As they flew above the crowd for a few moments, the Aqua arena that Atian had mentioned early had gradually appeared in their sight. Noah raised his gaze at the cauldron-like building in the distance. Behind the guild building, Noah could vaguely notice the colossal arena.
Currently, there were fully armed aqua clan soldiers stationed outside the building to maintain order. The green robed crowd flooded towards the alchemist guild building and it was evident to Noah that the competition had gathered thousands of alchemists from all over the world.
The kingdom would receive a huge blow if a riot were to occur. Therefore, the royal family of Idrisal and the guild were extremely cautious regarding maintaining order. Unfortunately, the crowd caused finding the assassin or how Gabriel planned to assassinate the guild leader Hendrix Gardner.
There were inspectors from the Alchemist Guild stationed at the entrance. Only Guild members and the participants were allowed to enter from this entrance while the spectators entered the arena through the west side entrance.
”Good luck Noah,” Alicia pecked Noah on the cheek before flying towards the west entrance with Norvin. After Alicia left, Noah squeezed through the participants in the guild hall and finally entered the arena adjacent to the guild. Finally, Noah breathed a sigh of relief as the arena had enough space to accommodate all the participants without squeezing them together.
Standing at the entrance, Noah looked at the large arena built with an aquatic blue marble to the point that he felt like he was standing inside an ocean. He could not help but shake his head and praise.
The arena was round oval, with countless seats symmetrically like shark teeth. Opposite the audience seats, VIP seats were decorated lavishly, specially catered for the judges and special guests.
As his gaze swept over the incomparably large open ground, Noah discovered that thousands of jade square tables scattered neatly, resembling a green rock military unit standing still.
Currently, countless alchemists were participating in the competition quietly seated cross-legged on a stone chair behind the jade tables within the open ground. But, as time flowed, moving closer to the beginning of the competition, more and more alchemists swarmed into the arena. They took seats randomly since no table number or token was allocating specific tables for a particular participant.
”Noah Winston” Noah heard a familiar voice, and the voice immediately made Noah smile,
”Grandmaster Atian,” Noah turned around to see Grandmaster Atian walking toward him,
”How is my favorite young man?” Atian embraced Noah in a tight hug,
”Doing wonderful Uncle…Grghhmmm…sorry” Noah cleared his throat realizing they were not alone,
”Grandmaster Atian”
”I am glad to hear that,” Atian patted Noah’s shoulder,
Then, Atian ascended to the air taking Noah with him.
”Let’s go to the VIP seats first. There is still some time until the start of The Competition. I want you to meet some important people. It might help you do your other thing,” Atian winked at Noah as Noah nodded at him. Atian was the one who tipped Noah about the assassination plot. Because of Gabriel’s connection in and out of the guild, Atian couldn’t trust anyone except Noah.
”Gabriel hasn’t arrived yet. But you need to be careful about the new guy. I can’t quite put my fingers in it, but he gives me chills” Atian’s face turned serious after they left the ground and ascended to the air above.
Before Noah could ask who that man was, they reached the VIP seating, where Noah saw Alred and an old man with brown hair and a few stripes of gray hair leisurely sitting on the chair in the middle. He wore a purple robe with golden engravings and seemed to meditate with closed eyes.
”That is the Guild Leader, Hendrix Gardner. A six-star alchemist.
Before Gabriel became who he is today, Lord Hendrix had given him a lot of care. It would not be an overstatement to say that he was the mentor of Gabriel…” Atian softly said.
”Oh?”
Noah’s eyebrows twitched slightly. He had only heard about Hendrix, but this was the first time he had seen the man.
The old man with tired eyes appeared to have sensed the gazes focused on him and suddenly turned his head around. He turned his seemingly perplexed gaze toward Noah’s side. A friendly smile appeared on the dried skin on his face.
Seeing that the old man had turned his head over, Atian hurriedly bowed and greeted. After which, they slowly walked to the front row.
”Lord Hendrix Gardner, how was your journey to Idrisal?” the old man slowly opened his eyes, turning his head to look at Atian.
”It’s Atian right? You’ve reached the five-star level. Your progress is not bad, not bad at all…” Hendrix swept his turbid gaze at the two of them and laughed softly.
”It’s all because of Lord Hendrix’s teachings the last time around.” Atian respectively said.
”All that I can speak about is some of my personal experience. The most important thing is depending on yourselves…” Hendrix Gardner smiled, shaking his head. He suddenly turned his gaze toward Noah behind Atian.
”Who is this young man, Atian? Your disciple?” With a friendly smile, Hendrix asked Atian,
”Lord Hendrix, This young man is Noah Winston. He is the youngest guardian captain” Ativan introduced Noah to Hendrix as Noah bowed slightly to show his respect to the six-star alchemist before him,
”Not only the youngest guardian captain but also a talented alchemist. I can see the talent in your eyes…” Hendrix Gardner’s voice was neither hurried nor slow. Although it was a little hoarse, it had a certain magical-like property that did not allow others to interrupt his words.
Noah calmly smiled but did not continue to say anything on this topic.
Hendrix Gardner smiled and stared at Noah. His gaze seemed to have a deeper meaning as he paused on that calm face for a while.
”I wish you good luck, young man. You will need it,” Hendrix calmly said. But something told Noah his simple words contained wisdom and meaning behind.
”Does he know about the assassination plot on his life?” Noah couldn’t help asking himself after hearing Hendrix’s words,
”You should learn some aura hiding spells, young man. If you ever plan to visit Awor, that is,” Hendrix continued with the same calm smile on his face. However, this time, his words were heavy as though he had sensed Noah’s secret,
”Don’t tell me that he sensed the teacher’s presence?” Noah blinked his eyes. There was a change in his heart as he muttered,
”Teacher,” Noah telepathically called for his teacher,
”Relax, he can’t sense me. But be careful, I have a strange feeling about him” Noah heard Andreas’s voice in his head,
”Perhaps I have sensed wrongly,” Hendrix said to himself. The sudden aura he felt or thought he felt wasn’t around him anymore. The old man sighed in disappointment. Then, he leaned back against the chair, appearing a little absent-minded as he entered a trance while his memory played.
Back then, when Hendrix Gardner was still young, he had coincidentally met a revenant of an old man in a dungeon he and his friends adventured.
Because of Hendrix’s thirst for knowledge and young blood, he was separated from his group, ended up meeting the revenant, and spent three days with the old man. During those three days, the old man taught him a few things and gave him a scroll containing alchemy knowledge.
By borrowing what the old man had taught, the initially unknown Hendrix Gardner, an adventurer with a basic talent for alchemy, advanced step by step to his current stage.
Only after reaching the six-star level, Hendrix had realized how terrifyingly talented the old revenant was when he was alive. Even though he and his fellow six-star alchemists in Awor were praised as the heavenly alchemists and worshiped by the world of alchemists, he knew none of them could hold a torch to the old man. Which was the reason Hendrix always remained humble despite his fame and stardom.
The vague aura he sensed on Noah a moment ago was quite similar to the one that the old man had back then. It was the reason that Hendrix suddenly got lost in their thoughts.
However, as Atian was about to take his seat, a burst of old laughter was emitted from a passageway in the middle of the seats, “I knew you would run to Lord Hendrix as fast as your old legs could”
Hearing the laughter, everyone turned their heads around to take a look. When they saw a white-haired old man wearing golden robes walking towards Hendrix.
The person who arrived at the stage was Alred, whom Noah had when he came to the guardian guild. Jennifer also followed closely behind. Today, she was wearing a pale-green alchemist robe that was clearly specially tailored for her using the best materials. Her spacious sleeves had bright silk pulled around them to form a lotus shape. This gave her an elegance that came from nowhere. However, Noah clearly knew her character and understood that this young lady, who appeared quiet on the surface, was actually a quirky person.
As his gaze swept past Jennifer, Noah discovered that beside her was a tall lady wearing a luxurious and brilliant dress. Compared to the cute and petite Jennifer, the lady was mature and had a nobility feel around her. When she saw Atian and Noah, she just nodded to acknowledge their existence and then looked at the alchemists gathering down.
There was an iciness and matured aura all over this lady. As her pretty eyes moved, a temptation naturally appeared.
Noah’s gaze swept past the two ladies and finally landed on Alred. He bowed and greeted with a smile, “Grandmaster Alred,”
”Alred, this young man is Noah, whom I have mentioned to you. His ability is extraordinary,” Ativan told Alred and the lady standing beside, pointing at Noah. Hearing Alred’s evaluation, Jennifer by the side tooted, secretly muttering something. It was likely that she was not satisfied by these words of Alred.
”Nice to meet you, Master Noah,”
The hazel eyes of the lady stared at Noah. Then, she smiled. The instant she smiled, it surprised some noble family descendants around the VIP seats since Eve Voldigard was known to treat people coldly.