Jorl found Tyris's offer so offensive that he remained silent for over a minute. He had many flaws, but stupidity wasn't among them. Jorl knew how powerful his mother really was and angering her would get him nothing but a beating.
"I'm sorry, Mother, but spending the rest of my life taking care of lesser beings is beneath me." Jorl had come for a quick ticket to power, not for a job.
"Sylpha, do you know what your husband and Valeron have in common?" Tyris ignored her son and looked at the Queen in the eyes.
"Neither of them wanted to be King. Meron took the test only to please his parents and the first thing he asked me was to spare his life. He told me that he didn't feel worthy of the Crown, that the thought of thousands of people dying just because he made the wrong decision gave him nightmares.
"Meron believed that the role of King would be better suited for a stronger, more resolute person than him. That's why I spared his life and made him King. How could strength possibly be a prerequisite when I can grant perfect core and body refinement?
"What I looked for was someone who understood the burden of the Crown, just like Valeron."
"Wait, what? Wasn't Valeron a mighty warrior who unified the Kingdom to bring peace to our lands?" Sylpha was flabbergasted.
"That's just the official version to rally the troops. The truth, however, is quite different. When I first met the future King of the Griffon Kingdom, he was barely a fourteen years old kid.
"Back then, it was the moment when a boy became a man and had to learn how to wield weapons to defend their village. Magical talents were scarce because most mages died before realizing their powers or simply never met a master their whole life.
"Fake magic was also terrible and barely worth the trouble learning it. I choose to Awaken him not because I fell in love at first sight as the legends say, but because Valeron was weak, poor, and had nothing to live for.
"My hope was that with such a troubled past he wouldn't get drunk on power and use it wisely. Otherwise, I would have simply killed him as I had already done countless times in the past.
Like all Awakened, I was responsible for his action for one hundred years and I had no desire to spend that time cleaning up his messes. Valeron of course mistook me for a goddess.
"When he finally understood I was a woman, he proposed to me and I had to reject him a dozen times before he started to actually listen to me. I taught Valeron about magic, about how to fight, and then I just waited.
"He became the god of the battlefield and yet when they offered to him the role of village chief he refused. Valeron hated both war and political power. He didn't fight because he enjoyed it, only to protect his house and the life he cherished.
"Compared to magic, politics are a poisoned well. The more powerful you get, the more corrupt you become. Valeron preferred being a healer than a leader, to bring smiles rather than constantly opposing the greed of his neighbors.
"Yet with each victory he achieved, his village grew in size and power. With each enemy they defeated, slaves and war prisoners would be considered a standard commodity. Valeron felt guilty for it, but as a warrior and a healer, he couldn't change things.
"After his best efforts to abolish slavery only got him several attempts murders and poisoning, Valeron finally accepted the role of Mayor. The nearby cities felt threatened hearing that the fabled general had become a true leader, mostly because their citizens left their corrupt domains to look for a better life under Valeron's banner.
"At that point, war was inevitable. More people meant the need for more farmlands to feed them and no one believed that Valeron's ever-expanding city wouldn't one day become a threat for its neighbors.
"Valeron never attacked first, but each victory brought him more troubles and responsibilities. He cried every night he didn't spend searching for a proper way to organize what was more than a city but less than a Kingdom.
"He was an uncultured man and had no idea how to create a system of laws that couldn't be exploited to ruin his years of hard work, yet he never gave up. He asked other Awakened for help, sought Emperor Beasts for their wisdom, and Fae to teach him how to take care of his lands.
"He never hesitated to admit his faults and recognize his limits. Whenever he knew to not be up to the task, Valeron sought someone better than himself. Of course, he made a lot of mistakes, trusted the wrong people, and soon his country was on the verge of the civil war.
"That's when he proposed to me for the 128th time and I accepted. What I fell in love with wasn't his power or handsome face, but his willingness to sacrifice so much to build a better place for everyone.
"His determination to never surrender, even when he was forced to beg or crawl in horseshit. I helped him to get rid of bad counselors, corrupt officers, and to write laws that made sense.
"The Griffon Kingdom didn't arise from a power-hungry man who believed to know what was best for everyone, but from a farm boy who only wanted his conscience to let him sleep peacefully at night."
Tears streamed from Tyris's eyes while she looked at the statue of Valeron sitting on the throne next to hers.
"When I gave him children, he was such a good father that they wanted to be like him rather than me. They were hybrids who could have become almighty Griffons, yet they choose to become humans to better be able to understand the needs and the hardships of their subjects.
"Tell me, Jorl. When is the last time that you went to sleep hungry? That you felt afraid of your future? Do you think you could do any better of these 'fleas' if you weren't born a Griffon?" Tyris caressed the statue's cheek and its coldness stung at her heart reopening old wounds.
"Is this pathetic anecdote supposed to answer my question?" Jorl asked.
"Sylpha, kick his ungrateful ass out of here." Tyris's eyes blazed with mana that dried up her tears as her voice turned stone cold.
"Please, Mother. She might have a violet core, but she's not a real Awakened. Your puppy is human, and exhausted at that." Jorl said with a chuckle a second before Sylpha's uppercut shut him up.
Jorl snarled and shapeshifted into his Griffon form, infusing himself with the power of all elements. His height at the withers was over 30 meters (98.5 feet) tall and 52.5 meters (172 feet) long, but the underground palace was big enough to accommodate Tyris's real body, let alone her offspring.
Sylpha just grabbed the enormous beak that appeared in front of her with both her arms and struck at it with her knees in a rapid sequence. Her left knee hit with such strength that only her hold prevented Jorl's head to snap back.
Her right knee struck a split-second later, cracking the beak and making Jorl wail in pain.
