Returning to the academy, Kieran sent a message to Elseria and joined her in a training room.

Once inside, Luna left his spiritual world, throwing herself into the arms of Elseria, who gently caressed her in return.

"How was the training at the Lava Pit?" she asked.

"I managed to reach the elemental core rank."

"Congratulations."

"Thanks. How was the meal?"

"Ryan found a catalyst for his inscriptions. You should be able to try forging an artifact tomorrow."

Kieran looked at her strangely, not expecting such an answer to his question, but he ended up nodding.

He accessed the room's options before bringing up everything he needed and the holographic TV for Elseria, Luna, and Runihoril.

Moving to the middle of the training room, Kieran sat cross-legged and took out the Scarlet Crow Flame Scripture from his Aurora Collar. The temperature around him suddenly increased by several degrees.

The more he looked at the stone in his hands, the more he felt like his spirit was being drawn inside.

Circulating his crystal essence to enter the stone, as Gallus had explained to him, a scarlet flame seemed to ignite in his mind as the characters on the stone ignited.

Scriptures that were previously incomprehensible to him suddenly seemed to make sense.

In the embrace of fiery dawn, where shadows dance in fervent plight,

Beneath the wings ablaze, where Scarlet Crow takes sacred flight.

Scarlet feathers, flames entwined,

A dance with embers, the celestial bind...

Kieran seemed to fall into a trance as the scriptures entered his mind.

Without him noticing, his entire surroundings changed, becoming a world of scarlet flame with him sitting at its center.

In the distance, hidden by the flames, a huge figure seemed to move across it, a pair of eyes that resembled two scarlet suns staring at him like a sacred existence.

Kieran felt like a tiny dust in the face of this existence, his heart beating rapidly and an invisible pressure weighing on him.

Before he knew it, a scarlet flame had appeared in front of him, floating silently.

A desire to touch the flame invaded him. Reaching out to touch it, everything seemed to disappear around him when he came into contact with it.

He found himself in the middle of the training room again, his body filled with sweat and his crystal essence half depleted.

Yet, a look of excitement crossed his eyes.

He quickly put the Scarlet Crow Flame Scripture into his aurora collar and made a training dummy appear in front of him while increasing the gravity of the room.

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He raised his right hand, focusing on his elemental core. A flame appeared, floating above his palm.

He looked at the flame in his hand, which was giving off intense heat. Part of the flames had taken on a scarlet hue. His lips lifted into a smile as he stared at the training dummy.

His body transformed in an instant, and pushing against the ground, he rushed onto the training dummy.

The flame in his hand moved, leaving long trails of fire behind each of his claws. A barely visible illusion of a scarlet crow appeared to be flying inside the flames.

The dummy crossed its arms in front of it to protect itself from the attack, which pushed it back several meters. The metal on its arms seemed to melt due to the high temperature of the flames that followed Kieran's movements.

Kieran smiled at the sight.

"I haven't figured out how to properly use this attack yet and with my elemental affinity cultivation level, I have to be careful that the flames don't hit me directly, but its power is incredible!"

His double-bladed sword appeared in his hands, and with a step forward, he lunged towards the dummy again. This time, trails of flames followed behind the sword blades as he swung one of them over the dummy's head. The dummy quickly formed a sword from its body to defend itself.

*clang*

*clang*

*clang*

Under his relentless assault, the dummy was constantly being pushed back while the trails of flame behind each of his attacks melted its body.

No longer feeling any pressure against the training dummy, Kieran increased its power in the room's options and added the water element to defend itself.

With its upgraded options, the training dummy could now resist his assault.

As he advanced towards it with his double-bladed sword, part of the dummy became liquid and took the form of a shield while a layer of water emerged on its surface to resist the flames that followed each of Kieran's strikes.

With a quick spin, he unleashed a barrage of blows towards the dummy. The flames trailing behind his blades left a fleeting image of a scarlet crow soaring through them.

The layer of water that protected the dummy made a hissing sound as it evaporated when the flames came into contact with it.

The dummy jumped back and summoned torrents of water, trying to push him back. Reacting quickly, Kieran focused on manipulating his elemental core to intensify the heat of his flames.

Torrents of flames formed behind him to counter the dummy's attack. The scarlet hue in his flames had deepened, casting a glow across the training room.

Both attacks caused an explosion as a cloud of steam filled the area around them.

Kieran rushed forward, spinning his double-bladed sword in his hands with trails of flame behind it.

He swung a slash onward.

A shield covered in water appeared through the steam, blocking his attack. A sword followed after the shield, aiming for his head.

Reversing the thrust force in both his hands, the blade that was aimed at the ground rose, blocking the dummy's sword.

Pushing against his blade, which was blocking the dummy's sword, he pushed it to the side, moving his second hand in a smooth motion on the handle of his double-bladed sword. He tightened his grip and reversed the thrust force in both his hands again, causing the rapid rotation of his sword towards the dummy's head. However, a water arrow suddenly shot out from the steam cloud, forcing him to step back to dodge it.

Kieran looked at the dummy before rushing towards it again.

***

The next two hours passed quickly until Kieran collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily without a single drop of crystal essence remaining in his body.

After resting for a while, he got up and walked toward Elseria, Luna, and Runihoril, who were sitting in front of the TV.

"Are you finished?" Elseria asked when she saw him getting closer.

"Yes. Sorry for making you watch Luna all this time," he replied, feeling guilty for wasting her time.

"I don't mind, and even though I've been sitting all this time, I've been circulating my crystal essence and elemental particles throughout this entire period inside my body."

Kieran felt less guilty hearing her explanation. He sat next to her and watched the TV as there was still a little time left on the hours he had paid to use the room.

Leaving the room shortly after with Elseria, the two walked through the streets of the academy. The sun began its descent, casting a warm glow over the surroundings.

And, as if it had become a routine, the two headed towards the cafeteria to join Ryan.