Prime Evolver System

The voice whilst still reminiscent of Lucien, carried a deeper, growling undertone at the same time, causing the glass, transparent walls of the meeting room to shake, tremble at his sight.

Instantly, the whispers and small chatter died, the room was eerily silent at the abrupt and quite peculiar outcry of the newest arrivals.

The elders, the various directors that were already all present, missing only their leader, showed various stages of surprise mixed in with frowns and scowls as their eyes gleaned on the young teenager that accompanied Sera.

They had no idea of what an outsider was doing with her, nor what he was currently doing, what they were arguing about. 

Yet, Lucien ignored the looks of those in the room, he was focused on the blonde woman smiling warmly at her, heaving heavy sighs, looking as if he just ran a full marathon. He knew full well that it wasn't right to lash out at her, she was just doing what she could to soothe his unbridled anger, his burning rage. 

Still, she was merely just throwing oil to the already burning fire. Instead of calming, she only caused the old wounds to resurface, and burn with a newfound intensity. Old and new emotions, the sorrow, the pain, the grief coming back to the surface, Lucien could barely manage to contain himself. 

Funny enough, the only one that managed to keep him relatively in check was the other half of him, the monster he just yelled about. Pravitas' whispers managed to keep the youngster's mind to slowly clear out the chaotic haze that has slowly descended upon him.

Seconds passed in silence, as the boy kept heaving like a madman, looking intensely at the warmly smiling Sera. 

The two completely ignored the situation inside the meeting room, the little space in the elevator was like a separate world entirely.

Eventually, she leaned closer to the boy, gently caressing his left cheek with the back of her right hand, as she whispered into the air.

"It's alright Lucien, it's all right." She waited for the boy's crazed, despairing expression to slowly ease up before continuing. "I can understand your anger, actually much more than you think…" She sighed, turning her head to the side and glancing over at the room. "Let's get this… farce out of the way, so we can finish up all the necessary paperwork and head home finally! There, I can show you how you can vent yourself freely! What do you say, Lucien? Can you do this for me?"

Her tone, her words… but most importantly, the care and concern behind them manage to reach Lucien and somewhat calm him down, to temporarily control the burning fire of his emotions.

He took a few extra moments as he gradually controlled himself and displayed the previously seen nonchalant, insipid, emotionless outward look. Only then did he gave a silent nod to the woman, who only smiled at his display. She straightened her back and turned to look at those already impatiently waiting for them.

As she reached out, Lucien calmly grabbed her offered palm and they stepped out of the elevator together.

Lucien was once again left speechless as he stepped into yet another wonder, a miracle of the modern world. The walls around them were all made of glass, transparent, giving the illusion of not existing at all. The room was covered with a dark red, satin carpet. 

A large desk was the only furniture in the meeting room, besides the dozen-so chairs that were almost all taken, leaving only 2 free, unoccupied. One was placed at the helm, whilst the other was beside it, left empty as per the tradition.

Looking at the 10 elderly figures in the room, their luxurious, expensive suits Lucien felt pretty out of place with his regular, cheap, everyday attire. His dark, long leather coat, the simple shirt or the dark blue jeans made him feel rather awkward, made him feel uncomfortable.

Still, he retained his aloof outward display, showing no visible signs of being bothered or affected at all. He stood still despite being under the heavy scrutiny of everyone present.

Breaking the silence, a middle-aged-looking man turned towards the blonde woman next to him, asking with a tone full of contempt and disdain.

"Leader, please excuse me for my brash tone and brazen question, but I believe I ask what everyone here was wondering… What does this brat doing here? Why did you bring him to this meeting?"

His question was met with nods, showing that everyone was indeed wondering about the very same mystery. 

No matter how they looked at the boy, they couldn't understand what was he doing in a place that he shouldn't even have access to! He had no token, no insignia on his body, he wasn't initiated, he shouldn't be a disciple at all!

Even worse, there was a lingering fear, a dread that almost all of them shared. This particular meeting was called rather abruptly, they were only told that they had to attend as the topic was related to the Sect's future!

"You are excused Elder Warthorn." To their surprise, Sera merely smiled at the spoken elder not even bothering to look at him as she guided the boy to the table. There, to the gasps and shock of those present, she actually pulled the seat and offered the helm to him!

"Leader… What is the meaning of this?!" The elders exclaimed, still clueless about what was happening. Only one of them, a middle-aged black-haired woman seemed to recall something, looking more and more shocked at the thought and possible conjecture.

As the thought crossed her mind, she couldn't help but look at the young man with a new light, wondering if it was indeed possible. She dared not to believe, but as she looked at the warm, emotional smile of their revered leader, she didn't know what to think anymore.

The thought, however, also caused her to frown as she glanced at her peers once again. She realized that if what she was wondering turned out to be the truth, then not many of them would take this hit easily. Their schemes, their plans, the backing they arduously built up over the years would ultimately mean nothing, which they couldn't just accept without fighting back. 

Either way, great changes were coming towards them, and she was more and more certain that this year's tournament would be much more interesting than in the previous years.

Raising her hand, Sera commanded the elders to stop arguing, and focus on her, as she calmly took her seat at the boy's right. Only once she sat down, did she finally spoke up, yet her words caused nothing but further confusion to spread around the elders.

"Bow to your Lord, children!" Her tone was cold, dominant, carrying none of the displayed love and care that she came with. She looked over at those present in the room with a stern gaze. 

Silence and confusion spread in the elders present, they didn't understand what their leader's words meant, they could only stare and look at each other, unsure of what to do.

Only one of them stood up and followed the command and gave a slight bow towards the black-haired youngster. 

"This Elder Fawkes greets the return of the Lord! We have long since waited for your arrival!" She spoke, keeping her bowing posture for a few seconds longer before taking her seat, ignoring the shocked gazes of the others.

Seeing as that besides one, the other 9 elders have yet to greet and welcome their promised lord, Sera glanced over at them one more time. 

"Why are you not following after Elder Fawkes? Are you not going to welcome the promised Lord? Have you forgotten the very first commandment of the sect? Do you want me to recite it to you before you realize who are you offending?!"

Upon his words, the elders present in the room gasped with utter shock and disbelief in the room. Only now, did the rest of the elders present in the room realize who this young man could possibly be.

Yet, they couldn't just simply accept such a proclamation, after all, years of planning, scheming rested on the dream to take the helms, the leader's seat one day, and to place themselves as the most powerful entity through the succession of their own disciples.

"Leader, how could that possibly be true!" Elder Warthorn, the middle-aged, short black-haired man that spoke up before, suddenly jolted up from his seat, pointing to the young boy with a grimace. "How could you believe the lies of such a brat! He is nothing but a bastard, a little rogue that invaded our premises!" 

Driven by his words, he stepped away from his seat, taking a step towards the calmly sitting boy. 

"Don't worry Leader, I will promptly grab this little brat and throw him ou-" Before he could finish, suddenly a heavy weight pressed him down on the ground. As he shakily raised his head, he was shocked to be met with the usually calm, and cheery leader's angered, glowing figure…