In order to activate the runes, I used the Foundational Rune; the tree pattern cleansed the red sun's chaotic energy of impurities, allowing for safer utilization of the energy.

  However, when using the red sun energy for manipulating plants, I preferred to draw the red sun energy directly from the miniature red sun within my internal world because the raw, unpurified energy was far more potent and could cause some…interesting side effects that I would rather avoid.

  So, I directed energy from the miniature red sun into the vine.

  The vine’s response was a bit too enthusiastic - the metallic sheen Elder Molric added to it had changed to a blood-red color, and crimson veins had developed throughout its surface.

  The vine began to writhe in a manner of an excited snake.

  Next, I directed the vine toward Kiran, to wrap around his legs.

  In response, he immediately produced bone spikes from his shins and intercepted the vine with them. Although the vine managed to graze the surface of the bones with considerable force, it was deflected.

  "Interesting," Azure commented. "It appears the elder's modifications combined with the red sun's energy has provided the vine with greater cutting properties."

  Kiran did not pause long enough for me to attempt another attack. He charged toward me, producing additional bones from his body to serve as weapons. Each removal appeared to be extremely painful, however his maniacal grin grew larger.

  I stepped back quickly as I commanded the vine to strike at him once again, this time aiming for his upper body. However, bone plates materialized just in time to deflect the strike.

  "You will never succeed with your tricks!" Kiran's voice took on a lunatic, villainous quality. "I will show you what true power is!"

  He thrust both of his hands forward, and hundreds of bone shards shot forth from his palms, flying toward me. I successfully dodged most of the projectiles, but a few struck my arms and legs, resulting in cuts.

  "Master," Azure warned, "we need a strategy."

  He wasn’t wrong. Direct attacks were not enough - Kiran's bone armor was just too reactive, and my energy was dwindling rapidly. However, there had to be a weakness I could exploit...

  I watched closely as Kiran generated yet another wave of bone projectiles. There - for a brief instant when the bones first emerged, they were softer. Almost transparent before they fully hardened.

  "Azure, did you notice that?"

  "Yes, I did. There is a 0.3-second window between when the bones first appear and when they solidify. Time is short."

  "It’s all the time I will need."

  I allowed the vine to coil around my arm, studying Kiran's increasingly erratic movements. His strikes were growing stronger, however they were also less organized. Clearly, the red sun's energy was affecting his mind pretty badly.

  "Fight me properly!" he demanded loudly, his voice shaking. "Stop hiding!"

  The bone armor covering his body had become even more complex, with numerous sharp points protruding from the exterior. Nevertheless, I detected signs of fatigue - the energy consumption associated with the technique must be extreme.

  Time to test my theory. I needed to position myself close to Kiran to observe the bone development process without taking any unnecessary risks.

  "Azure, monitor the bone formation speed when I initiate the attack. I will create an opening."

  "Understood, Master."

  I executed a Blink Step to Kiran's left, drawing his attention.

  As expected, he immediately produced bone armor to defend against the potential attack.

  The moment he comitted to defending, I executed another Blink Step, appearing on Kiran's right, but this time I attacked.

  My fist connected with his ribcage at the exact moment when the bones were beginning to develop.

  The blow caused him to stumble back with a grunt of pain.

  But his counterattack still somehow managed to catch my arm, bone spikes grazing my skin; however, I had what I needed. I immediately leaped back to establish distance.

  "Did you record it?" I inquired of Azure, ignoring the minor cut.

  "Yes. The bones take exactly 0.27 seconds to fully solidify after they initially develop from his skin. Also, the bone development pattern is consistent - they always emerge in the same sequence."

  I nodded, already developing a plan for our next step. "That is our window, then."

  Kiran was now charging toward me, lost in the fervor of battle. I allowed him to approach, waiting until he was entirely committed to his attack.

  At that point, I executed a final Blink Step, appearing behind him with the vine already moving.

  As he tried to produce bone armor, I directed the vine to strike the developing bones, utilizing its sharpened edge to slice through the still-soft material.

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  Before Kiran could respond, the vine had wrapped around his torso, pinning his arms.

  "Now!" Azure called out.

  I landed behind Kiran and applied pressure to the vine, channeling more of the red sun's energy into it.

  The vine responded dramatically, generating multiple smaller demonic tendrils that rapidly enveloped Kiran's entire body.

  To my surprise, the vine began to crystallize, turning semi-translucent while retaining its grip.

  Kiran struggled, trying to break free, however the crystalline prison maintained its integrity.

  "Well," I murmured, "this is new."

  But more importantly, the battle had ended.

  I released my grip on the vine, expecting it would maintain its crystalline state. Instead, it returned to normal immediately and unwound from Kiran's body. Before I could react, it had wrapped itself around my neck like a contented scarf.

  "I think it likes you," Azure stated, amusement evident in his voice.

  Kiran slowly rose to his feet, the bone armor retreating into his body. His eyes appeared to be clearing, although he looked fatigued.

  "I'm sorry," he whispered softly. "I lost control again. The hereditary rune... it makes it difficult to resist the red sun's energy."

  "Has Zoren experienced anything similar?" I inquired.

  "No," Kiran replied. "But he wishes he had. Hereditary runes cannot be controlled or predicted. Some nobles are born with them, while others are not. They are seen as a sign of noble lineage, even if..." he ceased speaking, looking troubled.

  "Even if they are as much of a curse as they are a blessing?" I finished the sentence for him.

  He nodded gratefully, appearing to be relieved that someone understood.

  "Excellent job, both of you!" Elder Molric's voice startled both of us. I had almost forgotten he was watching us.

  He approached Kiran first, beaming. "Your bone creation is progressing well, young Tovel. The density and formation speed have greatly increased."

  Kiran appeared to stand slightly taller due to the praise, and a small smile developed on his previously guilty face.

  "And you," the elder turned to me, "you used your runes effectively, and demonstrated impressive martial arts skills. Where did you learn how to fight like that?"

  I couldn’t exactly tell him how I learned to fight in another world, so I went with a partial truth. "From fighting raiders in the village."

  Elder Molric nodded absent-mindedly, clearly more concerned with examining the vine that remained wrapped around my neck. "Your plant manipulation displays potential, however we should work on adding some elemental runes to give you some more options."

  I agreed with the suggestion. Without the ability to manipulate plants, my combat abilities were essentially standard in comparison to those of other Rank 1 practitioners.

  "Well?" Elder Molric was almost bouncing with enthusiasm. "What are you waiting for? Let us begin learning elemental runes!"

  I glanced out the window of the tower at the darkening sky. Even with the red sun's continuous presence, it was clear that night had fallen. "Master, I need to sleep."

  Elder Molric looked taken aback for a moment, then appeared to recall that normal people do, in fact, require rest. He coughed slightly. "Ah yes, of course. I sometimes forget the limitations that you lower-ranked practitioners have. I'll meet you at the lab tomorrow then. And don't even think about sleeping in!"

  With that, Elder Molric strode away, already murmuring about experimental runic combinations.

  Kiran and I shared an amused look as we began walking back.

  "Follow me," he said. "I know a route that will keep you away from Zoren."

  As we walked through the corridors, I noticed a huge structure. "What's that tower?"

  "That's the Crimson Spire," Kiran said. "Combat trial spires. Ninety-nine floors. The first ten for Rank 1, the next ten for Rank 2 and so on until the last 9 for Rank 9."

  I furrowed my brow slightly, wondering why Elder Molric hadn’t used it for our training instead of kidnapping Kiran. Still, I added it to my list of things to remember - it would be a great place to train for the Outer Disciple tournament in my world.

  "What level did Zoren reach?" I asked.

  "He finished the 9th floor last week," Kiran said gravely. "He is definitely at the peak of Rank 1."

  As impressive as that sounded, there was something about the design of the tower that was more impressive and even a little concerning.

  "Wait, the last 9 floors are for Rank 9 fighters?” I echoed what Kiran had said. “But Rank 9 is the highest rank. Who was strong enough to build trial levels for peak Skybound?"

  Kiran glanced around before answering quietly. "Nobody knows. The two academies have existed for longer than anyone remembers, and so have their towers."

  Two academies? That mean there had to be one for the blue sun followers as well.

  "The other academy?"

  "The Order of the First Light," Kiran replied, then quickly looked around. "We shouldn't talk about them here. This academy does not appreciate initiates discussing the other side."

  Both academies had the same design for their towers. Whoever designed them had probably given each group the same opportunities to grow. Was it possible that this being had broken free from both suns' influences and transcended?

  As we walked in silence, the vine around my neck adjusted itself slightly as if it sensed my thoughts. I ran my hand along the vine.

  "Looks like your new friend is comfortable," Kiran said with a slight smile.

  "Hmm, I guess I’ve been adopted by one of Elder Molric's experiments," I replied. "But I can’t complain about a vine that can cut through bone armor."

  The vine tightened around my neck, and I wondered about the potential for breeding vines that were optimized for different combat situations.

  Being able to bring pre-enhanced flora into combat could be very beneficial. After dealing with Chen Wu, maybe I could experiment and look for variations of plants that are tailored to different situations...

  When we reached the intersection of three identical hallways, Kiran stopped and looked at me.

  "Well, this is where we part ways..."

  "Thank you for the help today, and for... " I gestured vaguely at him.

  "For me nearly losing my mind and attempting to kill you?" Kiran chuckled wryly. "I should be thanking you. Most Skybound would have taken advantage of my loss of control, but you discovered a method to finish the battle without seriously injuring me. I... I appreciate that."

  "Well, no one would be happy with a training partner that caused permanent injury," I smiled.

  "Yeah, true enough," he laughed. "Although you might want to fix yourself up before tomorrow.”

  I looked down at my blood-soaked robes. The cuts from Kiran’s bone attacks were still bleeding a little. "Any ideas?"

  "There's a healing formation in your quarters," he said. "Just channel some energy into the floor runes and it'll heal you faster." He started walking away, then stopped. "Oh, and Tomas? Keep an eye out for Zoren. He's... not as reasonable as I am."

  I watched as he disappeared down the left hallway before I began heading back to my quarters. The vine moved again as if it wanted to check on my wounds.

  "Yes, yes, don't worry, we'll get it healed.”

  When I entered my quarters, I found that the healing formations worked surprisingly well. In less than five minutes of directing energy into the floor runes, all of my wounds had fully closed, leaving behind only minor pink lines that would likely fade by tomorrow.

  I lay down on the bed, finally succumbing to exhaustion. "Azure, remind me to ask Elder Molric about safe elemental runes that don't require sacrificing parts of my body or risking madness."

  "Noted, Master. Although based on his enthusiasm for experimenting with new things, I think his idea of 'safe' may be different from yours."

  "Likely." I closed my eyes, feeling sleep coming. "Still better than becoming a human pin cushion."

  Before falling asleep, I felt the vine adjust itself to a more comfortable position around my neck like a strange but well-meaning pet.