In the underground room of the second stage.
Noah and Eccentric Thunder were smiling at each other while the rune between them shined shortly from time to time.
"Which color is the most good looking?"
"Orange!"
"Ohh, I see that you are an expert. Take this reagent, it will help you breaking through ranks."
"What about hats?"
"The larger they are the more awesome they appear!"
"Correct! I think this pair of sabers will suit you. They have an inscription that repairs them through "Breath"."
"Who do you think is the most awesome character in the history of cultivators?"
"Senior Eccentric Thunder is the best of course!"
"You think so? I will humbly accept this compliment and give you an Earth pill then."
Noah was taking everything that the rune made appear in his space-ring without even looking at it, he wanted to make the best usage of the little time he had.
"As for beards, mh? Which ones are the best in their kind?"
"Long and combed like yours Senior!"
"Ohoh, you are such a smart kid. Here, take this new space-ring, it has more than fifty cubic meters of space inside."
Noah wore the newly appeared ring on one of his free fingers and looked at the old man with eagerness.
Eccentric Thunder seemed to like having someone that approved his appearance and would smile every time Noah answered one of his questions.
Noah began to understand why he was called "Eccentric".
However, after he asked the fifth question, he stayed silent for a moment and closed his eyes while knitting his brows.
When he opened his eyes he shook his head in Noah's direction.
"I'm sorry, it appears that I can't stretch the rules more than this, I'm beginning to feel a backlash from the dimension."
Noah's enthusiasm was crushed but then he accepted the outcome.
'I have obtained a cultivation technique, new weapons, a new space-ring, and the means to reach the second rank of the dantian, this is already incredibly good. And there is the top tier spell that he spoke about earlier.'
Noah sorted the rewards in his mind.
"How long till I'm sent out?"
Eccentric Thunder answered.
"Two parts of incense."
'Two minutes so, I have to hurry.'
He put his old sabers in the space-ring and took out the new ones.
They were silver with some green symbols inscribed on them.
Noah swung them a couple of times and then nodded in satisfaction.
He donned again the red upper armor and tied the sheaths of his new weapons on his back.
The sabers were held tightly in his hands while in his mind he reviewed the path that he had to take to escape.
He was ready to abandon the Balvan family!
Eccentric Thunder smiled a bit seeing again the cold expression of the young man.
"When the diagram will be inscribed in your sea of consciousness it will hurt a bit. However, all the specifics about the spell will be passed too, so you won't have to train in its activation."
Noah looked at the elderly man and made a bow in gratitude.
"I promise I will bring you a good disciple."
Eccentric Thunder snorted but smiled happily.
"Of course you will, a deal with me can't be broken that easily!"
They smiled looking at each other.
Noah then felt the pressure of the teleportation and disappeared from the second stage.
Eccentric Thunder shook his head while mumbling softly.
"Kids these days have become too cunning."
.
.
.
A few hours before, on the first stage.
Soldiers from the Balvan family appeared one by one and began to discuss the contents of the trial.
They were exhausted and rested on the ground making bets on who would be able to last more in the test.
Neil and Fabian arrived almost at the same time, creating silence between the guards.
Their complexion was a bit pale but they were uninjured, the soldiers understood that they had retreated before the situation became too difficult.
Time passed and in the second stage remained only Trevor, Lena, and Noah.
Then, Trevor appeared, he had a large wound on his chest and his armor was broken but his arms were tightly holding a spear with some inscriptions on it.
He was smiling since he managed to obtain some rewards but his expression froze when he saw who was missing.
'I killed one of the two peak rank 3 magical beasts but I had to suffer a severe injury to do that. I understand that Lady Lena can do better than me but how is it possible that Noah is still not here?'
He sat on the ground to treat his body but his gaze would often fall on the ingress of the stage.
Another person arrived and when the light of the teleportation disappeared, Lena's almost naked figure was shown to the group.
Trevor hastily stood up and jumped toward her, tearing off some of his clothes in order to cover the descendant.
She didn't care much and just sat on the ground swallowing pills and potions to heal the harsh damages on her body.
When her injuries stabilized, she smiled toward Trevor and showed him a small scroll.
"I did it, I obtained a spell. Sadly I couldn't clear the successive round but this should be enough. Once I've recovered, we can move."
Trevor's expression became complex and lowered his head to speak in a soft voice.
"My lady about that, ehm, Noah is still inside the test."
Lena's eyes widened and her gaze ran through the group but she couldn't find her bastard cousin.
She looked again at Trevor.
"How is that possible? The next round had four peak rank 3 beasts while he doesn't even have a spell! I bet that he is running around against the single peak rank 3 waiting for us to think that he died down there. Hmph, if he thinks that I'll let him go that easily he is wrong."
Trevor nodded at her theory but was a bit doubtful inside his mind.
'He can definitely kill a peak rank 3 alone. Is he really stalling for time? To what point though, there is only one entrance.'
He sat beside Lena and calmly waited for Noah to appear.
A bit more than an hour passed and the light of the teleportation flashed again.
Noah appeared, he was holding two silver sabers in his hands.
His eyes were closed and some sweat ran down his forehead.
He seemed in pain.