The path he took this ti led away from the library entirely and deeper into academy grounds where few students lingered.
On the way, his eyes caught sight of the overall architecture of the place. Even if Aren’d been here and thought that he was already used to it, seeing them never ceased to amaze him.
Unlike the polished marble and minimalistic approach of Imperial Mystic College, every building here felt...personal, ingrained in history. Each and every building was made with pure grain wood, carved intricately with details that might’ve been charms of good luck or protection from the spirits.
Regardless, the campus was massive, almost twice the size of his previous campus. Though even if they were different in scale, their organization structures were the sa.
Aren looked down at the small badge already sewn into his uniform, a small purple gem shone brightly against the sun, a symbol of him being a mber of the Athyst School.
At first, he’d been enrolled in the Lapis School and managed to fully master his Water Elent. Just this year, he’d switched over to the Athyst School...which suffered the exact sa problem as the Lightning Departnt back in Imperial Mystic College—
The lack of available resources.
But thankfully, being a Core Disciple has its rits.
After walking for what seed like forever, Aren eventually stopped in front of a structure that stood apart from the rest. It was built almost fully from concrete, completely isolated and away from the rest of the campus.
The Isolation Chambers.
It was a place that Aren spent most of his ti in throughout the year—that and the Grand Library.
The attendant barely glanced up when he approached, recognizing him almost imdiately before simply nodding and gesturing toward the inner corridor.
Aren walked past without a word, following the narrow hallway until he reached one of the vacant rooms. The door slid open at his presence, revealing a room filled with translucent teal crystals on all sides.
The mont he stepped in and sat at the inner pedestal in the middle, the doors sealed behind him.
The outside world disappeared as the room cut off all sound, presence and interference, letting Aren dive into his inner Canvas without any problems.
Inside his inner world, things were much the sa...yet different at the sa ti. Aren’s subconscious was now strong enough to allow him to mold his Canvas by will, allowing him to change how it looked.
And renovate he did.
What used to be just an empty white world turned out to be sothing entirely different. A pavilion stood where there were none before, leading out to a luscious pond of clear blue water where his template lay dormant underneath.
But through it all, the vibrant green sheen never ceased to exist, constantly reminding him that he would always be on a ticking clock.
The Fertile Core.
It pulsed faintly and slowly on one of the nearby tables, with Aren managing to shrink its taphysical size to just about as big as his palm.
Aren sighed as he opened his hand, the Internal Brush floating gently onto his palm before it settled softly.
He took it and raised his hand in a familiar action that he’s done countless tis.
Almost imdiately, ink flowed from the brush and out onto the empty space in front of him, forming the information that made Aren who he was.
[Record]
Na: Aren Cross
Bloodline: Grand Tempest Dragon
Lines: 4
Elents: Water (Stage 9), Lightning (Stage 6)
Traits: [Morphing]
Arts: [Dragon’s Claw], [Aqua Veil], [Dragon Gauntlet], [Spiritual Flight],
His eyes lingered on his records once more, both satisfied and annoyed at the sa ti. On one hand, Aren was able to master the Water Elent at record speeds.
He reached into his pocket, hands closing around sothing small before he pulled it out. It was just a raw spark, sothing that physically was impossible to touch.
And thanks to this...refining my Lightning Elent went extrely smoothly, maybe a little too smoothly.
The Pure-Grade Lightning Seed. Such a small object was atreasure others would throw their lives away to obtain.
Aren pocketed the Seed again before exhaling softly. The problem was with his cultivation.
He’d barely managed to reach Line 4 in two years, a feat not to be scoffed at...but it had taken trendous effort.
From using all the resources he was allowed to access in the Western Dominion School, along with being sent valuables from Imperial Mystic College...
I’ve pretty much beco a ’young master’ in status with all these valuable essences and treasures I’ve been consuming.
Maybe I’ll randomly start acting arrogant. That’ll give Miu a flinch for sure.
He snorted softly to himself before turning back to the task at hand.
Even right now, he could still feel it. Most of the ether he was absorbing and refining from the crystals outside his room had been taken by the Fertile Core.
Throughout the years, Aren had learn to quantify how much ether the core had left to sustain him. Apparently, his Fusion Art with Luna had unknowingly tapped into said bank, taking away 5 years of his lifeti.
Not great...to say the least.
Just refilling the Core back again was heavily stunting his growth. At this point, he didn’t know if it was beneficial to him anymore.
Well, I’d just have to live with my decisions. You reap what you sow...
But there was one more topic in mind that he still hadn’t decided yet...
What Trait he’d pick for his fourth Line. Even if Aren had reached Line 4 recently, he’d still left the decision. Always pushing it back until he had an idea of what he wanted to do with it.
There were way too many options to choose from. He’d considered Manifestation, but choosing two intensive traits back to back, along with it revealing his Dragon Bloodline was too risky.
The second Trait he considered was a Domain. Seeing its usefulness when used by Professor Sterling, it was a tempting choice. A Domain would help his combat power greatly and he wouldn’t have to worry about being sward.
But sothing about it just wasn’t right. It just didn’t feel like sothing he needed right now.
"Hmmm...what to do?"
Then, one of the paths caught his eyes.
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