Death... and me

Later, Rean, Roan, Kentucky, and Celis were given their own residences to stay in. In fact, Kentucky and Celis' residences even had two different parts. One for them to use in their human form and another much bigger part for them to stay in their real form. Then again, they were free to choose whichever.

Philip worked very quickly and swiftly gathered the members of his clan that he could trust. That included both the young and older generations. With that, he called the twins back, expecting them to start the work with their weapon intents.

"Sorry, Roan. Can you take care of it? I'm going back to the Dimensional Realm to take a look at the System Sect," Rean asked.

"Fine. You will be the next one, though." Roan accepted and left straight away.

With that resolved, Rean entered the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm. Obviously, Celis had already settled once again at the center, using the realm's and the Divine Stones' energy to cultivate nonstop. Rean ignored that, though, as he went to look for Ophilia, the girl who learned sword intent before he started to take the twelve tests.

"Oh! Hage, it's been some time."

Hage, one of the first people to be recruited to the System Sect and the one responsible for the kids, immediately looked at Rean. "Ah! You finally decided to show your face again! If not because you could use your connection to this Dimensional Realm to talk to us, we would have thought you had abandoned us here."

The twelve tests plus the other arrangements prevented both the twins from entering the Dimensional Realm during the last year and something. Naturally, the sect members would notice that long time of absence. "I explained to everyone about what was happening, didn't I? That's why I couldn't let any of you come out either. Don't forget that all of you agreed to it until we could finally establish the sect somewhere."

Hage sighed in response. "Fine, I won't complain about that. After all, this year has been very good for most of the sect members. Several things very sect-like happened during this time as well."

"Oh?" Rean became interested as he didn't pay attention to the System Sect's affairs since a year ago. He only provided the Divine Stones for it to keep running. "Tell me more."

Hage nodded and began to walk with Rean. He could tell where he was going. "Well, first is Ophilia. You're going to see her now, so let me give you the rundown. We followed Roan's training schedule strictly and also gave her the necessary resting time. We made sure that all the Divine Stones she used to cultivate were earned through her own efforts during the missions given by the sect."

Roan didn't want anyone in the sect to grow lazy. If they wanted Divine Stones, then they had to work. Mostly, it involved the sect's constructions or the demon beast forest outside the sect's territory. The cultivators of the sect had to take turns between the sect's improvement and battling so that everyone would grow.

Of course, Roan wasn't an idiot. He told Celis that the demon beasts there shouldn't hold back at all. Anyone taking missions inside the demon beasts' territory would truly be at the risk of death, just like any other demon beast area outside the Dimensional Realm. That was how the sect members, although a few deaths occurred, were able to improve a lot during the last year.

Rean and Roan also set the rules for many internal competitions carried out by the elders. Divine Energy, Soul Power, and physical strength, there were often competitions happening regarding these three. Not only that, but Rean also told the side occupation masters to hold their own side occupation competitions. Blacksmithing, Talismans, Formations, it was there.

As for the one overseeing all of that? It was obviously Sister Orb. As long as it was happening in the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm, she would see it. There was no way anyone could cheat. However, she was also told that her intervention could only be limited. Why? Because Roan wanted the sect to have its own internal struggles. Otherwise, why would he have recruited many cunning and evil members?

That and many other measures were taken to make sure the sect would grow as a whole. Even the elders' positions were part of the competitions, theirs happening once every six months. The sect had quite a few substitutions regarding who would be the elders already. In Hage's case, he hadn't lost a single one so far. After all, the knowledge and leadership tests were the ones that gave the most points for it. Hage might not have the highest talent, but he was definitely intelligent and experienced. If anything, he was getting better at it each day.

Let's not forget that taking part in the classes to learn several subjects was mandatory for every single sect member. There were even formations connected to each classroom, which were connected directly to Sister Orb so she could teach everyone at once. Sure enough, being an AI had its advantages in this kind of scenario. A single person would never be able to do that. At least, the twins definitely couldn't at their current level.

"Ophilia had to fight hard during the missions in the demon beast forest to get her Divine Stones. The same happened during the younger generation's competitions and sect duties. That girl seems to be living for the sword now."

"That's not good." Rean immediately shook his head after hearing that. "A kid must also be a kid. I hope you made sure she understood that she should take breaks while training. Play with the other kids, create relationships, and interact with the older ones. All of that and more is also important." Back in the Varen Tribe, the twins made Malaka go through hellish training, but they never neglected those issues either. They gave her the time she needed to be a kid as well. That's how she stayed cheerful as she grew into an adult.

Hage, who had his hand on his back, smiled in response, telling him, "Hehe! There's no need to worry. She's doing just fine."