Death... and me
chapter-172

Rean still had two days before his Duty time, so he decided to pass by the Beast Taming Faction first. He still had that weird egg that he got during the last mission, so he planned to leave it there for the disciples to take care of.

Surprisingly, he encountered Javiu on his way to treat elder Tiria's Crane.

"Elder Javiu!"

Javiu heard Rean's voice and turned around.

"Oh, Rean! It's been a few weeks. What is it, did you come to borrow another flying beast?"

Rean shook his head.

"No, I came here to see if someone knew something about an egg I acquired during my last mission."

"Egg?"

Rean nodded and took the egg out of his bag. Obviously, he brought it out of the Soul Gem System before coming to this place.

"I got this from one of the bandits, do you know what it is?"

Elder Javiu grabbed the giant egg and looked at it closely. He could feel the spiritual energy inside, but it was very faint, indicating that it was quite an ordinary demon beast. However, he couldn't remember ever seeing an egg like this one before.

"I don't recognize it, but the strength of the bird inside seems very weak. Most likely, it is an egg from some demon beast that I don't know. Still, it shouldn't turn out to be anything impressive."

Rean pondered a bit before saying.

"I thought the same thing too. However, there is a difference between this egg and the other demon beasts' eggs I looked after before. Its life force is too pure."

Elder Javiu knew that Rean used his Light Element to stimulate the body's life force, which healed the injuries.

"Too pure, what you mean?"

"Elder already knows that I can feel life force. That being said, I've never seen such a pure life force before. Even elder Tiria's Crane can't compare to it. No, this egg and all the other demon beasts here are in two completely different leagues."

Javiu was taken aback and looked more attentively at the egg. Still, he didn't have Rean's ability to check the life force.

"Hum... How about this? Leave this egg here, and I will have the disciples take care of it. From what I can see, it won't take too long before it hatches. However, the hatching process usually takes quite some time, so I'll send you a message when that happens. Remember, come back straight away when you receive it. Birds get attached to the first person they see when they are born, so it's best if it is you."

Rean nodded in the end.

"Alright? How much will it cost me?"

Javiu laughed after hearing that.

"Did you forget how much you helped last time? If anything, our faction is still owing you. If you really want to do something, why don't you come with me to see elder Tiria's Crane? It will definitely be happy to see its savior again."

Rean laughed and accepted Javiu's idea. The Crane was indeed happy to see Rean again, so it kept rubbing its enormous head against Rean's chest, much to his contentment. A few hours later, Rean left and went back to his room. He decided to cultivate a little before going to the doctor's building for duty two days later.

Time passed and a week went by. Today, Roan finally closed the last book he needed to read in the alchemy repository. Of course, he didn't read all the books available, only the necessary ones. Otherwise, even another entire year wouldn't be enough.

After that, he went back to the first floor and passed his token to Old Worm. Roan quite liked the man. He never spoke if it was not necessary and kept his sentences short.

The old man looked at Roan and asked.

"Did you finish memorizing everything you needed?"

Roan nodded. He then turned around to leave when suddenly, Old Worm's voice came from behind.

"When are you going to start practicing?"

Roan looked back and pondered a bit.

"I intend to start straight away. I'll just buy a few common herbs and the other tools like the cauldron, stove, etc..."

Old Worm then got up and began to walk to the exit. He also looked at Roan while at it.

"Come with me."

Roan was a little puzzled but followed the man nonetheless. As soon as Old Worm left, some kind of puppet appeared out of nowhere and took Old Worm's place in the repository entrance. No one seemed to care, though. From the looks of it, Old Worm would often leave the repository to do his own things.

Roan followed Old Worm, and they soon strayed away from the alchemist hall's main building. After some time wandering, they arrived at what seemed to be an old hut, which was still inside the Alchemist Hall controlled area. Old Worm then used a token to open the door, quickly disappearing inside. Roan, of course, followed him too.

As soon as Roan saw what was inside, he was taken aback. The outside made it like a rundown place. However, the inside of the hut was another story. It was an alchemy room with all the possible tools one could possibly wish: caldrons, stoves, bottles, several rare types of wood used for fire, you name it.

Old Worm then looked at Roan and threw another token to him.

"You can use this room for your practice. Just make sure to bring your own herbs and materials for creating fire. The ones you see around are mine, so don't touch them."

Roan couldn't help but ask.

"What do you want?"

Old Worm shook his head and didn't answer his question. Instead, he said something else.

"If you have any doubts about alchemy, you can ask me in the repository. If not, don't waste my time."

That obviously wasn't what Roan wanted to hear. But before he could ask again, Old Worm disappeared from the alchemy room. Roan was quite surprised to see that. It showed that the old man was a lot more complex than he thought. At the very least, judging by the speed he disappeared, his cultivation was several times higher than his own.

Roan pondered a bit and looked around. He had to admit that this place was perfect for him. In the end, he decided to ignore the mystery behind Old Worm's actions and use it. After all, he already used a month to read all the books he needed, so he only had two left to become an Earth Low-Level Alchemist.

Roan then looked into the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm and saw all the Spirit Stones there. He nodded, satisfied, and quickly left the hut. He already had all the tools, but he needed to buy the herbs as well. Roan soon arrived in the Alchemist Hall's main building and went to the counter to buy everything. However, it was at this moment that he received a message from Rean through their Soul Connection.

"Roan, Malaka is back. Let's go there, take a look."

Roan shook his head.

"If there is nothing wrong, then there is no need."

Rean already expected that answer, though.

"There is a need. You still have to talk with the Amanda about the Death Style, remember? They definitely have a lot of questions for you too. This way, we can kill two birds with one shoot."

Roan pondered a bit and had to admit that Rean was right.

"Fine, I'll be right there."

On Rean's side, he asked permission to go out for a few hours. After all, he was on duty in this place. However, due to the great help his Light Element gave, the supervisor there was more than happy to allow him to do so.

Rean quickly went to the Blue Orchid District. A few minutes later, Roan arrived there as well. The two disciples in front were already informed about the twins, so they quickly went inside and called Amanda over.

Amanda also seemed to want to meet them. Therefore she didn't take a long time to come out. Surprisingly, Malaka came out with her as well.

As soon as she saw the two of them, her eyes brightened, and she pounced at them.

"Rean, Roan!"

Rean laughed out loud and patted her head.

"How are you? Have you been cultivating properly?"

Malaka nodded vigorously.

"Yeap! However, don't think I forgot your promise. You have to bring me out to play."

Rean nodded with a smile.

Rean and Roan then checked on her with their Spiritual Sense and confirmed that she was okay. However, for some reason, they felt that something wasn't right.

Rean was just about to ask her if everything was really fine when Roan turned around.

"Rean, Malaka, let's go. Since you are going out to play, I'll go with you too."

Rean was taken aback. Since when Roan likes to play? However, he quickly understood that Roan also noticed something strange.

However, Amanda immediately stopped Roan in his tracks.

"Hey, hey, hey! What about me? Did you forget about our deal? I have a lot of questions about the sword style that you passed me."

Roan nodded at her.

"I'll help you after I come back. I just arrived from a mission not too long ago, so I also need some rest."

Amanda narrowed her eyes after hearing that.

"Hmph! What if you decide to say a lot of bad things to our little sister while I'm not looking? I'm going too."

Roan narrowed his eyes, but just as he was about to refuse, Malaka jumped in.

"Senior Sister is coming to play too? Great! Let's go, Rean, Roan!"

In the end, Rean and Roan looked at each other and sighed. Just like that, the group of four departed from the Blue Orchid District.

Author's Note: Weekly deal is up again! Check the notes below.