Chapter 928: 928. Volunteers

Noah had created the spherical rune because he was experimenting on controlling the primary energy back then. Yet, the natives' inscription method had solved that issue before he could find another solution.

His spherical runes had become tools meant to enlarge his mental sphere at that point, and the primary energy inside them was necessary to avoid the discordant aptitude during the experiments with the living weapons.

The arrival of the higher energy had changed how Noah valued his assets. He didn't need to use the primary energy to create anymore, and even the runes that made use of it had become obsolete.

However, that was exactly how everything was supposed to work. The current state of his energies was in line with his individuality.

The primary energy was connected to his destruction. Creating wasn't its purpose, and it didn't suit its nature. After all, it was lighter than his other energies, which made it more fitting as a fuel rather than as a material.

Still, Noah's achievements with the Will-consuming runes weren't worthless. Instead, they opened the path for more spells and creations that would improve his battle prowess further.

Noah could generate more primary energy now that he had added Snore to his arsenal, and that would make the spells that depended on it more potent in battle. It was a cycle that made use of his creations to fuel abilities meant only to destroy.

Of course, they would require modifications to work with the new amount of energy, but Noah had improved both in cultivation level and experience with his creation. Upgrading the saber-shaped runes was easy, especially since he had added them to Snore's body too.

As for his spherical rune, Noah could only think of a way to turn it into a training method for the sea of consciousness. He needed to replace the primary energy inside them with dark matter and modify them so that the effects on the walls of his mind would be softer.

The higher energy was his heaviest energy and created an intense internal pressure once inserted in his mind. That was generally a good thing since it benefited the mind's width and sturdiness at the same time, but it also stressed the center of power a lot.

Even as a rank 5 mage, Noah's mind needed breaks. Only his dantian had become more resilient due to his hybrid status. His mental sphere was still frail.

Nevertheless, the matters that involved the mind were dangerous and could cause deadly repercussions. One error in the calculations could lead to injuries, and they were tricky to heal when they concerned the mental spheres.

Also, he had to be mindful of the long-term effects that putting such a powerful rune in his mind could cause. After all, he knew what constant influence could do on its walls.

Luckily for Noah, he had volunteers that wanted nothing more other than becoming able to control their instincts.

Noah started to spend most of his time in the central territories of the new continent after he set his mind on his latest projects. The Hive had released most of its hybrids there after the invading forces kicked the Shandal Empire away.

Most of those hybrids were unable to control themselves, and the minds of some of them had switched to a full beast mindset already. They couldn't live in the Hive's domes with that behavior. They needed a place where their aggression couldn't cause any damage.

The central territories of the new continent were the perfect place for them since they were mostly uninhabited and barren. Even the wildest hybrids could act freely there and don't bother anyone.

The fauna in that place had become quite peculiar in those years. Danielle and other powerful hybrids that managed to have some control over their minds had become pact leaders that handled the creatures in those lands.

It was as if those territories had become a natural reserve for hybrids, and the arrival of the three rank 5 creatures retrieved in the Shandal's separate dimension had only divided the various packs further.

That limited the number of hybrids lost due to natural causes and created some separated government that mainly discussed how to handle the mindless creatures better.

Of course, there were many experts keeping track of the evolution of that society. The Hive didn't want to fail to notice eventual signs of rebellion and insurgency.

That wasn't a pressing worry though since there weren't enough intelligent beings there. The control of the "government" was more focused on dividing the pacts rather than on gathering them to create a joint front.

Also, the hybrids knew that they need an organization of that world to help them. If they remained in that state, they wouldn't even have a chance to seize independence.

That was why a line of volunteers formed as soon as Noah announced that he was experimenting with techniques that could improve the seas of consciousness.

Noah had said multiple times that there wasn't a real solution to the mental instabilities of the hybrids, not yet at least. The best thing that they could do was to focus on improving their minds so that they could keep their instincts in check.

His experiments went smoothly with so many available test subjects. Some missteps occurred, and there were cases of hybrids injuring their minds through the years, but that was only normal.

A few of them even died during the initial phases of that project since Noah found it hard to balance the power of his rune when it came to rank 4 hybrids.

The experiment didn't concern only giving away runes that applied internal pressure on the mental spheres. Noah would even observe how the continuous exposition to that energy affected the walls of their minds.

Still, he obtained decent results, which eased the tension that had accumulated in the air due to the nearing of the war.

"When do you think the war will start?" June asked as she played with the tattoo on Noah's chest.

"A few years at best," Noah answered as he turned to stare at June lying right next to him.

The two of them were in the training area under the neutral city. June had just come back from one of her errands with the Elbas family, so Noah had used that chance to spend some valuable time with his lover.

"Years…" June murmured as she lost herself in Noah's vertical pupil. "Did we reach the two hundred years mark already?"

"I don't know either," Noah said as his eyes lost focus. "Decades pass every time I test something."

"Do you remember when you almost injured your centers of power to gain a few weeks' worths of training?" June said as the memories from the Royal Inheritance made her smile.

"Of course," Noah replied with a smile too. "You had to teach me how to take breaks."

The two of them remained there for hours before returning to their tasks.

One year later, the invading forces decided that it was time to resume the war.