Noah listened with interest, Bruce was finally going to speak about him.
"You are quite strange, rank 3 mage while being a cultivator in the second rank, truly strange."
Bruce loudly pondered as he stared Noah, he found it hard to believe that someone like him existed.
"You would be generally used as a pawn until you reach the third rank but you can be considered already halfway in that level, consider that there are rank 3 cultivators that are still rank 2 mages."
Noah nodded.
He was aware that his situation was peculiar, a mental sphere so strong at his age was something unheard of in that world.
"I've decided. You can't be a captain but you can still be the second in command in the team where I send you. How does it sound?"
Bruce smiled but Noah was confused.
"Didn't you say that I was joining your team?"
He replied but Bruce shook his head while suppressing a short laugh.
"No, no. I'm the Leader of the faction, I don't join missions unless they concern resources extremely important for me or the sect. Yet, I have five captains that work directly under me and I consider their teams as if they were mine. I usually send them to raid the places mentioned in the many rumors that I hear on the surface. I won't lie to you, they often come back empty-handed."
'So, not only will I not work with him, but I will also be sent to chase rumors that are most-likely false!'
Noah's irritation began to grow, he had just relaxed knowing that he wouldn't have to work with Alison when he discovered this.
"I will let you choose to which raid take part though, you can see for yourself which reports seem truer."
Three sheets appeared in his hands and he handed them to Noah.
Noah heaved a sigh of relief at that turn of events, if he had to be sent to chase rumors, he could at least decide those that seemed more accurate.
'A batch of precious magical beasts' body parts is going to be sent to the Utra nation from the archipelago. Rumors says that a rank 5 material will be on the ship but there will be only one rank 3 cultivator escorting it.'
'This seems quite unreal, a rank 5 material protected only by one powerful soldier? Impossible.'
Noah discarded the first report in his mind and began to read the next one.
'Batches of rank 4 potions and pills will be sent by the Papral nation and will arrive in the archipelago in two days. Rumors say that there won't be guards at all.'
'This is even more unreal. First of all, where would someone find a batch of such precious drugs? Second, how could they not put guards to such a precious cargo?'
Another sheet was discarded, leaving Noah with only one.
'Rumors about an Inheritance ground below the Great whirlpool next to the archipelago.'
'What!? This is even more impossible! For how long has the archipelago being inhabited? How many experts have investigated its terrain? It's impossible that an inheritance ground has never been discovered until now!'
Noah placed the third sheet on the ground and raised his head to stare at Bruce.
'Now I understand, he is the Leader of all these idiots!'
He cursed his greed again, the feeling of wanting to change faction returned at those thoughts.
"Why would you even go after these? They are clearly fake rumors!"
He decided to give voice to his thoughts, he really couldn't understand how a mighty existence at the peak of the third rank could be that blind.
"Yes, they are but what if they were real? We would obtain rank 4 drugs, or a rank 5 material, or we could also be the first to enter an inheritance ground!"
Bruce answered, his eyes shone when he thought about all those impossible resources.
'He is not an idiot, he is an optimistic one.'
Noah sighed, his luck has never been too good so he was used to always consider the worst possible outcome in any situation.
Bruce was the opposite, he knew that those rumors were probably fake but he wanted to test them anyway, hoping for one of them to be real.
"Can't I just go after real resources? I work better alone anyway, you just have to point out the places that I have to raid."
Noah didn't want to give up on the resources because he was busy chasing his Leader's dreams, he would rather work alone as he had always done.
"You will gain a thousand merit points together with a bonus for each valuable resource that you bring back if you join one of those missions. I will never force the members of my faction to go after my delusions without giving them a good reward."
At those words, Noah's eyes lit up.
'A thousand merit points for a simple raid? Bonuses according to the resources brought back? It means that I can decide whether keeping anything interesting or exchanging it for merit points! This doesn't sound too bad with these conditions.'
Noah pondered about the matter.
'I think I can go after more reliable sources if I insist but I would only gain a few merit points and low-level resources, I'm not considering that I would further share those resources between the other members of my team. With these missions, instead, at least the part concerning the merit points is covered, I can just accumulate them and buy something in the inventory afterward, I won't need for the missions to be profitable in that case.'
Noah had to choose between a slow but steady accumulation of resources and a most-likely fruitless mission but that gave an incredible amount of merit points.
'Now I understand why the members of this faction are so extreme, I'm no different from them after all.'
Noah smiled as he thought of that, his gaze went of the sheets on the floor and he picked one of them.
"I think I will go after the rank 5 material. I don't believe that the ship will have it but there should be at least a few rank 4 magical beasts' corpses for it to be guarded by a soldier in the third rank."