Even though I had won the succession battle for the house seat it somehow felt like I had lost. It had been three months since I had become house head, despite my immediate and decisive actions it had been an uphill battle, I had immediately dispatched hundred elf commander Beinon and his squad to patrol the outskirts of the Van Rost territories to ensure our neighbors didn’t choose this time of instability to strike. I then called all the house forces back from wherever they had been sent so I could have an idea of the might and size of my forces, then finally I had requested for all the house financial books to be brought to me to see how badly we were doing.

As the days flew by the people that had been in power had covertly fought me with all their might slowing procedures that would have taken days to weeks instead. The former elders, now advisers, had stated that using the black sword clan to patrol the borders of our territory would send a bad message to the two neighboring noble houses, it would have them believe I was a puppet head for the black sword clan and sow distrust among our own forces. I ignored the old geezers on this one, if they expected me to send Van Rost house forces when I had yet to certify where everyone’s allegiance lie, they were joking.

When I had issued the decree for all Van Rost forces to return back to the main house, some squad commanders had deemed me unfit to obey, I immediately moved to rectify this problem. I seized the family members of every captain whose squad had yet to return and locked them in the deepest dungeons I could find. On hearing this soldiers rushed back in mass, gathering at the front of the main house in anger. After I was sure most of the squads had returned I then gathered the captains who had out right rejected my authority and them along with their family twice removed, I exiled them from the Van Rost territories and place kill orders on their heads if they were ever seen within our borders.

This harsh and drastic action not only served on weeding out those who weren’t loyal to me, it also put the fear of whatever deity they believed in into them. My final master piece on the military end was the organization of the tournament and the establishment of the tower. The tournament was held two months after my acknowledgment as house head.

As Beinon carried his hundred man squad on patrol of the Van Rost territory, they were informed to place notices on every inn wall and town board that they find announcing a martial tournament at the Van Rost city, the price being for third place five hundred gold coins, second place one thousand gold coins and finally for first place a thousand five hundred gold coins and a sword technique manuscript, the very one I had been making on the carriage ride from the black sword mansion to the Van Rost main house. The gold would attract the masses while the sword manuscript would attract the experts. Needles to say it was a smashing success, with the locals only having to pay one copper to watch the fights, we made most of the prize money back, but the real windfall came when I gathered the Loft clan members I trusted the most and went on a recruiting spree. All fighters that made it into the final two hundred and did not have a clan or house emblem were immediately poached into my forces, with those who actually made it into the top fifty been offered squad captain positions.

The tower, on the other end of the spectrum, was meant to attract mages who had yet to swear fealty to a house or a clan. immediately After wrestling the house leadership from Vanlathriel’s grasp and through successfully hosting the tournament I had been madly writing, producing a mid level sword manuscript and a low level movement technique that would serve as the technique of my special forces, I then dedicated the rest of my time in writing instruction manuals for first tier elemental spells. Fireball, water cage, earth spike, lightning spark and wind blade, to the nobles these were paltry spells that they could acquire easily, but to those without political backing it was slightly more difficult, but this was only to get their attention. Once they came to the tower to see these spells, after a small donation for the up keep of the tower of course, they would quickly find out that the tower had spells from all the basic elemental affinities all the way up to the third tier, this was what truly stirred chaos on the continent.

Among the mages not born into nobility, this was like gold falling from the skies, they sprinted down to Van Rost city to find out what they had to do to see these scrolls, that’s where things got tricky. To see all the spell scrolls till the third tier they would have to pledge themselves in service to me for three hundred years. For the young elf that had yet to see his first century this would be considered entrapment of the highest order, but it was because they were elves that the mages instantly snapped up this offer. To the elves, the most honorable way of life was with a sword on your hip, mages were considered at best second class citizens and that was only because they helped the sword clans be more effective. The mages lucky enough to be born into nobility were given the support of the clan so that one day they would march into battle, short of that even if beams of light split the heavens and divine beings descended on a mage instructing the entire elfendom to hail him as a hero, people would promptly ignore the light show and go about their daily business, but that was only while they were without skill. As soon as a mage does something of some repute or displays a measure of skill, the usually docile clans transform into ravenous beast and ripped themselves apart to lay claim to them. Instead of throwing my shaky house into various bids for prominent mages and loose out, I decided that like any decent sport franchise I’d rob the cradle. I went after the young, all below the age of twenty, I offered to test their potential for magic for free, something that would have cost them a whole silver coin and a long trip to the learning grounds, which was the only place outside the capital territories that could test ones potential for magic. I offered boarding, for those whose children decided to stay, at a reduce price of course, and then offered them employment as soon as they had mastered the third tier spells.

On the other hand the nobles were in an uproar. The other clans that made up house Van Rost demanded to see the scrolls I had put into the tower, stating I was using the house property for my own benefits. The black sword clan scrambled to inform their patriarch, my grandfather, that his grandson was throwing pearls to swine and finally from the elfin capital across the ocean the minister of magic, yes you heard me, more officially known as the second war minister sent a strongly worded letter demanding I hand over the scrolls in my possession or the royal palace would not be pleased.

I politely informed the clans of Van Rost that since I had never been within their libraries they had no right to ask to be in mine, slightly hinting that the next time they demanded something from me I would behead everyone who signed the petition. I then sent an empty box to the second war minister with a note stating in summary you can’t eat what you don’t cook. What bothered me however was the black sword clan was yet to make a move, which did not bode well.

Three months of suffering and beating of political nobles with a stick and what would finally bring me down was our finances. I sat on the cold stone floor of the main hall my eyes going over line after line of words and numbers detailing the financial history of the house for the last twenty years, if I had left Vanlathriel for another year the clans would have been broke. Things were not as bad as I thought they’d be but they were way worse than I hoped. Thinking rationally, cousin Glander having a named sword, managing to convince the crimson merchant house among others to witness an illegal coronation, having all five elders go along with her plans. Vanlathriel had spared no expense in her quest to put her son in power, unfortunately for me the expenses were mine to bear. At first the other clans within the house tried to conspire to hide this from me, I instantly withdrew all trading rights to any clan that didn’t have cohesive documentation and like all nobility whose gold is threatened they folded like a pack of cards. But their most recent escapade had gotten on my last nerve. Two of the former elders had packed up their entire clan and attempted to leave, what had pissed me of was the gold, secret scrolls and military secrets that they had attempted to leave with. Along with Beinon and his hundred man squad I rode them down, quickly catching up to the two clans, I had them searched from top to bottom stripping them of any documents or things of value before I had the two elders beheaded in front of their clan members and then issued an edict stripping the two clans of their given last names, relegating them from noble clans to commoners as they all stared at me in horror I banished them from the house territory on pain of death. On my return, silence greeted me, the other clans were waiting to see how I would handle the matter, if I had shown weakness or leniency they would have torn me apart, but they had gone too far in probing my patients. I had summoned all the leaders for each clan to the main hall, ready to go on a beheading spree when my eyes had fallen on the weird throne I had seen Glander on, more out of curiosity than any other thing I placed my hand on it and sent a spiral of neutral energy into it the reaction was more than I ever imagined.

So now I sat on the floor of the main hall facing the strange throne and going over the financial figures of the house while waiting for all the clan leaders to gather but my temper was much improved. “my lord all the clan heads are present”, Vareyen said from the entrance of the hall, her tone had lost its mocking ring since I had thrashed Glander but it was too late, I had already noted those that were loyal to me when I pretended to be weak and also those that had spat on me. “Show them in, I will speak to them all at once” I said and began to roll up the scrolls I had been scrutinizing but did not get up from the floor.

“WE GREET THE HOUSE LEADER!” the three advisers and five clan leaders shouted as soon as they had all entered the hall. I studied the carefully schooled faces of the older elves in front of me, it seemed that they had finally learnt not to underestimate me. “What? Nobody has any objection of me beheading your dearest friends and then banishing their clans after stripping them of everything of value in their possession”, I asked in a deadpanned voice and straight face. Most of them cringed at this proclamation but none of them took the bait. “I called you all here to make the future of this house clear to you and also to see if there is a place for any of you in this future” I said as I glanced over each and every one of them, “but first if there is any clan that wishes to break away from the house of Van Rost let them speak now and after they are searched thoroughly for any property of the house they will be escorted safely to the border. However if any clan member is seen sneaking away in the dead of night like a common thief with clan property without permission or reasonable explanation I WILL CUT OFF THEIR FUCKING HEADS!” I bellowed at them and they all collectively winced. I exhaled loudly while jumping to my feet and dusting my rump exaggeratingly, “you must all forgive my manners, it’s been a trying period for me, I have discovered some disturbing financial trends that Vanlathriel carried out with the clans treasury even though she wasn’t the clan head” I said letting my gaze wonder over to the remaining three former elders, “however if I try to accuse any of you of misdoings you will all blame it on your dead friends wont you?” I asked and with another sigh I turned back to the throne.

“from today onward ten percent of all trades exceeding twenty thousand gold coins will be paid to the main house, request for security escorts for business or personal use will be filled in a month in advance and five percent of the cost of feeding and housing the soldiers requested will be footed by the requesting party” I said and began to walk towards the throne, as I gave each proclamation the face of the various clan leaders became more and more pale but I was far from done. “each clan is only allowed five hundred clan guards standing in the main house the rest will be sent to their various clan houses, large scale movement of troupes is prohibited apart from when the clan leader says so, hmm is that everything? Oh one more thing if by the end of this month you all decide to stay, you will each send one child below the age of five to the main house as a hostage” I said before turning round to face them and adding, “apart from the Loft clan they are exempted from this all”.

The look of disbelief was almost worth all the hassle they put me through for the last month, the protest however came from an unexpected source. “Is this the sort of leadership we can expect from you young Tal, such blatant favoritism might need to be brought to the attention of the royal families” Vanlathriel said as she waltzed into the hall, it seemed she had yet to learn her lesson in crossing me. I unleashed my killing aura across the room encasing everyone present, tyrannical, oppressive, soul shaking, these were words my mother, a sword saint who was a few centuries from becoming a sage of the sword, used to describe my killing aura, what hope did they have. Instantly everyone in the hall fell to their knees, I moved with the lightning fall step crossing the room in the blink of an eye and appearing before Vanlathriel as she gasped for breath. “The next time you address me you would do so as your lord or you will not have a tongue to address me with again dearest aunt, do I make myself clear?” I asked, she nodded vigorously and I withdrew my aura from the room. “as for the accusation tell the royal families anything you want as of two weeks ago they acknowledged me as the official head of the Van Rost house” I said leaning into my aunts personal space, her eyes widened in shock, I am assuming she thought she would have more time to petition the royal family and she probably would have if I hadn’t been intercepting her letters to the capital for the last three months. “Forgive me my lord, I spoke out of place” she said lowering her eyes, it was the best course of action, act compliant until I let my guard down then stab me in the back, but having actually been stabbed in the back already I was more than up to the task of foiling all her attempts.

“in a week’s time, I will hold a banquet to celebrate me becoming the head of this once great house” I said as I walked back to the pile of documents i had been studying and picked up a scroll, “we will be using both the receiving hall and the main hall, you may invite whoever you wish to this celebration, but only my guest will be allowed into the main hall, clan Loft will be in charge of this ceremony” I said throwing the scroll to the newly appointed adviser from clan Loft. The atmosphere in the room became slightly tense before one of the advisers stepped forward, “adviser Taust from the Kahl clan Lord Tal, forgive my forwardness but the celebratory banquet is meant to be held by Lady Vanlathriel as is our custom”, the green haired elf said. I scanned the room once more, looking at the hidden look of joy as the nobles before me plotted to have the organizing of the event transferred to Vanlathriel so that they could trade invitations to the event for political favors, “after the way she ran the house in my father’s absence I wouldn’t thrust her to organize a children’s party” I simply stated, and every elf in the hall gasped in surprise. In Elvin society insults and barbs were hidden in compliments and simple gestures, a silver necklace instead of a gold one at a daughters introduction to society ball, a fan instead of a sword at a sons first hunt, implying that a noble ladies dress seems familiar when at a ball, these were the usual slights that they would receive, so my statement was like a bull rampaging in a china shop. My hand swept downwards gathering a pile of financial document, “a named sword for her son, two villas in our southern territory, gold bridles for the first son of house Van Flint’s first hunt, these ridiculous expenses where paid from the main house’s purse and you all let her do as she wished”, as I had stated each expenditure I flung the corresponding document at them and they collectively winced on each count, I turned to face my aunt to see hatred in her eyes. “Such insults flung at me Lord Tal, if you give me a chance I will regain your thrust” she said putting on what I assume she thought was a sincere face.

“Hahaha, my days you have no shame woman”, I laughed explosively as I gazed at her in shock. I dipped my hand into my pocket and pulled out a hair pin, a golden hair pin with a single red gem embedded into it. As soon as Vanlathriel saw the pin her face became quite something to behold, it had taken a lot of begging for my mother to let me go back and look for it, but I had found it and kept it on me at all times to remind me how deadly these tree buggers were. “Tell me again how I should trust you dear aunt” I asked displaying the golden hair pin in my hand, Vanlathriel had become extremely quite before bowing slightly and backing away, “that’s what I thought”.

After that things went a little more smoothly, the clans reported the trades they would like to initiate with other clans both here and in the capital, some put in requests for protection as their families moved out of the main house while Vanlathriel sulked as the meeting of the house leaders came to a close and they all left and I continued to study the weirdly shaped throne.

“My lord, your supper” a female voice said from outside the door jerking me out of my thoughts, with a grunt of acknowledgment from me a familiar maid walked in. Felina, which to me sounded surprisingly close to feline, reminded me strongly of my personal assistant back in my old world, unassuming and easily forgotten on first glance Patrice was my eyes and ears in my company often able to tell when the partners were conniving and giving me heads up when she heard any juicy office gossip, Felicia had smoothly stepped in to fill this void. After suffering under the unreasonable regime of Vanlathriel, the maids were pleased at her fall from grace but cautious about how to approach the new lord of the Rost mansion. I had swiftly re-assigned those who had tried to get into my bed to another noble and instead brought the ones who were more world savvy closer to me, leading the pack in this group was Felina. Nothing happened within the mansion without Felina knowing about it, if you needed something obtained Felina could either get it for you, knew somebody who could or knew how to get it, needless to say I had immediately recruited her into my camp.

“Felina, what is this chair made of?” I asked fixing my gaze back on the weirdly shaped throne at the same time giving her permission to enter. She swiftly stepped into the hall, holding the door open for three maids behind her to enter carrying trays laden with food, before she answered. “forgive me my lord, I do not know what metal that is, however I am aware that lord Marcion’s father was the one that discovered it” Felina said as she ushered the remaining maids out of the hall.

As soon as my father’s name came up I felt palpable rage swell within me. When I awakened as the elf Tal, I had immediate and instant access to my mother, but my father was nowhere to be found, but with everyone from the Loft clan to the black sword clan singing his praises I assumed he was a good person. Marcion Van Rost was the other half of the swords men that made up the pair that was him and my mother, the white swords saint and the crimson blade saint, the prodigies of the black sword clan and the Van Rost house had been lauded as the future generals of their generation, even though their statuses were like heaven and earth their union was met with criticism at first eventually the whole elfendom had nodded in support of the match, then I heard mothers side of the story.

I suppressed the rage building within me and instead sat down in front of the feast laid out before me. Fun fact elves aren’t vegetarians, on the steaming pile of food in front of me was wild pig, deer, hare and fresh water fish along with a few bowls of soup and freshly baked bread. The elves, while loving meat in all forms and states did not however rare livestock for the sole purpose of eating them, intriguing really, all the meat found on an elfish dinner table was usually bought from hunters who went into the wild to hunt game. “Report your findings” I said to Felina as I began to dig into the meal.

Removing a tightly sealed scroll from the folds of her robe and handing it over to me, Felina began to speak. “After your announcement this afternoon, three of the clans reached out to other houses requesting sanctuary, one of the captains of the clan guards is offering clan secrets to the house of Van Fin in exchange for a similar position in their guard core and Lady Vanlathriel has ordered more jade poison” she said, the last part as my hand reached for the wine pitcher on one of the trays, as jade poison was best served with wine I decided to forgo this pleasure until further notice. I wiped my hands on a cleaning cloth before breaking the seal on the scroll my eyes glancing through its content before sighing in praise.

Along with the tidbits she had just stated, there was various other information written down, not only that beside each one was a detailed description of how the information was obtained be it from the chamber maid, stable boy or mistress listening to her lover sleep talk, everything was written down. “I don’t know if I should be proud or terrified” I said partly to myself as I looked up from the scroll to gaze at Felina, “the lord praises me too much” she simply replied. I rolled the scroll back up to pursue it later on and resumed demolishing the feast before me as Felina looked on in amazement, “Where does all the food go?” she asked, her gaze filled with wonder as I tore through the second tray and began on the third, I raised a single eyebrow before I responded, “mage or warrior, all those who walk down the path of cultivation have increased appetite, you will soon experience this”.

“What!” Felina exclaimed, her eyes wide in shock. On discovering Felina’s gift of ferreting out information I had immediately written out a manuscript for a movement technique from the stock pile of information that Shikubu had left me, so if she should ever get in trouble she would have the ability to escape but it seemed she was unaware of the side effect of increased metabolism that all cultivators suffered. “At least you won’t have to ever worry your weight” I stated simply as various emotions flashed across Felina’s face. I drained the bowl of soup in one go before rising to my feet, rubbing my none existent belly in satisfaction, “show me how far along your fairy flight is” I said giving her my full attention for the first time since she entered, with a sigh she began.

She took a deep breath to calm herself then her body began to sway from side to side, like a pendulum defying gravity, slowly increasing in momentum until her body blurred and she flashed across the hall to stand besides the large windows, then again she blurred to stand besides the throne and finally one more time to stand besides the door before, with a gasp, she fell to her knees. For three months of practice three fairy steps was impressive but to tell her that might give her an unnecessary inflated sense of herself, “three steps is impressive but I won’t send you into the field until you can do a hundred steps consecutively” I simply stated and watched her face rise with the praise and fall with the follow up statement. I let a strand of energy run through my pathways and my body swayed to the right once before I launched myself to the windows, then the door back to the throne and across the other side of the hall repeatedly, “the trick with fairy flight is not power but technique, don’t pause between steps, see everything as one continuous gentle motion, like a fairy in flight” I stated as I increased the pace before abruptly coming to a stop in front of the throne, “minimize the energy used, eliminated excessive movement and remember the breathing technique”.

After a couple of hours discussing who I wanted her to gather information on and general instructions on various things I wanted monitored for the upcoming feast, we went our separate ways, her with the empty trays towards the kitchen and me towards my chamber on the topmost floor of the manor.

As the days flew past the activities around the manor intensified, as tables were brought in, curtains and carpets were put in place and barrels of wine were rolled out of the cellar. The general attitude in the manor was celebratory as the locals realized that once again the house of Van Rost was having a party. I tried my hardest to stay out of the commotion but that soon proved futile as Vareyen arrived with the tailor the Loft clan had chosen to make my attire for the event and found out we had very different ideas on what that attire would be. While elves normally wore robes that were earth toned or dull in color, for festivities they went all out. When I stated I would be wearing a blood red robe with no gems or rings whatsoever the tailor almost fainted, but after given her creative freedom on the robe as long as it remained one color, she reluctantly backed down. The second tribulation came when it was time to respond to the various request by the various clans and dignitaries that wished to ‘celebrate this joyous occasion with me’, while some of the advisers would approve one dignitary, the others would refuse and eventually it would be up to me to decide who. As all good things come in threes, the final tribulation was seating arrangement and that was the real pain as the advisers and clan leaders almost came to blows as they fought over the most favorable seating for their various allies, I suddenly regretted mocking Matthias when he was planning for his wedding.

It was the evening before the celebrations were to commence and I was hiding in a corner of the private gardens reading various scrolls I had pilfered from the main houses library. After my acknowledgement by the royal family I was now legally clan head even though I didn’t have it in writing, so I had access to the main house library and the clan’s library even though I refused to enter the library of the clans. As I sat among the roses, I felt two energy signatures approach me, one I recognized one I didn’t. “Lord Tal you have a guest” Vareyen simply stated before stepping aside revealing a black haired elf behind her. I rose to my feet with a welcoming smile as I felt a twinge of annoyance, I had left specific instructions not to disturb me under any circumstance in case I was practicing some of my hidden techniques, “you may leave Vareyen, I have no need of you” I dismissed Vareyen at the same time throwing a slightly veiled barb her way, You could almost see a vein explode in her forehead as she gave a slight bow before exiting the garden. The little exchange had not gone unnoticed by my guest, who I was now give the full brunt of my stare, not allowing Vareyen to introduce him was a power move, without a title to stand on he would start from a position he was most unfamiliar with, for a few seconds we simply stared at each other before he started talking, “greetings Lord Tal, I am Angrod of the clan Leronde belonging to the house of Van Linterg, we are the merchant clan of the great house of Linterg” he stated pausing for a bit, when I neither responded or reacted in any way he coughed awkwardly and continued, “lady Vanlathriel was kind enough to point me in your direction, I hope I have found you in a favorable mood”.

I sighed in frustration as I realized what this was, Vanlathriel was trying to shove this person into my good graces. I sat back down on the garden bench and was about to continue with the manuscript I was previously reading but as if realizing he was losing my attention he hurriedly took a step forward and switched tactics. “Our house head, lord Madilhan had the good fortune to speak with lady Erulasse” he said with slight panic in his voice, I slowly lifted my head back up, his house head had spoken with my mom who was currently at the capital city, “speak” I simply stated closing the manuscript before me.

“yes, ha-ha, during the course of the evening your Lady Erulasse made it known that you showed interest in war beast, on hearing the royal family approved you appointment as house head my lord immediately ordered us to presents ourselves bearing his congratulations and gifts” Angrod said bowing as he finished explaining. In translation, his lord on hearing I had managed to fight of Vanlathriel for the house seat, remembered hearing somewhere that my mom had hinted that I was interested in the strange animals of this world, so he sent this fellow to suck up to me. “I thank you and your lord for his consideration, come you will stay within castle Rost for tomorrows celebration and I will send you on your way with an escort the day after” I said, since there was no way I was weaseling out of this I might as well make myself out to be the good guy. “my lord we would not dare to impose ourselves on you in such a way, and we have to escort young master to the harbor so he can meet our lord in the capital city” Angrod said hoping I would extend my protection of security because without my consent another house could not freely ride through my territory but with it, their journey would be cut in half and they would journey under my protection, he was good. “Nonsense, you will stay with us and I will have you escorted all the way the harbor, I will even place you on a ship to the capital myself” I said jovially and began leading Angrod out of the rose garden, “you said the young master was with you?” I coxed after I had pressured the elf into promising he would attend the celebration, but as soon as the question left my lips, I saw him visibly wince.

Ooh, I wonder what’s wrong with the young master that would cause such a reaction, I thought to myself. As I waited for the reply we walked towards the front of the Rost estate, fire flies buzzed around us as the cool breeze of the evening swept across the entrance of the garden, just as Angrod opened his mouth to reply my earlier question a fierce roar rose from the front yard of the estate. I raised an eyebrow in question to Angrod but he merely chuckled and indicated for me to see for myself, as I took the last turn that would bring the entrance of the estate into view, what appeared before me was a massive cage made of black steel bars, within that cage paced a saber tooth tiger, a saber tooth tiger that had been overdosing on steroids since the moment it was born.

The beast must have measured from its highest point, which was its shoulders, to the ground at least six feet, but its most impressive part was not its height it was its width, it was broad in every sense of the word, I could stand on its back my feet spread shoulder length apart and still not be in danger of falling off, It was black in color with green thick stripes and from nose to rump it was eighteen feet long, its claws and massive teeth were blue in color and its wild eyes were golden surrounded by a black circle.

“I take it lord Tal approves of this gift” Angrod said, a hint of amusement in his voice. From his tone I’m guessing my desire to posses this magnificent beast was written all over my face but just as I was about to respond I felt something probe me. It wasn’t the quick jab that I had come to attribute to an enemy mage trying to assess his opponent’s strength, it was a primal grasp as something tried to preemptively dissuade me from coming forward. I visually scanned the yard looking for the fool who had dared challenge me to a mages duel when my eyes settled on the beast within the cage. “this…… this is a mana beast” I softly said almost disbelievingly, I turned to face Angrod who had a shocked look on his face but on seeing I was facing him he immediately schooled his expression to a calm one. “Yes my lord, we came across this at the human port city of Ranthum were it was been auctioned as war mount so we bought it, it was until much later that one of our top mages realized it was of the mana beast variety, it was meant for the youngest daughter of house Linterg but our lord thought it would be most appropriate if you had it instead” Angrod said casting a gaze on the beautiful beast. I had long since left Angrod’s side and approached the steel cage gaze locked with the beast as it followed my every move ignoring the elves that had been pushing the cage previously, it narrowed its eyes and once again sent out a pulse of energy, this time it was no longer exploratory but meant to instill fear in me. The beast aura slowly began to rise in waves out of its body as it crouched low to the ground and bared its claws and fangs at me, a deep growl radiated from deep within its chest and suddenly I was surrounded by a primal killing aura. the beast had recognized me as a threat and immediately sort to dissuade me from attempting to tame it, I smirked at the flimsy aura randomly barraging me, it was without form or focus, meaning the beast was still quite young, probably raised in captivity, I let my aura storm out of my body before building it to a fine point which I used to pierce straight through the aura around me and straight at the massive cat, its eye lids began to droop and his growls ceased immediately as his aura clashed with mine and immediately capsized, right about now it would seem to the big cat that there was not enough air for it to breath as my aura flooded over every inch of it.

As I continued to pressure the big cat, it began to crawl backwards in the cage trying to get as far away from me as it could, but with a wave of my hand the metal bars of the cage closest to me began to bend and twist until there was a hole large enough for me to step through. As I walked into the cage I heard the gasps of the cage handlers and the beginning of a warning from Angrod, the big cat seeing its chance prepared to leap at me but with a thought I summoned a ball of fire besides me and instantly the beast froze. Since the beginning of time all creature have had a healthy respect for fire and in connection to that a healthy respect for anyone or thing that controlled it, the beast eyes darted between me and the floating ball of fire and wisely decided it was not in its best interest to attack me. Slowly but surely it withdrew its aura and adopted a much less aggressive stance, I slowly placed a palm in the middle of its head, allowing my fingers to run through its amazingly soft fur, before slowly backing out of the cage and restoring the bars to their previous form.

As I allowed myself to relax I noticed that the little scenario had drawn a small crowd from both the manor and its surrounding, up to fifty elves were gazing at me from various positions in the front yard, “have the beast brought up to my chambers” I commanded a vaguely familiar elf, at the same time dispelling the fireball floating besides me. “Once again Angrod you have my thanks for this wonderful g……” I began turning towards Angrod to thank him but beside him stood another brown haired male elf, with pure white eyes. “lord Tal, allow me to introduce you to the second son of the house of Van Linterg, young master Lairden” Angrod said, in way of introduction, gesturing to the elf besides him but by that time I wasn’t listening anymore, I was too busy throwing every form of magical defense between my soul and the individual beside me as horror coursed through my veins, after all its best to hide your secret from the eyes of a god.