636 Fire Authority

The north of Igor's house was a huge grassy plain. An array appeared out of nowhere, and two people appeared from within. 

Alex looked around and could see nothing other than grass. He turned to Igor and asked, "Is this it?"

"Yeah." Igor nodded. "This is the largest one. The grass is also special since it can grow without sunlight. We should be able to learn it without anyone noticing, so no need to restrict your power here." 

Alex nodded, even though he was still confused about why he needed to restrict his power.

"First of all, this technique might hide your Intent, but someone with special eyes like yours will be able to see through this technique. Someone even noticed this technique with his senses alone." Igor warned him first. Noticing the hesitation that appeared on Alex's face, Igor smiled. "Don't worry. It won't happen so often. In fact, I only found four people in my entire life… five if I include you."

Alex thought for a moment and nodded. "If that is the case, then I won't need to worry."

"This technique's name is Aura Concealment. The details are as follows…" He began his lengthy explanation. Due to his nature, Igor had difficulty in explaining things with words.

Luckily, Alex's Sword Mastery and Spear Mastery helped him through this process. They somehow reconstructed the sentences into something that could be easily understood. 

Alex proceeded with the training according to Igor's instruction. When he was in the right direction, Igor would give a thumb up. In contrast, Igor would be strict when he made a mistake. Alex was hit a few times by Igor, but somehow the progress went even faster and in less than two weeks…

"Can you sense it?" Alex asked as he waved his hand and moved around.

"Barely. I can sense it because I know this technique and know you are using it. If I don't, only special people can do it." Igor nodded with a smile. He was very happy in teaching Alex despite his monstrosity. In fact, it might be the thing that made him happy. 

Normally, he would train some youngsters in Animal Tribes, but they made him frustrated. That was why when Alex mostly learned everything from him with a single explanation, he was very satisfied. Knowing that Alex had such a talent, he was convinced that the person in the prophecy was truly different from the others.

Sword, Spear, Array, Space, and Fire. These five were the only thing he knew about Alex, but normal people would only have two of them. They might be called a genius if they had three. As for Alex, he could only be called a monster in human clothing. Luckily, Igor didn't know anything about Alchemy; else, he might not want to teach Alex because he would feel so inferior.

"Thank you for teaching me this technique, Igor." Alex smiled and thanked him again. 

Alex nodded without hesitation. "Don't worry. No one in this world will learn this technique from me, I promise you."

"Then, it's good."

"We shall go home then."

"You can go first. I will stay here for a little longer." Igor declined his offer.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Alex waited for a minute before creating a Teleportation Array for himself. He nodded to Igor one last time before disappearing. 

On the other hand, Igor fell to the ground while looking at the sky. There was no grass anymore that could soften the impact, but a Martial Saint wouldn't be hurt by something like this.

He looked around and saw the pitch-black charred ground, grasses that had been burned into ashes, and a huge crater. Nothing alive in a one-kilometer radius due to Alex's control. Sometimes, he failed to control his fire and burned everything, sometimes it was his Absolute Blade Intent and cut everything, or when both failed, an explosion would occur, creating something this bad. 

Igor raised his hand to the sky and said, "A person like him is very rare in the world. He will create a storm that shakes the whole world since there is no genius capable of hiding their power the whole time. Still, with our fate in his hands, we can relax... We can go home soon…"

Meanwhile, Alex already arrived at the barrier and grabbed Sherry before going to another place. It was in the space between Dwarf territory and Undead territory. Nelson said this place would be safe if he wanted to train.

"We are going to train here." 

Sherry looked around, only to find the place was a barren field with some giant boulders around. She could see the open field through the gap between rocks, but she could only see dirt. 

"You have read the Fire Authority's manual, right?" Alex asked. 

Sherry nodded. "Yes."

"In that scroll, we can activate it by using our flame in that scroll. The time limit is seven months, so we will support each other and learn from each other. If we still have time, we will try to evolve your Pure Fire." Alex took out the scroll while looking at Sherry. 

"I understand. I will do my best for Master and me." Sherry nodded.

Alex sometimes furrowed his eyebrows when Sherry still called him Master, but she had gotten accustomed to this, and Alex thought it would be fine since Sherry was alright with it. He could ask his wives about this later. 

"Let's go!"

Their practice finally began.

…

One month later,

"Phoenix!" Both Sherry and Alex said at the same time as two phoenixes appeared above their heads.

"Our progress is quite good, right?" Sherry asked. 

"Yeah." Alex nodded. "Looking at the situation, we can somehow summon all Fire Phoenix Art with a single command. According to the explanation, we can even summon more phoenixes from our usual limit by the command. At the same time, we need to make them move by a single command while controlling each of them. We need to master these two first." 

"That's right. After finishing the internal aspect, we can move to the external aspect. We can start suppressing the enemy with our element in a more efficient way. In fact, we might be able to control their fire element as well." Sherry nodded.

"Yeah. Though I'm sure, it will take a lot of energy." Alex sighed. 

"I understand. If our strength difference is too high, we might have exhausted our energy before controlling it."

"Anyway, let's practice again." 

"Master… Actually, I wish to ask one thing." Sherry hesitated for a second. "Why haven't you made your Fire Phoenix Seed again?"

'It comes…' Alex's heart skipped a beat, wondering how he should respond to this question. He thought for a moment and said, "I have tried it a few times but to no avail. My speculation is that my Phoenix Seed has evolved together with my Pure Fire. It can regenerate my Pure Fire as well, right?"

"Yes." Sherry nodded before opening her mouth in panic. Sweats began to appear on her forehead as she said, "Master. I-"

Alex shook his head. "Don't worry. I'm not blaming you or whatsoever. Let us think about this carefully. Fire God Clan knows that I have a Pure Fire Element. That information will slowly spread across the Heavenly Continent. At that time, no one will believe that my fire is ordinary. In that case, I'm fine with revealing this now. I am a 2-Star Martial Monarch right now, and I still have the two weapons to let me run away from Martial Saint. Besides, I still have my Space Element as our trump card and my identity as Absolute Blade Saint."

Alex pondered for a moment, but it still didn't manage to cheer her up. Alex then patted her head once more and said, "Besides, you also have a Pure Fire. I prefer to take the front, so they are going after me instead of you. Maybe it's my pride as a man, or I simply want to protect you. So, let me be selfish, okay?"

Sherry nodded. "I understand. I will surely learn this technique and evolve my Pure Fire. That way, we can even confuse them."

Alex nodded. "Thank you. Now, let us practice again."

"Yes."

The two continued for another month. This month was quite rough because Alex needed to control the Spiritual Energy and Mental Energy simultaneously to summon multiple phoenixes at once. On the other hand, Sherry could somehow master this technique faster than Alex. Even though her Mental Energy wasn't that powerful, she was still a special beast that governed upon the fire.

Alex remembered the tale of Celestial Fox. Its sensitivity was on another level. That was the whole reason why Sherry could save him in the lower world by carrying him for a few days to reach the Acacia Kingdom. He felt a bit challenged by Sherry and practiced even harder and somehow managed to do it after a month of training.

Without resting, they proceeded to the next step, which was controlling the flames. They could summon their Flame Arts and surpass the limit by this Fire Authority. But it would be useless if they couldn't use it to attack or defense. 

In this aspect, Alex and Sherry were equal. Sherry had her sensitivity, but Alex had control over the fire that he got from Alchemy. Both of them finished at the same time.

At this time, Alex and Sherry felt something weird. It might be because they had been practicing together or because their fire was at the same level. Nonetheless, they felt unity. The unity between their flames as if they were calling each other.

Alex noticed it when they were cultivating near each of them. It felt like the absorption rate became slightly faster. In this end, Alex became closer and closer to Sherry when they were cultivating. According to his memory and system, the moment Alex's Fire Seed went inside her body, they were connected. 

In the end, Alex proposed to cultivate together with Sherry until one time, they found a perfect position. Alex and Sherry sat in front of each other and placed their palms against each other. Alex would make his Pure Fire flow to her body and vice versa, allowing them to cultivate faster.

Although it looked slightly like dual cultivation, he needed to cultivate with a pure mind. Besides, they were already (unofficial) husband and wife, so there was nothing wrong about this. 

By using this technique, they somehow reached 3-Star Martial Monarch in the fifth month, of course, with the help of Gathering Array. Alex also had finished his training with Sherry in the fifth month.

And when they finally mastered the technique, Alex took the scroll once again. They looked at the single spot where they could put their flame there. However, Sherry and Alex only stared at each other while grinning. Both had realized that this was only a gimmick.

"Master, you should be the one to open it." Sherry smiled from ear to ear. 

"Alright." Alex nodded as he channeled his energy to his mouth. "Fire Command. Reveal!"

The scroll glowed as if it was responding to his command. A fire suddenly appeared on the surface of the scroll, burning every single word there.

Not long after, the paper turned blank. There was nothing except a few words that weren't burned. They were aligned vertically, making it very flashy.

Alex and Sherry realized the second word while deciphering the first word.

"Ardenti World."

Sherry looked at Alex, hoping Alex understood these two words. On the other hand, Alex closed his eyes and said, "Ardenti World. It's a world where the fire continuously burns. The temperature there is very high because it's close to the sun. Although it is not suitable for living, it's a nice place for Pure Fire to train themselves. I know the general location, but we can only go there later."

"I see. An adventure again!" Sherry grinned.

"Sure." Alex smiled as well.

"By the way, what are we going to do now, Master?"

"Let's cultivate for another month before leaving this realm." 

Sherry nodded.