Noah was quite shocked that this friend of his had managed to surpass him, and it was by 2 levels too. But after a thinking for a while, it kind of made sense. Leonel was a talented child of the Great Norton House, the resources poured into him couldn't be underestimated. It also wasn't shocking that he had access to a full series of Battle Art that complimented each other.
Leonel paused as his perception picked up someone spying on him but he didn't immediately jump into action since he sensed no ill will from the intruder. He turned around slowly while readying his spear but was stunned as he gazed upon the said intruder. His lips twitched a bit before he transformed into a streak of starlight that crashed into Noah. "You fucking bastard! It's been two years!"
The transmigrator chuckled as he felt Leonel crash against him. He was able to mitigate the force behind the sprint, so the two of them were able to remain standing while the boy embraced him. "How have you been?"
After Leonel calmed down, he left Noah's embrace and lightly punched him. "Bored and overworked. Mom and Dad didn't go easy on me while you were gone, my muscles are still sore from all the torture they put me through. It was really lonely without you."
Noah glanced at him before letting out one of his rare genuine smile. "I'm here now, aren't I?"
Seeing this smile, Leonel also let out a smile of his own. "Yeah, you are." A battle-intent aura was then released from him as he released his Battlesoul once more. "Let's show them hell together in this academy!"
The transmigrator chuckled as he watched as Leonel's reckless and hot-headed side flared once more. "Retrieve your Battlesoul and calm down for now. These are my companions, Damien and Mona of the Myron family."
"Oh." The young boy paused. "Well damn, I didn't think there were people like me who could handle you." Glancing at them, an expression of pity appeared on his face. "It's quite hard isn't it?"
Damien's brows twitched and he subconsciously nodding before he could even process the question. It was only when he felt a heavy glare on his neck from Noah that he noticed what he had done. But as the deed had been done, he could only release a nervous laugh.
Ignoring the three, Noah activated his soul skill once more before facing a path. "We'll go this way. I can sense one of the entrances to the Maze's center."
The group of four matched forward, following Noah's lead. Of course they didn't forget to massacre all the Essence beasts that they chanced upon.
Retrieving his sword from the skull of a beast, Noah suddenly grew curious. "I wonder, how does the academy keep track of our kills?"
Leonel paused a bit, then looked at his friend the way one would look at a caveman as he responded. "Ah, yes. You've been living in the woods like a savage."
Noah's brows twitched, it annoyed him that he had found someone that could easily piss him off like Ian. "You must really not like your face."
Sensing the animosity directed at him, Leonel shivered and answered the question. "There are items that have the ability to capture the images of an area then display them somewhere else, in this case, that would be the staff members assigned to keeping track of the exam. And if we manage to attract enough attention, they could put us up on the main screen that broadcasts our actions to the audience outside!"
"Oh, you wish for your parents to see you?"
"Hehe, I see mom and dad everyday why would I want that?" Lifting his hands in a grandiose way, he stared at the sky. "I wish for everyone to see me! Especially the girls!"
Noah couldn't resist the urge to slap his forehead while Damien and Mona backed away in cringe. He then glanced at the sky and suddenly chuckled. "You're in luck, I can sense a large gathering of Essence in the sky and it's much more than the numerous ones around us. My guess, we were already being watched."
Leonel froze, his hands unable to return from their previous position. "Y-You mean…?"
Mona couldn't control herself from laughing anymore and this caused Damien to join her. "That means they just captured your brave statement!"
"Fuck!"
***
Meanwhile in a large stadium sized gathering multiple people had their attention focused on the images displayed before them.
Noah was right, a Video Transmitter, as the items were named, had been focused on Leonel for a while so his statement had been captured and relayed to the audience, at least the ones who focused on his portion of the large screen.
As the transmitter was quite far, no sound could be transmitted with the video but as experts Luke and Aina didn't find it hard to read their son's lips.
The words 'why would I want that?' rang in Luke's ears as he looked at his traitorous son. "I swear, when I see that boy…"
His wife, though, was quick to calm him down. "It's okay, love. Focus on the bright side, we finally get to see Noah after these two years of separation." Turning her eyes away from her husband, Aina looked at the familiar silver haired boy on the screen. "He's grown up so much, he managed to get as far as the Intermediate Stage without any help."
Luke nodded with a smile before speaking. "But of course, I was the one who taught him. Look at him, he can already use the second move of the Violent Storm Sword. Let's see how far this little rascal his going to go."
Reincarnated? The couple didn't care, even if it was only for a few months that they had met, they considered Noah as their own child now. Nothing in the world would change that and they hoped to see how far their kids go in the exams.