Chapter 67: Orphan

Noah knew he had a talent for combat, since he had his first fight at the age of ten.

That recruitment had been a life changer for him.

Since then, he had been honing his skills with the resources at his disposal.

Though the empire had noticed a bit of his talent, and had even been sponsoring him since then…

The truth had always been bitter.

No matter which part of the world you resided in, the people in power had always been the worst.

It was a known fact among the civilians that even if the empire had allocated a budget for them, they wouldn’t receive the full benefit.

There are always beggars in shining clothes, ready to pounce at every opportunity they get to drain the people of their rights.

And no matter how generous the people at the top were… it was always the middlemen who were the major forces behind connecting the various spheres of people in a territory.

So the money that Noah had received in the form of scholarships had only been useful for funding his housing and other basic necessities.

In the world of cultivation, talent wasn’t everything.

You had to have the financial muscles to let that talent prosper at its full potential.

Despite being at a disadvantage at every turn of his life, Noah had somehow managed to grow his strength.

Though the time it took for him to reach his current state was infinitely slower than what he could have possibly achieved given proper support.

So when Noah had heard of the Namda Academy, he had been eager to study there.

With the resources provided by the academy, Noah knew he would rise faster than anyone on the entire planet.

This wasn’t arrogance.

It was confidence.

And Noah’s current level was a testament to his monstrous talent.

At the mere age of eighteen, he was a Silver 2 cultivator—something very few in history had achieved.

And this was without him being born into nobility… deprived of strong bloodlines and godly legacies.

The normal norm for even the elites of the elites in the world, who had just been admitted to the academy, was being at Silver 1.

Even these monsters were mostly from royal families, with the wealth of entire empires by their side.

And most of them were only at early Silver 1, having just broken through the barriers of evolving their bronze core.

Some would argue that there wasn’t much of a difference between the two tiers of the silver rank…

But only the people in power knew how difficult it was to cultivate at a rapid pace while being at such a young age.

When people grew in age, their experience always helped them improve their mana control.

Their understanding of combat, mana control, and even the minute details regarding the flow of mana through the mana meridians were things that couldn’t be learned through books alone.

Understanding your body was key to evolving your body.

If one didn’t know what their body wanted, then how could they evolve their cores, which were the hearts of their power?

Such knowledge couldn’t be taught; it had to be felt.

With time, even a person with a jelly brain could learn to evolve.

At least that was how the various species had evolved throughout the history of their race.

It wasn’t like these races were god-gifted, with everyone born in their families having monstrous talents.

With every century that passed, living beings learned to control their bodies better and in smarter ways.

They knew what was necessary for them and dropped the body parts or functions of the body that weren’t required for the changing times.

So it was obvious for people of higher age to be able to evolve their cores from bronze to silver, even while having mediocre talent.

But for youngsters who had barely reached their twenties, it was a demanding task to compress the rings in the bronze rank without destroying their bodies, and evolve at the same time.

And even if they evolved to the silver rank, which was considered an elite rank at such an age, forming another mana ring to become a Silver 2 was something not many could do.

And the ones who had achieved it were long lost in history…

They weren’t dead.

No.

Those were the Sovereigns of today.

For Noah, the tests were child’s play.

Since the moment he had enrolled for the academy, he knew he would be the next star of Namda.

With such status came benefits that would put even most duchies to shame.

But…

When the students were searching for the ranker named Noah…

Noah was searching for him.

The person who had surpassed him…

Noah wasn’t being disrespectful; he was intrigued.

Because Noah’s insane power wasn’t solely based on his talent—

No.

It was his cheat ability that had made his already monstrous talent reach an even higher ceiling.

A ceiling that had long surpassed the limitations of mortals and could even challenge the gods.

As for his ability, it was none other than…

The Mana Sword.

Even Noah didn’t know the full extent of his ability.

But one thing he did know for sure was that this ability of his had passively improved his mana control and had let him cultivate at such a monstrous pace.

So Noah was astonished at first when he heard his name being called—not as the top student, but as the second best in the history of the academy.

Still, he couldn’t interrupt the show, consumed by his thoughts.

Noah stood from his seat, one hand moving to fix his hair, while the other fixed his shirt…

And the blazer.

Noah had borrowed it from a rental shop, and he had to return it before the penalty hit.

Though modest by nature, Noah didn’t like to be looked down upon.

As he moved through the hundreds of seats on either side, it attracted the attention of all the nearby students.

“Is it him?”

“Who?”

“Dude, what did you sniff today?!”

One by one, all the students had their eyes focused on a youth with black hair and a shade of white in between.

“Did she say Noah?”

“This guy’s defi—”

“I mean, he doesn’t have a surname, you idiot!”

“Huh.”

“A commoner, perhaps.”

“No way.”

“Commoners have surnames.”

“They do?”

“Who the fuck passed you?! Tell me, did you cheat?”

“No surname. An orphan, perhaps.”

Noah could hear the murmurs of the students as he made his way to the stage.

Not that he cared what these nobles thought!

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