UNLIMITED SPEED

Noah stood before a mirror within his assigned room in Elder Sarah's mansion. She had long since begun the reconstruction of her mansion, and according to her words there would be an upgrade in the materials utilized, so they won't fall apart at every little display of her power.

Glancing at Elder Sarah who stood behind him through the mirror, he saw that she more or less had an excited smile on her face.

"How do I look," Noah teased twirling in front of the mirror and cringing at his action.

"You look disgustingly good. Seriously kid, who are your parents and how did you inherit such good looks from them," she replied, in a tone that suggested that she truly felt irritated.

"Your student is about to participate in a tournament that if he wins would bring you glory and here you are hating on his looks," Noah said in the most dramatic tone he could produce.

"Who cares! If you lose I'll deny I ever knew you," Elder Sarah responded with a cruel smile.

A blank expression flickered onto Noah's face at that point and he turned to stare at the lady, before shaking his head in defeat. 'At times I wonder if she even knows that her jokes can be depressing,' Noah sighed inwardly, before taking a moment to inspect himself one more time.

He had a purple robe featuring golden stripes and the guilds crest on its back and front. However, beneath the large robe was a full bodysuit that was actually armor, as it felt as hard as metal but as light as feathers and was flexible.

The robe would be to appear regal while the bodysuit would be for battles since it would allow him to move around as he desired.

His white hair was packed in a long ponytail and his brows brushed to smoothness. Noah already had a face mask ready, and it also served as a sort of armor since it would latch unto his face while still allowing him to breathe. There really wasn't anything mana couldn't achieve.

"I'm ready," Noah said after making sure all his things were within his space ring, which was only for show.

"I'll drop you off at the Pagoda," Elder Sarah announced rushing out of the room. A weird sight.

Now that he thought of it, Noah had never seen Elder Sarah go out on a mission and what mode of transportation she went by. Thankfully when he arrived at the mansion's compound the answer was revealed.

A large four-legged beast lay at the entrance into the mansion, and after a few seconds, Noah confirmed that the beast was a jaguar, but with wings.

The jaguar stood at a height of about 10m and around 17m in length excluding its tail.

The jaguar unlike the one seen on earth had black fur with yellow spots that shone like flames. Its folded wings which were the same color as its body but with glowing feathers looked capable of spanning twice its width and they also had flames dancing atop them.

From its appearance, Noah could tell that the beast was naturally a flame beast.

It featured a short-walled saddle that would be capable of comfortably fitting about seven to ten people.

Needless to say, the beast radiated power in the higher stage. Probably its peak.

"Come on Aiden!" Elder Sarah beckoned from atop the beast, letting down a rope ladder. Noah moved closer to the beast and climbed it to take his place beside Elder Sarah.

"I'm sure you've ridden a flying beast, but not like this," Elder Sarah grinned tapping the beast's side from the edge of the saddle. "You should probably hold on to something."

"But there's nothing to hold on to..." Noah muttered but held his breath when the jaguar unfolded its wings causing a small explosion of wind force that almost tore off the gate.

The beast then crouched and flapped its wings once.

The world around Noah wheezed past him as their mount took flight right after shattering the sound barrier.

In the span of a second, they were high in the sky, and for the first time, he experienced fully what it meant to be atop a flying beast.

The sound of the wind rushing past them, the coldness of the sky's breeze, the feeling of the wind upon his face, and the sounds of the activities going on below him and even the outer region. Noah took it all in, even the fear of falling off.

He felt reborn in that experience and immediately understood that the sky was where he wanted to be.

Elder Sarah made her flying Jaguar circle the central region before diving towards the Pagoda. Every single second felt like a new experience, one that she allowed him to silently enjoy.

Immediately the beast dived however, Noah was pulled back to reality since he found himself slipping. Fortunately, a series of inscriptions shone on the material of the saddle and belts flowed out to wrap around his waist, arms and shoulders.

The belts were tight but were also capable of stretching if he decided to move around. They would continue to remain at the perfect tightness to not allow him fall off the beast.

"Why didn't you activate this earlier?" Noah asked Elder Sarah recalling how he had to keep track of the beast's movements so that he didn't fall. All that effort had been for naught since there was something better.

"It was fun to see the fear of falling off in your eyes," Elder Sarah responded with a sadistic grin.

'What did I even expect?' Noah shook his head inwardly before proceeding to ignore her and focus on the Pagoda in the distance.

Gaining a bird's eye view of the central region allowed Noah to see things that those on the ground normally won't, and one of those things was the landing spot at the top of the building.

The wide platform shone with different lights for better visuals, and Lady Sarah led her beast towards it.

Suddenly, however, the beast increased in speed and panic exploded in Noah's mind. He shot a quizzical glance at Elder Sarah and was shocked to see that she shrugged in response.

"He likes to have fun, and I let him," She simply stated while her mount performed a dangerous nose dive towards the landing platform while keeping its wings folded.

Noah braced himself for impact, but nothing happened.

Barely four meters from crashing into the platform the Jaguar quickly unfolded and flapped its wings before re-positioning itself to land on the platform safe and perfect. A shocking but spectacular turn of events.

A sigh of relief escaped Noah's mouth at that point, he would have jumped off the beast if not for the fact that he didn't know how to deactivate the belts. Thankfully everything went well. And he had to admit that he had silently enjoyed it.

"Welcome, lady Sarah, sir Aiden. You arrived just in time for the departure." A young-looking man welcomed the duo immediately they got off their mount.