“Elemental Lightning Dragon? One of a kind?” Quin asked shocked.

“That’s right,” the Instructor answered grinning.

After a moment of pause Quin asked confused, “Wait, if it’s one of a kind, then how do you know its name?”

“With the help of the room and the device in the middle we can get some basic information about anyone’s Ancestral Spirit,” Nyra explained. “It peers into your deepest parts, even into your soul and projects the information through those pillars onto the wall. The details are not that thorough, but enough to get a basic understanding of the matter.”

Quin was astonished, he never knew something like this could have existed. The soul was an intricate matter, not something people usually dared to tamper with even if they were in the Spirit Forming stage.

“And what did it say about my spirit?” Quin could not suppress his curiosity and asked them.

“First of all, it told us its name and its elemental and racial type,” Nyra said. “We also learned how these type of creatures are born. They start their lives as Lightning Drakes, reptile creatures who are drawn to lightning and feast on it. Some of them can even eat and absorb the Tribulation Lightning itself and that is the key component for their evolution! Although it happens rarely, some drakes can eventually absorb enough lightning that their fleshly body starts to be replaced by that of lightning. After countless years they gradually morph into an Elemental Lightning Dragon, which have a body completely made of elemental lightning, in the shape of a dragon. Even those Lightning Drakes are quite powerful, not to speak about how fearsome an Elemental Lightning Dragon can be! I hope you realize you just hit the jackpot!” The excitement and enthusiasm could be clearly seen in her eyes even now.

Quin was speechless for a few moments. Though he did not know much regarding Lightning Drakes, he did encounter some information about them in one of the previous books he had read in the library. One of the things mentioned was their strength which farly surpassed that of a human in the Spirit Forming stage.

Just how powerful will my Elemental Lightning Dragon be? he wondered. He could already imagine himself in the future, backed by his magnificent Ancestral Spirit. Roaming around the world and rocking its very foundation, outshining even the geniuses! He was brought back from his daydreaming by the voice of his instructor.

“Well, it’s all great and good but don’t forget without sufficient training you won’t even reach Spirit Forming!” the Instructor warned him.

“Yes sir, I know,” Quin replied.

Just two days before the new school year Quin successfully reached the third level of Qi Condensation sub-stage. His qi was now whole seven times denser in his body compared to when he had stepped into the Qi Foundation stage. He only had a single level of Qi Condensation level left, and then he could finally step into the last sub-stage of Qi Foundation, the Qi Culmination. Out of the three sub-stages, this was probably the most complex one, and could not be fully described as “establishing a new core” or “condensing the qi”. You could say that it was about improving the quality of your qi, but that would not be entirely true. It also dealt with one’s control of their qi as well as the very essence of it, which was nigh impossible to explain in mere words.

At the end of September every kid of the eleventh grade was busy preparing for their Coming of Age ceremony, which was only a couple of weeks away. It was no surprise that on Nyra’s last class before the ceremony, she would be speaking about that.

“I know that you had gone through this already, but regarding the importance of the ceremony, I would say that it is better to be safe than sorry.

“On the sixth of October all students in the eleventh grade have to take part in the Coming of Age ceremony. The point of it is to show you how real life is outside the city, or without the protection it provides and to teach you how to survive on your own. You will be divided into groups of six and all of you have to stay in the Wilderness -- naturally within the line of the Sundering Flames -- from three to six months. This amount will depend on your performance: if you are lazy, inefficient or craven do not think that you will have the opportunity for an early homecoming!

“You can only fill a single medium-sized backpack to bring with you, and you are not allowed to pack any talismans or precious artifacts. All of your belongings will be examined and inspected  before you leave, and if we find anything like that, you can be sure that you will never see it again!

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“I will be honest with you, the journey is dangerous and there have been cases of a student dying. However your safety is important for us, that is why each groups will have a Qi Culmination expert as your guardian, and every twenty groups will be assigned a Spirit Forming expert.

“Normally the Qi Culmination guardian will not interfere in your fights out there, instead they will mainly play a supportive role and only directly intervene if you are in mortal danger. They will also have the ability to call for the Spirit Forming expert, if needed.

“It is also important to note that the groups are not allowed to band together for an extended period of time. Of course we do not want forbid any kind of interactions, but let me remind you that we intentionally split you into those groups, so these meetings should not exceed a day. Let me warn you, that this will be checked each day by the Spirit Forming expert!

“During these years, you have learnt how to fight and defend yourselves, how to navigate across the lands, how to do first aid or handle dangerous situation and the attributes, strength and behavior of the wild beasts. You should be equipped with everything necessary to survive, even if you have only half-paid attention to your studies, thus I hope that every one of you will be able to succeed!” Finishing her speech, she paused for a bit and then decided to go through a couple of other important information as well.

The days passed and soon it was time for the Coming of Age ceremony. The students, who have already stood in groups, were lined up in front of the enormous city gate. Quin was at the front, with his group of seven, including him. Five of them were from his usual circle of friends, Aline, Alinor, Dreon and two of Alinor’s friends, Lin -- an average looking, but tall girl with green, short hair and a slim body -- and Sao -- a lean guy, his only noticeable feature being his bald head.

The last member of the team was their Qi Culmination guardian, a woman in her early twenties with long red hair braided into two threads. Though she somewhat had a pretty face, her looks were ordinary and could not be compared to the other beauties in the crowd. She was no other than Leyn, Quin’s former friend.

He was not quite happy that it had to be her, who was selected as their guardian but he could not do anything about it.

In the previous year and a half there was barely any interaction between them, despite that she tried several times to fix things up, but Quin felt betrayed and was too stubborn to reconcile.

Soon the instructors, teachers and the soldiers arrived and after a short speech and assigning the Spirit Forming experts to the groups, they departed. They would be escorted together to the edge of Wilderness, and then they would be scattered in different directions.

After arriving, Quin’s team was one of the outermost ones, not too far from the Sundering Flames.

“Cool! We’re just at the edge, so we can finally go and see the Sundering Flames with our own eyes!” Dreon exclaimed happily, his eyes shining.

“Yeah, I also can’t wait to see it!” Lin said, sharing Dreon’s enthusiasm.

Honestly, all of them were just as excited as Lin and Dreon and made similar remarks. They have heard a lot of the Sundering Flames, and they have even seen quite a few paintings, but obviously that could not compare to seeing it in person.

They set off, organized into the formation they have previously planned and discussed. Quin was at the back of the group, as he was the fastest among them -- not just in speed but in his ability to react as well. In this way he could see the whole group and could quickly respond to any threats. The front was taken by Alinor, who -- due to his magma element -- was the toughest and could take quite a few heavy hits if anything happened. He also acted as the leader of their group, deciding their direction to take, or the other’s role in the team. Quin could have taken his position without a doubt, as he was the strongest among them, however Alinor was one of his best friends and he perfectly knew that his ability in this area was lacking compared to Alinor’s.

Nightfall came in no time, and they stopped to set up a camping site for the night.