minute, even passing it by a bit. Which meant he only need to cast once every minute.

Needless to say, he quickly became bored. The limit of 7000 per minute allowed him to cast only one spell, but unlike the normal cultivators, he couldn't cultivate or at least refill his core during those long 50 seconds, which meant for him his ease in that test didn't bring any advantages The amount of essence he calculated would be utilized by the end of the first session remained the same.

At some point down the line, Noah began to search for familiar faces since they were lined up in two rows, both rows containing around 200 experts each, and were both backing each other.

Fortunately, due to the spacing between each of their figures, Noah got able to spot some faces, Nathaniel being part of them, and to his subliminal joy; Ariana.

The young blonde lady of the water element looked fine, but Noah could spot fatigue in her movements since she was on the opposite row, but wasn't too far from him.

Her hair looked disheveled, but such details didn't matter. If it weren't for the attire provided in the rewards, Noah would look worse.

Her spells mostly featured watery weapons, and she needed only two casts to meet the requirements. The others around him were the same, with some needing more casts to meet the requirement.

The lights of spells of different elements being unleashed around him flashed in Noah's eyes, but it didn't matter to him, more than half of his attention was focused on the countdown above them.

'Three...two...one!' Noah numbered inwardly, his excitement peaking when the initial countdown reached zero, then another featuring one-hour appearing.

The golden inscriptions on the dummies disappeared immediately after the countdown for the three-hour session ended, as any spells launched after that event wouldn't be counted.

Noah's excitement soon died down; his gaze falling on the experts around him. Every single one of them, except him, sat on the floor; tired. And he quickly imitated them, but not for the same reason.

Seeing that no one left their spot to interact, Noah could only heave a deep sigh. In theory, the break was just a slightly better event than the actual test sessions. During the break, he didn't have to cast spells, but also couldn't talk to anyone since they were all busy resting.

'It's such a hassle being extraordinary,' Noah sighed gazing blankly at the red numbers that were the countdown.

His mind instinctively found itself on the topic of the last stage. In honesty, Noah felt a tad bit nervous. Not because he feared the last stage. It would be a race. If races in Cregar were anything like they were on earth, then he already had it in the bag.

He felt nervous because of the reality that he would soon become a member of a great guild in that nation. That organization already felt immense due to the number of powerful cultivators it contained, and only a small number had even been revealed.

That change of location and status felt like a totally different phase in his life. One that even his instincts knew would lead to greater heights. Speaking of location, Noah found it weird that the location of the guild had not been revealed to them yet.

They had flown across the skies to get there but never managed to see what the environments outside the trial areas looked like.

'I bet it won't be disappointing,' Noah concluded understanding that it was probably a location that the guild only wanted its members to be familiar with.

'I might actually become a tier 4 soon,' Noah mused, but the sheer amount of work he vaguely understood he would need to achieve it scared him.

In reality, he remained a weak lower-stage tier 3 cultivator a bit above its bottom. Thankfully, the rank 2 essence allowed him to achieve far more power. Noah understood that had he not achieved rank 2 Speed Essence, all the feats he had performed would not have been possible. He also would have most likely been eliminated by now.

"Speaking of which," Noah muttered at the system. "I've been wondering, how do people not know that I'm not powered by mana? Not even tier fours," he asked the system.

[[A lot of the credit goes to the bracelet you received]]

[[The world remains unable to notice your existence currently, which means its children will be unable to perceive your difference, as the necessary parameters do have not been met. Your identity as someone who runs on Speed Essence and not mana provided by the world will be revealed when the bracelet is gone]]

"So I'm like a stranger in a home filled with over one thousand inhabitants. The inhabitants don't know I'm different because they can't know everyone living there. Coupled with the fact that the owner of the house hasn't spotted me yet. Immediately Cregar identifies me as a stranger, every other person will know," Noah pondered feeling worried, but only slightly.

'If I can at least reach tier four before then; I'll be able to properly protect myself, at least for a bit. The problem is; do I have that much time?' Noah pondered as a series of calculations appeared in his mind.

Possible outcomes were constructed and dis-constructed multiple times, but he could only reach a state of in-conclusion since he remained in the dark on how the guild did things.

His chances of achieving his desired level of power and not; were equally matched. This of course tried to make him worry deeply about the future, but he stopped such thoughts from surfacing and focused on the countdown, it was about to end.

Everyone prepared themselves for the second session of that trial, as they stood up with expressions filled with determination. Lady Edna's threat stuck to their minds like a tongue on ice. They each had a vague understanding of how dangerous things could be, and the recollection of the weight lifting stage strengthened their fear, but also boosted their determination.

The countdown quickly ended, and the lights of hundreds to thousands of spells filled that large room. This was how things went on the third day of the trials to join the Divine Lightning guild.