The disciples of the House of Selvano lived in the lower sides of West Leazra Mountain while the outer disciples lived in the Learz Plains between West and East Leazra Mountain. The actual mansion, or rather, the castle of the House of Selvano is on the sides of the highest Helvana Peak on the tallest Helvana Mountain. Disciples rarely go to a Selvano family gathering since Helvana Peak was hard to reach. Even today's gathering only consisted of inner disciples and elders from the Lower Helvana Peak. The courtyard and guest waiting rooms were filled with tired disciples and exhausted elders since early in the morning, far earlier than the time when the sole successor of the House of Selvano woke up.
The Lower Helvana Peak was a lower peak located pretty much in the middle of the mountain where closer relatives of the Selvanos, inner disciples and elders lived. There were caves and small indentations but nothing notable above Lower Helvana Peak other than the section where the House of Selvano stood. The servant fairies lived in the fairy world near the Lower Helvana Peak since they had the full-time job of serving these people unlike most of the servants under the House of Selvano. Fairies were not small creatures. Fairies are indeed petite in their looks, especially female fairies but they were the size of babies instead. Their pair of butterfly-like wings can strain to extend tip to tip from one end to the other end of the corridor. And this is talking about the corridor of the Selvano mansion. Since two and a half Warrior Orcs can fit into the general corridor of the mansion, it was not a small size. Most of the unassigned fairies helped to carry the weaker disciples from Lower Helvana Peak to the House of Selvano's mansion. The rest helped their assigned disciple or elder up the mountain.
"Remind me, why are we going up?" a tired voice asked in a slightly exasperated tone.
"The young master is having his sixteenth birthday! We must be there for the morning trials and feasts as summoned by Master Selvano," an overexcited voice replied while fairy dust sprinkled the ground, "I'm quite excited seeing that I've never met the young master. I've never been to the top of Helvana Peak since ever!"
"We aren't going to the very top, that's a sacred forbidden place. The House of Selvano is located on the sides of Helvana Peak. Anyways, aren't you supposed to help me travel up?" the exasperated disciple asked with a raised eyebrow. He was not one to complain but this fairy isn't doing much on the 'helping' side and seems more like 'accompanying' him.
"I am! My fairy dust will not let you freeze under the extreme cold and I will guide you to the Main House via the Helvana Fairy's Imprint. We'll never get lost in Helvana Mountain!" the voice was proud and the not-so-small fairy whizzed around the disciple as if to prove a point.
"Then where are we?" came the deadpan question of the disciple.
"We're not far from the Main House," the fairy started to speak before she realized the disciple seemed to be mocking her intelligence, "hey! I do know where we're going. There are no trails and paths from Lower Helvana Peak to the Main House and most of the Helvana Mountain is covered by an icy landscape and some dead trees. There are also formations, runes and natural disasters to guard the Peak!"
"I just want to know how far are we," he nearly screamed before he sighed and continued hiking, "whatever, I just wish the gathering wasn't at Helvana Peak. It's very far and we have no resources and rights to use the portal for all 127 disciples and 43 elders."
"We are very near!" the fairy exclaimed back.
"Really, Shelia? Then where's the Peak??"
"Right there," the slender hands of Shelia whipped to point at a certain direction and a vast sky spread with a tall and overwhelming castle built to the side of the white peak.
Oliver's mouth dropped. The House of Selvano was this close and he couldn't see it before being pointed out, how strong are the stealth magic formations? It can even divert someone's attention and make them see illusions of bare icy forests unless they're at the right place seeing the right direction. From where he is, the House of Selvano deserved the awe and respect of all of Lathen indeed. The mansion of the main family is simply breathtaking.
It was shaped like an eccentric medieval castle perched on Helvana Peak just below the highest point of the peak. There were 5 visible towers, from where Oliver stood and the outer walls were at least 10 stories. Three of the towers had their bases visible to him. According to the different heights they seemed to grow out from and the multitudes of defensive formations on it, it was likely doubling as the support of the whole castle in addition to being watchtowers. The snow was thinner where he stood and fades off into the dark ground like a natural path.
The castle-like structure was made of dark yet crystal-like materials. The walls were solid with mystifying symbols and runes to protect it. The many symbols were carved into the material, thus making it only visible when the light hits it perfectly. Oliver glanced up to look at the asymmetric tops of the tower. It was pointed with a large balcony of sorts at the very top. The tower's walls and the castle's outer walls were filled with intrinsic details and strategically positioned openings too. He wondered how detailed or obsessed the ancestors of the House of Selvano had to be to make a castle this glorious but put the thoughts behind him. The insides of the walls cannot be seen yet but one of the towers that were built even taller than the very top of Helvana Peak was clearly inside the walls.
Oliver tuned out Shelia who was beside him to look around his immediate environment more carefully. The place was warmer and the floating snow became undetectable air vapour as it approached the ground. An invisible air current made sure the path was cleared enough. Oliver dragged Shelia closer to the fading trail of melted snow towards the small plains leading to the castle. There were sparsely located elders, disciples and servants outside. They were tending to as well as receiving the 'guests'. Oliver neared one of the elders and flashed his identification mark and a sliver of his energy to be checked. The elder glanced at him before meticulously checking the mark and energy, comparing them to the list of invited disciples.
"Welcome, Oliver. Proceed to the entrance and follow the servants there. The fairy shall join the other servants of the castle for the day," the elder politely remarked and pointed at the large doorway before turning back to his business.
Oliver nodded and walked towards the doorway. He waved briefly at Shelia as a goodbye. Even though she was barely helpful, she did guide him here. He was grateful for that, at least. The doorway was giant and the insides of the House of Selvano hid behind mists. He walked through the mist and closed his eyes when a blinding light hits him. His steps halted and he took a second to adjust his eyes. The insides of the magnificent walls... was a mess. Disciples rushed here and there with tables, chairs and cutlery. Elders pointed at disciples to assign them jobs. The beautiful garden seemed to blur into the background instead due to the tall and beautiful tyrant of a man, Master Selvano of the main Selvano Bloodline.
Oliver stood in attention when he recognized the Head of the House of Selvano. He saluted and then approached the nearby servant elf, "Hey, what's up? I just came here."
The servant elf paused and looked at Oliver. The elf used hand signals and Oliver knew the elf was mute. He didn't understand hand signal and thus apologized sincerely to the elf, "I'm sorry, I don't know hand signals. Could you just point me to where I need to be?"
The elf smiled and shook his head, seeming to say there's no need to apologize. He then turned and pointed to another elf that was bringing plates for the disciples to carry before nodding and leaving. Oliver went to the pointed elf and asked again. He was met with a grateful reply this time.
"Yes, the awakening ritual for the young master is not yet ready. Master Selvano personally led everyone to prepare the morning feast and will head to the public ritual site to prepare it immediately after. Most disciples are assigned to help the servant's transportation to the portal so that the other side can get the things they need as soon as possible. Her Lady has been busy in the main kitchen to prepare all the ritual potions, foods and drinks alike. We have enough for now so go help her in the kitchen instead. I can show the way."
Oliver nodded and followed the elf to the kitchen. There are many disciples from the Lower Helvana Peak, and even more outer disciples from the Leazra Mountains and the Learz Plains. Those outer disciples were assigned tasks of preparing the Central Plains' ritual site and fixing up the feast for the special guests. The inner disciples are tasked to do other things in Helvana Peak from the House of Selvano. Oliver could see that at least a third of the disciples are in another place, probably to welcome the young master when he wakes. He was unfamiliar with the elders though and thus could not make an approximation. The elf started small talk as the two speed walked to the kitchen.
"So, you've been an inner disciple for how long?", the curious question was something he got a lot so he simply replied.
"This is actually my fifth year as a High-Tier 4th Rank inner disciple. My mentor mentioned I am likely to rank up in this year's tournament."
"That's fantastic! I've been a servant of the Selvanos for a couple of hundred years. My family was indebted to the Selvanos. His Highness Master Selvano took my grandparents in when we stumbled into Lathen. Fortunately, we passed the test and the conditions as a servant is very good here."
"That's a really long time! We from the Arkanea tribe live shorter lives. I can't imagine life over 50 years," Oliver sighed, all six of his arms curled around him.
"Indeed, the hybrid tribes have such short lifespans. Although life is short, they must be very meaningful for you," the elf consoled as he added self-mockingly, "while we elves with a lifespan of a thousand years could not do anything nearly close to as meaningful as you can in a few years."
They reached a large wooden back door and the elf stopped. Oliver stopped too and nodded to the elf in thanks, "on the bright side, you can view all the beautiful female elves anytime," Oliver whispered with four out of eight eyes winking. The elf laughed and ruffled the top of Oliver's head, "go get to work you punk, stop thinking of females."
Oliver laughed along and waved the elf goodbye before pushing the door open.