"I have already heard about you from the imperial teacher, and your feats in Balin are truly unbelievable. When I heard about it, I wanted to rush there myself to watch," Emperor Ladwin said.
"It's only my duty to get rid of evil entities like the devils. My feat can't be compared to the elves of Balin. With their help, we were able to catch and prevent the devils from executing their plan," Aldrian said.
"You're a truly humble young man. If not for you, we would still be in the dark about their infiltration and plans. And that hydra? That is no small feat. No, it's impossible. Are you truly 12 years old and at the Viscount stage?"
"I don't have any means to convince you, Your Majesty, but it is as it is," Aldrian said.
"Your Majesty, may I suggest something?" one of the elves suddenly said. Everyone looked at him as he stood among the conservative faction.
"What is your suggestion, Marquess Andra?" Emperor Ladwin asked.
"Because we are still unsure about his origin, age, and cultivation stage, we need to test him to reveal the truth. We don't want him to be a scammer who only seeks your good grace," Marquess Andra said.
Emperor Ladwin looked at Aldrian. "What do you think, young man?"
Aldrian looked at the emperor. "If Your Majesty wants to test me, of course, I'm ready for whatever it is. After all, it's also a way to clear up any misunderstandings. But let me be clear—" he then looked at Marquess Andra,
"I am here because I was invited by the imperial teacher. It's not my obligation to be here in the first place. If you think you can humiliate me, I'm sorry, but that's not going to happen." He then looked at the others in the conservative faction. He had already read their intentions and minds using his mind reader technique, and the result was that they truly hated him for potentially being granted access to their most sacred place.
"Shrine of the Heavenly Tree? I also heard about it from Olivia." The center of the blessing place for the Ivory Empire is under the World Tree of Evergreen, the first sacred place established when the Ivory Empire was founded millions of years ago. The Shrine of the Heavenly Tree is the most sacred place for the elves of the Ivory Empire.
"Arrogant!"
"What a presumptuous human. You are in front of nobles!"
"Your Majesty, look at this human! He doesn't respect us."
Many voices rose from the conservative faction, while the other faction almost clapped, amazed by Aldrian's bravery. As for Emperor Ladwin, he only smiled at Aldrian.
"What a brave young man. His eyes never waver. Even I can feel it; he doesn't seem to care that he is now in front of the emperor." he thought. After a while, he spoke, "And how do you think we should test him? Just for the record, I will only approve the method of the test if Aldrian himself approves it."
With that, there was silence in the throne hall, but the conservative faction felt dissatisfied with the emperor's decision because it would be more beneficial for this human, and they could see the emperor favored him. What if Aldrian didn't approve their method and only picked the easiest way?
They also couldn't give too absurd an test because of the limitations of Aldrian's cultivation stage or his age, or whatever the truth about the two was, because they couldn't believe there was a 12-year-old Viscount stage cultivator or a Viscount stage who could kill a mid-king stage hydra and hundreds of thousands of devils. One of them had to be bogus.
"Don't worry, I will accept any test from you, so give me all of your ideas." Aldrian suddenly said to Marquess Andra and his group. His declaration stunned all the elves except the imperial teacher. Actually some from the liberal faction also hesitated and doubted Aldrian's capability, but now they would also see his true capability. As for Marquess Andra and his group, he grinned as if victory was already in their grasp. He then gave their suggestion,
"We want to test his age, cultivation, talent and potential with the hall of origin. As for his capabilities, we want him to survive in the inner part of the Forest of Despair for one month." When the others heard that, some of them widened their eyes. Even Emperor Ladwin frowned at this.
"Are you crazy? The inner part of the Forest of Despair has emperor stage spirits dwelling there, and the spirits of the Forest of Despair are hostile towards humans. And you want to send this young man there?" one woman from the liberal faction spoke.
"Didn't he say he would accept any test from us? The one who is supposed to shoulder the fate of this nation should easily pass this test and even create a miracle." Marquess Andra said, but his tone was mocking. Most of the elves were certain that if Aldrian went there, he would definitely die. Some of them wanted to persuade him to refuse this absurd test, but before they could speak,
"As I said, I will do whatever test you throw at me, but it's not exciting if there is no wager, right? I'm the only one on the end of the stick, after all." Aldrian said.
Marquess Andra grinned but still asked, "What wager?"
"If I can pass this test, you will have to follow me. Not just you, but all of you. And you must not have any ill intent towards me or my closest ones. And I want you all to swear the oath of the Heavenly Tree of the World for that," Aldrian said while sweeping his gaze towards the entire conservative faction.
Marquess Andra stopped grinning and was stunned. Not only him but everyone there looked at Aldrian and his brazen challenge. The Oath of the Heavenly Tree of the World is an oath that elves use to ensure that agreements are fulfilled between all parties concerned. If not, the curse of the Heavenly Tree would come down upon the ones who broke the agreement.
Hearing Aldrian's challenge, the people from the conservative faction started to hesitate. What if the human in front of them was truly capable of creating miracles and succeeding in this test? Then this would be the end of their efforts to expel these humans from their sacred ground.
Emperor Ladwin's eyes also widened as he thought, "He solved the problem for his opposition, and he even brought up the Oath of the Heavenly Tree of the World. If he is truly capable of passing the test, especially from the Forest of Despair, then there will be no hindrance for him in the Ivory Empire anymore."
Aldrian looked at Marquess Andra calmly, waiting for his decision. Marquess Andra, who hesitated and remained silent, seemed to send a voice transmission to his colleagues to discuss before he gritted his teeth and said, "All right, if that is what you require, human."
"Then say it," Aldrian responded.
"O Heavenly Tree of the World, who has blessed our existence and overlooks all of us, I, Andra Galadri, swear upon thy great name that I will not have any ill intentions towards the human Aldrian Aster and his closest ones according to his standard if he can pass all the tests we give him. If I break this oath, then thy curse shall come down upon me." Marquess Andra voiced his oath.
Aldrian then looked at every elf from the conservative faction to push them to swear their oaths, and they did not disappoint him, swearing their oaths one by one until he saw the last one. The elf who had not spoken a word since the beginning and had a fierce face with a scar on it.
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Arandis Maelis
Age : 63.100 years
Race : Elf
Cultivation : Low Emperor
Cultivation technique : The blessing of the heavenly tree
Attack techniques : The Forest of Doom, Root of Death, The Wrath of the Spirit, The Slicer Wind, Raging of Wind Spirit, Wooden Dragon, Earth Spike, Silent Arrow, Homing Arrow.
Defense technique : Earth wall, Roots wall
Movement technique : Wind path
Supporting technique : Blessing of the forest
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"He must be the leader of this faction." Aldrian thought, but he still calmly waited for him to swear his oath. Grand Duke Maelis looked at Aldrian for a moment before he said,
"O Heavenly Tree of the World, who has blessed our existence and overlooks all of us, I, Arandis Maelis, swear upon thy great name that I will not have any ill intentions towards the human Aldrian Aster and his closest ones according to his standard if he can pass all the tests we give him. If I break this oath, then thy curse shall come down upon me." After he swore his oath, he kept looking at Aldrian. His expression never revealed what was on his mind, but Aldrian could hear it.
"Well, that's quite honorable of you, even though you are also angry at my presence." Aldrian thought. From his intent and mind, besides his loathing towards the presence of an outsider inside their sacred place, Grand Duke Maelis also felt that if Aldrian could pass all the tests, then he would be truly capable of creating miracles and worthy of his fame. He didn't fully believe Aldrian had truly defeated the hydra without him as a witness.
Emperor Ladwin clapped his hands and said,
"So, we are already in agreement, and it's also good to resolve our differences. Aldrian, you are the one who will do the test, so when will you do it? We can wait until you are ready."
"I'm ready anytime, Your Majesty. How about now? So it can be finished earlier, and we don't need to postpone this problem anymore."