UNLIMITED SPEED

Chapter 496 496. AFFINITY OF SPEED

Noah sprinted across the sky on a linear path he had drafted with the use of the map handed over to him by Helena.

His gaze was mostly blank as he created a silver streak across the skies of the regions below him. He decided against moving at his peak speed since he saw no use for it. That movement was adequate for him.

After becoming a Dark Speedling, Noah gained a better understanding of the usage of the speed essence. The affinity of speed allowed him to achieve things with the speed force he had never thought of before.

Speed in all aspects. In short quickness in all forms of his being. It could only be derived from connection to the speed force, but its only use wasn't running.

Technically speaking, Noah could now apply the speed essence on bodies outside of himself, utilizing that innate affinity and allowing them to achieve the same state he achieved if only in terms of movement.

He basically could make any material a speedster. But not only that. Speed in all aspects also allowed him to apply that understanding in terms of cultivating, spell-casting, thinking, speaking, and in literally all other things.

Applying the affinity of speed on other bodies taxed his mind and essence, however. Due to his low power, even he would struggle to execute it properly. But he was already practicing.

Noah had learned that he could add his affinity to battles, or the execution of martial art styles. He wasn't running or seeing the world in slow motion, he was simply traveling through the various steps to arrive at that execution faster than normal.

It was more like enhanced movement, but deeper. He would do it with utter ease, and his mind and essence pool would take the full brunt of it. His body would remain unaffected by any adverse effect moving that quickly would generate.

The same thing couldn't be said for other bodies. Unfortunately.

Noah could theoretically allow a balloon to travel many times the speed of sound even if simply throwing it wouldn't achieve that acceleration. The only issue was that such a body would be unable to handle the force of that acceleration.

In short addition of speed didn't mean the addition of mass or resistance. Even Noah's body had limits.

He could apply his affinity to a plant to speed up the rate of its growth, but if adequate nutrients weren't available it would only shrivel up and die. He had sped up the rate of its growth, but he couldn't perform miracles. Yet.

Those were the limits of the speed force, at least for his level. That was the reason he needed raw strength and a skill set in other areas. He needed a body that could deliver powerful punches and spells that could unleash terrifying destruction.

Pets that could ease the work of engaging in battles, and even move about.

All of those things only became even scarier when speed was added to them. In a battle between equally matched individuals. He who could land an attack the quickest would emerge victorious.

Speed pushed everything forward, but even that concept required other things to reveal its true power.

Noah knew he could make Cudgel an even more terrifying object. The concept of a balloon trying to travel many times the speed of sound was an adequate explanation. But things changed when a body holding great force and was capable of remaining in one piece, was present.

Were Noah to apply the affinity of speed on Cudgels material, its destructive ability would skyrocket.

His affinity could allow a body to move quicker than it normally should, but that also meant as long as the body could resist that pace, the force it carried would be exponential. Especially when that body came in contact with another one.

Noah could send Cudgel up and down the sky carried by his affinity. He could do it without lifting a finger.

All those were for movement through a distance of space. More fundamental things like his understanding of topics, reaction to events, and even growth in power, were affected by that affinity.

He would always be faster than others in many things. That was what becoming a Speedling was. But there were obvious limits.

What happened if his body or soul or core couldn't handle that event? What happens if a foreign body couldn't handle empowerment? It would render his affinity useless.

Noah dived toward the ground at some point. He wasn't tired, he had only decided he would land. Two days had passed since the incident at the mountain chain and he was already close to the regions of the city of Orphos.

He wasn't in a rush to reach the city. After many months of being under pressure, he wanted to taste the feeling of being free to own one's life again.

His arrival into that foresty area was silent. He only sensed myriads of magical beasts. But they were weak.

Noah caused silver ice to unfold in the world around him, and he soon turned a large chunk of that area into an icy terrain.

He continued to practice the usage of affinity.

Barely seconds after doing so, he caused all the frozen trees to shatter and converge toward him. He emptied the area of all obstructions.

But he closed his eyes for a bit and ice spread again but this time to construct the trees exactly how he recalled it.

Noah continued this cycle of destruction and reshaping for literal hours, even building structures, beasts, and crafted human figures. All the things he could do with his mind and with his ice he tried to do.

This wasn't the first time, but the more he did it the more he got proficient, even though he required practice at some point. Only when he actually tried to learn could his rapidness be revealed.

Noah soon left ice and moved to his new affinity, light.

The element was erratic and difficult to manipulate. Each time he trained with what affinity he usually ended up burning up the environment.

The peak of light's power was when it became plasma. Plasma beams and shapes.

Basic things like swords or other weapons were easy, but when it came to large-scale attacks, even Noah struggled many times to place the element under control. In truth light affinity and darkness affinity, even amongst rare affinities were some of the hardest.

Ice or lightning couldn't compare. Both had mass and were tangible, but light only got tangible when it reached certain normally unachievable densities.

Noah got better the more he practiced, What took experts with that same affinity literally decades and centuries to master, he did it in days.