RE: LORD OF TIME

The dark red Vermilion Flame reflected in William’s green eyes, flickering slightly.

"It’s still a seed, so its current power isn’t that great," He muttered as he felt the destructive power of the flame.

Thinking of something, he turned to look at his left arm, which was still swollen, and the next instant, dark red flames covered his entire arm.

As the Vermilion Flame burned on his swollen arm, William felt a soothing sensation, as if someone were gently massaging his arm.

Moreover, the swelling on his arm was decreasing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"The healing effect of the flame is far greater than its destructive power..."

William raised an eyebrow in surprise, but when he remembered the spirit’s words that this flame could even bring him back from the dead, he felt it was only natural for the Vermilion Flame to be able to heal this kind of minor injury.

His Aether Energy dropped rapidly because of using the Vermilion Flame, but under its effect, his left arm soon returned to normal.

He swung his arm around and didn’t feel any discomfort.

"This thing is practically a superior healing potion."

William chuckled and walked over to the mine wall where the Fire Essence Crystals were embedded.

He pulled out a fist-sized crystal from the wall and held it in his palm.

The Vermilion Flame once again appeared on his palm and engulfed the entire crystal.

In just a few seconds, the entire crystal melted and was swallowed by the flame.

Because he had now refined the Vermilion Flame and it had become a part of him, William could feel that after swallowing the crystal, the Fire Seed within his core had grown slightly stronger.

Although the increase was very small, so small that it could practically be ignored, it still confirmed that as long as he used a large amount of Fire Essence Crystals, he would be able to make the flame sprout from the seed.

’Now I have another reason to sell this mine to Alicia’s brother instead of the academy. If I give it to the academy, it will be difficult for me to get a large amount of Fire Essence Crystals from them.’

William thought as he looked at the crystals embedded all across the walls.

If it wasn’t because it would take a lot of time and effort to mine the crystals from the walls, William would have started digging them out on his own to feed his flame.

But it was impossible for him to mine such a large area in a short time, and doing so would only waste his precious time.

’I really need a faction. If I had people working under me, I wouldn’t have to worry about such minor matters.’

He thought with a shake of his head and walked back along the path he had come from earlier.

It had only taken him around half an hour to go to the Source Area and return.

As such, Alicia and Liam hadn’t come looking for him, thinking that he was still exploring the mine.

When William returned to the wide chamber, he saw that both of them were already waiting there, and Liam still had an excited look on his face.

Seeing William return, Liam spoke in an excited voice.

"Every part of the mine we explored is filled with Fire Essence Crystals. This is definitely a top-grade small-sized mine."

William nodded at Liam’s words and responded.

"The area I explored was also filled to the brim."

Alicia looked at William carefully, and her expression turned strange.

"What happened to your clothes?"

William paused upon hearing Alicia’s words, and only then did he notice that his clothes looked partially burned.

’They must have gotten burned when I fought against that Lava Bear and then jumped into the volcano.’

It was a good thing that he was wearing the Academy’s uniform that he had received during registration.

If he had been wearing normal clothes, they would have turned into ashes long ago when he entered the volcanic area.

"I was checking out some Fire Essence Crystals earlier. They suddenly exploded for some reason, and my clothes were burned."

Alicia’s mouth twitched at William’s response.

"What were you even doing with them that they suddenly exploded?"

William ignored the strange look Alicia was giving him and changed the subject.

"Let’s head back. Now that we already know the mine’s location, there is no need for us to stay here."

"We are already going back?" Liam asked with a look of surprise. "We entered the rift only a few hours ago. Are you sure you want to leave so soon without exploring further?"

"Do you want to play in the sandstorm a bit longer?" William asked with a roll of his eyes.

Honestly, even he himself didn’t like the environment of the Howling Desert Rift.

Not to mention anything else, but the sensation of having your entire clothes and boots filled with sand all the time was really uncomfortable.

He had entered this rift because of the Fire Essence Crystal Mine.

And now that he had found it, he really didn’t have any motivation to stay in this rift any longer.

Although there were a few more places in this rift that were worth exploring, their value wasn’t great, and even if they went there, they would only add some pocket change compared to the number of academic credits they would get for the mine.

"This rift is really not good. Let’s go to a better one next time," Alicia also said, as she was the most irritated by the sandstorm and high temperature outside.

Seeing that both of them had no intention of exploring the rift further, Liam also closed his mouth, and all three of them left the mine.

Once outside the mine, William used his Earth elemental energy to close the cave entrance so that the monsters wouldn’t enter it again.

As they walked back toward the outpost building, they left behind a few checkmarks to make it easier for them to find the mine again.

A few hours later, they reached the outpost building, and the instant they came close to it, the sandstorm completely disappeared.

"We can finally leave this cursed place."

Alicia spoke as she took off the mask she was wearing to protect her face and eyes.

William and Liam did the same, and all three of them walked inside the outpost building.

They still didn’t see the person maintaining the outpost building, but none of them cared, and they arrived before the exit portal.

Standing before the portal, they took a step forward and left the Howling Desert Rift.