349 The One Above the Lords (2/2)

From the expression that appeared on the ancient metal elemental, it was clear that this answer had shocked him deeply. The words he was thinking of, refused to come out of his mouth, and he felt a degree of shame that grew the longer he remained quiet. All he was able to do was to turn to look at his companions in search of some sort of support. However, none of them had any intention of meddling into his test any longer.

What his eyes reached the ancient fire elemental, he quickly noticed the satisfied smirk on his face, and the slow nod that he performed with his head. These actions were enough to cause for a smile to appear on the face of the metal elemental, which lay back against the backrest of his chair, and said with a tone of surrender, ”Very well, I have what I need.”

After seeing the way Roley had responded to the last two tests, the bored eyes of the rest of the elementals appeared be renewed with interest.

”My turn now.” Said the wood elemental with what appeared to be excitement. ”How would you..”

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After more than an hour, the only elemental that had yet to be satisfied by Roley's answer, was the teenage-looking lightning elemental. His problem with Roley was that he behaved as if he was looking at a group of his peers, and not at a group of individuals that could turn him into nothingness on a whim.

The two were currently standing in front of one another, and on the face of the lightning elemental, was a face that spelled ”I don't know what to say.” His eyes moved all around, and his teeth were gritted in irritation.

He and Roley had spent the past hour debating about the utility of human's disproportionate competitiveness.

According to the lightning elemental, competitiveness was useless. He personally would have felt the deepest level of pride, if an elemental of the lightning essence grew to become more powerful than him, and that that was the case for all of the others as well.

Roley's case, on the other hand, revolved around the fact that competitiveness was not a trait that belonged to the human kind, but to any race with a bit of intelligence. Competitiveness was used as the base of a massive spectrum of actions, be it as a measure to achieve more power than one's peers, or to become a better person than those who came before you.

This discussion had taken the majority of the hour that Roley had spent answering the questions, and after more than forty minutes, he was ultimately able to win the debate by pointing out how competitiveness breeded arrogance and superiority, and that the elemental's behaviour had done nothing but to prove that one did not need to be a human to misuse that mental trait.

The teenage-looking elemental kept trying to find something to say, but not a single word was able to leave his mouth.

”Enough, Loma.. you are a million years old, behave like it.” Said the woman in light green clothes with exasperation. To the rest of the elementals, Roley had clearly passed the test. It was only due to the stubbornness of the lightning elemental, that they had been stuck at this stage for so long.

Thankfully, the teenage-looking lightning elemental did not protest, and instead walked back in his seat before falling into a deep quietness.

”Finally!” Exclaimed the fire elemental before turning to look at Roley, and saying, ”As you might have guessed, this is not a normal test.. The reason you are here, is because-”

”You are looking for a king.” Said Roley while interrupting the fire elemental.

The eyes of all seven elementals narrowed at the same time. Then, after a moment of silence, the fire elemental asked, ”What makes you say that?”

”Predisposition to command, charisma, moral inclinations, priorities.. What you have tested, was whether I would be fit to lead your faction.”

The elementals were shocked once again. However, this time, along with surprise, was an underlying feeling of embarrassment. They had created this whole method while thinking that it was failproof, and yet, it had been seen through the very first time they had used it.

”W-Well.. You happen to be right. But let me explain why. You see-” Said the ancient fire elemental with clear embarrassment. However, he was interrupted once again by Roley's voice, which right now, had started to appear less and less appealing to the ear.

”It probably has something to do with the fact that you are testing a method to merge a human cultivator with all of the elemental essences at the same time. You fear that if you will succeed, this being will be too powerful for you to control, and solved the problem by only testing the method solely on those who were fit to take the role of a leader for your people.” Responded Roley looking back and forth from one end of the semi-circle to the other.

The embarrassment quickly disappeared from the faces of these ancient individuals, leaving space for satisfaction to appear. It was clear that they did not mind Roley's ability to take in all of the information he was able to obtain, and squish them together until he was able to obtain such an accurate guess.

”You are a brilliant young man.” Said the fire elemental while smiling brightly. However, the smile quickly disappeared as he continued by saying, ”In the past thousand years, we have discovered many noble hearted humans which we would have been happy to see lead our people, but whenever we tried to give them the power to do so by merging their humanity to more than one essence, one of the essences would inevitably prevail over the other, and in order to do so, it would be destroy the body of the cultivator.”

As soon as the fire elemental finished speaking, the old man in light blue clothes took over, and said, ”It was only after we have seen the result of your test, that we have developed a new theory.. Humans are born under the seven elements, and nothing but all seven of the elements will suit their bodies. You can withstand the power of an element, but more than one, and your immortal essence ceases to be enough. But what if we create a balance inside a human that is identical to the balance that breeded them?”

”Sounds like a dangerous theory.. Why should I accept to be the first test? And what would you expect from me as your leader?” Asked Roley after listening to what had been said to him.

”We need a deterrent.. We face destruction by the Elementalist, one of Iewah's perverted children who wishes nothing but to pick us apart and absorb our power until nothing is left, and the greed of the universal government. We desperately need for that individual to appear before our enemies will understand that the repercussions of killing us all might be something they are willing to withstand.” Said the wind elemental with a tone filled with anger. It was obvious that being surrounded by humans that saw them as valuable objects for hundreds of thousands of years had taken a massive toll on their minds.

There was a lot for Roley to think about, however, before he could even ask for some time to consider this proposal, the ancient fire elemental leaned forward from his chair, and asked, ”So, what do you say?”