Chapter 208 208. SHINY
Noah felt his mind go numb to the amount of pain his body experienced in that Instant. He felt sure he had died during the impact; which had removed the ground beneath his feet.
But thankfully he had moved essence into empowering his body, and Mullix's material which had immediately covered his body had limited the damage on his body.
But even those didn't stop his arms from turning into gory meat pastes. His legs from bending into unnatural positions, causing his bones to tear through his skin, but couldn't exit Muliix's material. And finally, his back bending on itself. Giving Noah a hunch-back.
However, his healing kicked in before he could perish in those moving waters.
Snapping sounds escaped most parts of his body, as they healed causing even more pain to Noah, but those weren't levels of pain he flinched at.
His condition quickly stabilized, but another problem soon revealed itself.
Due to the sheer amount of pressure he felt from being at the very bottom of the now monstrous ocean, Noah could barely try and oppose the water current, as he felt paralyzed.
Already switching to speed essence for breathing, Noah found himself stuck to moving with the ocean's current.
From his position, there wasn't any source of light apart from the constant tube-like mass of deep yellow essence originating from his abdomen, before stretching into his nostrils.
The violent wave of water brought wet sand into Noah's environment further making seeing a hassle.
He could immediately guess that most aspirants would have given up at the sight of the tsunami. And even he considered that option, but his ambition wouldn't let him give up that easily.
Having caused Muliix to protect his body, Noah could withstand the occasional bangs on the ground.
The power in the water made him feel like he had been thrown into a washing machine, while the dark and muddy waters reminded him of his current danger.
Noah soon found himself smashing into large pieces of uprooted trees, and their crunching sounds muffled by the watery environment echoed in the ocean giving him forboding chills.
He felt alone in the whole world, and after spending hours in that state he almost began to believe that.
Whole environments unfamiliar to his eyes zoomed past him, but thanks to the water's speed he didn't manage to drop into whatever pits that still existed in regions of that realm.
He had tried multiple times to swim upwards, but he didn't know how to. And the waters' terrifying currents wouldn't even allow that.
Not to even begin mentioning the large chunks of debris carried by the moving water. That environment was more than an obstacle course.
Noah experienced the same feeling he felt during his time inside the tornado. His environment couldn't damage him, but he almost couldn't do anything about it either.
He had also tried reducing Mullix's weight to the lowest which was around a few tens of grams. But that had barely worked. It only made it easier for any size of debris to drag him along its path in the ocean.
Although he occasionally found himself getting elevated, something always happened to stop him from reaching the very surface of the ocean.
The whole situation felt like something only individuals in tier 4 could properly handle, and he felt it unfair that such trials would be given to them, mere tier 3 experts.
Different ideas on how to escape that environment formed in his mind, but he couldn't think of any genuine action able to help him.
None of his elements could achieve anything in that environment, at least not at his current level. He couldn't freeze a whole ocean, or somehow divide a path in the water using his air affinity.
However Cudgel soon entered his mind, and he found himself wondering why humans forgot their important assets during danger.
'I'm still not properly trained for events like this,' Noah thought, recalling the multiple times such had happened.
However, worry still rose in his mind about the issue. He feared the staff being carried away by the tsunami's current, but remembering how heavy it was supposed to be, he decided to trust the Divine item in his ownership.
Commanding the staff to enlarge itself after letting it go in the ocean, Noah watched it barrel out in size, but it wasn't until after half a minute had passed, did it begin to elevate him.
'I'm going to be placing too much attention on myself,' Noah thought, but he would have to choose between taking that risky action, or staying inside the water for who knew how many days.
A few difficulties appeared on his ascent, but Cudgel steadily parted the water to arrive at the very top of the ocean.
An explosion of force occurred when Cudgel's surface burst out of the now black and murky waters.
Kneeling with his face on its golden surface, Noah coughed out the water that had been stuck inside him.
The windswept past his body, but he barely felt its chilling cold.
Laying on his weapon's golden surface, Noah affirmed how overpowered he was. And finding a situation that would make all his assets useless didn't seem possible in that world.
'Maybe when gods are in the mix, I might have trouble escaping situations,' Noah thought standing up to walk towards Cudgels' golden edge.
His staff stretched for a few kilometers in radius, and that seemed to be its limits. At least currently. But even that size remained more than enough.
Having risen around 50ft above the water's surface, Noah got able to witness the incredible sight from a relatively safe position.
The black waters entered his sight and he couldn't help but feel his heart tremble.
The ocean raged back and forth, slamming into Cudgel's metallic structure, but all its power didn't manage to do anything to it.
A strange murky scent struck his nostrils, as he smelled mud amongst the mix of scents. The others were unfamiliar to him.
The water stretched as far as his eyes could see and from his position, Noah could see floating landmasses get torn apart by the water's Incredible speed and power.
Serious pity rose in his heart for the other aspirants. He believed himself to be the only person out there since the event had been devastating to even him.
Noah sat at the edge of his safe zone casually listening to the sound of the raging water over 40ft below him.
He eventually brought out his food to eat and spent the next hour simply sea-gazing
However at some point, Cudgel's figure suddenly experienced an intense tremble, and Noah almost found himself inside the black waters but managed to hold on before such could happen.
His staff's immense figure suddenly tilted towards where he was hanging on, and the fear of entering the water filled his mind.
Even with the sounds of the water below him, Noah could still hear a muffled set of soundwaves travel up the ocean, its vibrations also being enhanced by his staff's metallic figure. Telling of how intense whatever was going on beneath him was.
Cudgel soon began to tilt opposite to where he barely hung on, but he dared not make a move, since it suddenly experienced a deep drop.
The waters around him twisted and turned at that event, but there wasn't much it could do.
Ideas on what could be going on surged in Noah's mind, while he continued to hang on. Something with the most likely possibility eventually appeared in his head.
The idea saw that the land beneath Cudgel's figure had begun to give in to its Incredible weight, coupled with the raging water constantly soaking it.
Cudgel continued to sink until Noah had begun to enter the water.
The thought of enlarging Cudgel more crossed his mind, but to what end he thought.
Heaving a sigh while feeling his torso begin to get submerged, Noah enlarged its size allowing it to stretch for a few more feet.
Climbing onto its surface when it had begun to steadily sink. He paced around its golden surface, a battle ongoing in his mind.
He could certainly find his way out of that situation, which was by simply running on the black ocean. However, the issue remained about being watched. He didn't feel ready to risk it.
But even with that issue, he had to find a way to remain in his position. Shrinking it before allowing it to grow after a few minutes of moving inside the water was an idea. But his current issue would simply continue after a few short minutes of calm.
Unknowing to Noah, during his moment of hesitation, a few Individuals had found themselves floating towards a shining landmass.
They eventually arrived at it and began their climb towards its top. Thankfully Cudgel's enlarged figure gave space for multiple sections able to allow them up.
The sound of multiple grunts pulled Noah out of his thoughts, and he slowly turned himself to lay eyes on a group of a few familiar individuals, and Ariana happened to be one of them.