Noah had seized many pieces of the Eternal Snake's body during the battle. He would normally eat those resources to improve his body, but he had a better use for them now.
He had to learn how those tissues functioned to replicate that ability. The Divine Deduction technique never stopped consuming his mental sea in that period to bring him closer to a solution.
All his ideas eventually converged toward an unavoidable decision. He had to involve the Body-inscription spell in the process. The only problem was that he had yet to invent the procedure.
Noah needed to embody the innate ability of the Eternal Snake. Translating it into a spell or technique would make it depend on his darkness and mental energy, and it would also fail to express its real power.
Instead, Noah wanted to add that ability to his bloodline, which meant that he had to modify his body to succeed in that task.
The situation in the new continent continued to decline while Noah remained in seclusion. The ten peak rank 6 Eternal Snakes grouped at the center of the landmass, but they decided to scatter when they didn't find their target.
The egg wasn't there, but their mission wouldn't be over until they found it.
The Snakes initially began to follow the vague traces of the egg's aura, but they couldn't imagine that Shandal had already brought it to a place that they couldn't reach.
The god of the Empire had even suppressed the egg's aura when he left the new continent. Nothing could lead the magical beasts to the Odrea nation.
Moreover, they couldn't enter the separate dimension even if they examined the old continent. The Snakes were only magical beasts, while Shandal was a divine being.
The Elbas family eventually had to face the Eternal Snakes. The Royals and their troops were the only inhabitants of the new continent, and the invaders would stop at nothing to inspect every inch of that landmass.
The three organizations rejoiced at that outcome. The few remaining lands in the hands of the Elbas family would be the last part of their invasion, and they could only enjoy seeing them wasting resources to stop the Snakes.
Months went by, and all the Snakes eventually gathered on the southeastern side of the landmass to assault the lands under the protection of the Elbas family.
Noah received weekly reports about the situation on the new continent while he was in seclusion. The Elbas family had managed to stall the Snake's assault and defend its domain, so there was nothing worthy of his attention in those messages.
His session of meditation had led to a breakthrough when it came to his project. Noah now knew what he had to do to absorb the Eternal Snake's healing ability, but he had to review the details of that procedure with a great expert in the inscription field.
Flying Demon visited Noah and created a door for the separate dimension in his cave. Noah needed to resume his training with the Seventh Kesier rune, but his main priority was to discuss his project with Thirty-seven.
"Do you really want to do this to your body?" Thirty-seven commented after he learnt about Noah's project. "The success rate of a second forging isn't high, and the final product is usually disappointing."
Noah and the automaton were reviewing the procedure in a building inside the separate dimension. That place still contained the cities that the three organizations had built during the five hundred years of hiding, but they all belonged to the Hive now.
There was no reason for the Council and the Shandal Empire to return inside the separate dimension. The Hive wouldn't be benevolent now that the outside world didn't place any threat in front of them.
"I am not even sure that your mind can endure this pressure," Thirty-seven continued. "Those beasts of yours should bring it near its limits already."
"The pressure will be only temporary," Noah replied. "I won't actually create a new Blood Companion. I need the creature's consciousness only to trigger the transformation. I will suppress it once the procedure succeeds."
Thirty-seven nodded, but he didn't appear convinced about the whole idea. Noah's body was already beyond the fairness decided by Heaven and Earth. Increasing its power again was an unnecessary risk in his eyes.
However, Noah couldn't give up on that healing ability. His ambition affected his mindset in that field, but he had already made sure that his individuality wasn't tricking him.
The procedure wasn't complicated, and the risks connected to eventual failures weren't deadly. Yet, Noah had built it while considering that his body could overcome most limits due to his fourth center of power.
The black hole was a miraculous tool, but Thirty-seven didn't like to bet on organs that didn't have a specific function. The automaton preferred actual data over reliable beliefs.
Still, he couldn't stop Noah from approaching that procedure, so he did his best to study it thoroughly. Noah would give him samples of the silver liquid produced by the Snakes in exchange, so he gave his everything in polishing that process.
Noah had to make multiple modifications and go back in seclusion to complete the polishing of his procedure. It took him and the automaton half a year to finish, but the outcome of those meetings didn't lead to the desired results.
Part of the procedure had to remain dependent on the abilities of Noah's body. It would succeed if the black hole helped in the matter.
Yet, that was enough for Noah. He didn't reveal all his secrets to the automaton, so only he knew that he had good reasons to feel confident about the procedure.
"You still need to test this beforehand," Thirty-seven said when Noah was about to leave. "There are only ten specimens in the world that carry those organs. With your expertise, you should be ready with two or three tests, which means that you have to kill three to four Eternal Snakes."
Noah nodded at that evaluation. He had reached the same conclusion, and he was confident that the Divine Deduction technique could reduce that number.
However, the automaton had misunderstood Noah's intentions for what concerned the ten peak rank 6 creatures.
"Don't worry," Noah said as he began to walk toward the teleportation matrix in the room, "I plan to take all of them."
The automaton's eyes lit up when he heard that. He couldn't wait to get his hands on the silver liquid, and he became so excited that he didn't notice the light of the teleportation matrix shining on his ethereal face.
Noah teleported in a secret location inside the separate dimension. June, Daniel, and Skully were there, but neither of them spoke when he arrived.
Their focus was on the piece of fur placed at the center of that dark hall. A few inscribed candles illuminated the Seventh Kesier rune and allowed those experts to observe the best training tool for the seas of consciousness.
Noah didn't say anything either and sat next to June to join that training session. His ambition leaked out of his figure as he began to stare at the rune, but he made it flow upward to leave the others unaffected.
He had to become stronger to defeat the Eternal Snakes. A hunt was waiting for him, but he had to make sure that his centers of power could endure the stress generated during those battles.
After all, he would go all-out the next time he faced those beasts.