“Sheryl,” Vur said, glancing down at the sunlike rune on his shoulder. “Can you come out for a second?”

“Sure thing,” Sheryl said, dropping out of Vur’s body in the form of a red rock. “Don’t expect me to do much without mana. At most, I can do what a bonfire does.”

Vur nodded as he grabbed Sheryl’s rocky body, causing her to giggle from the tickling sensation that rocks apparently felt. Vur squinted at the sun and pulled his arm back, causing Sheryl’s ruby eyes to widen. “Vur,” the red elemental said and wiggled, trying to get free of his grasp. “What are you—”

Vur grunted and heaved, launching the red rock towards the burning red sun in the sky.

“Aaaaaaaa—!”

Crash!

Vur blinked as the sun exploded; Sheryl had reached it much faster than he had expected it to—her scream had barely begun before her journey was over. The fragments of the red sun rained down on the sand, and once the final piece fell, the desert returned to its original form. The sand faded away while the blue horizon squirmed and reverted to temple walls. A red rock hugging a red orb fell from the ceiling of the temple near the light, and Vur stuck out his arm and caught her before she could smash into the floor.

Sheryl’s ruby eyes narrowed, her rocky face contorting. She slapped Vur’s forearm with her sticklike hand. “You have to warn me the next time you do something like that!”

Vur blinked. “But you’re fine.”

Sheryl nodded. “Yes, I’m fine, but I would’ve convinced you to swap me with Diamant,” she said. “He’s sturdier than I am, and he’s much more used to being treated poorly.”

Vur grunted before plucking the orb out of Sheryl’s fingers. An amber light flashed from his wrist, and he squinted at the air. “Flame Sword, create a sword made of fire.” He placed Sheryl atop his shoulder before tossing the red orb to Kim Hajun. The well-dressed man’s eyes widened, and he stuck out his hands. The orb bounced off of his palms, and he grasped at the air a few times before grabbing it.

“You’re giving this to me?” Kim Hajun asked, looking up at Vur. “Are you sure?”

Tafel leaned her head over. “It’s just a flame sword?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

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“Not just any flame sword,” Kim Hajun said. “As the skill levels up, it grows in strength, eventually becoming as strong as phoenix fire.” His body stiffened. What if he had just encouraged Vur’s group to take away the skill orb? Why was he promoting a skill to another person when he needed to learn it for himself? Kim Hajun examined Tafel’s expression. Her face was completely blank. Was she tempted by the skill?

Tafel reached forward, and Kim Hajun’s hand, the one holding the skill orb out, twitched. Tafel patted Kim Hajun’s shoulder and looked away. “Yeah, you can have it.”

Lindyss glanced at the red orb. “It’s all yours,” the cursed elf said. A small smile appeared on her face before she turned her head away, the disdain in her eyes quite obvious to Kim Hajun.

Kim Hajun turned his head towards Kax, and the large man snorted while crossing his arms. Miranda raised her hands, giving Kim Hajun two thumbs-up and a half-hearted smile. “I think it’s cool,” she said. “Not as cool as Shadow Cloak, but I think it fits you.”

Kim Hajun glanced down at the red orb in his hand. Suddenly, it didn’t look as glossy as before, its luster dimming. It must’ve been a trick of the light. Kim Hajun squeezed the orb and pressed it against his root bracelet. Red motes of light surged outwards as the orb exploded. The motes sank into Kim Hajun’s skin, and his heart pumped extra hard, loud enough for everyone in the temple to hear it beat. He closed his eyes as flames surged from his body, and a yellow-orange flame grew out of his palm. It flickered before condensing into a curved sword resembling a falchion.

Vur turned his head down to look at the red rock sitting on his shoulder. “You can do that too, right?”

“Of course,” Sheryl said. “Making a sword like that is simple. In fact, I can make a whole armor set for you!” She clenched her fists and puffed her rocky cheeks out. Scarlet-red flames appeared around Vur’s body, and a set of armor condensed around him resembling plate armor but made of lava. Then, a sword made of the same scarlet flames appeared in the air, hovering in front of Vur.

“Why does it look like Mary’s armor?” Tafel asked, her brow furrowing.

Sheryl cleared her throat, readjusting her seat atop Vur’s pauldron. “Designing armor is difficult,” she said and shrugged. “I’m not good at it, so I copied someone else’s. Is that a problem?”

“No,” Tafel said and shook her head. “I was just curious. It wasn’t a criticism.”

Sheryl crossed her arms. “It better not have been,” she said. “It doesn’t look like it to you, but I put in a lot of effort to create that just now.”

“Too bad Vur doesn’t really need it,” Zilphy said. “His dragon scales are already tough enough.”

Sheryl’s ruby eyes blinked, and she looked down at the armor she had created. Her face wrinkled, and she shook her head. “I can expand it for Vur’s dragon form. He has plenty of mana for me to use anyway.”

Kim Hajun opened his eyes, admiring the sword he had created. Unexpectedly, Yeol’s Heart of Fire had interacted with the Fire Lord’s signature skill, resulting in a sword that was a bit stronger and leveled faster. A smile appeared on his face, and he waved his arm a few times. Then, his movements froze mid-swing, his gaze stopping on Vur. Kim Hajun’s face twitched, and he lowered his arm, the flame sword in his hand disappearing before it could cut into the ground. A sigh escaped from the well-dressed man’s mouth. “Shall we move on to the next temple?”