Death... and me

Using Sister Orb as an intermediate, Rean told Roan about his plans with Kentucky. 'We are going there now to see if there is anything out of the ordinary. To be honest, the Azum Dimensional Realm we are looking for might be a different one from this that Aelrie is going to show us.'

Roan, who was working on the pill recipe with Futuxei and Celis, didn't seem to care. 'It won't make much of a difference. Without me there, you can't open the Dimensional Realm. That means we can't retrieve the Fragment. Nonetheless, it will be good to check it. Let me know if you find something.'

Rean nodded and let Roan do his things. Of course, he also took the chance to ask Sister Orb something else. 'Sister Orb, with Roan and I this far from each other, most of the System's abilities can't be accessed at the moment. That said, would you be able to feel the presence of a Fragment if we got close to it?'

[No,] Sister Orb didn't hide it. [It is your connection with Roan and the Soul Gem Orb that allows the System to operate. Without it, there is no way I can project the System's sensors outside. If you decide to explore that Realm, you will have to rely on yourself and Kentucky.]

Rean sighed but already expected it, so he also told Kentucky, who didn't seem to care. 'Well, it also means we would hardly get involved in anything too dangerous. Let's just take it as a vacation. Hahaha!

Rean and Kentucky used the Body Transformation Technique from Rean to disguise themselves as an Angel and an Angel Beast. Both had Light Affinity, so it wasn't hard at all. "It still impresses me how perfect your transformation is every time I see it," Aelrie couldn't help but comment. "Come, we can use one of our new Long-Distance Teleport Formations."

Their group quickly arrived at the Formations Building of the Holamenor Clan. They arrived through it before but hadn't really paid any of the various rooms a visit. Now, however, they could indeed see the many more Long-Distance Teleport Formations all around. "Seems like your clan completely gave up keeping a low profile."

"I told you," Aelrie continued, "the elimination of the Soul Worms was a huge contribution. We got a lot of benefits because of that." She then talked with the Formations Masters in there and they quickly prepared the teleport.

A few minutes later, Rean's group disappeared from the Holamenor Clan. None of the Angels around noticed anything different from Rean and Kentucky, different from when they arrived.

The Azum Dimensional Realm was located on the Yufez Continent, a continent more or less close to the center of the Heavens. It was a continent visited frequently, exactly because of the Azum Dimensional Realm. As long as the several powers of the Angel Realm had the necessary resources to use Long-Distance Teleport Formations, they would usually bring their young here.

The reason the Azum Dimensional Realm was so popular was because of how good it was for the Angel's Training. The concentration of Light Element inside was very high, while Dark Element was the opposite, with almost nothing in there. The concentration of Heavenly Energy was obviously much better than the outside world, too.

Aelrie obviously explained that to Rean and Kentucky. "You can find many Light Element beasts in there, but they aren't normal beasts. They aren't even alive. They are made of Light Element and Energy instead."

She continued. "Their power varies between the Core Formation Realm to the Initial Stage of the Elemental Transformation Realm. There has never been any sighting of a Light Beast with a strength higher than that. Of course, that doesn't mean Initial Stage Elemental Transformation Realm Light Beasts are rare. In fact, they are quite plenty. It's just that their power never goes beyond that level."

"Yet, the greatest advantage of the Azum Dimensional Realm as a training ground is the safety," Aelrie added. "You see, there are no deaths inside. There has never been... or at least there has never been deaths caused by the Light Beasts."

"No deaths?" Rean found it strange. "Could it be that the Light Beasts inside don't attack anyone?"

"Of course not," Aelrie quickly denied that. "They will attack anyone who approaches their territories. The worst moment is when hordes of these beasts come at you together. That makes you pretty much helpless. However, you will not die. That's not because someone will protect you, you will flee, or anything like that. Instead, it is because you have never really gone deep into the Azum Dimensional Realm to start with. You will stay at the entrance pretty much all the time."

Rean and Kentucky got confused. "Never gone deep?" Aelrie nodded. "Yes. That's because once you enter the Azum Dimensional Realm, your consciousness is dragged into an Illusory World. Yet, you can't even tell that that's the case. The impressive thing is that everything you gain in this Illusory World truly appeares near your body once you wake up, including all the cultivation and experience you got."

"You see, there is a consensus between all the powers that administrate the Azum Dimensional Realm. The young angels are never told about it until they are brought here. After all, if they knew they could not die, what kind of training is that? I ask you to not spread this information either. I myself only found out about it once I 'died' in the Illusory World... just to wake up at the entrance with a confused expression."

Aelrie sighed. "I still remember the elder laughing at me when he saw my terrified expression. After all, I truly thought I had received fatal damage and was done for. Well, that elder had also gone through the same experience when he was younger."

Rean and Kentucky found it incredible. "You can keep everything found in the Illusory World?! How does that even work?" That seemed a very powerful mechanism, which means a Fragment might really be involved in the process.