"It's time," Jon's voice rang out in the cave, which was currently filled with breathable air.
After refilling his core, and cultivating a bit, Noah managed to open the hatch.
All he had to do was place the map Jon had given him on the metal cover, and it would slide open after inscriptions appeared on it.
After his experience breathing speed essence, Noah felt ordinary air to be bland. But he couldn't complain. It was free after all.
Using his control over air, Noah pulled fresh air from the outside, down into the cave, filling it up.
The more Noah pondered about his new race, the more he realized that "Speedlings" seemingly ran almost soley on the speed forces' energy.
He eventually wondered if humans could breath mana, but recalled that they couldn't manipulate it the way he could manipulate the speed essence. At least those at his current level.
Getting off the bed, Noah's mind constructed and dismissed multiple thoughts in mere milliseconds. The main subject of his thoughts were how dramatic his entrance should be.
'A massive spear of ice, with my valiant figure sitting on it should do?,' Noah considered, but soon dismissed the idea. He currently kept his ice affinity as a trump card.
'Maybe I should arrive with the panther,' Noah wondered glancing at the still closed door, 'Would he even let her out?,' he thought. Recalling their plans to leave the area completely, he realized that the cultivator would eventually have to reveal his powerful pet.
Honestly simply revealing her presence, would stop the villages in their tracks. The beast was capable of destroying the whole village after all.
'Or does he have another plan or objective to carry out,' Noah wondered, waiting for orders for his next move.
'To probably reveal the traitors,' Noah eventually concluded. 'But how would he do that,' He began simulating different scenarios that would provoke the traitor to reveal who they were.
He eventually arrived at a suitable one, and a smile inevitably broke on his face.
'Should he do that, I'd love to see it play out,' he giggled.
The sound of moving metal echoed in the cave, and Jon's figure walked out of his pets house.
An eyebrow rose on Noah's face immediately his eyes fell on Jon's armour.
The expert was donned in an all red, light armour with a very rough surface. The armour had three blade like structures on the sides of his lower arms, but they looked retractable.
The whole armour didn't flicker with a single inscription, but Noah could immediately tell that it wasn't something that could be easily pierced, at least for those weaker than he was.
A direct punch from Noah would shatter and probably kill the expert before he could react.
[You have laid eyes on your first real magical armour]
[Forged from the hides of a tier 3 rock lizard, and a tier 3 flame lion]
[It holds a defense that sits at the peak of the lower stage of tier 3, almost spilling over]
[Grade: B]
[Abilities: Flame thrower, Lava defense]
A whole panel about the armour appeared in Noah's eyes, further assuring him that it wasn't something he had seen before.
"I have the full layout of our battle plan. Come, let me explain where you come in," Jon's stern voice rang out.
.
.
.
"Do you all understand?," Jon asked a group of about fifty men standing before him. He had immediately came to these men after he finished with Noah.
The group of fifty all radiated power within their 2, but their powers varied in quality. With more lower staged cultivators being present than middle and higher stage cultivators.
Five individuals, four men and a woman, stood at the fore front of the group. Their faces cold, while their bodies released power at the very peak of tier 2.
They were the geniuses of their village, and had also been given the roles as commanders. Each person would lead a group of ten men into the battlefield, and execute the battle formation Jon had drawn himself.
The figures of Enik and Derius stood behind Jon, their faces dark while their aura's were tightly concealed within their bodies.
"We shall begin at the first sign of movement," Jon announced, "But remain ready at all times," He said turning.
"I know we can do this, so please give it your all," He added walking out of the square shaped building which had been built at the east side of the village. A bit far out from the village and its activities.
Jon dashed towards another location. A similarly built building as the one he had recently exited, but slightly bigger, appearing in his sight.
This was where the weaker troops resided. They weren't going to participate in the fighting, but they had a role almost as important as the fighters. Which was to help move the people and their properties.
There were almost one hundred individuals that had signed up for that role, and meeting them in an orderly fashion, further calmed Jon's growing anxiety.
A few words of encouragement was all they needed, and a reminder of their various responsibilities, which had been explained to them a few days back by the elders.
Jon and his trainees did a few more running around, and he eventually arrived back at his office.
The farm behind him had been cleared, and the space rings that stored those important goods had been placed somewhere no one apart from he could currently access.
He had faked storing all the plants with himself to further place a target on his back so as to draw out the traitor, since only a few people witnessed him perform the act.
They were the five elders Enik snd Derius, and five other Individuals whom he knew by name and recognized.
Sitting quietly behind his table, a jug and cup appeared in front of him. Booze flowed into the cup, and he didn't hesitate to gulp it down.
His body tinged while the booze went down his throat to arrive at his stomach, then his body absorbed it.
He felt his body get stronger by an insignficant margin, but he didn't care, he only wanted to think.
Glancing at the empty seat before him, Jon's mind took him back to the peaceful days of the village. When all he had to worry about were the petty disputes among the villagers, and few other things.
The village thrived during those times and he didn't have to worry much. But that all changed when the royals noticed them.
A sigh escaped his mouth when his memories reached that point. He wondered till this moment if what he did back then had been good or bad, or if things were always bound to escalate like they had.
His memories landed on his trainees who had gone on some errands, and a sense of loneliness swept over him almost instantly.
He had consciously grown distant from them, due to the issue about a traitor, and because he didn't want to have to doubt their loyalty.
He recalled the day they came begging to be his servants as long as he could teach them something.
"Ah..." He sighed again, he missed those days badly.
Hours eventually passed, and it wasn't until the sun had nearly set completely did he sense a large group of powerful aura's
He felt a wave of shock sweep over him when he sensed those aura's. It wasn't the over two hundred presences in tier 2 that produced that reaction.
No it was the five tier 3 aura's he percived that caused him to get up his seat sharply, his expression grim. Three of the five auras held power on par with his, while the remaining two seemed to have just advanced.
But he soon felt himself relax tremendously, when his mind recalled the two monster's residing beneath his abode.