The Divine Elements

*crackle*

Inside a quiet and empty courtyard, a single person was meditating on the grass underneath a gigantic bird statue.

The young man’s eyes were closed, his hands in a poised position on top of his folded knees and a serene look on his face. Bolts of golden static lightning darted around him, exuding an atmosphere of gravitas and confidence.

Soon, the young man exhaled slowly while gradually opening his eyes. The lightning around him receded back into his body, reverting the atmosphere back to normal.

“He is gone.”

Calron whispered, his bright azure eyes gazing at the statue in front of him. Ever since the battle with Zarvel, Calron could not sense that mysterious presence inside the statue and as each day passed, the realization of that fact sunk in.

If not for the intervention of that golden-eyed man, Calron would have been slaughtered by Zarvel without resistance. All his wounds and organs were healed because of that man’s last remaining divinity.

“Have you not made your choice yet?”

A new voice emerged from behind Calron.

Glancing his head to the side, Calron let out an exasperated sigh and responded. “I still can’t make my decision yet, Uncle Kail. I don’t know what path my lightning should follow as I feel like there is something that I’m missing.”

Calron had yet to decide on the lightning path to take, and this was preventing his cultivation from increasing.

“Well, you better figure it quickly if you want to break into the Saint stage anytime soon. Anyways, I came here to talk to you about the other thing.”

Kail answered dryly, walking next to the seated Calron.

“Trouble?”

Calron ran his fingers through his hair, sensing he was about to get a headache again.

“Hahaha, definitely. With the stunt that you pulled at the reward ceremony, you have infuriated quite a lot of nobles, especially the ones that oversee the slave market. They are preventing the process from completing, so a large majority of the slaves are still in the market. I estimate another week before all the legal work is done and the slaves are all free.”

Kail held out his hand to Calron while talking, aiding the young man in getting up from the grass.

“Regardless of what they do, the slaves will be free.”

Calron stated while brushing off bits of dirt from his clothes.

“True, but it doesn’t just end there. What will you do once the slaves are all free? I don’t know the exact number, but there should be close to 10,000 slaves inside the city, so where will they stay after being freed? Feeding that number of people is enough to run our clan’s treasury dry after a few years!”

Kail began, looking into the young man’s eyes to see if he had any solutions to these problems.

“Eh…”

Calron stared back dumbly, causing Kail to slump his shoulders.

“That’s it, you’ll be starting classes with me tomorrow about economics and strategic warfare.”

Kail walked ahead as he told Calron in a stern voice.

“Economics? What’s that? Besides, I have the Azure Pavilion, so I can make some money from that to finance the slaves.”

Calron calmly treaded behind the agitated Kail.

“A 100 gold per day is hardly enough to sustain 10,000 stomachs a day. Your shop has potential, so after I teach you about how the market works, we can apply that to the Azure Pavilion and expand it on a larger scale.”

“Uncle Kail, wouldn’t my time be better spent on learning about military warfare and how to command an army?”

Calron inquired, knowing that he would not enjoy a session of simply reading books with his uncle.

All of a sudden, both of them could hear multiple voices echoing nearby. Seated on a wide bench, Rain and Harol were arguing about a petty matter, while Linda and Asra chatted with Roran. Ellie was on the grass next to them, doing something weird with a bunch of flowers. So far, none of them had detected either Kail’s or Calron’s presence.

“That would be true if you were merely fighting against enemies outside the city walls.”

Kail raised his eyebrow in response to Calron’s query.

“I don’t want to get involved in politics.”

Calron whispered in a low voice as he stared at his friends ahead.

“I do not think you have much of a choice, Calron.”

Kail patted the young man on the back and raised his voice to greet the other youngsters.

I’m starting to hate that word…

Calron thought inwardly and took a step forward to finally meet his friends.

…………………………………

“Is everyone here?”

A large man questioned as he stood behind a massive circular table. Seven of the eight seats were occupied, so when the large man spoke, the rest of the members all glanced towards the empty chair.

“Count Perom is currently occupied by the Darklings’ skirmish outside the kingdom’s borders, so he will not be joining us today.”

A thin old man spoke lazily, his fingers erratically tapping on the expensive wooden table.

“Very well, let’s begin without Count Perom then.”

The large man said as he sat down on the chair and looked at everyone on the table.

“I don’t see why we even need to have a meeting about this issue. Have that little runt assassinated, and this whole mess would be solved.”

One of the nobles on the table shouted in an angry voice.

“That little runt you speak of is also a member of the Raizel clan, so things are not so simple. I heard that he might be a direct descendant of the clan, but not much information is out there on him.”

Someone else countered, trying to calm the other noble down.

“Is the King out of his mind, agreeing to the foolish wish of a kid? We are talking about a whole economic industry here! The loss of the slave market will cut down my fief’s revenue by over two-thirds!”

Another member of the table growled, striking his fist on top of the wood.

Soon, a series of complaints were followed by one after another. All of them were related to Calron, his interference in the slave market, and questioning the King’s state of mind.

“QUIET!”

The large man that had initially spoken at the beginning called for everyone to quieten down.

“We need a solution to this problem, not for you all to bicker amongst each other.”

Even though the large man talked with contempt, none on the table dared to protest at this treatment.

“Although the King erred in his decision, it was the fault of the boy that caused this whole mess. If my information agency is correct in their gatherings, then all those freed slaves will be sent to the Raizel clan. That is a large quantity of manpower, and it worries me slightly about what the Raizel clan plans to do with them.”

The large man continued while everyone listened patiently.

“I thought the slaves were free? So, why do they have to go to the Raizel clan?”

The thin old man asked, his fingers halting on the table.

“They are technically free, but where will they work or get their food? Someone will have to take care of them, and the Raizel clan was probably picked for this role.”

Someone else answered the old noble’s question.

“Correct. We cannot let this happen, so I’ll be forcing the King to call the Raizel clan and making them split the slaves amongst the nobles.”

The large man stated in an even tone, confident of the king agreeing to his terms.

“What if that plan fails?”

The old noble asked another question, to the ire of the others on the table.

“It won’t fail.”

The large man frowned.

“Hmm…”

The old man resumed tapping his fingers against the wood, but it was clear that he was not convinced.

“If it does fail, then I’ll simply kill the boy.”

The large man spoke, sensing the silent words going through everyone’s minds.

“How will killing the boy help the situation with the slaves?”

“Because the one to kill the boy will be a slave.”

The large man smiled, his eyes glowing mysteriously. If a slave was the cause of the boy’s death, then the King would have no choice but to split the slaves apart. Even the Raizel clan would no longer want any slaves near them after the death of one of their members.

“Haha, as expected of Tower Lord Resir!”

The old noble finally cracked a smile, approving of the plan. The rest of the nobles on the table all nodded their heads, showing their approval as well.

“Good. I have some other business to attend to, so I’ll take my leave.”

Resir stood up, his face a complete mask of what emotions were hidden inside him.

It was time for his opponent’s next move.

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