System vs Rebirth

"This is…" Noel felt that his body was being filled to the brim. It was to the point that he was suffocating.

However, this was a good sign. This meant the energy was enough to advance to the Spirit Grandmaster Stage.

"Ardagan, Heisk. Get ready to transfer the energy you two have absorbed to the mind. We'll proceed with the Spirit Mind."

After asking the two spirits, Noel felt the Spirit Seal was reacting to his words. They began channeling the energy toward his brain.

When someone absorbed the demon crystal for the first time, they had officially become a Spirit Apprentice. Once their body got used to the Spiritual Energy, they could exert strength beyond a normal person. This was the Spirit Practitioner Stage.

However, Spirit Wielder was even more different. The human body began assimilating with the spirit, allowing them to fully utilize the Spiritual Energy.

That was when the Spirit Master came into place. While their body could release Spiritual Energy, they didn't have the organs to store and channel everything. That was why they condensed the energy into their heart, creating a second heart called Spirit Heart.

This heart allowed them to change their body like that of a Spirit. Now that they had the core of the Spiritual Energy in their body, all they needed next was none other than the one controlling it.

Noel was beginning to form the organ that controlled the Spiritual Energy, the Spirit Mind.

The process was not that much different from when he created the Spirit Heart. He condensed all that energy and wrapped it around his human brain.

The remaining energy continued flowing into that brain and created the remaining outer layer of the Spirit Mind.

Noel could feel a sharp pain all around his brain. After all, the surge of energy was extremely powerful due to the fact that two Spirit Seals were sending the energy simultaneously.

Noel began gritting his teeth, enduring the pain quietly. This was not the time for him to scream or alarm his grandfather.

He persisted for two hours and the outer layer had begun taking the shape. Little by little, he began opening a passage for the rest of the Spiritual Energy to fill up the Spirit Mind.

At first, it felt like blood rushing into his head. But soon, his brain felt warm as Ardagan had planted the seed of his element. This seed would manifest in the Spirit Mind, fully controlling the flame energy.

The warmth was perfect as it made Noel feel relaxed. Unfortunately, that comfort only lasted for an hour before the temperature rose even further. Noel was gasping for air as though the liquid in his head had completely evaporated.

Luckily, before something happened, a cool breeze flowed through his veins and lowered the temperature.

This chilling sensation came from Heisk. The latter appeared to be using her full power in order to lower the temperature.

Heisk had created an opportunity for Noel. By lowering the temperature, he could continue with the next step.

He planted those two seeds in his mind and nurtured them with Spiritual Energy. This way, the pure Spiritual Energy began to be influenced by both sides, creating two sides of opposite elements.

Normally, these opposite elements would clash with each other. But surprisingly, Ardagan controlled his own power and tried to harmonize with Heisk. The harmonization gave the sensation of a whirlpool of two liquids that were being stirred to fuse with each other.

Sadly, the two opposite elements might be able to live in harmony, but they, by no means, could fuse.

As a result, Noel could feel the intermittent temperature during the whole process. While it wasn't as painful, he was certainly uncomfortable.

Noel knew that the absorbing process didn't last for a long time. Breaking through to the Spirit Grandmaster required a lot of time.

Just waiting for the two elements to harmonize alone took at least three hours. Noel had to endure all the uncomfortable feelings for that long.

Even then, it wasn't over. Once the Spirit Mind was established, it would form a connection with the Spirit Heart. Forming one Spirit Vein that would connect both of them.

The vein had to be strengthened by the Fire and Ice energy. After that, the energy all over Noel's body had to be washed anew. Instead of the normal pure energy he usually used, he could only use two types of energy.

In other words, his energy wouldn't match with anyone other than him anymore. This was one of the features that a Spirit Grandmaster had. It was true that having this unique energy would cause them to be unable to help anyone, this also showed the value of Force Control that Old Ru was talking about.

Noel didn't have the pure Spiritual Energy anymore, but he could still use the Force Control to direct the energy within someone's body to heal them.

In addition, by having this new type of energy, his power would be amplified threefold at the very least. It was no wonder Anna could cause such a commotion.

There was such a big difference between the Spirit Grandmaster and Spirit Master.

More importantly, Noel's sense was heightened to a level where he could feel his own veins. It could be said that because the veins had been strengthened by those two elements, he sensed those elements instead of the veins. This was the reason for Spirit Grandmasters being able to recover from their injuries quicker than anyone below that level.

If Anna had reached this level before using the True Spirit Body, the broken veins could easily be sensed and she would control her own energy to patch up those holes herself.

For Noel, who had just finished linking the Spirit Mind and the Spirit Heart, the next process was torture.

By gathering all the pure energy into the Spirit Heart and changing their element through the Spirit Mind before spreading it again, Noel felt like he was dying a few times.

At one time, he felt so dry as though every liquid, including his blood, vanished from his body. At another time, he felt so energetic that he had a hard time focusing on controlling his energy.

More importantly, once the unique energy was released back to the entire body, it was like he was being boiled alive and frozen again and again.

At one point, Noel couldn't even feel a single thing from his body. He didn't know how much time had passed.

All he could do was to make sure that this process didn't cause any injuries or encounter any mishaps.

Noel said once that he needed to become a Spirit Grandmaster before being able to master his Undying Fire.

Now that he had this new energy and sharper senses, Noel could measure the temperature and characteristics of the fire energy that enhanced his body.

By mastering that fire, he also created stability within the Undying Fire, allowing his veins to have the same temperature, amount of energy, and heat.

He registered all that into his Spirit Mind, allowing Heisk's ice to match Ardagan's flame before re-harmonizing them.

In other words, Noel had just experienced the breakthrough two times. By this time, Raincart grew worried, thinking that something must have happened.

Fortunately, he understood the fact that the true nature of two spirits residing in one's body wasn't fully recorded. So, unless Noel showed any signs of failure, he wouldn't stop him.

Approximately forty hours after he began absorbing the Demon Crystals, Noel gradually opened his eyes.

The Spiritual Energy surprisingly changed its attribute when it made contact with his skin.

'So, this is the realm of fusion. By synchronizing the Spirit Mind and the Spirit Heart, the nature of my energy changes to match the unique ability that my spirits have. In my case, it's the ice and fire energy. Thanks to Ardagan and Heisk doing their best to harmonize the two opposite elements, the energy is stable.'

Ardagan also showed his confirmation by sending the completion of his mission.

[Mission: Advancing to the Spirit Grandmaster]

[Description: After mastering the Undying Fire, it's time to become the Spirit Grandmaster.]

[Reward: Spirit Step]

'Spirit Step, huh? By using the explosiveness of my fire element, I can increase my speed to the extreme. That's quite good in battle. I don't know if it can match Anna's speed though.'

'In any case, I have officially become a Spirit Grandmaster. Now, I understand why Spirit Grandmasters can look down upon those who are below them. Dimitri's worries are also justified.'

'I don't know how much time has passed, but it's clear that I took longer than I needed…' Noel rubbed his belly. Even though he was a Spirit Grandmaster, not eating for almost two days surely took a toll on his body.

'Let's just recuperate and understand my current power before continuing the next step.' Noel took a deep breath, calming his excitement down. He rose from the ground, signaling Raincart and the guards that he had finished.