'It's taken them a while,' Noah thought, inspecting the group of six that arrived from the path. Most of the individuals were females, and every single one of them featured an injury. Whether or not they had been as a result of a clash with the higher stage beast or not Noah didn't know.
But he figured if such had happened they would all be dead unless other aspirants had been sacrificed.
None of the faces that arrived were familiar, so Noah could only stay silent at their arrival while the four cultivators went to welcome them.
His figure of course caught the gazes of the six individuals, but no one walked toward him. Limiting themselves to begin their recovery. However seeing as they had basically become guild members, it felt pointless to continue that seeming hostile behavior towards the white-haired man.
Noah had established his power and worth. and would probably be the most valued expert in the new batch of members. Moreover, the way the four powerful cultivators interacted with him already showed how stronger individuals found him useful.
'Why do they stay away from you?" Tiana asked Noah at some point. By this period more individuals had arrived inside that place. The now over fifty aspirants would once in a while hear explosions and the screams of individuals as they faced the undefeatable terror of five higher-stage beasts.
Needless to say, horror and pity appeared in the minds of the listening cultivators. Only pity rose in Noah's mind at instances like that. Once; a cultivator slammed into the golden barrier, but it seemed only walking through the path would allow them in.
A dark expression appeared on Noah's face at that realization. If he had continued on his run, he would be dead.
"I guess they don't want to associate with someone weaker. At least that was the case at the beginning of the trials," Noah replied shrugging. His eyes landed on Tiana's expression and he saw it flicker.
"I doubt really," Tiana replied sweeping her gaze on the over fifty cultivators that had arrived in the span of an hour since the first group.
"I believe they find you unapproachable," she explained focusing on his breathtaking features. A strange heat rose in her chest at his calm gaze and her attraction towards him rose. She desired to uncover the secrets hidden by his icy blue eyes while knowing him better.
"Unapproachable how?" Noah muttered loud enough to be heard by her; even if he understood what she meant. Notwithstanding he wanted to hear her words.
"Have you seen yourself in the mirror!" she exclaimed. "Let's not even begin with that, but the main issues. First your aura-less state."
"I currently remain unable to tell exactly how strong your base cultivation level is even if you are in the lower stage. Your mana core also remains hidden to me and the others, and you keep to yourself a lot. In short, your existence is shady," she explained nodding her head.
"Maybe at the beginning, they discriminated against you due to your power but now I believe they feel you are unapproachable," she ended.
'It's their problem, weren't they told not to discriminate against others when they were young,' Noah coldly snorted inwardly. In truth he didn't care about mingling much, he had problems most of them don't even know were possible, and he needed solutions fast.
"I hope things change later on," Noah shrugged faking a smile.
The hours continued to pass. Apparently, the four were pretty busy recording how many had returned, while also receiving orders on what to do.
Noah saw the inscriptions surrounding that half of the mountain top changing multiple times, and he soon focused on that environment.
The mountain's top remained flat. Flat enough to allow people to sit comfortably. It was divided by the dense formation of trees. And the presence of the inscriptions allowed the environment there to be calm, but that was all.
No sort of furniture's existed there only the barrier created by the inscriptions making it relatively special.
The number of experts eventually crossed a hundred but Ariana wasn't amongst them. Worry eventually appeared in Noah's mind when a countdown depicting the last three hours before the end of the stage appeared on the bracelet's illusory screen.
Many aspirants who found themselves running through the forest either quit before they could die, but apparently the bears were only allowed to injure the aspirants that managed to fall prey to them, and they would be teleported out, disqualified.
The number of aspirants eventually crossed 150. It seemed many had formed groups to help themselves climb faster, and that approach worked incredibly well. But their numbers would never hit 200 at that pace.
Noah spent most of his time alone after the aspirants began to enter in big groups. Once in a while the four members of the divine lightning would have a chat with him before returning to work.
'It seems she won't arrive,' Noah sighed seeing the time hit thirty minutes. The chances of her arrival looked slim, and it saddened him. Even Nathaniel had long since arrived with a group.
The sounds of murmurs filled the camp for experts who were now half-step members of the divine lightning guild. Noah believed no one who had not fulfilled the requirements would even show up there since it would be pointless.
The time limit eventually arrived at 5 minutes, and Noah could only conclude that Ariana wouldn't be joining that guild with him.
Needless to say, sadness arrived and permeated his mind as his countenance fell. He remembered her words of surviving and joining in the guild, he could only chuckle in melancholy while hoping she didn't wound up dead and that simply hadn't been fast enough to get there or had never been able to gather enough stones.
pαndα`noνɐ1--сoМ Noah sat cross-legged while waiting for the countdown to ended. From the voices of the others he could tell how excited they were, and he was too, but that event had spoilt his mood.
However, just as the countdown hit one minute twenty-seven seconds; the rumble that everyone associated with the separating of the trees resounded in everyone's ears, and a group pf three experts could be seen sprinting down the path.
And to Noah's shock and delight Ariana was one of them.
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