While Argentum and Aurus were having a reunion after being separated from each other for a month or so, another thing was happening in a continent slightly far away from where Argentum and Aurus were located.
Mercuria Continent, within a certain region.
In a certain region of a continent named Mercuria, one would be able to see a tree whose trunk extended for over a kilometer, while the canopy of its leaves extended for tens of kilometers. Naturally, the size of this tree made its possible for others to see from far away. But rather than eye the tree with greed or with nefarious intent in mind, all those who get a quick glance of the tree or are heading closer to the tree all have expression of reverence and awe.
This was all due to the fact that this large tree had existed for more than a couple hundred thousand years before they were even born. Not only that, but this tree they revered was the reason why most of the kingdoms and nations that were formed in the continent of Mercuria were still standing strong and tall against the enemies that eyed them.
Surprisingly, this tree housed an inheritance, the inheritance that was considered as the one of the oldest inheritances in the world of Erudinia.
The Inheritance of Erudition.
Inside this inheritance, one would be able to see a room filled to the brim with amenities that would normally be used by an Animate. In contrast, the being that was in the room did not look like an Animate at all…well, for the most part anyway.
In terms of appearance, the being looked as human as any other human would, save for the fact that the surface of its skin looked more like the bark of a tree rather than the supple flesh of a human. Well, to be more accurate, the surface of its skin was actual bark, taking on an ash gray hue due to the age of the being. As for its insides, they were as healthy as ever, with a condensed yet incredibly refined energy circulating through all of the channels that existed inside its body.
This being was the owner of the Inheritance of Erudition, who was only known by those that knew him as Erudis. Not only that, but this being was also the first Spiriveritas to ever exist in the world of Erudinia.
At the moment, Erudis slowly scratched his head as he opened up a corridor to one of the other rooms that existed inside his inheritance. While making his way to that room, he could not help but mutter to himself, "I wonder how long they're going to take before the assembly officially starts."
…
A few minutes later, Erudis arrived at the room he opened a corridor towards, revealing a large round table that had twelve wooden chairs that had exquisite designs surrounding it. He then looked at the various chairs for a bit before deciding to go for one of the chairs that matched the color of his skin. After sitting down, he then closed his eyes as he circulated the energy around his body along a specific path while waiting for the others to come.
After half an hour or so, the sound of wind blowing soon resounded throughout the room, prompting Erudis to open his eyes as he looked at the being that had just appeared. Surprisingly, two beings had appeared in front of him, with the first being having its bark the color of dark violet while the other one had its bark the color of green and blue. These two beings were named Braham and Florencia, with the latter taking on a female form.
"How long have you been waiting, Erudis?" Florencia asked the still sitting Erudis with a bubbly tone, to which Erudis indifferently replied, "30 minutes."
After that, Florencia went ahead and sat on the chair that matched the color of her bark. As for Braham, he remained silent all this time, sitting on the chair that matched the color of his bark. Although the three of them knew each other very well, not all of them were in the mood to converse, with Florencia being the only one among them that seemed to be more outgoing.
Fortunately, it did not take long for three more beings to appear, with their barks taking on the color of brown, light green, and red respectively. Surprisingly, the one with the red bark, whose name was Pyrresca, hastily went to her chair before going ahead and saying to Florencia, "How have you been, Florencia?"
"I've been doing great!" Florencia said with a light chuckle before focusing her gaze onto the two other beings. "How about you two? How have you two been?"
The brown being lightly smiled in response as she replied, "I've been doing fine." She then pointed to the being beside her and said, "Sylphen has being doing fine as well."
Sylphen, the light green being, lightly nodded in response of the being with the brown bark, whose name was Amarillia.
They soon took their seats, leaving only half of the seats around the table vacant. Three out of the six beings that were here continued to converse, while the remaining three continued to remain silent all the while. Eventually, after another hour or so, six more beings appeared at the room all at once, prompting Erudis, the first one to enter the room, to open his eyes as he muttered, "We're all here."
"Everyone take your seats," he soon said to the six, who followed Erudis' words without any complaints. After seeing that all twelve beings had taken their seats around the round table, Erudis then went ahead and touched the surface of the table before infusing a bit of his energy into it, allowing a holographic image to appear above it not long after.
Taking in a deep breath, he then said indifferently, "Welcome to the 76th Spiriveritas Assembly. I'm sure I don't have to go through the basic rules of the assembly since everyone has attended a few of these already."
"Anyways, let's begin with the first topic of this assembly," Erudis continued. "According to Lycht, there's a small uprising going on in one of the kingdoms of the Mercuria Continent. Could you explain the matter even further?"
Lycht, who had bark the color of marble, stood up from his seat and started to talk, saying, "Since I've been tasked with the responsibility of investigating the matters of the northern region of the Mercuria Continent, I've noticed that one large-sized kingdom now has a rebellion party forming inside these kingdoms, with some of its royalty joining it in the process."
"Although I could quell this rebellion down and make it seem like nothing happened, what are the opinions of others in this matter?" Lycht asked. Soon, one of the beings responded to the question, his bark being the color of flesh.
This being's name was Spirivas. With a pondering expression on his face, he said, "Surely there's a reason for an uprising to happen in that kingdom. Is the current ruler corrupt or inept in any way?"
"As far as I've investigated, not at all," Lycht shook his head as he replied. "In fact, the current ruler has been ruling over the kingdom with fairness as the main element. According to my sources, this rebellion party only has greed and power in mind."
"Quell the rebellion party, then," Erudis said with indifference before looking at the others and asking, "Is there any objection to this decision?"
In response, all the other beings shook their heads, prompting Lycht to thank Erudis before he sat down on his chair.
"With that done, let us now move onto the second topic," Erudis said after Lycht had sat down, looking at a being with pinkish bark and a being with cyan bark before continuing, "Vytalis, Mannelyn, please tell the others what's happening in the Maerr-viki Continent. If my memory serves me right, it has something to do with something called a 'war for the throne', no?"
"That is correct, Senior Erudis," Vytalis solemnly replied as she nodded before allowing Mannelyn to continue as she explained, "According to our sources, the current king of the Seraph Kingdom, King Zeldrion Seraph, is aiming to step down from the throne as he is aiming to ascend to the Transcendent level. With that in mind, he has created an event that would allow all of his sons to fight for the title of crown prince equally under the event known as the 'war for the throne'."
"What do the others think on what we should do about it?" Vytalis asked, prompting the others to chat with one another for a bit before one of the beings stood up and said, "Would it affect us in any way?"
This being had bark that shifted between the color gray and dark violet. Not only that, but a deathly aura could be felt surrounding him as he asked. Others knew him under the name Thanandine.
In response, Mannelyn replied to Thanandine's question, saying, "Not at all. In fact, us two just wanted you guys to know of this event occurring since it seems like an event where we could affect the final result. Of course, we could go ahead and not interfere with the event at all, allowing it to happen naturally."
She then continued, "But according to what I've heard from my sources, one of the princes participating in the event has already killed three of the other princes to increase his chances of winning the title of crown prince. I don't know if such an action warrants the move of us Spiriveritas, but I don't see why there would be no reason for us to not steer the result of the event towards the right direction."
"I'd suggest taking a neutral stance for now." Surprisingly, Braham spoke up after Mannelyn was done, taking on a raspy tone as he talked. "I have my sources in the Maerr-viki Continent as well, and as far as I've heard from them, there's still about nine months to go before the event officially starts. I'd suggest making a move around two to three months before the event starts if you're still willing to affect the results."
"I agree with Braham's decision," Erudis said in response before asking the others, "Does anyone have any objections to this?"
In response, everyone shook their heads, feeling that the decision made lots of sense. With everyone having no complaints towards the decision, Erudis then continued with the next topic for their assembly.
Clearing his throat as the previous four sat back down, Erudis then said, "Let us now continue with the third and final topic of this assembly. I'm sure the others also have topics they want to talk about, but it would be better to talk about it in private."
"This topic, though, will affect all of us," Erudis continued, prompting the others to focus on Erudis' next words from the tone he took.
Allowing the room to be silent for a bit, Erudis then explained the third topic as he said, "As we all know, we have sensed an Inanimate being that has achieved the minimum requirement in terms of power and having the ability to spread its bloodline in the Maerr-viki Continent. Of course, all of us have unanimously agreed that this being would become the thirteenth Spiriveritas of Erudinia, taking on the codename Verdante."
Hearing how this final topic was related to the new Spiriveritas, all of them instantly had a hunch as to what Erudis was about to ask, making some of them feel giddy from excitement.
Erudis took one look at all of them before asking, "Now, the question. Who would like to meet Verdante and introduce the Spiriveritas to him?"
Thud!
In an instant, a being with black bark stood up from his seat as he hastily shouted, "Me! Me! Let me be the one to meet Verdante!"
"Calm down, Nyll. You're from the Velkstyrne Continent, the farthest continent possible from Maerr-viki," Sylphen said in response to Nyll's words, instantly reducing the excitement Nyll felt down to zero. Nevertheless, he wouldn't give up that easily, prompting him to ask Sylphen, "If that's the case, who do you suggest should meet up with Verdante, Sylphen?"
"Well, the choice is between Mannelyn and Vytalis, no?" Sylphen said in response before looking at the two. Surprisingly, the two had already expected that they were going to be picked, so in a turn of events, Vytalis said, "I'd suggest choosing someone other than us two. Since us three are part of the same continent, we're bound to meet up eventually. It would be better to give the chance to someone from a continent closest to Maerr-viki."
"So that only leaves those in Mercuria, huh," Pyrresca could not help but say. In an instant, the other beings looked at the four beings that were based in Mercuria: Braham, Thanandine, Pyrresca, and the one who started the Spiriveritas Assembly, Erudis.
Unexpectedly, Erudis stood up and looked at the others before saying, "How about I go and meet up with Verdante on behalf of all of us?"
Naturally, the others were shocked since it was rare for the first Spiriveritas to make a move outside the Mercuria Continent. Nevertheless, all of them felt that there was no problem if Erudis was going to meet up with Verdante since he had the most knowledge. With him asking if there was any objection, and with everyone having no complaints about it whatsoever, Erudis then said, "I guess I'll head there once Verdante has become more used to his newfound power."
"Anyways, with that the Spiriveritas Assembly is now finished," he continued as he opened up a corridor that led to his room while the others were looking at him. Taking a turn to walk through the corridor, he then said the phrase that prompted the others to finally leave the Inheritance of Erudition.