Chapter 36: 36. Bandits

The was only one imminent problem with Noah's lifestyle.

He kept on training and fighting but one aspect was pressing him.

'How the fuck am I supposed to tell Masted that the rune in my sea of consciousness is almost complete!?'

It has been only two years and a half since he started the training for his mental energy but with the advantage his rebirth gave him he had almost become a rank 1 mage.

'Well, I'll think about it after this mission. At least there were no problems with the fifth treatment.'

About one month ago he successfully completed his fourth cycle and entered the fifth one.

Apparently, the cycle right after the body's advancement was the easiest to complete, followed by the middle one that required a long time of nourishment, to the last one that forced the practitioner to break through ranks during the treatment.

'I should be able to obtain a rank 3 body some months after I turn 13, I hope that the last treatment will be similar to the fourth.'

Since the unexpected event during the treatment, Noah reflected more on the various cycles of the Seven Hells method in order to be ready when another unexpected situation appeared.

After all, one misstep during the process will cause his death or a permanent injury.

During these months, he also expanded his knowledge of this country thanks to the many books his Master kept on giving him, and, in the end, he found the information that he wanted.

'The Royal city takes the name from the dynasty that runs it and since two thousand years ago it has been called Elbas.'

Any noble family that manages to take control of the Royal city will become a dynasty.

Two thousand years ago, the Elbas family waged a war against the previous Royal family and won, since then they never lost to any rebellion against them.

One of the reasons why they resisted for so much time was the creation of the academy.

"The academy is the best training ground for the descendants of the noble families and for young talents. It was made by the Elbas family as a mean to get any talented individual of the younger generation closer to the Royal family since you can get a prestigious position in the Royal city once you graduate from the academy. It's a smart move that increases their power while lowering that of the noble families at the same time, that's why they invested so much in it giving access to many techniques and spells to its students. The problem is that I can only enter there through a competition.'

The academy enrolled twice per year and only through two methods: money and strength.

You could either pay an exorbitant sum of gold and precious materials or you had to win a competition set up by it against other contenders.

Needless to say, Noah's only option was the second method.

'I even prepared a couple of escape routes for when the time comes, I can only hope that it will be near the time of one of the enrollment competition.'

After obtaining the information about the academy, Noah had just to inspect the maps about the continent of Utra to plan some escape routes toward the places where the selections would be.

While he was brainstorming about his recent discoveries, Noah was speeding through Evergreen forest.

His mission consisted in finding a group of bandits that assaulted a merchant caravan that transported body parts of magical beasts.

He had to execute the bandits and retrieve the goods.

His Master ensured him that they weren't extremely powerful cultivators and that he could choose the reward for the mission between the stolen merch.

'The reports said that this group calls themselves "Gray Shadows" and they have seven members. In the last year, they operated in the zone near Evergreen forest so their base should be here but even after some investigations, they have never been found. I guess that Sandy and Mark are busy somewhere else for Master to choose me for this mission.'

With his strong mental energy, Noah was one of the best candidates for this mission since he could sense clearly the environment around him.

It was his second day inside the forest but he still had to find traces of the bandits.

Even though the surface of Evergreen forest was bigger than the one the Balvan family ruled on and was full of dangerous magical beasts, the area near its perimeter was relatively safe since the Shosti family would periodically send soldiers to clear it from dangers in order to make the merchant routes safer.

'Master said that if I find nothing after one month of search, I can just give up and go back to the mansion.'

So, its solitary mission had begun. Noah would travel during the day looking for traces of the Gray Shadows and train at night in the Kesier rune.

He liked this type of mission because it allowed him to learn how to survive in the wilderness, he took it as a preparation for his big escape in the future.

After one week of exploration, he still ended up with nothing.

Noah didn't really want to fail the mission, or to say it better he didn't want to give up the free reward from the bandits' deposit.

He stood on a tree deep in thought until he had an idea.

'What if I follow a caravan?'

The idea seemed worth a shot so he moved toward the perimeter of the forest in the direction of Mossgrove city.

He waited there for three days, letting pass the caravans that were too small or looked like they weren't carrying anything important until he finally found the perfect target.

It was a big caravan made of two different carriages. It had a big red emblem inscribed on its side representing a tiger with wings on his back, Noah supposed that it belonged to one of the middle-size noble families in the Shosti's domain.

One of the carriages was ridden by a group of soldiers that alternated the coachman role between themselves, while on the other one a bald fat man without any beard and a young girl were in the rider's position.

'That one looks like the ideal target of the Gray Shadows, the soldiers don't look that strong but for a noble family to send them to protect a merchant it means that the goods they carry should have some value.'

Mental energy could be used to scan the surroundings but also to evaluate someone's strength, yet before becoming a mage its precision would still be somewhat lacking.

To evaluate these soldiers though, Noah's level was more than enough.

'So it's decided, I'll follow them!'