36 || Trial Of The Fire Chamber

Afterward, each member of their little group gave descriptions of what their classes were shaping up to be. Izel's world is similar to Tara's in that the strongest path is well established. The school she's attending for her to become a powerful magic user known as Arcanists. Aelix had already decided on a role called Lancier from her Story, which were powerful and renowned knights. Both came with their own tiers similar to the Body Altering phases.

Pakeeja merely grins when asked about where the path she wanted to take, only disclosing that she was a Merchant's apprentice at the moment. Hanit twirls her necklace wordlessly in thought as Asuka stays quiet as well. It's clear the three had made a decision but wish to keep it a secret.

The trio bid her goodbye and left the room to join their Stories. Tara follows after, stretching as she awoke in her room in the Dark Saber dorm.

It takes a second for her to notice a small wisp of light floating just in front of her face. As she wonders what it was, her thoughts connect to the ball. A chat screen appears with cute and tiny two dimensional icons of her new acquaintances.

[How do you like my gift!] A cartoonish and small avatar of Izel appears following a line of text. [This way we can check in with each other and share info during our sessions!]

Tara's absolutely stunned. Izel had managed to write around the code for all of their Stories, most likely using Tara's Dream Connect ability for base to create a chat box for them.

[Asuka, if you click the little treasure chest icon you should be able to send Tara the materials and she can send the finished product back!]

Asuka doesn't reply with her frowning icon dimming a few minutes later. Hanit apologizes in her friend's stead. Tara sends them off but before she can even climb out of bed, a maid appears with a summons from Beiling!

Upon her arrival Tara receives news. Firstly, her teacher has Tara use the teleportation array to return home to the Hufangs: Shuyren has finished translating the tome! Beiling knows Tara is excited to leave so she jots down the other news on a piece of paper. Perhaps it was better that way.

Tara enters the teleportation array with a dazed look on her face. Kwang, of all people, had gone missing! From what was said, his Life Stone dimmed.

When a student went on a journey they would place a Life Stone within the school. If it cracked they had perished but dimming meant interference with their aural energies. Though she believed Kwang was arrogant she did not wish him harm.

The thought is pushed from her mind as Zawen and Chuu attempt to ambush her. The two are exhausted as they fight her all the way to Shuyren's throne. Tara hadn't even broken a sweat as this was the difference between midtier Blood Directing and a perfect low tier Bone Crystallization. Tara bows before her grandmother before hugging her.

"You've grown, little star!" Shuyren is surprised. Her granddaughter was almost at mid tier Bone Crystallization. Her speed was amazing!

Adding on the unknown properties of her mutated bone structure, Shuyren is unsure how powerful Tara would be in the future. It seems that Di had been telling the truth about Tara sparring with the Crown Prince. Even she wouldn't take on such an opponent.

Tara receives two diamond scrolls after she hugs her grandmother goodbye.

[Elemental Manipulation Book acquired!]

Tara eagerly opens up the first scroll within the confines of her room. It confirms what was said to be true:

Fire, Wind, and Lightning were all derivatives of Light while Water, Earth, and Metal stemmed from Darkness. This was why Ember Gather and Rain Scatter manifested as flame and foam. Fire and Water were considered the closest to Light and Darkness but also the most accessible of the elements.

The scroll mentions that the Twin Sphere technique is actually a secondary energy gathering and conversion ability. It's to support a smoother growth and later on help gather the correct energy based on a person's elemental affinity.

In Tara's case, that meant she could hypothetically pull each type of energy. The first scroll went on to explain how to foster and control the lesser elements. The second scroll spoke about using the upper elements of Metal, Lightning, Light, and Darkness.

Just as Beiling had said, she should be able to use elements in their true capacity. Orbs of bright fire and cool water form in each of her hands without a hint of her aural energy present.

When she summons Wind and Earth, they appear as cubes, whereas Lightning and Metal form pyramids. Light and dark energy for some reason weren't tangible to her at the moment.

"The aural ports?" Tara recognizes what the shapes represent. However, before she could ponder any further, the chat screen popped up. A "!" hovered over a chest icon.

[Items are available from Trade!]

When she taps the icon, several items softly land on the bed. Four of them were ingredients: a large purple root, two vials of liquid that crackle with electricity, and a large bushel of silver wheat. The last item was a note from Asuka.

"Thanks a lot, princess," Tara rolls her eyes as she reads it aloud. With the note came a recipe for the Thunder Clam pill. Tara glances back at the diamond scroll for something that had caught her eye when she was skimming over it. "Using each element for crafting practices better control."

In her teachings with the alchemy masters at the Academy, imbuing a creation with an element could make a jump in quality and improve understanding of potion and pill making! Tara taps her spatial ring and pulls out a scroll and her furnace, placing the latter on top of the former as she puts it on the floor. Tara sits before the golden container as she begins to pool water energy into her hands. A bubble forms over the pot before dropping into the cauldron.

Tara uses her new found control to spark the scroll. Pure fire energy blazes as the barrier incantation activates from the heat around the furnace. It's strong enough to keep the flame protected but weak enough so she can place materials.

[Advanced method of alchemy preparation achieved!]

Tara's surprised by the notification. What did that mean and how will that affect her creations? After a moment she decides to test out the new set up with a Basic Healing Potion. It could restore 15 percent of a person's Health instantly.

What normally takes her 5 minutes of concentration took only 2! Apparently using pure elemental energy cuts back the time as the completion bell chimes.

[You have created the Basic Regen Potion! You have leveled up to Intermediate Alchemist (Low tier)!]

Tara is amazed when the potion floats into her palms. According to its stats, a Regen Potion not only healed 15% instantly but continued to do so for 10 seconds!

'Just using a different energy source changed the recipe?' Tara continues making Basic Healing Potions which keep converting into Basic Regen Potions before Tara stops at 37 bottles. 25 got stored into her ring to later see if she can give them to her Explorer friends, six of them are for her Story mode friends, and four of them go to her new acquaintances thanks to the new Trade function. She'll send a Health Regen to Asuka once her request is done and keep the last for herself.

Tara takes a deep breath, exhaling her nervousness and excitement.

Tara cuts the root in half and divides the silver wheat into two sections. When she picks up one of the vials, static fills the air. Some powerful lightning energy seems to be trapped in the vials. Tara places root and wheat in the furnace before mixing them together. Tara decides to focus lightning energy on her hand as she picks up and pours a vial into the furnace. Like a stream flowing into a lake, her own lightning is drawn into the furnace as the liquid falls in.

After 10 minutes of focusing, she's finally completed the recipe.

[You have completed the Greater Thunder Clam Pill recipe!]

Apparently, the original Thunder Clam pill only restored people from paralysis. The step above, which Tara had created, did that but also rejuvenated a person's energies as well. Instead of having a recovery period, the patient would be raring to go!

Tara repeats the process 15 minutes later, now that she understood what she was doing. She promptly sent the finished product and a Health Regen to Asuka.

[You certainly work quickly.] Asuka messages her. A day in their servers hadn't even passed and yet here Tara was sending two Greater Thunder Clam Pills and a Health Regen Potion. The NPCs she had heard of but couldn't afford would take a week and a fortune to make the three items in her possession.

[Yes, well, only the best for a friend?] Tara tests. She can practically see Asuka clicking her tongue and crossing her arms.

[...Let's go with acquaintances for now.] Asuka replies after a beat before signing off. Tara snorts. Looking over the scrolls for what the other elements are best used for.

Earth and Wind are used for armor while Metal and Lightning are best for weaponry. Light and Dark manipulation are the rarest so jewelry and accessories are often subjects of imbuing. One thing that was also proven true is that simply using an element causes one's ability to grow. Even just the time spent making the pills, Tara can sense that her spiritual aural point has grown some. Tara thinks for a moment.

As a Dark Saber, she can meditate within the elemental chambers for as long as she wishes. Only recently had she learned that the time difference can be altered within. A minute outside the chamber could mean an hour within!

With the elemental trials also needing to be investigated, Tara makes up her mind. After asking the front desk to set the time scale and leaving with a key, Tara writes 'Ignite' on the door before entering. Tara is met with an oppressive heat wave like a window opening before she's pulled through the portal.

Instead of being surrounded by pools of lava and volcanoes, she's standing in a marble floored temple. A giant red orb the size of herself floats in the middle of the room, giving off a pulsing warmth.

[Trial of Fire unlocked! Lowest level requirement Skin Igniting met!]

[Destroy the Orb of Fire!]

"Well, that can't be too hard," Tara smirks, as a white Health Bar appears above the orb. She strikes it with Ember Gather to gauge how much a basic attack deals but the bar doesn't move in the slightest.

Two hours pass by as she tries every skill she knows, even trying to pass Wolyung and Oorun through to destroy it from within. The orb is made purely out of fire energy, however, and Wolyung is rejected outright while Oorun merely absorbs a minuscule amount of it. It isn't until the use of [Rend Sunlight] and [Server Moonlight] that she gets a result.

This is also when she learns something valuable: The health bar will rapidly regenerate unless continuous attacks are made. Judging how much damage her strongest attacks at the moment dealt, she'd likely burn through her aural and Twin Sphere energies in an attempt.

If anything, she does discover something useful. At one point she tries to use the different elements to strike with. It only did so much damage but what is important is that she can filter the fire energy through her Twin Sphere energy.