40 Mana Flow

"I see, hearing about your success at the guild, we really should celebrate!" Noah told Leo as he was finishing up the first course of food over the fire. Once Leo returned, he filled Noah in, but Noah was not surprised in the slightest.

When it came to the city, over the years the overall strength had dramatically increased which meant that the newer generations were on track to easily surpass those from the older generations. This was thanks to the fact that the emerging Master leveled individual that took full control over the city and its politics.

The power rankings within this city were the core disciples, followed by the executive leveled experts. After this were the Elite experts that made up the strongest warriors in each household. However, the one level above the Elite expert was of course the Master leveled expert.

In the history of this city's existence, the current leader of the city was the first Master leveled expert that has emerged from within. What was even more surprising was that this expert was born as a commoner and so once he took his new role, he wanted stronger techniques and skills to be distributed to the public.

After only a few decades, the mass distribution of stronger techniques and skills gave birth to more experts which allowed the city itself to gain a bigger foothold within the area. This city was somewhat weak and in a more secluded area compared to other human cities. Therefore, the city could only rely on themselves in order to increase their strength!

"To be honest Noah, I am thinking of trying my luck at this spider-based mission. I think that I have enough strength to survive an onslaught if they were to outnumber me. Before I leave, I think I will go to the market to look for a more suitable weapon tonight. My plan is to leave tomorrow early morning." Leo explained his thoughts to Noah to hear his advice.

"I already knew that you would be able to join that guild with your current level of strength. So, I actually reported it to your friends and they are holding a private dinner for you tonight. Since they are your squad, I think spending some time with them now that you have a chance again, is more important than going shopping." After pondering for a moment, Noah told Leo this information to persuade him to relax a little more.

"Really? I would never have imagined that Jack and Natalia's household would finally give them permission to meet with me. After the trial they were locked up into some closed-door training and I was told that I shouldn't disturb them." Now very excited that he could meet his squad members again, the thought of shopping meant very little to Leo as he started to eat his fill of meat.

Thanks to the way the city was set up, the citizens did not need to rely on eating monster meat in order to fill their stomachs. There were small patches of farmland, and there were even normal animals that were always being raised to feed the population. Monster meat was an acceptable dish, but it did not taste as good as some of the animals within the city or the vegetables offered as well.

"By the way Noah, how long do you think it would take me until I can grasp a basic understanding of my wind element affinity?" Leo finally finished eating and burping out loud asked Noah in a calm manner. After training for a full year, Leo found himself enjoying these eating breaks the most.

"I understand that you want to become an executive leveled expert as soon as possible. I must warn you though that it is still a long road even for warriors such as myself who have trained for decades with still no luck." Noah replied as he seemed to have been lost in thought.

The youngest warrior to have reached the executive level in this city, was eighteen years old and it was because of a special training item that allowed her to grasp her elemental affinity that much faster. Not only that, but it was said that if she had a different elemental affinity, that she wouldn't have had as much luck due to the item only working with those who had an earth elemental affinity.

Leo was still very young at this point and although he was extremely monstrous with the growth he had shown over this past year, to expect him to reach the executive level before the age of eighteen was still hopeful thinking.

Seeing Noah's reaction to his question, Leo quickly quieted down and walked back to his room to take a long nap. Now that he would be seeing Jack and Natalia again, Leo did not feel the need to do anything else but to relax and to enjoy the moments that were about to come. Thinking of how strong he had become during this time, he was excited to hear how strong Jack and Natalia had also become!

-Later that night-

"Whoa! Leo I barely recognized you!" seeing Leo and Noah arriving to the private dining hall, Jack and Natalia's faces had a hint of excitement and satisfaction. They were not convinced that Leo would be able to arrive so casually, so when he did, they felt relieved.

Jack looked as if he went through some brutal training. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt and he had some bulging muscles showing as his hair was now more spiked up. He held a more composed attitude, but he seemed to have grown quite a bit this past year during his training.

Natalia however looked almost identical to how she looked a year ago. The only difference was that her hair was now bright red like a rose and was a bit longer. Her eyes still shone with a brightness that one could get lost in, while her demeanor was solidified like a noble princess.

Seeing his friends again, made Leo chuckle with laughter as he hugged both of them tightly. He however held back slightly because in this room were three guards that seemed incredibly formidable. Scanning these individuals, it was clear that all three were executive leveled experts that were even stronger than the ones who originally escorted them last year to the city.

"Do not mind those three. Two of them are our trainers while the third was sent over just to keep a close watch on us. Just act as you usually would, tonight is a night for us to send you off the right way!" Jack whispered to Leo loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

The night went on as planned and all three of the squad members caught up with each other. Jack's training was extremely brutal due to his choice of fighting being so different than the Mist household was known for. Natalia on the other hand was treated like a heavenly maiden and would be waited on by several servants.

As far as Leo could tell right now, both Jack and Natalia were on equal footing with him with their strengths. What surprised Leo the most, was that their levels also increased quite a bit during this year which meant that if he chose to, they could use their unused attribute points to become even stronger. It appeared they were not ready to do so once Leo hinted this to them and was secretly rejected.

In their words, since they haven't seen their own limits yet, they were unwilling to use such a method to increase their strength again. Wanting to reach their limits on their own first, Jack and Natalia seemed to have something on their mind but would not speak of this any further.

"Since you are going on your first mission, we asked our respective households to help compile some supplies for you to take with you. Waving her hand, two servants entered the room from the outside and delivered two bags to Leo.

Within these bags were several skill books, some small but useful items, and even a sword that looked extremely well put together. Scanning the sword, Leo saw that it was a C ranked sword which was even rare to see in the marketplace within the screen! Holding the sword in his hand, Leo felt even more domineering and couldn't wait to test out this new weapon!

Beep! Beep! Beep!

-You have just unlocked your mana flow-