System vs Rebirth

After receiving the new tasks, Noel woke up.

"Mhm…" He let out a small groan while moving his body around. Although he didn't feel much pain, the fatigue still wore down his body.

"You have woken up." Shale's voice echoed in his ears as Noel hurriedly turned his head to the side. "Because your group has helped Anna Stargaze in minimizing our casualty, you're exempted from the test as well. And because of that incident, it seems that the test will need to be canceled."

"I…" Noel looked down and found his bag on the side of his bed. He immediately grabbed it and took out a pouch with ten crystals inside. "I don't have a group and this is my proof."

Shale raised his eyebrows in surprise and checked the bag. He had heard from Alfred that Noel chose to go by himself.

Hence, he still claimed that Noel was with them, simply to help Noel. However, he might have underestimated Noel.

"Did you gather these alone?"

"Yes."

"Traps?"

"It took me a while to find a good spot and build some traps, but yes…"

"I see." Shale nodded in understanding before handing back the pouch. "I'll still consider you as a part of the group."

"But…"

Shale waved his hand, denying his claim. He said, "Instead of getting swallowed by your pride and hatred, it's better to use those crystals to get stronger."

"Get stronger?" Noel tilted his head in confusion. Shale hadn't talked about the usage of the crystal, so he wasn't aware of the reason why they wanted to gather these crystals.

"Do you know why the lamps on the street can shine continuously? It is because the Spiritual Energy from the crystal has been converted to lit it up. In other words, the crystal is a source of Spiritual Energy."

"I'm sorry, I don't quite follow what you said."

"To put it simply, the crystal is the core of the demon that supplies Spiritual Energy. Although your spirits will let you know how to use them, you still need Spiritual Energy to wield them. And we, humans, can get stronger by absorbing the Spiritual Energy from this crystal.

"And each human has a limit to what they can absorb, so it's not like you can buy a hundred thousands of crystals to become the strongest person in the world. How much can you actually grow depends on your conversion rate.

"Conversion Rate itself is similar to that of talent. If you have 100% Conversion Rate, you can become the best after absorbing all the crystals to your limit. Of course, having 100% Conversion Rate is close to impossible.

"Even I only have 50% Conversion Rate. Even that genius, Anna Stargaze, has 95% Conversion Rate according to the rumor. So, instead of getting fixated on your pride or hatred, I want you to use these crystals to increase your Spiritual Energy.

"As for how high your Conversion Rate is… It depends on your Spirit. Just ask them… At the very least, I know that the Spirit can't lie."

Noel looked down for a moment and said, "So, this conversion rate is talent. The higher your conversion rate is, the stronger you can become."

"Exactly."

"How many crystals can we absorb in our lifetime?"

"According to our research, you can absorb 2500 Low Quality Crystals, 1500 Mid Quality Crystals. That's what you need to know for now."

"Low Quality Crystals?"

"Yeah. They come from Low Level Demon Above it is Mid Quality Crystal from Mid Level Demon. It continues… but there's no way you can fight against a High Level Demon for now, so just give up that idea."

"What happens after we reach the limit?"

"You will find yourselves unable to absorb more of them. The Spiritual Energy will simply leave your body. The research used 10,000 people, so it's pretty accurate."

"I see." Noel looked down, contemplating. He also remembered what Heisk and Ardagan said. It was true that he hated everything, but it seemed that his action was a bit too much.

If he swallowed his pride, he might be able to achieve more than this by taking advantage of Anna Stargaze. If he hid his hatred and lowered Anna's guard, the chance of him killing her would increase.

'It seems my eyes have been clouded by revenge this whole time. I almost forgot that my current objective is to get stronger. I can't achieve my revenge if I'm not strong.' Noel closed his eyes, calming his heart down. Noel nodded, "Thank you, Sir Shale. I've recognized my mistake and will do my best from now on."

"Is that so?" Shale nodded. "You're free to rest until tomorrow. The classes will resume the day after tomorrow and the test will be rescheduled to one week from now. Because the participants are stronger by that time, we'll lower the number of people per group. So, there will only be two people per group."

"Understood. I'll prepare myself."

"Alright. That's all you need to know." Shale then rose from his seat and checked the other trainees, wondering who had woken up.

Meanwhile, Noel meditated again, planning to ask Ardagan and Heisk about this conversion rate.

Surprisingly, their answer was beyond his imagination.

"I have 100% Conversion Rate," Ardagan proudly stated.

"I have merged with Ardagan, so I also have 100% Conversion Rate now." Heisk added, "Though, what's more important is that… There are two spirits inside your body. It means your limit is doubled. In the future, you can become twice as strong as that Anna Stargaze."

"Don't forget about my medal's effect. The more demons you slay, the better the effect will be. You can become even stronger than that. However, it will mean nothing if you become full of yourself and get killed somewhere because of that confidence."

Noel nodded with a smile. "Don't worry. I know what I should do right now."

"Then, we wish you to get stronger as soon as possible, Master."

"Alright. Thank you for the help, you two." Noel smiled and returned to the reality. He checked his body's condition and muttered inwardly, 'I have this free time, so I need to focus on my training as well as helping the citizens to get more Honor Points in the meantime. I also have the mission to kill the Ancient Demon Tree… I need to reconsider my approach this time. For now, let's go back.'