"E-Elder Fauk..."
He didn't even notice when Old Worm entered the room.
"Roan is my disciple. Do you want to take him away from me?"
Reliance's demeanor completely disappeared as he immediately shook his head.
"This lowly one wouldn't dare."
Old Worm snorted.
"Hmph! Of course you wouldn't. Also, his cultivation is deeply related to how close he is to his brother. You better not try to separate them."
Old Worm then looked at Roan and asked.
"Is it over?"
Roan nodded.
"Yes."
Without saying anything else, Roan and Old Worm left straight away. After all, they were still in the middle of alchemy practice when Rean called them over.
Finally, Elder Reliance calmed down and looked at Droman.
"Why didn't you tell me his brother was Elder Fauk's disciple? Are you trying to kill me?"
Droman laughed out loud.
"Hahaha! That's for you to understand that the world doesn't exist to fulfill your every command. Anyway, Elder Fauk knew that you didn't know about Rean's brother, so he won't make things difficult for you."
Droman continued.
"On top of that, I thought of bringing Rean away in the past, but the issue they have regarding cultivation can't be avoided. That being said, I can't separate them either. That's why I spent most of my time teaching Rean in the sect instead of watching over the communication system construction."
Reliance couldn't help but feel perplexed.
"What is this cultivation proximity that you and Elder Fauk talked about?"
Rean was the one to answer that question.
"Oh! It goes like this..."
He then explained the same thing as he did to Droman a few months ago.
"I see... if that is the case, then I really can't bring you further away from your brother. What do you do about missions?"
Rean shrugged his shoulders.
"We basically take them together. However, we also make sure that the missions are difficult enough for the two of us to complete. That means we don't have any problem with real combat experiences."
Reliance massaged the space between his eyebrows.
"Droman. Even if I can't bring this kid away with me, I still want him."
Droman didn't yield, unsurprisingly.
"Hmph! Keep dreaming. Even if I have to fight your Demon Beasts, I will not give up on him."
Rean then raised his hand.
"I believe you two are forgetting the main point here. It all depends on me whether I want to get a new master or not. Droman is my Formations Master for apparent reasons. As for you, Elder Reliance, I don't really have a reason to accept you as my Master."
Reliance narrowed his eyes.
"Kid, other than Formation-related things, I can definitely give you as much or even more than Droman. Spirit Stones would not be a problem, for example."
Rean and Droman looked at each other for a second and then started to laugh.
"What is so funny?"
Droman then patted Reliance's shoulder with an expression of pity.
"Too bad, my friend. If there is one thing that Rean doesn't lack, that it Spirit Stones."
Reliance narrowed his eyes as he looked at Droman.
"You were quite the money-grubber. Since when you started to treat Spirit Stones that cheap?"
Rean was the one to answer that question.
"If Elder Droman is a money-grubber or not, I don't know. However, I've never needed his help with cultivation resources to start with. I have plenty of ways to get Spirit Stones. Just my steel works alone are already enough for my and Roan's cultivation."
Reliance didn't know what Rean was talking about, so Droman gave him a quick explanation about Rean's Blacksmith Skills. Finally, Reliance came to understand that Rean was already rich in his own right. If anything, the Jamariz Weapon Store had been giving him more and more Spirit Stones every month. Not only that, but they even began to consider expanding their shops to the other sects' territories as well. After all, the Steel Swords were just way too popular with low-level cultivators that couldn't pay for Spiritual Equipment.
Reliance felt a headache already. Rean turned out to be harder to deal with than he thought.
It was then that Rean said.
"Elder Reliance only wants to help me with Kentucky's training, right? How about this: There is no need for you to take me as a disciple. During the times I'm in the sect, Elder Reliance can simply take the chance to help me with it. I'll basically leave Kentucky's every step for you to decide. Of course, there will be times that Roan and I will go out for missions. Still, this is also good since we can have Kentucky try some combat."
Reliance pondered a bit before saying.
"Very well. But I won't forgive you if you let it die, so you better take good care of it."
Rean nodded and then asked the question that was puzzling him for so long.
"So... What race is Kentucky from?"