The Runic Artist Chapter 37: Chapter 356 - Ministerial Oversight

Read chapter 37 of The Runic Artist by Ellake on NovelPedia.

Nate was escorted through pristine marble halls, the sound of leather boots from Commander Kalista and the Asmuisillan Champion slapping the floor echoing down the quiet walkway. He could tell that this place was normally busy and that the bureaucratic denizens that kept the wheels of democracy turning in Asmuisil had been cleared out. Whether that was to conceal Nate’s presence from them or to perhaps instead intimidate him with what they saw as the power and majesty of the building, he couldn’t say. Instead, as he continued to walk in silence, his thoughts drifted to his eyes. Conceptual Sight had only just become usable again. It had taken two days before the Destruction that had been laced through his eyes was finally cleared out by the constant cycling of Creation through them. He had learned a valuable lesson attempting to copy Ankh’aris’s method. A lesson, he acknowledged, that he should have already known. His Path was not one of pure Destruction like Ankh. His involved three core Concepts that needed to be at the heart of everything he did. If he reached too far with any one of those Concepts on its own, he risked overloading a part of his Vessel with a single Concept which would put it out of balance. Still, for destroying Lies to see the truth of Luc’s Path, he’d consider it both a well learned lesson and worth the price. His musings were cut short as they reached the end of the hall. Two Champions stood in full armour on either side of the double doors. The steel armour was riddled with enchantments, but it was two in particular that Nate noted out of curiosity. Conceptual Sight activated, his eyes, swirling with the colours of the rainbow, easily picked out the two runecrafted processed mana gems that were slotted into the armour through a hatch in the back. Seeing his eyes, all four of the individuals tensed up, hands drifting to weapons. Nate spoke before Commander Kalista could ask him what was going on. “You’ve incorporated processed mana gems into the new generation of Champion’s armour? The designs look like they’re made by the Artist’s Emporium.” The Commander and the Champion that had been escorting Nate both relaxed while the two door guards remained on high alert until Kalista waved them down. “We can discuss that later, if there is still something to discuss,” stated Kalista drily before turning to the Champions guarding the door. “Announce us.” The Champions both saluted before pushing open the double doors, one of them removing his helm and locking it beneath his arm as the gentle susurrus of conversation in the chambers turned to silence. “Emperor Nathaniel Weber to address the Council. Escorted by Commander Kalista of the Third Army and Champion Nox of the Third Army.” Nate followed Kalista into the chambers and was surprised when he was shown a seat. He’d expected a powerplay but it seemed that Asmuisil tried to give the appearance of living up to their purported principles. The Council all sat at a similar level, and, while they were slightly raised above the common area of the chambers, Nate didn’t need to tilt his head to look up at them. Seats were arrayed around the room facing in towards the Council seats with over half of them filled with relatively normal looking people. Staffers, Nate wondered, or just citizens trying to keep their elected officials honest. Commander Kalista took one of those seats while Champion Nox took up a post at the back of the room. Nox wasn’t the only Champion in the chamber and Nate counted another five. He wondered if they always had so many or if they had brought in extras just for him. Between the door guards, Nox, Kalista, and the five other Champions, there were technically nine Champions present. Quite a few, he decided, before turning his eyes to the Minister Elects themselves. He’d debated going to Morgane and getting the details on the Minister Elects of Asmuisil. Information on how many there were and what elements of government each one represented. Per