The next day.
Noel came out of his room after absorbing all the Demon Crystals. He didn't find anyone else in the house, but he could sense the presence of Layla in her room. It seemed she was a bit exhausted after helping the people.
He then walked to the outside, wanting to get some fresh air, only to find Anna who was covered with sweats.
"Ha… Ha…" Anna panted a few times as if she had gone through a very hard practice.
"Yo, it seems that you have been practicing for a whole day?" Noel made a smug smile.
Anna's eyebrows twitched. She wouldn't be practicing like this if he didn't scam her. "Whose fault do you think I'm working this hard?"
"Who knows?" Noel shrugged.
"I really want to hit your face right now."
"Then, do it." Noel smiled and dropped his guard as if allowing Anna to punch him.
Anna was truly pissed. She knew what Noel was thinking. If she hit him here, he would have gotten another reason to kill her. Hence, it was better to drown Noel with guilt so that he couldn't kill her.
"How about sparring with me?" Noel smirked as if giving the chance to hit him. Since Noel was the one asking for the sparring, he couldn't hold a grudge with this. No matter how petty Noel was, he wouldn't be this petty.
But Noel's mind was different. He thoroughly believed that with the current situation of his Spiritual Energy, he would be able to defeat Anna. As long as he could keep Anna at bay for a long time, he could defeat her.
After all, he had absorbed so many Demon Crystals. He had even checked his status earlier.
Name: Noel Ardagan
Low Quality Crystal - 902/5000
Mid Quality Crystal - 129/3000
Advanced Quality Crystal - 1/1500
Unfortunately, the crystals affected by the Undying Mushroom Demon didn't change to Advanced Quality Crystal, so he could only lament that fact.
Anna clicked her tongue and placed her hand on Noel's shoulder before releasing all her Spiritual Energy.
"Huh?" Noel widened his eyes in shock. "This is…"
He realized something within this power. The Spiritual Energy she had might not be lower than him at all.
"Don't forget this, Noel. Do you think I've been using all of my power this whole time? I have never exhausted my Spiritual Energy unlike you." Anna snorted and walked away as if she managed to scare him.
'That amount of Spiritual Energy…' Noel was stunned, looking at Anna's back. The more the Spiritual Energy you had, the stronger your release. That was why Noel could roughly feel the amount of Demon Crystals she had absorbed.
It was truly above him. He never expected that Anna still had this kind of trump card. Anna might beat him black and blue with that kind of power.
'How strong is she right now? Now that I think about it, Anna seems to have knowledge and abilities that I can't measure up. So, the only thing she needs is the Spiritual Energy. Don't tell me, she has been absorbing the Demon Crystals this whole time? Did she use her family power or money to buy the Demon Crystals too? If that's the case, does she have a weakness?'
Noel squinted his eyes, never expecting Anna to be this powerful.
Meanwhile, Anna who had returned to her room was leaning on the door. She felt tired to match with Noel and even panicked a bit.
'That was dangerous.' Anna gulped down while recounting the scene where she showed a high amount of Spiritual Energy. 'Spiritual Energy Release… A forbidden technique that burns your own blood to release more Spiritual Energy from your body. To think I have to use a Forbidden Technique just to escape from Noel.
'If only he didn't scam me… my Spiritual Energy would still be above him. With the knowledge of my past life, I have a good Martial Ability as well as necessary knowledge to improve, so what I'm lacking in this life is Spiritual Energy and the body to keep up with my progress.
'I have been using all my time to enhance my body, but it seems that I have to seriously go all out to increase my Spiritual Energy. Where should I get the Demon Crystals? Ah, that's right. There is a cave called Demon Graveyard. There was a powerful Spirit Magician in the past that seeks the most powerful way to absorb the Spiritual Energy from those crystals, but in the end, he died due to the overdose.
'There should be a lot of Demon Crystals there, so I have to go there before visiting the Sword Saint Tomb. Besides, this cave is supposed to be found by someone from the Supreme Devil Organization and given to their Supreme Devil to increase his strength drastically.
'I can fool Noel with burning my own lifespan for now, but I have to go to this place. This time, I don't need to prepare the compensation since the Supreme Devil Organization is the enemy of mankind. I can even weaken them too by taking this cave.'
Anna closed her eyes, knowing this was the best course of action.
'If that's the case, it's better if we leave as soon as possible since it might take a long time to absorb them.'
She was determined to get stronger than Noel again. Although she still had some confidence in beating him, the moment she showed any sign of weakness, Noel would keep pestering her.
After all, he would think he had surpassed her.
'With that huge gap in the past, when Noel surpass me, he would think that I won't be able to keep up with him anymore. After all, it means he is progressing far faster than me. Once surpassed, I wouldn't be able to catch up. That's why I have to get far stronger than him.'
Anna nodded with a serious expression before noticing another fact. 'Wait a minute. How did Noel absorb all those Demon Crystals? With his current Spiritual Energy, it's clear that he's absorbed it all… Even if it was me, I would take at least a few days to absorb that amount. As expected, it must be related to his secret.'
