'Repay her kindness? Is she delusional!?'

Noah understood that their situation was complex.

They were reclused in their country, unable to reach the outside world for help.

The Empire was all around them, preventing any external help.

Also, they didn't have the means to become stronger, they could only watch as their forces slowly decreased in number against the endless assault of the Empire.

Their only hope was in the lone cultivators that crossed their borders by accident.

'What can a single cultivator even do? The Empire has a damned God as its leader!'

Noah understood them but he still thought that their approach was incredibly stupid.

'Lisa is hoping that a lone cultivator would take pity on her and help them from outside the country This is simply reckless.'

Who would want the enmity of a God?

Who would sacrifice his prospects to save a country with which he had no ties?

The answer was simple: no one!

"She must be really desperate to hope that criminals would become heroes."

Noah couldn't help but say those words out loud.

"The Empire watches attentively anyone that comes out of our borders, we can't ask for outside help nor gather cultivation techniques. We will either slowly vanish under its assault or convert someone to our cause."

Logan explained.

"So what? You give away spells and resources to anyone that seems promising?"

Logan nodded at Noah's question.

"It's still better than doing nothing."

Their conversation ended with that line, Noah limited himself to follow Logan after that.

They reached the borders of the city, the amount of "Breath" in the air was so little that Noah wondered how could someone still reach the third rank of the dantian there.

"This is your habitation, you will be staying here for the time being. There is a battle every month, we will summon you in two weeks to explain how our battles are fought."

Logan spoke, pointing his hand toward a small and smelly flat.

"No, I will join the battle after that, I need time to prepare and to learn that new spell."

Noah immediately refused Logan's order, two weeks were simply too short for what he had in mind.

"As you wish. This token contains some basic information about the city and you can use it to contact me. We will review the conditions for your release in a month and a half then."

Logan sighed and handed a token to Noah before leaving.

Noah was finally alone again.

'What would I do if I was in their situation?'

Noah absentmindedly entered the flat, it was dirty and there was no sign of inscriptions, it was just a simple room.

'Surrounded by enemies led by a God, without any resource or technique to become stronger, watching my people continuously dying in an endless war.'

He could understand how desperate Lisa was, he could imagine why she ultimately chose to hope in outsiders.

'She simply had no choice. Well, I would probably try to escape but I don't have any attachment to this country or to any of these people. I also don't have any confidence in escaping their interrogation after I go out of here. What a messy situation.'

He didn't mind fighting for resources, his plan was to become a mercenary all along.

What he was worried about were the consequences that his fights in that country would produce once he left it.

'Well, it's still too early to think about that, I should focus on increasing my battle prowess right now.'

The prospect of a war had changed Noah's priorities.

He wanted to wait for his sea of consciousness to reach the third rank before attempting in some of his experiments but he needed to increase his battle capabilities as much as he could before the battle began.

The only thing he could think of was the creation of the Demonic sword.

'My previous experiments ended with a shard with the power in the middle tier of the second rank. I have now liquid "Breath" in my dantian and my mind has also improved, considering that I would add more rank 4 materials to the forging, I should be able to create something in the peak of the second rank.'

Noah accurately analyzed the material in his possession, he knew that a finished and stable product created in that way could match the power of a peak rank 2 cultivator.

'I won't be able to fight cultivators in the third rank but, with that weapon and my spells, I should have no problem against those in the solid stage of the second rank.'

Noah didn't waste time, he sat on the dirty floor and took out one of the sealed buckets from his space-ring, together with other materials.

'Undead chameleon bone to prevent the smoke of my spell from destroying the other materials; scales of the Blind pangolin for the sturdiness; spikes of the Rabid hedgehog for further sharpness and to fix the empty spots. Three rank 4 materials coming from magical beasts of the darkness element and I have enough of them for about thirty attempts. I had decided the basic layout of the sword long ago, now I just have to become used to the interactions between these materials.'

Noah had spent a long time training in the Elemental forging method and had accumulated a large number of materials during his year with Kurt's hunting group.

'Using these materials before I become a rank 3 mage is a pity but I don't have any choice, I can't go to a war unprepared.'

Noah sighed at the sight of his precious materials but resolved himself to use them, he could just buy more of them at some point in the future, his life was far more important.

Then, a loud knock resounded from the door of his room.

Noah opened it and found a soldier with an old scroll in his hands.

"You better be worth the Lord's trust."

The soldier handed the scroll to Noah and left the area.

'They really don't like me.'

Noah shook his head internally and took a glance at the scroll in his hands.

The words "Mental tremor" were clearly written at its top.