"Aaahhhh!" Anna let out a seductive moan that echoed inside the room.
"…" Noel's eyebrows were twitching. He just coated the needle with the mixture and poked her body, but she actually let out a sound that could be easily misunderstood. "What are you doing?"
"Sorry, I didn't expect it." Anna smirked. It seemed that she was playing with him.
"I'm going to tell you this, but if you're going to mess around again, I'm going to open the window and toss you outside." Noel's expression looked annoyed.
"Fine." Anna pouted. When Noel made this face, she knew that he would do it without hesitation.
While she did tease her, she wanted to soften Noel's expression. This was the first time he painted the runes on the body, so it was obvious that he was nervous.
Although it didn't impact him a lot, since Noel's expression had looked a bit better, she chose to remain silent.
Unbeknownst to them, Dimitri was standing outside to protect them. But when he heard Anna's voice, he couldn't help but look at the door with a confused expression, thinking, 'Did they do something else? Does that mean we'll be expecting a successor soon? Now that I think about it, the former Master and Mistress should come out since they should want to hold their grandchild, right? What a good job, Master… I should begin calling her Mistress as well.'
While Dimitri was distracted by the thoughts, Noel continued with his work.
He poked Anna's skin with a needle and poured his Spiritual Energy to attach it to the veins underneath the skin. These veins were linked with the Spirit Seal, which would maintain the rune's existence.
He carefully poked the next spot not far from the first spot and began linking them together like a circuit.
This process took a while because he had to assimilate the two spots with his Spiritual Energy before linking it to the Spirit Veins.
After that, he continued to the third, fourth, and other spots.
Because of the need for accuracy, Noel had to split a single rune into at least a hundred points. So, a single rune alone required at least two hours to complete.
Noel stretched the rune from her Spirit Seal that was located on her waist to her stomach.
After he completed it, he didn't immediately move to the second rune. Instead, he asked, "I have completed the rune. How about trying it first? I have to see if it works or not."
"Alright. I just need to pour my Spiritual Energy, right?"
"Yeah." Noel nodded.
Anna didn't lift her body from the bed since she could do it while lying down. Surprisingly, she could feel an outer layer of skin on her stomach.
"I can actually feel the rune… It feels like an extremely thin layer above my skin." Anna reported while pouring the Spiritual Energy. The flow was smooth, filling up the rune. As soon as it reached the required amount to activate, the rune started to glow.
Anna could feel a surge of energy in her body. She felt a gentle wave of her hand could actually destroy the wooden wall next to her.
"I think it's working." Anna nodded with a serious expression.
"Is there anything that makes you uncomfortable?"
"While I do feel weird having this thin layer above my skin, there's nothing wrong with the rune itself. I'll try to deactivate it to see if something changes." Anna fell silent for a moment as the rune began to dim. "There is nothing wrong. The Spiritual Energy inside the rune is expelled from my body and dissapear into the air."
"I see." Noel let out a sigh of relief. It seemed that he had finished the first rune and the experiment. Just like the Force Control from before, he might have the mastery and knowledge in his head, but his body still couldn't use it. So, he was glad that he succeeded.
"Should we continue with the second one?" Anna asked.
"Yeah." Noel nodded and began to prepare the second needle. Since it used the same mixture, there should be no problem using the same needle. But Noel believed that the Spiritual Energy used to create the rune had contaminated the needle, so it was better to use another needle as a preventive action.
"By the way, if it takes you two hours just to create a single rune, won't it take too long if you want to create a group of elites?" Anna asked.
"Well, the initial elite group will be like that, but I'm planning to employ a merit system. If they reach a certain merit, they can exchange their contribution to get another rune on their body. This will make them more eager to perform. Besides, I'm planning to get two disciples to learn runes, which will make my job easier. Also, there will be a Rune School that will become the primary source of income for my territory later. So, yeah… I've prepared a lot of things for the future."
"I see. I thought I should be worried, but it seems that you've calculated everything." Anna smiled, remembering her previous life. Even back then, Noel's territory was thriving. "In that case, I'll definitely complete this mission which should take one month and immediately challenge an Arbiter."
"How about the other party?"
"My father should be preparing it right now. I just have to wait for the signal."
"I see. I wish you luck. Don't forget that your safety is important."
"Are you worried about me?" Anna smiled brightly.
"Only by becoming an Arbiter can you repay me for this one." Noel harrumphed.
"Hahaha!"
Noel continued drawing the four other runes. The second rune was placed slightly above the first rune and under her breast. Even Noel had a bit of a hard time embedding the second rune due to the position. Touching and seeing were two different things after all.
The third rune was placed on her side that stretched both to her front and back. The fourth rune was entirely on her back, while the last one was drawn right below it.
With this, Anna had five runes on her body. While they could place it in a further place to avoid awkward places, it would make the rune activation longer due to the distance. So, Anna convinced him that he should do it in those five spots.
After getting all five runes, Anna tried all of them in rapid succession and confirmed the completion of all runes.
It seriously took a toll on him since he had to be careful with the details or the rune would be ruined. He even used the mixture to erase a few times because he made several mistakes.
However, he had succeeded. Anna was the first person to have runes embedded on her body.
While she was happy about it, Noel had taken off his clothes, showing the Spirit Seal on his chest. He had decided to get the same runes on his body.
Because Anna's rune mastery was lower than his, it took her longer to complete. However, she remained careful and not rushing despite having competitiveness inside her.
Noel was fighting the urge to tease her because he worried about his own safety.
In the end, they had to stop when dusk arrived since they wanted to avoid the mistakes due to not enough light.
That night, Noel discussed with Dimitri the runes that he wanted on his body. Because of the nature of his ability, Dimitri only chose two runes, which were the Reduce Impact Rune and the Empowerment Rune.
Noel had some materials left, so Dimitri, as his butler, also enjoyed the privilege of having Ancient Demon Grade Material for his runes.
After Anna completed drawing the runes on Noel's body, she had to bid goodbye. The quicker she became an arbiter, the more she could solidify her influence over the royal court.
Hence, Anna wanted to get it done as soon as possible so that she could help Noel later.
Noel also understood her position and saw her off before drawing the runes on Dimitri. Since there were only two runes, it didn't take too long for Noel to complete them.
So, they decided to depart after Noel got a good rest for his tired mind.
Of course, Noel took this time to check on the children, who became more determined than ever to complete the condition Noel had set.
Milfa also agreed with Noel's arrangement since if the kids were incompetent, she could easily subdue them and prevent them from killing themselves.
Since Noel wouldn't do any more missions for the Demon Banner Army, Noel took this chance to exchange all his contribution points for Demon Crystals, a few Techniques, and Materials from powerful demons.
They were all the necessary expenses once he became a noble. Of course, Noel had asked the kids to take care of the materials. This was the second condition.
The children would bring all these materials with them. They would also use some to become stronger.
This way, the kids would be strong and bring a lot of materials once they reached the Ardagan Family's territory.
After that, he and Dimitri continued to their next destination to visit the scattered members of the Ardagan Family.
