Death... and me

Chapter 3863: Not Each!

While Rean put his own plans into motion to make a name for himself, the others were doing what they could to garner the necessary attention.

In Boscar Country, Roan and Tanxan became the newest addition to the Hazin Clan. Tanxan wasn’t a Demon Beast, though. Instead, he was considered a Spirit, and thanks to that, he didn’t need to pretend he couldn’t talk yet.

Of course, that didn’t mean he went out there resolving Formations’ problems for the Clan. He kept himself close to Roan during the day. As for Roan, he was the same cold self as always.

Clans of the size of Hazin couldn’t rely solely on their descendants. They needed a lot more subordinates, but the power was still centered around the clan’s direct descendants and elders. Fortunately, that wasn’t an iron-clad rule, and sometimes, someone with enough contributions was accepted into the inner circle.

Roan’s aim was exactly that. And, in fact, he was already seen as someone extremely important for the Clan. After all, the elder who was in Enrel City during a business trip found out about Roan’s Level Ten talent. That was super rare, and even the Hazin Clan itself only had two of those at Roan’s age.

Of course, that didn’t mean Roan would get to make any important decisions in the clan’s name in the future. His slave contract was passed to the Hazin Clan, so Roan had to obey the clan whether he wanted to or not. And, as one could expect, the Soul Binding Contract here in A1, even in a remote place like this, was quite good. They would hold Roan down until he became at least a Void Tempering Realm expert.

If only they knew Roan wasn’t under anyone’s control...

With Roan’s future, he was still treated well and brought to live in the same quarters as the normal direct descendants. Of course, those descendants lived with their family there, while Roan was left on his own with a private room.

"So, you will be going out with Dakhil’s group to learn the ropes," the elder said. His name was Ruriklin, and he was responsible for overseeing most of the youngsters of the clan. With Roan’s addition, he had to pay special attention to him as a future asset.

"You started to cultivate too late, but thanks to your talent, you managed to reach the Peak Stage of the Foundation Establishment already. That is very good. Still, it is nothing compared to the geniuses of our clan. They are all in the late Core Formation Realm or higher. Dakhil, for example, is a Core and Soul Fusion Realm Initial Stage. Watch him closely and take notes."

Dakhil was already there with his group. There were a total of ten children, with ages ranging from nine to eleven years old. Roan was the eleventh one, with Tanxan as an addition, but not considered part of the numbers.

Dakhil stepped forward, giving Roan a cold look. "I don’t give a damn about your talent level. As a member of the Hazin Clan, you will follow my orders. Our mission this time is to kill twenty Stage Three or Four Demon Beasts in the Clukis Forest. Then, take their Demon Cores to use as proof."

Roan nodded slightly. "Very well." There was no point in talking more than that with a bunch of kids.

That mission wasn’t really going to happen at first. However, when Roan was found, the clan tasked Eder Ruriklin to provide the proper training for him. Ruriklin was quite an old-fashioned elder who believed that your achievements in battle told more about you than anything else. That’s why he came up with this trial for Roan. Roan’s CD would record everything that happened in the Demon Forest, which Ruriklin could use to prepare Roan’s training schedule later.

Of course, Roan couldn’t be sent alone. Thus, Ruriklin arranged for Dhakil to go with them. On top of that, he thought he might as well send a few more Foundation Establishment and Core Formation Disciples together with Dhakil and Roan so they don’t lose a good training opportunity. He didn’t have Roan alone to take care of, after all.

"Alright, the teleport formation is ready for you all," Ruriklin added. "It will teleport you straight to the forest’s border. Use your CDs to guide yourselves and avoid getting lost."

Dhakil quickly took the front and brought the disciples to the formation. It activated, a silver flash of light followed, and the group disappeared.

They weren’t the only ones to leave, though. Ruriklin looked to the side, and a shadow nodded before also disappearing. Both Dakhil and Roan possessed high talents, although Roan’s was more exceptional. The clan couldn’t possibly let them go alone, so that guy was tasked to protect Dakhil and Roan’s group from the shadows, but only Roan and Dakhil. If any of the others were about to die, he was not to intervene.

---

Dakhil came out of the formation first, passing his orders. "Alright, let’s enter the forest. Remember, twenty Demon Cores of Level Three or Four."

They all ran inside, disappearing in the midst of the trees.

It took over five hours for them to run past the outskirts of the forest, where only Stage Two Demon Beasts resided. Still, they didn’t stop. Dakhil saw no reason to waste time there. He wanted a challenge for himself, so he decided to fight a Stage Four or maybe a Stage Five Demon Beast.

Yet, halfway to the inner region where you could find a few Stage Four Demon Beasts, Roan darted in another direction, disappearing from sight. He did that silently, and it wasn’t until a few minutes later that they noticed Roan’s disappearance.

Dakhil’s mouth twitched when he noticed. "Where the hell did he go?!"

Roan wasn’t alone, of course. Tanxan was with him. But the two of them still weren’t the only ones. That’s because both Roan and Tanxan could see someone following them with their Divine Senses. They weren’t idiots. They knew it was another elder of the clan, but they pretended they didn’t notice anything.

’What is this kid trying to do?’ The elder felt a little conflicted. He had to protect both Roan and Dakhil, and now Roan darted in another direction. However, in his eyes, Dakhil was much, much stronger, so he decided to go after Roan. ’Could he be trying to flee from the clan? No, that wouldn’t be possible. The Soul Binding Contract would prevent that from happening.’

Then, a few minutes later, Roan met his first Stage Three Demon Beast.

’Sigh...’ the elder felt helpless. ’Seems like I will have to step in straight away. What a pain.’

The Demon Beast, a kind of wolf with black spikes near its feet, pounced at Roan. The elder didn’t act straight away, of course. Roan was just a stage away from the Core Formation Realm and had very high talent, so he should be able to fight that Stage Three Demon Beast at least for a while.

"Tanxan, hold it!" Roan ordered, and Tanxan acted.

The green blob jumped from Roan’s shoulder, and several tentacles grew out of it, binding the Demon Beast. At the same time, Roan pulled a Sword out of his Spatial Ring, given to him by the clan.

*Swish!*

Tanxan held the Demon Beast, and Roan acted swiftly, cutting its head in a single slash!

’What?!’ The elder was shocked by that view. He didn’t expect the Spirit that came with Roan to be that strong. ’Wasn’t that just a pet?!’

No, Roan himself was exceptional! His precision, speed, and strength were much higher than what one would expect from his cultivation level.

Tanxan then enveloped the dead Demon Beast’s head with his body, which quickly began to dissolve away. In the end, only a Demon Core remained. He threw it to Roan, returning to Roan’s shoulder. Finally, he complained. "Isn’t it too much, Roan? Twenty Demon Beast Cores for each person will take quite some time."

Roan shook his head slightly. "Elder Ruriklin is testing everyone’s strength, which is a good thing. This is also a good training for our combined attacks, Tanxan. Since Elder Ruriklin asked that each of us obtain twenty cores of Stage Three, we will acquire twenty cores of Stage Three. Perhaps we will get some reward for completing the mission."

"I guess so," Tanxan agreed reluctantly. "By the way, did you see our new room?! An entire room just for the two of us! Isn’t that amazing?!"

Roan nodded again. "It is indeed good to have some place just for us."

Tanxan ended up being the one to keep up a childish act, while Roan just followed his lead.

Not too far away, the elder watching them felt shocked by their combat strength. But, above all, he felt helpless after hearing their words. ’It’s not twenty cores each, idiots! It’s twenty cores as a group! As! A! Group! What is wrong with their heads?!’

Only now he understood. Roan and Tanxan weren’t trying to escape, nor were they trying to break any rules or ignore orders. They... just misunderstood them...

Well, they actually didn’t, but they made it appear as though they did! Roan and Tanxan have already begun to make a name for themselves.