Chapter 1518 1518. Promises
Eating a rank 8 material was an arduous task for a rank 7 existence. Noah had to bathe the monkey"s arm inside the dark world while his technique enhanced his destruction to absorb its nutrients slowly.
His tissues cheered whenever that energy flowed inside their cells and enhanced their power. The arm forced his body to advance significantly, but that growth didn"t match Noah"s expectations.
His body didn"t reach the halfway mark of the upper tier even after Noah ate the whole arm. The improvement was substantial, but he could barely sense it.
"My body requires many rank 8 materials to reach the eighth rank," Noah concluded after inspecting his condition.
That conclusion left Noah disappointed, but part of him knew that such harsh requirements would be a good thing in the end. The hardest his path toward the superior ranks was, the stronger his centers of power would become once he advanced.
His realization didn"t change his current situation. Noah was still unable to defeat rank 8 creatures on his own. He had managed to seize the arm after going all-out against an opponent that didn"t expect such a burst of power, but his actual battle prowess barely bade him step in the quasi-rank 8 layer.
The path toward the higher ranks appeared more troublesome than Noah had predicted, but he didn"t lose his determination. He had ideas on how to improve, and the magical beasts" domain could still offer him many resources.
"Where to?" Fergie asked once Noah came out of his cave.
The Foolery had settled in the area previously inhabited by the tall tree while they waited for Noah and Fergie to complete their training sessions. They had turned the region into a plain filled with blue bushes in that period. Some of them had even started to invade the nearby lands.
"Let"s reach the edges of this domain," Noah said before looking in the distance. "We are too weak to return to the human domain anyway. It"s better if we focus on improving for the time being."
"Shall we keep fighting until we force our way into the eighth rank?" Fergie asked.
"That"s the plan," Noah replied. "I also have a few other projects in mind, but their success doesn"t depend on me."
Fergie shot a curious glance toward Noah, but the latter ignored that gesture. His plans conflicted with his idea of constant growth, but they represented his best shot at returning safely into the human domain.
Noah had already disclosed that he wanted to build his organization, but he had no use for rank 7 creatures. He could accept only creatures with functional innate abilities like the Foolery.
Still, submitting rank 8 magical beasts was almost impossible at his current level, and Noah didn"t know how beneficial it was to spare some of them. They could always work as nutrients for his body, so Noah was quite conflicted about that approach.
"I guess I should only follow my instincts," Noah decided in his mind as he flew toward the rank 8 pig.
"It"s time to move," Noah said, and all the pigs in the region raised their heads to turn toward him.
Those magical beasts showed regretful expressions while looking at Noah. It seemed that they didn"t want to leave the region after transforming it into their ideal lair.
Noah immediately understood what was going through their minds. He had learnt how the Foolery thought in those years, and he had already developed countermeasures to their laziness.
"Did you like the tree?" Noah asked, and all the pigs nodded.
"The magical beasts" domain is full of those delicacies," Noa continued. "You will be able to eat anything you want during our journey, and you will also obtain a land once we join my friends."
Most of the Foolery fell for his words, but the leader and a few upper tier specimens remained hesitant.
"How can we be sure that you won"t put chains on our necks once we meet your allies?" The rank 8 pig asked.
Noah gazed at every specimen in the pack. He could sense their worry and pain. He didn"t know what to reply to that question, so he decided to tell the truth.
"You can"t," Noah replied. "I will obtain the power to enslave your kind, so you will always fear my true intentions. I can only make promises for now."
"What promises?" The leader asked.
"I can promise that you will never become mounts again," Noah said, and his pride naturally seeped out of his figure at those words.
Noah had no control over that event. His ambition fueled his pride, and those feelings were part of his existence. His words would carry them whenever Noah stopped suppressing his influence, which happened during the conversation.
The leader"s eyes widened. Noah had spoken words that had hit the creature deep in its core. He had mentioned its greatest fear.
"What about the humans?" The leader asked while trying to suppress its emotions.
"I need to kill many of them already," Noah replied. "Most large organizations even consider me as an enemy. I don"t see how I could ever sell you to them."
Noah and the pig stared at each other for a long time, but tears eventually fell from the creature"s eyes. Sniffs also echoed through the region as the other beasts began to cry. It seemed that Noah"s words had triggered their feelings.
"We… we will eat you if we find out that you are a liar," The leader said among its sniffs before giving voice to a squeal that summoned the entire pack.
Noah rolled his eyes before shooting in the distance. Fergie quickly followed him, and the Foolery didn"t hesitate to imitate them.
That moment marked the beginning of a long series of battles. The Foolery were always hungry, and Noah could be more daring now that he had a rank 8 creature by his side.
The group flew through every region containing packs that featured specimens at their level. Noah could throw himself in reckless battles now that he had powerful allies, and his battle prowess slowly improved under that constant pressure.
Noah always tried to face the rank 8 magical beasts by himself, but he rarely inflicts more than severe injuries. He managed to seize limbs and patches of skin from time to time, but he never killed one of those creatures.
The leader of the Foolery respected his desire to improve and let Noah fight alone until his situation reached a critical state. The pig always intervened at that point and exploited the damages inflicted by its companion.
The Foolery improved during that journey. That process didn"t only concern their level. Eating different types of food restored their intelligence to its real peaks and soon removed the annoying disadvantages connected to their memory.
The pig remained an eccentric bunch, but they stopped forgetting things. That growth allowed Noah to create complex plans without fearing that his companions would ruin them.
The group required his plans when they met packs that featured multiple rank 8 beings. Only the leader of the Foolery could defeat beasts at that level, so Noah had to devise tricky strategies that allowed them to seize benefits from those dangerous situations.