349 The One Above the Lords (1/2)
It did not take long for Roley to realize that this setting was not common, and if not for the images he had just seen in the corridor, he would still have no clue about what was going on.. However, a crazy idea had begun to form in a corner of his mind.. the corner where all of the 'what ifs' questions were kept.
Instead of waiting for any of the ancient elementals to talk to him, Roley walked up to the small platform around which the seats of the elementals were positioned. He then stood quietly in wait that somebody could explain to him why he was there.
Silence resounded in the hall for a few moments, until finally, the elemental in red clothes broke it by asking, ”You live in a community. Thousands are underneath you, but you live peacefully together.. One day, a stranger is found injured in your territory. Your people rescues him, and after his recovery, he choses to stay for awhile. He appears to be a likeable character.. what do you do?”
The rest of the elementals looked at Roley carefully, it was clear that his answer was of extreme importance to them.
”I don't have enough information to answer that question, the possibilities are too many to be summed up into a single sentence.” Responded Roley right away, already aware that his test was not over. The information that Roley lacked was, what would these ancient individuals test him for?
”I will allow you three questions, and Imight lie when answering questions for which it should be impossible for you to get an answer, in case you were in that situation.” The elemental dressed in red answered as he refrained from showing any emotion.
”What did this individual claimed was the cause for his injuries after he woke up?” Asked Roley after spending a minute in a pensive state.
The ancient elemental of fire essence stroke his chin with his thumb and index, while thinking about it for a few moments, then responded by saying, ”He was attacked by a group of bandits from which he was barely able to escape, by sneaking into your territory.”
”I would ask him to leave my territory.”
”Why is that?” Asked the fire elemental with curiosity. He clearly did not expect Roley to give a final response so quickly.
Without even stopping to think, Roley responded to the elemental's question by saying, ”Bandits target streets that are guaranteed to be threaded by merchants and rich travelers.. If he had been injured during his travels by bandits, he would have wanted to leave right after his recovery.. Be it if he is a traveler with a set destination, or if he is a merchant, which would grant him the burden to report the events.”
The fire elemental was not impressed by this answer, but he could see that Roley had more to say, so he allowed him to keep talking.
The ancient elemental of lightning, however, was not as kind. He asked with his nasal voice, ”Is that the only reason why you wouldn't allow him to stay? Did you consider that this man might be scared to travel alone, now that he is by himself? It seems that you make your decisions extremely rashly..”
Roley was not surprised by this response, and instead of trying to defend his position, he added, ”The reason I asked him to leave is much simpler than that.”
”And what might that reason be?” Asked the ancient fire elemental with renewed interest.
Roley slowly turned to look at him, and said with an emotionless tone, ”I would never allow for a group of bandits to roam the borders of my territory to begin with. Not when one of my people could have randomly encountered a group of them.”
The teenage-looking ancient lightning elemental was shocked by the presumption behind this answer, but just as he was about to debate Roley's logic, he was stopped by the ancient fire elemental, which while smiling faintly, said, ”It's okay. It's all I needed.” This simple phrase was enough for the lightning elemental to drop the matter despite still being unhappy with Roley's reasoning.
”Very well, it is my turn.” Said the ancient metal elemental before standing up, and slowly walking in laps around Roley. After a couple of laps, he said, ”To become a half elemental means that your power will increase ten folds when in your territory.. To be able to live as long as you are in your element, to be a true part of the universe, that is what our faction offers. Do you understand that?”
”Probably not the way you understand it.” Responded Roley without even turning to look back at the large man in grey robes which was now behind him.
The metal elemental did not take offence to his informal response, and instead smiled, and said, ”That is quite accurate. You cannot possibly understand what it feels like to be part of the universe, but it is a spectacular feeling. I can give it to you.. I just need for you to bring me the heart of a human. It does not matter whose heart that is. Just bring me one, and I will make you one with the universal nature of metal. Do as I have said, and I will give you power.”
”I refuse.” Responded Roley without even thinking about it.
”Do you understand what I am offering to you? A power that will turn you from a simple human in the constant search of a grain of power to add to his own, to a god. All I ask is for a piece of meat.” Said the metal elemental while in an attempt to make Roley understand what becoming a half elemental of any of the elemental essences meant.
”My answer doesn't change.” said Roley as the metal elemental walked in front of him.
After hearing Roley's adamant response, the ancient metal elemental said, ”Very well, you have made your choice.” He then turned to look at his chair, and walked towards it as if giving up on trying to break down this human's stubbornness.
Just as the metal elemental was about to sit on his chair, the old man in light blue clothes said ”If metal essence is not of your liking, all of us can offer you the same deal.. You only have to pick one of us.”
”The reward is not the matter.. It's the premise.” responded Roley after turning to look at the ancient water elemental that had just spoken to him.
”How so?” asked the large man in grey clothes, which took back the control over the conversation from the water elemental.
Roley slowly turned to look back at him, and with an expressionless face, he said, ”You seem to have the presumption to claim that I could not possibly understand what it feels like to be an elemental, and yet you assume that a human would take the chance to gain more power at the expense of an innocent person. If I didn't know that this was a trick question, this conversation would have already been over.”