Noah didn't meet anyone during his flight, his senses perceived the presence of the sandworms in the desert under him, but no cultivators appeared on his road.
Then, when the environment began to change and the temperature began to rise, he saw a figure in the distance.
The figure was at many kilometers away from his position, Noah was only able to see a dark dot in the sky, but he knew that it was his opponent.
The rocky wasteland spread in front of him, he had reached the area of the battle, but he stood still, just as his opponent was doing.
Noah felt the hunger inside him increase as soon as he sensed the aura of the lava lake, part of him wanted to dive through the threatening red rivers just to have a chance to eat the source of that power.
Yet, he was also incredibly calm.
His period spent in the wilderness made him attune entirely with his body, there were no more human and dragon side, there was just him.
'It's not even charging at me, it doesn't know that its chances to win decrease with every second.'
Noah smiled inside his mind when he saw that the figure remained at the opposite border of the wasteland.
However, he kept a stern expression, he wanted to give the impression that he was putting his life on the line.
'Power brings confidence and delusions, only the light of the stars can keep us in check.'
Noah thought as he took a step forward, the temperature around him immediately increased as he neared the areas with lava.
His thoughts concerned the period spent in the azure plain when he was at the peak of the food chain.
He remembered that confidence, the feeling of being unrivaled in his kingdom.
'I bet it feels in the same way.'
The figure in the distance noticed his movement and began to walk too, Noah was slowly able to recognize the outline of what appeared to be a forty years old man.
'He looks young.'
Noah noted in his mind when he was able to see the facial features of his opponent.
A cultivator would stop aging as long as its power continued to grow, it was clear that the man in front of him had found very few hindrances in his cultivation journey.
Noah and his opponent continued to walk toward one another slowly, it took hours before they could reach a distance where their words could be heard.
Then, they both stopped at the same time.
'He clearly has a fire aptitude, the "Breath" around him can merge with the heat in the air, blocking most of the negative effect on his body. Yet, something still reaches him.'
Noah analyzed his opponent, and the latter did the same.
He saw how Noah wasn't countering the heat as well as him, the "Breath" around his body was fighting the environment instead of blending with it.
It was evident that the second method consumed more "Breath", but it managed to leave the body virtually unaffected.
"Junior, I don't want to bully you. I'm Amos Lochster, and I respect you."
Amos greeted Noah with polite words, but his behavior just made him smile even more in his mind.
'He is not a member of the Elbas family!'
Noah understood when he heard his name.
A Royal would have just pounced at him due to all the acc.u.mulated grudges, but the man in front of him was a noble who had said that he respected him!
'I don't really like to resort to tricks now, but he is in the solid stage, there isn't much that I can do.'
Noah saw a chance to exploit the situation after he heard those words.
The fact that he was using "Breath" to fend off the heat was just an act, he could just rely on his body and on the energy that it contained to survive in that environment.
"The tales of your journey have filled the country in the last months, I must say that I'm impressed by your determination."
Amos continued to speak after a short moment of silence.
"You are talented, maybe more than me. Don't waste your life over a territory that doesn't even match your aptitude and don't force me to attack someone far weaker than me. Just give up, your time to shine will eventually come, I'm sure of it."
Amos resembled a caring senior as he advised Noah, it almost looked as he cared about him.
Noah stared at him in silence, his expression didn't waver at all during his speech, Amos could clearly feel those reptilian pupils fixed on him.
Yet, the pressure that they radiated wasn't enough to make him tremble, he only felt as if a magical beast was looking at him.
Then, Noah turned his gaze toward the ground, in the direction of the lava lake.
Amos followed his line of sight and stared at the lake too, some eagerness could be seen in his eyes when the light radiated by the lava filled them.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
Amos asked, but it seemed that he was speaking to himself.
However, Noah answered at that time.
"Yes, let's take a closer look."
His words surprised Amos, but he didn't have time to reply since Noah had already begun to descend toward the red lake.
He was confused by that gesture at first, but he soon descended together with Noah.
He thought that Noah wanted to take one last look to a trace left by divine beings or that he wanted to admire such spectacle with a senior, he couldn't possibly imagine that everything was just a plan to weaken his body.
Noah stopped when he was at a few kilometers from the surface, the heat at that altitude threatened to burn his clothes, but he didn't really care, he was just glad that Amos was following him.
"Better?"
Amos asked when he reached him.
They stood side by side, watching the dense lava that filled the huge basin under them.
"Talk to me about the fire element."
Noah said after a few minutes of silence.
Amos turned to look at Noah, he saw how the protection of the "Breath" around him was slowly thinning, it wouldn't take much before Noah's body was exposed to the heat.
Meanwhile, his body was enduring a small part of those temperatures, but he depleted far less "Breath" and he was in the solid stage, his reserves were virtually infinite compared to Noah's.
"Well, fire can be an explosive force but also a gradual destroyer, it can affect the matter but it can also mend it. My flame burns inside me, and it will keep burning as long as I remain true to myself."
Noah nodded, but his eyes never left the lake under him.
His focus though was on the body of his opponent, he noted how even a rank 4 cultivator in the solid stage was starting to being affected at that altitude.
"I don't really understand, let's go deeper."
Noah said before descending even more under Amos' astonishment.