The morning light filtered through the window when Noah opened his eyes and stretched lazily on the bed.
—Finally —he murmured, sitting up—. Third rank of Magus apprentice.
He had spent months striving in meditation, accumulating spiritual power, and now he had reached a new level. However, a small grimace of disappointment appeared on his lips.
—Too bad I don't have any soul spells… At this level, I could do much more. At least my spiritual strength will enhance my genjutsus.
He jumped to his feet and, with a quick gesture, extracted the magic door from his 4D pocket. The door floated in the air for an instant before opening, revealing on the other side the wooden walls of his secret chamber.
Noah stepped forward and crossed the threshold. Behind him, the door closed and disappeared.
The previous day, he had decided to seal the tunnel that connected directly to his room. It was safer to keep access limited to the magic door or teleportation.
He advanced along the main hallway and, upon reaching a thick wooden door, placed his hand on its surface. The wood deformed, opening like a petal to reveal a vast space excavated into the rock.
This was his training ground.
It was an immense cavern, with high ceilings and irregular walls covered in battle marks. Scars from cuts, burns, and explosions decorated every inch of stone. In the center of the floor, a magic circle of complex patterns was engraved. And at its core, a medieval sword was stuck halfway into the blade.
To one side of the cavern, several metal shelves held dozens of weapons: shurikens of all sizes, bows and arrows, spears, katanas, and other lethal tools. Next to them, piled up like broken toys, a dozen copy robots lay shattered.
Noah approached the engraving, carefully stepping on the lines of Merlin's Circle. In the world of Sorcerer's Apprentice, this circle served to attract mana from the environment and create an inexhaustible source of energy for practicing spells. There was no mana here, but there was natural energy. And that was what he used for his practice.
The sword stuck in the center was a work of art. Its hilt was adorned with a dragon's head, two green gems embedded in the eyes and a blue gem in the pommel. At the base of the blade, small engraved stars ran along the metal to the tip, shining with their own glow.
More than a combat weapon, it looked like a ceremonial sword. But Noah knew its true power.
Drakaris Sword.
He had named it that, in honor of the mythical word used in the world of Game of Thrones to command dragons to breathe fire. It was the result of fusing the magical sword and ring he had obtained from the world of Sorcerer's Apprentice. An object capable of channeling external energy in a refined way to cast spells, but with an absurdly amplified scale.
Noah reached out and touched the hilt. A current of energy ran through his arm.
—It's been a while since I last used it —he murmured.
He withdrew his hand and, instead, channeled a large amount of natural energy into the sword. The green gems in the dragon's eyes lit up intensely. When he considered it enough, he pushed it slightly, driving it a little deeper into the ground.
Merlin's Circle reacted instantly.
Greenish flames ran along the engravings, lighting up every line of the complex pattern. The light illuminated the entire cavern, casting dancing shadows on the walls.
—Tssss…
Noah took a deep breath and activated Sage Mode. His eyes turned amber with slit pupils, and a thin purple line adorned his eyelids.
Then he made a simple movement.
Hundreds of roots sprouted from the ground at the same time.
Not even two seconds had passed when the cavern filled with humanoid wooden forms. They intertwined, took shape, and within seconds, hundreds of clones identical to Noah occupied every available space. They were so tightly packed that they looked like sardines in a can.
Noah had not used a single drop of his chakra. All the energy came directly from the magic circle. The channeler was not his body, but the sword.
—Now I feel like a baby with a nuclear weapon —he laughed to himself.
It was an exaggeration… but not by much.
In his current state, very few in the shinobi world could match that level of power. The sword placed no strain on his body and could be used indefinitely. As long as it wasn't taken from him, defeating him would be extremely complicated. Among the few capable of doing so were the late Tobirama and a handful of other exceptions.
Even so, Noah had no intention of relying on external power to go around believing himself invincible.
First, because that wasn't his style. He preferred that no one ever know just how far his true strength extended.
And second, because it was still an artifact. Sooner or later someone would discover that it was the source of his power, and then it would be easy to take it away using techniques like Tobirama's Hiraishin or the Raikage's movement jutsus.
The sword was a hidden card, and he intended to keep it that way until he was forced to use it.
With a gesture, he deactivated Merlin's Circle. The green flames died out, and the cavern returned to its usual dimness. The wooden clones crumbled into dust.
Noah pulled the Drakaris Sword from the ground and stored it in his 4D pocket. Then, from inside, he took out a sheathed katana.
It was a different piece. The slightly curved blade had a deadly gleam. The hilt, wrapped in black cord, contrasted with the white metal of the blade. Without unsheathing it, Noah felt the weight of the steel.
He decided to call this sword Mugen. The sword of infinity.
The result of fusing Denkomaru with Kusanagi. A top-tier killer weapon.
He contemplated it for a moment before putting it away as well. Then, from his pocket, he extracted a small notebook.
As soon as it touched his hands, the notebook began to expand. The pages multiplied, the cover hardened, and within seconds it transformed into a large, ancient-looking grimoire.
This was the Enchantus he had obtained from the world of Sorcerer's Apprentice.
Inside were recorded most of the spells from the world of Sorcerer's Apprentice. Noah had studied it for months, dedicating each night to understanding and practicing the different disciplines.
—Let's review a bit —Noah murmured as he opened the book to a marked page.
The grimoire contained multiple domains: the elemental domain, with its four variants of fire, water, earth, and air; the domain of matter, capable of manipulating energy and creating objects from nothing; the space-time domain, with teleportation and slowing spells; the movement domain, focused on telekinesis; the mind domain, with hypnotic and telepathic techniques; and the transformation domain, to alter the appearance and properties of objects and living beings.
Noah closed his eyes and concentrated his Chaos Force. He extended a hand and, following the grimoire's instructions, channeled energy.
A small flame danced in his palm. Then he extinguished it and, with another gesture, a stream of water sprang from the air. After that, a rock floated around him.
He practiced for several minutes, alternating elemental spells with more complex ones. A gust of wind, a plasma bolt, an instant of temporal slowing. Everything flowed naturally, as if he had been born with those abilities.
For space-time spells, he used Void energy, and for mental spells, his own psychic power. And for the rest, Chaos Force.
When he deemed it enough, he closed the Enchantus. The grimoire shrank back to the size of a small notebook, which he stored in his pocket.