Noah gulped down the last of the fruit juice with a deep sigh, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Phew!" He grinned at the empty plates in front of him. "That was delicious!"

"At least one of us thinks so." Cecilia said from where she stood, leaning against the open doorway. "You done?"

Noah looked up at her with a smile. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Follow me."

Cecilia had taken him to a short, squat building at the edge of campus he hadn't really noticed.

The building was made of dark stone, which should have made it stand out among the usual white bricks of the academy, but the building wasn't that popular.

Noah had learned that this was the ritual building. Any important rituals carried out in the academy took place in this building's basements, and that included advancement rituals.

Luckily, they had time before the window they could carry out the ritual closed, so Cecilia had been able to score some food for Noah.

He'd eaten it all, and now he was ready. With a full stomach.

Cecilia led him through the halls, before they arrived at the deepest layer of the basement. She opened the door, and waiting inside, was a team of researchers.

"Noah, these are the researchers who are in charge of your ascension ritual. And researchers, this is Noah Webb," she said, gesturing at Noah.

"My Lord," the lead researcher bowed, his fellow researchers bowing behind him too. "It is an honor to help you on your journey."

Noah smiled at them. "Oh, yeah. Thanks."

And he truly was thankful. Since they were handling this stuff for him, he had time and energy to take care of other things. Things like searching for a monolith to conquer.

He looked around the room, taking it all in. The room was completely sealed off, with both floor, walls and ceiling made of the same black stone the building had been built out of.

But the most interesting part of the room was the middle of the ceiling, where a circular piece of glass was attached to it.

The piece of glass glowed brightly, illuminating the room, but most of all, sending a concentrated stream of moonlight into the ground underneath it.

He walked closer, to see that he couldn't see the sky through the glass. But he could sense void energy in it.

Somehow, the glass circle was shining down the light of the moon outside into this enclosed basement using Void magic.

And on the ground was an intricately drawn network of circles and geometric shapes, looking eerily similar to the same drawing that had been used to summon him and his classmates.

Noah eyed it warily, turning to Cecilia. "Professor..."

She looked up from where she'd been conversing with a researcher. "Yeah?" She asked.

He thought about it for a second, before shaking his head. "Nothing."

Right now, Camelot needed him. They desperately needed him. Which meant they couldn't afford to send him somewhere else.

That had to mean this was not a teleportation ritual of some kind, but all ritual circles looked like this.

And even if they wanted to teleport him somewhere else, he'd have Null Stride ready. Before the ritual could grab hold of him, he'll teleport out of there.

Cecilia finished her instructions to the researcher, before turning to Noah. The young man was staring intently at the magic circle.

She walked to him, a soft smile on her face. "You ready?"

He looked up at her with a smile on his face. "Yeah."

"Good." She nodded. "Let me explain the procedure. We'll take care of the resources and the activation of the ritual. All you need to do is sit in the middle of the circle. And when the time comes, you'll guide the flow of energy, alright?"

"Sit down, look pretty, then guide the flow of energy." Noah nodded. "Got it."

Cecilia didn't need to explain about guiding the flow of energy. That was something he'd been taught in Spellcasting class.

And with his S-rank magic control, there's no way he'd be able to fail. After all, this was just an advancement ritual to FF-rank.

"Alright!" Cecilia called out to everyone in the room. "Let's begin."

Noah was led to the middle of the ritual, where the light of the moon shone down from the glass circle, instructed in what way to sit.

Apparently, even the sitting position could affect the ritual. So, he sat crossed leg, back straight, and each hand on each corresponding knee.

He watched as different items were placed on different sides of the ritual circle. He was sure he saw something that looked like a bowl of fresh blood placed behind him.

After that, the lead researcher emerged with a box. They opened it, and the moment Noah laid eyes on its contents, he knew.

Those were meant to symbolize his five affinities.

They were all completely different objects. A gemstone, a slab of meat, what looked like an eye, an ordinary looking rock, and a big talon.

The materials were placed equidistant to each other, with him sitting in the middle.

Exchanging a nod, they began.

The researchers' voices filled the air as they chanted.

Noah listened, but he wasn't able to catch any words in the chant. That was because it was not the chant that was important, but the rhythm of their vocalizations.

Their voices grew louder, and Noah began feeling tremors in the air.

The mana contained in the atmosphere around them shook, moving around in almost visible swirls.

The ritual circle began to glow, as if energy had entered it, slowly lighting up the gathered items, one after the other.

Noah watched, heart thudding in excitement, a large grin on his face.

Out of nowhere, a breeze began to blow in the room, sending their hair and clothes fluttering, but the voices of the researchers grew louder and louder.

In sync with it, the glow of the magic circle grew brighter.

Then, the items placed in and around the circle began combusting, flames appearing around them.

Unlike would be expected, the flames were dark, burning through the item, feeding off the mana in the room.

Noah could sense it. Like an eruption. It built, and built, everything getting louder and brighter.

Then, there was a small, almost unnoticeable pause. As if the world wanted to hear a signal.

Then it exploded.

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