'Light element!'
Noah finally understood the reason for his conflicting instincts.
'Talent, wealth, and a rare element. No wonder he has so many followers, his future will be extraordinary.'
He let go of the girl's hand and stood up.
"I believe no one of you wants to get hanged naked on the board, right?"
The youths shook their heads almost immediately.
"Good, you must know that I'm quite short on money lately and this makes me really vengeful. Is it possible that you have some kind of solution to my problem?"
The students understood the meaning behind his words and took out a total of two thousand Credits from their storage devices.
Noah gathered the crystals and nodded at them.
"Just one last thing. You are my seniors so you must have a better accommodation, am I right?"
The lodgings were decided according to the seniority of the students and their distance from the source of the river was chosen based on their strength in their class.
However, the academy allowed challenges between students if they wanted to improve their accommodation.
They could also be traded or given away with the authorization of both interested parts.
Noah didn't really want to challenge other students but since the chance presented itself, he wouldn't waste it.
"So, who of you has the closest one to the source of the river?"
The students turned to look at one of the boys.
Noah smiled and crouched toward him.
The student panicked and began to plead.
"No please, my family invested so much in my studies here. I had to pay an incredible sum to g-."
Noah stopped him and patted his shoulder while shaking his head.
"I know, I know. The love of a family is important in the life of a cultivator. What are a few days hanged in front of the whole academy in comparison?"
The student paled and gritted his teeth.
"Fine but one da-"
A kick hit him in the face.
Noah's eyes shined with a cold light as he focused his mental energy on the youth.
"One day you what? I only wanted to cultivate in peace but you came to me seeking trouble. If it wasn't for the academy's rules, I would have killed all of you already."
The students trembled at Noah's pressure.
They knew that he was telling the truth.
"I will warn you just once: if you ever approach me again with bad intentions, I will gladly get expelled only to taste the pleasure of taking your worthless lives. Are we clear?"
His mental pressure intensified, it could be said that the strength of his sea of consciousness was unmatched among those near his age.
One by one, the students slowly nodded and Noah released the pressure.
"Since we have an understanding, I say that we can go back to the academy. Our story will be that you were ambushed by Sun tigers and that I luckily saved you. Since you were so grateful to me, you decided to treat me with your accommodation, ok?"
Some of them tried to complain but his pressure unfolded again.
"You know, I'm open to suggestions. For example, what was your story for when you were done with me? I don't believe you have the guts to kill me."
They trembled, silently accepting his conditions and Noah helped them getting dressed.
The girls wept to no end and the boys showed only envious gazes at the sight of Noah dressing the women.
Noah was completely indifferent during the whole time.
'What's the point of being this good looking if you are so weak? Luckily, I'm not a total newbie regarding women.'
He had lived for more than forty years over-all.
Even without considering his aloof personality, the bodies of girls that young posed no appeal to him.
When he finished dressing all the students, Noah took out some of his clothes from his space-ring and tied them together to form a large carpet.
Then he threw the students over it while Echo exited his body.
A youth and a big bat carried ten students with broken limbs through Arolyac forest.
Their pace was slow but in half a day they managed to reach the gate of the academy.
Noah put his token on the ground and the passage opened.
Echo went back into his body and Noah slowly carried the crowded carpet into the academy ground.
Samuel was still waiting there with a smirk on his face which turned in an astonished expression as he saw the outcome of the ambush.
Noah saw him and put a smile on his face.
"Ah, if it isn't the heir of the Muwlos family. Come here and take care of these poor students that I luckily rescued. I have a small matter to attend with this one."
Noah grabbed the one that had the best accommodation and uncaringly carried it toward the building where he first received the token.
Samuel waited for Noah to leave before nearing the group of impaired students.
They had all their limbs broken and some of them missed many teeth in their mouths.
"W-what happened?"
He could not help but ask that question.
The students lowered their heads until one of the girls spoke with a soft voice.
"He *sniff* saved us form a pack of Sun tigers."
The story was obviously made up, how could a pack of rank 3 magical beasts beat that badly ten students of the academy?
Samuel wasn't that stupid and replied to her.
"Tell me what has happened. I will report everything to a teacher and we will ruin him!"
That time, it was one of the male students that answered.
"Forget it, Samuel. That guy fights like a demon and he even had room to hold back. He didn't even use that black smoke you spoke about. I just want to stay away from him."
Meanwhile, Noah had arrived in front of the old woman that gave him the token.
She was speaking with a skeptical tone toward the student on Noah's back.
"Are you sure that you, Kent Omon, want to exchange your lodging with Vance's one?"
Kent answered softly.
"Yes, I'm sure."
The woman sighed and shook her head.
"Your tokens please."