Chapter 106 - Roan's Compliment
They had all the reasons to be shocked by Roan's skills. First of all, the number of Foundation Establishment cultivators that can really use skills at Roan's level is minimal. Usually, those are descendants of prominent old families and clans with hundreds if not thousands of years of history. As mentioned before, skills for Foundation Establishment are extremely rare.
Another thing is Roan's background. Hulian had made sure to check it and knew that he came from a small tribe. There is no doubt that a place like that wouldn't have skills for Foundation Establishment cultivators. In fact, they wouldn't even have for Core Formation either.??
Hulian couldn't help but send Alanda a Spiritual Sense message.
"Just where did he learn that skill? The level that he displayed far surpassed anything that I know. Not to mention that I have never seen that skill before."
Alanda smiled before answering.
"That was the Third Form of the Death Style, Three Claws of the Dragon. He created it himself."
"What?! Are you making fun of me?"
Alanda shook his head.
"I wouldn't dare to lie to an elder of the Dalamu Sect. I know very well what might happen to my tribe and me if I tried to do so."
Hulian narrowed his eyes for a second. Indeed, no one with a background like Alanda would try to make an enemy of their Dalamu Sect. But it was then that he noticed a problem.
"Wait? What do you mean with 'third form'?"
Alanda shrugged his shoulders before answering.
"It means exactly what it means. That is the third form. There is also the First and Second Forms that Roan created first. Anyway, I can only talk to this point. Roan was the one who came up with them, so elder Hulian will have to ask him about that. Although I know the First and Second Forms too, I can only use the First Form, and it is far from Roan's level."
Hulian pondered a bit before changing the topic.
"In that case, what about that change in the twins' Hair Colors? I might be wrong, but I'm almost sure that Roan used Rean's Light Element. Am I seeing things?"
Alanda confirmed as well.
"He did. Those twins were born with a particular connection between themselves, which allows them to exchange elements. If I were to guess, it probably has something to do with the fact that they are twins. But don't ask me how it works. Even I have no idea how such a thing is possible."
Hulian began to ponder about it. It doesn't matter how he looks at it, Roan is way too young to be able to create so many skills. And that Elemental Exchange is even more incredible.
'An inheritance, perhaps? No, that shouldn't be the case. His skill was way too perfect. It was evident that he created it based on the Light and Dark Elements. It might be able possible to use it with other elements as well, but I don't think it would be as good as what he showed. Even if he had found an Inheritance, there is no way it would be related to Light and Dark Elements. That means that he must have created it.'
Hulian continued to ponder until he finally thought about a possibility.
'Reincarnation? That would indeed explain his proficiency with his Element. However, would that mean that Rean is also a Reincarnator? That seems unlikely. I've never heard about a double reincarnation. Not to mention that during these last four days, it didn't look like Rean and Roan are close at all. Would you reincarnate together with someone you hate?'
Little did Hulian know that he hit the bullseye. Rean and Roan don't like each other but did really reincarnate together.
'Wait, there is a sure-fire way to confirm whether they are reincarnations or not.'
Hulian then disappeared from his spot and appeared right above the teleport formation.
"Activate the teleport formation, I need to go back to the sect immediately. Tell the other elders that I will return in a few hours."
The disciples taking care of the formation immediately complied with his orders. With a flash of silver light, Hulian disappeared.
Back on Rean's group side, Roan watched as Malaka, Lenna, and Julio dealt with the Stage One Demon Beasts, Lionesses. That Crimson Lion had 5 subordinates under his command, so it became a battle of 5 vs. 3. Rean and Roan, of course, did not intervene at all.
"They did quite well in sharing their jobs. Malaka is fighting two of them while Julio and Lenna work together to take care of the other three."
Rean nodded.
"Indeed. However, they are still taking too long to finish it. Especially Malaka."
However, Roan shook his head.
"I made Malaka hold those two without killing them on purpose. That way, Julio and Lenna will think that Malaka doesn't have the spare time to help them. This will definitely drag more of their potential out. Let's see how they deal with it while outnumbered."
Roan was right, Julio and Lenna really thought that Malaka couldn't help them. Not to mention that they knew Roan wouldn't help them at all, either. After so many days of hellish training, they felt like Roan wouldn't step out even if they were about to die! Of course, that was just their misconceptions due to Roan's treatment. If it really came to this point, Roan would still step forward. However, Roan was more than happy that they are thinking like that.
Lenna and Julio's eyes were red as they did their best to defend and attack. It was then that Julio noticed an opening on the demon beast's attack. It came just when Lenna turned her back to one of them, so it was trying to take her by surprise.
"Lenna, get down!"
Lenna didn't know why Julio asked that, but after many days working together, she learned to trust Julio. At the same time that she moved, a spear passed right where she had been a split of a second ago. Although it wasn't a skill, Julio could at least control his Wind Element to make the attack more swift.
As the Spear passed above Lenna's head, a demon beast's head appeared just beside her. The Lioness was taken aback by that Spear. It was completely concealed by Lenna's body, so it didn't see the weapon until it was right in front of its eyes. The Lioness tried to dodge, but because it had pounced at Lenna, it was in mid-air at the moment. It simply couldn't change directions without a foothold.
*Puch!*
The Spear passed through the Demon Beast's skull, piercing it all the way to the other side. It quickly fell on the floor right after. It was as dead as dead could be.
One of Roan's eyebrows raised a bit after seeing that.
"That wasn't too shabby of a reaction. Julio noticed that the Lioness was going to pounce from Lenna's back and positioned himself so that the demon beast wouldn't see his Spear. Lenna also reacted really fast to his call. Otherwise, such a team play wouldn't have worked at all. It seems like she has got quite some trust on Julio after so many days of 'happy training' together."
Rean glanced at Roan on the corner of his eyes.
"Happy training, uh?"
Roan heard that and smiled faintly.
With one of the three Lionesses out, Lenna and Julio's burden instantly reduced. The battle continued for a while longer until they finally got rid of the other two. At the same time, Malaka also finished the two Lionesses who were attacking her. Of course, that was because she received Roan's authorization to do so.
Once everything was over, Roan looked at Julio and Lenna and commented.
"Although your teamwork is still ugly to the point I can barely keep watching, that first kill wasn't too terrible. Now, here are the things you should pay attention to."
Roan then started his endless stream of words while they moved to find the next demon beasts. Still, Julio and Lenna couldn't help but feel happy. That was the first time Roan had ever complimented something that they did...
It was a compliment... right? They weren't sure, but it was already a significant improvement.