"Are you saying that you Awakened know about Forgemastering runes and that the members of the Council have access at least to the basics of all magical disciplines?" Lith needed to stall a little longer. "Of course we know about runes, but we don’t give anything for free." Raagu’s grimace wouldn’t have been worse even if Lith had just attempted to stab her. "I meant that with my help, you could find a master who would allow you to discover your true potential." "Thanks, but no thanks." Lith shook his head. "I’m not interested in serving someone in the hope to get something in return. I don’t deal in maybes, only in certainties. All the Awakened I killed were part of your Council, yet they were nothing special." Raagu’s grimace surprisingly managed to get worse, but Lith didn’t stop talking. "Unless you’re willing to give me a concrete proof or your goodwill, I’m going to decline your offer. I’m done working for free." "Kid, you have yet to live a quarter of a century and you dare to be so conceited?" Raagu said. "Soon you’ll hit a wall that you can’t overcome with just effort and wishful thinking. Soon every person you know will die of old age and you’ll be alone. When that moment comes, I’ll be still alive and I assure you that I’ll remember our conversation. "I can deny you the access to the Council and with it all the chances you might have to learn about true magic. So think carefully before you open your mouth again." Raagu was actually bluffing. She could prevent Lith from getting a seat in the Council, but any elder or Awakened could recruit disciples on their own without needing her consent. She was just exploiting Lith’s ignorance to humble him. "I beg to differ." Said a voice from above, when Lith’s plan E brought along with him the fabled plan F. Protector landed in his Skoll form right beside Lith instead of taking part in the formation as planned, simply because it wasn’t needed. Faluel the Hydra was right behind him and she was big enough to blot out the sun. She had a bright purple core as well and her physical strength was beyond what words could express. She had a stocky lower body with four short legs and a heavy tail. Both were necessary to balance her long, serpentine necks ending with a snake-like head the size of a muscle car. Her whole body was covered in deep green scales, yet each one of her seven heads had shades of a different color. "First, the little one is one of us, not one of you. Second, you’ve got some guts to mess with my turf and threaten one of the kings of my woods!" Since each race only cared for their own, each region had multiple lords. Faluel and Gaaron covered the same role for the Distar Marquisate, but their status among their peers couldn’t have been more different. "What do you mean one of you?" Raagu was furious for the unexpected meddling with her plans, but her face remained unfazed. "Lith Verhen never lost his title of king, hence he is my retainer. He was trained in true magic by my disciple, Protector, who in turn was taught by Lith once he mastered his specializations. "Plus, it was Kalla, not you, who asked on Lith’s behalf the Council’s protection in the matters of the Dawn Court. If you still question his allegiance, just look at his allies. While you humans attacked him for petty reasons, the other kings helped him. Do you dare to deny it?" Raagu couldn’t retort to any of her claims. The Council didn’t have a rigid structure. There was no rule about humans having disciples of other races or vice versa. Raagu gritted her teeth and shook her head. Her interest in Lith lied in the fact that Awakened were already few in numbers and the talented ones were even fewer. Faluel’s seven heads chuckled seeing her opponent retreating. Her motive was the same as Raagu, but she was also aware of Lith’s ability to harness Origin Flames. For a Forgemaster like her, it was a priceless treasure. It was the reason why when her disciple had received Lith’s distress signal she had been happy to tag along. Having the opportunity to help the Wyrmling at their first meet was a great way to introduce herself rather than a long boring speech. Faluel was aware that trust was something that had to be given before one could ask for it. "Let’s go, Athung. We’ve got nothing more to do here." Yet the young Awakened ignored her mentor’s words and approached Lith. The four kings were still keeping their guard up and their formation ready, but it only proved how little they knew about Council matters. She took an odd-looking communication amulet out of her dimensional amulet and offered it to Lith. "No matter what race you decide to join for your apprenticeship, you’re now considered a member of the Council. This communication amulet is the only way to contact us in the case the events of Zantia happen again." Athung said. Lith immediately noticed that the metal the amulet was made of was the same of the Forge he had found in the lost academy and that instead of blue, the mana crystal fueling it was white. When Solus’s mana sense confirmed him that aside from a complex series of cloaking spells that made both the amulet and the signal it emitted untraceable there the amulet wasn’t enchanted with unknown spells, Lith had a hard time to contain his enthusiasm. Solus had also spotted several invisible runes on it, which made it the first item engraved with modern runes that he would possess. "This is my communication rune." Athung said once he had accepted it. "If you want to have a talk about Council matters or if someone from the undead Courts bothers you again, this is the quickest way to get help. "Now that Gaaron is dead, I’ll be in charge of the Distar Marquisate. I look forward to working with you, Faluel." Then she turned around before the Hydra could reply and Warped away with her mentor. "Where did you get that amulet?" Raagu asked once they were outside the beasts’ earshot. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚 "I had it made under your name before we left. I had no idea how things would have turned out, but I was certain that Verhen wouldn’t have trusted us. I also knew that no grassroots Awakened Forgemaster would have turned down a runed artifact. "This way, I’m his only contact in the human Council and whoever wants to get in touch with him has to go through me." She smirked. Athung had learned a lot from that experience and gained even more. A seat in the Council, a land to call her own, and the opportunity to make business with someone who had aroused the interest of two Awakened races. It was an event rare enough to make some noise and she had more than one idea of how turning it to her advantage. Meanwhile, Lith made sure that the Awakened women had really gone before handing the amulet to Faluel. He had yet to even imprint it. "Is it safe? No tracking device or something?" He had accepted the runes, but he was far from trusting the present of a stranger.