The maid that accompanied Malaka was called Mila. The truth was that she wanted to help the girl. However, she couldn't do so. Sect Master Mia had told her to take care of Malaka while inside the Sect. If someone tried something, she should deal with it as she sees fit. There was an exception, though.
"Mila, help me!"
"Sorry, my lady. But Sect Master gave me an order to not do anything if your two brothers were involved."
Mia made it very clear. If Rean and Roan were the ones to try something, she must not intervene. Because of that, she could only look at Malaka's teary face as Roan dragged her back to the training field.
Malaka also looked at her senior sisters with a pitiful expression. Too bad, though. Roan gave them an 'if you try to bother me, you die!' stare. All the girls trembled from bottom to top. As much as they were united in the Blue Orchid District, there were limits. Well, Roan was definitely above that limit... by far!
In the end, they all paid their respects to Malaka as if they were in front of a dead person in a coffin.
"Your memory will always live in our hearts, little sister. Rest in peace."
"I'm not dead yet!"
Roan ignored all their antics and kicked Malaka's butt inside the stage.
"Stop with this bullshit. You had been under the Sect Master's tutelage for some time already. I want to see what you learned so far."
Roan then went to a weapon's rack on the side and took a simple wooden staff. Malaka had Rean's High-Quality Flowing River Staff. That was the name he selected for it. Malaka has an affinity with Water Element, so he made that Staff gather Water Element from the surroundings once Spiritual Energy was used with it. Since Malaka was already a Water Element user anyway, no one thought it was the Staff alone who gathered the Water Element. However, Malaka's High-Quality Staff was definitely far stronger than other High-Quality Equipments.
However, even though that was the case, Roan took one of the most simple wooden staves for training on the side.
In fact, Roan acted in the same way with all the girls and Julio. The girls of the Outer Sect were at most at the Peak Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Any other would have already entered the Inner Sect or applied to become an elder. Some would even return to their home to work for the Sect around their region. That being said, no one could force Roan to bring out his White Star.
Of course, Roan wasn't any less scary just because he was using standard weapons to train them. So what if they could use their Spiritual Equipments? Neither of the girls or Julio thought that they would have an advantage while fighting him on the stage for even a second. Malaka knew Roan a lot better than the rest. She knew that the reason Roan took a wooden staff wasn't to give her an advantage. Oh no, not at all! It was just that with that wooden Staff, he wouldn't need to be afraid of injuring her... too much!
"Roooan~. I-I can't fight now. I just came back from an intense training with Master. My entire body is aching~. You see? I won't be able to show anything good. What about we leave this training session to another time, yes, yes?!"
Roan narrowed his eyes. He then got close to her and began to squeeze her body everywhere, making Malaka feel like laughing. If Roan wasn't Malaka's 'brother' and a 'kid,' the girls and Mila would have jumped in, thinking that Roan was taking advantage of her. Of course, Even if Roan was not a 'kid,' he would not harbor such useless thoughts towards her anyway. Well, he wouldn't do so for any other woman in the world either. Once again, they are all just bags of flesh and bones in his eyes.
"Hum... interesting. It seems like Mia is really putting some effort into your training. Somehow, she brought your cultivation all the way up to the Middle Stage of the Foundation Establishment. However, I can't feel any instability in your foundation at all. I guess this was to be expected considering her status and access to cultivation resources. Not to mention that different from Rean and me, the Sect definitely doesn't lack cultivation manuals and skills for Water Type cultivators."
Malaka nodded vigorously.
"Yes, yes! See?! I was really training hard! That's why she gave me the rest of the day free to rest my body. It is not good to keep training without stopping. Sooo~ can we have this fighting lesson another day? Pleaseeeee~?"
Mila then came onto the stage and bowed to Roan before saying.
"Lady Malaka is not lying, Junior Roan. Although she tried to escape several times, Sect Master made sure to keep her in her place and complete all the tasks. It is also true that her body needs some rest before she returns for more training tomorrow."
Roan glared at Malaka.
"Tried to... escape?"
Malaka felt like crying.
'Couldn't you simply say that I completed all the tasks? Why did you have to mention I tried to escape?'
Of course, she didn't dare to say those words aloud.
In the end, Roan simply snorted as he put his hand on Malaka's shoulder once more.
'Life Style, Second Form, Instant Recovery!'
Roan's ability to control and to lock Light Element was far from being as good as Rean. However, he could still use his skills. First of all, it wasn't as if Malaka was injured. Only that her body was strained after a long period of hard training. With Rean's Second Form of the Life Style, that would be more than enough to recover her body. Of course, Light Element can't eliminate the necessity for resting. Still, that was more than enough to allow Malaka a few more hours of 'harmless exercises.'
"Done. Now you can keep going for a while longer."
Roan then ignored Mila's shocked expression on the side and opened some distance from Malaka.
"The maid over there, you are in the way. Get out of the stage."
Mila's mouth twitched, but she still complied.
Once she was gone, Roan suppressed his own strength to Malaka's level and pointed his Staff in her direction.
"You better take it seriously, or it will hurt even more."
Malaka was really feeling helpless. Why can't she simply have a carefree life? Is she asking for too much? But before she could finish lamenting, Roan had already stepped forward and attacked. He covered the wooden Staff with Spiritual Energy and Light/Dark Elements to protect its integrity too.
Malaka's eyes narrowed as she immediately entered the Death Style Combat stance.
*Bang, bang, bang!*
The two then exchanged several hits before they were forced to separate from each other by a burst of Spiritual Energy from both sides.
Roan and Malaka then used their staves against the ground to stop themselves from drifting further away.
All the girls outside looked at that with wide-open eyes. Of course, Julio was impressed too. When Roan went against the girls or Julio, Roan would always suppress his own strength to their level. Still, no one could last for that long or force him back like that. After all, Roan's Death Style always aimed to finish the fight as fast and deadly as possible. However, just now, Malaka had fought Roan at the same level.
"Ohhh!"
Roan couldn't help but show a faint smile.
'Mia is doing a good job with this brat. She didn't make Malaka change weapons and kept my Death Style. That's obvious since I doubt she would be able to develop a better style than mine. Especially after Malaka practiced it for so long. However, I can see that she made a few arrangements in my formula. Not only that, but they were even more fluid. It's not that my teachings were wrong, but that I'm not a Water Element user. As much as I want to, there will always be things I can't account for. However, Mia is a Water Element user, just like Malaka. The small changes she added to the manual turned out to be very effective.'
Roan then stepped forward and attacked once again.
As for Malaka, she couldn't help but feel a little excited. It was the first time she was able to keep up with Roan.
*Bang, bang, bang, bang.*
The two of them kept fighting until suddenly, Roan used an opening to strike Malaka's right side on the ribs. However...
'Death Water Style, First Form, Flowing Dragon!'
Malaka's Flowing River Staff glowed with blue light. Right after, an Azure Dragon's Head and Tail Spiritual Energy Projection appeared on the two sides. During that split of a second, Malaka's Staff moved like a snake, bending into a complete arc and blocking what seemed to be a sure hit blow.
Roan's eyes couldn't help but show a hint of surprise.
But that wasn't all. What blocked Roan's attack was the Azure Dragon's Head. Malaka used that bending to attack with the other side of the Staff that had the Dragon's Tail. For a moment, it really looked like the Azure Dragon spun his body to make a Dragon's Tail attack.
Roan only head time to bring his Staff back to block the attack head-on!
*Bang!*
*Crack! Shatter!*
Roan's Staff couldn't really compare to Rean's High-Quality Flowing River Staff. It was just a wooden one, so it immediately shattered even though it was covered with Light and Dark Elements and Spiritual Energy. Right after, it hit his chest, sending him flying back.
However, Roan was still Roan. He used the Spiritual Energy and Elements' dispersion as a driving force that sent him in the same direction. Since his body and the attack were moving in the same way, the damage was mitigated by more than 50%. Not only that, but it also forced Malaka to retreat in the opposite direction.
Finally, Roan and Malaka ended that exchange with Malaka coming up on top.
The girls and Julio's mouths were almost hitting the ground. It was the first time they had seen Roan getting injured. Right after, they exploded in cheering!
"That's it, Malaka!"
"Show him what our Blue Orchid Faction can do!"
"Take the demon down!"
"You can do it!"
"Yay, yay, yay!"
Malaka, of course, was even more excited than the girls.
"Hahaha! Did you see that, Roan?! I want to see how you will bully me from now on! Hahaha!"
However...
"Hehe..."
Suddenly, everyone felt like a cold wind passed through their bodies.
"Hehehe..."
Roan looked at the purple mark on his chest as he laughed.
"Good! Good!"
He slowly made his way to the weapon's hack once more and took out another wooden staff. Then he began to walk back in Malaka's direction.
Roan's strength was still suppressed to her level. Not only that, but he didn't change the weapon and took another wooden staff. Simply put, the initial conditions of this battle haven't changed at all.
However, everyone around the stage and Malaka herself could tell one thing. This Roan in front of them was several times scarier than they had ever seen before.
"That was a good skill. It seems like Mia fused the Staff Skills in the Death Staff Style Manual with her own ideas, giving birth to that Azure Dragon form. The Dragon's head to defend, and the Dragon's Tail to counter-attack. I have to admit, she really knows what she is doing. No doubt, you had been improving by leaps and bounds with my Death Staff Manual and her teachings. It's finally time for me to began to take your training seriously."
Roan then looked at the girls and Julio outside the arena.
"I told you before to remember my face when you were out doing missions, right? That you should think about what I will do with you if you fail or perform them poorly. Very well, I'll show you now what will be waiting for you if that happens."
Malaka heard that and began to sweat rivers!
"Wait, wait, wait! There is no need to go that far, right? I'm your little sister. Don't take it this seriously!"
Roan smiled after hearing that.
"Why are you so scared? I'm still using the same weapon. My strength is still suppressed to the same level as yours too."
Those words didn't comfort Malaka even a tiny bit.
"Oh well, there is no need to worry. You won't die. After all, you are still my little sister, right? You will just wish that you were dead, that's all. Trust me, I'm doing it for your own good."
Malaka wanted to flee, but reason told her that things would get even worse if she tried to do so. All the confidence she had a moment ago was completely gone too. Roan exuded an aura that made one think a demon had been reincarnated in his body.
Well, as one can imagine, what happened next was not a fight... It was a one-sided massacre!
If the girls and Julio were already scared of Roan before, now they didn't even dare to look directly at him.
They all reached the same conclusion. They will complete their missions perfectly even if they have to die trying!
