Frederic knew he was contradicting himself. On one hand, he wished Noel will find his home. On the other, he didn't want Noel to leave. But if he didn't do his best helping Noel, he was afraid that someone or Noel himself would notice the reluctance in his heart.

In the end, this trip to the demon world was mainly for him to camouflage himself. This uneasiness he was suffering was probably his karma. And if they really find Noel's relative, it would be his punishment.

He really was becoming more and more strange.

Maybe he truly should try meeting Duke Elvestine's daughter after this trip.

Noel was wandering in his dream when he felt a familiar air. He woke up from his sleep and looked out the window.

"You are awake? We just passed the portal. We are currently in the demon world's border control station. After we get our clearance, we will try asking where Alrgava is. If nobody knows, we will head to the city and rest for the day. We will start searching tomorrow." Frederic informed him.

Because the carriage carried the seal of royalty, they used the VIP lane. It didn't take long for them to process their clearance. Dervon, one of Frederic's subordinates who came with them asked the officers about Alrgava.

"Alrgava?" the officer repeated the name, "Alrgava…?"

He scrunched his eyebrows in thought. He felt like the name was familiar in his tongue. But why couldn't he remember it?

His colleague approached them, "What's the matter?"

"They asked if we know a place called Alrgava. I know I've heard of it, but I can't remember when."

The female officer rolled her eyes, "You idiot, this is what you get when you don't listen in your class properly. It's the name of our ancestor's land," she turned to explain to Dervon, "In case you don't know, unlike the mortal world, the demon world is ruled by only one being. Although we said it's one, technically it's seven brothers. Long story short, they live in a hidden land called Alrgava. Well, we never see them, so we don't know if it's real or not. At least that was what we taught in our class. The prime ministers made sure it is always mentioned in our textbook. Why are you asking about it?"

"Uh…Please wait a moment."

Dervon went to the carriage and knocked on the door. He opened it after being given permission.

"Commander, the thing is…" he recounted what the female officer said while giving Noel unsure glances.

Noel listened to him and floated out, "Follow me."

"Wait, Noel–" Frederic stepped out from the carriage.

Noel turned around and motioned with his head, "Come on."

"Commander, you can use my horse." Dervon said.

"Thank you." Frederic mounted Dervon's horse and caught up with Noel.

"Is everything alright?" the female officer asked.

"Yes, everything is fine. Thank you for your help. We will be going now."

Dervon hopped next to the coachman, and they went to follow Frederic in front.

The border control station was located outside any town, just like the one in the mortal world. Instead of going in the direction of the nearest town, Noel led them further away until they reached an empty wasteland.

Noel looked up at the blue moon. When the moon was blue, it was equal to morning in the mortal world. When it turned red, it was equal to night. Alrgava's moon was forever stuck in purple, it never reached the morning and never descended into the night. As if the time in Alrgava was stopped in that particular hour.

It wasn't particularly wrong though.

Now that he thought about it, he remembered. He went back to Frederic and sat down behind him.

Frederic looked around. There was nothing around them as far as his eyes could see.

"…This is Alrgava?"

"No. Wait."

Dervon and the others arrived not long after. They saw their Commander and the boy sitting on the horse in the middle of nowhere. They looked at each other before coming closer.

"Commander, is this Alrgava…?" Rose, a female mage asked hesitantly.

"We need to wait." Frederic answered.

"We didn't bring our camping equipment since we booked an inn in the city." Welston, a swordsman reminded them.

Noel heard it and mobilized his energy. The others, except for Frederic, watched in shock as towering black smoke formed in front of them. It whirled like a hurricane for a minute before dispersing.

From the black smoke, appeared a 2-story building decent enough to be called a house. Noel floated up from the horse and beckoned Frederic to follow him in.

Frederic was actually surprised as well, just not as much as the others. He couldn't understand the principle of Noel's magic.

Magic could be cast with or without verbal chanting as long as the caster understood the principle, the formula, the chant, or the symbols. By just thinking about it in their minds, it would be counted as equal to doing it physically. Just like how when Frederic moved Noel when he was sleeping, he just imagined the symbol he learned to activate it in his head.

Every people with inner energy could cast any magic they learned as long as they remembered the trigger clearly in their memory. The strength of the output would depend on how clear the caster remembered it, how deep they understood it, and how much inner energy they have.

That was why many high mages would guard the spells they created very privately. Some wrote it in cryptic languages, some locked them in extreme security hideout, and many other cases. Newly invented spells would be sold at a sky-high price from time to time.

But from what Frederic observed, the black smoke was more like something that just created things out of nowhere. It could also be freely manipulated into, for example, a barrier like what Noel often did when someone wanted to touch him.

Inner energy didn't work like that. He knew because he saw his mother when she was casting spells once in a while. His mother's inner energy was in the shape of purple butterflies. If she cast the same floating spell he used, everyone could see the butterflies around Noel's body carrying him. Once the spell ended, they would disappear.

It appeared as the manifestation of the spell casted according to the attribute of the caster's inner energy.

As for Noel, it looked more like his inner energy was moving to do the deed itself rather than as a 'fuel' source for the casted spells. Frederic knew he was just being ridiculous since inner energy wasn't capable of doing that. Inner energy was like the oil, spells were the sparks, and the output was the fire.

It was impossible for oil to create fire without any sparks or any other lighter.

The group waited in the instant house for several hours. Noel took a light nap and woke up when he sensed the incoming hour. After everyone gathered outside the house, the house dissolved back to smoke.

"Here." Noel beckoned them to stand on the spot he pointed.

After everyone gathered, they watched him flying up, right above them. Noel drew out his energy. When it almost reached the ground, it was quickly absorbed by the earth at 4 points.

Starting from the 4 points, it spread around the group and connected to one other in a circular motion. Black lines branched out from the existing lines and rapidly formed a complex rune. It started filling up from the outer side until it reached the center where the 6 people were standing.

Noel looked up at the moon. He was on time.

Once all 4 lines connected at the center, the moon brightened. The rune absorbed the purple moonlight, basking them with bright purple light.

Frederic watched as sharp black cliffs gradually appeared on the empty plane they were at. The rune below them faded along with the light and they were completely surrounded by black cliff walls. There was only one path in front of them, but it was blocked with black spikes emerging from the walls. The purple moon shone coldly above them, making the path seems all the more ominous.

Dervon and Welston instinctively reached out for their swords. Rose's grip on her staff tightened. Roy the coachman and Shaliel the archer also tensed up.

Noel descended down in front of Frederic and encircled the group with his energy, "Let's go."

Frederic decided to trust Noel and followed him. Although the others were suspicious of Noel's identity, they believed in their commander, so they also moved.

When Noel was at the entrance of the path, the spikes automatically retracted into the walls, opening a proper path for him. The group followed him closely, not taking a step out of his encirclement. Once the tail of the carriage entered the path, the spikes instantly shot out. It was the same for every spike they completely passed by.