That morning, exactly at seven o'clock, Noah was already standing in front of his wooden house with a bag on his back.
Inside were clothes and other things.
He stared at his old house for the last time.
The house he had left for nineteen years. The house that held memories of his parents who had long passed away.
But strangely, there was no feeling of sadness in his heart.
Just... emptiness.
"Alright."
Noah turned around, closed the door gently, then walked toward the meeting point with the horse carriage that Takeru had promised yesterday.
At the intersection of the village's main road, an old horse carriage was already waiting.
In front of the carriage sat an old man with gray hair and a thin beard. His face was wrinkled, his eyes tired, but his smile was friendly. He wore worn brown clothes and a straw hat to protect his head from the sunlight.
His name was Harto, a carriage driver who had been taking people to various places for decades.
"You must be Noah, right?" Harto asked with a smile.
"Yes."
Noah climbed into the carriage without much talk.
"Takeru already told me you're going to Avera City. It's quite far from here. The journey will take about five hours."
Harto pulled the horse's reins, and the carriage began to move slowly.
Clop... clop... clop...
The sound of the horse's footsteps echoed regularly on the rocky road.
Noah sat inside the carriage while staring out the small window. The scenery passing by was still the same—tall trees, rocky paths, and occasionally small houses from other villages.
He leaned his head against the wooden wall of the carriage, his eyes half-closed.
'Avera City, huh...'
'I wonder what that place is like.'
About two hours into the journey, the horse carriage suddenly stopped.
Creak!
Noah opened his eyes.
"Why did we stop?" he asked in a flat tone.
Harto didn't answer.
His expression was tense, his hands gripping the reins tightly.
There, in the middle of the road, stood a group of men—about six people—with ragged clothes and weapons in their hands. Swords, axes, and some even carrying large wooden clubs.
Their faces were dirty, full of battle scars, and their eyes sharp with malicious intent.
Bandits.
One of them, a large-bodied man with a long scar on his face, stepped forward with a wide grin.
"Hey, hey... look who's passing by," he said in a heavy voice.
"It's been a long time since anyone passed this road. You must already know the rules, right?"
Harto swallowed hard.
"Who are they?" Noah asked in a calm tone—too calm for a situation like this.
Harto looked at him with a pale face.
"They're bandits who always demand money if anyone wants to pass this road! I haven't been here in a long time, which made me forget about their existence!"
He wiped the sweat on his forehead.
Noah furrowed his brow.
"Just pay them then," he said casually.
"Are you crazy?!"
Harto stared at him in disbelief.
"They want us to pay 80% of the money we have! If we pay, we'll only have 20% left! Not just my money, but the money you're carrying will be the same!"
Noah was silent for a moment, then his expression changed.
His eyebrows furrowed, his eyes—although covered by his hair—appeared to narrow slightly.
"Hah? The same, you say?"
His tone turned cold.
"It seems they need to be taught a lesson."
Before Harto could stop him, Noah got off the horse carriage and walked forward with casual steps.
"Hey! What are you going to do?! You'll die if you do something crazy!"
Harto's shouts were ignored.
Noah kept walking, his hands in his pockets, his expression flat.
He stopped exactly a few meters in front of the bandits.
"You're bandits, right?"
His voice was calm, but there was a threatening tone in it.
"I suggest you leave before I use violence. My mood is good right now... before it changes later."
The bandits were silent for a moment.
Then—
"Hahahahaha!"
They laughed loudly.
"Are you crazy?! How dare you talk to us like that!"
The large-bodied man with a scar on his face stepped forward while pointing at Noah with his index finger.
"Don't you know who we are?! We are—"
"Yes, you're lowlifes."
Noah cut off his sentence with a flat tone.
"So get out of my sight. Looking at your faces makes me want to destroy them."
The atmosphere changed.
Their laughter stopped.
The bandits' faces turned red with anger.
"Boss, did you hear that?!"
One of his subordinates looked at their leader with a face full of rage.
"He wants to destroy us! Hey, kid!"
He stared at Noah with a sharp look.
"You better come to your senses! You're just one person! While we are six!"
The bandit leader—the large-bodied man from earlier—grinned.
"Alright. We who originally only wanted your money, now decide to kill you."
"Alright, do it quickly if you can. I highly doubt you can even touch me."
"How arrogant!"
He raised his hand.
"Attack now!"
His five subordinates immediately moved quickly, their swords and weapons raised high.
TAP! TAP! TAP!
They ran at full speed, war cries coming from their mouths.
Noah didn't move.
He just stood in his place, hands still in his pockets, expression flat without emotion. Noah clearly didn't consider them a threat to his life, a small smile suddenly appeared on his face.
'That kid's going to die!'
Harto closed his eyes, unable to watch what was about to happen.
But—
CLANG! TING! CLANG! TING! CLANG!
Five attacks hit something hard—but not Noah's body.
"What?!"
The bandits were shocked.
They stepped back several paces, staring at their trembling hands.
"What happened?!"
One of them looked at Noah in disbelief.
"I felt like I was hitting something invisible! What kind of technique are you using?!"
Noah smiled faintly again.
"I'm not interested in explaining."
He looked at them with a dismissive gaze.
"Besides, even if I explained, would people like you understand?"
The bandits' faces turned red.
"Don't be afraid! Attack him again!"
This time, their leader also joined the attack.
All six of them ran at full speed, their weapons raised high, war cries filling the air.
But Noah just smiled.
"You should already know that I'm stronger than you, your pride makes you do foolish things!"
"I'm not interested in wasting time with you here any longer."
He slowly raised his right hand, then snapped his fingers once.
Snap!
"So, let's end the game here."
And at that moment—
WHOOOOOOSH!
A strong wind suddenly appeared.
Not an ordinary wind—it was a very powerful wind vortex, spinning at incredible speed, pulling everything around it.
"What?!"
The bandits were shocked as their bodies began to lift off the ground.
WHOOOOOOSH!
They were all pulled into the wind vortex, their bodies spinning uncontrollably.
"Argh! What's happening?!"
"Let us go!"
Their heads started to spin, their vision blurred from the dust and dry leaves that were also sucked into the wind vortex.
But it wasn't over yet.
Noah raised his left hand upward.
CREEEEAK...
The sky above them suddenly changed.
Dark clouds appeared out of nowhere, spinning rapidly, lightning flashing within them.
CRAAAACK! CRAAAACK!
The sound of thunder roared.
Harto stared at the scene with his mouth wide open.
'Crazy... what kind of power is that?!'
'That kid... is he still human?!'
'Shouldn't humans only be able to use one elemental power?! How can that kid use two different elemental powers?!'
As Harto knew, in this world, most people could only use one elemental power. What he saw was something rare—the kid in front of him was using wind and lightning simultaneously. That was something very rare in this world, so he was clearly shocked by what he saw.
Noah looked at the bandits spinning in the wind vortex with a cold gaze.
"You might be brought to the brink of death... but that's clearly not my concern."
He lowered his hand.
"So, taste this!"
CRAAAACK!
A large lightning bolt struck from the dark clouds, shooting at high speed directly into the wind vortex trapping the bandits.
BOOOOM!
Blinding white light filled the entire area.
ZZZZZZT! ZZZZZZT! ZZZZZZT!
Electricity struck the bandits' bodies, making them scream in pain.
"AAAAAARGH!"
"HELP!"
Their screams filled the air, but Noah didn't care.
After a while—
WHOOOOSH...
The wind gradually disappeared.
The dark clouds above also vanished, as if they had never existed.
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
The bandits fell to the ground one by one, their bodies still glowing with small electric sparks.
Zzzt... zzzt...
Their eyes looked empty, their bodies not moving—but they were still breathing.
Still alive.
Noah walked toward them casually, an evil smile appearing on his face.
"As punishment for your crimes, I'll take all your money."
He laughed softly.
"Tsk tsk tsk..."
With quick movements, Noah walked to their bodies one by one, then took all the money pouches they were carrying.
After finishing, he returned to the horse carriage with a bag full of gold coins.
"Alright, let's continue to Avera City!"
Noah sat casually inside the carriage, his expression returning to flat as if nothing had happened.
Harto was still silent, his eyes staring at Noah with a confused and slightly fearful look.
"Hmm... is it okay for us to leave their bodies like that?" he asked carefully.
Noah looked at him with a flat stare.
"Why? Don't tell me you're worried about all of them?"
He sighed.
"They're criminals. What's happening to them now is their own doing."
Harto was silent.
He couldn't argue.
"Alright... let's continue."
Harto pulled the horse's reins, and the carriage began to move again, leaving the bandits still lying helplessly on the ground.
A few minutes later, the atmosphere inside the carriage returned to calm.
Harto glanced at Noah from the small mirror in front of him.
"By the way... are you also a student at Avera Academy?"
"No."
Noah shook his head.
"Today I'm going to register at Avera Academy."
Harto was silent for a moment, then laughed softly.
"Haha! Seeing what you did earlier, you must be a talented kid, right?"
He smiled.
"Do you know? Someone who can summon and use two different elemental powers is very rare. Your teacher must be a strong person!"
Noah laughed softly.
"Tsk tsk tsk... unfortunately I don't have a teacher or anything like that."
He folded his arms in front of his chest with an arrogant expression.
"A talented kid like me doesn't need that. Everything I did is the result of what I learned myself."
Harto almost choked on his own saliva.
'This kid is so arrogant!'
'And if you don't need a teacher, why do you want to enter that academy?!'
He took a deep breath, then asked carefully.
"By the way... is there a reason why you want to enter that academy if you yourself say you don't need a teacher?"
Noah was silent for a moment.
His expression changed slightly—more serious.
"You're curious too, huh?"
He sighed.
"Since I'm a kind-hearted kid, I'll tell you."
"I don't know what to do. The place where I used to work closed today. Since I didn't know what to do, the person I worked for suggested going to the academy. That's the reason."
He paused for a moment, staring out the window.
"And... I also want to know if she's there too."
His voice became quiet.
"My memories of her are a bit unclear..."
Harto furrowed his brow.
'She? Who does he mean?'
But he chose not to ask further.
"I see..."
He smiled slightly.
"You're a talented kid. If someone knew you could use two different elemental powers, they would definitely be shocked."
Harto looked at Noah through the small mirror.
"And I wonder... how can you see with your black hair covering both your eyes?"
Noah smiled faintly.
"Just because my eyes are covered doesn't mean I can't see."
He leaned against the carriage wall casually.
"I think many people in this world can do something like this."
'Many people?!'
Harto restrained himself from commenting.
'I've never even seen someone like that... although I'm sure they exist.'
'And also... this kid is entering the academy because he doesn't know what to do?!'
'What's actually going on in this kid's head?!'
Noah, who originally departed at seven in the morning, now showed it was twelve noon.
The journey took five hours, and finally the horse carriage entered the large gate that was wide open. The gate of Avera City.