Chapter 63 – The Supreme Council
WITH MERLIN’S SPATIAL MAGIC, Gallant, Catriona, and the new recruits reached the Supreme Council headquarters in no time.
When everyone came out to the other end of the portal, Cobalt was surprised that the headquarters was basically a grand mansion.
They walked towards the mansion where they were greeted by an elaborate fountain with a decorative stone carving where the water came out. It was filled with colorful koi fishes. The pathway was layered with brightly-colored bricks and the side was lined with bushes and ornamental plants.
A short staircase led up to the doors of the mansion where several servants—maids and butlers—were waiting for their return.
“Sir Gallant, welcome back to Fleur-de-Lis,” said one of the old-looking butlers.
“Thank you, Charles,” Gallant respectfully greeted the butler. “Uhh, do you guys mind preparing some beverages and biscuits for everyone? We will be in the common room to discuss something.”
“Would hot tea with milk suffice, sir?”
“That would be great!” Gallant replied with a smile.
The maids immediately left to prepare the snack while the butlers, including Charles, escorted everyone to the common room.
“What’s with this place?” asked the wondering Cobalt. “Is this really the headquarters of the Supreme Council?”
“King Richard was kind enough to provide this mansion for the Supreme Council,” Gallant replied as they walked towards the common room. “Before the Supreme Council settled here specifically, I heard that they were situated somewhere in the lower zone of the kingdom, cramming inside a small house at the center of a farm made of woods and straw.”
“Really?!” Cobalt couldn’t believe it. “You’re kidding. No way…”
“That’s when we wanted to lay low,” Merlin joined the conversation. “During the time of Yamato, our founder, the Supreme Council didn’t even have headquarters. They meet wherever they could. It’s just recently that we agreed to have a proper place to stay…so to speak. An H.Q.”
“Sir Merlin here owns an academy that hones the skills and talents of scouted magic users. He mostly stays there because it’s his work,” Gallant explained.
“Most of the seat occupants have other things to attend to. But once we joined, or rather, got recruited, here in the Supreme Council, we have no choice but to manage our time,” Merlin added.
“Who does the recruitment?” asked Cobalt.
“In my case, and yours, Melody did,” Gallant answered. “But to guys like Merlin and Ra, it was the previous higher seat occupants.”
* * * * *
As they reached the common room, the snacks and beverages were already waiting for them. Everyone settled in, partook of some of the snacks, and waited for what Gallant had to say.
“Everyone, thank you for accepting Melody’s offer to join our cause. As of this moment, you are now all members of the Supreme Council.”
The new recruits cheered and applaud.
Alloy raised a hand. “Do you mind telling us more about the Supreme Council and what we can expect on our stay here?”
“Good question, young mademoiselle,” a man entered the room. He was wearing a steampunk-ish, formal attire complete with a long, black hat that had gears and goggles on it and was carrying a cane decorated with bolts, nuts, and gears.
“That is Hugo,” Gallant introduced him, “Occupant of the Sixth Seat.”
Hugo hand-gestured to Gallant. Go on.
Gallant did. “Uhh…great inventor and probably the smartest person in the world?”
“And to answer your question, miss…”
Alloy sighed. “Alloy.”
“Ah, Miss Alloy. A beautiful name for a beautiful young lady. In a nutshell, we are recruited to join the Supreme Council to keep the peace and order in the world of Laniagaea. Keep an eye on the avatars, and make sure that Karma, magic, and technology, will not be used for any large-scale, world-altering wars that could lead to our extinction.”
Silver raised a hand. “And how’s that going for everyone?”
Merlin cleared his throat. “We are actually doing a decent job at maintaining peace for years now. But two factions are gaining more and more influence, one of which is already global, and we are afraid that avatars are being weaponized. Again.”
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Alloy raised a hand again. “By ‘two factions’, you mean the United Alliance and the Hunters’ Horde?”
“Yes, Miss Alloy,” Hugo answered. “As you may all know, the U.A. is a global alliance of nations that are keeping the treasure hunters at bay. Meanwhile, the Hunters' Horde is a group of treasure hunters that allied themselves, more or less, to fight against the U.A.”
“In short, the Supreme Council is failing on keeping peace and order. Correct?”
“Correct!” Hugo smilingly answered.
Merlin elbowed him. “There are far greater threats than the petty fight of those greedy alliances. But yes, their petty fight is escalating that we have no choice but to take them both seriously.”
“Right!” Hugo agreed.
“And what are we supposed to do here?” asked Cobalt.
“Train until you are strong enough to defeat one Aeternas Guardian,” Gallant casually answered. “After that, we will give you more missions. Since you are all new, it will be limited from paperwork to intel gathering, until you become strong enough to join away missions such as keeping an eye on the avatars.”
“And pre-emptive attacks to those that could pose imminent threats,” Hugo added with a smile.
“Don’t you have to be somewhere else, Hugo?” asked the irritated Catriona.
Hugo zipped his lips before smiling at Alloy.
“Y-You kinda lost me with the ‘defeat one Aeternas Guardian’ thing,” said Silver. “Care to elaborate?”
“As you may have already seen, there are hundreds of statues around the kingdom. We call them the ‘Aeternas Guardians’. We need you to defeat at least one of them to prove that you are all at least at A-Tier in terms of your skills,” Gallant further explained.
“You’re kidding, right? Catriona told me that those things are at least S-Tiers. And you expect us to destroy one of them?” Cobalt stood up from his seat, agitated.
Everyone else muttered, all thinking and commenting that it was impossible.
Gallant looked at Merlin.
Merlin took out an orb and made it float towards the center table. The orb glowed before manifesting a holographic-like screen with more than forty inches of display size that showed an event somewhere in the lower zone of the kingdom, featuring Miho, Ashe, and Pirouette.
* * * * *
In the lower zone of the kingdom, Miho, Ashe, and Pirouette were fighting one Guardian each.
Miho was in her full gumiho form, showcasing her entrancing ghostly white nine-tails and sharp claws imbued with mana. She easily dodged every concentrated beam that the Guardians were releasing.
When she was finally in the striking zone, Miho released a barrage of slashes that destroyed one of the Guardian’s arms. The Guardian turned around and Miho proceeds to slash its leg, making it lose its balance and fall.
Miho approached it, making a blade of mana from her hand. The Guardian prepared to shoot a beam from its face, but Miho reached the Guardian first, stabbing its face with the blade of mana.
The glowing runes on the Guardian dimmed until it stopped moving, turning into an immobile statue on the ground.
Ashe did not look like she was tired at all from flying for hours. In her human form, she showed her elegant movements, as if she was dancing as she dodges the assault of the Guardian she was dealing with.
The Guardian struck her with a fist, but Ashe effortlessly jumped, dodging the attack, and the Guardian’s fist submerged to the ground.
Ashe took that opportunity and turned her legs into the legs of an azure bird. With her sharp talons imbued with mana, she slashed off the sunken arm of the Guardian. She then turned her arms into an azure bird wing and used them to send herself midair once again.
As she dove from the sky, Ashe elongated her mana talons and slashed the Guardian in half, making the Guardian stagger until it was no longer moving entirely.
Pirouette seemed to be the one enjoying her fight compared to Miho and Ashe. She shrouded herself with blazing blue mana and easily blocked the blows of the Guardian. She would even deflect the concentrated beams that the Guardian was releasing.
At a close range, the Guardian began to release a barrage of punches, but each one was being blocked by Pirouette. The Guardian launched another punch which Pirouette countered with a straight kick that shattered the Guardian's fist.
Pirouette ran towards the Guardian, up to its body, and jumped from its head, using it as a platform. She raised her right leg in midair and as she dropped, she hits the Guardian’s head, destroying its whole body and carving a crater on the ground.
* * * * *
Everyone was speechless as they watched the three ladies demolish one Guardian each with relative ease.
“We are not born strong,” Catriona declared. “Miho is the last of her kind; a gumiho from an island near the continent of Gardenia. Ashe came from a secluded clan who had the Karma to transform into an azure bird, which is only good at flying long distances and high altitudes. Pirouette is a simple girl. What she lacked in Karma and magic, she compensated with her raw strength and flawless mana manipulation. The only magic I know is Blade Magic. And Melody…well, um…Melody…”
Hugo, Merlin, and Gallant are all looking at her, shaking their head.
“Scratch that. The point is, that we all started from the bottom. We trained. And continues to do so. And now we’re here!”
“Lesson number one: Think before you react,” said Hugo as he walked towards the new recruits. “It may be as simple as it sounds, but sometimes it is difficult to do. We all react quickly thanks to our instinct. Fight or flight.” Hugo snapped his finger. “Sometimes it’s as fast as that. You all thought that fighting a Guardian was impossible. Well, those three proved the contrary.”
“We do not expect you all to defeat a Guardian overnight. And you are not alone in doing so. We will see to it that you are all improving in your own ways. We will teach you until you become stronger than what you are today. Provide you with weapons, tools, gears that you might need,” Merlin added.
“It may sound absurd—defeating an S-Tier Guardian,” said Gallant. “But as you witnessed, it is not impossible. With constant training and discipline, you’ll all be able to accomplish this test.”
Alloy, Silver, Cobalt, and the rest of the Pit Valley Bandits, all agreed to do their best and pass the test—to defeat an Aeternas Guardian and become stronger—and prove that Melody wasn’t wrong in recruiting them.
* * * * *
Ashe, Miho, and Pirouette were sitting together, watching as the Guardians—with their cores left intact by them—slowly fix themselves. Small pieces gravitated toward the larger pieces until the Guardians become whole again without a single crack or scratch.
“Care for another round?” asked Pirouette.
“Naaah. I’m hungry. I want meat,” said Miho.
“MERLIN! WE KNOW YOU’RE WATCHING, YOU PERVERT!” Ashe shouted.
Back in the common room, everyone was laughing.
“I am a respected headmaster of my academy. Not some guy who just transports people,” Merlin complained as he opened a portal for the three ladies.
“And yet there you are,” teases Catriona smilingly.
“If those three tell things to Melody, I'm dead meat.”
Hugo tapped his back. “Time to teach that spatial magic of yours, old-timer.”
The three ladies came out from the portal and together with everyone, they all went to the dining room where a proper meal was waiting.