Noah stared at the shining tattoo on the back of his hand, it had moved autonomously which led him to shot a questioning look toward Roy.
Roy lowered his head and answered his gaze in a soft voice.
"It has simply sensed the ill intentions of another member of the sect, it's like a warning. Don't worry though, you can keep it hidden somewhere under your skin with your mental energy."
Noah nodded at his explanation and his focus moved on the tattoo, his mental energy entered the image of the horned head and forced it to hide under his skin, even its radiance disappeared once Noah chose to cover it.
"Roy?"
An irritated voice resounded in the cave, Roy staggered when Elder Iris reminded him of her presence.
"W-well, he is a talented cultivator, I guessed that it was better to have him as a disciple instead of wasting resources to capture him."
Roy gave a quick lie but his tone betrayed him, it was obvious that he felt guilty about the matter.
"You enrolled him without even asking his name, am I right?"
Elder Iris saw right through his lie, she sighed when she saw that Roy lowered his head in embarrassment.
"You are too reckless, we are a secret organization, we need to be careful whenever we make a move."
She shook her head as she reprimanded Roy, she seemed to have already given up on the matter.
"Well, he is part of our sect now, put him to work. And you…"
Elder Iris interrupted her words to point a hand toward Noah.
"You are never to reveal your name in public and, if you ever get caught, you need to erase every connection with the sect, Roy can tell you our story if you are interested. Also, try not to cause any mess, we are powerful in the archipelago but we need to maintain the image of a suppressed organization so that we can fool the continent."
She gave those obvious orders at which Noah politely bowed, she was a cultivator in the heroic ranks and an elder of his sect, he needed to behave properly.
Elder Iris seemed satisfied by his gesture and waved her hand to dismiss the two of them, her gaze went back on the sheets around her as soon as she did that.
Roy patted Noah's shoulder and signaled him to exit the cave, the floor closed behind them when they returned to the surface of the underground area.
"Uff, this is settled. My mother might seem strict but she really cares about the members of the sect, that's one of the reasons why she oversees these matters. You don't have to worry about possible injustices."
'Mother!?'
Roy's words stunned Noah.
'Elder Iris is actually Roy's mother? They seem to have the same age! Maybe that's why Roy can act so freely in the archipelago.'
Noah pondered about that but he ultimately put those thoughts in the back of his mind, such information didn't affect him after all.
"What did she mean by our story? Weren't you simply exiled by the Papral nation?"
Noah decided to ask about the story of the Chasing demon sect, he was now an honorary disciple, it wouldn't hurt to know more about its past.
"Mh, yes, that's the short version. Let's move toward the next area, I'll explain as we walk."
Roy picked a direction and began to walk, Noah followed closely behind as he memorized the path that they were taking.
"I've already told you about the Council and the exile of the unorthodox sects but you don't know the specifics about these events."
Roy paused a bit as he sorted his thoughts before speaking again.
"The Council is the organization in control of the Papral nation, it's formed by the patriarchs of each orthodox sect and it handles the topics that concern the entirety of the country. Each sect is independent but it has a duty toward the nation, that's why the Council is needed to create a joint front against the other powerful countries."
'The Utra nation has the Royal family and the nobles helping them; The Empire has its God and the entirety of its population as its army; The political situation of the Papral nation is similar to the Utra nation but its central power is composed of the strongest cultivators of each sect. Now I have a general understanding of the three big nations.'
Noah sorted those pieces of information in his mind as he listened to Roy, he had always been a lone cultivator so he valued a lot that kind of knowledge.
"However, this only covers the orthodox sects. Back in the days, there were twelve unorthodox sects that thrived in the nation and that managed to repel the attacks of the Council thanks to the twelve Demons."
"Demons?"
Noah couldn't help but voice his confusion when Roy's story reached that point.
He made a slight smile as he nodded toward Noah before he resumed to speak.
"Demon is just a word with which the orthodox sects label anyone that opposes their rule. The unorthodox sects on the Papral nation have taken pride in that appellation and have created the twelve demon sects, giving to their strongest cultivator the title of Demon!"
'The power of these twelve Demons must have been incredible for them to defend against the leading organization of the country.'
Noah's thoughts reached that conclusion as he became even more interested in the story.
Roy sighed, a trace of sadness appeared in his face.
"Yet, no matter how prideful they were, unorthodox cultivators would always prioritize profits. The Ravaging demon sect betrayed the alliance and the Council managed to inflict heavy damages to the other demon sects, forcing them to escape. The Charming Demon and the Devouring Demon died that day and the eleven demon sects dispersed in the continent. Our sect managed to reach the archipelago where we slowly rebuilt our ranks under the leadership of the Chasing Demon but we lost contact with most of the other unorthodox sects. They are probably hiding like us, waiting for the moment when they are strong enough to strike back."