Death… And Me

Since all the kids participating were cultivators, the Sect had to provide a lot of space for them to prepared. Roan then decided to take Julio and Lenna to one of the fields available to test their abilities.

Together with them was Alanda, Uncle Wen, and Lenna's grandfather, who came this time around to protect her. Lenna's grandfather was called Tanzon Dorvyre, an expert in the Foundation Establishment Advanced Stage. Different from Alanda and his kids, he lived inside the city. Of course, he wasn't considered rich or anything. He worked as one of the guards of the City Lord, and his family mostly depended on his wage from that job.​​

It's not that the other family members didn't work, but that they had ordinary Gray Color Aptitudes, with just his first son being a Brown Color. However, it was far from enough to join the City Guard's entourage. So they simply did the jobs available for commoners inside the city.

Lenna was the first one with an acceptable aptitude in his family, having a Yellow one. Because of that, he trained her hard from very young so that she could have a chance at entering the Dalamu Sect. Even if she failed, it would still be a good experience for her. In a certain way, he was betting the family's future in her accomplishments.

Thanks to the harsh training, Lenna got quite a resistant body and strong will. That was what she used to pass the 300km marathon test. Tanzon was quite satisfied already that Lenna made it through the first two tests, so he couldn't help but feel expectant. Especially after he heard that she was chosen by some of the top 100 kids of the first test.

Alanda, Uncle Wen, and Tanzon came to the field as well. At first, Tanzon thought that it was Rean and Roan's relatives that would be testing her somehow. But when he found out that their protector was Alanda, he was quite taken aback. After all, Alanda is only in the Initial Stage of the Foundation Establishment.

Then he looked at Uncle Wen, who was Julio's relative. But that man was basically at the same level as him. The only thing that gave him some guarantee was the fact that Rean and Roan were in the Foundation Establishment as well.

"What will you two test from my granddaughter?"

Uncle Wen looked at Tanzon, puzzled.

"Test? I'm only here to see what is going to happen too."

Alanda just laughed, though.

"We old geezers don't need to test anything. The one who is going to do it is Roan. Well, just leave it to him."

Roan didn't know what those guys were talking about, nor did he care. He only wanted to test those two kids' abilities.

"Alright. Malaka, come here."

Malaka came running.

Roan nodded and then looked at Julio and Lenna.

"Malaka will be your opponent. I wish to see you going all out. I will devise our strategy later on based on how well you do."

Julio and Lenna were taken aback.

"But Malaka is alone. Not to mention that I'm in the Advanced Stage of the Energy Gathering while Malaka is still in the middle."

Lenna agreed with Julio.

"I might only be in the Initial Stage, but my grandfather trained me a lot with swords. If we attack together, it won't be training at all. It is not fair to Malaka."

Roan couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Is that so? Then I wish to see it."

Roan then looked at Malaka before saying.

"If you lose, your fighting lessons will be doubled for an entire month."

Malaka felt a chill on her back. She immediately took her staff out and got ready for combat. She looked at Julio and Lenna as if they were her greatest foes.

"Julio, Lenna, I'm sorry."

Anything but more fighting lessons with Roan!

Uncle Wen and Tanzon were taken aback by that.

As he looked at Alanda on his side, he couldn't help but ask.

"Your name is Alanda, right? Don't you think this is a little too unfair?"

Uncle Wen nodded as well.

"I agree, shouldn't you stop it?"

Alanda sighed.

"Indeed, I also think this is too unfair. But these friends don't need to worry. Malaka has a good heart, so she won't beat them too much."

Tanzon and Wen were taken aback. They were talking about Malaka being injured, not the other way around! For a moment, they thought that Alanda was being too conceited. However...

Bang! Pow! Crack! Crash!

In a span of just a few seconds, Julio and Lenna were already on the ground while contorting in pain. Malaka was really frightened about the double fighting lessons' idea, so she didn't hold back at all! One must remember that her Staff Skills were taught by Roan, the one who reached unparalleled proficiency with all kinds of weapons in his previous life (or Death) as Death. Just how many forms did his weapon take in the past? Even he can't remember.

Tanzon and Wen looked at Julio and Lenna with their eyes wide open. That was not a fight, but a one-sided massacre!

"Wait! I think I heard Lenna's bone breaking!"

Tanzon quickly rushed to Lenna's side and checked her body. Sure enough, her arm was broken!

"You! How will she participate in the practical test tomorrow?"

Roan looked at Tanzon.

"We haven't finished the test yet, so go outside. Julio and Lenna had clearly held back because they thought they had the advantage. Next time, I want them to really go all out."

Tanzon was infuriated.

"Go all out your head! Can't you see that her arm is broken? Are you trying to bully my granddaughter?"

Roan sighed before shooking his head.

"Rean, how long will you keep looking? I'm in a hurry, so heal her already."

Rean shrugged his shoulders after hearing that.

"Yea, yea... Give me a second."

Tanzon was surprised by those words.

'Could it be that they brought healing pills? That's why they are not afraid of injuring anyone? But healing pills are super expensive! Do they really have enough Spirit Stone to buy them?'

However, Tanzon and Wen's surprised expression changed into disbelief in the next second.

Rean's hand began to glow with a bright milk-white light. As soon as he touched Lenna's broken arm, it began to recover at a frightening speed! No more than a minute had passed, but Lenna's arm was already as good as new! Not only that, but he also took the chance to heal the other minor injuries on her body.

He then moved to Julio, who was also quite beaten up. Since he didn't really have any of his bones broken, his healing process didn't take more than a few seconds, though.

"Alright, they are good to go."

Roan nodded as he looked at Tanzon and Uncle Wen.

"How long will you stay there? Shoo, shoo! I don't have all day."

"Ah!"

Tanzon and Uncle Wen quickly came back to themselves. They knew that Rean had Light Element Affinity. After all, everyone was there when he went through his Elemental Affinity Test. But they had never expected that Light Element was this overpowered!

The two old guys immediately retreated. In fact, they were happy to do so. How could they not understand? As long as Rean was in the same group, was there even a need to fear injuries?

Rean noticed Tanzon and Wen's eyes at him. He could understand what they were thinking, too, so he decided to give everyone a serious warning.

"My Light Element is not omnipotent. It is only this effective because my cultivation is much higher than Lenna and Julio's. However, if they lose a limb, I won't be able to reattach them. And you can forget about bringing someone back from death. If they die, that's the end, so they better be careful."

Tanzon and Wen's dreams were cut short right there and then. In fact, they immediately understood that knowing that Rean can do such things might make Julio and Lenna ignore potential dangers. That would make it even more dangerous instead. They decided to give Julio and Lenna a severe warning after Roan is finished with them. Rean can't make others immortal, after all.

Roan ignored everything else and returned his attention to Julio and Lenna.

"Again!"

Those two might be totally fine now. However, as they looked at Malaka, that 'bright girl that is happy about everything' image disappeared from their minds completely. They can still remember the pain they went through after being beaten black and blue by her just a few moments ago.

"Lenna, let's go all out!"

"Yes!"

Roan was finally able to see what he wanted. Of course, he wasn't the least bit afraid of Malaka's defeat. Well, at least, Julio and Lenna held much longer than the first time. Nonetheless, they ended up on the floor while contorting in pain once more.

Rean quickly healed those two, putting them back in shape for another round of beating. This process continued for an entire hour...

"Alright, it is enough."

Julio and Lenna felt like they heard the voice of heavens when Roan finally called out the end of the test. Too bad, though. That was death's voice.

"Okay. Tomorrow, we will wander around the inner skirts of the forest. There will be several Stage Two Demon Beasts as there will be Stage One. Rean and I will deal with Stage Two ones. Your job is to get rid of any Stage One that appears."

"Malaka will be in the vanguard. Julio is a Spear user, so your job will be to give the final blows. Malaka's staff is not as suited as yours when it comes to killing. Lastly, Lenna will be responsible for attacking the weak points while Malaka holds them. Try to aim at their legs, eyes, etc. Unless things really get out of hand, Rean and I will not intervene. Remember, the Sect Elders will be observing, so you two have to show that you are really part of the reason why the beasts are being killed, understood?"

Julio and Lenna nodded vigorously. By now, they simply didn't dare go against Roan's words.

"Good! Take this."

Roan then threw two books at them. One was the Death Sword Style, and the other was the Death Spear Style.

"Read it before you go to sleep. Tomorrow, try to implement it during the practical test. If you have any doubt, just ask Rean or me."

Roan didn't mind passing those books forward. Considering his understanding of weapons and his addition of Spiritual Energy, those books only touched the very basics of the basics. He didn't mind if it was leaked or not. Still, it was a lot better than the styles that Julio and Lenna were using so far.

"Alright, let's go back, that's enough for today."