Ivan before the open doors for a moment, taking deep breaths to calm his raging heart.
He took a step inside and an invisible pressure descended upon him. The collective auras of several powerhouses falling on his shoulders. His back slumped, his knees threatening to hit the ground.
Ivan grit his teeth. His fist clenched at his side. He circulated his own Aether from his core, his own aura spreading from his body in an effort to fight back. Sweat fell down his temple. The pressure lessened and he could stand once more.
The inside of the Hall was filled with an assortment of seats- enough to fit 30, all arranged in a hemicyclic style where each row dipped by a few inches iteratively until they stopped just before a round stage that stood before a raised dais.
All the seats were filled with Hunters. They were either B-ranks or A-ranks.
Ivan continued down a seat of stairs that led to the stage. Each step feeling as though he was pushing through the currents. His aura slowly dwindled. Against the collective auras of over 20 Hunters while Ivan was alone.
The further Ivan walked the more his invisible aura dwindled. White sparks flicked above him where his aura encased him in a translucent cocoon. Ivan could feel all the eyes focused on him, every time they chipped at his aura, they increased their pressure. By the time he reached the stage, Ivan's suit was soaked through, his head drenched and his breathing heavy.
Ivan's heart felt cold. The Hunters didn't seem to have the intention of retracted their auras even now.
It felt like a blatant slap to the face.
At that moment more powerful aura swept through the room completely crashing the collective momentum of the Hunters. The aura was so power and had come unexpectedly while he was recovering that Ivan fell to his knees.
If the pressure exerted by the Hunters had felt like swimming against the ocean currents, this one felt more like he was dropped into deepest parts of the ocean with no way of coming back up.
"Order" a voice came from the dais.
The dais was raised to over 4 meters high so Ivan was forced to look up. The trial was starting. Ivan strained against his entire body. His bones creaked, but he rose to his stand steadily until he was, his shoulders felt heavy but he forced himself to stand straight.
He was the vice leader of the Vulcan Guild, he wouldn't do right by it if he went through this trial while on his knees
Five figures sat upon the dais, looking down on him. All of them were prominent figures with substantial influence over the city.
"Ivan Sullivan" the voice from before came once more and this time Ivan could see whose face it belonged to. The man's was pale faced but had high cheekbones, an angular jaw and a head of auburn hair neatly combed back leaving a single strand of hair to hover over his golden colored eye. "you stand before this council to answer for crimes against the city"
When he spoke the air seemed to get heavier. Silence hung in the room.
Looking at those golden eyes, Ivan's heart couldn't help but beat erratically. His breathing labored and his mind sunk lower and lower as though pulled by quicksand. He felt like a deer standing before a predator. There were very few people who could make him feel this way, even in the face of the collective pressure from the Hunters, Ivan never felt this way at all.
The man, City Lord Vera, spoke once more "Are you familiar with the Hunter Codes?".
Ivan could hear his heart beat from the blood rushing to his ears.
"Stay your hand Vera" A voice cut through City Lord Vera's aura. A sharp eyed woman who sat at the left end of the dais spoke.
Ivan could breath once more. His hands shook beside him. It took a lot of effort just to keep himself from falling. It wasn't the first time expressing an S-Rank's aura release. His own guild master was a monster herself but he had never felt an S-Rank's aura so directed and thick with killing intent before.
City Lord Vera eyed the woman sharply. "What are you doing Elsmine?"
Elsmine didn't respond. She didn't even look at him. Just sat in her seat with her back straight. She was the branch head of the Scyrus Guild in Bright City. It was a neutral nationwide organization well versed in the gathering and distribution of information.
Vera looked like he was about to press the issue further but the Magister of Trade and Finance interjected:
"Let's not waste time here Lord Vera some of us are busy enough as it is" Hudson, the magister was a rather short man with a fat round body. He wore gold rings around his fat fingers. His round nose twitching continuously as though agitated.
"Yeah lets just get his over with" a laid back but soft voice came from the only other woman among them who unlike the other judges was laid back with her chair tilted back. She looked bored, a pair of large heart-shaped sunglasses resting in her wide afro-pop.
She was the representative of the Hunter Association, Shia Carn.
City Lord Vera lingered then he turned his attention back to Ivan.
"Are you not going to answer my question vice guild leader?" he asked.
"Y-yes…" Ivan found himself startled for a moment but he managed to collect himself somewhat. "…I am familiar with the Hunter Codes my lord"
"Then you know what the first law states?"
"…Yes, my lord"
"And the second?" the city lord asked.
"…Yes, my lord" again Ivan answered.
"And the third?"
"…yes" Ivan turned his gaze down.
Silence hung in the hall. The tension thick enough to cut with a knife. City Lord Vera shifted his gaze from Ivan to the entire audience gathered. His charm and charisma spreading like a contagious infection.
"Hunters must adhere to a summons immediately after they have received the message. No delays. That is the first law
"Hunters are tied to the duty of containing Zones, guarding and managing them as well as clearing them to prevent a collapse especially if it is in the city.
"A Hunters are to ensure with the safety of the citizens to the best of their ability. That is the third"
Vera's words were like a hammer falling upon the heads of each and everyone. The weight of them almost becoming physical. A chill swept through the room a deathly sort of silence taking root. Most of the spectators had come here expecting to humiliate the top guild of the city, never did they think that the City Lord would not only address the Vulcan Guild but would also take the chance to ridicule the vast majority of guilds present.
Vera looked back at Ivan.
"You have not only failed at all three. You have endangered the city as well as cost the lives of civilians. The casualties are over 40. 17 dead, 15 in critically injured, 7 bedridden and 1 missing." the city lord's words felt like a dagger thrust right into Ivan's heart.
He already knew these numbers. He had read them from the reports Delphine had compiled but to hear them spoken to him in such a manner. It left him disheartened.
"And as though that wasn't enough to show for your lack of competence. A D-Rank beast reportedly vanished from the scene and an invisible entity wrecked havoc upon the city, leaving most of our citizens injured."
Every person looked down when the unknown entity was mentioned. As Hunters they were proud of their strength so for them being forced to take a knee towards an unseen enemy without any means of fighting back was nothing short of humiliating.
City lord Vera's momentum though didn't slow down.
"Therefore due to these reasons the Council before you deems the Vulcan Guild inept and unqualified to remain a 5 Star evaluation and will now be relegated to a 3 Star entity. In consideration to all the services you have done for the city in the past you Hunter Licenses will not be revoked, however for a period of 5 months your taxes on Loot from the Zones shall be 10% higher and…" City Lord Vera gave a subtle glance to the man sitting next to him who had not spoken this entire time. "…cost of repair and weapon forging will be 15% higher. Dismissed"
…
Ivan was out of it. His thoughts in disarray. Everything seemed to be going so wrong. The Council meeting…no, the trial had ended an hour ago and yet he could not seem to get it out of his mind at all.
Sweat poured down the entirety of his body. As he drove his fists forward again and again at the black pillar that stood in the middle of the room.
Bang! Bang!
With every punch the room shook, the air exploding every time his fists made contact with the black pillar. He threw everything he had at it, he really wanted to break the pillar down, he needed to.
It was the only way he could think of to get rid of his growing sense of frustration. The black pillar refused to break no matter how many times he struck it but Ivan refused to stop. He struck again and again until…
Crack!
His wrist finally couldn't take it anymore. The bone breaking and twisting in a way a hand was never supposed to.
Ivan hissed in pain. "Argh!"
He slumped to the ground holding his broken wrist to his chest, back leaning against the indestructible pillar. His eyes reddened with unshed tears. There was a saying, 'men don't cry'.
That was a lie. Men did cry, when they didn't know what else to do about a situation. And Ivan really didn't know how to deal with this at all. After all it hadn't even been 3 years since the guild master established the Vulcan guild and appointed him the vice. Then not even two years later the guild leader took off for her campaign beyond the city walls.
'I don't think I can do this on my own guild leader'
Ivan's shoulders trembled.