As four elders entered, Ruri, Loeus, and Corin roared, attacking the beasts their factions were fighting. The disciples took a second to react after those strange phenomena, but quickly joined the attack. Quickly, a flurry of battle took over, as if nothing had happened. The three leaders didn’t need the whale to give orders; they trusted that he had thought of everything and simply focused on the test.
Follow current novℯls on ƒгeewёbnovel.com.
The four elders watched the fight, stunned. The elder in charge of the test was present, along with three central elders: the human, the dark elf, and the old fat one who seemed weak and had internal injuries. They didn’t understand what had happened. They only saw the whale activate a bloodline power they knew well. Then, a sound similar to heartbeats reverberated, shaking the world, and everything went dark.
It took them three seconds to find Vubia lying on the ground, and their eyes widened. Then, they saw the whale next to her, covered in dirt, breathing irregularly, and using a wooden spear for support.
With confused thoughts, they approached her, and the three central elders examined her condition in amazement. Two minutes later, the disciples’ fight came to an end, and the three elders seemed to lose color in their faces as they analyzed the woman. The delay occurred because, both externally and internally, she seemed fine. They left the least likely for last, so they saw that her soul was in such a deteriorated state that she could be considered semi-dead.
"What happened?!" one of the elders asked the whale, amidst despair.
The whale noticed the elder’s worried expression and hesitated as he spoke: "I don’t know... in the middle of the test, I activated my secret weapon, my bloodline. After that, I just heard that gigantic rune reverberate."
Upon hearing this, the elders became tense; they didn’t know that the sound came from the whale. It was so powerful and intense that they only heard it before everything went blank, without identifying its origin.
"The vice leader looked extremely tense; she activated her bloodline as if she were using it in the rune... she didn’t say anything, so I thought I shouldn’t be alarmed. We continued the test as usual. Suddenly, I felt the rune disappear... and saw her spit blood. Seeing her fall to the ground, I approached in fear. I felt she was injured, and I was afraid some beast might attack her." The whale finished with trembling and innocent eyes. "Is she okay?"
The elders twisted their faces, indicating clearly that something was wrong. The black elf quickly jumped to the spot where the rune should have been and activated his cultivation to search for it, but found no trace. All the elders were shocked to witness this.
"How... the rune disappeared?! This is impossible!!" The round old man spoke tremulously.
The other human from the Nightflare clan gave the whale a cold look. "Young one, we will investigate every inch of this place..."
The round old man interrupted his words with a jump, feeling Vubia’s life extinguishing rapidly. "Quick! We have to go back, we’ll investigate this later!"
The three joined forces, pouring their life energies into her body, attempting to keep her alive. Then, they ran with her at full speed away from the location. Only the silent elder responsible for the test and the disciples remained.
The elder pondered for a few seconds as he saw the four leaving. Then, he sighed and turned to the disciples. "No orders were given; the test must proceed." He shifted his gaze to the fallen beasts and saw the three black golems, then nodded. "The vice leader said the test was to defeat them, so everything is concluded. Everyone is approved."
Everyone breathed a deep sigh of relief. However, they quickly looked around with red eyes... 21 thousand should have passed with them, but now only 15 thousand remained. Everything happened very quickly, lasting only a few minutes, but many died, and no one could have helped them.
The elder also lamented, but with a sigh, he waved. Then, light enveloped everyone. In a matter of seconds, they found themselves outside that dark place, and the sunlight warmly hit them; then, they realized they were in the inner sect. At the same instant, countless gazes fell upon them. They were the five factions that had passed before.
"You guys lost quite a bit, but you’re warriors. Knew you’d make it!" roared the orc Lokar cheerfully.
Beside him, Fyclea looked at everyone, her eyes shimmering joyfully, while Thalor just nodded without emotion. The other two looked a bit stunned; they definitely knew something about this test.
"Well, now we have eight factions that passed," the elder approached them, explaining. "In the inner sect, factions are crucial for obtaining resources. Monthly, you will receive an important mission given by the sect, and the faction’s performance will indicate your gains."
Everyone listened attentively to the introduction, feeling the pressure weighing on them. The life of an inner disciple was a wild competition. The elder continued lightly, "Of course, there are other smaller missions that everyone can take, but their rewards don’t compare. For eighteen months, you will be tested monthly, and the test will be similar to the one you just passed."
"The demonic beasts you encountered came from the world of death. There are five of them, a place that has existed since before the sect. This place was something created by the demons long ago to cultivate their beastly servants. Their goal was to destroy all life... but the ancestors of the cultivators won, sealing the place."
The disciples trembled, stunned by the mention of demons. The whale, on the other hand, just smiled internally, knowing it was a lie but understanding how fear and lack of knowledge easily made people accept such stories.
The elder continued, "There are infinite races and evil heritages in the world of death. That’s why it wasn’t possible to kill them all, but the world of death was doubly sealed by the sect’s formation. The first seal confines the demonic beasts inside the source of death. There, they live and multiply but cannot escape. When they reach a large volume of beasts, the weaker ones are expelled to the second seal. The disciples’ mission is simple: every month, you must enter the second seal and destroy all the demonic beasts that were expelled."
Everyone sighed, seeming to understand, but it didn’t take long for the elder to dryly complete, "You experienced, in the test, one of the locations, but don’t think that the level of that will be the same. For this entry test, three days ago, the place was cleared. You faced only a minuscule and weak amount of beasts. In the monthly mission, you’ll fight with 30 times those numbers, and their power will also increase."
"This is an important service and maintenance for the sect to keep the world of death safe, and the rewards will be equally good. In 18 months, the test for central disciple will begin, and you’ll only have that time to rise." He explained slowly, looking at everyone, then snorted, pointing to a place. "Now that you understand, go to the central building and register the factions. You will initially receive an equal amount of resources, and in 30 days, the first mission will begin. Go!"
The elder concluded and pointed to a massive building visible to everyone. Quickly, the first five factions moved without hesitation. Soon, the whale turned to the three and instructed them to organize their members and train them. All the crystals they would receive for the month, the whale told them to burn and buy the best pills and techniques for their members; everything would be spent in one day.
For them, there were only 6 months, and they would take the test to advance. But they would have to carry all three factions with them, or they wouldn’t pass. Alm and Bruno would have to train these disciples rigorously. For that, resources were essential. Those from the missions? That was irrelevant, and they didn’t need them; they could get much more in other ways.
As soon as the three leaders left to register, the whale moved to the forge institute. The inner zone of the sect was considerably smaller than the outer, and they didn’t have to walk far to find it. No one from the institute came to fetch him or welcome him; for the old men who took care of the institute, the whale was already a dead man.
CRACK!
Everyone inside the Forge Institute turned in shock as the door was brutally kicked and opened. Then, a round figure moved in slowly.
"WHO THE HELL DARES...!!!"
A teacher began to speak but was cut off. The whale pulled out a badge that shone brightly, the leader’s badge.
"I’m your bastard father! Gather all the main forgers; I’m going to do a thorough evaluation of everything and everyone." The whale said dryly.