UNLIMITED SPEED

Although Noah had long since sent Muliix back to wherever it came from in his body, since even his mental waves couldn't find it.

That event remained shocking nonetheless.

He was an hybrid, even if partially, but he had a body able to withstand attacks at his stage and above, yet his internals shook at the might of the force opposing his movement.

Speed-essence quickly flowed out of Noah's core to activate his healing, but Noah understood that he would suffer more of such injuries along the line.

Simply trying to move forward felt nigh-impossible, but he did it anyway, and struggle couldn't be more evident, as even a short cry escaped his mouth.

'Should I rest here,' Noah eventually thought, swallowing the blood that tried to escape his mouth.

The Insides of his helmet had quickly become bloody due to the red liquid exiting his ears and nose to drip inside that enclosed space.

'What can I even do apart from taking potions,' he sighed. Having spent over a day on his journey there, Noah had only around 3000SE remaining in his core. And this was after several utilization of his potions.

At some point during the journey he had to limit the amount of essence that reinvigorated him, since the points that vanished for that simple task were in their thousands.

'Having a powerful body comes with its disadvantages,' Noah shook his head. He felt like eating something but couldn't, since any food substance would get wet.

Actually, Noah felt famished. His body, although still in a healthy state felt extremely weak. This was only the second test of the day and he had already began doubting his ability to succeed in it.

Staying at the very edge of the fourth stage, since only a thin transparent barrier separated them, Noah continued to think.

Although the fourth depth stage constantly tried to push him up, his body had long since gotten used to its power.

A few minutes had to pass before Noah came to a conclusion.

'There's no time for rest,' he thought.

Seeing as a whole day had to pass to fully traverse the fourth stage, Noah could immediately guess that two or three days could pass to arrive at the end of the fifth stage. Not to talk of the sixth depth.

Glancing at the water-filled space above him, Noah wondered what the other aspirants were doing, and how they were faring.

His mind landed on Ariana and he hoped she remained okay wherever she was. Something he found himself doing more often than he liked.

Shifting his focus to the hundreds of twisting storms below him, Noah utilized the remainder of his rank 1 potions to bring the amount of essence he had to a total of 8200.

He still had his seven potions available, but it seemed that their creation followed the progression of time on the outside world.

'Hopefully I don't need to utilize any of them,' Noah thought, but his hope felt more like a pipe dream.

Deep-yellow essence poured out of Noah's body followed by dense tendrils of erratic electrical energy.

Noah quickly became a yellow beacon in the brown-lighted environment, but didn't care much.

Pouring a total of 3000 points into keeping his body from moving, Noah allowed Muliix crawl up his skin, a style he felt was dramatic.

Thankfully it emitted, and even amplified the yellow light his body shone with. Which hopefully, would be enough to hide its existence from the watching experts. Another pipe dream.

Noah planned to act as he did earlier in the fourth stage, but doing so would require more power, since the upside down whirlpools were really large in size and the pull they generated had to be Incredible.

Noah's figure continued to glow brighter until the light he produced attained a blinding level.

Noah felt ready to move after a few seconds passed in that state. But as fate would have it, he would never get to utilize the energy he accumulated.

A deep rumble capable of ripping whirpools apart; shook the waters above Noah, before travelling below him. Thus startling Noah who glanced upward in utter shock.

The water continued to tremble wildly, as a foreboding feeling spread inside Noah's mind.

He could immediately dash forward, but his desire to see what caused that reaction made him hesitate.

A blinding orange light suddenly shone far above him, further sending shockwaves down the whole place.

Although the whirlpools above Noah in the fourth depth stage, were ripped apart, the repelling power of the fifth stage managed to keep the shockwaves from going past a few meters inside it.

Noah immediately confirmed that the rumble was as a result of the orange light, and his mind could Immediately decide on what produced it.

But that answer felt unbelievable. He had been the fastest of the aspirants. How could they have ever managed to get there in the same time it took him.

The answer to his bewilderment arrived in an orange serpent crackling with Lightning!

However, that wasn't all. Noah could immediately spot other colors such as a deeper shade of orange which signified fire, and multiple shades of blue.

The large serpent a few kilometers in length appeared to be an amalgamation of different elemental properties.

From that simple inspection Noah immediately came to a calming but also astonishing conclusion.

'Team work,' he thought, shaking his head in harsh realization.

"They are working together," Noah giggled Inside his helmet. "There wasn't any rule that we couldn't," he muttered feeling the sudden urge to burst into laughter.

'Brilliant,' he applauded them Inwardly; wondering whether to move or wait for their arrival.

Working with them would allow him save his energy, which would give him a better chance of travelling further into the pond.

He hadn't decided on whether he would dive deeper to attain one of the five rewards placed there or not, since the requirements for only the fifth depth stage had already pushed him to his limits.

Noah's essence soon dispersed after those thoughts moved through his head.

It felt dumb to continue to struggle when it seemed that environment was made soley for team work.

As for what would happen if everyone decided to strive for the rewards, he would leave for later. For now he focused on making himself noticeable, since the pond was already several miles in radius, the fifth stage being even bigger.

The illusory serpent which also looked solid, swam on a linear path, and its speed remained far from mediocre.

Noah could Immediately confirm that its speed stood around mach five and it wasn't decreasing.

When the serpent was only around ten miles from his position, Noah felt a surge of multiple auras wash over him.

The sheer density of those auras left him breathless, and a tinge of fear even appeared in his mind since the serpnt barreled towards his direction at maddening speeds.

Although it wasn't directly facing him, Noah understood that a structure as large as that, moving at such speeds, would certainly pack a lot of force. Even the waters surrounding it were already cloudy.

Lightning crackled in Noah's palm as he prepared to signal whoever was steering it. If anyone actually was.

A bolt of deep-yellow lightning exited his raised palm to shoot towards the serpents general direction at blazing speeds even faster than the serpent itself.

Thanks to the constant upwards force; the bolt of Incredible energy could travel faster.

Although Noah's attack didn't touch the serpent as it dispersed its energy a few kilometers from him. Its short explosion remained bright enough to allow someone trace its general point of origination.

Noah's calculation proved correct since the massive serpent soon changed course to face his position.