There was a silence in the hall as the elder said those words. No one spoke up. To the old man’s surprise, amidst those that had gone against his orders, none seemed to show any remorse or backed down against his gaze.

Narcha stared at Hector with defiance.

Rog looked as if he was thinking about something else.

Eiwin carried a serene expression.

Domeron, who put this all into motion in the first place, kept his eyes closed and a smirk formed in the corner of his lips.

Allen was shivering, but seeing his companion’s reactions, he kept his calm.

Only Rimold shifted in his chair uncomfortably at those words.

“Might I speak, Elder?” the rogue asked.

Hector frowned. “What is it?”

“I was really not involved in any of this.” Rimold looked around at his companions. “This punishment does not involve me too, does it?”

The elder didn’t respond and just squinted at the rogue. Rimold gulped and fell silent again.

“So…” Hector looked at the rest of the sect members again. “Is no one going to speak?”

“Might I ask what crimes we have committed against the sect, Master Hector?” Eiwin asked.

“You went against explicit orders from your Grand Elder to not investigate the Imperials.” the elder spat back. “Is that enough of a crime?”

“That might be the case.” the woman nodded. “But according to unspoken cultivation tradition, if the majority of the sect members disagree with their superiors’ decision, they may reserve the right to act in spite of their commands if a dire situation was to arise. It has happened multiple times in the Crystal Sky sect, and the sect only survived to this day because of the judgment and decisiveness of those people.”

Hector scoffed. “Hmph, don’t presume to speak of cultivation tradition to me, girl. This was a custom made in times of war and calamity. After these times of crisis were over, it was used as a pretense to overthrow their superiors and cause civil wars inside their own sects. It has long since been outlawed on sects.”

“Yet, is Master Hector truly worried that we were planning rebellion?” Eiwin shook her head. “You know us better than anyone, and you are aware of our loyalty. We were worried the imperials were planning something that would be detrimental to our sect. We went against your orders for the sake of investigating and stopping it if necessary.”

Narcha laughed. “And turns out we were right all along.”

Hector seemed on the verge of lashing out against them, but he went silent at Narcha’s words.

He looked at the warrior. “What did you find out?”

“The imperials found out about an inheritance ground with the bandits’ help.” Narcha said. “We followed them into it.”

Hector frowned. “An inheritance ground? In this place?”

Eiwin nodded. “I was skeptical at first, but we later confirmed it. The creator of that hidden realm was very adept in spatial manipulation, so it’s likely that we were teleported into another place altogether for the trials.”

A flash of excitement crossed Hector’s face. “Spatial manipulation?! Then that must have been the realm of a very strong cultivator! The fact all of you came out alive is a wonder too!”

“It was more or less a miracle.” the woman shook her head.

“And?! What did you come across inside that realm?! What rewards did you a acquire?!” the elder seemed unable to contain his joy at the news.

Domeron laughed. “What is this now, old man? Weren’t you about to punish them?”

Hector waved at the man dismissively. “That can be left for later! We need to address more important matters now!”

The elder wasn’t even trying to put a front as an authoritative figure. His interest was clearly gripped by the news of the trial.

“We came across some rewards, but…” Eiwin trailed off.

“What is it?” Hector’s face fell. “Did you lose them?”

“No, old man.” Narcha glared at the elder. “We almost died trying to acquire them, but that’s not the problem. The problem is that we have forgotten almost everything about the trial.”

“What do you mean?” the old man frowned.

“It is as she says.” Eiwin nodded. “Someone or something seems to have wiped our memories of certain details of the trial. No matter how much we try to recall it, specific details about the environment and monsters we have faced in the trial are simply out of our reach.”

Hector looked to be in thought. “Explain what you remember. From the beginning.”

And so they did. From their entrance into the underground, the labyrinth, the canyon, the desert, and all their fights and experiences in there. Of course, although they recounted these events, they were lacking in many details.

As Eiwin had mentioned, they couldn’t recall much about the appearance of the area they had traveled in, and only their feelings and experiences in these places served as their description. The labyrinth, for instance, invoked the feeling of being lost and confined. They also remembered they fought a few monsters and gained a few rewards in there, but couldn’t remember their opponents.

This absence of detail extended to the canyon and beyond, too. Only certain keywords and images came to their mind - like lightning and tornadoes, having to sneak past a being of pure lightning, having to walk for hours on end. It was a brief and lackluster recounting, and yet every single one of them could remember the feeling of danger and dread they felt through it.

There were no mentions of the hawk spirit or of their conversation with the ghost inside the mausoleum.

There were some things they could still remember, though. Their interactions with each other, or any other human for that matter, were still fresh in their mind. They told Hector about their cooperation with Reinhart and about their fight with the bandits and the imperials. Once the conversation headed towards what had happened at the end of the trial though, Narcha and Eiwin were both hesitant to continue.

They threw reluctant gazes towards Hector, and in a rare display of tact, the elder didn’t push them on the matter. Their reluctance wasn’t unnoticed by the rest of the sect members, though, and they showed concerned expressions. Perhaps they thought that Reinhart had betrayed them, and while they were not wrong, this wasn’t why Narcha and Eiwin were hesitant.

Red, for his part, didn’t take too much of an active part in this discussion. He could still remember every detail of the trial, and he was afraid that he would slip up and reveal something he shouldn’t remember. He replied with likewise vague descriptions when prompted, and didn’t seem to arise any suspicions from the others in the conversation.

Of course, there were some things that evidently came up which caught Hector’s attention.

“You can feel other people’s presences?” Hector asked with a surprised expression.

“I can.” Red nodded.

“Unfilial disciple!” Goulth slammed his hand on the table and glared at Red. “You could have at least told your master about it!”

The boy nodded. “I’m sorry, I should have told you about it.”

“Um…” the blacksmith seemed surprised at his apology. “It’s fine, it’s fine. I can see why you would like to hide it. Next time, just make sure to tell me the truth, alright?”

Red nodded again. “I will.”

Goulth smiled. “Good.”

This sudden change in attitude earned him more than a few judging gazes, but the giant simply pretended nothing had happened.

Unlike his master, Hector didn’t seem too angry at this revelation.

“It’s a very useful skill.” the elder nodded. “And from what I understand, without it or your quick thinking, none of your fellow sect members would have made it very far in the trial.”

“Maybe.” Red nodded. “But without their help, I wouldn’t have gotten very far either, even with my powers.”

Hector looked satisfied at this reply. “It’s good that you understand that.”

The boy didn’t really understand the praise. He was just being sincere. Still, he didn’t protest it.

“So, by the looks of it, the creator of this trial wanted to keep his identity hidden, which is not uncommon in the cultivation world. Many cultivators leave enemies behind after their death, so it makes sense that they would like to keep their identity hidden.” Hector said. “The fact the imperials knew about this place and actively sought it out is the part that interests me the most. It implies at there being something larger behind those trials…” the elder looked over at Red. “Do you still have that compass?”

The boy nodded and threw it towards the old man.

Hector examined the item with curiosity. “Interesting design. I could take it apart and inspect it, but I’m afraid that might destroy the item in the process.” he passed the compass over to Goulth. “Anything you can do?”

The blacksmith frowned as he looked over the item. “Hard to tell without careful inspection… If this is really from the Empire, though, I doubt a mortal like me would be able to take it apart.”

Hector sighed. “Just do your best. See what you can learn.”

Goulth nodded and pocketed the compass.

“Now, what exactly did you acquire at the trial?” Hector looked back at his sect members with unconcealed eagerness in his eyes.

So they all put forward what they had acquired. Five spiritual stones, two monster cores, a few medicine bottles that they had acquired from the imperials, a handful of unidentified talismans, and the dark iron nuggets.

Goulth’s eyes widened at the sight of the ore. “Is that…”

Red nodded. “Dark Iron.”

“Great! Perfect!” the blacksmith snatched them up and set about inspecting them. He had seemingly forgotten about all the other items on the table.

Hector examined the treasures with a frown. “Is that it?”

Narcha scoffed. “Why? Is that not enough for you?”

“That’s not it.” the elder shook his head. “I was under the assumption you had acquired more than this.”

“We did, Master Hector.” Eiwin nodded. “We had to exchange most of the spirit stones we acquired on the second part of the trial for medicines to heal Rog and... Me.”

Her words seemed to catch the attention of the rest of the sect members.

“W-What happened to you, Eiwin?” Allen asked with a worried expression.

“Nothing that matters now, Young Master.” the woman shook her head. “I’m just afraid that because of our wounds, we couldn’t take back as much as we wanted to the sect.”

Hector sighed again. “There is nothing to worry about. The spirit stones alone are more than enough to sustain our growth for months to come. Each and every one of you is entitled to rewards and will have a say on how we spend these resources. Is anyone against me putting all these treasures into the Sect vault after they’ve been inspected?”

No one protested. Red thought that they might have been intimidated by Hector to accept this, but from their expressions, this didn’t seem to be the case. At the very least, the group trusted the elder not to swindle resources from them, so the boy didn’t protest, either.

“Since that’s settled, let’s return to the matter at hand…” Hector said.

His countenance became serious again, and the air around the room changed. The rest of the group seemed surprised, but no one dared to say anything.

The elder opened his mouth. “… I was wrong.”

Everyone was dumbfounded.

“Can you say that again, old man?” Narcha asked the elder in disbelief.

Hector sighed. “I was wrong about the imperials.”

Domeron laughed. “Who would have thought I’d live to see the day the great Hector admitted he was wrong to his juniors?”

“Shut up, you bastard!” the old man shouted at him. “I have been hiding for too long inside this town, and I was too comfortable with the safety this place provided. I ignored the fact that the true meaning of being a sect cultivator is to take risks for the sect’s future! I was too old and cowardly and didn’t want to risk upsetting the status quo, while you, the young, were right in taking a stand and fighting for your own ideals and future! Is that enough for you?!”

Everyone stared at the old man in shock. Even Domeron’s laughter faded away as he stared at the elder in disbelief.

Hector scoffed. “I am not beyond admitting my own faults. I am still upset that you disobeyed me, but the fact you did it for the right reasons forces me to put that indignity aside. In the future, I promise you I won’t be so hesitant to take a stand against our enemies, no matter the risks that brings about. At the same time, I won’t be so forgiving against blatant disrespect for the rules. Is that understood?”

Eiwin smiled. “It is, Master Hector.”

“Good.” the elder nodded. “However, there is another breach of the rules that needs to be addressed.”

Narcha frowned. “Bah! I knew this was too good to be true! What did we do this time, old man?”

“Not you.” Hector shook his head. “He did it.”

The elder pointed at Allen.

Everyone’s attention shifted to the young master, and the boy shivered in his chair.