UNLIMITED SPEED

Somewhere above a vegetation-filled region, two figures streaked across the skies, their passage remaining mostly silent due to the speed they traveled at. The best their passage caused was a zipping sound.

Elder Velsvon swept his gaze on the world around him. He did not find that sight any more interesting than it was, he had seen similar things many-many times.

His eyes remained blank and he caught sight of a few battles unfolding on the ground below.

Two tier-4 beasts fought to gain dominance. He wasn't bothered though. After all, he had left that area seconds after.

He remained one of the two streaks traversing the skies. His figure released a simple green streak by reason of his similarly colored attire.

But the person beside him unfolded as a silver streak. But more than that, the line was a trail of silver sparks generated by his movement. 

This person was none other than Noah.

The elder shook his head taking note of Noah's interest in the world below. Although they had been traveling for ten days Noah continued to pay attention to the boring world below.

Then again, he was only a fourth-tier expert. Elder Velsvon could turn that entire region into a shadow of its former glory. Nothing in it could help or fascinate him.

At least for now. They were still in the bounds of Cusk, he knew things would change the moment they left that nation.

"Do you want to stop for a bit? Maybe we might find something interesting here," Elder Velsvon suggested at some point, and although Noah remained mostly unresponsive, the expert could sense that he liked the idea.

Noah nodded, diving immediately. Instant's later his figure crashed into the ground below and a crater opened. He had landed on his feet.

Elder Velsvon floated slowly to meet him.

"Why do you have to be so uncaring about the world around you," the elder scolded with a soft chuckle. He had concluded that Noah usually got carried away.

"If we fifth-tier experts were like this, there'd be no forestry in the whole of Cusk."

Noah scratched his head revealing a defeated smile. "I forgot."

Elder Velsvon shook his head landing on the ground. He clicked his tongue at its shattered state, even if chunks of rocks scattered in the surrounding thrummed only to suddenly converge towards the crater, returning it to its former state. 

Noah did not find that event surprising, though. That wasn't the first time the expert utilized his earth affinity.

The abilities of the grand elders of the guild had always been in profound mystery.

They hardly utilized their affinities leaving it unknown to most. But from what Noah saw, it would seem all of them at least had an affinity for two elements.

Even Adonis who preferred to utilize his lightning affinity had a second one.

Of course, dual affinity holders were rather rare. So finding that many in one guild spoke of the reason they had attained their status as the best even among the three great guilds.

The ground rumbled at that point as pillars and walls sprung up to manifest as a small earthen house.

The expert waved his hand and paint gradually spread on the building's walls, beautifying it.

A rather handy ability.

"I'll check the area as you suggested," Noah announced after spending a few minutes within the building,

Velsvon waved his hand dismissively sitting on a brown couch that appeared from his storage ring,

Noah left at that point, and he would not return until a few hours passed.

In the meantime, Elder Velsvon reported to his master. Lord Thanses.

He had been doing this every two days since they began their journey, and each time he did so he was forced to recall how shocked he felt when Noah appeared in his mansion four days after his death.

A death even he confirmed.

With a demeanor second to strolling in, Noah had revealed himself. Perfectly fine.

The elder had burst into laughter for several minutes. After which Aiden announced his readiness to leave. He had sounded bitter but there was no other choice.

"What a man," the elder sighed at some point during his deep thoughts.

He had his consciousness on that region, so he could see Noah's movement and his location.

Still, as a form of respect, he made sure not to gaze at him too much. Noah could sense him after all.

They would be together for quite a while, and though their start was rough due to Noah's emotions in play he knew he would eventually warm up to him and they would be good friends.

So far they had only reached the edge of the Cusk nation and based on their direction they would need to cross the Papine nation. A.k.a the Nation of Saints.

It would be a somewhat troublesome passage, but he preferred that to crossing the empire where too much trouble could be stirred up by reason of his presence.

He had been to the Papine Nation a couple of times, and each time it had ended up in one annoying skirmish or another. They were a strange nation. But he could not deny their power.

Blessings. Abilities akin to deviants in Cusk, but were weaker than the average Deviant. Still, their strength depended on certain factors.

In addition to these blessings, they also walked the cultivation path; even if their naming system stood out in the whole Human continent.

The measurements remained rather similar to the rest of the continent, however.

Their next destination would be the giant continent, but thankfully they would not have to cross its entirety. It was the largest continent after all.

Thanses had servants in the giant continent and they would take a teleport thereby cutting the journey to the dark continents by more than half.

However, the gap between the Human nation and the Giant continent would be far more troublesome than whatever they would face crossing the Nation of Saints.

Just thinking about it gave the elder a headache. That wouldn't have been all had the master not spoken about providing help in crossing the gap between the dark continent and the giant's continent.

In truth, Elder Velsvon hardly believed he could handle the journey. There was a reason the dark continent had remained mysterious to most of the world.

This would firstly be because of the literal darkness that surrounded the borders of that continent. A darkness that would make even fifth-tier experts struggle terribly.

There were other things that Elder Velsvon did not want to think of.

But after reaching the dark continents the trouble would have ended.

"For now let's even leave Cusk," muttered the elder. They would meet up with two others at the very edge of the nation. Other servants of Thanses.

Noah returned at some point and the two had dinner.