Noah had developed an interest in the Kesier runes since he discovered how scarce they were in the Mortal Lands.
His ambition made him train continuously, but he had reached the point where he started to feel the limits of a lower plane.
That was an issue that all the cultivators in the world had to face and overcome with their forces, and his position was even quite privileged since the Hive owned the sixth Kesier rune.
However, he would have to share it with the other rank 5 mages, and that wasn't enough for his standards.
Luckily for him, Thirty-seven was knowledgeable in most inscription methods, and Divine Architect had included the records about the Kesier runes in his programming.
"Send me those that have something in common with my inscription methods." Noah transmitted through his inscribed notebook to answer the automaton.
He knew that his expertise wasn't enough to replicate such a miraculous training method, but he wanted to attempt to make an effective imitation, at least. That wasn't a project for the imminent future, but something that he had to study and use as inspiration slowly.
After sending that message, he browsed through the reports gathered by the elders.
Choosing a Blood companion would generally take an in-depth analysis of his battle prowess and his weaknesses, but Noah could only settle for something that he could use at that moment.
There weren't many creatures in the fifth rank that he could kill in the world, and that number further decreased when he added his element to the equation.
'I'm nearing the might of a complete rank 5 cultivator.' Noah thought as he sorted the reports in his mind. 'But I have little confidence in dealing with something in the middle tier of the fifth rank.'
The growth of every being would be exponential as their rank increased.
Noah had been able to injure and kill rank 5 beasts until then because his Liquid dantian allowed him to express a solid stage battle prowess. However, only complete rank 5 cultivators could handle creatures in the middle tier.
Also, even they would avoid battling a beast that had access to such a powerful body and almost endless endurance.
Noah had access to rank 5 spells now, but his reserves of energy didn't change much. He would end up exhausted before a creature in the middle tier even with the Liquid dantian and rank 4 solid "Breath".
The differences in rank were hard to overcome. His incredible body could fill parts of those gaps, but it reached its limits against something so powerful.
'Maybe I can kill something weak in the middle tier, but that would make the creature worthless as a Blood companion.' Noah thought as he started to send another series of mental messages.
The reports didn't enlighten anything interesting, and all the beasts that had unusual abilities didn't match his element. The lands under the domain of the Hive didn't contain anything that could meet his already lowered standards.
Yet, if the land didn't have what he needed, he would just search for it in the sea!
The sea wasn't famous for its abundance of magical beasts with a darkness aptitude, but it was incredibly vast and occupied most of the Mortal Lands even after the fall of the piece of Immortal Lands.
Its depths could hide something that interested him.
Of course, exploring the sea near the archipelago and the southwestern coast would take a while under normal circumstances. Still, Noah had two powerful helpers that didn't mind helping him in that tedious task.
Flying Demon and Dreaming Demon weren't busy in that period. The Hive had tasked them to create teleportation matrixes and doors inside the separate dimension to facilitate the deployment of troops. Still, they quickly returned to the southwestern coast when they received Noah's message.
The environment of the new continent had a fantastic density of "Breath", and it stood on top of ice created by the spell of a divine being. Magical beasts would gather there if they had the chance, which meant that the sea near the coastlines would see many different creatures that attempted to settle inside its area.
The entirety of the sea was considered a danger zone, especially when its depths were taken into consideration.
Dreaming Demon's mental waves though allowed her and her lover to explore most areas without triggering any pack of powerful creatures that inhabited those zones.
Noah's request wasn't complex. He only wanted them to find a creature in the lower tier of the fifth rank with a darkness aptitude, and that wouldn't be useless once turned into a puppet.
The Demons weren't experts in the magical beasts' field, but they could evaluate the power of a beast thanks to their powerful minds.
Noah spent the weeks after his request creating more spherical runes that he filled with primary energy and stored in his mind and studying the data that Thirty-seven sent him.
The powerhouses of the four nations were away in that period, and every organization was busy making plans to prepare for the invasion in the new world.
The heroic assets weren't in a hurry. Instead, they took their time to make the necessary arrangements and gather useful items that they could need in an unknown environment.
Noah spent part of his days meditating on the fusion between his inscription methods too. Even his cultivation technique needed improvements, but his understanding of his individuality partially dictated its absorption speed. He felt that deepening his creation was the path to tread before approaching the forging of items on a higher rank, so he simply followed that instinct.
Of course, he also began to test his ideas during the forging of some of his rank 4 disposable items.
His initial designs saw the spherical runes being used as the core materials for the Elemental forging method. Still, the primary energy inside them kept on escaping the fusion with other items.
Noah was beginning to evaluate the possibility of using a third rune created only through his pride to force the fusion when the Demons notified him that they had found something.
The portal was in the Utra nation, so there were many branches of the separate dimension under those territories. Noah only had to reach the nearest door to the dimension and use a series of teleportation matrixes to return to the desert on the new continent.
Then, he followed the instructions of the Demons and reached the area in the depths of the sea where they were waiting for him.
"I believe you can sense them too here." Dreaming Demons transmitted through her consciousness when Noah neared them.
His body had learnt about the beasts in the distance from a while, but he wanted to let his mind scan them before making a decision.
'Lazy whales.' Noah thought when his mental waves swept the creatures in the distance. 'They can work.'