Trial

Two days after Nalos visited Bartos, the trial was held. Lilia and Kate were anxiously waiting behind Bartos during the set-up, along with Shui and his apprentices. They waited as the clan congregated in the plaza in front of the central structure in the clan, Sky-wind Pavilion. Before the trial began, one of the elders that bothered Bartos walked to him.

"Haha, how does it feel, to know you'll soon be called a traitor by the entire clan?"

This elder had a wide smile while exuding confidence. He was sure that Bartos was regretting how he had treated him recently.

'Ha! Time for you to know your place!'

However, the disgruntled face that the elder expected was missing. In response to his question, Bartos simply looked at the elder with an annoyed expression as if asking why he had to talk to the nuisance in front of him.

"Can't you talk to someone else?"

"You, you, You!"

WIthout paying the elder another glance, Bartos took his gaze away from him. He saw no reason to get into a conversation with an arrogant puppet. As Bartos ignored him, the elder's chest heaved up and down in anger before he left with a snort.

"Why are our elders like that?" Kate asked with an innocent expression.

Her question caused wry smiles to appear on their six faces. They knew that not all of the elders acted like this one did, but the nice ones were either in difficult situations or were too busy to socialize so they were rarely seen.

During the trial, those involved would be situated in a circular area with the Sky-wind Pavilion behind where the Patriarch and four elders sat, and the rest of the clan in the opposite direction. On the left of the circular area were Bartos, Shui and Yur, while on the right were three elders that sent hateful gazes towards them. Lus was also at the front of the onlookers with an aloof smirk plastered on his face.

When he had received the news about a custom harmony series artifact entering the hands of the Glaize, he thought that it was too good to be true, but once news of the artifact spread in the Glaize clan, he had to believe it.

'Even the heavens want me to succeed!'

Though he still had minor reasons to be cautious, his heart had already seen his victory as a fact.

The Patriarch and the four elders served as the judge and jury respectively. Among the four elders were Kran and Corin. Before the trial officially started Kran had been sending hateful gazes towards Bartos' group but Shui wasn't worried by this since this trial wasn't for them to prove their innocence, it was to prove their strength.

"Quiet, let the trial begin."

Once the Patriarch spoke, chatter reached silent-night levels and one of the elders going against Bartos walked to the centre of the circle, directly in front of the Patriarch's group. For trials, the prosectuting side went first with an explanation of the accused's crime.

"Patriarch, esteemed elders and other members of the clan. We are here today to seek punishment for Bartos' actions. Not only has he forgotten his roots and chose to cater to outsiders more than his own clan, we have evidence that he has been getting VERY CLOSE with the Glaize clan. After personally begging Bartos to sell me one of his artifacts, he blatantly refused me and said that he wouldn't sell me ANYTHING! Many fellow elders have also experienced this but we didn't press the matter. Even when he lied to our faces that he didn't create the artifacts in question, we let it go because we BELIEVED that he was still loyal to the clan. HOWEVER, when we heard that he had made a custom artifact for two important figures close to the Matriarch of the Glaize clan, we knew it couldn't be tolerated any longer. Please my fellow clansmen, we need to stop this man before he goes any further."

There were several parts in his claim that made Bartos' apprentices want to loudly refute, but Bartos' firm figure stopped them. With a glance he reminded them that they wouldn't be able to win if they tried to argue with him. This elder was obviously very slick with his tongue based on how he mixed in lies with truth, so if they recklessly interrupted him they might end up in a worse position.

However, the sneers and looks of disgust from the onwatchers certainly didn't make it easier for them to stay calm. Yur, Broc and Gus glared at any who they heard insult Bartos while Shui memorised every one of their faces. While Bartos might not have cared, they would not forgive trash who would jump on the bandwagon thoughtlessly.

"Bartos, what stance does your side take in response to this claim?"

"Not guilty, Patriarch."

Extra smirks popped up when Bartos pleaded 'not guilty', but not just from the opposition. Yur and Shui smirked as well. They couldn't wait to see the look of those rotten elders' faces when they executed their plan.

The next segment of the trial involved both sides defending their stance, starting with the prosecuting side. The same slick tongued elder stood in the centre of the plaza and turned towards Bartos.

"Bartos, do you admit that you had refused to sell artifacts of the harmony series to several elders?"

"Yes, I-"

"Ah, a yes or a no will be fine."

"...Understood."

After refusing to give him a chance to explain himself, the elder continued to ask questions of a similar nature that increased the audience's suspicion.

"Did you tell these elders that you did not make the harmony series even though there is proof that they were made in your forge?"

"Yes."

"Did you know that many of the harmony series artifacts ended up in the hands of the Clite and Glaize clans?"

"Yes."

"Did you also know that not one person in our clan has bought or received a harmony series artifact?"

"Yes."

"Was a custom artifact of the harmony series sold to the Glaize clan?"

"Yes."

All of the questions lead to Bartos further incriminating himself, but his face never changed. With a face that made it seem as if he was under no pressure, Bartos answered calmly. Only the last two questions had him being affected.

"Is it true that you once dated Kril, who is now an elder in the Glaize clan?"

"...Yes."

The sharp gaze from his wife was slightly hard to endure but the change in his tone was minimum. However the last question had him almost completely unrestrained.

"Your daughter had seriously injured a member of the Glaize clan. Do you admit to punishing-"

"Don't, push it."

Without even raising his voice, Bartos silenced every person at the scene. His aura at the peak of the Soul Realm was enough to suffocate many of the clan and the elder questioning him could only let out short sounds. The only groups that were unaffected were the Patriarch's group and those on Bartos' side.

"That's enough."

The relief from the pressure came a moment later thanks to Nalos. He also agreed that the question was out of line so he looked at that elder with a piercing glare while continuing.

"If that is the only type of questions you have left then you may return to your area."

After the elder meekly went to the right of the circular area, Nalos sent his gaze toward Bartos.

"Bartos, does your side have anything to say in response?"

By this time, especially after Bartos' outburst, most of the clan was looking at Bartos with hatred and disgust. During the trial they had used less of their brains than they usually did, but that was enough for them to decide on what was the truth. While experiencing this atmosphere, Shui was once again sure that he would have to leave the clan in the future.

"Yes, Patriarch."

Instead of Bartos, Yur was the one to respond with a confident smile on his face.

"The prosecuting side seemed to have discovered all the facts and look rather confident, but there was one major point wrong with their claims."

Yur's first sentence was enough wipe the smiles off of all of their enemies.

"Their entire claim is based on the fact that my Master was the one to forge the harmony series, but that's wrong. The ones to make the harmony series were actually his apprentices using the technique given to us by Shui's master."

The opposition were about to regain their smirks after the first sentence, but the rest of Yur's words froze their faces. Shui's master was a mystery that the entire clan wanted to find out about, so they became nervous once he was mentioned. For the first time during the trial, they were afraid that they might fail.

"As everyone already knows, Shui's style is something that has never been seen before in these parts, and with his cultivation there must have been someone to train him, right? Now, due to a request from his master I can't say too much about him, but what I can say is that he is a whimsical master who also dambled in artifact refining."

Yur's words had everyone diligently listening and waiting for his continuation. At this point, some had even forgotten the original purpose of the trial.

"The method to make the harmony series was given to Shui by his master and he also allowed my Master and his apprentices to learn the method. However, since my master was already comfortable with his style, only us apprentices used the method. Anyone whose paid attention to the harmony series should know that none of them is above supreme special-rank. If Bartos was the one forging them, don't you think they would have a higher rank?"

Once Yur brought up this question, many recalled that Bartos mainly forged normal and blessed spirit-rank artifacts so it was indeed odd that none of the harmony series reached spirit-rank. As doubt spread among the clan, those opposing Bartos started panicking from the holes being poked in their argument.

"That, that still doesn't prove the existence of Shui's master. You could have found the method from some inheritance"

Since they realised they couldn't target Bartos any more, the elder who was responsible for the questioning tried to attack Yur's explanation. Though Yur had explained how the creator of the harmony series couldn't be Bartos, Shui's master was still covered in mystery. Since Yur said he had been prohibited from revealing much information about him, the elder didn't think they would be able to get him to speak at the trial. However, Shui and Yur had simply been waiting for his question.