Death... and me

"Ah!"

Malaka almost jumped in fright when Roan's Spiritual Sense Message appeared in her mind. Fortunately, Roan had released his Spiritual Energy, locking Malaka in place. Also, he made sure to cover her mouth with Spiritual Energy, too, so only Rean and Roan heard her surprised voice.

As mentioned before, Rean had extended his Camouflage Skill to Malaka's head. In the eyes of the disciples in front of her, Malaka was still quiet and undisturbed.

'Don't move, we just came to see how you are. Don't let your senior disciples notice that you know we are here. Otherwise, we might lose our lives.'

Malaka calmed down and nodded, not moving at all.

'You disappeared for a long time, so what happened?'

Malaka then explained.

'It's because of the Spiritual Rebirth formation. I have to stay here for two to three months straight. It's sooooo boring, but my senior sisters won't let me leave before finishing it.'

Rean and Roan were taken aback. As far as they can see, Malaka's personality seems pretty much... fine? However, since they are already here, they might as well ask more questions.

'What is this Spiritual Rebirth Formation? What is this blue energy entering your Dantian?'

Malaka sighed.

'It's a formation that all the new disciples of the Blue Orchid District/Faction must use. The Elder said that it will clean the passages of the Meridians into the Datian, making it easier to control Spiritual Energy. That's why they call it Spiritual Rebirth.'

Suddenly, Sister Orb's voice appeared in Rean and Roan's mind.

[I haven't finalized the analysis of the formation yet. However, from what I can see so far, Malaka is most likely correct. It seems very beneficial for her and has nothing to do with a personality changing. Of course, I'll only be certain one hour later when I finish the full analysis.]

Rean sighed in relief. At least, it doesn't seem like the Blue Orchid is doing anything wrong to their Little Sister.

Roan then asked something that was puzzling him.

'We've heard that everyone who enters the Blue Orchid District/Faction becomes very cold-hearted and stops interacting with the others outside. Do you know anything about it?'

'Ah! I forgot I shouldn't be talking this much with you.'

Rean and Roan obviously got puzzled by that statement.

'Why?'

Malaka seemed to be in a dilemma. In the end, Roan could only use his ultimate weapon.

'If you don't talk, your fighting lessons will be doubled next time you come out.'

Malaka's face went pale as cold sweat appeared on her face.

'I'll say! I'll say! My senior sisters always tell me that I must not rely on anyone from outside. Now that I'm part of the Blue Orchid District/Faction, I can only ask them for help, not others.'

Rean and Roan's confusion got even bigger.

'Why is that?'

Malaka seemed to try to recall what one of her senior sisters told her.

'I remember now! Senior Sister Amanda said that our Blue Orchid Faction is too small. We also receive the least amount of resources from the sect. However, errr... what was the rest... Ah! If we began to ask for too many favors, others would think that we are weak because we only have women. She said that Elder Zaia created the Blue Orchid Faction to prove that women can also manage their own faction without anyone's help, especially men. It had something to do with... Oh, right! Something to do with the women's pride or sort of. I don't understand it very well.'

It was then that Malaka remembered something Roan said and got angry.

'Right! My senior sisters are not cold-hearted at all! In fact, they are very welcoming and always help me when I ask, so you shouldn't say something like that. Senior Sister Amanda is especially nice to Oka and me. She is very easy-going and loves to give hugs. All the other girls like her too. The other senior sisters as very warming, and I like them all very much. All the girls here are very close to each other. Senior Sister Amanda said that it is because there are very few members, so we must always stay close.'

Rean finally made his head up around the teenage style of most of the girls' rooms. As he had noticed when they stole all the underwear, they weren't the kind of rooms that 'cold-hearted' people would use. The only difference was that they didn't have any electronics like teenagers would back on Earth.

'The only thing I don't like is this Spiritual Rebirth Formation. I've been in this thing for three weeks already. I can feel that I'm getting better at controlling Spiritual Energy, but it is still too boring!'

Rean and Roan looked at each other with a bitter smile. In the end, it seems that everything was a mistake.

'Sigh... alright, so you are not in danger, and no one is treating you bad, right?'

Malaka shook her head.

'There are those who bully me. Elder Zuna is one of them. She always makes me train too much and never gives me a break. My first week was really not fun at all. I wish I could give her a lesson!'

Roan felt the urge to slap Malaka's back head. It was evident that she was planning to slack off now that he isn't looking after her anymore. At the same time, he also gave this so-called Elder Zuna a mental nod. That was an excellent elder.

Rean then added

'Fine, as long as you are okay, then so be it. But I will not accept this thing about not talking with us anymore. If you really do that, I will have Roan triplicate your fighting lessons once you are out.'

Malaka sweated even more and nodded vigorously.

'However, you don't need to show it in front of everyone. You already know how to use Spiritual Sense, so you can simply tell us how you are doing with a Spiritual Sense Message when you pass close to us. Otherwise, your senior sisters might rebuke you if you stop to talk with us. Of course, if we are alone, then we can talk normally.'

Malaka finally sighed in relief. But it was then that she noticed something else.

'By the way, how did you come here? My senior sisters and elders are very strict with visits, and I heard that they never let anyone get close to the Spiritual Rebirth Formation.'

Roan looked away as Rean began to sweat himself. Only now did they remember that they bought a war with all the girls in this place to reach Malaka.

'Cough, cough... Listen to your big brother Rean. Sometimes, men must do what they must do to guarantee the safety of the ones they care about. We did some... 'slightly not nice things' so that we could make the disciples leave this tower. But we only did that because we wanted to talk to you, okay?'

Malaka was puzzled.

'What did you do?'

'Cough, cough... we stole all of your senior sisters' underwear.'

There was no point in hiding it since she would find out sooner or later.

Malaka's eyes opened wide! For some reason, Rean felt like there was a look of disgust on her face. This was the first time Rean and Roan saw that kind of expression. Malaka had just become ten years old a few days ago, so she is still in the middle of her mental transformation from a kid to a teenager. The Malaka from two to three years ago would have found it funny and laughed out loud. However, the Malaka now seems to think that it wasn't something funny at all.

'Now I understand why all the girls were screaming 'kill, kill, kill' all the time. What should I do? My brothers became... errr... what was the word Senior Sister Amanda used... Ah! My brothers became perverted dogs!'

Surprisingly, even Roan's ears got a little red after hearing Malaka's words.