Sunlight streamed into Kieran's room, and as he opened his eyes, a bright glow escaped them before disappearing.

Looking at his two hands, he squeezed them several times with a satisfied look.

"This orb is incredible," he said as a golden circle made of ancient inscriptions appeared in his right eye.

[Kieran Arvost]
[Crystal Tree Status (1):
Name: Rock Wolf Transformation
Refinement Rate: 2230/20,000]
[Crystal Tree Status (2):
Name: Giant Swordsman of Fire Transformation
Refinement Rate: 2230/20,000]
[Crystal Essence: 4460]

Seeing how much his crystal essence had increased in just one night, Kieran's face was filled with astonishment. He glanced into his spiritual world and saw that he had only used a quarter of the orb.

"With what's left of the orb, I should be able to reach almost 6000 crystal essence within a few days. The improvement is rapid, and there are no impurities in the orb. It's truly incredible. It’s a shame I won’t be able to return to the tower until next month to get more of it."

"Maybe I should try the cultivation rooms in the tower as soon as I finish using the orb."

"It's only my third day here, but I'm already getting good results. Master was right. It wasn't a bad idea to come here."

As he remembered his last two days at the academy, the image of a girl with long silver hair appeared in his mind. Then, as if something had been triggered in his mind, another silhouette emerged, this one shrouded in a dark veil, making her features impossible to discern.

Kieran shook his head, regaining his composure.

"What am I thinking? Why do these two suddenly appear in my mind..."

Having difficulty understanding his own thoughts, he got up from his bed to get ready.

***

An hour later, Kieran regretted his words. He was following the lecture in front of him with an empty mind.

The lecture focused on the flora within the Aegis Alliance and the ones that could be discovered on the other side of the rifts.

"Why do I have to take classes on plants? How will that help me when I'm in a rift?" he said with a sigh.

He didn't understand anything of the Professor's explanation, and due to the lack of attention he paid to the subject, he couldn't stay focused on the content.

Elseria, who was beside him, glanced at him, "Some plants have interesting peculiarities. Some of them were even used by ancient cultivators when they decided to create a secret realm."

She pointed to a plant that had delicate petals shimmering with an unearthly iridescence, ranging from ethereal blues to soft purples on the holographic screen behind the Professor, before continuing, "For example, if used in a small amount, the Memory Echo Lotus allows you to create illusions from a person's memory, ancient cultivators used them to create memories of their old battles or important events of their lives for those who enter their secret realm after their death to leave a legacy behind them.

But if the Memory Echo Lotus proliferates in an area in the wild without being controlled, they can resonate with each other and exponentially increase the power of their illusion effect. Cultivators can find themselves trapped in an illusion without being aware of it. When crossing such an area, the Memory Echo Lotus will then use the memories of the person trapped in the illusion against them.

Only alchemists need great knowledge regarding plants, but it is interesting to know some of them which can be dangerous in their natural environment."

Kieran let out another sigh and tried to concentrate on the lesson. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the Professor ended the lesson to make way for the next one.

Professor Melia entered shortly after. She arrived in front of the students and made a slight gesture with her hand, making a pedestal appear with a transparent orb above it.

"Hello, everyone. Yesterday, we talked about the Transcendent realm. Today, the lesson will focus on the elemental affinity cultivation," said Professor Melia.

Hearing her words, Kieran straightened his upper body, focusing all his attention on Professor Melia.

"All living things have an elemental affinity to one or more elements at their birth among the twelve that exist in the universe. Most of those possessing more than one had generally a double awakening.

The elemental affinity cultivation consists of cultivating this innate affinity.

Unlike cultivating with crystal essence, cultivating elemental affinity is more complicated and requires greater talent. Most cultivators in the Mortal realm do not rise above the first rank. Some cultivators even reach the Transcendent realm without ever reaching the second rank of the elemental affinity cultivation.

Although they breakthrough into the Transcendent realm, neglecting their elemental affinity cultivation made their foundation more fragile.
The two cultivation paths may be separate in appearance but are connected to each other. Elemental affinity is present throughout your cultivation paths. When you evolve your crystal trees, if you go against your elemental affinity, your crystal tree will reject the catalyst or, in some rare cases, will accept it, but you will find yourself with an ability related to an element that you will never be able to use to its total capacity.

Some abilities may have no specific element, but a cultivator's true power only appears when one fully utilizes one's ability, crystal essence, and elemental affinity in a single seamless movement. If one of these three things is missing, then the cultivator's power will be considerably reduced.

This orb at my side is used to test elemental affinity and elemental affinity cultivation levels. Some of you may not yet have had the opportunity to discover your elemental affinity due to your abilities not being oriented toward a specific element. To remedy this, you will, therefore, take turns coming and standing in front of the orb at my side and infusing your crystal essence into it," Professor Melia explained, ensuring that each student understood her words.

Soon, students went in one by one to test their elemental affinity.

The first student put his hand on the orb, and the orb began to glow a cyan color. An intense light escaped from it, floating slightly above it. The light began to grow larger before shattering on itself the next second.

"Your elemental affinity is Wind, and you have not yet reached the first rank, Elemental Perception. Next," said Professor Melia.

Each student passed one after the other, some causing cheers in the class as the orb began to glow two different colors, representing an elemental affinity with two distinct elements.

However, despite the number of students in the class, none seemed to be above the first rank.

Kieran stood up when it was his turn and walked towards the orb. Once in front, he placed his hand on it and infused his crystal essence into it. The orb began to glow with a red and yellow glow. A light escaped from it before splitting in two, taking on a distinct hue for each element.

The lights rose before expanding, forming a complete ring. A light noise was heard as the ring was completed and the lights continued to grow. A second ring began to appear, but before it could be completed, the lights shattered on itself.

"Your elemental affinity is Fire and Earth, and your elemental affinity cultivation is close to reaching the second rank, Elemental Core," said Professor Melia with a light smile.

Kieran smiled at her words, but he frowned when he heard the murmurs of the students behind him.

"He's the first to make the second ring appear."

"It's a shame for someone with his talent to associate with the elves' abomination."

"Does he think he can get something from the elves by staying with her?"

"If it's what he looks for, he chases the wrong target."

"Hey, did you hear? Apparently, the abomination used an artifact to charm the students in the Master Inscriptionist Association yesterday. All this so that the association president could take care of her request."

"I understand now why the elves hate her so much..."

Kieran felt anger rising within him. He tried his best to hold back due to the academy's rules, but when he heard the students' words, he could no longer contain himself. He turned around with a frightening expression, only to stop the next moment.

A pair of golden eyes looked at him calmly.

"It’s my turn," Elseria said in a soft voice.

Kieran nodded and stepped aside to let her pass. The whispers of the students around him became inaudible as he focused on Elseria's figure as she placed her hand on the orb.

The orb seemed to react differently from the other students when it came into contact with Elseria's hand. A blue light suddenly flooded the classroom, silencing all the students. Then, to the astonished eyes of everyone, a light rose from the orb.

Three clear sounds echoed in succession in the classroom before the light shattered.

Professor Melia's eyes alternated between the orb and Elseria.

'Her control is incredible to manipulate the test orb to this extent. To think she's not even 19 yet,' she thought.

"Your elemental affinity is water, and your elemental affinity cultivation has reached the third rank, Elemental Conducting," Professor Melia said.

Elseria nodded and returned to her seat. Even though the inscriptions on her bracelet were activated, everyone in the class had their eyes fixed on her.

Kieran glanced at them and returned to sit next to her.

Professor Melia's class resumed once all the students had finished testing their elementary affinity.