From Faluel’s pockets, Solus would have been drenched in a cold sweat if not for her total lack of glands. Her mana sense allowed Solus to realize what kind of monsters surrounded them whereas Lith remained calm due to his blissful ignorance.
“Let’s put it this way. The more you interfere with the trial, the more time we’ll waste.” Leegaain said.
The Guardian had the appearance of a lean albino man, 1,75 meters (5’9″) tall, with snow-white hair and skin. His eyes were purple and had a vertical pupil. The Father of all Dragons wore a full black war armor that only left exposed his face and hands.
Multiple spots of his skin were halfway turned into scales, making Leegaain look like he had tattoos.
At those words, Inxialot sat straight and shut his mouth. The entire Council admired once again the ability of the Guardian to perform miracles.
“Archmage Verhen, you’ve been brought in front of this tribunal to decide whether you’ll be forbidden from having an Awakened master and banned from the Council like the undead demand-” Leegaain looked at Inxialot, whose mouth was agape while mouthing a “Really?”, yet no sound came out.
“-or you’ll finally become an integral member of our society. In the case the latter happens, we’ll rule about who is more fit to fix your trouble-making character. You have piqued the interest of the beasts and the humans, so we’ll give both parties the chance to present their arguments.
“First, we’ll hear from the undead.”
Everyone turned toward Inxialot, who looked at them as if they were raving mad. It took him a few seconds to remember why he was there and rummage through his notes to find what he needed.
“Remember to water the plants, buy food for your pet, nope this is the grocery list.” Inxialot said. “Another damn Council meeting. Today Raagu looks hot as usual. I should make a move within the century. Nope, this is my diary.”
Everyone went pale at those words, Raagu included.
“Here it is! Dear fellow Council members, the accused Awakened Verhen has broken several of our customs during the years and that was tolerable as long as he was just a rogue stranded among humans.
“Yet even after learning about our society, even after meeting several members of our kin, he never bothered learning our customs or worried about our endless struggle to keep fake mages from learning our secrets.
“During his short twenty years of age, he has shared the secret of Awakening with more people than most of our centuries-old members do, putting both us and himself at the whims of fate.
“Awakened Verhen has also traded an Orichalcum armor with fake mages, obtaining nothing for it but a fancy title and allowing them to come one step closer to true Forgemastery.
“For those reasons and because of how shady his past is, it’s our conviction that he should be banned from our kin and left to fend for himself.” Inxialot read the paper with a monotonous voice, without putting any effort to sound convincing.
It was clear that someone had written the speech for him, yet it didn’t make his arguments any less true. If the proposal passed, Lith would have been forced to go back to the Kingdom or risk facing Dawn’s wrath on his own.
“I can see from your file that you have Awakened four magical beasts, your own sister, and that you plan on Awakening more. Is it true?” Lotho the Treant, the plant representative of the Council asked.
He looked like a giant oak tree come to life. Even while sitting, his treetop brushed the high ceiling of the courtroom and squirrels could be seen running up and down his massive body.
If not for his huge amber eyes and the massive tree trunks that Lith assumed were Lotho’s limbs only because they came out of his body at the shoulder and hip level, the Awakened was no different from a regular tree.
“Even if it is true, how is that a violation of the rules?” Lith stood up, to not be forced to look up to his accusers. “None of those I Awakened shared our secrets nor did they draw any attention to themselves.
“It doesn’t matter how many people I Awaken as long as I instruct them properly. The reason you’re losing ground against fake mages is that they work together whereas, despite your long lives, you have more factions than members.
“You should be grateful to me for bringing talented people into our fold.”
“Well said!” Inxialot gave him a standing ovation, clapping his bony hands and making the undead in the public wish they could kill him.
“How do you answer about the matter of the Orichalcum armor?” Feela the Behemoth, the beast representative sat back and steepled her fingers.
Her original nature was that of an Emperor Beast, so her human form was shaped according to how she imagined herself to be.
Feela looked like a woman in her late thirties, but she was actually 453 years old. Her waist-long chestnut hair had streaks of silver, black, and orange all over, forming a multi-colored tress that reached the small of her back.
She had had an oval face with delicate features, yet her bearing was that of a battle-hardened general. Feela was 1.9 meters (6’3″) tall and had a muscular yet curvy figure that seasoned warriors and women alike envied her.
“It’s true that the Kingdom didn’t fulfill their promise completely, but the Archmage title comes with many benefits, included the knowledge I needed to improve my skills.” Lith couldn’t tell them about War without putting Orion and the Ernas at risk.
He knew that a few members of the Council were helping his enemies from behind the scene, and Phloria’s family was his most powerful backer. More importantly, they were his loyal friends. Selling them to please a bunch of old farts he had never met was beyond outrageous to Lith.
“I simply assumed that being my crafting process extremely complicated, they would fail to learn anything from it. Moreover, this incident is more your fault than mine. If young and masterless Awakened like me received from the Council the means to further their research, even the basics, we wouldn’t be forced to rely on fake mages.
“You dare criticize my choice but, if not for the Kingdom and his mages, my talent would be still rotting in Lutia.”
“Do you think that I’ve slain so many Awakened due to dumb luck or miracle encounters? It was all thanks to my hard work and the good deals I made with fake mages.
“That’s how I disposed of the previous human Lord of the Distar region and his goons.”
Lith was referring to Gaaron Roghias, the over 300 years old Awakened who had died at his hands, allowing Athung to take both his territory and place in the Council. Many murmurs followed Lith’s words. Some reproached his hubris, most approved his results.
“Awakened Verhen is right.” Jiza stood up from the defendant’s stand.
Like Faluel, she had never left his side, yet unlike her, Jiza wasn’t doing anything to protect Lith from the ocean of mana that threatened to swallow his mind.
“I’ve seen him fighting, studied his armor, and witnessed the prowess of his equipment. His Skinwalker armor is strong beyond his core, the blade he used is unlike any I’ve ever seen before, and he managed to craft a cloaking device that also serves as dimensional storage.”
