Death... and me

"Oh! You came from the body training maniacs district. That's good, you guys usually are the best ones to take care of the Demon Beasts."

Rean couldn't help but feel like the name suited his faction very well.

The elder had stopped him since Rean looked to be lost. Well, he was just dazzled by all the demon beasts around, though.

"Anyway, I'm an outer sect elder of Demon Beast Tamers Faction. The one who commands this place is elder Reliance Gongol, from the Inner Sect."

He then pointed at the only building that seemed to have nothing to do with the Demon Beasts.

"That's where you get your assignments for the week. Also, be careful not to enter any of the stronger demon beasts buildings, especially those with cages inside. Anyway, that's all, you can go."

The elder then continued to make his way to one of the big buildings.

Rean didn't mind and went to the office that the elder mentioned. After reporting his arrival to the disciple inside, he was asked to go talk with an elder called Javiu.

Surprisingly, that was the same elder he bumped on the way.

"Hum? How come you are back?"

"The disciple told me that I was supposed to talk to you."

"Me? That's weird, I didn't ask for any extra help. Oh well, whatever. I won't refuse any extra hands. Come with me then, I was just about to enter the Snow Crane's building, so you can take a look to familiarize yourself with the process."

Rean nodded.

When Rean heard the name Crane, he thought about Earth's Cranes. However, he was taken aback when he saw the one in front of him. It did look like a Crane, but it was enormous! It was at least five times taller than the elder. Still, Rean thought that this Crane was really beautiful. It was completely white, and there wasn't even a spec of dirt on its feathers.

*Kra!*

Now that he was inside the building, he had to cover his ears. This Crane's cry was deafening!

"Alright, alright. I know, I know."

Elder Javiu gently touched the Crane to help it calm down.

"You there, bring that basin close to the entrance. Fill it with some water too."

Rean followed the elder's orders and quickly brought the basin over. Javiu then took a bottle with a red pill and mixed it in the water. The Crane reluctantly drank it. It was evident that it hated the taste.

"Rean, right? Help me arrange her nest. We need to leave it as clean as possible. Snow Cranes hate dirt more than anything else."

Rean nodded, and the two began to clean everything as the Crane rested there. Rean worked fast and cleanly, not neglecting any point. As Javiu looked at that, he nodded satisfied.

A few minutes later, they finally finished everything.

Javiu then looked at Rean to ask.

"Wanna touch her a bit?"

Rean's eyes lit up. It would be a lie if he said that he didn't want to.

"Yes!"

Javiu saw Rean's excited expression and couldn't help but laugh.

"Hahaha! Great, come here. Just be gentle."

Rean nodded and began to caress the Crane's feathers. The Crane was a little suspicious of Rean at first, but as he continued to treat her well, she eventually dropped her guard.

It was then that Rean's expression changed again.

"This..."

Javiu looked at him before asking.

"Is something wrong?"

Rean pondered a bit before saying.

"Was she perhaps hurt recently?"

Javiu was surprised that Rean asked that.

"Why do you ask?"

"I can feel that there is blood coagulation below her spine close to the neck..."

"Hm? There another one close to her stomach. It seems quite... painful."

Elder javiu was surprised that Rean could tell this much.

"Kid, you are quite good. Indeed, she suffered a few injures during a dispute between our Dalamu Sect and the Umbral Sect. It has been quite a few months, so her feathers already recovered. However, the internal injuries are more severe, so she has yet to recover from them."

When it comes to life force, Rean is probably second to none in the Dalamu Sect. All living beings have life force, and the Crane was no different. It was because of this that Rean eventually found her injuries. Her life force around the arena of the injuries was obvious in disarray as if it was trying to fight something, but ended being absorbed instead.

Rean then came near the area close to the stomach, where he felt the second injury. However, when he touched that place, the Crane opened her eyes and began to act wildly. Obviously, it felt very painful when one touched that place.

Elder Javiu quickly pushed Rean away as he did his best to calm the Crane.

"You see? It will probably take a long time for her to recover, so don't touch her there."

However, Rean shook his head.

"She will not recover. Instead, she will only get worse from now on."

Javiu was taken aback.

"What do you mean?"

"I was only able to touch for a second, but I felt the presence of some kind of energy that is slowly eating her life away. It's very unique."

Rean thought that it looked a little like Roan's Dark Element. However, the semblance stopped there. It was definitely not Dark Element even because no one else should be able to use it.

Javiu opened his eyes wild as a name appeared in his mind.

"Bastards! They infected her with Umbral Energy."

"Umbral Energy?"

Javiu nodded.

"It's the skill native to the Umbral Sect. It is very hard to remove and to detect as well. I didn't think they would use it against the Crane since only the top cultivators of the Umbral Sect are allowed to learn it. Now it became troublesome."

"Why?"

Javiu continued.

"It has been too long since it entered her body, so it has probably contaminated the organs around the two injuries. With the support of the spread of Umbral Energy, the two main sources will be very hard to eliminate."

Rean pondered a bit before saying.

"I don't mind giving it a try."

Javiu felt like he heard a joke.

"Try what? This is not something that can be removed just because one wants it. I'll need to see if we can get a healing pill from Sect Master. However, a pill that can heal this stage of Umbral Energy... The Sect Master might not agree to spend so much in the Crane."

Rean shook his head, though.

"Then just let me give it a try. It's not like you have anything to lose anyway. All I need is for Elder Javiu to keep the Crane Calm."

Javiu was just about to refuse again when Rean's hands suddenly began to shine with milk-white light. Even though Elder Javiu wasn't touching it, he could sense a very warming feeling that seemed to invigorate his body.

"I see... you are the twin that can use Light Element. I've heard about you from the other elders."

Rean nodded.

"That Umbral Energy inside her looks a little with my brother's Dark Energy. The difference is that my brother's one destroys the life force, while this Umbral Energy drains it."

Rean then thought to himself.

'Well, Roan's one is hundreds of times more aggressive, though.'

Elder Javiu pondered a bit and nodded in the end.

"Very well, as long as you don't make it worse, then I'll give you a hand."

Rean nodded.

"Don't worry, I don't know if I can eliminate it, but I won't make it worse for sure."

Elder Javiu then approached the Crane's head and seemed to whisper something into her ears. After a few seconds, he nodded at Rean.

"You can try it now."

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