Eight days had passed since Noah brought the group of experts back into the city and during that time he had made just as many improvements as he anticipated. At least concerning his daggers.
Having spent a total of 4 days participating in nonstop forging, or upgrading, Noah had ended up using more time than he promised. He had also not come outside during that time and had pounded his daggers for those many hours.
Fortunately, he achieved the power he had hoped to, even if he had utilized almost all his stored mana cores and had needed to imbue almost all his soul energy and speed essence into the very blades.
Something about forging an item that he would utilize needed to feature parts of him. The only thing he didn't add was body parts.
At the end of almost five days, a pair of radiant daggers were formed and the power they exuded struck the higher stage and very closely approached its peak.
Noah spent the next few days testing their power to see just how much essence and weight they could handle.
Shockingly the daggers were sharp enough to actually draw blood from his body, albeit only once in a while, which was when he exerted their structures close to their peak.
He could comfortably unleash higher-stage slashes resulting in such explosions that he had to send Erolia back into her soul space.
Noah essentially mastered the daggers, even if he already knew how to utilize them. He praised himself for the outstanding power those daggers could now unleash, even if a voice within his head told him they could have achieved more.
It didn't matter, however. That was his first time and he did pretty well.
The fire-based attacks of his daggers now saw hints of silverness in their flames. His orange fire saw the edges of his flames gaining a silver tinge and this made the heat capable of being achieved, skyrocket.
The devouring power gotten from Noah's own set of innate skills had also turned into something even he struggled to handle. At its peak, Noah could see and feel it pull essence directly out of his core. A painful process it was.
He partly agreed to never call upon that power unless necessary.
The withering ability of the blades had surprisingly seen an increase in capabilities. From what Noah noticed after studying them. The blades gained an aspect of the speed essence, which was its ability to fight and devour mana leading to a deconstruction of the said material.
One could mistake it for a lower form of the pulling force the daggers were capable of unleashing in their slashes, but both were fundamentally different.
The withering process unlike the pulling force would continue until there was nothing left to eat.
It had stayed true to its original version. All Noah needed was to have his blade or slashes cut past the skin of his target and the withering ability would finish them if they were unable to get rid of it. Whereas the pulling force could simply be escaped by leaving its range. Its result was also an explosion of initially stored power.
All in all, the withering ability had been amplified by the speed essence's violent trait toward mana. It was even more effective since apart from him, and Erolia, no other thing featured speed essence coursing through their veins.
On the seventh day since elder Sarah returned, Noah appeared within the walls of the mansion, and incidentally, he had teleported right in front of Jane, who almost attacked him.
He apologized and immediately recalled his master's worry. He engaged Jane in a conversation and she had been reluctant at first, but eventually gave in since he never showed any form of anger.
Noah pulled their dialogue towards the topic of the roiling thunder technique. She had mastered all its forms or at least could execute them to a standard level. She was also of the lightning element.
Noah had managed to get her to show him an execution of the first three forms which he knew, and truly she had mastered them. Even to a skill level that could best the post-war master Sarah.
He had also gotten her to show him the fourth form. Static torrent, and if Noah knew how to marvel he would have.
Due to her affinity for the lightning element, and her years of practice and mastery, just like how the second form Thunder and flash unleashed sparks, the fourth form seemed to be a complete spell.
Fashioned almost similarly to the first form; Static surge, Static torrent saw Jane assuming one position, but when her hands moved; fist or what-not, a stream of not only pure physical force but also generated sparks boomed forth with such might that the entire building shook.
That feat itself wasn't spectacular, but the scene of a figure unleashing what resembled a wide wave or beam of force and shining red sparks were. A torrent of strength and magic.
Being in the presence of that execution had resembled standing before a raging red river. Unlike the first form, this stood on a different level.
Noah learned that any form of arm movements could be utilized during the execution of the fourth form.
She could throw palms and still end up with that result. The first form relied only on punches, while the fourth form taught flexibility, but also how to remain fluid without breaking the execution.
It relied greatly on the flow of power from the tip of her toes to her upper body. She could not move during that execution as that would lead to its end. Whereas the first form could allow movements.
Slowly but surely, she warmed up to him a bit, and eventually by the end of the eight-day, Noah could execute the fourth form!
Jane had witnessed first-hand; the prowess of a genuine genius, if only she knew Noah had been able to do it right after she executed it the second time. Not to break her spirit he pushed it till the second day.
Elder Sarah had seen them training and had been glad, she left to visit her friends in the city.
Unfortunately, by the end of the eighth day; The day the meeting of the grand elders finished, Noah had been summoned to their midst and informed of their decision to deploy him into the main battles.
He would go along with the group gathered by elder Ezra and they would participate in the raid of smaller bases scattered across the nation. Eventually, they would move to bigger bases.
Their group, however, wouldn't be the only one on this quest. Apparently, the royals had consented in aiding them.