Death... and me

On the next day, Julio and Lenna's bodies were fully recovered. They slept for 12 hours straight, and probably wouldn't wake up if Roan hadn't made them so. During the night times, a few Stage One demon beasts appeared around. But be it Rean or Roan, they were able to dispatch them without any problems.

In the morning, Roan made sure that those two eat well to prepare for the day. Malaka also gorged herself with Rean's food. When everything was ready, the hell training started once more. On the very first day, Julio and Lenna remembered all Roan's words. On the second, they began to be able to adapt to whatever he said. Of course, there were several mistakes here and there. Still, they were doing much better than before. ​​

The day continued the same way. Except for the resting time, Julio and Lenna spent most of their time fighting against the Stage One Demon Beasts. Malaka also joined the battle several times, but Roan let her out on her own as well. In the last hours of the day, Roan stopped to use Julio and Lenna as a group and put them to fight alone. Sure enough, injures began to accumulate even more. Still, they could at least take care of themselves now.

When the night came, the same scene played once more. Rean healed those two, then Roan threw those two with Malaka in the river for them to wash their bodies, and passed another set of clothes. This time, neither side cared about feeling embarrassed because they took off their clothes once more. Those two were just way too tired to think about such things.

After they finished eating Rean's food, they once more collapsed on the ground in a deep sleep, much for Roan's satisfaction.

On the third day, the 'I-rather-die' training continued. This wasn't really the last day of training, but would be the last one they stayed in the outer region. Although they wouldn't be able to compare to Malaka, they won't be totally helpless in case they had to fight alone.

Tanzon and Uncle Wen, who had been watching Julio and Lenna during the last three days, had to admit that their progress was unbelievable fast.

Seeing their faces, how Alanda couldn't understand what they were thinking.

"Roan might be a little bit cruel with his methods, but they are definitely effective. Under his watch, a single day might as well be the same as a month elsewhere. Also, you probably noticed already that the Sword and Spear styles that they are learning are several times better than the ones you taught them before. Keep looking, once your kids leave this Forest, they won't be the same ones anymore."

Tanzon and Uncle Wen nodded. The time to be angry about what happened there was already over.

Back on Rean's group side, the end of the day approached. Finally, Roan called the last day off.

"Good, that's all for today as well. From tomorrow onwards, we will enter the inner region where we can find Stage Two Demon Beasts. Let Rean heal you and then go wash yourselves. Make sure to eat well and have a good night of sleep too. From now on, Rean and I won't always be ready to save you if you mess up."

Julio, Lenna, Malaka nodded. They are happy as long as this hellish training days are over.

That night, Roan talked to them about what he saw during the day. What they should improve and what was wrong. He also heard their questions and answered with the best of his abilities.

"Very well, just go sleep now. We are leaving tomorrow when the sunlight comes out."

When the three kids fell asleep, Rean took the opportunity to ask Roan.

"I still think that three days is too little for them to adapt well enough. Wouldn't it be better to give them a week instead?"

Roan nodded.

"I know, but we can't stay put all the time either. Otherwise, we will lose the first position. Still, I'm planning to have them fight a lot as we deal with the Rank Two Demon Beasts. We are not entering the Stage Two Demon Beasts' territory completely. We will just stay on the border, so there shouldn't be much of them appearing. We can get a steady amount of points as we let Julio and Lenna adapt to my Death Style."

Rean then thought about something else.

"But what about that Red Color aptitude guy called Agis? Wouldn't he open too much of a distance from us this week?"

Roan shook his head.

"I doubt so. Agis is in the Middle Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm, but that is all. I doubt he can really control a team properly at his age. Besides, he is quite arrogant, so I can already imagine quite a few conflicts on his side. Don't forget, all teams are composed of 13 years or less old kids. Do you think they will become his feet and hands that easy? I doubt so."

Roan was right. Agis did kill a few Stage Two demon beasts with the help of another Foundation Establishment kid. But the numbers were anything but impressive. If not for his own personal strength, his team wouldn't even be in the first position at the moment. Not to mention that his arrogance was causing quite a few conflicts with the kids in his group. You can't really expect that bunch of underaged minds to follow orders strictly. In the end, two of the Energy Gathering Realm kids even got severely injured and had to return.

The next day, Roan woke up Julio and the others. They took their time getting prepared and immediately departed to the inner region of the Forest. Of course, Roan made sure to verify his bracelet so that his group wouldn't be too far away from the others.

On the way, he had Malaka, Julio, and Lenna dispose of all Stage One demon beasts. Since they were not purposely looking for them, there weren't many battles. As he looked at the progress of Julio and Lenna, he gave a small nod. They were improving as he expected.

Half a day later, Rean's group arrived at the border of the Inner Region. They found a few other Stage One Demon beasts first, but it didn't take long for a Stage Two to appear.

Back in the base, Hulian was watching Rean and Roan closely. He had great expectations for them. Even though they had weird Element Affinities, he was sure that they would sooner or later find a way to use them with enough training. But he never expected that Rean could already use his Light Element so well. The way Rean healed Julio and Lenna made him open his mouth wide at the end of every day!

Since then, he had been looking at them with even more interest. He saw the entire process where Roan trained Julio, Lenna, and Malaka. For someone who loves hard effort like him, he began to think that he found a kindred soul on Roan. That kind of harsh training was usually something that Hulian would only use for himself. But Roan didn't care and made the other kids pass through it every single day.

Now, Rean and Roan were finally entering the Inner Region, so his eyes were glued to see how they would fight. Since Rean can use his Light Element that well, perhaps Roan can use his Dark Element too.

The Stage Two demon beast that Rean's group found was Crimson Lion. It had the power of a Middle Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. Not only that, but it also had a few subordinates who came with it.

"Julio, Lenna, and Malaka will deal with the Stage One demon beasts. Leave the Stage Two for me."

Rean looked at Roan and asked through their soul connection.

"Don't you want to attack it together?"

"No need, I'm feeling quite bored after so many days watching over those babies. Besides, since when did you start to care about me?"

"I don't, but our mother would be sad if something happened to you, so I'm helpless."

Roan snorted but didn't answer. As cold as he might be, he also likes that woman that made so much for him.

Rean stayed close to Julio and the others just in case he had to save them. As for Roan, he immediately pounced at the Crimson Lion. Stage Two Demon Beasts don't have intelligence, so it didn't care about Roan's size. As soon as it saw him coming at it, the Crimson Lion also attacked using full force.

In just a few seconds, the two were already close to each other. It was then that Roan's hair became a mix of Black and White. Sure enough, Roan wanted to finish it in one strike.

Hulian looked at that and was surprised. That's because he could see that both Rean and Roan's hairs changed at the same time. However, Rean wasn't participating in the battle.

'Just what is happening to those twins?'

He didn't time to think about it, though.

Roan used Rean's Light Element on his legs, and for a second, his speed far surpassed the Crimson Lion. All the Demon Beast could see was a flash of Black and White Light!

'Death Style, Third Form, Three Claws of the Dragon!'

Three Swords came at the Crimson Lion at once. All three powered by the Light Element while filled with Dark Element on the outside. The Lion tried to protect against the one that came for his face. But too bad, that wasn't a real one. Well, it wasn't totally fake either since it carried 70% of the power of the Real Sword.

Swish, Swish, Swish!

One sword on the neck, other on the face, and the last on the heart. The Lion almost lost his paws while protecting his face against the fake sword. As for the other two, the Lion simply didn't have anything in his body to use to protect against them. By the time Roan stopped and looked behind, the Crimson Lion had already fallen on the ground on a pool of blood! It was as dead as dead could be.

"Phew... that's more like it."

Rean shook his head as his hair went back to its pure white. He then turned his attention to Julio, Lenna, and Malaka, who were still fighting the Stage One demon beasts.

Back on the base, everyone heard three loud shouts.

"Impossible!"

Sure enough, they were Elder Hulian, Uncle Wen, and Tanzon. Those were the three guys who had been watching Roan's attack just now. They immediately understood that they had seen the same thing when they hard the others' voices. In the next second, they all looked at Alanda.

Alanda, on the other hand, just smiled. He felt quite good with those gazes.

'That's our Roan, alright?!'