Fergie needed time to complete the transformation. The amount of energy required to turn the dark matter into a fabric that belonged to him depended on his existence. Still, Noah would protect him until the process ended.
'I have yet to test my new body,' Noah thought as a cold smile appeared on his face.
The magical plants in the region had different levels. They went from the bottom of the lower tier to the peak of the upper tier, but no rank 8 specimen occupied the area chosen by Noah.
Regular hybrids couldn't handle that many creatures. It would be different if they were existences near the borders of the eighth rank, but Noah was still in the liquid stage. He had to rely on his body to handle the strongest plants.
Countless roots filled Noah's vision. All the magical plants in the area had attacked at the same time when they sensed that a foreign force was threatening their environment.
The attacks came from every direction, and all of them targeted Fergie. The plants could sense that he was the cause behind that destruction, and they didn't hesitate to launch their offensive.
Noah gave voice to a roar before spitting flames toward the incoming roots. He even rose in the sky to burn anything attempting to take Fergie's life.
Deafening shrill noises filled the area as the ground crumbled to reveal the complex array of roots that ran through the whole region. Those plants were the overlords there, and they started a joint offensive toward the creatures that were threatening their domain.
'I should avoid using my ambition,' Noah thought before spitting more flames on the other roots that had come out of the ground.
Noah could sense the presence of multiple rank 8 plants in the distance. Going all-out might attract their attention, so he preferred to express an inferior battle prowess for the time being.
His flames kept the plants away. They also managed to destroy the roots belonging to upper tier specimens, even if those needed multiple attacks to burn completely.
The bloodlust radiated by Noah's figure intensified as he generated more destruction. Countless small flames even converged toward his body to give him the energy absorbed from the plants.
The battle was going smoothly, but Noah's actions were slowing down Fergie's transformation. Since Noah took part of the area's energy, the expert needed to destroy larger pieces of land to obtain the power that he needed.
Noah didn't mind that. It was a win-win situation as long as the plants didn't manage to reach Fergie. Both of them could improve during that destruction.
Still, the magical plants didn't let the battle continue like that. They had some primitive form of intelligence, so they could understand when an approach didn't work.
The offensive suddenly stopped, but Noah's eyes never left the roots underground. His instincts were telling him that the battle was far from over. The plants were only reorganizing.
'They can communicate,' Noah thought as the Demonic Sword, and the white blade came out of the separate space.
Noah glanced at the Demonic Sword as he wielded both blades. The weapon was still in the middle tier, so it couldn't endure his new physical strength for long. However, Noah couldn't continue relying only on his flames in that situation.
The plants were planning something, and Noah had to be ready for them. The Demonic Sword also sensed that and shrunk to condense its fabric. A layer of dark matter even came out of its figure and surrounded the weapon to reinforce its structure.
The ground began to tremble. An earthquake spread through the entire region as a tide of roots surged from the terrain and tried to engulf the whole area occupied by Noah and Fergie.
The roots spanned for entire kilometers, and their sharp tips converged toward Fergie, who was still absorbing energy on the ground.
Noah knew that a simple attack couldn't stop that offensive. He closed his eyes as his blades touched his forehead and performed a cross-shaped slash targeting any foreign presence in his range.
Countless cuts covered the area and created expanding singularities that turned that offensive into ashes. The ground shattered under the pressure released by Noah's physical strength, and his sharpness even filled the area.
A tornado of slashes encircled Noah and Fergie. Only a few roots belonging to upper tier plants managed to pierce that defense, but Noah didn't hesitate to spit flames to take care of them.
The storm continued to ravage the area and further slowed down Fergie's transformation. A large hole eventually formed under his figure when the ground lost too much energy. That cavity enlarged as the procedure continued, revealing another layer of roots ready to shoot toward the expert.
Noah dived toward the ground and clashed directly with the surging roots. His blades released loud noises when they touched those plants, but his physical strength eventually made him overwhelm that offensive.
That process continued until all the roots under the duo had turned into ashes. The plants' offensive stopped at that point. It seemed that those creatures had given up on protecting the area.
The storm of sharpness stopped their offensive, and Noah had also depleted their reserve of roots in the ground. Those plants left the area, but Noah's instincts didn't stop screaming.
'They will bring reinforcements,' Noah thought as waves of energy filled his body.
Noah had destroyed multiple roots belonging to upper tier specimens, but his body barely felt anything. His requirements had increased again, bringing him to the point when he had no idea how long it would take him to reach the next breakthrough.
'I need to obtain a rank 8 battle prowess if I want my body to reach the eighth rank,' Noah concluded in his mind.
That conclusion came from simple reasoning. Noah's body had fed on the quasi-rank 8 sphere and the purple crystal to advance. They contained immense energy, but Noah had used it to reach the upper tier.
The requirements for the breakthrough to the eighth rank would be stepper. Only rank 8 materials could meet them, and only existences with rank 8 battle prowess could consistently seize resources at that level.
Noah had to surpass every record again if he wanted his body to advance, but that wasn't an immediate problem. He could take his time developing and honing his prowess while he brought his body to the peak of the seventh rank.
The dangerous sensation felt by his instincts intensified, and Noah instinctively looked toward the sky. Orange lightning bolts had begun to accumulate among the whiteness, and a violent wind had started to blow in the land.
Noah glanced toward Fergie. The dark matter that made his body had begun to change nature. Its gas had started to take the shape of tiny flames. The scene reminded him of King Elbas, but the procedure aimed to create something far different.
The dark matter began to change color, but the danger sensed by Noah's instincts also intensified. Something massive was about to come.
'I wonder what the Tribulation in the Immortal Lands will throw at me,' Noah thought as his smile widened.
The fact that Heaven had reacted to that procedure was a good sign. The process was going well. Fergie would soon obtain superior centers of power that reflected his existence.
A massive lightning bolt eventually fell at some distance from Noah and Fergie. Sparks ran through the ground and clashed with the sharpness accumulated on the area, but they were nothing more than the after-effects of Heaven's actual attack.
A humanoid figure made of lightning bolts had appeared on the ground. The creature pierced right through the storm of sharpness and stopped above Fergie, where it began to accumulate sparks.