It didn't take long before Danaë approached Kieran to heal his wound. She was surprised to see only superficial marks on his right arm. A strange look crossed her eyes.

'Why did Alexei ask me to come to treat him if his wound was superficial?'

Danaë shook her head, activating her ability. A bubble of water formed on Kieran's right arm, healing the superficial wounds on his skin.

Kieran opened his eyes at that moment. Seeing the bubble of water on his right arm, he turned his gaze to Danaë.

"Thanks."

"It's nothing."

Danaë turned around, heading towards the other members of the team to check their wounds.

Kieran stood up, looking around. Alexei searched the remains of the Ice Cloud Lion's corpse for a soul crystal, but he knew he would find none.

Looking away from him, his eyes fell on Anna. She was sitting cross-legged, a white lotus in front of her. The crystal essence in the cave slowly gathered around her as she started to attacks the barrier within her spiritual world to breakthrough to the Silver Rank.

"Do you want help?" Kieran asked, moving closer to Alexei.

"Unfortunately, it's no use. No soul crystal formed. I knew I wouldn't be so lucky that it formed from the first Ice Cloud Lion we killed," Alexei's voice was calm, as if unaffected by not having received anything from the corpse of the Ice Cloud Lion.

"We will have better luck next time."

Kieran could see in Alexei's eyes that he didn't seem so afraid of him anymore.

"You're probably right. How's your injury."

"Like new," Kieran waved his right arm in front of him to show that there wasn't even a trace of a burn on it.

"Good."

Alexei thought back to the weapon Kieran used. Although he could have asked him before, the situation didn't lend itself to it. Now that all threats had been eliminated and they were safe in this cave, he couldn't help but ask questions.

"I've never seen a weapon like yours. Where did you get it?"

"It's a double-bladed sword. It's the only thing I found inside the palace back in the archipelago."

"Didn't you tell me you were teleported straight away?" Alexei asked while frowning.

"It's partly true. When I entered the palace, most of the doors inside were blocked by inscriptions. Even after several tries, I couldn't open a single one. The other doors that were opened contained only formations array with crystal essence stones, but it was bound to the formations. I couldn't move any of them. In the end, this weapon was the only thing I found inside that was not bound by a formation array."

Kieran knew he had to reveal the origin of Shard of a Broken World. He had done his research when he was still in the city of Aldrines. He had not found any information on a double-bladed sword that would exist in the Aegis Alliance. Surely only elves or other unknown races would use this type of weapon.

"Is that the only thing you found inside?" Alexei asked, not sure if he should believe Kieran's words.

"Yes, while looking for another treasure, I came across the formation array that teleported me to an island in the distance."

Alexei didn't know if he could believe Kieran's words, but the only thing he showed that was out of the ordinary was this strange weapon that was only Silver rank. With his crystal sense, he could quickly see that this weapon had no inscriptions or soul crystal fuse with it to grant it any ability.

In truth, this kind of weapon was the norm in Ozryn. None of their blacksmiths had the talent to forge an artifact with a soul crystal fused to form a core. The only ones who possessed this kind of weapon in Ozryn were mostly the elites of the city.

This kind of problem didn't only appear to the blacksmith profession, all the profession branches in Ozryn were not advanced, most of the resources that the elites used came from cities of grade B or higher.

Even if they had one or two competent craftsmen in a certain field, so what? Could it support the demand of an entire city? This was one of the biggest differences between the city of different grades, causing cultivators from low-grade cities to be weaker than those from cities with a higher grade at the same cultivation rank.

"It's your chance to have been able to enter inside. Too bad everything was sealed by formations," said Alexei.

Kieran nodded. He wished that he'd been able to collect all the high quality crystal essence stones that he'd found in the palace.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"What are we going to do now?"

"We'll wait for Anna to finish her breakthrough to the Silver rank before going to the next Ice Lions gathering point. It shouldn't take her more than a day. The cave can serve as our shelter for now. It'll be better than sleeping outside with the crystal beasts that can attack us at any time."

Alexei shook his hand, and several water daggers flew around the cave, destroying the remnants of the Ice Clould Lion's attacks. Now that it was dead, all the ice spikes it had formed before weren't so strong anymore.

Kieran wondered what Alexei was doing. When he moved his hand again, a light shone near the two, and a moment later, a large two-story house appeared in the cave.

"What is that?"

"It's a portable house, it's not very durable, but in this kind of place, it's more comfortable than sleeping in a tent."

"It's even bigger than my house..."

Alexei smiles as he moves inside the house while calling the rest of the team. Amber asked Snow to stay outside to spot if a threat is approaching them.

The team began to relax in the comfortable environment of the house, even though it hadn't been a day since they had entered the snowy plains, the cold environment of the secret realm, the constant attacks of the crystal beasts in the plain, as well as their fight against the Ice Cloud Lion, had tired them.

Kieran sat down on one of the sofas in the living room, thinking back to his fight with the Ice Cloud Lion, his thoughts drifting to the Burning Sun he had used to end its life.

'It's the first time I've used this attack in real combat, but I realize that it has far too many flaws for now. The time to create the Burning Sun is too long to use it without a team to help me take the attention of my target. The only way would be if I could form it while still being able to use my earth element to defend myself, but my control is still lacking. If I don't fully focus on forming the Burning Sun, it could explode in my hands…'

The more he thought about it, the more he arrived at the same conclusion. His control over the fire element was not good enough to allow him to use this attack freely. Even his control over his earth element, with which he had the strongest affinity after refining the Earth Refinement Pill, was not sufficient for him.

Just the fact of creating such large earth platforms when he needed it hardly any bigger than his feet was already a lack of control on his part, making him waste crystal essence in the process.

Holden approached him at that moment, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"How can I help you?" Kieran asked.

"I came to you to apologize," replied Holden.

"Why?"

"I judged you as a dead weight that we should drag with us before you even joined us without knowing anything about you. I want to apologize for that."

"It's nothing. I also, in your place, would have been skeptical if someone had told me that an early stage Bronze rank would join my expedition."

Holden's lips lifted slightly as he extended his hand forward, "Let's work well as a team from now on."

"Of course," Kieran replied, accepting the handshake.

Holden left after those few words, and Amber took advantage of the moment Kieran was alone to go talk to him.

She sat next to him, trying to get closer without him noticing with light movements while starting a discussion with him.

"Holden is nice, isn't he?" said Amber.

"Yes, I didn't expect him to come to see me to apologize for such things."

"It's his personality, he's always serious, but he's honest."

Amber stopped talking for a moment.

"I wanted to say thank you for saving me earlier! Without you, I would have been seriously injured or even dead by now."

"It's nothing. We're on the same team. It's normal that I would help you."

Amber looked Kieran in the eyes, and taking a deep breath, she tried to gather all her courage as her cheeks turned red.

"Do you... Do you have someone?" Amber felt like her face was on fire as she managed to get the words out.

Kieran's eyes widened, the sudden question taking him by surprise. He scratched the back of his head, trying to make the discomfort go away. It wasn't the first time someone had asked him out, but since his awakening, he had put all those things behind him and focused entirely on cultivation.

"N…" He wanted to say no, but when he tried, his heart twisted and stopped for a moment. It was so strong. It was as if someone had thrust their hand into his chest and held his heart in their hands. At the same time, the image of a woman with blurred features appeared in his mind.

"Ma... Maybe?"

It was the only answer he managed to give after struggling with this inexplicable feeling that he felt deep inside.

"Maybe? What does that mean?"

Amber's voice was shaking slightly, Kieran could see a hint of sadness in her hazel eyes, but even he couldn't understand exactly why he said those words. How could he explain it to her?

"I don't know. It's... complicated."

Amber looked down, her hands resting on her legs. She moved her fingers between them, trying to shake off the nervousness she was feeling at the moment.

"Amber, I…"

"Ahhhh, I'm really unlucky."

Kieran, who wanted to console her, was interrupted. She raised her head, stretching her two arms towards the ceiling in an exaggerated movement as if she wanted to evacuate everything. Her playful air slowly reappeared around her. She turned her gaze in his direction.

"You don't need to try to comfort me. It's just a small setback. I'll get over it soon!" she said with a smile on her face.

The expression on Kieran's face changed several times, but he couldn't find the right words in this situation.

Eventually, Amber changed the subject and started talking with him like she had been doing all day. After a while, she excused herself and went upstairs, leaving Kieran alone in the living room, who watched her go.

*sigh*

"I really wasn't ready for this."

"I rejected her without giving her a real explanation, all for a dream I had."

The image of a woman with a blurry feature appeared in his mind again. He unconsciously moved his right hand to his heart, tightening his grip on his clothes.

"Just who are you?"

***

A few hours later, while cultivating in one of the rooms of the portable house, Kieran felt a powerful aura. Opening his eyes, his gaze turned in Anna's direction.

"She broke through."

Leaving the house, he walked slowly until, standing a few meters from Anna, an illusory tree that seemed to be frozen was above her. In its center, the image of an ice spear was engraved, but unlike the one she used each time, this one was different. An ice lotus could be seen between the haft of the spear and the blade, separating the two, giving it a certain elegance.

The crystal essence that escaped from her slowly came back under her control until it became as calm as a lake. She opened her eyes at this moment, and an icy light escaped from them before disappearing, giving way to her icy blue eyes.

"Congratulations on your breakthrough," Kieran said with a smile on his face.

"Thanks."

For a moment, Kieran thought he saw her smile slightly, but he quickly shook his head.

'I must be tired. How could this cold woman smile?'