'Why?' That question kept flashing in her head. On the one hand, she felt like Noel had a grander scheme. On the other hand, she had been with Noel for a long time and didn't sense anything like it.
She had thought about telling him all the information about reincarnation, but she somehow became hesitant after listening to Old Ru.
Still, she had prepared the 'alternate world' as a reason to avoid the suspicion. For the time being, she could use this as an excuse.
"Well, I've told you everything. The rest will be up to you and him." Old Ru smiled while waving his hand.
Their bodies felt like they were moving backward. Her vision was blurry and her balance was tipped over.
Eventually, they returned to the room in the position before Old Ru snapped his fingers.
"Have a good rest." Old Ru smiled and immediately left as though nothing happened.
"…" Anna was completely speechless. When she turned around and found Noel checking the room, the question once again crept into her mind.
'Why did Noel do all that? For what reason?' Anna gulped down. She was curious about it, but she felt like she wasn't prepared for the answer.
"What's wrong?" Noel asked, noticing her anxious expression.
"Ah. It's nothing." Anna smiled awkwardly. "Still, we need to share living space, huh? Even more, all the things we need come in a single set."
"We are a bit lucky since we don't have to share plates and utensils." Noel shrugged, noticing the items were only related to the bedroom, not other purposes.
"Fair enough." Anna nodded in agreement. "So, which one will be your bed?"
Noel pointed at the right one without hesitation.
"There is no 'ladies first' in your dictionary?" Anna chuckled, teasing him.
"Do you want to be treated as such? I can change it the way you like." Noel smirked.
"Of course not." Anna waved her hand nonchalantly while moving to her bed. She sat on the bed and asked, "So, what kind of training will we receive here?"
"Shouldn't you know more about it?" Noel tilted his head in confusion.
"You kept challenging me with new power, so I didn't know which one you got from here." Anna shrugged.
"Then, how about this arrangement? Is there anything that can be used only when we're together like this?" Noel asked.
Anna tried to recall the memory, but nothing came to her mind. "We can only wait for tomorrow, I guess."
"Indeed." Noel nodded. His eyes seemed to be fixated on Anna. "Say… If it were the me from the alternate world, would I bring you to this place? Would I agree to your suggestion?"
On the one hand, Anna wanted to say no. On the other hand, she recalled that her reincarnation might be Noel's gift.
"What's wrong? It looks like something is troubling you?" Noel noticed her anxiety. She had been like this ever since she entered the room, perplexing him.
"That person…" Anna glanced at the door as if looking at where Old Ru was standing earlier. "He told me something, making me remember my childhood. What if… I'm talking about what if… what if you received a present from someone? That present was so big that it was beyond your imagination. What would you do about it?"
"Huh?" Noel didn't feel anything special from this question. So, he just answered with whatever words came to his mind. "That depends on the context. If it's just someone random, I will take it and probably look at it later. If it's from a friend, I will cherish it. If it's from my family, I will take care of it."
"…" Anna scratched the back of her head, wanting to say that wasn't the answer she was looking for.
However, she could only sigh. She had been acting weird this whole time, so it would just make her more suspicious. It was better to wait for another day to solve this problem.
They spent the rest of the day getting some rest and cleaning their bodies, conditioning themselves for the training.
The next day.
Anna and Noel were standing in front of Old Ru. The training would take place in the field, slightly away from the garden.
Nicole, Dimitri, and Damian were standing from afar, watching them. They couldn't participate in the lesson, but they could observe them from afar. As a Spirit Grandmaster, learning about the movement of the Spiritual Energy should give them some ideas about what they were planning to do.
"Are you ready for the training?" Old Ru asked with a smile.
"Yes." Noel and Anna nodded in unison. It was their reason for coming here after all.
"Then, before proceeding with the training, I will explain the three stages of training you'll be receiving from me. If you can clear the first stage, you can proceed to the second stage and the same applies to the third stage."
Old Ru raised his hand and began releasing his Spiritual Energy from his palm. "Releasing your Spiritual Energy is not that hard, right? How about releasing your Spiritual Energy? Just enough to wrap your body in a thin layer of it."
Old Ru demonstrated it by wrapping his body with a thin layer of Spiritual Energy. It felt like he had a second layer of skin.
Noel and Anna shut their eyes to concentrate. After that, their bodies began to emit Spiritual Energy. Noel's energy was oozing out like a flowing river, while Anna's energy looked like a balloon.
"This is…" Noel and Anna frowned. They realized that they couldn't do it. Even Anna, with her knowledge and experience, was unable to reproduce that feat.
Old Ru smiled. "As a Spirit Master, Spirit Grandmaster, or even Spirit Transcendence, you would definitely have a lot… lot more energy. However, the Spiritual Energy in your body is by no means limitless.
"What I want to teach you is to control the output of your Spiritual Energy. This way, you will be able to conserve more Spiritual Energy while maximizing the efficiency of your usage."
