Chapter 145 145. UNDERGROUND
Noah didn't totally understand why, but his perceptive sense had increased so much that he felt he could touch any stares that struck his back.
A few minutes after he entered the forest an uncomfortable feeling fell on him and he sure didn't like it. So he decided to expose his followers when he walked far enough from Enil, where most explosions wouldn't be heard
Noah's face remained cold when five figures all radiating power in the peak of tier 2 sprouted from different points around him.
He could clearly see them due to his unfolded consciousness, which meant he had the ability to directly kill them where they stood.
"We apologise if we have angered you senior," The lady amongst them spoke with a bow, her voice soft.
She looked older than thirty and her mature vibe emphasized on that.
The lady had long brown hair which she kept straight. She sported a pair of green eyes and sharp eyebrows, which directly complimented her pointy nose and plum pink lips.
[Selara]
[Race: Human]
[Title: N/A]
[Tier: 2(Peak)]
[Affinity: Air]
[Level of danger: Unknown]
Noah felt the need to check her stats and he remained satisfied after doing so.
"What do you want," Noah spoke harshly, his aura seeping out of his figure menacingly.
"We wish to acquire your help, senior," She replied quickly while her calm mind got ravaged by Noah's aura.
"I am Selera, from the village of Nila, and these are the men sent with me by the other villages, to meet you," she explained with her calm face still on.
An eyebrow rose on Noah's face at those words. The whole situation immediately felt funny to him, but he didn't want them to waste too much of his time.
"My help? Why?," Noah practically barked at them causing the group of five to flinch. Their bodies screaming at Noah's aura. They felt trapped.
Closing her eyes to regain composure, Selera glanced at the the two men behind her and they glanced back at her.
Her eyes also fell on the other two men in separate positions, but they had their gaze's focused on Noah.
The mission to talk to the young man they had been informed seemed to be taking a wrong turn, and could lead to their death if not well handled.
"We desire your help in an upcoming struggle, and-," Her words were cut short by Noah.
"I have no desire for that," Noah said taking a step forward, and he saw them all go into defensive stances.
Pondering on what to do about the matter, Noah searched for ways to quickly send them away, since he didn't want to go farther down the road.
"I want you all out of here," Noah spoke again, this time his aura burst out of his body radiating the irritation their presence brought him.
The hearts of the cultivators raced as they all took an instinctive step backwards, but no further movements were made.
A dark expression appeared on Noah's face at that point, he immediately decided on the drastic action he would utilize to send them away.
But before he could make any moves, a hysterical laugh suddenly burst out, soiling the silence among them.
A crazed expression appeared on Selera's face sending a wave of surprise through Noah's mind.
Her crazed laughter which contrasted with her formerly soft voice, continued for a few tens of seconds before actual words escaped her mouth.
"If he won't come with us peacefully then we'll have to take him forcefully," her loud voice spread out.
A red thread of sorts suddenly latched onto Noah's arm, followed by dozens more which wrapped around his entire body. Noah immediately found himself trapped in that bundle of shining threads.
"Don't try to do anything. Those are tier 3 weapons. They siphon the mana in your body and limit your consciousness," Selera explained walking towards him with a green marble like object In her left palm.
Noah simply watched the events play on with light amusement. He didn't feel any danger in the slightest, nor did the binding of sorts really do anything to him.
He only felt his consciousness get limited to only a few feet around him, but that was all. He could break out of the binding immediately, and he did just that.
Flexing his arms a bit, Noah snorted at how easy it was to destroy the threads. Without bothering to focus on the terrified expressions of the cultivators, Noah proceeded to apply pressure on their heads with his mind. A series of disturbing bursting sounds spread out in the environment at that simple mental gesture.
Tapping his shoeless right foot on the ground, ice spread beneath Noah at that simple gesture, and froze the headless bodies, solid.
Tiny arrows made from condensed air materlized and shot towards the frozen bodies in tens, destroying them in the process.
Immediately after that, Noah caused a strong wind to blow, dispersing the frozen bits in the air.
With that done, Noah let his consciousness unfold to its limits, to prevent anyone from sneaking up on him.
The map appeared in his hand and he immediately began to dashed towards the cave site. The event which had just happened not weighing on Noah's mind in the slightest.
A few seconds after dashing, Noah came to a sharp stop. Glancing at the map, he confirmed that he had arrived at where the cave was supposed to be, there was no cave.
Noah swept his gaze around in confusion, he had definitely arrived at the cave site but there wasn't a single stone in sight, only rows of tall slim trees.
A frown eventually appeared on Noah's face, 'Was it a lie, or is there something I'm missing,' Noah thought focusing his consciousness on his environment, and he found something after twenty minutes of searching.
Totally Imperceptible to the eyes and almost his consciousness, Noah noticed a weird marking on a particular tree which didn't look different from the other trees.
The marking also blended well with the tree's rough bark making it practically invincible.
Noah walked closer to the tree and placed his palm on it. Nothing happened to the tree, but the map in Noah's hand suddenly began to vibrate, a series of writings similar to those on the trees appearing on its fabric.
Realization soon dawned on Noah, and he immediately placed the map on the trees carving, and with a rumble, the earth beneath him gave way.
Noah found himself falling but his feet soon touched the ground. He immediately let his consciousness inspect the place, and an expression of amazement appeared on his face.
The underground cave was around 200sqft, and it ceiling was 50ft in height. The place looked to have been artificially caved since Noah could sight smoothly stone edges here and there.
Up in the room was a yellow mana chandelier which illuminated the cave, almost leaving no dark spots.
The cave featured a well laid blue bed with a nice brown table beside it, then across the room over at its left edge was a large 10/20ft shelve, which was filed with lots of scrolls, books and even random pieces of paper.
At the side of the cave was a massive metal door, which when Noah tapped it, he could hear the empty space behind the door. The door had multiple inscriptions shining on its material and in its center was a 3 inch circular orange gem.
Noah immediately noticed something off about the gem, it clearly wasn't a mana core, and it looked to absorb energy from the air. Noah could even see the orange object pulse with energy ever second.
'Is this a mana stone?,' Noah wondered, 'It has to. It isn't a mana core,' Noah concluded.
The gem was guarded by a metal gauze of sorts, which also looked strong. Noah figured he could probably destroy it, but he didn't want to tamper with things he didn't understand, he could bring down the Incredible place Jon had definitely worked on.
Glancing at the hole he fell from, Noah saw that a wooden ladder hung from its edge. The ceiling looked to be a few 10fts from ground level, since if it wasn't the ceiling would easily collapse.
"I guess I'll wait," Noah muttered. His eyes landed on the bookshelf and he didn't hesitate to look for books that would interest him.