Death... and me

"Oh! So this is your disciple? Hahaha! Great! Many of us have our own disciples participating this time around. Milo, come here."

A young man who seemed to be around 16 or 17 came forward. Just like Rean, he was also in the Initial Stage of the Core Formation Realm.

"Yes, Master."

Milo's master nodded, satisfied.

"This is a descendant of mine, Milo Sue. He will also participate in the exam a month from now. I'm also bringing him into the Formations Guild Repository to teach him before that."

Rean couldn't help but ask.

"Shouldn't the repository be closed to anyone who isn't a member of the Main Branch Guild?"

Milo answered that question in the place of his master and ancestor.

"That's not exactly the case. Indeed, it's quite hard to allow other disciples or me to enter the Repository without being members of the Main Brach Guild yet. However, if a member of the Guild pays the price, an exception can be made."

Milo's master nodded.

"Indeed. It was quite expensive to get permission as well. Unlike our friend Droman here, I wasn't insightful enough to create something like the Communication System. I'm quite envious of you for being able to bring your disciple without paying anything. Hahaha!"

In the end, it was the same thing for the other young men and women around. Rean pondered as to why Old Worm didn't do the same thing for Roan, but then he remembered the part of 'having to pay a high price' to get their disciples inside. Old Worm lived in the Dalamu Sect. Perhaps, he didn't have the conditions to pay, or perhaps it would be too expensive.

A few more Formation Masters came and complimented Droman as well. This sight was a little different than Rean expected. He thought that those guys would be a bit more reserved or not fancy the fact that Droman could join their Guild just because of the Communication System. But to his surprise, most of them seemed to welcome Droman and himself. Of course, Droman didn't really join them so far.

Although Droman tried to shift everyone's attention to Rean, the high-level Formation Masters ended focusing on him again. Before Rean could say something, they already dragged Droman away to discuss more of 'his' Communication System.

Rean wasn't left alone, though. Other young participants of the next exam came to greet him as well. However, most of their attitudes shifted 180 degrees in an instant once Droman and their masters were gone.

"Hehe! Your Master did something impressive in inventing the Communication System. I was even more impressed with his Router Formations. Aren't you a lucky kid? You got to ride his success just like that."

"Rean, right? I'll be direct here. You and the other peasants from outside the capital should just go home. It will save everyone's time."

"Hahaha! His master was just lucky. In the end, that old geezer Droman can't beat any of our masters in a normal Formation Master competition. His Communication System is indeed impressive. But in the end, that's all he has under his belt."

Rean was taken aback by this sudden shift. However, although their expressions showed disdain, he could somehow tell that something didn't seem right about how they were acting. It was as if what they said wasn't real. Nevertheless, he wouldn't just take it lying down.

"Hehe! That's more like it! A competition where there are only friendly interactions would be too boring. It's good that you all have such resolve. That will make this exam a lot more interesting."

The young men and women were surprised to see Rean's sudden display of confidence. They were expecting that this 'country bumpkin' would feel cornered in this situation.

"Oh? You're better than I thought. My name is Lata Lavil Martolie. I'm also an Earth High-Level Formations Master."

"That's a little unexpected. The last girl left the building with her tail under her legs. Call me Fuonte Dekaslo, just like everyone else, I'm an Earth High-Level Formations Master."

All of a sudden, a female cultivator put a hand on his shoulders.

"Hmm... quite strong, aren't you? Very good. Let's see if you can back your words up a month from now. By the way, I'm Safira Sasamil."

More of them introduced themselves as well. The change in their behaviors happened too quickly. In the end, it seemed like they were testing Rean's resolve more than trying to provoke him. Still...

"So many Clan descendants. There are even members of the Imperial Family here."

Milo nodded.

"This is the Core Part of the Capital, after all. A lot of the Formation Masters are naturally part of the Guild. Not just this one, but the main branches of the other side occupation guilds have many protector clans and imperial family members in their ranks as well. Don't mind them. They did it to me as well when my master first brought me here. It's kind of a ritual of theirs."

It was then that another voice appeared from behind.

"Milo. Don't spoil everyone's fun."

Milo and Rean turned around just to see another female cultivator walking in their direction.

"Qia, huh? Is it really okay for you to distance yourself from your master? She always complains that you should spend more time studying than talking."

"Milo's right. We don't want to be scolded by Senior Jala later again."

"Agreed! She's kinda scary."

Rean was at a loss for a moment.

"Err... and this lady is?"

Milo then introduced the girl.

"Oh, she is also a descendant of the Imperial Family, Qia Sasamil. Believe it or not, she has quite a high position in the Imperial Family. She is the granddaughter of the Fifth Prince, Salael Sasamil."

Rean was surprised to hear that. Isn't that one of the main contestants for the throne? This girl's position was obviously many times higher than Calina, who was quite far down in the descendants' tree.

"Cough, cough... Nice to meet you, princess."

Qia nodded, not minding it too much.

"You can stop it already. Can you see anyone here treating me like I'm a princess or anything?"

"This..."

Now that Rean thought about it, even the clans or imperial family descendants didn't seem to get any preferential treatment in this place.

"Could it be that the Formations Master Guild Territory is special?"

Another young Formations Master, who overheard the conversation, nodded. From what Rean heard, he was called Malon Wavile. Wavile was also one of the Nine Protector Clans.

"That's correct. Not only the Formations Master Guild, but all the Side Occupation Guilds follow this same rule. Once you are inside their guilds, you are not considered to be anyone important. Only your status as a Formations Master matters in this place. Or do you think the others would treat Qia and us this freely outside? We would have kicked their asses already if that was the case."

Rean was once again reminded of the power that guilds maintain in the world. They were influential enough to ignore any kind of status while inside their walls.

Qia then winked at Rean.

"However, if you don't address me correctly elsewhere, don't blame me if I order your head to be cut."

Rean felt a chill on his back. For some reason, he didn't think that Qia was joking.

After the test was over, Lata took the opportunity to ask Rean.

"By the way, how deep are you involved in the Communication System creation? Did your Master tell you anything at all?"

Immediately, everyone's eyes lit up. Even Qia and the clan descendants were no exception. Sure enough, since their Masters were willing to pay so much for them to enter the Repository, they obviously were geniuses who loved Formations as well. The Communication Formation was a massive breakthrough in the Formations Master World, after all.

Rean felt like laughing when he heard that, though. 

'How deeply involved am I? I, your grandfather, created that shit! Kneel down and pay your respects to this senior. Hahahaha!'

Or so Rean wanted to say. Unfortunately, he had to keep it a secret for now.

[Disgusting!]

'Eh? Did I think about it too loud?'

It was then that Roan's voice echoed in his Soul.

'What do you think, narcissist? I'm impressed how shameless you can be since you didn't really invent anything. You just copied the ideas you learned back on earth.'

Rean became a little red, which puzzled the people looking at him.

'So what? I'm just following the trending, okay?'

[Yeah, sure...]

Eventually, Rean returned his attention to everyone else.

"Ahem... Master had allowed me to help in his projects a lot, so you could say that I know quite a bit."

"Oh! For real? Tell us more about it."

Rean was puzzled by that, though.

"Eh? Why? The blueprints had already been made public. You should have gotten a copy already, no?"

Qia immediately shook her head.

"Having a blueprint and having someone who was there when it was created is completely different! You can contribute many insights that are not present in the latest formations. For example, how about you tell us what it was like creating this communication system at the start?"

Rean couldn't help but remember when he first talked to Droman about it.

"Well, that was a near-death experience..."

Back then, Droman's breakthrough almost killed Rean, after all.

Still, everyone looked puzzled at Rean. What does he mean by a near-death experience? Was the communication system this dangerous? How come it doesn't look like it in the blueprints?

"Ahem... It was just a way of expressing my feelings."

Just like that, Rean began to discuss Formations with everyone around him. Because they were all close in age and at the same Formations Master Level, it was a very entertaining and productive experience.