'Zac's defense is good, it will take a bit to heal completely, but I should be already able to use it in a day or so.'

Noah a.n.a.lyzed the previous battle as he rested on the snowy ground.

The Dark turtle's ethereal figure had been gravely injured to defend against Fred's attack but, since it was a Blood companion, Noah's mental energy could quickly heal it.

'Havok was useful too, its speed is incredible, and it's lethal when it attacks unprotected areas. It can also merge with my robe since its black, and hide inside the partial Demonic form as it flies.'

Noah's attention went on the other half-transparent figure inside his sea of consciousness as he thought that.

Havok lazily floated over the sea inside his sphere, it was the peak rank 4 Night falcon that Noah had turned into a Blood companion.

Havok was also the cause behind the black trail, Noah needed to use the partial Demonic form to make it fly freely outside his body, but that only made its attacks incredibly dangerous!

Night falcons could merge with the darkness to increase their speed, the black smoke radiated by its body when Noah activated his spell was the perfect conduit for that ability.

Also, due to the peculiar capabilities of that species, Havok could directly merge with his robe since he always wore black, it didn't need to tear it to appear in the open.

The same went for Zac, Noah could just make it come out from his hands if he wasn't in a hurry, he had to keep his sleeves folded up to his elbow to keep his robe intact though.

'Yet, reaching the upper tier just before approaching this mission has been crucial, I would be in a far worse shape right now otherwise.'

Noah thought as the nourishments coming from Lois' dantian reached his internal organs and mended them.

Noah knew that he would have been forced to abandon the mission if his body was still in the middle tier, he would have simply suffered too many injuries in that situation.

'This endurance, this resilience, I can almost fight at my full power if I stop the healing process. I should refrain from using the secret art though, the injuries on my internal organs might worsen otherwise.'

Noah couldn't express how satisfied he was about his hybrid body, there were simply too many advantages to his status, and he only had to endure the dragon's instincts as a drawback!

It must be said though that, as his body improved, those instincts became more intense.

It wasn't only his hunger that increased, even his aggression and pride became stronger as his body grew.

Noah was able to act in his usual way because his mental sphere continued to improve alongside his body, he managed to control himself and remain calm under any situation because of that.

Yet, those instincts were part of him, he was partially a dragon after all, he had just to make sure that his human side was always stronger.

In time, everything about him would harmonize, Noah strongly believed that the process would continue as he chased after his individuality inside the heroic ranks.

'I wonder what I'll become.'

Noah let his mind wander as his mental energy healed Zac's half-transparent figure, and the "Breath" inside his body stabilized the injuries on his internal organs and skin.

Almost a day pa.s.sed, Noah didn't move from his position for the entirety of that period.

Snow acc.u.mulated on his body, but the coldness radiated by the snowflakes wasn't able to affect it.

Instead, it seemed that that coldness somewhat weakened the heat that still scorched his insides, Noah felt as if his injuries healed at a faster pace in that environment.

"Prince, it's time."

At some point, a voice resounded next to him.

Noah opened his eyes and saw that Elder Hope was standing in the air right above him, he sighed as he stood up and followed her where the rest of the group was.

"You are quite lucky. This type of snow is called Primordial Ice, it is a material rarely found in the old continent, and it is useful for the training of certain body-nouris.h.i.+ng methods of the water element. I believe it is also beneficial for your injuries since they come from a fire attack."

Elder Hope explained as they flew, Noah slightly nodded as he changed into another black robe, throwing his burned one inside his s.p.a.ce-ring.

"What do the elders say?"

Noah asked when he reached the rest of the group.

"The Elbas family has yet to realize Lois' death, it would immediately interrupt the attack on the Shandal Empire otherwise. We can advance freely for now."

Noah nodded when he heard Elder Hope's answer before continuing with his questions.

"What about their s.p.a.ce-rings?"

"Lois Elbas' s.p.a.ce-ring can't be touched, it seems to be protected by a power that neither Elder Austin nor Elder Julia can affect. The n.o.ble's one is in their hands though, they already said that we would be rewarded according to the wealth inside it."

Elder Hope said as she pointed toward the north.

They had reached the end of the southern coast, the only path forward was alongside the eastern coastline.

From that point onward, they would actively travel across the lands conquered by the Elbas family, there were bound to be encampments and similar on their way.

There was a high chance though that they wouldn't meet other heroic cultivators too soon, the Elbas family was attacking the Empire after all, it could only leave so many sentinels on their borders.

Considering that two of them had already been killed, it was likely that they would only meet human cultivators for a while.

"Oh, right. Why did the n.o.ble resort to a secret art just to attempt to kill you? He had a chance to escape with that burst of power."

Elder Jason asked, he had clearly seen that Fred had decided to give his everything to kill Noah.

Fred's face appeared inside Noah's mind, but he wasn't able to recognize him, even his robe had been burned so he couldn't understand from which family he came from.

'I guess I have too many enemies in the Utra nation.'

"I don't know."

Noah plainly answered as he thought that.

The group began to fly, and a land filled with Spiked roots appeared in the distance after the snowy plain.