In a part of the Transcendental Academy of Ostrion, Elseria walked inside a building with a sign above its door indicating Master Inscriptionist Association.

Walking slowly through the entrance hall, many students' eyes fell on her, and the murmurs she had been accustomed to since arriving at the academy were heard one after the other.

Elseria didn't pay attention to their words and continued to walk towards the reception desk while looking at her silver bracelet. Some of the inscriptions on its surface were disabled.

'I turned it off because it seemed broken, but why do I feel like people around me notice me more than before?' she thought to herself as she arrived at the counter.

"Hello," she said to the employee, who looked at her with eyes that seemed filled with disgust despite the smile he displayed.

"Welcome, how can I help you?" said the employee.

"One of the inscriptions on this bracelet appears to be defective. I would like to have it checked," she replied, showing her bracelet.

The employee glanced at the inscriptions but couldn't determine their functions or whether one was defective.

"The level of the inscriptions on this bracelet is higher than my capabilities. Can you give it to me so that I can have it checked by someone more competent?" asked the employee, still wearing a fake smile.

"Yes," replied Elseria, taking off the bracelet from her wrist.

Suddenly, a deafening silence filled the hall. Every pair of eyes that looked in her direction seemed to be in a trance.

Elseria handed her bracelet to the employee, but he seemed unconscious as his eyes were fixed on her.

"Excuse me?" said Elseria, but the employee still didn't answer.

As she was about to call him again, a voice came behind the employee.

"What are you doing, idiot? You don't see that a customer is waiting. Stop daydreaming and move aside."

The employee was pushed aside and seemed to come to his senses while looking at the man who had just arrived.

"S... Sorry, Professor Wen Xin," said the employee, bowing to the man.

Professor Wen Xin seemed to be wearing different clothes from the other professors Elseria had seen so far. His eyes were a dark blue, while his equally colored hair was spiked backward with a braid cascading down his back, along with an accessory resembling an orb attached to the end of the braid.

"Excuse my employee for his incompetence, Princess Elseria," Wen Xin said, bowing slightly before continuing, "As an apology, I will personally check the inscriptions on your bracelet."

"Thanks," replied Elseria, holding out her bracelet.

Inscriptions appeared above Wen Xin's hand before flying around Elseria's bracelet momentarily.

"There is no problem with the two inscriptions on your bracelet," he said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. The inscription to obscure your presence from the senses of others and the one that reduces your natural charm are both in perfect condition. It's a waste that someone like you uses both of these inscriptions, but I can understand why, seeing these students who seem lifeless," replied Wen Xin while looking at the students in the hall who had their eyes fixed on Elseria.

Elseria didn't react to the professor's words. She had long become insensitive to such compliments, whether veiled or explicit.

In the elven kingdom, she was considered an abomination and a sinner, yet her beauty was a topic frequently discussed by the elders.

There was a time when she overheard them discussing a plan to make her smile in front of a guest so they could easily marry her off and secure resources for the elves in return.

Such words that compliment her beauty didn't instill any joy in her. Instead, she only felt disgusted towards herself and the life she lived, making her often think about the reason she was born, whether it was to be a perfect, smiling doll for the elders' guests or a caged bird with broken wings, condemned to a life of isolation and rejection.

Since the day she overheard the elders' conversation, she had stopped smiling, though she had very few occasions to do so, given the hostility of her race towards her in the first place, she had no intention to become their doll.

"Is there a reason why their effect doesn't work on a person?" she asked, wearing her bracelet again while activating the inscriptions engraved on it.

The students seemed to come to their senses at the same time, avoiding any glances in her direction.

"The inscriptions on your bracelet were created to affect even Lord rank cultivators. There are only three ways to bypass their effect. The person is of a rank higher than Lord, they possess an ability or artifact rendering their effect ineffective, or you manipulate the inscriptions to prevent them from affecting that person."

"I see. Thank you, Professor Wen Xin," said Elseria before leaving.

*sigh*

"What a shame she's not my future sister-in-law. She would be much better than this fury," Wen Xin whispered when he suddenly felt a chill on his back.

"Is this fury sent spies into my association?" he wondered, looking around before giving up to return to his office.

Elseria left the association, looking at her bracelet.

"Does he have an artifact that negates the effects of the inscriptions on my bracelet?" she wondered, pressing a button hidden on her bracelet.

A holographic screen appeared before her, allowing her to access the aurora net. As she was about to search for information on the academy forum, a video caught her attention.

"Is it Kieran and Ryan? Why are they fighting elves? Is it my fault?" she asked herself anxiously as she played the video.

Her anxiety disappeared quickly as her gaze moved towards the Heaven Reaching Tower.

"I wonder how they're doing."

A notification suddenly appeared on the academy forum.

[The limit of the Mortal realm ranking has been broken! Elf Prince Vaelin joins the geniuses who have succeeded in passing floor 109!]

Elseria's gaze grew firmer as she read the notification while her hands clenched into a fist.

She turned around before heading towards the training grounds.

***

Kieran ascended through the floors quickly. With each floor, the difficulty increased while the Academic Merit Point reward also increased by five.

After three hours inside the tower, he finally began to reach his limits on floor 39 by facing five Silver rank opponents with a crystal essence level of 7,000.

Floor 39 was filled with volcanoes that erupted from time to time, filling the sky with volcanic ash and making the surroundings dark.

A few meters in front of him, two beasts covered in molten magma that constantly changed shape, resembling a nightmarish fusion of lava flows, rock, and pulsing veins of liquid fire roared in his direction. Beside them, three mounds of cooling magma solidified before his eyes.
These beasts were called Ignarock. They were born in the heart of volcanoes. Their physiology resembled golems, with a core in their body that served as a heart.

On his side, Kieran's condition was not optimal. He was breathing heavily, his crystal essence was almost depleted due to the numerous opponents he had to face until there, and all along his left arm were burns revealing his flesh.

Despite being in an illusion created by the tower, he could feel the pain as if it were real.

One of the two Ignarocks in front of him began to distort. What looked like a twisted hand extended from its body.

Kieran held his left arm in pain as he dodged the attack. The ground beneath his feet turned a fiery red hue, the temperature rapidly rising. Without a moment's hesitation, he leaped backward, and in the blink of an eye, a wave of molten lava erupted from the very spot he had occupied just moments ago.

*roar*

The other Ignarock that hadn't moved yet began to let out a scream, what looked like a deformed mouth on its body twisted. An intense heat seemed to gather inside as an incandescent red light emanated from it.

The Ignarock opened its mouth wide the next moment, spewing a gigantic lava ball towards him.

A yellowish tint shone in Kieran's eyes as he erected a thick wall of earth before him.

The ball of lava hit the earth wall, destroying it in its path. Kieran took advantage of the short delay his earth wall gave him to escape the area.

The ground shook violently as the ball of lava fell, causing him to lose his balance and quickly jump into the air before falling.

He suddenly felt something approaching him, but he had no time to react. Before he understood what had just happened, he felt an intense burn in his back, which pierced him.

His vision blurred, but he could see that one of the Ignarocks had extended a part of its body, piercing through his back, with the other part protruding from his chest, while the areas near the entry point began to melt under the intense heat.

His vision quickly went black. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in an empty room in front of an array formation, his body in perfect condition.

"39th floor failed. Ranking updated. Current ranking 97th among second years. 1000 academic merit points awarded for reaching the top 100 ranks."

The old voice still echoed around him. A notification from the academy arrived at the same time.

[Congratulations on reaching your current rank. A monthly reward is granted based on your rank.]

[Monthly Reward: 1000 academic merit points.]

[Monthly Reward: 1 hour access to the elemental training grounds.]

Kieran blinked several times at the rewards he had just received before quickly accessing his academy account to check his academic merit points. The number 8565 appeared on it.

"I haven't reached the 10,000 points needed for the Earthbound Stride Technique, but I'm not far from it. I can try to take some tasks to forge to get the rest of the points. Depending on Ryan's level in the inscriptions, we can even try to create an artifact together. Plus, I even got an hour of access to the elemental training grounds," he said, smiling.

"Has Ryan finished?"

Calling his brother, Kieran received no reply in return.

"I wonder where he's at," he said before entering the formation array and returning to the tower's ground floor.

 

 

Wen Xin and Ignarock Beast Illustrations: