'Am I supposed to be the hero or the boss?' Lith asked.
'Depends. Do you feel like a hero?' Solus thought.
'Heck, no.'
'Then there's your answer.'
The brown-haired guy saw Lith unarmed and stored his weapon in his own dimensional item as well, believing that the rogue Awakened was challenging him to a duel. Also, he didn't want to give Lith a reason to destroy his prized weapon.
The youth performed a series of feints before hitting Lith with a left hook that carried all of his weight plus the strength from twisting his joints from the toes to the wrist. Lith ignored the feints and took the punch without moving.
The impact made his head turn left, producing the sound of cracking bones and sinews.
"This is just sad." Lith checked the inside of his cheek for injuries, finding none.
The Awakened, instead, was whimpering in pain while holding his hand that was broken in multiple points.
'I'll mark that as a "like a boss" on your personal file.' Solus giggled.
Aside from some minor enemies he faced during his journeys, Lith had become used to expect the worst from his opponents. Be them Irtu, the Talons, Nalear, or even Treius and the six Awakened he had faced in Zantia, Lith always found himself against the cream of the crop.
Opponents that outmatched him in experience, equipment, or who had been trained by the best masters Mogar had to offer. All of his previous enemies had been professional magical swordsmen, whereas now he faced people who were just average.
They weren't ancient monsters like Thrud, nor fused with powerful artifacts like Treius or Acala. They lacked even the motivation of the six Awakened that on top of training daily until they sweated blood, they had been willing to sacrifice part of their life span to achieve their masters' legacy.
"Good gods! I sent Cylla and her suitors to fetch Verhen in the hope she would gain some valuable battle experience and maybe learn a bit of humility. I never expected that she wouldn't last a single hit.
"Now I understand why you two hold him in high regard." Jiza Gernoff, Cylla's great-great-aunt and an elder in the human Council said while looking at her niece's embarrassing performance.
Both Athung and Faluel, respectively the human and beast Lord of the Distar Marquisate, had a hard time not laughing out loud. Jiza was taking her fiasco with dignity, there was no reason to rub salt in her wounds.
"Well, Jiza, maybe you should have remembered how I obtained my position before throwing the poor Cylla in the Dragon's maw."
Athung Soranot was a woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.75 (5'9") meters tall with raven-black hair that reached the small of her back. She was wearing a comfortable mage robe that Raagu had gifted her to celebrate achieving a territory at an age when most Awakened were still apprentices.
The heavily enchanted clothes were loose enough to not impede her movements, but could do very little to hide her soft curves. Just like Lith, she was a self-Awakened who had a blue core and had still to learn about the hurdle necessary to overcome its boundaries.
"That's exactly the reason why I sent her." Jiza shook her head.
"Cylla is a bright and talented mage, but because of our blood tie, she never puts any effort in her training. I'm recording everything to both provide the Council's elders with the evidence they need and to teach our youngsters a lesson.
"Gods', Verhen is right. This is just pathetic."
"We better move." Faluel Blinked right on time to save the two Awakened's lives. Lith had snapped their necks and windpipes to make sure they died slow enough to serve their purpose but had no way to recover.
"Okay, princess. Tell me why you're here and maybe I'll make this painless."
Lith's words terrified Cylla as his hand clutching her throat and keeping her lifted from the ground tightened its grip. She didn't like either Orton or Canto, but seeing their life force fading away was too much.
They had tagged along to hit on her, or at least make a good impression on her aunt. She felt responsible for their demise.
"Let her go." Faluel said while restoring the two men before their mana cores started to fade.
"Why would I?" Lith made Cylla's neck crackle like wood. "They invaded my turf and threatened me. They're still alive only because I let them."
"No, this is my turf and you're my guest." Faluel's voice became stern.
Letting Lith treat and speak to her as a peer while they were in the privacy of her lair was one thing, but doing the same in presence of witnesses was quite another. An apprentice who disrespected his master was a sign of weakness that neither of them could afford to show.
"I'm sorry, master Faluel." Lith let the girl go abruptly, making her fall butt-first on the ground while he gave the Hydra a deep bow.
"Our turf and our guest you mean." Athung appeared along with Jiza. "Until the Council takes a decision, Awakened Verhen is unaffiliated to any faction. Elder Gernoff, explanations are in order, if you please."
After making sure that Cylla was alright, Jiza Gernoff didn't deign her niece of a second glance. She focused all of her attention on the anomaly that the beasts' and humans' faction were fighting over whereas the undead pressed for his elimination.
"Awakened Verhen, your several achievements and breaches of the Council's law have been brought to our attention." Jiza said. "I've been tasked with taking you into custody and bringing you to the Council's headquarters for questioning.
"Are you willing to follow me or do we need to waste more time with pointless fights?"
'Solus?' Lith thought.
'Bright violet core, a physical prowess that dwarves all Emperor Beasts we've met who didn't weigh at least a ton, and she has more artifacts than decorations on a Christmas tree.' She replied.
"Please, make way." Lith gave her a small bow.
Jiza Gernoff was a woman 583 years old, but due to Awakening, she looked like she was barely in her early forties. She was 1.62 meters (5'4") tall with shoulder-length blonde hair streaked brown all over and light blue eyes.
If not for her ample mage robe instead of the army uniform and her slightly older looks, she would remind Lith of Jirni.
Both of them showed emotions only if they decided so and they were much more dangerous than their small builds would lead to believe.
"Not so fast. First, I have to assess your threat level. Please, remove all the cloaking devices in your possession along with any item you don't want to expose to my breathing technique.
"Feel free to remain naked, I doubt you have anything I haven't already seen in my long life." Jiza sounded polite and monotone like an answering machine.
Lith kept his Skinwalker armor on and stored everything else inside his pocket dimension. He doubted that it was anything new for an Awakened Forgemaster and his paranoia didn't allow him to remain defenseless.
"What about my dimensional items?" Solus couldn't be stored because she was a living being and he couldn't risk Jiza discovering about her existence.
"Lord Athung and Lord Faluel are here to witness that everything goes according to protocol and to offer you assistance. Take your pick, and remember that every choice has consequences." Elder Gernoff said.
