In the end, Dyon couldn't be bothered to think about it any longer. He remembered that feeling of helplessness when Thor stood before him at the legacy world opening. He knew at that time that he stood absolutely no chance. And now, he had gotten a reason for it. That was all.

To Dyon, the reason was irrelevant. It was only a matter of time before this Thor character was beneath his feet.. just like everyone else would be.

And those who were by his side on his rise up, would always be there too.

**

Soon, Elder Flyleaf reached an odd area. It seemed to be forested just like every place else, but Dyon's sharp senses were catching something strange.

Before Dyon could think about it further, Elder Flyleaf took out another array plate, causing a mirror to reflect both of their images and a doorway to be formed.

Dyon was intrigued by this array. He had never seen one like this, even in his master's memories. From his analysis, it was even more complex than human facial recognition. The array reflected every atom and particle making up the bodies of Flyleaf and Dyon, then projected their mirror image. This meant one thing: cloning techniques could never fool this recognition-lock array.. unless you had the exact body of a person allowed to be here, you would never get in.

This was because cloning techniques already used the mirror image of the person in question. Which means that when that mirror image was once again reflected by the array, everything would be backwards.. immediately letting the array know there was something wrong. And even if one mastered their disguising technique to the point of not using mirror image tactics, it was near impossible to fathom the expert that would be able to change every particle of their body to be the exact match of another person.

This made Dyon think of something else. This array was far too advanced for the level of array alchemy in the Elvin Kingdom..

Seemingly understanding Dyon's thought, Elder Flyleaf spoke as they walked down a long reflective corridor, "that array was actually one of the last things left to us by the ancient clans.. as you can see, we used to be much better at our secondary professions. All we can really do now is manipulate this one to remember new people.

Don't worry, you haven't been added yet. So, you weren't scanned against your will. It's just that I'm one of the few allowed to bring guests since part of my job is recruitment, so the array has a built in +1 feature."

Dyon nodded, but then thought of something else, "then who exactly is part of this alliance? I assume this is in retaliation to the major families, so you must have some good support, right?"

Elder Flyleaf sighed, "if the support was as good as you say, we wouldn't want to make you a core part of our plans.

I'll tell you the truth now. The king isn't missing per se. It's more that he left for a specific reason. The reason itself is only known between the king and the grand elder counsel.. that counsel being Grand Elder Kroak, Cormyth, and Deryth. However, they aren't willing to tell us the reason.."

Dyon's eyebrows raised.

They weren't willing to tell the reason? This meant.. that those grand elders still put tradition above everything else despite what they said. Or maybe, the reason was so damning, that it threatened the structure of what the Elvin Kingdom was built upon.

However, the choice of these stubborn elders was stifling the kingdom.

Because they weren't willing to rescind the law, the Norville and Sigebryht families felt they had to use underhanded means. And at the same time, that meant that those fighting off those two families in this alliance also lacked the true support of those Grand Elders.

On one side Grand Elder Deryth was still remaining neutral. On another, Grand Elder Cormyth was playing a game of hedging bets. On one hand he nurtured Zaltarish, or used to, and yet on the other he fought for Headmaster Grimbold to head the Mathilde academy. And on yet another side, Grand Elder Kroak was trying to maintain the status quo.. but, clearly, the Norville and Sigebryht families weren't going for that.

Dyon couldn't help but inwardly curse. Damn fogies spend so much time debating and inwardly warring with themselves that they've fixed nothing. It's almost like the only reason they stand on opposing sides of the debate is so that they can do nothing but argue the semantics. And yet in all this time, they've accomplished nothing while they still have orphans running around in forests alone.

Grand Elder Cormyth felt bad about the orphans, sure, but did he do anything about it? Obviously not. He didn't confront Zaltarish. He didn't visit the orphans. And he obviously didn't ask Dyon how the kids were doing or if they were even alive.

Grand Elder Kroak and Deryth weren't much better. Deryth pretended to be on the side of true reason but was doing nothing but wasting away his last days. And Grand Elder Kroak was supposedly on the side of the king, but wouldn't tell the alliance why the king had disappeared? Not even the king's own daughter knew? What kind of ridiculous nonsense was this?

Watching the constantly changing emotions on Dyon's face, Elder Flyleaf could only chuckle bitterly, sighing, "don't blame them too much.. you're still too young and too na?ve..

The Grand Elders, more than anyone else, can't pretend that they were that much smarter than the ancestors.. so they feel they have no right to change their rules. They believe that since the ancestors chose this path, we should follow it, because, ultimately, it's the path we would choose too. They've lived so many years.. seen so many things.. they have the perspective the ancestors would have had..

Every time we ask them why, they always tell us that even if we knew, it wouldn't change anything. We would still be powerless to change it. It would only make us doubt the ancestors.. which was something, although they admit to doing themselves, they weren't willing to allow us to do as well..."