Way of the Knights

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"Ahaha, sorry. That's a bit too straightforward isn't it?" Raven said as chuckled. 

"No, uh. Well, you're right anyways." Julius replied. "Our situations are indeed quite miserable."

"Why is that?" Raven asked, "Oops, I mean, I won't force you if you don't want to say. Just curious that's all. I haven't in the sect for too long anyway. You can call me Crow by the way."

Julius sighed and began telling him their story.

"I see, so you must be a newly recruited Inner Disciple. That makes sense." He said, "Well, as you've known, the sect isn't really stingy when it comes giving merit points. So long as you show results, then they will support your path to the peak."

"Being an Outer Disciple is already considered as an honor. It comes with responsibilities but theirs are lighter compared to us Inner Disciples."

"You've been to Greece I assume? Then you must've already seen how different it is compared to Tartarus. It's very obvious that living there is much better compared to the putrid environment of Tartarus itself."

"But I advise you to not be fooled by it's beauty. Being an Inner Disciple leads to heavier responsibilities, and if you can't step into to occasion, you'll slowly fall out and will be expelled fro, the sect."

"It's that bad?" Raven asked, somewhat in disbelief. 

"It is. Trust me. Why else would we stake our lives fighting against Devils that are way out of league? Even boredom wouldn't justify that." Derek replied in a downcasted manner. 

"What he said." Julius nodded, "As an Inner Disciple, you are required to reach an accumulated amount of Merit Points - personal and collective for those who're still in a Unit. You can spend these Merit Points, what they look at are the records instead."

"For the first year of you being an Inner Disciple, your quota is to accumulate a total of 100,000 Merit Points, if you're still in a Unit, then it would 50,000 for each Unit Member you have. Which means that a Unit with three members needs a 150,000 Unit Merit Points to pass the Quota. This happens bi-annually and nobody's an exception. Once you enter your second year, then it starts ramping up. Every six months, your personal Quota will rise by 25,000 Merit Points."

"I am at my fifth year here as an Inner Disciple, and my bi-annual Quota is 300,000. Thankfully, they only implemented it on the Personal Quota, if the raised the Unit Quota as well, then we might've been long expelled from the sect." 

Raven's eyes widened for a bit. This was something that he didn't expect at all. That requirement was a bit harsh. 

"The sect's got a clear conscience for this matter. They just wanted us to grow stronger quickly by placing pressure on our shoulders. Without pressure, we'd be lazy and all so this is just right." Janine added.

"But the ramp up really becomes a bit too much." Julius had an unsightly smile on his face. "On top of clearing missions in order to satisfy the Quota, we also needed to train and raise our cultivation as well. We had barely enough time to relax or rest. The pressure keeps stacking up and if we don't do something, then our hard work will be in vain." 

"I've seen some other ways to earn Merit Points though, have you guys tried it?" Raven asked. 

"Ah, those. Haha." Julius laughed dispiritedly, his teammates just wryly smiled as well. "You see, it's not like we don't want to. It's just that we can't."

"You can't? How so?" 

"You must be referring to the Coliseum of Rome, Hall of Gods and the Olympian Climb." Derek answered instead. "You see, those methods are only available to geniuses - Monsters as we call them. Regular people aren't meant to step on those places."

"So you mean there is a specific requirement for you to challenge those?"

"Well, not really." Janine replied. "But like we said, it's only meant for Monsters. We don't have a place in there." 

Raven didn't say anything but frowned under his mask. Kyrie remained silent on the side but there is a visible disappointment on her eyes as well. 

"Well, if you guys are rendered like this, then there must be more to the story right?" 

Julius sighed and said: "We're the only ones left on our Unit. We used to be quite alright overall but an accident happened, most of our members encountered a strong devil. It ended up wiping most of us out. The three of us barely escaped from it."

"Since then, our lives turned miserable." Julius stated in a downcasted manner. "We're barely scrapping by on our own. The deadlines are like lifelines to us. In the end, we were forced to take risks time and time again. We were even forced to the extent where we are biting more that we can chew. It nearly killed us this time. Thankfully, you were here or else we would been dead or converted at this point." 

Silence permeated around the table as soon as he started retelling their tale. 

Although Raven could sympathize with them, he could help but feel slightly strange in his heart. He turned to Kyrie and asked:

"Kyrie, can you explain to me how the Coliseum of Rome, Hall of Gods and Olympian Climb works?" 

"Yes, Young Lord." Kyrie replied, her way of acknowledgement stunned the three once more. They couldn't help but start looking at this guy named Crow in a different manner. 

"The Coliseum of Rome is just a fancy way of naming a Tournament Style Brawl." Kyrie described causing the three to flinch. "It's a place where two contestant fight against each other, injuries are allowed but killing is forbidden. Due to it's popularity, many people and even Elders from the sect watches the match from time to time. Needless to say, there are opportunities to earn a huge amount of Merit Points there."

"To participate, one must deposit an amount of 1,000 Merit Points. Winning the first match earns them the same amount. Winning two matches in a row earns them 2000 Merit Points and so on. By the time they reach five consecutive wins, they'll earn a total amount of 15,000 Merit Points and gets them a Winning Streak."

"If a contestant that has a winning streak, won their next battle then the pay out would be doubled. For example, someone who has a Five Match Winning Streak won his 6th, he'll earn 30,000 Merit Points. Win the seventh and they'll earn 60,000, so on and so forth. Of course, the matches will get progressively harder, but the pay out is worth it." 

Hearing her explanation caused a weird expression to surface on Raven's face. He looked at the faces of the people he saved and his gaze grew a bit complicated. 

"Ahem." Raven cleared his throat. "How about the Hall of Gods then?"

"Hall of Gods is just a fancy name for Smelting Trials." Kyrie explained, her tone was a bit jubilant too. "The Smelting Trials are different depending on the Hall you choose. The best example would be the Trials of Ares where you need to kill a specific amount of enemies within a certain time. There are 18 levels for each Hall and the rewards gets progressively richer."

"Unlike the previous area, this place is free of charge. You can challenge each hall as many times as you want, so long as you pass the requirements, you'll earn something. In fact, if you displayed some record-breaking results, there is a huge chance that your rewards will be doubled, tripled even! I really encourage you to try that place, Young Lord." Kyrie enthusiastically suggested. 

Instead of answering however, Raven once again looked at the face of these three and the strangeness on his expression got richer. 

"Okay, so…the Olympian Climb, is it another fancy term for something as well?"

"Indeed." Kyrie nodded, "Mountain Climbing, that's all there is to it."

"I say that but this is actually the most challenging place in the sect." Kyrie stated, "You just don't climb some random mountain. In the Olympian Climb, your goal is to reach the peak of Mount Olympus itself."

Raven's pupils dilated with that sudden revelation. Judging from her expression Kyrie wasn't lying at all. 

"That's insane…"

"Indeed, I agree as well." Kyrie nodded in a heartfelt manner. "However, compared to the rewards that the previous one gives, the Olympian Climb is on another level. This is because the climb itself poses some degree of lethality. Unless you're determined, then it's unadvisable to challenge it. However, it's not like you are required to reach the peak in go. There are specific checkpoints within the mountain, once you reached them you'll be rewarded and can returned to continue next time."

"Oh is that so…" Raven said, "Man, the sect truly is awesome. So long as you have the guts, then there is a way for you to earn Merit Points, and it sound incredibly rewarding too."

"They're essentially free come to think about it. All you really need is some guts and a little bit of bravery." He then turned to the three people he rescued and said: 

"Right guys?"