The black clouds above Noah's cave halted their attack when Noah's body shut down, their ominous aura though continued to remain fixed on the underground area where Noah seemed to have died.
He laid lifelessly on the red ground, the blood of the magical beast had tainted the terrain as its body parts were being fused with Noah, even his body had been covered by that scarlet liquid as he sunk inside the melting corpse of the beast.
Everything remained still, the black clouds in the sky were waiting to see if Noah had really died!
Noah had been extremely methodical as he perfected the procedure.
The rank 4 bodies of the cultivators often had some peculiarities that distinguished them between each other, the same procedure couldn't be applied to everyone.
As Noah continued with his experiments, Noah had become used to harmonizing the various qualities of those bodies, he had planned the way to keep the membrane around his heart even before researching the Cursed dragons.
Yet, there was one aspect that all the hybrids forged with rank 4 magical beasts had: They needed a reboot!
Removing Heaven and Earth's will and filling those empty spots with the one contained in the body of the beasts was an invasive maneuver, it wasn't enough to just fuse them, the body needed to stabilize and shut down before it could live again.
Thump Thump
A heartbeat resounded in the silence of the cave, sparks filled the surface of the black clouds as they prepared themselves to resume their attacks.
The "Breath" around Noah's body began to converge toward his figure, it seemed that some sort of natural force was attracting it.
Thump Thump
Another heartbeat echoed in the underground area, the "Breath" near Noah entered his body, filling it with life and completing the harmonization of its tissues.
Thump Thump
What followed the third heartbeat was a loud roar.
Noah opened his eyes and roared, that cry came from the deepest parts of his mind, it was the instinctive act of a newborn being!
Then, he inhaled, his lungs filled themselves with air but "Breath" was also absorbed during that simple gesture.
Noah could clearly feel how the "Breath" that entered his body was dismantled and reduced to its most basic form, it became a simple form of pure energy that didn't belong to any element!
That energy was then absorbed by his body, nourishing and strengthening it.
'So, that's how they do it. The bodies of the magical beasts naturally destroy the "Breath" to absorb the purer form of energy that such destruction creates. They have never been able to feed on "Breath" of a different element, their nourishment is the pure energy contained in it!'
Noah understood the training process of the magical beasts only when he felt it happening inside his body, the more basic but purer energy that they absorbed was something that even mages in the heroic ranks couldn't see!
'Maybe, only gods have the means to look for this type of energy, I know for sure that I couldn't have done it with my rank 4 sea of consciousness.'
Noah thought as he continued to bathe in the feeling of having his body growing stronger while breathing, it was something so amazing that he couldn't think of anything else.
'It's so strange though. Magical beasts have this innate ability since birth, even those in the first rank can do it, it's as if they are the natural predators of the "Breath".'
Every living being of that world absorbed "Breath" to become stronger.
Noah wasn't sure about how magical plants worked but he knew that cultivators were limited to the "Breath" of their aptitude.
Magical beasts, instead, could reach for the energy inside the "Breath" of any element since their birth, he didn't think that Heaven and Earth would have left such troublesome beings alive if they had the chance.
'Maybe, it's something that has to do with their fairness, they need a natural enemy to be nigh-omniscient entities.'
It was only after Noah reached that point with his thoughts that he heard the lightning storm happening above his cave.
The black clouds in the sky had resumed their assault when Noah released his cry, an immense hatred rose from the bottom of Noah's mind and filled the entirety of his body.
Noah quickly stood up and was about to launch himself outside the protective shield when he abruptly stopped his tracks and closed his eyes.
His focus went on the insides of his mental sphere where dark-red water was spreading inside his crystalline sea.
The dark-red water represented the thoughts and instincts of the Cursed dragon with which he had fused, his normal mental state seemed to be affected as more of his sea was being tainted by the spreading dark-red water.
However, the mind of a beast couldn't compare to that of a human, especially that of a rank 4 mage.
Noah used his mental energy to surround the dark-red water, the thoughts of the beast were soon contained in a small area.
'I need them.'
Noah knew that he wouldn't be able to properly use his new body without the instincts of the dragon, he needed them to become a perfect hybrid.
That's why, instead of destroying that water, he slowly assimilated it inside his sea.
The color of his sea slightly changed as it fused with the thoughts of the beast, shades of red appeared on the azure water which continued to be crystalline even after the two minds became one.
Noah regained complete control even if he knew that some traits of the dragon's behavior now were part of his personality.
He began to feel everything more clearly, his senses sharpened as both body and mind harmonized.
The incredible hatred toward the presence of Heaven and Earth's will was surpassed only by the endless hunger that he felt, it was a sensation so strong that he understood why the hybrids that he had previously created seemed to go insane.
However, his powerful mind was enough to make him maintain his calm.
Noah opened his eyes again, the same cold aura was radiated by them but his ice-blue irises were now cut in half by vertical pupils, his eyes were those of a dragon.
'I'll take care of my hunger later, I need to disperse those clouds first.'
Noah thought as he stepped toward the exit of his cave, a pair of black sabers appeared in his hands as a low growl was emitted by his throat.
As soon as he stepped outside the shield created by the inscribed flags, a lightning bolt fell toward him.
Noah didn't hesitate, he swung his sabers to perform the Second Form of the Ashura and destroy the incoming bolt of lightning.
Yet, even though his execution was perfect and his "Breath" was depleted, no effects followed his gesture, the saber simply slashed the air before the lightning bolt hit it.