UNLIMITED SPEED

'It seems my reign of terror has ended,' Noah thought resting his back on the walls of the expansive cream-painted room. His mouth opened to reveal an excited grin, but the door leading into the room opened to allow the lady come in.

"You're already fully healed," she exclaimed with a smile that Noah found not pleasurable. "I guess they sent you knowing you'll be able to withstand my attacks, at least for a bit. You're still too weak to be considered among the best. Nevertheless, you are capable of getting there," she explained sitting cross-legged on the floor.

Limiting himself to remain silent, Noah fixed his gaze on her, before a question entered his mind, one he didn't hesitate to voice.

"What was that spell or technique?" He inquired of her.

"You mean Thunder-clap halt. Oh, that's just a simple spell that forces anyone and anything within its range into a state of un-movement. It's pretty weak and only works on the dumbest of opponents," she shrugged.

"The fact that you stepped into it shows how untrained you are, It even disgusts me. Anyone should have seen that I planted a trap, but not you," she spoke as her face twisted to show her irritation.

Noah could only keep a blank face at that point, he knew what she meant by those words, he had already concluded on them after all. Nevertheless hearing someone say it in such a rude manner managed to hurt him, even if only by a bit.

He felt insulted but couldn't do anything about it, she would probably kill him. Also seeing the fact that hurting him hadn't invoked the oath meant she bore something different, something that was probably special.

"I fully understand why someone with so much potential wasn't directly brought to the central regions. Now I'm supposed to train morons like you," she snorted.

"Why did you accept if you didn't like it," Noah quickly spoke.

"Cause I'd gain something of course," she replied slamming those words into Noah's face.

"Well I never signed up for this," Noah announced, getting up. Of course, he only joked, but he felt the urge to annoy the expert before him, her words struck places he didn't know he could feel pain in.

'I'm likely to get hurt. But I won't die,' Noah evaluated, and soon enough his words caused a reaction.

"I'll let you go if you can reach the door before I do," she announced also getting up.

"That's not fair, you're already closer to it," Noah complained.

"It doesn't matter. Cultivators are supposed to accomplish the impossible until it's not," she waved her hand in dismissal.

Furrowing his brows, Noah returned to a sitting position. He didn't want to risk winning, he needed her tutorship.

"So that's how it is," she arched an eyebrow taking a step forward.

Her figure silently flickered in front of Noah, and she grabbed him by the collar lifting him without the slightest struggle.

Noah however struggled not. Instead, he simply stared into her intense azure eyes, and she stared back at his icy-blue ones.

Their gaze locked for a few seconds, then a punch shattered Noah's ribs sending him into reeling shock and pain.

"From today on, you are not allowed to stare back at me until I deem you worthy," she said after letting him go.

'She's fucking crazy,' Noah grimaced through a mouthful of blood. His healing had kicked in, and thankfully this time, it didn't take much to heal.

"I've decided to take you as a disciple. I've never taught anyone but how hard can it be," she began, grinning. "After the first three months, I expect to see lots of improvements. If I don't I'll kill you," she casually explained.

"There's still one of you left, and only after she arrives and I test her do we begin. For now, you'll be my training dummy," she smiled.

"Am I not allowed to leave," Noah complained recalling he had goods to collect. Important ones.

"You'll leave when I say you'll leave," she replied, and Noah felt the mark on his chest glow. Needless to say, his expression turned dark, then his illusory armor reappeared on his figure.

The lady saw this and grinned, preparing herself.

"Before we begin, may I know your name?" Noah asked.

"I am Lady or Elder Sarah, but you are not worthy of addressing me by those, neither are you allowed to call me master," she snorted. "Use whatever you like, but if I ever hear you call me by anything close to any of those I'll kill you," she announced.

Shaking his head in wonder while trying not to regret his situation, Noah sent a bolt of lightning her way.

The room lit up with the deep-yellow radiance of the lightning bolt, and an explosion barreled out immediately after it landed on her figure.

Noah sent two more in quick succession to the first. He did this while moving around a bit.

"This is nice, but I'm afraid you'll need more to hurt me," Sarah's voice boomed out within the room, unhindered by the explosions of the three more bolts Noah had sent.

The crackling storm in the distance seemed to get sucked into something, and Lady Sarah's figure was revealed. And although Noah expected a similar scene, it pained him that none of his attacks had managed to even ruffle her clothes.

Raising her left arm, Noah felt his instincts rage in fear at the power about to be unleashed.

"This is what a real lightning bolt looks like," she declared as her raised arm turned into a mess of dense yellow electrical currents.

The appearance of that bolt caused the entire room to fall into chaos as strands of energy left the crackling mass on her arm to shoot anywhere. Noah confirmed that one of the strands was enough to put him in a pitiful state.

"You'll kill me!" Noah screamed unable to find a proper place to hide and he didn't want to resort to Muillix.

"No, it won't. This is something at the peak of the middle stage, you'll survive it," she declared. Her voice was almost inaudible amid the loud erratic sounds the large lightning bolt released.

Noah felt his head buzz at that point. Her words put shock in his mind, but his senses confirmed it. The power contained within the bolt didn't go past the middle stage.

'So that's the real middle stage,' Noah thought while his environment slowed down. 'I truly am not that strong.'

He quickly understood why no one believed he could survive a cultivator considered a monster in the middle stage.

Pointing her arm at Noah's still figure, Elder Sarah, unleashed the crackling mass of energy. The whole place turned blinding yellow, but no explosion occurred.