"That’s why I practice it and I’m teaching it to my daughter." Archmage Ejar echoed through the ballroom. "Because we, the Ejar are true mages, not two bit pretenders like you. Grassroots mages shouldn’t even be in the same room as us!" A lot of indignant voices cursed at her. Archmage Deirus’s eyes shone with a menacing emerald light. "I dare you to say that again!" Velan snarled, his face only a few centimeters away from his peer’s. ’I did my part, that’s for sure.’ Lith thought with a grin on his face. ’The Marchioness asked me for some ruckus. I’d say dinner is served, even though only Isaac Newton knows why.’ "What in the gods’ name are you grinning for, kid?" Archmage Ejar ignored Velan’s threat, pointing her finger against the uncaring youth. "How did you do it? Who taught you about Gravity magic? Pray that I like your answers, otherwise..." "Otherwise what?" Lith slapped away the hand in front of his face, making the Archmage’s eyes almost pop out of their sockets in anger. "I’m a student at the White Griffon. First in the light department and an asset to the Kingdom. I’m Marchioness Distar’s honored guest, attending this gala on request of the Crown. What authority do you represent, exactly? Outside your own foolishness, of course!" "Indeed." Archmage Ejar’s face was still in the process of losing its color, realizing the amazing number of blunders in a row she had just made when the Marchioness’s voice resounded next to her ear. "You are in my house, while I represent the Crown and you dare to offend your peers and threaten my guests?" "No, I..." Ejar stuttered, but luckily for her, Marchioness Distar’s question was merely rhetorical. "Her rudeness is unforgivable, but she made a good point. Where did you learn such magic, Lith?" The Marchioness wanted answers too, but she asked them rather than making demands. Her tone gentle and polite. "I learned it as a self-taught." He replied with a shrug, making new and ancient households gasp in surprise. "It’s not that hard." Lith couldn’t understand the reason behind their disbelief. "I learned how to create pocket dimensions at the Forgemastering lessons and how to bend space with dimensional magic. They are just two extreme applications of gravity. I only had to combine what I learned from both subjects and then use it to manipulate gravity around objects rather than on the space itself." As the Marchioness had predicted earlier, Lith’s actions triggered a hornet’s nest. New households were using him together with Archmage Ejar lack of manners as proof that magic was fair, while the ancient households were not. All mages deserved respect according to their talent and disposition, not based on the family they were born in. The ancient households claimed it was a scam, blaming the Marchioness for having shared their secrets with a commoner mongrel. Lith decided it was time to get to safety. Nobles’ quarrels didn’t interest him, he only did what he had been paid for. "Where do you think you are going?" Lith felt his center of gravity shift, suddenly he was on the verge of falling horizontally. Archmage Ejar was using gravity magic to pull him back in the middle of the conflict. First, he had to crouch, gripping at the floor with one hand to prevent the fall. Then, Lith used his own gravity magic to cancel the pull. The opponent had a stronger core, but for her first magic was just a hobby, for Lith it was a life’s work. "Kneel!" He sent a powerful wave crashing on Ejar’s body which tripled her weight in a split second. He even added a sprinkle of spirit magic, just to be safe. Archmage Ejar fell on her knees. She was forced to use her hands to avoid her forehead crashing against the ground. "I warned you! No one disrespects me or my guests in my house!" The Marchioness clapped her hands, unleashing the full power of the arrays against the unruly noble. Archmage Ejar’s body writhed for a second before falling limp on the ground. Once focused on a target, the arrays were capable of disrupting even first magic. They could also paralyze any threat, living or undead, by binding every fiber of their target. The brief magical battle made the room turn silent, but only for a second. One side of the room called Ejar a hero, the other one a traitor. The quarrel resumed without the use of magic, but louder than before. Phloria and Yurial helped Lith to stand up, bringing him to safety. "That went well." He said with a sarcastic expression. "You sure know how to liven up a party." Phloria clicked her tongue at the raging crowd behind them. Dancing on the ceiling with Lith, surrounded by the lights like they were alone in the world had been truly romantic. What followed, not so much. "Raising your hand against an Archmage, are you insane?" Yurial was still as pale as a ghost. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢 "What was I supposed to do? Let her beat me up and beg for mercy? She was out of her mind. I prefer to apologize later rather than be so polite to let someone kill me for sport." Lith scoffed at his companion. With a short sprint, they reached the safest spot in the room: the one where the Ernas and other nobles were spectating at the unfolding events from a safe distance. Despite being members of ancient noble households, those gathered there had no place in the conflict. They supported the young magical bloodlines’ claim for fairness. They chose to stand on the fence because in the heat of the moment their allies would lash at them mistaking them for the enemy, while their noble peers would brand them as traitors. Their intervention would only end up making the two factions gang up on them, so they decided to wait for the lord of the house to put an end to that mess. "Why is it taking her so long?" While her peers were still discussing Lith’s performance or Ejar’s unspeakable act of aggression towards an honored guest of the Crown, Jirni’s mind was spinning at top gear. "Now that you mention it, it’s indeed odd." Orion whispered back. "Between the arrays and her personal guards, this mess shouldn’t have even started. Maybe she doesn’t want to raise her hand against other nobles. Violence could escalate things politically." "Maybe, but she doesn’t strike me as a calm guiding hand. Distar had no qualms subduing Ejar. What’s worse than attacking a noble that’s also an Archmage?" Their private conversation was interrupted when they saw the youths approaching. Mostly because a young woman stepped right in front of them, welcoming the White Griffon students with a flawless curtsy. "Yours was a striking performance, Mage Lith." She didn’t manage to say it with a straight face. She giggled cheerfully while hiding her mouth with a hand. "You managed to turn a hundreds years old tradition into a tavern fight in less than ten minutes. That’s completely unprecedented and truly worthy of my savior." She was about seventeen years old, with silky blonde hair down looking like a golden waterfall that almost reached the floor.