The rest of the rock monsters had fled as soon as Rynn had appeared, leaving the plain empty except for the fallen drake. Kiro cautiously prodded the corpse with a stick, ready to hop back at any moment.

"It's dead," Rynn said, extinguishing the flames around him.

The slightest hint of annoyance flashed on Seira’s face. "How do you know?"

"I see earth mana now. Its aura is still."

Kiro scanned him, really taking in his transformation for the first time. Compared to Seira's half-green hair, his multicolored eyes shouldn't have been that big of a deal, but they carried a depth to them that his sister couldn't match. Red, blue, brown and white clashed together in majestic swirls, permeating them with a sense of enlightenment. And, just like Seira, his mark had changed to match. Would that happen to him if he ascended aspects? He looked forward to changing the red sun that had tormented him since his birth.

Just to remind himself that he wasn't a worthless Sun anymore, he opened his mana sense. Rynn's crimson aura had changed to match his eyes, but he couldn't seem to focus on it enough to distinguish specific details.

"Anyways, what did you two ascend to?"

Rynn straightened, lifting his chin as if to lecture them.

"It is the perfect balance, combining all four primary elements into a single, united aspect. Air, earth, water, and fire, all singing in harmony within my mana. With this, I transcend mere specificity, taking the first step towards perfection."

"... right." Seira muttered. "Well, I'm using something close to destruction, but I'm not entirely sure what it is just yet."

Kiro gaped at her. "No wonder you nearly —"

She flashed him a pleading look, giving the slightest shake of her head.

"You nearly… killed the drake without us."

She flashed him a grateful smile. Why didn't she want Rynn to know what had happened?

"Ah. So you're taking an imperfect path?" Rynn gave the slightest sneer.

Ah. That might have been why.

He opened his mouth to respond, but suddenly, an enormous pressure forced him down. It felt different from when he had first stepped into this world, but it was even more powerful. It was like an aura, but he had never seen an aura so dense.

Panicking, he channeled his mana into the Hong clan's shroud, which just barely allowed him movement. He turned to where the pressure was coming from, and he saw that Seira and Rynn had done the same. They had both unleashed their own shrouds, and while they looked to be faring a bit better than him, they still wore pained expressions as they stood.

Over the horizon, an enormous serpent burned, so incredibly large that it appeared to brush the heavens. It didn't open its mouth, but the sheer heat of the flames roared over them. That was when he realized: it wasn't on fire — it was made of it. For what felt like an eternity, it coiled in the sky, glaring at them.

He tried to take a step back, but whether it was out of fear or an effect of the beast's aura, he couldn't move. Then, as quick as lightning, it dove, striking the earth with an eardrum-shattering crack. The sheer force of the strike seemed to intensify its aura, because one moment they were standing, and the next they were collapsed on the grass, struggling to draw in a gasp.

He poured more and more mana into the shroud, burning the grass around him in a desperate attempt to breathe. Yet, even as the pressure around him lessened, breathing didn't get any easier. Pure, unadulterated panic set in, the appearance of such a titanic beast combined with the lack of air flooding his mind with a primordial urge to survive. Without thinking of the consequences, he channeled even more mana to his technique, burning away even more of his surroundings. He needed to breathe!

Then, a firm hand grasped his shoulder, pulling him up.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Kiro! Listen to me!" Seira shook him, despite not having any shroud around her.

"Release your shroud! You're burning the air around you!"

He barely understood what she was saying, but did as he was told. The flames around him died, and pure, sweet, air entered into his lungs. The pressure was gone! He collapsed back onto the ground, savoring his survival. A few glorious breaths later, he sat up.

“The serpent?” he asked.

Seira helped him up, pulling him into a quick hug. “It’s gone. We don’t know what happened, but right after it attacked, it vanished.”

Rynn stepped closer to them, eyes flashing. “We must prepare to face it again.”

“What?” Kiro exclaimed. “Rynn, did you see the size of that thing? Just its aura nearly choked me out! We might as well kill ourselves and save it the trouble!”

Seira itched at her newly verdant Brave mark. “Yeah, I really don’t think we should be going anywhere near that thing, especially in our current condition.”

“The Saint gave us this challenge to push us to our limits. Only by chasing perfection can we achieve true growth. Plus, you two said the same thing last time, and we ended up fighting anyway.”

Seira frowned. “How did you survive that anyways?”

Kiro nodded. The last time they had seen him, he had been surrounded by enemies. How had Rynn not only survived, but ascended?

“I achieved enlightenment.”

They stared at him.

“What? That’s the heart of it. I gained enlightenment, and I ascended my aspect.”

Seira took a deep breath. “And how did you avoid getting mauled by the dozens of spirit-beasts around you?”

“I don’t know. I suppose they recognized that I would soon be able to obliterate them in an instant, and they left me in hopes that I would be merciful.”

She gave the man an exasperated look. “Rynn, that makes no sense. I fought that drake, and it was more than smart enough to know basic tactics. If you were sitting there meditating for Saints know how long, there is no reason it wouldn’t have chomped down on you while it had the chance.”

“I guess it knew that it would have a better chance of survival by leaving me alive, and it respected me enough as an opponent to avoid killing me while I was ascending.”

In Kiro’s opinion, that sounded like giving the drake more credit than it deserved, but he supposed that he hadn’t fought it as much as Rynn had.

Seira sighed, looking back to the spot where the serpent had appeared.

“Alright, fair enough. Anyways, Aer helped us out already, so I don’t think it’s against the rules to ask for assistance. Right now, we’re in no condition to fight that thing, so why don’t we try and find her?”

“You two can. I’m going to go through this trial alone.”

This time, it wasn’t just Seira who sighed.

“What? I want to prove to the Saint that I have the drive to inherit her teachings.”

“Rynn,” Kiro said, “you’ve already proved that. I would rather not —”

He felt a slight breeze on the back of his head, and turned to see Aer floating behind him.

“I heard my name?”

“Aer!” Seira screamed, tackling the Saint in a hug. “Please tell me we’re not fighting that giant fire snake!”

She laughed. “No, no, nothing like that. Actually… well, your matriarch just paid us a visit.”

It was as if a shadow had passed over them. Seira gradually pulled away, grimacing. “You kicked her out, right?”

“Of course. She won’t be coming back in a long time.”

Rynn squinted, examining their master. “Honored Saint, what happened to your core?”

The woman winced, dropping to the ground.

Huh. How strange. Was there something special about a Saint’s core? Kiro opened his mana sight, but he couldn’t see anything. Oh, right. Rynn could see air mana.

Aer shifted her gaze to the ground. “Well, dear apprentices, that has to do with my past. I’m healing, but I guess I might have strained it again fending off your matriarch. Don’t worry, though. I’d live through even a hundred of your matriarchs’ attacks. Saints are harder to kill than that.”

“Also," she added, the humor coming back to her eyes, "what did I say about this ‘Honored Saint’ stuff? Honestly! This is the third time!”

Kiro thought back to his experimental elixirs, computing how much mana it would take to heal a being thousands of times stronger than Seira. “Is there anything we could do to help?”

“No, but that’s very sweet of you. Once I regain enough power, I’ll be able to buy an artifact to completely heal me. I won’t get into details right now, but I don’t have very much money right now, and it takes a Saint’s strength to earn a Saint’s wage, yknow?”

He nodded. Seira had grabbed the woman in a hug again, and this time it didn’t look like she was letting go. “It must be hard, having to limit your power to avoid hurting yourself. And you still took us in, and fought off the matriarch for us.”

He could have sworn that he saw the beginnings of tears gather around the Saint’s eyes. Still, a moment later, she straightened, clapping.

“Anyways, you guys are done! Now that the sun isn’t heating up the world to high enough levels, the native spirit-beasts won’t be able to come back up until tomorrow. I was originally going to test your survival skills, but I’d rather not stay on this world any longer. Your matriarch isn’t the best at covering her tracks.”

Kiro itched to ask what that meant, but Aer was already grabbing Rynn’s hand, and she motioned him over as well.

“Alright, apprentices! Next stop, the World of Warriors, Asura!"