The students and Andrew reappeared in a large room with several scattered arenas. The majority of the students fell to their knees vomiting, while the rest seemed to have no problem related to the spatial displacement they had just undergone.

"Ah, sorry. I often forget that not all new students are used to spatial travel," said Andrew, laughing.

The students who were vomiting on the ground already missed Professor Melia.

Andrew made a simple gesture with his hand, and a silver light spread over the students on the ground. The next moment, their expression changed as the uneasiness they felt disappeared.

'Isn't he too casual for a Professor?' thought Kieran.

"As I said before, we are going to do a combat practice where you will compete against each other so that I can evaluate you. Choose a partner for this exercise, and if your ability is support type, don't worry. In order to make this exercise as fair as possible, a training dummy will be provided for you to use."

As Andrew finished his words, several formations were activated in the room, and training dummies were created around him.

"Each of these training dummies is identical in terms of combat technique. Their level of crystal strength will be based on your crystal essence. Those with support abilities come to see me to receive your training dummy. Once you have chosen your partner for this exercise, please go to one of the arenas," said Andrew as he began handing out the training dummies to the students with support abilities.

Kieran looked at Elseria, who was standing a few steps away from him.

"Do you want to do the combat practice with me?" he asked.

Elseria nodded before heading towards one of the arenas, followed by Kieran.

'I don't know her strength or her ability. Should I hold back?' Kieran thought as he looked at Elseria, who was standing a few meters in front of him.

On the other hand, Elseria also thought of the same thing.

'In Ozryn, his cultivation had only reached the middle stage of Bronze rank. He must have reached the early stage of Silver rank by now. His ability lets him transform into a lycan. If I lower my strength to the early stage Silver rank, I shouldn't hurt him unintentionally.'

As the two thought about the combat practice that was about to begin, Andrew's voice was carried through the entire large room.

"You can start."

As if the two had agreed in advance, they waved their hands, making blades of fire and water appear. An expression of surprise appeared on both of their faces for different reasons.

'Water? It's not lightning? Is it really not her? But if that's the case, then why...?' Kieran thought as he saw the blades of water.

'Did he evolve his lycan transformation to add a fire element ability to it, or was he too exhausted at that time to use it?' Elseria thought as she controlled the power of her water blades to match Kieran's fire blades.

As the two threw their attacks to gauge the other's strength, the moment their attacks made contact, something unexpected happened.

Instead of clashing, their two attacks seemed to fuse together, gradually becoming a cloud of steam that covered part of their arena.

Before the two could even comprehend what had just happened, they felt the will of the other inside the cloud of steam. It was as if they could control it together.

"What?!"

"What?!"

The two shouted simultaneously as they looked at each other with visible shock in their eyes.

The two quickly regained their senses. Abandoning the control they had over the steam cloud, they created new attacks.

Spears of earth emerged around Kieran, while water vortexes manifested around Elseria, creating water arrows that soared forward.

The two attacks were about to make contact when the same phenomenon happened again. Water and earth fused, forming a torrent of mud on the arena.

Kieran and Elseria looked at each other again before trying one attack after another, but no change appeared, no matter how they tried. Once their two attacks came into contact, they ended up fusing together.

Eventually, as an agreement, the two stopped using their elements. Each of them took a step forward, vanishing from their previous location.

A soft explosion was heard as the two emerged in the middle of the arena, Kieran holding his double-bladed sword in his hands and Elseria her sword. The two clashed in a duel of strength to repel the other.

Elseria quickly moved her sword, causing Kieran to lose his balance. Releasing her grip with her left hand, she hit him in the chest and pushed him back.

Kieran gasped for a moment from the blow. Activating both of his abilities, he rushed forward again in his lycan form.

'Where did he get a double-bladed sword? I thought there were none in this universe.' Elseria thought as she examined Kieran's movements. She couldn't help but glance at his double-bladed sword.

Seeing him quickly approaching her, she controlled her strength to lower herself to the same level before taking a step forward.

Their two swords came into contact once again.

"Where did you get that weapon?" asked Elseria, quickly moving her sword to deliver another blow.

"I forged it," Kieran said quickly, swapping the position of his two blades to stop Elseria's attack.

Drops of water gathered under Elseria's feet as she suddenly disappeared before Kieran's eyes, who only saw a strand of silver hairs leave his sight.

A shiver ran down his spine as he reacted quickly by moving his double-bladed sword.

*clang*

The two swords clashed once again. Elseria continued her rapid assault despite her small size, facing Kieran in his lycan form, who was twice her size. She delivered blow after blow while Kieran resisted, his double-bladed sword dancing around him, blocking each attack from her one after the other.

Beginning to feel pressured, Kieran took a step back, creating a wall of earth between them, but before he could take a breath, Elseria created a wall of water that fused with his wall of earth. The next moment, she crossed the wall of mud that had formed following their fusion with a layer of water that covered her body.

'I really overestimated myself, thinking I could hold back against her. I still haven't grasped the phenomenon that occurs when our two elements come into contact, but she's already using it to her advantage,' thought Kieran with an ironic smile on his face as he tightened his grip on his double-bladed sword, ready to stop Elseria's assault.

On her side, Elseria was focused on studying the movements Kieran made with his double-bladed sword.

'Why do his movements seem so familiar but unfamiliar at the same time?' she thought as she struck with a slash, which Kieran dodged by jumping back.

The two seemed to delve into their own world as Elseria had the upper hand in their clash, pushing Kieran further and further toward the border of the arena.

Professor Andrew, who had watched all the other students' matches, had finally reached their arena. He watched their match with shining eyes.

"This year's students are not bad, but these two are really something else. I had already seen the little wolf in action, but the Elf Princess is incredible too. Although she doesn't use all her strength, her control over her crystal essence and her abilities are truly on another level. In addition to keeping her abilities active inside her body, she let nothing appear outside. She even perfectly retains her strength to be on the same level as the little wolf," said Andrew before letting out a long sigh.

"Elves are really lucky to be able to awaken at the age of five. Even if they can only cultivate once they turn 18, they can train their abilities during this entire period. I wonder if the alliance will manage to obtain an exchange to receive the formation array, which allows an awakening this early."

The fight between the two continued, not paying attention to anything that was happening outside the arena.

Kieran, who was close to the border of the arena due to being repeatedly pushed back by Elseria's assault, leaped into the air before creating several platforms of earth on which to lean.

Elseria followed quickly behind him, jumping onto one of the earth's platforms to pursue him. A hint of surprise appeared in her eyes as she set foot on the platform before rushing towards the next one.

Kieran, who had reached a higher altitude, turned around suddenly with a dull yellow glint in his eyes.

He focused on the earth platform that Elseria was going to reach to create earth spikes from it, but the moment Elseria stepped on it, he felt his control over the earth platform being lessened to the point that he could not change its shape.

'How does she do that?!' he wondered, abandoning any idea of using his earth platforms to his advantage. Instead, he created more around him to serve as a foothold before propelling himself again into a confrontation with Elseria.

*clang*

The sound of the two swords clashing constantly resounded as the two fought in the air, each using the earth's platforms as support to move freely.

As they had just exchanged another blow, Elseria stopped on a platform, looking at Kieran in the eyes. Kieran did the same and stopped to look at her.

"What weapon technique are you using? It looks like an elf technique," asked Elseria.

"Answer my question first. How can you control my elemental abilities? Is this part of your ability?" Kieran asked in turn.

"I don't do anything to control your elemental abilities. It just happens. I don't know why either."

Kieran frowned at Elseria's answer.

'I should ask Master later,' he thought.

"You didn't answer me. Where does this technique come from? Is it a human technique?" Elseria asked again.

"No. It's an elf technique I learned in a secret realm. The technique is called The Dance of the Heaven and Earth," replied Kieran honestly.

'So it really was The Dance of the Heaven and Earth, but why is it different from the current technique? Did the secret realm come from an elf from another era? Even so, the technique has changed very little since the first King created it with his wife, so why does it feel so different?' wondered Elseria.

"Do you mind if I see the technique?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, the technique was directly transferred into my brain. I can't teach it to you even if I wanted to," replied Kieran.

"I see. Were you able to learn the first form?"

"Yes."

"Can you show it to me?"

"Sure."

Kieran's lips curled slightly into a smile as his golden blue crystal essence emanated throughout his body before being devoured by his blades.

Elseria's eyes became sharper, and a golden blue crystal essence also emanated from her body to be absorbed by her blade.

'Earth Shattering? She knows the Dance of Heaven and Earth too?' thought Kieran as the smile on his face widened. He leaned on the earthen platform to dash forward, and Elseria did the same.

The giant's ability moved quickly through Kieran's body before reaching his arms. At the same moment, both swung a slash forward.

"Earth Shattering!"

"Earth Shattering!"

With their voices in unison, the training room was covered by a golden hue. The students were suddenly frozen in this golden world while their bodies shook unconsciously.

'These two are really something,' Andrew thought as a silver sword appeared in front of him. The space around it seemed to twist under its presence.

Taking the sword, Andrew made several cuts towards Kieran and Elseria's arena. As if they were separated from the world, all the golden light was restricted within the confines of the arena.

Inside it, all the earth platforms had been destroyed due to the power of their blows. They pushed each other back while their crystal essences were infused into their blades.

Kieran's crystal essence exhausted quickly to maintain the power of his blow, but in just a few seconds, his crystal essence was emptied, his face began to turn pale, and blood started to drip from his lips. Seeing this, Elseria frowned as her strength suddenly increased. She easily pushed Kieran away before retrieving her crystal essence and leaving the arena.

Kieran, who had twisted his body through the air to land safely, watched her leave the arena with a disconcerted expression on his face.

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Andrew Illustration: