Lucas walked side-by-side with his mother as Quinn and Yenna followed close behind. It was getting darker outside, and the sun would likely set within the hour, but warm radiance lit their path from firelight spilling through nearby houses' windows. The people of the village would normally all be at home by this time, and some evidently were, but there were also plenty others accompanying the four of them on their journey. Word of something going on at the center of the village had clearly spread.

Before they made it far, they were joined by Penelope and Eliot. They took position on each side of their son and kept pace; in a protective or restrictive escort, Lucas couldn't tell. Yenna, for her part, was pushed between the two families to walk on her own for the time being.

"When we get there," Lucas's mom spoke just loud enough for only their group of six to hear her, "there will be an area sectioned off close to the Elders for us to sit. Everyone needs to keep quiet and wait for when they are called up to speak, understood?"

A small chorus of confirmations sounded out and no more was spoken. They were coming up on their destination now, and Lucas could see that a small crowd had formed before the unadorned building in which the Elders sometimes held their meetings. There were also two guards posted on either side of the building's entrance, and surely more inside.

Their group pushed forward through the crowd to some general grumbling, but all protestations quickly cut off when everyone saw just who they were getting irritated with. Mary may have once been an outsider to the village, and she never refused to treat any disagreeably patients, but it was still common sense not to piss off the village's foremost [Healer].

They got to the door and were admitted without preamble. Lucas only noticed the two other adults that had joined at Yenna's sides when they were fully within the building. A man and a woman, visibly older than his mom or either of Quinn's parents, but appearing in great health and strong build. The man was tall and thinner than the woman, but they both had comparable amounts of muscle.

[Smith]

[Craftsman]

[*ding Congratulations! [Identify] has reached level 5!]

They must be her parents, then, Lucas thought before turning back around. The new level in his Skill was nice, but now wasn't the time to celebrate it.

He'd never personally been in this building before, since he was still quite young to be attending a meeting to the Elders. Their group had entered into what was presumably a waiting hall, but they didn't stop to do so as Mary guided them over to the only other set of doors within the room. As they approached, the sound of heated conversation between several individuals spilled through from the next room.

Mary gave a light knock on the door on the left and another guard cracked it open from the other side. The two of them exchanged a few hushed words before the guard opened the door the rest of the way to admit them, and Lucas got his first look at the assembly that awaited them.

Immediately beyond the door was a sectioned off area in which several, seemingly random, villagers sat and bore witness to the proceedings. Further back was a space left mostly open but for a single chair, in which resided the [Hunter], Regan; and surrounding that space on three sides was a raised stage where all five Elders were currently locked in conversation. Their group's arrival was noticed and marked by a brief lapse in one Elder's speech, but otherwise not acknowledged.

"Come on," Mary whispered and pulled him to the side.

They followed along the left wall and came to another, smaller seating area just to the side of the Elders' stage. Once there, Lucas was slightly surprised to find Eugene waiting, though it only made sense for him to be here since her was the person to detain Regan. Lucas took the open seat beside the man, his mom taking the next, followed by Yenna's family then Quinn's. With everyone settled in, he turned his full attention to the stage.

The individuals that held the position of village Elder--not to be confused with an elder that earned the title by virtue of age alone-consisted of two men and three women. Closest to Lucas was Elder Falon, whom he had seen recently, looking supremely irritated with the event. Next to him was a wizened old woman he recognized as Elder Runa, the most senior carpenter in the village. Following her was Elder Marcel, the representative of the human subspecies villagers among his peers. Then there was Elder Fiora, the most social of the five, as well as the youngest, that would often tell stories to groups of children. She was probably the one Lucas was most familiar with.

The final Elder, he wasn't nearly as familiar with, yet he knew well anyway. Seated directly opposite Elder Falon, facing in Lucas's direction, was Commander Iltani of the guard; the only Elder that was commonly referred to by a different title. Unassuming as she appeared to be--with her short brown hair, tan skin, and average height--she was also the strongest [Warrior] in the village and famously held the highest level. It was actually the first time Lucas had ever seen her, as she was not nearly as social as Elder Fiora and routinely went on excursions outside the village to cull nearby monster populations. Just out of curiosity, Lucas targeted her with [Identify].

[Warrior]

[*ding Congratulations! [Identify] has reached level 6!]

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Holy shit.

His Skill had leveled not even five minutes prior, and he hadn't used it on anything else since, so that level had been entirely due to the Commander. What did that even mean?

Lucas's thoughts were so jumbled that he didn't immediately notice when the woman's attention moved from the other Elders to briefly rest on him. The moment he did, he quickly averted his gaze and became very interested in the floor.

Did...Did she feel my Skill?

Such a thing wasn't possible, but in the moment, Lucas might have been convinced otherwise. When he looked back up a few minutes later, Commander Iltani's attention had returned to the other Elders. Still, Lucas played it safe and turned his own attention to Elder Marcel, who was currently speaking.

"...question is, how was the skaven brought into the village? Before addressing even the incident itself, we must assure there is no ongoing security risk."

"That, I can agree with," Elder Falon said and looked down to Regan. "Tell me, girl, how did you smuggle a monster past my walls?"

Whatever had gone on in the intervening time since Regan had been dragged away, the [Hunter] had been significantly cowed. When she gave an answer, Lucas practically had to lean forward to hear it.

"A Skill, sir."

The Elders waited for her to continue, but when it appeared as if that was all she would supply, the Commander spoke up.

"Anything except your full cooperation will only serve to make our eventual judgement all the harsher," Iltani spoke matter-of-factly.

Regan bowed her head and continued. "It's called [Dominate]," she explained. "It's helps subdue prey--and obviously makes them easier to kill--but it could also be used in the process of taming an animal."

"Monsters are not animals, though," Elder Runa stated.

"The Skill still works on them, it just wears off after a time," the [Hunter] clarified quietly. "It wasn't all that difficult to haul it over the wall when no one was watching."

One and all, the Elders scowled at her words, especially Falon and Iltani. The walls and guards were meant to keep the village safe and free of monsters, but this 'lack of difficulty' highlighted their fallibility, and therefore the Elders' own shortcomings. On the bright side, Regan's answer also meant no monsters were infiltrating the village on their own.

Those words locked occupants of the stage in debate once again, this time on countermeasures to ensure Regan's feats could not be repeated.

"Well, can we simply make the walls high too high for anyone else to scale?" Elder Fiora proposed, to the general agreement of Runa and Marcel.

However, Elder Falon immediately shook his head. "There is nothing simple about the work it would take to extend them by any meaningful amount. And even if we did, where there is a will, there is a way. A sufficiently prepared and determined Classer could still manage."

"I agree," Iltani added. "The fault for this incident also partially falls at my feet. Walls are only so good if they are manned, and the watch posts haven't been assigned as much lately. The recently increased monster presence has required culling patrols to be sent out more often, and that comes at a price."

"So, what? We accept the risk?" Elder Marcel questioned.

"No, that is not what I meant at all. The monster presence will die down eventually," Iltani explained, "at which time watch posts will pick back up. Even then, there is no significant added danger at this moment, because my guards are still out there. The only reason for this," she gestured down at Regan, "is because [Hunter]s go relatively unsupervised."

"So the responsibility of monitoring them should be assigned to the patrols?" Fiora asked.

Iltani nodded. "It would likely be easy enough, just a small extension to what they must keep aware of."

They took a vote, and the solution was passed unanimously, though Elder Runa did not seem as certain of its effectiveness.

"With that settled, let us move on to the testimonies," Runa said and looked over in Lucas's direction. "First up will be [Hunter] Henry, Regan's junior."

A boy off to Lucas's right, maybe a couple years older than him, nervously stood and began talking at the Elders' prompting. The guard had already gotten Regan's story out of her, but the boy told it once more from his perspective. From the day Regan had lured him into her pit fighting scheme, to his compliance at her supposed threats, to the events of that very day. All told in such a way as to absolve him of nearly all blame, of course.

Though he was the first to give testimony, he was far from the last. After Harry was a kid closer to Lucas's age, and she told a story of Harry luring her in and forcing her to face the skaven for their entertainment. Needless to say, the Elders did not look favorably upon the boy, and Lucas had a feeling more than just Regan would face judgement.

Several other testimonies passed before it neared Lucas's turn. A few had touched on his fight with the skaven, and those tales had earned him some curious glances from most of the Elders. Eugene was called to stand, and then it was time.

"Lucas." Elder Fiora addressed him. "Please stand and give your testimony."

All attention in the room rested on him as he stood, and he shifted in discomfort.

"Well, go on then," Runa spoke after he'd been silent a moment.

"Sorry. I first go involved in this last night, after my friend came to my house for healing." Lucas continued his story in a primarily faithful recollection. When it came to the actual fight, however, he only spoke on how he was forced to allocate his free stats, and didn't say anything about his abnormal use of mana to kill the beast. His story ended at about the same point as Eugene's, and Lucas went to sit back down.

"Just a moment there," Elder Marcel stopped him. "Several people have spoken of an unusual manifestation of mana when you killed the skaven. Can you explain this?" He looked at Lucas with suspicion.

Of what, Lucas was unsure. Other testimonies had given unclear recollections of that move, yes, but it had also been eminently clear that he was not to blame for any of the issues they were assembled for.

"I may not have a Class yet, but I got some good Skills when I unlocked the other day," Lucas shrugged. It appeared his explanation was not enough for the Elder, however.

"Be more clear, boy," Marcel commanded irritably. "Why did everyone that bore witness attribute some strange quality to your mana?"

Before Lucas could provide any excuse, however, someone else spoke for him. "We are not here to discuss the boy's status, Elder Marcel," Iltani reprimanded.

A silent battle in the Elders' stares, but Marcel eventually backed down. Lucas did not miss the look of consideration they both gave him then, but everyone moved on.

Yenna and Quinn were asked to give their own testimonies afterward, and Lucas watched both pairs of parents listen quietly in a variable mix of emotions. Yenna's parents looked ashamed, though more of themselves than their daughter, he thought. Penelope and Eliot seemed shocked, and maybe a little angry. A couple serious and personal conversations were in their futures.

Soon enough, the final testimony had been given, and with that it was time for the Elders to pass their final judgement.