System vs Rebirth

According to their agreement, they only had one tent. In other words, they were going to share this tent. It would certainly be uncomfortable for most people, but Anna didn't feel that repulsive to Noel, so she suggested this idea.

Noel also thought that bringing only one tent was easier. The tent itself was only for sleeping, so he didn't really care about the situation.

However, with Anna sleeping in the tent, Noel couldn't help but stare at it intensely. There were various thoughts in his mind.

Normally, as a boy in his puberty, Noel would have a weird thought in his mind when sharing a roof with a woman, a beautiful one on top of that. However, Anna in his mind was evil that he was just thinking about how to plan against her.

On the other hand, her words about his parents and his family flashed in his mind.

'What was the actual reason for the Royal Family executing my family? Anna Stargaze alone wasn't enough to influence them, so there must be something that scared the Royal Family.

'Did my family have something like that? I hadn't learned much about business from my father, let alone the family as a whole because I was too comfortable in my own zone. So, I didn't really know about this matter.

'However, what I do know is that… My family's wealth was equal to a tenth of the country's entire wealth.

'Despite being a Count, my father's status was similar to that of a marquis or even higher because of that wealth.

'After executing my parents, the Royal Family seized everything other than my family heirloom.' Noel looked at the black blade. At first, it was rusty but after recognizing him as its master, the rust had disappeared.

'Now that I think about it, this sword was used by the family's ancestor. It was said that my ancestor helped the first king to establish the country and fended off hundreds of thousands of enemies.

'Don't tell me… What they wanted was the power of Ardagan? But they didn't think that the rusty sword was actually the reason why my ancestor could achieve all that?

'Well, this is plausible, but I don't know whether it's true or not because I'm not them. I need to investigate this matter closely in the future. And it seems that Anna Stargaze doesn't know much either. She is like a puppet of the family.' Noel frowned.

There were many questions in his mind, but it seemed he could only explore it later.

While he was in deep thought, he was alarmed by the sudden explosion from the lake.

*Boom!*

"!!!" Noel opened his eyes wide as he took his sword, heading to the water. He gasped when he saw the water burst out so high that it surpassed the trees in the area. "What is happening? No, that's not important."

Taking a deep breath, Noel let out a huge roar. "Anna Stargaze!"

As if responding to his call, Anna hurriedly left the tent and looked around, finding the water raging.

"What happened?" Anna asked as she arrived next to him.

"I don't know." Noel shook his head. His heart was racing and the adrenaline was rushing. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find anything extraordinary other than the water.

"Underwater?" Anna frowned.

"Probably. But such a situation…" Noel took out the Ice Pearl and gasped. "Don't tell me… What's the hidden use of the Ice Pearl?"

Anna shook her head. "I have told you all its purposes. But… it's purifying ability… It might be the one that has been keeping this lake calm."

"Then, we should put back this pearl."

"No. It's useless." Anna thought for a moment. "Do you have any clue about what's going on? At least, something at this scale?"

"The instructor didn't tell me anything, so no." Noel shook his head. He didn't know why but a memory flashed in his mind. It was the mission that Ardagan gave him. "Don't tell me…"

[Mission: Eliminate the weakened Ancient Demon Tree within 30 days.]

[Description: There's an Ancient Demon Tree sleeping underneath the Dark Demon Forest.]

[Reward: Demon Hunter Medal and 7 SP]

[Penalty: Lose your qualification to wield Ardagan.]

"No, this might be possible." Noel looked down, contemplating.

"I know that you don't trust me, Noel. But at a situation like this, you should share any possibilities. We can understand the situation better…"

Noel gritted his teeth and ultimately asked, "Can you seal a demon?"

"Seal a demon?" Anna gasped as she finally recalled the memory when a mysterious masked man slain the Ancient Demon Tree. "How do you know there's an Ancient Demon Tree down here?"

"How do you know it's an Ancient Demon Tree?"

"Eh?"

"Eh?"

Both of them were stunned at their own reaction. It was a desperate question, but they blurted out a secret at the same time.

No one was supposed to know about this information, but somehow both of them had this information.

'How did she know? I didn't even realize that Ardagan could even predict something like this… Even the commander shouldn't know about the Ancient Demon Tree.' Noel thought while glaring at Anna.

'As expected, the masked man was him. But how could he know there was an Ancient Demon Tree lying underneath this place? It was clear that Noel was ignorant. He shouldn't have read anything about Demons… So, it was impossible for him to know the Ancient Demon Tree… What did he do to know this information?' Anna also had her own suspicion.

How could Anna know that Noel had the help of Ardagan who seemed to be able to predict the future? Or how could Noel know that Anna had regressed with the knowledge of the future?

Both of them could only suspect each other. Anna's rebirth was one step ahead with knowledge and experience while Noel's system could predict things and was flexible enough to adjust to his need, giving him a perfect growth path.

This was the start of the battle between the power of system and rebirth.