System vs Rebirth

The next day.

*Clang!*

*Cling!*

A few clashing sounds echoed inside the wood as Noel was repelling three Low Level Demons at the same time.

"Tsk." Noel clicked his tongue. Usually, the demons would split into two groups with at least one of them chasing after Anna, but it seemed he was unlucky today. All three demons ignored Anna and focused on him.

'This is annoying.' Noel glanced at Anna who seemed to have no intention to help him. It was clear that she wanted to test Noel's limit with three Low Level Demons.

However, Noel was only annoyed, not angry. How could he get angry when the demons came to him?

Medal: Military Service Merit II

Requirement: Kill 25 Demons (24/25)

Reward: Military Service II Medal and 5 Honor Points

Knowing that the demons were available for him to kill, Noel could progress his mission and get more Honor Points.

When the three demons came to attack him, Noel bent his knees and lowered his center of gravity. After that, he used the Ice Control to create an ice floor around him.

This was the same ice floor that he used to take down Anna in their last spar. But the ice spread in all directions so that it tripped all the demons.

The only reason for lowering his center of gravity was to prevent the attack that would come to his crotch, causing that pain.

As soon as the demons tripped and started sliding on the ice, Noel took a step back and swiftly cut one of them.

Swift Strike.

The stroke was quick and precise. Noel knew that the demon didn't have a hard skin so he used this ability to kill the demon.

On the other hand, Noel used his Mega Slash to take down the other two.

*Huft!*

Noel let out a long breath as he felt a bit exhausted after using all those abilities. After making sure he got the kill, Noel turned to Anna. "Why don't we split the loot right now? It's better to have more Spiritual Energy."

"Nope. I can't let you do that. We need to wait until we reach a safe place. It might be because you haven't absorbed one, but if you absorb the crystals continuously, it will make you feel exhausted.

"Your body will be sluggish because the Spiritual Energy that just entered your body starts circulating around. That's why it's better to wait until we go back to the fort." Anna explained with a smile.

"…" Noel looked at her for a moment, not satisfied with her explanation. However, he couldn't retort any of her claims because he indeed felt that when absorbing the first ten crystals.

'I don't know why but he appears more docile in the last couple of days… How can someone change that much in just a few days?' Anna furrowed her eyebrows, suspecting something wasn't right in Noel's personality. She was suspicious that Noel was planning something big to kill her.

"Whatever." Noel clicked his tongue and gouged the crystals out of the demons' heads before tossing them to Anna.

After that, they continued their journey with Noel focusing on killing as many demons as possible. He didn't even bother with the competition anymore because he had a clear goal in his mind.

With the previous mission, he now had 8 Honor Points. As long as he could complete the next mission which was to kill 50 demons, he would get another 8 Honor Points. With these points, he could learn about Rune.

Although he didn't want to admit it, pairing up with her meant to have a better hunt. She somehow managed to work with him, preventing most of the injuries that they would have if they fought alone.

He might have gotten some bruises and scratches here and there, but he didn't need to buy anything from his system anymore, saving some Honor Points. He could use those points to upgrade his ability.

Noel endured all the hardships he needed to endure just to kill one more monster.

"Oi. We should go back right now. This is already the third day and we need to go back before the dusk. The sky has become orange." Anna shouted while watching Noel fighting against four Low Level Demons.

"After this." Noel clicked his tongue.

"That's what you said two hours ago!"

Yeah, Noel had been delaying their return trip because he hadn't finished the mission.

He needed another three more Low Level Demons to finish the mission.

"You're forcing me to kill those demons right now, Noel!" Anna gritted her teeth, frustrated.

"You can go back first if you want. No one is stopping you."

"Unlike you, I'm a team person. I can't abandon my teammate."

"Then, stick with that curse." Noel shrugged.

"Kh. This brat." Anna clenched her fists, wanting to smack Noel's head.

"What brat? We're at the same age." Noel glanced at her while furrowing his eyebrows as if he noticed something from her words.

However, his focus soon returned to the demons as he killed the demons one by one.

It took him another ten minutes to finally finish the fight.

'It's finally done.' Noel was short of breath, so he gasped for air while observing the demons.

But his actual gaze lied upon the system screen that only he could see.

Medal: Military Service Merit III

Requirement: Kill 50 Demons (50/50)

Reward: Military Service III Medal and 8 Honor Points

'With this, I can start learning about runes.' Noel thought as he took care of the last few crystals. He then returned to Anna and handed the crystals over. "Let's go back."

"Finally! You're doing at your own pace, aren't you?"

Noel looked away, ignoring her.

"Ignoring me again, eh?" Anna smirked. "Well, whatever. We've got a quite big hauls this time. I need to check it again, but I think I've killed 137 Low Level Demons and 4 Mid Level Demons. As for you, it should be around 71 Low Level Demons and 1 Mid Level Demons.

"We've agreed to split it evenly. But since we have one excess Mid Level Crystal, I'm going to take it because I contributed more. Also, you need to talk once more or I can simply ignore our agreement and grab everything that is mine."

"Yeah, sure. So, 104 Low Level Crystals and 2 Mid Level Crystals for both of us. The rest is for you." Noel nodded.

"Haha, you're greedy." Anna smirked, teasing him that he would do everything as long as he got benefits from it. This was also something that she could use to gradually change him.

However, Noel immediately looked away, ignoring him again. He had talked earlier, so the agreement was valid.

"I want to hit you." Anna's eyebrows were twitching as she had clenched her fists as if planning to hit her.

"Then do it!" Noel shrugged. He realized that Anna had another thought about harming him, so he shamelessly used it against her argument.

"Argh. Just you wait, I'm going to annoy you to death later!"