Kelvin, an Apostle that possessed strength unlike most of the Apostles present in the room.


    He had a better affinity with swordsmanship compared to magic, but the way he fused them together made him one of the strongest humans.


    His eyes closed, and his arms still crossed, he answered.


    "Compared to many of you, I don''t need to rely on a false strength. This ceremony of yours is a curse that I refuse to partake in. Why do you think that man became so lost in his lust?"


    He opened his eyes and nodding directly toward Kiel.


    "I remember the first and second ceremony. The second one was a nightmare, as two of us had already begun to change."


    "They immediately lost their status as Apostles at that time, and were replaced by their children in record time. Isn''t that right, Kamala and Eric?"


    The two could only look down and remember the awful consequences of the past ceremonies.


    "Do you understand why some of us refuse to be a part of this?"


    His gaze turned to Olivia.


    "I came here for one purpose, to avoid another young one becoming a failed leader. Olivia, your father might already have told you, as he was one of the most sane individuals around this table, but I will say it just in case."


    His eyes threatened her.


    "Do not partake in this ritual, the power you will gain will never be good for you. Remember from who''s the cores come from."


    This was a simple warning, but Olivia already knew about it.


    "Thank you, Lord Kelvin, but please do not worry. I never intended to participate to begin with. I''ve seen more than enough to make my choice."


    The face Layla made wasn''t pretty. She glared at Kelvin, conveying a message that could be interpreted as, ''I''ll be sure to make you regret what you said.''


    Kelvin felt that gaze, and responded with a smirk.


    "If you have time to fight me, why don''t you start by taking care of your citizens, miss Layla? Please keep in mind, your false power is still weak against me. Go for it, and I''ll have you buried before you know it."


    Orion looked at this scene with an amused expression.


    ''It seems like these people aren''t exactly on good terms between each others. I''ll keep that in mind.''


    He watched as Layla began to lose her temper, but stayed calm while keeping her emotions in check.


    "Do you have something else to report, Kelvin?"


    "Oh, you stopped being formal with me? I supposed it''s fair."


    He shrugged.


    "No, I didn''t come with cores, since I destroyed them immediately after killing those abnormalities."


    A vein bulged on her temple.


    "Such a waste! Are you really a descendant of the strong Dellthord family? What happened for you to throw away your whole legacy?!"


    This was the final straw for Layla, as well as most of the people gathering cores each year. The ones unaffected were, naturally, Florian, Olivia, Kamala, and Eric.


    "My legacy? You mean the family that hunted a whole faction by themselves, and erased it from history? I was disgusted when I found out."


    "Those filthy Kobolds were always a nuisance to humans, this was inevitable."


    "I see. I meant to say that the disappearance of the elementals, the arachnea, and the fairies helped you? I learned everything you morons did over the years. It''s all written in this stupid book."


    Taking out a small and compact book from his breast pocket, he continued.


    "To begin with, why are we exterminating everything? Is it because of that man? The one  sealed further in? He''s a man from two millennia ago! Don''t you think his view on the world should be dead already?"


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Layla slammed her notebook on the table.


    "Continue to speak ill words towards Lord Elliott, and I swear you will not leave this place alive."


    A blue aura appeared around Layla, while an absurd amount of water began to compress behind her, generating thousands of water bullets as a result.


    It was only a mean to pressure him into calming down, but that appeared to be a useless effort.


    "You couldn''t even scratch me with those pathetic droplets. Anyway, I said my part, don''t mind if I leave now."


    The moment he stood up from his chair, all the water bullets exploded next to Layla.


    A terrified look across her face indicated that she wasn''t prepared for this result.


    Orion barely saw what happened, even with ''Calm Analysis''.


    ''This man... he is strong. Way stronger than me. The way he used those small sparks of fire was remarkable.''


    What Kelvin did was creating a small flame inside each water bullet. The fire boiled the water instantly, before they exploded from the intense heat. It happened so fast, no one noticed it.


    ''It gives me ideas for Amelia. She might improve her elements'' control even more.''


    Just when Orion finished analyzing the attack in his mind, the man named Kelvin exited the room.


    ''This man is out of my league, and I also don''t think he would be worth killing. His value when it comes to life seems equal to mine.''


    After Kelvin''s footsteps completely faded, Layla and the others gathered themselves together and continued where they had left off.


    "Alright everyone, let''s forget about what happened, and continue on with the reports."


    Layla took the lead once again, scratched Kelvin''s name off the list, and called the person next to him.


    "Lord Dony, your report, please?"


    The man named Dony looked at her.


    "You know, after all of that, I lost the will to gleefully listen to all of this. I hope everyone can finish quickly, as I''m feeling exhausted now."


    He looked at the four remaining Apostles, and they all agreed.


    "Dony Florence, ruler of Kristin, ninety-six cores."


    "Leonis Grazan, ruler of Nobeli, eighty-one cores."


    "Julian Jurnos, ruler of Juvern, a hundred cores."


    "Pierre Loran, ruler of Mounti, seventy-five cores."


    "Horace Marth, ruler of Croates, eighty-eight cores."


    They all gave their reports before Layla could ask them. That made her a little sour, as they all wanted to end this meeting as fast as possible.


    "Alright, I''ve taken notes of the cores you''ve collected."


    Orion was relieved that it had ended. He couldn''t let Amelia alone for too long.


    Silently, he formed Alcyone. One man had to perish today.


    ''The moment I have an opportunity, I''ll strike him down. The problem is, the moment I fire my arrow, I''ll be identified immediately...''


    ''Another problem is that I need to get down to have a view of them. There''s no chance I''m firing from here.''


    The place was basically an attic. He could see them through a small peeping hole, that was it.


    The moment he confirmed the kill, he would jump through the window, and signal Amelia to leave.


    ''Let''s take a look at their ritual. I''m here to crash the festivities, but I might as well understand what they''re doing before that.''


    As he continued peeking through the hole, a few Apostles began to leave their seats, and approached the altar where Layla stood next to.


    "Did your brain become smoother?"


    Everyone looked at Layla with a dumb look that showed they didn''t understand the question.


    "Where are your cores? Did you seriously forget about that?"


    Suddenly, they felt embarrassed by their stupidity. They turned around and ran out of the room to fetch the bags they stored in another room of the building.


    "I swear, Kelvin might be right. Is it just the four of you not participating? Don''t regret it later, as it is your only chance this year."


    Florian, Olivia, Kamala, and Eric nodded in silence.


    After listening to Kelvin and taking note of Kiel''s behavior, their conviction only strengthened. They were all relatively new Apostles who never performed the ritual.


    After hearing the stories from their predecessors, and seeing how much that changed them, the decision was easy enough. Being a slave to a perverse power, or remain their own masters.


    They weren''t weak to begin with, they still had magic that each new generation improved, but it was now that they understood. The growth of magic power never came from their hard work, but only from the ritual itself.


    It took something from them as compensation each time.


    "Alright, it''s your choice. It''s the first time we have so many of us that refused to partake in it."


    At that moment, a few Apostles came back with one to two large bags in their hands.


    "Alright, let''s begin for those that arrived."


    Layla snapped her fingers, before a red flame appeared under the crucible. She took a bag she pulled from behind the altar, which appeared to be hers.


    "I, Layla Flotary, have gathered a hundred and thirty-four cores, let''s begin."


    She emptied the content of the bag into the crucible, until all the cores fell inside. The cores were relatively small, so they managed to fit into the medium-sized crucible.


    She used her water magic, which began to fill the vessel, and placed a lid on top of it. They only waited three minutes for the whole process to finish.


    As she opened the lid, all the cores seemed to have melted into the water, and an abnormal amount of magic could be felt from the muddy purplish water.


    "It is done, thank you, my Lord, for this gift."


    She picked up a big mug on the side of the altar, placed it in an opening below the crucible, and watched as the liquid began to make its way slowly into a pipe, before dripping into the mug.


    Once the liquid filled the mug, her trembling hands took the cup, bringing it to her mouth.


    She gulped the entirety of the muddy liquid, as her body started to convulse slightly. Her power appeared to moisturize the wall, as she lost control of her newly acquired power.


    After a minute, her uncontrolled state calmed, appearing more powerful than earlier. She had to use her power to understand what changed, but she could feel it.


    "Ah, this is great. I''ll never have enough of this feeling!"


    Hugging her body in a twisted manner, she smiled. Then, she dropped her arms and glared at the others.


    "Next person. You can do it now."


    She ordered each Apostle, as they drank the mixture one after the other.


    Until it was Kiel''s turn.


    A shadow moved quietly, aiming at the man''s back.