Chapter 1816: Void and Undeath (Part 2) "You dismiss people without even giving them a chance because in y our head you are only looking for husband material. That's the worst w ay possible to search for a partner. "lt doesn't matter how someone looks on paper, but how they behave w hen you really need them. You heard Surtr. If you keep acting like t his, you'll end up like Faluel." "Let's say you are right. What should l do?“ Tista asked. "Either you go talking with the Phoenix guy or you call Bodya. If he l ikes you, he'll ?nd the time to come here." Nyka shrugged. "Fine." Tista sighed, taking out her Council amulet. "Let's hope that w hat they say about the demon you know it's true." Ten minutes later, Bodya was there. *** A few days after Solus' birthday Lith received two calls. One was from Peonia who updated him about the situation in the Kingdom and a sked him to be her partner for a gala. Despite the famine and the war, social events were still of the utmost i mportance to test the political waters and to feel the shifts in the a lliance among the members of the Royal Court. Lith found no joy in being showcased like an exotic beast, but he had t o humor the Princess and make sure that she had all the aces in the h ole she needed to protect the peace of his home. Peonia was charming and lovely as always, ending the call with an i nvitation to visit her any time he wanted. The second was from Faluel who summoned him to her lair. "Thanks for coming so quickly." The Hydra said once Lith, Tista, and Solus arrived. "As soon as Friya joins us, we are going to meet the Council. Solus, go back into the ring unless you want to reveal your e xistence to the world" "Now?" Lith asked in surprise while Solus’ body turned into light and d isappeared. "What about etiquette, armor, and everything else." “This isn't a parade like the time your bloodline was revealed. This is a s ummon for of?cial matters, like when I had to debate with Raagu a bout who was more suited to be your mentor.“ Faluel shook her h ead. "Why is Friya coming, then?" Solus asked. "Because she's my apprentice just like Tista is yours. They have r esponsibilities as well." Faluel replied. Lith had several questions, but he doubted that Faluel could answer t hem and there was no point asking them multiple times. Much to his s urprise, Friya came accompanied by Phloria and Quylla. "What is she doing here?“ Faluel pointed at the youngest of the Ernas. "You can't summon my friends and sisters and leave me behind. I'm a t rue mage and a part of this group!" Quylla said in anger. "You are a brilliant mage, but you are still a weakling. There's no place f or you in Council matters.“ Faluel shook her head. "To make matters w orse, if they discover that you are learning Light Mastery on your o wn, they won't hesitate to kidnap you and extort the knowledge f rom you. "I'm leaving you behind for your own safety. Manohar thought himself i nvincible, yet he died. If he couldn't defeat our enemies, what c hances do you have?" The Hydra opened a Warping Array that moved them to the Council o f the Awakened before Quylla could come up with an answer. She got mad at Faluel for ditching her and making her feel like dead w eight. Yet what truly hurt Quylla was the realization that the Hydra w as right. Even if they waited there the whole day for her to answer, t here was nothing she was better than Manohar at. ‘Unless I put my life on the line and Awaken.‘ She could feel her core s tirring as she brie?y practiced the breathing technique she had d eveloped. ‘If I succeed, I'll reach heights where not even Manohar h as ever been. If l fail, however, I'll be dead or worse. I might even end u p joining Vastor's ranks.‘ Quylla gritted his teeth in frustration, the emptiness of the lair m atching the one she felt for being once more the only weak link of t he chain. Meanwhile, the ?ve Awakened appeared in the middle of what looked l ike a war room. A square oakwood table big enough to accommodate d ozens of people lay in the center of the chamber, surrounded by all t he Regional Lords of the Griffon Kingdom. Floating above the wooden surface there was an even bigger h ologram of the country that the Lords used to zoom on the cities of t heir respective territories and arrange battle plans. The size of the table allowed them to discuss more than one raid at a t ime and to share the information that Lords from the same region b ut different factions possessed. Lith recognized the courtroom where he had been ?rst introduced to t he Awakened Council and then judged worthy to be their member. The stand where he had sat was gone now and so were the table for t he jury and the seats for the judges. The ?ve Council representatives sat on wooden thrones aligned a gainst the south wall, to keep an eye on the situation as a whole and b e capable of giving their input on all the missions that were being p lanned. Lith recognized the empty seat where Faluel was supposed to sit b ecause besides it stood Athung Soranot, the human Lord of the Distar Region. Much to his surprise, she had left her seat to another f amiliar ?gure. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺 Aalejah Eventide was engaged in multiple heated discussions at the s ame time. She used her Yggdrasil branch to move the troops on the h olograms and sometimes she passed it to a Lord who failed to u nderstand her strategy. The mystical wood of the World Tree helped their wielder to focus, t emporarily enhancing their intellect and allowing the less brilliant a mong the Awakened to grasp her complex strategies. Her staff was similar to Solus' but much rougher, with few mana c rystals and pseudo cores. Unlike Lith, Aalejah didn't have someone w ho could undo a poor enchantment at will and lacked the funds to c ommission the best staff that she could devise. Until Tista completed her training with both Athung and Raagu, Lith h ad given her a half-assed job on purpose to make sure that they w ould uphold their part of the bargain. Only Salaark could use Creation Magic to reset the staff and only he c ould ask her such a favor. The poor imitation of the Sage Staff served a s a reminder of both his talent and the need they had for him. Aalejah was the reason the room was slowly going from chaotic to o rderly as more and more battle plans were settled and the Lords c ould start arranging their respective preparations. It was then that Lith realized that the holographic map didn't actually a llow for complex edits, it was the elf drawing upon it with her staff. It was just tier zero Light Mastery, but Lith was still impressed. Learning such a rare branch of magic by herself couldn't have been e asy. The more Aalejah contributed to the meeting, the more Athung's status increased, and with it Raagu's who looked at the s cene with a smug grin on her face. Athung was her old apprentice and the elf was her apprentices r etainer so whatever they did it re?ected positively on her.