UNLIMITED SPEED

Violent waves of water carrying Incredible force smashed into Noah's figure multiple times every second.

With each impact he got pushed higher into the pond, receding into already traversed territories.

Thanks to his high defense stat, Noah's body withstood the Incredible force of those waves. Though it did so with a bit of struggle.

Crack's soon appeared on the transparent helmet he had on, and his consciousness had to wrap around it to keep it relatively intact.

It seemed powering the suit would have allowed a defensive function, even if minimal. Which its lack of; put Noah at a disadvantage.

Creating a shield made with densely packed electrical currents, Noah felt he had experienced enough of those waves, and proceeded to make an effort to escape that situation.

'Where do I even go,' Noah thought keeping his arms crossed on his chest, with his knees bent enough to touch his crossed arms.

Essence roiled out of his skin after a few seconds, followed by crackling sparks of deep-yellow currents.

Even with the constant roar around him, the crackling of the electricity pouring out of his figure generated an audible buzz apart from its crackle.

The seemingly neverending waves of violent water continued to smash into his shield while he prepared to take off.

Seconds had to pass before Noah felt ready to move.

Taking a deep breath of speed essence, Noah disassembled his electrical shield.

However, before the incoming wave of rushing water could touch him, he repositioned himself to face his desired direction, before kicking the water above him to propel him.

With a bang akin to the strike of multiple Lightning bolts. Noah turned into a deep-yellow streak traveling at over 17,000 meters per second, instantly.

The glass helmet he had on almost vanished if not for Mullix's Incredible ability to place all things under its material.

Noah almost immediately exited the second depth stage to arrive deep into the third stage.

Moving at around Mach 50 underwater, he remained far faster than the effects his movements had on his environment.

Catastrophic.

Noah's passage caused the water in the area to rush in his direction. And their passage proved deadly.

Every whirlpool that had formed during his ascent vanished after he shot past them.

Noah even tore through some whirlpools and instantly dispersed them. This was the type of power he could attain if he utilized his Incredible speed.

Noah didn't stop until exactly ten seconds had passed, and at this point, he had already arrived at the fourth depth stage.

Having traveled around 100miles in that time frame, Noah felt the amount of essence burnt had been worth it.

10,000 SE vanished from his stats display, and he only had a bit over 10,000 left. However, multiple bottles filled with a yellow liquid appeared in his hands.

During the multiple minutes of moving at Mach 3, Noah had been forced to utilize the speed potions he had, even if their effect had been greatly reduced.

With each bottle, he could only regain around 2% of his essence, which stood at around 1,300SE.

During his travel through the first and second depth stage, a few seconds of breaks had been required which had successfully halved one hundred potions he formerly had.

Of course, now that he had access to rank 2 essence he could brew rank 2 potions, but each took one whole day to brew.

He only had seven available, and he didn't dare use them since they were valuable commodities.

However, thanks to the new rank, he could run far faster for longer periods.

Having calculated it during his multiple journeys. Noah had found that running at Mach 1 with rank 1 speed-essence burnt 40SE per second, but now in rank 2; running at that speed cost only half of that unit.

The costs of his spells had also been halved, meaning he had more for less.

Something also told him that the effects of his real spells would also be different.

A bit more than ten bottles appeared and disappeared, as Noah utilized every one of them.

He understood the dangers of utilizing the low-quality potions, but he had no convenient choice. Fortunately, his core had gotten far sturdier than its rank 1 version even if it remained in the spherical stage.

Exhaling deeply, Noah swept his gaze on his pink-lighted surroundings.

The walls of the pond had gotten farther, leaving even more space for him.

Noah could glance at the space below him and spot whirlpools miles from his position, but with the constant push of the pond now actually being able to slowly push him upwards, Noah didn't have the leisure of essence to stay and watch.

Pouring over 700 SE Into wrapping around his body, Noah couldn't imagine the struggle the other experts would face when they arrived there.

Unlike him, they utilized lower-grade energy, and probably had lesser amounts of it.

Noah had to pour 300 more to keep himself from moving even with his costly protection.

That was 1000SE points just to keep his body in one position. With that amount of energy, he could conveniently summon 12 of his ice golems.

'How do they expect anyone to get to the 10th stage,' Noah thought swimming with the speed his un-enhanced body could attain.

This time he remained dependent on his stamina to move while maintaining the constant barrier of speed-essence around his figure.

His velocity remained quite impressive underwater, but it looked mediocre compared to how much distance he had covered before that situation.

"This depth is going to take me a long while to cross," Noah muttered helplessly but didn't feel too down about the matter.

He had crossed more than half the required depth stage in barely an hour, he still had a lot of time on his hands.

Traversing the waters of that stage remained almost like the first and second stage, only that he had to find his way around the multiple upside-down whirlpools.

This could take him mere seconds to tens of minutes depending on their size, and the deeper he went the larger they were. Even if their quantity remained relatively the same; which was around 15 every 4 miles.

Noah dared not move closer to the walls since he didn't want to waste hours of effort just because of his curiosity.

With this slow but steady trend, Noah spent hours swimming non-stop. Eventually, a whole day passed, but there seemed to be no end to that stage.

Noah continued to struggle while swimming, and for the first time since he could remember, he felt utterly exhausted.

Thankfully, he had arrived in the fifth depth stage a few hours after a day had passed. But things didn't look good even from its entrance.

"Not good," Noah muttered with a cold and tired expression when his eyes fell on whirlpools.

Not just any type but ones crackling with bolts of dangerous Lightning, and he soon realized that they easily surpassed hundred in quantity.

Let's not forget the Incredible pushing force of that environment; which managed to leave Noah lightheaded while causing blood to flow out of his nose and ears.