Emil and Dustin could be seen walking along the campus grounds.

"Where do you wanna go? Any suggestions?"

"Uhhh, I'm not sure. I don't go around much."

"I see. well how about... Oh, the Lava Pool. you said you wanna strengthen your body right?"

A pair of askant eyes were Dustin's response.

"...you know where the lava pool is, right?" He asked hesitantly, to which Emil shook his head.

"..."

The two fell silent.

"Emil."

Dustin grabbed Emil's shoulder, intiating eye contact with him.

"Exactly, what have you been doing for the past month?"

Emil scratched his head in embarrassment.

"I trained, I studied, I had meals, I hunted, I won the competition, oh, and I slept a bit too."

once Emil's speech was over, yet another deafening silence permeated the atmosphere surrounding the two.

Dustin's question, it wasn't literal.

But maybe Emil was too slow to catch on, or too inexperienced in social interactions.

It was, surprising to say the least.

Emil's emotions were always masked by a layer of indifference, and an impassive expression.

It made it hard for people to make an impression of him without first speaking to him, which no one did.

When he first approached Emil, Dustin expected someone colder, and a bit more confident.

But It seemed like there was a lot he didn't know about him, a lot anyone, was yet to know about him.

It was alright though. Now that they were friends, they were gonna get plenty of chances to get closer to each other. Dustin snapped back to reality when he felt Emil's eyes on him.

With a smile, he crossed his arm over Emil's neck and thumped his chest.

"Well. You're in luck today. Cause I, am going to take you somewhere great."

***

Sometime later, the two boys could be seen climbing a staircase on a mountaintop.

It wasn't just any mountain though, it was a volcano.

Emil saw the place on his first day at the Academy, but never got the chance to inquire about it.

All he knew was that it wasn't too far from the campus, and that it was visited by students frequently.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

The two stopped next to a stone door after reaching the end of the staircase.

"We're here.

Now pull out your ticket and click your badge with the tablet to go in.

I'll go in first since we can only enter one at a time." Dustin looked at Emil and explained, before proceeding to do exactly as he said.

The door opened soon, revealing its fiery insides, with the boy walking in and the door closing behind him.

Emil looked at the door, at Dustin's disappearing back, and then at the badge in his hand.

He brought up the virtual ticket he'd just purchased for a hundred Merit Points, and fed it to the tablet.

The door soon rumbled open, allowing him to walk in and take a good look at the surroundings.

"What the..."

Emil muttered, his eyes glued to the scorching hot lava jumping around in a pool dozens of meters wide, placed in the centre of the room.

What surprised him the most wasn't the Lava Pool no. It was the students bathing inside of it, alive and kicking, and unharmed too.

Seeing Emil's baffled face, Dustin couldn't help but grin.

"Cool right? Well. The lava isn't as it seems.

It's a special type of lava with Body Tempering properties. But the only reason we can take advantage of it is the formation tampering with it. Otherwise, well. You know what'd happen if you bathed lava."

Emil nodded as he listened, his eyes locked on the miracle before him.

"You know what, experiencing once is better than hearing it a thousand times.

Come on let's take a dip."

Dustin began undressing, gesturing at Emil to do the same.

Slowly, Emil took his clothes off and followed the boy to the edge of the pool.

"I'm all for getting stronger but, this is something else."

Emil voiced his thoughts as they were entering the pool, his tone shaky.

He knew nothing would happen to him but he still couldn't help being nervous.

It was a lava pool he was stepping in, after all.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen. It's gonna burn a lot on your first try but bear with it."

Dustin reassured Emil as he guided him into the pool.

He was nervous on his first try too, but it was something he had to go through.

Soon, the two were both fully submerged in the lava.

Emil closed his eyes and waited for the heat to assault him, but nothing happened no matter how much waited.

Dustin who was watching him from the side couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

Why wasn't Emil burning?

He remembered screaming like a little girl when he first tried the pool.

Not just him but all his friends too.

Keeping your voice in wasn't humanly possible when you were exposed to that kind of pain.

So why wasn't Emil screaming? Hell, he even looked unbothered.

"Uhh, Emil, are you alright?

Feeling any particular burn anywhere?"

Dustin creeped closer and spoke.

Was he fine, was he not fine, he couldn't tell.

"Yeah I'm alright."

Emil's reply was curt. confusion bubbling in him as he took in Dustin. was he not supposed to be fine?

"Oh, great. It's just...

So it doesn't burn or anything?"

"It burns yeah. It's just not too hot. I'm kind of used to something hotter."

*Gulp*

Dustin gazed at the monstrosity, fear hidden behind his eyes.

What did he mean 'used to something hotter'?

How much hotter than lava could it get?

"I see, i see. It's just, you know, really hot. Me and all my friends screamed like the world was ending when we first got in, it's just, Pfft, really crazy."

"...Yeah."

"In fact."

Dustin pointed at the others, immersed in cultivation.

"The reason most people leave after just a dozen minutes isn't cause their bodies can't take it, But because the heat is too much. We'd get jacked as hell in no time if we could train our bodies to exhaustion here."

Emil bobbed in understanding, hie gaze unfocused.

There was a whole system here he didn't know about. He was glad he stopped training for the day to hang out with Dustin.

Lost in thoughts, he didn't notice the weird look his friend was giving him.

Dustin scrutinized Emil, looking for any signs of pain or disturbance on his face.

But he couldn't find any no matter how much he scanned him.

Emil began cultivating, still unbothered.

Reality still hadn't settled in for Dustin.

How was the guy unfazed at the lava's heat, he didn't know.

It didn't have to do with talent, or even a strong mentality.

Everyone gave in to the heat at one point, everyone.

But if Emil really wasn't bothered by it then, who knew just how beneficial training in here would be for him.

After taking one last glance at his companion, Dustin smiled in defeat and began cultivating.

The most talentless student of the academy, sure was full of surprises.