Inside a large hall a solid marble stone table had been placed flanked by simmualery elaborate wooden furnished chairs under a crystal gla.s.s roof, that revealed the pale white sun and clear skies overhead. The ma.s.sive table wasn"t the only thing made of marble, as the floor and even the 5 meter tall walls were made of the same white marble, giving the impression that the entire room had been precisely and elegantly been cut into a cliff face. On one side of the table sat Dax, a stranded qiton in the world of magic and dragons. He wore his usual getup, a simple black t s.h.i.+rt and simually coloured plain shorts that showed off his bright white scars contrasting with his brown skin. Dax"s green eye focused intently at the person sitting opposite him, even his cybernetic eye lit up red behind his black eye patch as he put on a diplomatic smile."So why the h.e.l.l was I summoned here?"
After being summoned in a somewhat forcefull matter Dax had completed a two week trip that normally would have taken at least triple that amount of time he had been warmly welcomed by the archangel Solaris herself. After being welcomed Dax"s group had been led to a deserted area of the sanctuary by Solaris, where she had left them for the night after pointing at a pre prepared lavis buffet. After eating Dax remained awake all night because of the issue with the CAS-7, and in the early morning he sensed someone in the dining hall.
"It was the council"s decision to summon you in that forceful manner."
"You"re part of that council yourself are you not?"
"That I am, do you take issue with that?"
"Not until I have a reason to, just answer my f.u.c.king question."
"Ara~ You sure seem a tiny bit upset though?"
Unfaced by Dax"s bloodl.u.s.t Solarris put on a bright smile that would make most people entranced. Unlike yesterday when she greeted Dax and his group Solarris those to wear a simple white silk dress that showed her beautiful better than her armor she wore before, but Dax didn"t really give a s.h.i.+t about that at the current time.
"..."
Not responding to Solarris" teasing remark Dax simply continued to stare into her eyes as he released bloodl.u.s.t, making Solarris sigh after about a minute as she started explaining.
"You really are no fun huh? You"ve been summoned here because some of the council suspects you of supplying the Northern Republic with weaponry to harm us."
"That"s impossible."
"How so?"
"I don"t share my toys with anyone."
With a completely serious and stern tone Dax quickly answered in something that did not seem to be a joke at all.
"I"ll need way more information than that if I"m to come to your defence and help you survive this trail."
"I"m sure you do, I kinda feel the same."
"..."
"..."
Putting on a relaxed air Dax leaned back in his chair and waited for Solaris to come clean.
"Haa okay! About two weeks ago we registered a perimeter breach on the north side of the sanctuary, investigation revealed that is was a warband from the Northern Republic moving into our restricted territory. That by itself is not out of the ordinary, stuff like that happens every hundred years or so when the primitives start to forget our might so we sent a sentinel to wipe them out."
"A sentinel?"
"Those golden sphere"s. Anyway they somehow managed to disable that, which also in itself isn"t entirely unnatural, once every 1000 years the primitives mange to breed a hero powerful enough to take down a single sentinel, so we sent ten."
"And those ones were destroyed as well?"
Sensing a pattern Dax interdicted with a correct prediction.
"They were. By that point we knew something was wrong so we sent out a task force of 10 lesser angels-"
"Lesser?"
"One pair of wings, anyway they found out what we are currently dealing with. The Northern Republic seems to have figured out how to disrupt the flow of mana, and just a week after you used something like that against the first prince. Awfully good timing don"t you think?"
"It is indeed, but in the end it"s just a coincidence."
"Yeah it properly is, but you have to explain that to the council if you want to ever walk out of this sanctuary again."
"Are you f.u.c.kking s.h.i.+tting me?... Okay then, the how is not important right now, I need to know who I need to convince."
Realizing the angels dealt with a "guilty until proven innocent" style of law Dax understably cursed.
"Well, there are 9 seats on the high council, right now 2 including me support your innocence."
"So that means I need to at least convince 3 more members of the council?"
"More than 3."
"4?"
"7."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes. "To be speared once life after an accusation of direct harm against a snatuarry, the entire high council needs to be in agreement." Or so are the rules laid out, as far as I remember."
Seeing the completely serious response form Solaris Dax felt annoyance well up in him until he leaned back in his chair and groaned loudly.
"Just f.u.c.king go ahead and shoot me now please."
"We can"t have that now, not if your prior treat holds true."
Reminding Dax of their first encounter Solaris put on a serious face as she continued speaking.
"That is why I"m here, to help you survive."
Taking a few seconds Dax switched into a more serious gear.
"Okay then, please tell me about the council in greater detail."
"The council is the top authority in each sanctuary and are decided by oracle and hold their position until death, which is anywhere from 1 to 6000 years judged by their popularity."
"I taught angels are where immortal?"
"That is what we tell the world yeah, but sometimes angels are killed in duels or in disputes with other sanctuaries, if an angel lives a safe life they can get to be about 7.000 years before tiring of life and shutting themself off to the outer world."
"I see…. That"s about the age most qitons elders retire too."
"That"s news to me, is your race also eternal?"
"We were made that way yeah, I mostly lost count of my age but I should be about 800 years old. Anyway tell me about the other members on the council, who are they? and what are their opinions of me?"
"Wait, you"re 800 years old?"
"About that age yeah, you have a problem with that?~"
"No, it"s just that you don"t seem that m"
"That"s because the only thing in life I take seriously is work~ Now please answer my questions."
Cutting Solaris off with a warm looking smile she got the impression that she shouldn"t dig any deeper in that subject, and with a light cough she continued her explanation.
"Okay then. Like I said there are 8 other members on the council, one of them supports your innocence, and then there"s 3 that don"t care if you live or die, and finally 4 that want to kill you just for setting foot in this sanctuary."
"And I need to convince all of them to let me live… I"m guessing the 4 that want me dead are severely xenophobic?"
"Xenophobic?"
"Fear or hate towards what is presumed unknown."
As Dax explained the meaning of the foreign word Solaris released a slight chuckle which she quickly suppressed as she explained.
"That word describes us angels perfectly. But yeah, the 4 are particularly "xenophobic", and the 3 others are nearing the end of their active lifespans so they"ve mostly stopped caring about such things as hate, they just want to ensure the safety of the sanctuary."
"I see…. Well enough about all that, is there somewhere I can do some light training?"
"There is, you don"t seem awfully worried about all this."
"That"s because I"m not really worried. Anyway training before anything else, do you want to join me?"
"Ara~ I"ve been waiting for a rematch."
"Are both parties ready!?"
"Yeah~"
"Let"s go."
In a truly ma.s.sive empty room with nothing more than solid marble floor and roof a small group had gathered to witness what would not turn out to be a "light spar". Behind a large array of protection magic stood Terra as she acted as unwilling referee for the match, and behind her a few benches had been set up were the rest of Dax"s group had gathered to spectate. On the other side of the field curious spectators had also gathered, a group of about 20 angels quietly spoke amongst themselves as they closely watched Dax. Dax himself stood in the middle of the field, with light clothing he lazely swung a golden longsword he had borrowed as he looked at his opponent. Solaris had changed out of her silk dress and now wore light white and golden training clothes, that further emphasised her body and where most likely the reason most of the male spectators on both sides had shown up. As her wings fluttered excitedly she wore a confident smile as she swung a golden spear she appeared to have entirely mastered.
"I will reiterate for clarity, Dax is not allowed to employ mana jamming, and in exchange Solaris will not employ anything other than strengthening magic. This is a light spar, not a fight to the death! 3… 2… 1... Begin!"
With that signal Dax charged ahead, closing the 10 meter gap between him and Solaris immediately as he completely ignored the dangers of closing range against a spear user. Solaris responded by taking a defensive stance as she dug in her heels and trusted her spear against Dax"s chest with deadly speed.
"Too slow."
Sidestepping Solaris" spear by forcefully breaking his own center of balance, Dax moved into range as he swung down his sword aiming for the neck. Keeping her cool Solaris stepped back a step as she swept her spear sideways in an attempt to completely shatter Dax"s ribs. Dax responded to that by once more braking his own stance and slipped below Solaris" strike as he trust his sword forward aiming for the neck once more. Solaris had properly expected that, and with a smile she spread her six wings and created a gust as she flew about 10 meters back.
"Hey that"s not fair."
"Why? This is just another employment of strengthening magic~ But I have to say you"re good, I honestly didn"t expect that as I"ve only seen you overpower people with your strength or superior weaponry."
"That"s because qiton combat doctrine dictates "appropriate force", afterall there"s no reason to use techniques when strength alone is enough. But to think you"ve been watching me, I didn"t expect to acquire a stalker so soo-"
Before Dax was able to finish his words Solaris charged as she left marks in the solid marble floor below and swung her spear in a clear attempt to decapitate Dax. Ducking under the spear swing Dax trust forward his sword, but was unexpectedly meet with Solaris" fist that landed solidly in his chest and sent him flying. Landing a few meters back on his feet Dax bloomed into a now even larger smile.
"Did I say something I shouldn"t have?~ You"re not bad yourself."
"Huh? that puch should have shattered you chest, how come you"re still alive~"
With a warm smile Solaris complained about the stubbornness of her opponent as she prepared to charge him again, but was interrupted as someone ran out in front of her.
"Stop stop STOP! This fight is over!"
"But Terra I was just getting warmed up, be-"
"No buts! Dax you"ve clearly been aiming for lethal strikes this entire time! And Solaris too! What the h.e.l.l was that about wanting to shatter his chest, this is a non lethal fight!"
With Terra"s outburst the fighting came to a hold as Dax sat down on the floor and Solaris breathed a deep sigh like it could,t be helped before she commented.
"That"s some disciple you have Dax."
"Yeah don"t encourage her please, it gets to her head."