The Extra is a Genius!? Chapter 594: 99%

The platform remained hushed, save for the subtle shifting of stones and the faint whisper of wind traversing the gorge beneath. At the heart of the etched circle, Noel positioned himself with Revenant Fang unsheathed, its edge reflecting the waning rays of the afternoon sun peeking through the mountain tops. Scattered around him on the rocky surface were the lifeless chunks of the final beast they had felled.

Noir eased down next to him gradually, her breaths more even now compared to an hour earlier. The battle had taxed her. And him too. That monster had moved with unexpected speed, its form tailored to the heights and the erratic mana flows that rendered standard spells unpredictable. Noel had expended more power than planned, adapting on the fly, discarding two strategies outright before settling on the effective one.

He cleaned the blade on the rock and returned it to its scabbard.

"Status."

A see-through panel materialized plainly.

[Current Core Progress: 99.00% — Mana Core: Archmage]

Noel stared at the figure for an extended pause, unmoving. Just one percent. A mere threshold between his current state and an unknown realm none of them truly grasped. Noctis had never detailed the inner sensation of Mana Core. Elarin had attained it only to vanish completely. Noel had pored over that fact countless times, examining it like a pebble hiding something grim beneath.

He closed the panel.

'We're almost there,' Noir murmured softly from his side, her gaze still sweeping the distant crest instinctively.

"Yes," Noel answered.

'How are you holding up?'

He pondered the query sincerely. His mana stores were depleted more than he'd like, the prolonged clash draining them beyond what one skirmish warranted. His frame sensed the elevation as usual at this height, with a mild strain behind the eyes and a keen edge to each inhale. Yet underneath it all, another feeling lingered calmly. Not thrill. Not dread.

Something more akin to readiness.

"I could push for it today," he stated. Plenty of beasts roamed these heights. The proper chain of clashes, the suitable intensity of challenge, and that final percentage would seal itself. He understood the calculations. He'd been running the numbers for weeks.

Noir glanced up toward him.

He breathed out deliberately and pivoted to the platform's brink, his sight following the infinite crests vanishing afar.

"But no need to hasten it."

Noir's tail flicked once in silent accord. The mountains voiced no stance on the matter. They merely endured, vast and uncaring, as they ever had.

Noel delved into his coat and extracted a piece of preserved provision, consuming it without much enthusiasm as the final glow dimmed over the summits.

One percent.

It would arrive in its own time.

He was already eyeing the upcoming path when the tremor struck.

The sort of thrum the communicator emitted when the sender activated the rune multiple times. Noel noted it without glancing away, his attention fixed on a ridge some two hundred meters distant where a massive shape had flickered into sight momentarily before vanishing behind a stone pillar.

The device thrummed once more.

He retrieved it from his Dimensional Pouch unhurriedly, his fingers grasping the relic and pulling it free. The symbols on its exterior burned with a constant light, distinct from the faint pulse it showed when inactive. An individual had been attempting contact for a good minute at least.

He activated the rune.

The link established at once.

"Noel."

Elyra's tone stayed composed. That struck him first. She hadn't let it waver, hadn't permitted alarm to creep in as most would in strain. But under the poise lay a restrained edge, contained with the care one uses to shield a spark from gusts.

"You must return immediately."

Noel held his silence for now. He was already interpreting the quiet gaps in her speech, the pattern of her respiration, the brief hesitation before she pressed on.

"It's our daughter."

A briefer interval this time.

"She's arriving. And she requires you present."

The ridge with the vanished beast held no significance now. The 99% poised in his mind, steady and exact, faded entirely. Noel regarded the gadget in his grasp for precisely one second, then turned to Noir.

She had risen already.

Her ears pointed ahead, her gaze shifting from the skyline to him, assessing his stance as she invariably did prior to his words. Her tail hung motionless. Not from strain, but concentration. She comprehended already. She had caught every syllable.

"I'm heading back," Noel told the device.

He didn't linger for a reply. He triggered the rune anew to sever the link and tucked the item back into his Dimensional Pouch seamlessly.

The mountains sprawled about him, immense and detached. An hour prior, he had been plotting what lineup of battles could finalize the remaining percentage by dusk. The ideal beast at the optimal height, sufficient push to surpass the system's ultimate limit. He had outlined three potential paths, ordering them by mana yield.

All that vanished now.

'Prepared?' Noir inquired, her words soft yet aligned with his purpose.

Noel tightened the band on his shoulder and veered from the crest without a backward glance.

"Yes."

He bypassed the teleportation array inscribed on the platform rearward. The array was dependable, yet it demanded setup duration and a steady mana infusion to the central node. Such delays didn't suit the urgency of the coming moments.

He lifted one hand marginally, centering his intent as was his custom before far-range traversal. No surging mana tempest. No apparent warp twisting the atmosphere nearby.

"Spatial Shift."

The mountains receded unremarkably.

The heat enveloped him prior to his sight clarifying fully.

A single draw of sparse peak air, followed by the known aroma of the Valon estate overtaking it. Noel found himself in the entry hallway, solid tile underfoot, gentle lantern light enveloping him. His mana levels noted the Spatial Shift's toll right away, a keen reduction he sensed in his torso like a hand gripping void. Traversing vast lands in one leap without the array's stabilizer wasn't meant for ease. He had spanned realms in an instant, and his physique registered the toll.

He released a breath and permitted the unease to subside without resistance.

Noir appeared at his side an instant after, her compact shape emerging from his shadow to the hallway tiles. She gave a quick shake and met his eyes for a moment.

The estate buzzed with activity.

Sounds drifted from the upper section, mingling and intent. Steps pattered overhead in swift, controlled patterns. At the corridor's distant end, an unfamiliar healer hurried by an opening with stacked linens, her pristine white garb bearing the intent focus of one immersed in duty.

Noel refrained from sprinting. Hurrying on foot revealed no more swiftly than a brisk pace, and it would squander mana he'd already committed heavily to the transit.

He ascended the steps in pairs.

The hallway above gleamed brighter than the mansion's other areas, with two extra lights set along the partition by the remotest chamber. The entrance stood ajar. A slender beam of cozy illumination seeped through the crack, accompanied by stirrings, hushed talks, and the tense quietude born of a gathering striving for tranquility.

Noel eased the door aside.

Charlotte spotted him first. Positioned by the opposite partition, her face balanced relief and lingering strain, and upon noticing him, her frame eased a fraction. She offered a subtle inclination sans words.

Selene lingered nearby, limbs casually crossed, attention locked on him the second he entered.

The medical attendants filled the space's core with the seamless proficiency he recalled from Nicolas's arrival, their actions steady yet ongoing.

And Elyra lay present.

She sat propped on cushions, her dark locks unbound and moist at the edges, draping over her form in a manner Noel seldom witnessed. She maintained it disciplined typically, secured or bound, each fiber arranged with the meticulous attention she extended to all matters. In this state, free and relaxed, she appeared altered. Not diminished. Merely nearer to a vulnerability she seldom exposed.

Her silver gaze located him the moment he framed the threshold, and for an instant, the poise she had sustained over continental spans frayed faintly at the borders.

Not from anxiety.

From ease.

"You've arrived," she uttered, the phrase emerging softer than intended.

Noel traversed the area and clasped her palm. Her digits enveloped his at once, firmer than she'd usually permit amid company.

"I'm here," he responded.

Her chin clenched momentarily as an inner wave traversed her, absorbed mutely, her hold intensifying on his for three beats prior to relaxing.

"You got here swiftly," she noted.

"I employed Spatial Shift straightaway," Noel explained. "Skipped the circle entirely. I needed to reach you promptly."

Elyra's silver eyes examined his features briefly. "You realize she might have held off a bit more."

"I couldn't," he stated plainly.

A quiet interlude ensued. Then Elyra's lip curved faintly, the subtle grin she kept for unforeseen instances. She directed her view ahead wordlessly, though her clasp on his remained firm.

A healer approached and addressed her in a subdued, even manner, and Elyra replied with the exactitude she wielded in all dealings. Even in this place and time, she withheld total yielding of command.

She merely permitted Noel to grasp her hand.

And she held on tight.