Reincarnated Hero System

A tournament arc was definitely NOT part of their stay agenda.

Evan was reminded of that rather obvious fact as he and the other three found themselves in a vast open space in the Denerth Sect headquarters, surrounded by thousands of cultivators, both from the sect itself and from others across Denerth Prime and beyond.

Over the past two weeks on Denerth Prime, Evan had come to fully embrace the spirit of cultivation.

That might be putting it a bit grandly. Simply put, Evan got his hands on a cultivation technique and had been using it diligently.

Right after the cliché with the Peng Clan’s young master, Jamie had taken the group straight to the Denerth Sect headquarters, where they met not only the Sect Master, but also the sect’s High Elders.

Sect Master Cheng Shaoting, the ‘Supreme’ Cultivator King, was a name closer to the top of Jamie’s extensive list of friends across the universe. After a brief conversation, Jamie had the man agree to craft cultivation techniques tailored specifically for the four of them.

Of course, the value of these techniques was somewhat diminished for Evan, Artemisia, and Beatrix. Unlike Arthur, they hailed from a universe blessed with the convenience of a Levelling Up system.

Though they didn’t need cultivation to grow stronger, Jamie still had new techniques made for Evan and the girls—an easy task for the Sect Elders with their millennia of experience—and once Evan began practising his, he quickly realised something important.

‘Ah, so that’s why! No wonder the average energy levels among cultivators are so high.’

Cultivation, at its base, was, simply put, energy accumulation.

Cultivators accumulated energy and circulated it through their bodies, reinforcing bones and muscles to grow more powerful. But not all that energy went toward physical strengthening—much of it was stored in their cores to fuel various skills and techniques.

That storage aspect was what really caught Evan’s attention.

Sure, ‘Cultivation’ also encompassed various forms of combat and utility techniques, but its foundation remained energy accumulation.

It was a method of progression that didn’t rely on killing others to Level Up, though it came with its own limitations, like body constitution, elemental affinity, and other factors.

They accumulated energy and used it to manually enhance their stats, with their techniques tailored to optimise the process.

‘It’s kind of like min-maxing in a game,’ Evan mused.

‘If I allocate about a third of the energy to increase my body’s durability and refine the remaining two-thirds to store in my dragon heart, my energy reserves and overall capacity would shoot up, and with the boosted durability, my body should easily handle the excess energy without any problems.’

After a brief moment of consideration, Evan decided to channel some energy into boosting his strength stat as well.

And that was how his cultivation had gone over the past two weeks, resulting in an increase in his energy capacity by a grand total of 3%.

It sounded small, but considering Evan’s already massive reserves, filled with 6x quality energy, a 3% increase in just two weeks was downright ridiculous.

His strong affinities with both flame and ice certainly helped, especially since the technique he was given was of the fire/ice variety, but even with that advantage, the result was still absurd.

Whether he was aware of it or not, Evan kept his progress to himself and simply used the technique daily.

Eventually, the day for the Denerth Sect’s Secret Realm to open finally arrived.

September 1st.

As they had expected, Jamie intended for the four of them to participate in the expedition.

Which was why Evan now found himself in the waiting area for the Secret Realm’s participants.

Among the thousands of chosen Sect disciples gathered, a number of their respective Elders had also come along to accompany them.

Naturally, with so many individuals from diverse backgrounds, traditions, planets, and cultures packed into the same space, conflicts were inevitable.

Rivalries ignited quickly among the various sect members. Harsh words were exchanged, and soon, fights broke out.

However, the Denerth Sect paid these minor scuffles no mind.

They would only step in if the fighting escalated to the point of environmental destruction or death.

As long as the scuffles didn’t disrupt the sect grounds or endanger lives, the Denerth Sect turned a blind eye, allowing the rival sect disciples to vent their hostilities freely while waiting for the Secret Realm to open.

Despite having the option to remain with Jamie until it was time, the four teenagers still chose to join the assembly.

As they moved through the bustling crowd, they naturally drew curious looks.

Most of those gathered came from prominent sects, their robes proudly displaying their affiliations. Whether they were from Denerth or other distant planets, their attire clearly marked their origins and status.

The four of them, however, weren’t wearing formal sect robes, but were dressed casually—stylised in the Denerth fashion, but lacking any emblems or patterns tied to a specific sect.

It was quite the contrast in the sea of uniformity.

The quartet didn’t pay any attention to the stares, though.

As they walked, Evan’s thoughts drifted toward the Secret Realm they were about to enter, and he sighed.

‘This place we’re going to…it’s definitely the Infernal Dimension.’

Though the thought came with conviction, he was only about 70% certain.

Ever since hearing they were headed to Denerth Prime, Conroe’s words about encountering him and Faulin in the Infernal Dimension had been echoing in Evan’s mind.

That alone made Evan suspect that this trip was the one that would eventually lead to that fated encounter.

‘Still, what were Celestials doing in the Infernal Dimension in the first place? Isn’t that Devil territory?’

That was a question Evan would only get the answer to in time.

Shaking his head to clear the thought, he glanced around the bustling area, a faintly amused smile forming beneath his mask as he threw a question at Arthur.

“Think we’ll run into any more clichés?”

Arthur shook his head while replying.

“Nah, we’ve already hit the quota. This is where we meet the ‘companions’ we’ll be stuck with for the secret realm.”

“True. No point in overdoing it. The Peng clan fight was filler enough.”

His words had barely left his mouth when he sensed several bursts of magic power from behind him.

He and Arthur turned around, only to be met with the sight of a fight already breaking out.

Five individuals, all wearing the same sect robes, were surrounding and attacking a lone girl.

She had long blonde hair, slightly pointed ears, glowing crimson eyes, and wore a customised hakama, tailored to fit her frame.

In one hand, she held a katana, which she sliced across her palm, her blood mixing with the metal blade as crimson energy began to swirl around it.

The display alone was enough to get both Arthur and Evan’s eyes narrowing in curiosity.

“Looks like we found some entertainment,” Arthur muttered.

Evan nodded silently as the five attackers advanced, elemental energy crackling around their weapons.

But the girl showed no fear.

The girl moved with lightning speed, striking down one of her attackers in a single blow, then parrying two simultaneous attacks before countering with another strike. Her katana sliced through fireballs and earth spikes with ease, leaving trails of blood as she cut through her opponents’ defences.

Within moments, she eliminated two of them, then unleashed a powerful slash that sent five streaks of crimson energy at her remaining attackers.

The fight ended in seconds, with all five attackers lying defeated, bloodied, and unconscious.

She then calmly sheathed her katana, unscathed and composed, as if she didn’t just finish a fight.

The sight sparked a thought in the minds of two of her spectators, who exchanged glances and began listing her traits in unison.

“Blonde hair,” Arthur started, counting off on his fingers, and Evan added, “Crimson eyes.”

“Fangs, definitely a vampire,” Arthur continued, raising an eyebrow, while Evan crossed his arms and followed with, “Katana.”

They both paused, exchanging a knowing look. After a short silence, Evan spoke up first.

“Her name isn’t Crim, is it?”

“Yeah… It’s definitely Crim,” Arthur replied, grinning confidently.

Evan frowned at Arthur’s response, shaking his head. “No, no, this can’t be that much of a cliché. Not many people know about this. The author wouldn’t use it, right?”

Arthur’s grin only widened. “Nah, he’s definitely going to use it.”

He believed the less understood it was, the more likely it was to be used. Extending his hand, he made a wager.

“Five million credits say it’s Crim.”

“Deal. Five million it isn’t.”

Without hesitation, Evan slapped his hand down, and without saying another word, both of them hurried toward the girl, eager to settle their bet.

◇　◇　◇

As the girl finished her fight, a sudden movement behind her triggered her instincts. She spun around, but before she could even unsheathe her katana, two hands gently grasped hers.

Taken aback, she found herself suddenly face-to-face with two boys who had somehow appeared out of nowhere.

“Hello there,” one of them greeted with a disarming smile that maximised the charm of his handsome face.

“Now then, your name wouldn’t happen to be Crim, would it?”

The question was so random and out of the blue that for a moment, she froze. Not only because of how unexpectedly close they had gotten, but because she hadn’t sensed them coming until they were right behind her.

Half in shock, half on instinct, she gave a small nod.

Seeing this, the boy who had spoken first turned to his companion with a smug grin. “Told you it was Crim. Pay up—5 million.”

The other boy, wearing a mask, clicked his tongue in annoyance, muttering under his breath. “Damn it, why the hell are you doing this to me, Author?”

Still confused and trying to process what had just happened, the girl blinked and stammered, “Um… what?”

Arthur, still holding her hands, smiled and spoke casually.

“Ah, sorry about that. Right, proper introductions are in order. I’m Arthur, and this idiot beside me is Evan.”

Evan gave a slight bow, mirroring Arthur’s introduction. “I’m Evan, and this idiot beside me is Arthur.”

Before the girl could recover from the whirlwind of the entire encounter, Evan kept talking. “You see, we saw you earlier and couldn’t help but notice that you were a blonde vampire girl wielding a katana.

Then we had a bet on whether or not your name was Crim, and well, clearly, he won.”

He rolled his eyes in Arthur’s direction, while the girl, Crim, only found her confusion deepening as she processed the explanation.

“But how does being a vampire, having blonde hair, and using a katana connect to my name?”

Arthur responded this time. “Let’s just say we’ve seen a lot of blonde vampires around your age who use katanas, and their names happen to be Crim.”