"We are… going to fight Sorlus?" Hi-Ah asked with a surprised look on her face. She wasn't expecting to have to fight with the 12-year-old-looking kid as part of her training today.
Jung-Hee was a little hesitant as well. Both of them knew that Sorlus was a strong dragon, but he was always in his human form, so they couldn't help but see him as a young brother to them.
Fighting such a young man was not something they were expecting to have to do today, or if ever at all.
"Not really fight, no," Ning said. "With the power difference, there won't be much of a fight at all. What you're going to do is die today."
Hi-Ah and Jung-Hee paused a little. "Sorry?" they asked.
"You heard me right," Ning said. "You two do not know the extent of the terror the monsters in the upper-tier dungeon can hold. So, today you will find out."
He then turned around to Sorlus and said, "Revert back to your dragon form and kill them."
The two siblings were immediately on guard when they heard that and looked toward Sorlus, ready to fight him.
"Are you sure, master?" he asked.
"Don't worry, this is not the real world, so they won't die even if you kill them," said.
"In that case, understood!"
Suddenly, the little boy shined in a bright blue light as his body got larger. Scales appeared all over him and his hands and fingers turned into talons. A tail and two wings grew out of his back while the rest of his body turned blue.
When his face changed to that of a draconic beast, his dragon body was finally in view for the two siblings and Ely to see.
Let alone the two weak humans, even Ely was surprised by Sorlus' size.
Sorlus wasted no time and opened his mouth as he spewed out water from it. The water came out so fast that it ripped the two siblings to shreds in an instant, killing them despite their defenses.
They had no chance of survival against a Sorlus that was ready to kill. When the burst of water disappeared, the two of them were gone.
Ning waited for a few seconds and the two appeared in a bright light. However, compared to before they weren't standing at all. They were crouched on the floor, shivering in fear as the pain from dying filled them with dread they didn't even know they could feel.
Ning walked over to them and pat them over a couple of times to assure them that they were alright. "So, how did dying feel?" he asked.
Hi-Ah tried to answer, but she couldn't find the will or the ability to speak at all. The best she could voice was the clattering of her teeth.
Ning gave a warm blanket to comfort his two cousins and waited until they could finally speak.
It took a few minutes, but Jung-Hee was the first to speak again. "W-why d-did you kill us?" he asked. Hi-Ah looked at Ning for an answer as well.
"As I said, you need to know how terrifying the higher-tier monsters are and how easily you can die if you don't pay any attention," Ning said.
"B-but why did you make us feel the pain of dying? It hurts so bad," Hi-Ah said.
"Well, there's no point to this if you don't feel the pain," Ning said. "Only by feeling this pain will your body learn to avoid such a thing again."
"While I'm trying to teach you how scary these beasts can be, what I'm ultimately trying to teach you is fear," Ning said.
"Fear? F-fear of what? Death or the monsters?" Hi-Ah asked.
Ning shook his head. "I'm trying to teach you to fear fear itself," he said. "You're now a cultivator and very soon you will be an SS-ranked mage. Your power will grow to such an extreme height in such a small period of time that it is impossible for either of you to not overestimate yourself."
"So, for the next however many days it takes, you will train here to try and understand just how weak you are and how no matter how strong you get, you will die every time you have to fight the beasts from those stronger dungeons," Ning said.
The two siblings took a deep breath. "D-do we have to die e-each time?" Hi-Ah asked.
"Of course," Ning said. "How else will you learn the severity of the difference in strength between you and the others?"
"T-this is a virtual world right?" Jung-Hee asked. "Can we at least not feel pain? There should be a setting for that."
"I can remove all pain," Ning said. "But I will keep it all. Besides, it's set at a capacity where you will barely remain sane. If you were to truly feel the pain of dying, you will go mad. To die over and over and over and to still retain your sanity, only a madman could do such a thing."
"Why do we have to feel pain?" Jung-Hee complained. "We know we will die, is that not enough?"
"Is it enough?" Ning asked. "If you don't feel the pain, then will dying have any effect on you? Will you be sitting here, unable to move just now if you didn't feel the pain and fear from having died?"
"There are stories of people in dangerous jobs dying stupidly because they were so used to the job that the danger became an everyday part of their life and they started ignoring the danger," Ning said. "If you die over and over to someone stronger than you and you no longer fear that, you will die stupidly against someone stronger than you too. Do you want that?"
The two quickly shook their head.
"Good," Ning said. "Now that you understand what is going to happen, I reckon you are ready to die again, yes?"
"What, wait no—"
Before the two of them could finish their sentence, Ning gave Sorlus the gesture and he killed the two siblings one more time.
