Kieran left the cave when he noticed the lack of light. Turning his gaze to the valley, his body froze in place.

Standing in front of him, the immense body of the Earth Drake emitted a pressure that he had never felt before. His body began to tremble without him being able to stop it.

The huge yellow eyes of the Earth Drake stared at him intently.

The Elepharak was away from the Earth Drake, and was also looking at him. The Elepharak's head seemed to move as if trying to smell an odor.

The Earth Drake slowly opened its mouth as a breath prepared.

'I'm screwed! Move my body, move!'

Kieran repeated constantly in his head, but he couldn't move a single muscle in his body. His body was frozen in front of the pressure that the Earth Drake was emitting.

His eyes reflected the large open mouth of the Earth Drake and the breath he was preparing.

Everything seemed to disappear around him as he only saw this single image of despair. He couldn't even hear Runihoril screaming in his mind, trying to wake him up.

The Earth Drake finished charging its breath, hurling it at him.

Kieran could hear his heart beating madly inside his body as the breath moved closer to him.

Suddenly his vision was covered by a thick wall of earth surrounding his body.

The earth wall shook violently but managed to defend the Earth Drake's breath attack.

Before he could react to what had just happened, the Elepharak appeared behind him. A strong hand grabbed him behind the neck, lifting him without any effort.

The next moment he felt his body float as his surroundings changed. He was no longer at the entrance to the cave and was now a few meters in the sky above it.

The Elepharak soared in the sky with Kieran in its hands. In an instant, its small body traversed the entire valley with its earth platforms.

Pressing its legs on it, he propelled itself further into the sky, approaching the summit of the mountain that surrounded the valley.

The Earth Drake only now realized the two had disappeared. His body emitted a powerful crystal essence as he turned to the direction the two had departed.

A huge breath formed, several times larger than the ones he had hurled until now.

Feeling the breath approaching him, the Elepharak quickened its pace, landing atop the mountain. It leaped into the void with Kieran in its hands just as the Earth Drake's breath arrived, shattering the summit of the mountain they had been standing on a moment before.

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The Earth Drake roared with rage when he saw that the Elepharak had fled with Kieran. He formed a breath again, destroying all the peaks around the valley in his rage, causing a landslide all over the mountain.

Kieran and the Elepharak were in freefall, falling quickly, when the Elepharak formed a platform of earth under its feet, reducing their fall before jumping again, continuing this process until they reached the base of the mountain in a matter of minutes.

The Elepharak shook its hand, throwing Kieran to the ground.

He stared at the Elepharak dumbfounded.

"What just happened?"

Returning to his senses, he quickly turned around, running as fast as he could, but after a few meters, he saw the Elepharak appear in front of him.

The Elepharak raised its scythe, pointing it in front of Kieran without moving.

"What... What does he want from me?"

"He must have smelled the crystallized earth essence on your body. You have no choice but to give it to him if you want to escape this situation. He may not have let out his crystal essence but don't underestimate him. He is in no way weaker than the Earth Drake."

Runihoril's voice echoed in his mind.

Kieran's body started shaking again, thinking about the breath of the Earth Drake.

The Elepharak made a faint noise before waving its scythe in front of him.

"O-Okay, it's yours. Take it."

He pulled the crystallized earth essence from his aurora collar.

The Elepharak looked at the crystalized earth essence as if it was hypnotized by it. The scythe in its hands transformed into a black liquid that entered the palm of its hand before disappearing.

Grabbing the crystallized earth essence with both hands, it glared at Kieran before disappearing into the forest.

Kieran fell to the ground, exhaling heavily.

"I'm saved..." he said, looking up at the top of the mountain.

"I was stupid to think that I could snatch such a treasure without being discovered."

"It's not your fault. I should have understood it when I saw them fighting. None of them gave it their all, the Earth Drake tried to get the Elepharak as far away from its nest as possible while the Elepharak looked for an opportunity to steal the crystallized earth essence."

Kieran looked at his hand, which was still shaking.

"They were both only at the peak stage of the Silver rank, but I couldn't do anything but wait for my own death in front of them. If not for its total denial of me, the Elepharak could have killed me here... I have to get stronger, much stronger..."

Runihoril remained silent, looking Kieran in the eye.

'I should have better inspected the situation. With the state of my soul right now, my senses are eroded. He was very lucky to survive today. He realizes that and does not try to escape the cultivator world to stay safe. Instead, he wants to become stronger.'

A smile formed on Runihoril's face before he cleared his throat, catching Kieran's attention.

"You should get out of here quickly. Even if the Earth Drake can't move as easily as the Elepharak, you can be sure that he will ravage this whole island in search of the crystallized earth essence."

"You're right. I should get out of here quickly."

He got up, shaking his hand in a fist, looking one last time toward the mountain before leaving.

Soon he arrived at the edge of the island, where he found Luna, who started to move in all directions in the water when she discovered that he was coming back, waves of energy came one after another from her horn.

"I've only been gone for four days. Why do you make it look like I've been gone for a month..."

Luna wailed, sending a wave of water over Kieran before looking away from him.

"..."

He stared at Luna in a daze as he was soaked from head to toe. A laugh sounded behind him. As he turned around, he saw Runihoril staring at him, trying to hold back his laughter.

*sigh*

"I'll try not to leave this long next time."

His face contorted as Luna immediately turned back to him after his words, emitting happy wails.

'Master said she was young, but I feel like I have to take care of a child throwing a tantrum...'

He jumped onto Luna's back, caressing her gently.

"Let's go, Luna!"