Noah was presented with two options: either to choose the oath as a mage or a knight.
This was the most crucial step in this world, cause once you pick one path, you cannot reverse it ever.
As a mage, people here gather mana inside their bodies and have it enrich their minds, so they can cast the magic spells more effectively, but if they pick the path of a knight, they use that same mana to strengthen their mana veins, so they can make their bodies stronger.
Now he has to pick a path for himself.
Noah curls his lips; there was no point for him to think longer about this.
'Mage or knight, I don't care, I will pick both, just like my mc did.'
In the story, the MC was the only one who could become both, but that wasn't easy; he had to train for both, which was the most tiring.
'If I want to get better than him, then I have to pick both, cause with just one path, I cannot overwhelm him in the same rank.'
[Congratulations host. You have picked the path as a mage and a knight, both.]
[The store section will go through another update now, to become a better fit for your path as both a mage and a knight.]
[You can continue your cultivation now.]
The system announced and went silent. Noah also did not think too long about it and continued to cultivate.
'Since I have chosen both, then I will be needing more mana than a normal person. Also, I have all elemental affinities, so it goes without a doubt that I will need even more mana. It simply doesn't end at all.'
He thought for a while and began to absorb the mana once again.
His rank was slowly getting up.
The first stage of mana cultivation was the Awakening stage. This was the realm where people get to feel mana around them after they get an elemental affinity.
They absorb the mana from the surroundings and keep it inside their body. Anyone in this realm easily gets stronger than a normal person, but someone with good physical constitution can still overwhelm them.
[Congratulations host. You have reached the Awakening stage, Mid-tier.]
After more time, he reached the middle tier, but the mana around him wasn't ending at all. It hasn't diminished a single bit.
[Congratulations, host. You have reached the Awakening stage, High tier.]
It did not take long for him to get to the high tier as well.
But now the question was, will he try to break through or go even beyond to the peak tier?
Was there even a need for that? He wasn't stopping at high tier at all. If he wanted to gain strength, then he would go to the end.
He did not stop and continued the absorption, and only now did the mana around him begin to diminish at a rapid pace.
This was one of the reasons why people stopped at high tier, peak required an absurd amount of mana. It wouldn't be a problem for lower realms, but when you go higher and higher, it will become the major reason why you will never be able to break through again, simply because you won't have enough mana to reach peak tier again.
Noah absorbed more and more until he felt that he could no longer absorb a single drop. His whole body started to glow with blue radiance; there was not a single part remaining where he could absorb mana again.
[Congratulations host. You have reached the Awakening Stage, Peak tier.]
[You have received 10 story points for your great feat.]
'So this is it, huh? Peak tier. The second one is the channelling stage.'
The second realm is where you choose to become a mage or a knight. Since he has chosen both, he needs to simultaneously use mana on his mind and on his veins.
It would have been hard for someone else, but not for him because,
[Your aspect Purest Mana is activated.]
He can not only gather pure mana but also command it. Now, he simply has to command the mana to flow into his brain and his veins at the same time and also keep on absorbing more mana around him.
[Congratulations, host, you have reached Channelling Stage, Low tier.]
...
[Congratulations, host, you have reached Channelling Stage, Peak tier.]
Hours passed by in this realm, and he was finally able to get to the peak of the channelling stage, finally done with enriching his mind and his veins. The next one was to gather mana inside his mind and his veins.
But before he could do it, he realised that the mana around him had thinned out.
There was still mana lingering around him, but the amount had decreased a lot.
'You can never have enough, huh? I don't feel like cultivating with so little mana. Maybe I should talk to Mother about this and use the cultivation room of the palace.'
The cultivation room of the palace was the place where the mana was gathered from all around the palace.
It was done after using rune magic. It was also the reason why he felt the mana around him was less.
He was about to take out more mana stones when another knock came on his door.
Knock! Knock!
"Young lord, may I enter inside?"
It was Rose once again.
'Did she finish delivering the message? But why come to me again, she can go and rest now.'
He thought about that, without realising that he was cultivating for hours. It wasn't the same night right now.
[Host. It's morning already.]
'What? You mean I cultivated for the entire night? Why do I not feel any tiredness though? Seems I am addicted to this too.'
He got up from his sitting position and stretched his body, feeling fresh like never before.
'Let's go and beat my sister ass then. Hey system, hide my realm from everyone. I want them to think of me as the same lazy lord.'
[Alright, host.]
He went ahead and opened the door with a wild grin on his face when he looked at Rose, who was also smiling for the first time.
'I thought he would cultivate for once, but guess he is still the same. I will finally have my freedom.'