Thaddeus stared Noah for a while.
Giving away a piece of "Breath" blessing wasn't a problem, their accumulation was vast, they had large reserves of that mineral.
The only problem was what giving it to him meant.
'If he obtains it, he won't need the privileges of the Royal city anymore.'
Those were Thaddeus' thoughts.
Cultivators would need better resources as their level increased.
In the Utra country, the resources and the techniques were all monopolized by the noble families, with the biggest shareholder being the Royal family.
It was almost impossible to embark on the cultivation journey without having relationships with them.
That need was amplified by the level of the cultivator.
Taking Noah as an example, his improvements had been minimal since he stopped being a student, even with his hardworking personality.
He had to use precious potions to boost his absorption speed but that method had its limits as his body would become tolerant to the drugs.
The best method was to simply cultivate in an environment rich of "Breath".
Yet, those kinds of environments were mostly danger zones or artificially created.
Noah could not survive in the former and had to reach compromises to use the latter.
However, the value of that mineral was still inferior to techniques and spells, that's why he was quite confident that Thaddeus would accept his price.
'He has to decide between me, a lone cultivator that won't be a threat in the imminent future, or a sudden increase in power of the large-size noble families. It's just about what he fears the most.'
Noah wouldn't be a threat for their dominion for some more decades at least, they had plenty of time to rope him in.
The noble families, on the other side, were already established and powerful.
If they really managed to create a structure similar to the academy, the accumulation of power would shift in their favor.
Also, they would be doing that by using the Royal academy as the foundation for their new school, the Royals would lose too much face if they let that happen.
"Deal."
As Noah predicted, Thaddeus agreed.
"I want the mineral before I have to move"
Noah reminded him.
Thaddeus nodded and stood up, that conversation had left him with a bitter taste in his mouth.
"The stone will be given to you in less than a week, together with the specifics about the mission. I just want you to remember one thing."
Noah waited calmly for the Professor to continue to speak.
"We are not your enemies."
As soon as he said that, he left the room and exited the accommodation.
"Speaking about hidden threats, that Thaddeus must really care about this situation."
Ivor said, appearing from the other room.
"I understand them to be honest. You don't rule a nation for two thousand years without being paranoid about everything that can endanger your position."
Noah answered, laying on the couch and analyzing what had just happened.
"Why are they so into you? Is it because of your element?"
Noah nodded and answered Ivor in a plain voice.
"All they want is control over their subjects. With Daniel being on the side of the nobles, they need someone of equal rarity and talent or their figure would lose importance in the eyes of all the other families. Well, I'm also useful for their dirty work"
"So, will you join the Royals once danger knocks on your door?"
Noah shook his head.
"They must have realized by now that I don't like to be controlled. Once my usefulness is over, they will give me an ultimatum."
He was speaking about these matters with ease as if they didn't concern him in the slightest.
"And what will you do at that point?"
Ivor asked in a concerned tone.
He didn't want to see his student being used by Royals but he also didn't like the idea of losing the last heir of the Elemental forging method.
He wasn't sure he would survive until he found someone else as talented as Noah.
Noah shrugged his shoulders and turned to one side to sleep, saying one last phrase to Ivor.
"I will be long gone before things reach that point."
What Thaddeus had promised didn't take much to arrive.
In just four days, a soldier in golden armor knocked at Noah's door and handed him a space-ring.
The space inside the ring was small, not even three cubic meters, but contained a pile of sheets and a big blue stone.
Noah's eyes widened seeing the "Breath" blessing and he immediately took it out to place it in the reinforced room.
As for the ring, he simply gave it to Ivor to sell it while he was gone.
The "Breath" blessing was cubic and its proportions were quite precise, it seemed that it had been cut from a bigger piece.
It was one and a half meters tall and almost the same in its other dimensions.
When it came outside of the separate space in the ring, the density of "Breath" increased by a lot and surpassed the one in the best habitation of the academy!
'Well, it's coupled with the already high density of this room. Just this alone can probably only reach a level lower than the one in the academy.'
Nevertheless, Noah was satisfied.
'With this, my training won't be slowed anymore even when I'm outside hunting! I can also use it to lure out beasts!'
Magical beasts would instinctively be attracted by such precious items, Noah could already imagine the number of traps he could set up in his hunts with that mineral.
'To think that I finally managed to get my hands on something like this.'
That was the third time in which he came across a "Breath" blessing.
Due to his personality, he had always desired to obtain one of them, yet they weren't easy to find and no one would ever sell it.
Noah moved his gaze to the sheets and began to inspect them.
His brows furrowed a bit before relaxing in a surprised expression.
'That's quite the coincidence.'
Written on the sheets, there was the various information about the mission from the Royal family, as well as the name of the student that made that absurd purchase.
'Samuel Muwlos.'
Noah's eyes shone with a cold light remembering his previous encounters with him.