Meir Village was laid out in much the same manner as Lejus Village, with an assortment of mud and wood huts, and with a large stone building in the center that served as the Village Hall. If one had to point out a difference, though, it would be that Meir was encased in an angry restless energy, as opposed to the sad and resigned air that hung around Lejus Village.

When Aurelie had first come to the village, she had been come to Meir Village, she had been surprised by the atmosphere around the village. If what Farn had said was correct, then Meir Village should have been the same as Lejus Village in terms of aura, the villagers reluctantly pulled into a war which only their leader wanted. After spending a bit of time in the village, she figured out what had happened.

Gradas Meir had fed his people a lie, telling them that he had gone to Kadaras and Danadie Lejus to ask for access to the water from the falls and/or river, they hadn't cared and had instead told him that he had to pay a hefty price everyday that he wished to use the water. His people had no reason to doubt him, and this resulted in the current circumstances. Aurelie frowned. The problem was that, with the difference in morale, Meir had another advantage, the first being that they had three more practitioners at the seventh stage of the Grandmaster Realm. In theory, if Lejus' five extra sixth stage Grandmasters ganged up and defeated the three seventh stage Grandmasters one by one, they could do it, but that was just theory, and the chances of it happening on a chaotic battlefield was very slim.

Aurelia shook her head, driving away her thoughts. After all, if things went the way she wanted them to, it would never develop into a war to begin with. She stealthily slunk into the Village Hall. She found the meeting Room with relative ease, as even the inner layout mirrored Lejus Village's Village Hall.

After entering the room, she stopped and stared for approximately five seconds (after ensuring that it was safe to do so and no one would walk in on her being dumbstruck by spreading out her Spirit Energy: she was a professional).

Gradas Meir had turned his meeting room into a throne room. There was an honest to god velvet and gold throne on a raised dais, which had several steps in front of it which had a red carpet on them that rolled out to right in front of the door. There were no other chairs in the room, ensuring that anyone who came to consult with him had to stand and report. The place looked like the set of a bad movie and said more about Gradas Meir's personality than anything else she'd seen or heard of to date.

Taking a deep breath to keep her disgust and disbelief at bay, Aurelie tucked herself into the small crack between a huge and extravagant potted plant, one of many that ran along the walls of the room. She took another deep breath, slowed down her heartbeat, and waited. Before long, Gradas strutted into the room, and Aurelie almost gave herself away by laughing out loud. He had a huge crown on his head and a huge velvet fur lined coat, one so large that two people had to walk behind him and hold the corners to prevent it from dragging behind him. The man himself was comically short. Tailing him were a crowd of about fifteen of his closest advisers.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

'Overcompensating for something, are we?' Aurelie thought to herself, but she still continued to cautiously regulate her breathing and heartbeat. Even though he looked like a fool, he was still at the ninth stage of the Grandmaster Realm. Her puny first stage Master Realm strength was nothing, not to mention the fact that he knew more Martial Techniques than her. Gradas took his sat on his throne, unaware of Aurelie's presence. This was another, and possibly the most important, reason that Aurelie had hid from Farn and Mellana's parents, to see if someone at their strength could sense her, as a test to see whether or not she could infiltrate Meir's Village Hall. She had spent last night observing the movements of the guards, which was remarkably more organized and far tighter than the patrol of the buffoons who kidnapped her.

Now, she held her body tense, ready to flee at even the slightest indication that someone had sensed her. Despite her worries, though, no one noticed her, and she was able to eavesdrop on the meetings he has fairly easily. After about an hour of listening to the regular everyday problems of Meir Village, Aurelie finally heard what she had come here to listen in on. A conversation on Lejus Village. Holding her body tense, she opened her ears wide.

"Sir, the man who used the fly enchantment and crashed into the Village Hall woke up an hour ago. When asked about what happened, he said that all of the people he went with were killed, and the reason he used the enchantment was because a fire Elemental Apprentice showed up and killed over half of the attackers in less than five minutes, without even using any Martial Techniques. He wished to warn us about the new threat, and escaped alone."

Gradas snorted. "He ran to save his life. But since he gave us useful information, I'll pardon his cowardice and usage of an enchantment that was one of twenty that cost me years of hard work and half of last year's profit. But where did that fool Kadaras get the money and know how to hire an Elemental Apprentice anyway? If there is more than one..." He drummed his fingers against the armrests of his throne, frowning.

Aurelie grinned in her mind. It seemed that her failure to finish off that group was actually a blessing. Now, worries of an Elemental Apprentice on Lejus Village's side would temporarily delay Gradas' war plans.

"Sir, if I may speak." A man from the crowd stepped forward and bowed to Gradas Meir.

"Go ahead." Meir said.

"Sir, the recent incidents in which our soldiers have been killed, perhaps it was due to the Elemental Apprentice?" The man said, straightening. his face had a solemn expression, but Aurelie could see the sort of excitement on his face that came from having a good idea. And going by the topic and the fact that she hadn't killed any soldiers in Meir (yet), the idea was making her into a scapegoat. She glanced at Gradas, who had the same expression and knew in her gut that the two of them were working together to kill the soldiers off. And she knew why, too.

'Their plans conflict with mine, and I guess it's about time I did something about it.'