UNLIMITED SPEED

A deep yellow radiance shone on Noah's environment as he immediately cast "speed armor". An illusory battle armor featuring a helmet appeared on his figure, while thoughts and calculations on his next move appeared in his mind.

Noah had every intention to arrive at his destination and do it alone. Although the time remaining for the stage to end actually exceeded ten hours, Noah felt it unreasonable and a total waste of time to wait for them. Even if it sounded like a good idea.

'What if they arrive here too late, or none has the confidence to move forward.' he thought occasionally crouching to glance at the lower regions. No one could be seen from that height and there wasn't anyone there, meaning he had been right about being the first to arrive at that elevation.

An internal battle quickly spread out in Noah's mind. The idea of waiting for others sounded good, since he felt no confidence in facing whatever was inside that environment, and even his instincts told him that only death awaited him if he dared it. In truth Noah had never been in a real fight with peak middle-stage experts, only his spells filling the space with the multiple experts he fought.

Now the chance of facing a higher stage felt exciting to his body, but rationality beat his wishful thinking.

The other idea was to of course move forward without waiting for external help, but he didn't plan on stopping, only zooming straight ahead even if he could feel his knees begin to tremble.

Fear tried to break into his emotionless state, but only his body remained affected by that sensation, his mind only grew colder and more focused.

Noah trusted the speed at which he could move with minimum empowerment from the speed force, and he planned on utilizing it to its best, at least to what his mind and body were currently capable of.

'No stopping. If I do I might actually die,' Noah concluded, but his eyes flickered not, nor did his calm expression crumble. After what felt like an eternity, he finally understood what weaker cultivators went through encountering monstrous cultivators on their path to power.

Sparks soon began to exit his body; heavier and more power-filled ones illuminating his surroundings even more. Noah felt and saw his surroundings begin to move far slower than they normally were. His perception became so quick that mere instants felt as long as hours maybe days.

He felt confident in the action he was about to take, being faster than his opponents put him in a safe spot one that would remain untouchable until he found someone able to outrun him or directly overpower him.

Dense currents continued to run on Noah's figure, if ever asked what that ability was; he would simply term it a movement technique, after all the truth wasn't far from it. He even crouched in a weird stance while making some random gestures with his hands to make that scene more believable.

Feeling ready to move, Noah ignored the fact that he produced enough heat to cause the little snow around him to start melting.

Taking a step forward, the extremely white and windy environment around him turned into a blur of whiteness. Noah immediately arrived inside the tight formation of trees to begin his mad Mach 4 dash towards its end; where the bright light of golden inscriptions could be seen signifying the area in which they were to enter to succeed. At least he believed so.

However before he could even spend a second in those trees, a thought he had not considered seeped into his mind, and he found himself turning to return to his former position outside the trees.

A frown appeared on Noah's face immediately after returning, but that reaction wasn't a result of an emotion so to speak, it was based on how tricky that situation had been since answers flowed into his mind at his doubts. And he didn't hesitate to open his mouth to voice his conclusion.

"We were never told to find our way into any different location. The instruction was to reach the peak of the mountain!' Noah's blank but power-filled voice resounded in that environment. Even the winds couldn't overshadow it.

In truth, that action remained weird, but Noah knew that his words had been heard, after all, he had noticed on multiple occasions floating orbs of sorts trailing him in his tracks. Which meant he was being watched.

Noah had been careful to not utilize any sensitive abilities like his ice affinity whenever he was out in the forest. Only moments like when he fought the jawed spiders. And he had only utilized it due to the closed entrance. For some reason, the orbs never followed him into the caves he slept in.

Just according to his hunch, his answer came, but not in words.

The relatively flat peak of the mountain suddenly began to tremble, but not violently. At least not too violently.

In the span of a few seconds Noah watched the thick formation of trees before him; begin to part ways, and in the blink of an eye, a linear path opened before him.

Two barriers lay on each side of the now wall of trees, and he didn't hesitate to begin his walk towards the same inscriptions-filled area on the other side of the mountain's peak.

A slow but steady walk began towards the end of the path since Noah still had his guard up. His armor was still on and he felt ready to run at any time.

Halfway through the path, Noah got able to see what emitted that higher-stage aura, but his expression went cold at the sight that lay before him.

'Five,' Noah thought. Five beasts Noah's instincts sensed had power in the higher stage were present in the forest. They had been expertly separated from each other to not give a hint, and to his even bigger amusement, the beasts themselves didn't radiate any aura. Or at least it seemed they didn't.

A bangle of sorts shimmering with the light of multiple inscriptions lay around the legs of the beast; all bears. The inscribed item according to Noah's understanding bottled up their aura. A terrifying reality. While an orb shimmering with blue lights sitting on a golden stool radiated the singular aura he felt, and that everyone who got up there would feel!

"This is madness," Noah felt forced to mutter feeling a spike in his headache when he switched to his calm side.

Clearer understanding dawned on him when Elder Adonis's words, "The rest will be up to you" replayed in his mind. He had begun to gain respect for those processes as they forced the cultivators into using their minds.

Noah felt pity and even worry for Ariana and the other experts who would be unfortunate enough to think they would be enough to cross the trees. The bears were large towering 25m in height and their bulky frame. A hit from something like that would turn them into meat pastes.

That last challenge was more of a mind game than anything. With an obstruction on their path and the aura of a powerful entity, the situation in front of the dense formation of trees would automatically translate into a challenge. One that the experts would feel had to overcome to succeed. But if they obeyed the instructions there would be no need for any such struggle. Maybe if they sat around instead of moving into the forest themselves, the path would be opened for them.

Noah felt sure that any individual that walked into that environment would be immediately wiped out. That outcome would be certain since the bears made no auras, and their white furs coupled with their gentle movements allowed them blend in wit their environment. There could even be traps set for experts.

'I would have scaled through only because of my speed,' Noah thought. 'But if there had been any traps able to stop me...' His thoughts faded since he had arrived at the ending of the path, to walk past the golden inscriptions; which he immediately confirmed produced a barrier.

"Congratulations!" A group of four individuals donned in beautiful attires featuring the crest of the guild cheerfully welcomed Noah, and he felt un-surprised when he saw that he was the first to arrive there.