A few minutes before, in the office of the Director of the Ozryn Academy.

The Director sat quietly at his desk, enjoying tea while inspecting the holographic documents that appeared before him.

Suddenly his aurora collar rang, and notifications appeared before him with messages from several teachers.

"Director, there’s a problem in training room 17!"

"Director, several students have indicated that a student was fighting against the guest of the Thundershields guild and that it was not a training match!"

"Director..."

"Director..."

One after the other, the messages constantly arrived, making the Director’s eyebrows frown. Rising from his chair, his body disappeared from the office without leaving a trace.

He quickly came to the door of Training Room 17 when an inconceivable scene played in front of him.

'An Early Stage Bronze rank against an Early Stage Silver rank on an equal footing?! No. He surpasses him with his speed!'

The Director’s eyes shine.

'It was the student who had a double awakening. If I remember correctly, he was 28th in the last competition. His improvements are impressive in such a short time!'

The Director complimented Kieran in his mind when suddenly the claws of Kieran came closer to the forehead of Aurelius. Without other choice, the Director used his crystal essence to stop the fight between the two.

"Stop!"

Both of them froze for a moment, looking at the Director.

"Why did you interfere?" said Kieran.

"What is going on here?" asked the Director.

"It's just a training session," replied Kieran.

The eyes of Kieran went cold when his attention came back to Aurelius.

The students gathered in the room were shocked by the sudden change in the situation.

"Aurelius, what happened?"

"Nothing... Just a misunderstanding."

Aurelius’s voice was low. The image of the claws coming for his life was still clear in his mind, giving him a shiver on his back.

The students looked at each other. None of them believed him after what they had witnessed during the last few minutes.

The Director made a gesture to the students to make them leave. They quickly dispersed away from the training room.

"I'll ask you once more. What happened here?"

"This isn't over yet, young man. You will be punished for your insolence," said Aurelius before leaving the room without saying anything more.

Kieran retrieved Shard of a Broken World before walking back to Ryan with a medicinal potion in his hand. He kneeled, pouring the potion into his mouth. Soon, colors returned to Ryan's face, and his wounds started healing slowly.

"Are you alright?" asked Kieran glancing at Thomas, who was still on the ground.

"Yes, don't worry about me."

Another potion appeared on his hand before he threw it toward Thomas.

Thomas smiled back and emptied the potion in his mouth.

"Young man, I need to talk to you," said the Director.

"I need to take my brother into the infirmary first."

"Sure."

***

After they transported Ryan into the infirmary, the Director returned to his office with Kieran and sat down at his desk with an annoyed expression.

"You have done something very foolish today, Kieran. Did you know that?" asked the Director.

"No. I didn't. He let my brother get wounded. He deserved more than what just happened to him," replied Kieran.

"But you would have killed him if I didn't stop you."

"That was my intention."

"You... Don't you know he part of the Thundershields guild?"

"I know."

The Director looked at Kieran, who showed no fear at all.

"Didn't you fear what they can do to you?"

"I do, but if someone dares to touch my family, I don't care about my life. I will do anything I can to eradicate them."

Kieran's voice was calm when he said these words, leaving a big impression in the Director's mind, who sighed deeply and put his hands together.

"Kieran, I want to tell you that what you have done is truly astonishing for someone at your rank. You already have shown us how talented you are by defeating Aurelius. I will try to help you with the Thundershields guild, but I can't defend you when you step outside of Ozryn."

"Thank you, Director, for your help. You don't have to worry about me outside of Ozryn. There is no Bronze rank inside Ozryn who can fight against me. Even if I go inside a spatial rift, I can still be safe on my own."

"I understand. But now you have to be careful. Your future opponents might not be as easy as Aurelius. They could be stronger than you. You must be wary of being betrayed by those around you inside the spatial rift too. You must also notify your family. If they can't catch you, they can try to do something to your family."

A strong killing intent escaped from Kieran as the air in the room became cold. Even the Director was surprised by the intense killing intent he released.

Without Kieran noticing it, after the massacre of the Thundershields guild members, his killing intent became incredibly thick for someone at his cultivation level.

Remembering the appearance of Kieran in the awakening ceremony and comparing it with him now, the Director couldn't imagine the two were the same person at all.

'What did he get through in these three months to change this much?'

Kieran forced himself to calm down before looking into the eyes of the Director.

"Thank you for your help. I will take my leave now."

He bowed to the Director, then turned around and left the room.

"What a strong young man," whispered the Director, watching him walk away.

Kieran walked through the academy. Each student he came by moved away from him, whispering something while looking at him.

After a few minutes, he arrived in front of the infirmary. Inside it, he found Ryan lying on a bed with a nurse standing beside him. The door closed behind him and locked itself automatically. The nurse saw Kieran enter the infirmary, and she approached him.

"Your brother has some broken bones and a lot of injuries in his organs, but it's nothing too serious. With the help of the potion you gave him before bringing him here, they slowly regenerate themselves. He’ll wake up in just a few hours."

"Thank you."

He took a chair in the infirmary and sat next to Ryan.

The nurse looked at him for a moment before leaving him alone.

Runihoril appeared near him at that moment.

"You were a bit reckless there."

"I know."

"What will you do now that they will target you?"

"From what I know about the Thundershields guild, the strongest among them is at the late stage Gold rank. I can't fight them now, I need to stay in the public area while I'm still inside Ozryn, and for the spatial rift, they can't do anything to me there. Even if they come with hundred of Bronze rank, I can escape easily with my speed."

"Late stage Gold rank. If you continue to grow at this speed, you will have the same strength in a year or so."

He nodded when his aurora collar started ringing.

"Alexei?"

"Hi, Kieran. I've heard what you did, that's incredible man!" the sound of the excited voice of Alexei was coming from the holographic screen in front of him.

"How do you know it already?"

"A Bronze rank beat a Silver rank, and that Silver rank was from a prestigious guild inside Ozryn. It's normal that all the guilds inside Ozryn will hear about it. A lot of people will come trying to recruit you."

"That sounds bothersome."

"To tell you the truth, I call you for two reasons. My guildmaster asked me to try to recruit you when he learns we know each other, even if I tell him that you don't want to join any guilds."

"I won't change my mind about it. I still don't want to join any guilds."

"Yeah, I know it would end like that. For the second reason, Anna and I will reach the limit of the Bronze rank in a month or so. We will go inside a secret realm to find our evolution materials. Do you want to join us? Your help will be greatly accepted, and my guild will owe you a favor."

"What type of favor?"

"That can be many things, for example, protecting your family from the Thundershields guild reprisal."

'I see. That's why he proposed I help them. That way, I didn't owe them anything, but my relationship with his guild will strengthen,' thought Kieran for a moment.

The impression he had of Alexei changed a lot just with these words.

"Tell me when you need my help. I will come with you."

"Great! Anna will be happy to see you again."

The images of Anna with her cold face appeared in his mind.

'Anna happy? Can he even tell when she was or not?'

The two continued their discussion for a while before ending the call.

The infirmary's door suddenly opened, and Thomas entered, walking toward him.

His two arms were now healed without any trace of them being broken.

"Thomas? Are you alright?"

"Yes, thanks to your potion and the academy infirmary."

"Thanks for helping Ryan."

"I did nothing at all. I couldn't do anything..." said Thomas clenching his hands in a fist.

"Take this."

Kieran throws ten little blue stones at him.

"What is this?"

"It's a crystal essence stone. It can help you cultivate faster. When you finish absorbing all of them, you should be able to breakthrough to the Bronze rank."

Thomas stayed silent, looking at the blue stone inside his hands.

"Thank you, Kieran."

"It's nothing."

"I just need to find an evolution path now."

'An evolution path... Can I see his evolution paths too?' At the same time he was thinking about it, a golden halo appeared in his right eye.

[Thomas Dashon]
[Crystal Tree Status:
Name: Scale Generation
Type: Reinforcement
Rank: Iron
Ability: Scale Generation
Refinement Rate: 24.54/100
Path of Evolution: 1853 available paths]
[Crystal Essence: 24.54]

'It seems like I can. Master was right. What is the first evolution path for him?'

[Path of evolution (1):
Lizardman Scale Generation. Evolution conditions: Lizardman Scales Bronze Grade
Changing Lizardman Scale Generation. Evolution conditions: Soul Crystal Changing Scale Silver Grade, Lizardman Scales Silver Grade
Wind Wyvern Scale Generation. Evolution Conditions: Soul Crystal Wind Scale Gold Grade, Wyvern Scales Gold Grade
????. Evolution conditions: ?
????. Evolution conditions: ?
........ ]

A little smile appeared on his face.

"I have one for you."

"You have one for me? Why?"

"I bought one when I was in Aldrines. The price there is lower than inside Ozryn."

"How can I thank you? You give me a cultivation technique, cristal essence stones, and even an evolution path..."

"You don't have to do anything. You shouldn't worry too much about it. It cost practically nothing anyway."

"I will leave you with Ryan. Thanks again, Kieran."

Kieran watched Thomas go before turning his attention to Ryan.

A few hours later, Ryan opened his eyes slightly, seeing his older brother sitting beside him. He tried to smile but couldn't due to the pain caused by his injuries.

"How long I was asleep?" asked Ryan quietly.

"Just a few hours, don't worry, you can rest."

"Sorry... I shouldn't have fought like this with a grade E crystal tree..."

Ryan's words were weak, barely audible due to weakness.

"Don't blame yourself. He was at the Bronze rank while you're still at the Iron rank. Even if your crystal tree grade was higher, it wouldn't overlap the difference in cultivation," said Kieran, trying to comfort his brother.

"Even with the difference in cultivation, I was... really trying my best, Kieran... but I couldn't... do anything against him..." Tears started to fall from Ryan's eyes, "I worked hard all these years to be the first student in the academy... I distanced myself from the others to keep studying, but... Even with all my efforts... Why... Why do the heavens treat me so unjustly? Why have I awakened a grade E crystal tree?! Why... Just why should I be limited to being at the Bronze rank all my life... I wanted to become a powerful cultivator too..."

Tears continued to fall from his eyes, and his voice was weak, but Kieran could hear the pain, the despair, and the sorrow behind each of his words.

'Yeah... You too have a dream you want to make real one day.'

"Who said you will stay at the Bronze rank? You forgot that I became rich? Do you think I sent you a cultivation technique without buying you an evolution path for your crystal tree?" said Kieran with a gentle voice.

Ryan raised his head and stared into his brother's eyes with surprise on his face. His mouth fell open, and he couldn't speak anything else until several seconds passed.

"Did... Did you really buy an evolution path for me?"

"What did you think? It's the big brother's job to help his little brother."

Kieran laughed while Ryan remained silent. It was the first time in all these years that he didn't talk back to him when he said he was the big brother.

"It's ok, Ryan, everything gonna be fine now. I will help you train harder than ever before, and you won't lose to this guy anymore."

He stood up and put his fist forward in front of Ryan. A little smile appeared on the face of Ryan before raising his fist to punch his brother's fist.

"You can sleep more. We can talk about that another time. We need to make sure your injuries heal completely first," He told him and returned to his chair, watching over him.

***

Thundershields Guild, top floor.

Aiden was standing in front of the window, his back to Aurelius, who was kneeling with his whole body shaking.

"So you're telling me that you, an early stage Silver rank, lost to an early stage Bronze rank?"

"Ye... Yes, Guild Master," said Aurelius in a weak, trembling voice.

"And you are the one who organized all this masquerade?" Aiden asked, glancing at Cassandra, who was in the corner of the room.

"I didn't know he had become so strong after returning from the rift that he could face Aurelius, but father, this guy humiliated me many times! He deserves to die!"

"Shut up!"

The air in the room suddenly grew heavier as Cassandra's face went white.

"Do you have any idea of the value of a double awakened who can face someone who exceeds him by a full rank? Even during my travels to the capital of Ostrion, I have not heard of such things! Even if our cultivators are weaker than those of the capital, you have made us lose the opportunity to recruit such a person."

"His crystal trees have a low grade. He won't be able to reach the transcendent realm," Cassandra said quickly, trying to calm her father down.

"The transcendent realm? A Diamond rank rules Ozryn, and if we could have recruited this young man, he could have become one, granting us access to the best resources in all the rifts of Ozryn. No transcendents will remain in this city. Why would we need one?"

Cassandra’s face became increasingly white as she understood her father’s words.

"I'm sorry, Father, I didn't think about such things."

"From today, you will stay inside the Thundershields guild. I don't want to hear about any problem concerning you."

"Yes, father..."

"You can leave."

"Yes."

Cassandra left the room, biting her lip.

Aiden looked at the back of his daughter leaving his office before gazing at Aurelius.

"Today you stained the name of my guild. Tell me what I should do to you," Aiden’s tone suddenly became colder.

"Guildmaster, I'll do anything to make amends! Please give me a chance!"

"Have you checked on this Kieran's background?"

"He comes from a poor family. He only has his parents and his twin brother as living relatives. His father is only a Bronze rank belonging to a small team, his mother is not a cultivator, and his twin brother is at the early stage of the Iron rank."

"Has a guild approached him to recruit him?"

"According to our information, several guilds tried to contact him, but he refused each call, but according to some people who were present at the secret realm that appeared in the Iron Rank 57 863 rift, he approached some members of the Cold Ocean guild."

"The Cold Ocean guild... It might be difficult to reach him inside the city if the Cold Ocean guild keeps an eye on him, but leaving him alive after such an accident is out of the question. If he reaches gold rank in the future and can still face someone higher in rank than him, our guild will not stand a chance against him."

Aiden was silent for a moment.

"Give my orders to the intelligence team. I want him and his family's every move to be watched. As soon as he or any of his family crosses a rift, I want them killed the moment they leave the Aegis alliance! Create a team of 100 members at the limit of the Bronze rank and prepare ten of them to breakthrough to Silver rank when they cross a rift. If Kieran crosses a rift, I want him to be killed by all possible means!"

"Yes, Guildmaster!"

Aurelius quickly left the room while a cold sparkle shone in Aiden’s eyes.