Divine Beast Ascension

“I see... But it’s not me who decides that, nor the lead assistant. It’s Rhyner. I’m just following orders...” Jarrit sighed as he held up a small scroll, the same sort of paper that the hawk had given to both Hurman and Reginol. “If you have a complaint, you’ll either have to storm into his study or wait for him to call you in and state your case. Arguing with me won’t help either of us.”

“That’s true, I suppose.” Glancing over the note written on Jarrit’s scroll, Claud turned his back to the study doors and resumed his seat. “We may as well use this time to get caught up on each other’s workloads. Don’t you think?”

“I suppose that would be the best use of this time,” agreed Reginol. He sat down as Claud activated the formation on one of his rings, creating a silenced barrier just big enough for the two of them.

Waving to the merchants with a kind smile, Jarrit didn’t offer them any more words. He let them do as they wished and went about his own business, leading everyone else to the double doors ahead. Jarrit finally grabbed the door handle and the others parted to allow Oli to come to the front. “Are you ready to meet the territory leader?”

“I wish I was asked that before you brought me here...” joked Oli, getting a chuckle out of the old mage. “Guess I’m ready as I’ll ever be, so why not?”

“Great words. And don’t worry, he won’t bite unless you bite first.”

.....

After his little warning, Jarrit pulled the door open. Oli was let in first, followed by Hurman. Jarrit, Lizbeth, and the professors entered last, shutting the door carefully behind them. Jarrit remained one step back from Oliver and Lizbeth was a step behind Hurman. Nixt and Bastol both went to either side of the study, standing in front of the vast bookshelves that line both sidewalls. This left Oli in the center of the spacious room with Hurman only a few steps behind him, boxed in by those that had hosted the tournament.

Oli’s eyes hurriedly scanned over the room. He paid attention to the tall, long bookshelves that made up the two longest walls, along with their sliding ladders that would allow anyone to reach any book or scroll. The side opposite the double doors was raised five steps higher than the rest of the room. Two small futons were up there, but the most eye-catching piece of furniture was the large desk with various sorts of hawks carved into the side panels. There was a different hawk used as each of the desk’s four legs.

There were two people at that end of the room. A woman was sat on a futon but quickly stood up and smiled at those entering. Her vestiture was the more ornate that Oli had seen from anyone in the entire city, adorned with gold and silver jewelry along with her emerald green dress. But the simply dressed man behind the desk was who Oli focused on. His black cape and plain, white shirt naturally stood out, but they were even more eye-catching thanks to his medium-length blonde hair and tattered blonde facial hair, looking to be in his early thirties.

“Liz!”

“Hi, Mom.”

After the well-dressed woman with light brown hair descended the few steps, she came to Libeth and threw her arms around the blonde beauty. “It’s been so long... You should visit more often.”

“Mom... You know I’m busy with work. I’ll try to come by more often but no promises, okay?”

“That’s fine, as long as I get to see you more often,” chuckled the older woman. But her age clearly wasn’t showing as Oli would’ve guessed they were sisters before picturing them as mother and daughter.

Shaking his head, the man at the desk chuckled, “Lizza... we have company at the moment.”

“Sorry, dear.” The woman walked back to her former seat, inspecting Oli closely as she walked past him.

“Forgive my wife for her unprofessionalism. That’s just something we’ve had to get used to...” As the man stood up, he brushed his hand over the edge of his desk and created a silencing barrier throughout the room. “I’m Rhyner Trighton, the current leader of the Trighton territory and the founder of Trighton Institute. It’s pleasure to meet such a promising young talent like you, Oliver.”

“The feeling is mutual, if not the other way around. It’s an honor to meet such a prestigious figure,” replied Oli, showing a humble bow.

“As expected, you’re well mannered despite not coming from a noble family... You chose well this year, Hurman.”

Grinning softly, Hurman shook his head. “I was only lucky. That’s all.”

“Indeed...”

Rhyner’s eyes lingered on Hurman for a moment longer than expected. Then he eyed Oli once again but without saying a word. The pregnant pause waned awkwardly until it gave birth to a strange tension in the room. But Rhyner’s sudden laughter cut through that as he sat back down and leaned into the back of his chair. “So you’re the one who managed to defeat Burt? I was surprised to see you have such an interesting nature for your dark essence, but the soul arts left me even more startled. You’re quite the showman, Oliver. You gave the crowd exactly what they wanted and left everyone jarred in confusion when Jarrit was forced to stop the match prematurely.”

“I’m still amazed that I won at all,” stated Oli. “I’ve never heard of someone having three essences before, let alone four... By the way, do you happen to know Burt, Master Rhyner?”

Half-smiling, Rhyner dodged that question with his own, “What I want to know is how someone as talented as you never showed up on my radar until today... Would you care to explain?”

“Of course. To put it in a few words, I’m a wandering cultivator that was raised as a nomad before getting separated from my parents.”