UNLIMITED SPEED

Hope, the underlying belief that any particular situation could work out if given the right requirements. Man's greatest strength and biggest weakness.

''This isn't good," Ariana's voice sounded within Noah's head, as their gazes locked.

Of course, she remained happy about that turn of events but also understood that it was time to take decisions. Difficult ones.

"I guess you'll go for the reward," Ariana said. Immediately sighing when she saw Noah's nod.

"And I guess you won't," Noah spoke without removing his gaze from the transparent barrier getting closer to them each second. He had decided on that action due to the extra time left.

'No point not trying. We have time to spare,' Noah thought.

"I'd love to, but it's not worth the trouble. With people like you going, I almost have no chance. The good thing is that I managed to pass this phase of today's stage," she explained shrugging inwardly.

"I see...okay then. Though you should get prepared for entry into the seventh depth. It might prove troublesome," Noah warned.

"Definitely," Ariana replied.

Noah remained silent after her reply, and she didn't talk to him either. There wasn't any need to after all.

The speeding sphere eventually arrived in front of the massive barrier that was the gateway into the 7th depth stage, and Nathaniel didn't hesitate to try and cross it. And once again cracks opened on the sphere's surface, and all that push managed to act on the bodies of the unsuspecting cultivators.

Some were flung backward due to the incredible push, while some managed to remain in their seats but blood flowed out of their mouths as their internal organs suffered serious injuries.

With no protection against the upward pressure some almost died, and to the shock of the aspirants, the same androgynous voice, mechanical boomed around, announcing the dreadful word "Disqualified".

Those who suffered too serious of an injury found themselves being teleported out before fully arriving inside the 7th depth stage!

Over two hundred aspirants disappeared before they arrived inside the seventh stage. Needless to say, their sadness reached an unfathomable state.

Noah who had long since prepared to cast his armor spell, immediately did so, thereby surviving the last struggle into the seventh stage.

An illusory yellow battle armor appeared on his figure after the prior appearance of a similarly colored magical circle. And its radiance managed to light up his immediate surroundings.

Noah felt surprised to witness one of his spells in action for the first time since he advanced. The energy armor fully protected him, even giving him an illusory helmet.

Mild cracks managed to appear on the armor, but that was all. At that instant, Noah found his new favorite skill. With it, he could reduce his usage of Muillix to only important situations.

Groans escaped the mouths of many still present inside the sphere, some even found themselves approaching the cracks opening on the ball. This set of experts had to find something to hang onto, or simply used spells instead.

Water gushed into the sphere's inside and Nathaniel soon found himself submerged inside it. However, he held on, pouring all of his focus into successfully crossing the barrier.

This happened needless to say, but not without the entire construct crumbling into illusory yet solid pieces still filled with mana. Chunks of the construct managed to remain intact, but the pond's push immediately sent them upwards into the sixth stage.

Immediately after the experts arrived inside the 7th stage, a mechanical voice similar to the one that announced their disqualification, boomed all around them.

"You have arrived at the required stage!" The voice announced to the still struggling experts.

However, the white light surrounding them abruptly flashed with blinding intensity, shockingly vanquishing the powerful push that depth stage had on them.

Shock inevitably appeared on the faces and in the minds of the experts, as they found their bodies able to comfortably float around.

Casually floating about inside the pond, Noah immediately adjusted to the water's lack of an upward push. Another well-deserved reward.

'What now?' Noah thought, sweeping his gaze on the ecstatic experts around him. Their numbers stood a bit over 800, and they huddled up together, to gain a sense of security.

Feeling their armbands buzz, they all opened the menu to find one new option available, and another countdown. The option titled "Finish Now" stood beside a countdown timing 2 minutes.

This meant each aspirant had to decide before the countdown finished, or would have to suffer the 7th stage's upward pressure.

Many experts immediately began to vanish after a series of magical circles appeared around them. While those who wished to continue waited, preparing defenses for the journey ahead of them.

Locking gazes with Ariana, Noah nodded at her just before she disappeared.

'I hope we can finish at any time we want,' Noah thought leaving his gaze on the countdown.

Having already planned skills for the journey, Noah utilized one of his potions; immediately replenishing half of his core contents.

"That reward better be good," Noah muttered recasting his armor skill immediately after the countdown struck 30 seconds. He didn't need new armor but desired his spell to remain at its peak state. Also, it only cost 100SE.

Focusing his gaze on the experts remaining just before the countdown ended, Noah counted a bit more than 50 experts. He expected more, but he understood that the power of the 7th stage scared many into finishing already, After all, they could still be disqualified if they sustained too many injuries.

Spotting Nathaniel amongst the remaining experts, Noah marked him as one of the experts to watch out for.

The countdown ended and the white light of that incredibly wide environment flashed again, and the pond's push resumed.

Having connected a trail of essence to his nose, Noah was already fully prepared. So when he felt an incredible force try to push him upwards, or crunch his bones at his resistances, He poured 1000SE into keeping himself in one position but also had to make it look like that ability was based on his lightning affinity, making for the tendrils of densely packed electrical energy materializing from his figure.

Thanks to the armor, the essence he spent was just enough to keep him in one position.

The mechanical voice boomed around Noah, as some experts were disqualified for suffering too many injuries, They had overestimated their abilities.

Although no one was looking at the other person as they were fighting their own battles, Noah remained cautious.

A bit over 40 experts remained after the first ten seconds, as lights of different colors shone in the area. Of course, Noah remained the most radiant due to the large tendrils of erratic energy casually floating around him.

Sweeping his gaze on the serious experts before focusing his gaze on the space below him, Noah sighted whirlpools not too large, but were more than enough of a challenge due to the incredible pressure around him.

Just as the experts were about to take off on the journey to the rewards, the same mechanical voice boomed around them, but the contents of its words proved far different than they expected.

"To make your work easier you have been given the chance to eliminate each other. The last five shall automatically be given the five prizes at the bottom of the tenth stage!!" The mechanical voice androgynous in nature announced startling the experts; who took a few seconds to process the newly gained information.

'Weren't we told that we wouldn't have to battle anything,' Noah thought, feeling his mood darken as his instincts warned him of danger.

Sweeping his gaze on the experts around him, Noah saw that they all had their attention on him. They planned to eliminate him first, and his instincts considered them trouble.