"Ha!" Noel slashed a Peak Level Demon. It had been ten hours since they entered this cave.
Noel couldn't help but take a look at the surroundings, only to find Anna had finished taking care of the other demons.
Hence, Noel took this time to open the mission to check their progress.
[Mission: Time Attack!]
[Description: Clear the whole nest within 24 hours. ]
[Reward: Challenger Medal and Secret to Career Advancement.]
[Remaining Monsters: 210]
[Remaining Time: 13:50:10]
They had made good progress in the last ten hours. The number of demons had been reduced to a fifth of its original number.
There were six giant caves they had encountered so far, allowing them to kill about one hundred demons in each cave. However, he knew that they would be struggling for the remaining few demons, considering they would be hiding somewhere in the passage.
Noel thought for a moment and muttered, "There should be two more caves like this. And considering there is one Superior Demon residing in one of them, it's clear that the demons there will be fewer. However, it doesn't mean that we're safe either."
"After all, it means that we have to fight more than fifty demons together with the Superior Demon. And considering it's the Superior Demon we're talking about, the demons surrounding it should be stronger than normal. Most likely, we're going to encounter more than ten Peak Level Demons in that place alone."
Noel fell into deep thought that he didn't realize that Anna had walked toward him. "What's wrong? Is there anything bothering you? Do you find something wrong?"
"Hmm?" Noel's body shook a bit as he looked at Anna. There was probably one thing that could turn around the situation, but there was no way Noel could suggest it.
However, Noel wasn't someone so foolish that he thought hiding this matter was good. He knew that his life had been surrounded by schemes, misunderstandings, and hidden intentions. But he believed that the relationship between him and Anna had been cleared.
Even though they had hidden intentions and schemes, those were only at the level where they ended up helping each other or petty competition. There was nothing serious about it. As for the misunderstandings, he had cleared almost everything just simply by talking to her.
So, Noel decided to share the problem with her. "Actually, this looks like we've made good progress…"
"Indeed. Having killed so many enemies within ten hours is good progress. I mean, we only have some minor injuries so far. And our Spiritual Energy is still quite high." Anna nodded. "We should be able to fight the Superior Demon in our best state."
"That's the problem. After examining the pattern, the cave, and their number, I think we will be facing the Superior Demon with a lot of other demons. And they should be far stronger than anything else we've faced so far."
"Ah!" Anna looked down, contemplating. "Are you telling me that it's impossible to kill them?"
"It should be possible, but I still haven't figured out the plan yet. For the time being, we can use our power to dig the ground and create some traps to kill some demons. However, the Superior Demon won't be affected by it. And with those strong demons protecting him, I'm sure that the traps will be even less effective."
Anna understood Noel's worries. "I see. It seems that the situation is trickier than I originally thought."
"Yes. That's why before challenging the Superior Demon, we need a concrete plan." Noel nodded.
Anna raised one finger. "I think it will be possible if I activate my True Spirit Body."
"!!!" That was right. Noel also wanted to suggest this, but telling her to do it was something he could never do. After all, he wanted to do it himself, considering he had two missions.
So, when she suggested it herself, Noel couldn't help but frown. "What do you mean?"
"You didn't hear it wrong. I'm going to use the True Spirit Body to fight against the Superior Demon. In the meantime, you are going to wipe out the remaining demons before helping me."
"Are you insane?" Noel gritted his teeth and glared at her.
"I am not insane. In fact, I believe that the True Spirit Body is something that I should test after acquiring this power." Anna reminded him, "Don't forget that we still have a lot of time to spare. Even if I use my True Spirit Body and rest for a few days, it shouldn't matter that much."
Noel grabbed her collar while saying, "I think you're forgetting something. I, too, deserve to use it as well, right?"
Anna was startled. When she looked at Noel's grim expression, she realized that Noel was burdened by this fact.
Noel had seen her state after using the True Spirit Body. Even Dimitri had a hard time fighting for a week.
It was clear that the burden was too much. And he should have that ability as well instead of letting anyone carry that burden.
That was why Noel had this grim expression. He was desperate, especially with the fact that the risk was bigger when it was used by a Spirit Master.
"Do you think I'm just a weakling that needs to be protected all the time?"
Anna couldn't reply to him. Noel had definitely made her suffer a lot in her previous life. However, all those actions were needed in order to undo the brainwashing as well as change her behavior.
Hence, she wanted to repay him in this life by helping and even protecting him. After all, she was granted an immeasurable experience and knowledge from her previous life.
Noel managed to keep up with her this whole time, but because he didn't have the knowledge about it, he couldn't use the True Spirit Body. He couldn't even sacrifice his own lifespan to use the latent talent of his ability.
That was why Noel thought he was useless because he ended up getting protected all the time.
Anna faced a dilemma. On the one hand, she had already planned to tell him about it after he reached the Spirit Grandmaster stage. On the other hand, seeing Noel acting like this shook her heart.
'Should I give the secret to him?' Anna thought. 'I do want Noel to be strong, but…'
Anna knew the price he had to pay if he used the True Spirit Body.
'I don't really mind giving him the secret. In fact, I even plan to talk about my previous life experiences after this trip is over. But if I give him this secret, there is a chance that he will be too obsessed with artificial power.'
Anna fell into deep thought. She didn't say anything for a few minutes, making Noel more and more frustrated.
Soon, she opened her eyes. It seemed she had made a decision.
"As much as I want to tell you about it, I can't. There are two reasons. First, even if I tell you about it, no one can tell whether you can activate it without any prior training. Second, you need your Spirits' cooperation. After all, using the True Spirit Body will cause your Spirit Link to get weakened."
Noel frowned and couldn't help but ask Ardagan inwardly, 'Is that true, Ardagan?'
Suddenly, a system panel appeared.
[There is one more hidden reason that the Spirits usually don't tell humans. The True Spirit Body is not the human's ability to synchronize with the spirits and borrows their full power. In fact, it's proof that the spirits have undergone ultimate training to achieve the most powerful ability.]
[In other words, even if you understand the secret, it's impossible to use it.]
Noel was completely shaken. He never thought there would be a hidden condition. And from the way Anna worded it, it seemed that she also didn't know about this hidden condition.
'Then…'
[The very basic requirement for a spirit to cultivate this ultimate ability is to become a Humanoid Spirit. Currently, Heisk hasn't reached that stage yet. If you want to activate it, you need to pour more resources into her so that she reaches that rank.]
[After that, Heisk has to cultivate this ultimate ability. No one knows how long she needs to be able to get this ability. Even in the Spirit World, there are less than two hundred spirits that have this qualification.]
'Then… are you saying that it's impossible for me to use it?' Noel bit his lips. He finally understood the gap that his hard work couldn't overcome. Anna's talent didn't simply come from the conversion rate. She also had the spirit who had cultivated the True Spirit Body resided within her. Heisk couldn't be compared to that spirit.
However, it seemed that Ardagan didn't plan to let him down.
[There is one way to speed up the process. It's to be granted special power by the Spirit God himself.]
'The Spirit God? Are you talking about the Moon Goddess? But even if I know about it, I don't have the connections to be granted that power.'
[No. Did you forget about me?]
'Hmm?' Noel became confused. However, Ardagan soon reminded him of another mission that he got a long time ago. He didn't put much thought into it because the mission had a '???' mark. But it seemed that Ardagan confirmed the mission and told him what he needed to advance.
[Mission: Helping Heisk advance to Humanoid Rank]
[Description: Get a lot of materials that could be used to improve Heisk's ice power.]
[Reward: Spirit Information Part 2]
[Penalty: None.]
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