The young prince harrumphed before spitting out the words as if he was being forced to do so. It was only then that the figure turned around. It had the same golden eyes as the younger prince, but finer and more clearly defined features. Liam wasn't too sure about the beauty standards of the Drakkhan but felt confident that Varlian would be considered the more handsome one. Standing at over 4 meters tall, the Prince was smaller than Arimiar but more than twice as large as the smaller prince and much, much bigger than Liam. The armor didn't do much to hide his muscular body, nor did the black scales. His eyes were calm and collected, completely stable as he stared deep into Liam's own. The youth felt sure of it. The creature standing in front of him was a peerless warrior. He immediately raised his guard even more.
"Brother. I welcome you to my ship. Please, make yourself at home. I will discuss things with you as soon as I'm done with this human. I promise it won't be long. I had initially planned to talk to you first but ultimately decided to do so afterwards. I hope you don't hold it against me."
The younger prince frowned, its snout contorting fiercely, but did not move. Varlian narrowed his eyes.
"Is there a problem, dear brother?"
"I'm not going anywhere. I'll watch this conversation myself."
It might have been his imagination, but Liam felt like he had seen Varlian's eyes take on a cold glint.
"There's no need to worry. I'll relay all the information to you once I'm done. Having another member of the royal family in the room might pressure the specimen into not talking or into giving false information. Due to the criticality of this discussion, I beseech you to listen."
The smaller prince raised his chin.
"Hmph! We aren't supposed to be talking to them anyway! We should-"
"Elranth."
Varlian interrupted the other prince's monologue, walking closer to him and looking deep into his eyes.
"What if this discussion fails because of your insistence? If we obtain faulty information or otherwise fail to achieve our objective? Do not forget that this was approved by His Majesty. Can you bear the weight of the consequences?"
Elranth shut his mouth. With a loud curse, he turned around and slammed the doors open, walking out. Arimiar bowed at Varlian, who nodded. Then, the Commander left the room as well.
The prince turned to Liam. The two stared at each other's eyes for a few moments, before Varlian extended his giant hand.
"I have discovered this is a way of greeting among your people."
"How?"
"I asked."
Liam watched him before shaking his hand, or, more accurately, part of it.
"Please, take a seat."
Varlian gestured towards the meeting table, before walking up to it and sitting on the head chair. Across from him, Liam cautiously sat on the other, opening his mouth.
"Were you the one who summoned us?"
Varlian blinked. Liam stared at him and was about to ask again before the prince responded.
"That was surprisingly direct. I'm more used to conversations running around in circles and mental battles before getting to the point. I must admit I'm rather disappointed."
"I do not care. I don't partake in political debates. Now answer the question."
"I wonder. What do I gain from providing you with such information?"
Liam momentarily thought that the answer was "Yes" before realizing that it was too early to think that. Varlian could not be the one who summoned them, instead being someone who was taking advantage of their summoning. He might not be the one at fault. Liam was starting to get a headache from realizing that talking to him wouldn't be easy.
"What do you want in exchange?"
The reptilian smiled. He took out a small black sphere and placed it on the table.
"I'm glad you asked. This is a simple lie detector. We will both release our Auras and exchange information. If one of us lies, it will glow red. If we tell the truth, it will remain black. I wish I didn't have to use this, but one can't always rely on good faith."
Liam looked at the sphere, realizing he was being pushed back. Varlian likely knew intimately how the device worked and how to avoid its detection. He had been the one to take it out, after all. There was also no reason to believe it hadn't been tampered with to benefit him. On the other hand, Liam had no such advantages. He needed to think of something, and quick.
"…Fine."
At the same time, both of them released their Auras. Varlian's was bright gold, clashing against Liam's black one and almost crushing it before pulling back and allowing it to also touch the device. Liam gritted his teeth. It had been an implicit threat. A clear display of the difference in power between them. As both Auras touched the sphere, Varlian spoke.
"Now, ask away."
"…Were you the one who summoned us?"
"Yes, I was."
Liam glanced at the sphere. Nothing. It was either the truth or Varlian really had a way to avoid the lie detection. Liam's mind raced.
'It uses Aura reading. Is Aura somehow affected by lying?'
A human's heart rate sped up when they lied. The anxiety response would kick in and cause several behavioral and biological changes. If Aura could be affected by one's emotions in a similar fashion and the device could somehow measure that, then it was a way to bypass the biological and anatomical differences between species. There was no reason to believe that all species would behave the same way when lying, after all.
'I need to make my Aura flow the same way even when I'm lying.'
Naturally, this was much easier said than done. Truthfully, Liam had no idea how to do it. He wasn't even sure if he was thinking about this correctly. Maybe the device worked in a completely different way. Even so, he had to try.
"It is now my turn to ask a question."
Varlian's voice broke his train of thought. He looked at the Drakkhan.
"What is your Personal Attribute?"
Liam's eyes widened. They knew about Personal Attributes? Did their species have the same ability? Or did they have some other ability? The youth also grasped an important piece of information. It was the fact that questions beyond the "yes or no" kind could be asked.
"…I don't know."
It was true. Part of his Attribute's name was still question marks, making him unaware of its true name or nature. While not a whole truth, it wasn't a lie. That was enough.
Varlian looked at the small sphere. Seeing it wasn't glowing red, he raised his brow.
"How… Surprising. It's your turn now."
"How do you know about Personal Attributes? And handshakes."
Liam immediately took the opportunity, this time also not asking a simple question.
"Your species seems to be very susceptible to fear. A few threats and the information came spilling out of the more cowardly ones we found among your people. They seemed to be very afraid of physical pain, as well. We did not have to torture any of them, even."
The youth resisted the urge to facepalm. While he couldn't be sure of the situation outside ever since his capture, he could have an idea. How would the average hunter feel seeing their strongest be overwhelmed and captured while millions of Aura-wielding, several meters tall lizardmen flooded the skies and fought against them? One didn't have to be a genius to know they must have felt hopeless. In that state, extracting information would have been simple. People would do anything to survive, even if it meant giving away what they knew to an apparent enemy.
While he thought, Varlian asked his next question.
"What are your Personal Attribute's abilities?"
"Keeping me alive."
It was a broad answer that wasn't a lie. Many different kinds of skills could be considered to be in the same category, and even more of them if one took the context into play. An ability that allowed one to go invisible while trying to escape pursuit, for instance, could save one's life, keeping them alive.
The prince's eyes narrowed. The snake-like pupils zeroed in on Liam's face, distaste rising within them. Nevertheless, Liam didn't back down. He'd figured out that as long as he said something that "wasn't a lie", the device wouldn't activate.
"Be more specific."
"It's my turn to ask. What is your species' ability?"
The prince remained silent, watching Liam's every movement. Of course, Liam was aware that the prince could stop this game and force the answers out of him at any point. He wasn't strong enough to stop him. The reason why he could react with such confidence was simple; the prince seemed to be unwilling to try something that would harbor hostility between them. Were that not the case, Liam would not be having such a conversation.
"Ignition. What are your Personal Attribute's abilities, specifically? I trust you will not disrespect me again."
The prince's voice took on a threatening edge. He was warning Liam not to play clever.
"…Conversion, Recovery, Dancing on the Death God's Scythe and The Accursed Blessing. What does Ignition do?"
Varlian had a pensive expression. It was as if he was trying to guess what each of Liam's abilities did without needing to waste one of his precious questions.
"Ignition drastically buffs all of our stats for a period of time, also imbuing our Aura with specific properties. More often than not, it's fire, but there are other kinds. You can think of it as an awakening Skill inherent to every Drakkhan. Now…"
He leaned forward in his chair.
"What does this Conversion ability of yours consist of?"
'Shit.'
He had asked the question Liam wanted to hear the least. Conversion was his most unique ability and something that allowed him to bypass the System's intended progress route almost entirely. Varlian had apparently answered his question truthfully and elaborately since the sphere hadn't glowed red, but there was no way for him to be sure.
'Wait.'
The "device" hadn't glowed red at all during the whole conversation. How could he know if it really was a lie detector? Liam almost punched himself for not realizing this sooner. At the very least, he needed to try and lie.