Chapter 332: Preparing for World Tree trip He made his way upstairs to his bedroom and closed the door behind him, then locked it to ensure his father wouldn’t enter when he was away, listening for a moment to ensure his father wasn’t following. The sound of Alan’s footsteps moving closer to the trophy confirmed that Noah’s prediction had been correct about wanting to admire it privately. It was time to check on Lola and return to Esta. The World Tree expedition had been delayed long enough, and he needed to coordinate with his archmage companion about their preparations for the dangerous journey ahead. Noah activated his portal system, the familiar shimmer of interdimensional energy appearing in his room as the gateway to his shop materialised. He stepped through without hesitation, leaving Earth behind as he returned to the medieval world where his most important challenges awaited. The shop materialised around him, and Noah immediately began searching for Lola to assess her training progress and discuss their next steps toward the World Tree. Lola remained deep in meditation, her aura emanating the same powerful energy it had when Noah first departed for Earth. The archmage sat motionless in her lotus position, clearly still working toward the breakthrough that would elevate her to the peak of her current rank. Leo slept peacefully beside her, the golden-maned lion’s steady breathing the only sound in the otherwise silent shop. ’It seems like she hasn’t advanced to the peak of archmage rank yet. This is going to be an issue,’ Noah thought to himself, assessing the situation. ’It seems like I will have to inform the elves that the auction has been delayed. Hopefully, they don’t get suspicious about the reasons behind the postponement.’ Before he could fully process the complications this might create, a notification interrupted his thoughts. The idle room had completed its assigned task while he was away at the tournament. He had placed his body tempering skill into the automated training system just before departing from the resort, squeezing in the quick setup during his final moments there. The investment had clearly paid dividends during his absence. [Your skill Body Tempering has reached level 15] Noah felt the transformation immediately, the changes rippling through his form in waves of profound alteration. His body felt like it had transcended its previous limitations and become something fundamentally different from his previous physiology. His senses sharpened dramatically, allowing him to perceive details that would have been invisible moments before. He could hear the subtle rhythm of Lola’s breathing from across the room, feel the minute air currents created by Leo’s sleeping form, and detect scents with a clarity that exceeded before. His skin had become noticeably healthier and more resilient, taking on a quality that suggested both vitality and durability beyond what any normal conditioning could achieve. When he pressed his fingers against his forearm, the flesh felt denser and more resistant to pressure, as if his entire body had been compressed into a more efficient physical form. The muscle definition across his frame had refined itself without adding bulk. His movements felt lighter and more controlled, as if gravity’s influence had decreased slightly. Noah flexed his hands experimentally, marvelling at the responsiveness he could feel coursing through his physiology. He pulled up his full status to review the complete picture of his current capabilities: — Host: Noah Carter Age: 28 Shop Level: 2 Daily Revenue: $2,153,000 (or equivalent) Current Assets: $25,162,340 Shop Points: 32,890 Attributes: Strength: 90, Vitality: 420, Intelligence: 270, Agility: 90 Skills: [Level 15:] Mana Control, Aura, Body Tempering [Level 14:] Wind Manipulation [Level 13:] Swordsmanship [Level 5:] Photographic Memory, Fire Manipulation [Level 4:] Cooking [Level 3:] Surviving on Ramen, Finance, Gaming [Level 2:] Programming — His vitality had been at 140, which was already higher than his other base attributes at 90. After reaching level 15 in body tempering, it had tripled, reaching a staggering 420 points. For a moment, Noah was completely dumbstruck as he processed the huge number displayed in his status screen. He had been curious about what would happen when body tempering reached this milestone, but the actual result exceeded even his optimistic expectations. Although he was extremely happy that his vitality was now at such an absurd level, he was also somewhat worried that his other attributes would lag behind significantly even after they upgraded to level 15. The disparity was becoming quite pronounced, with vitality now representing 1.5x his intelligence attribute at the same level. But after a moment of analytical thinking, he dismissed the concern as premature. His shop would always provide new items that would help him increase his attributes through consumption. The premium tier products, like instant coffee and mystical herbal tea, had already demonstrated the system’s capacity to provide balanced growth opportunities. The enhancement items would never stop appearing in his shop inventory. So lagging behind entirely wasn’t a realistic concern over the long term, but it was perfectly reasonable for him to have some attributes significantly higher than others at different points in his development, depending on which items he had consumed and which skills he had prioritized for advancement. The temporary imbalance was actually a feature rather than a flaw. His current build favoured survivability and magical capacity through vitality and intelligence, which made perfect sense given the dangerous expedition to the World Tree that awaited them. Having absurdly high vitality meant he could survive injuries that would kill normal practitioners, giving him a margin for error that others simply didn’t possess. Noah experimentally channelled mana through his body, feeling the way his enhanced vitality supported the flow of magical energy with unprecedented efficiency. The combination of 420 vitality points and level 15 body tempering created a physical vessel capable of withstanding magical techniques that would have torn apart his previous self. He could probably take direct hits from master-level spells now and survive with minimal injury, his body’s regenerative capabilities operating at speeds that shocked him. The practical applications for combat were enormous. Still, he made a mental note to prioritize consuming items that would boost his strength and agility when the opportunity arose. While the current imbalance wasn’t problematic, having all his attributes elevated to similar levels would create even more devastating overall capabilities. --- With Lola still deep in her meditation practice, Noah decided to wait patiently for her to emerge naturally from her training session. He knew that she could sense his presence in the shop through her archmage-level perception, and since she hadn’t broken her concentration, it meant that she was most probably still not finished with her advancement attempt and might even be in a critical state of breaking through to the next level. Interrupting such a delicate process could potentially ruin weeks of preparation and cause her breakthrough to fail entirely. Noah had learned enough about magical cultivation to understand that timing was crucial during rank advancement. He grabbed a few enhancement items from the shelves, selecting products that would support his own training session while Lola completed her work. Then he made his way up the stairs to the second floor, where he could practice without any possibility of disturbing her concentration. Noah downed the items he had selected to help facilitate his own potential breakthrough. The familiar surge of temporary attribute boosts flowed through his system as the premium consumables took effect, preparing his body and mana channels for intensive training. He reached into his storage ring and withdrew one of the tier 5 wind orbs, the concentrated elemental essence pulsing with power in his hand. The artefact represented thousands of hours of natural wind element accumulation, compressed into a form that could dramatically accelerate his advancement. Settling into the lotus position on the floor, Noah began channelling the orb’s energy through his magical pathways. The next few hours passed in focused concentration as he pushed his wind manipulation capabilities toward the critical threshold that would unlock new techniques and applications. The wind essence from the orb flowed through his channels with increasing intensity, each circulation refining his understanding of air currents, pressure dynamics, and elemental control. [Your skill Wind Manipulation has reached Level 15!] A satisfied smile formed on Noah’s face as the notification appeared, confirming that another of his core skills had reached the critical level 15 threshold. The balanced advancement of his primary abilities continued according to his strategic planning. Unfortunately, wind manipulation did not grant him any direct attribute gains like body tempering had done with vitality. However, it did unlock access to a new advanced technique using wind element, which was always exciting to explore and could potentially provide combat applications that would prove invaluable during the World Tree expedition. Noah could immediately sense the expanded possibilities available to him now. The restriction that had previously limited him to controlling one or two wind blades simultaneously had vanished, replaced by the capacity to generate and manipulate multiple complex wind constructs at once. His understanding of how to combine wind with other elements had also deepened considerably. But that wasn’t the most exciting thing, the new skill was.