"I wish I was that good." The black-robed Awakened sighed. "I had to relinquish my plant nature at sixteen and I would have never gotten the violet without the help of my bloodline legacy."

"I consider myself lucky because it's thanks to Verhen's fame that I learned of Master Faluel's existence. It's only thanks to her kindness that she accepted me as her disciple and introduced me to Verhen.

"Without their guidance, I'd still be a hybrid." Nalrond said.

"Being born at the right time is indeed luck." The Awakened shook his massive mane in regret. "I'm probably older than Verhen's great-grandfather and back in my day fusing your life forces was considered wishful thinking at best."

"Indeed." Ajatar cut the reminiscences off and put the discussion back on track. "You are old and knowledgeable, but our Nalrond is young. He has no idea who you are so let's do the proper introductions.

"Nalrond, these are the Council Elders Velkist the Sphinx and Rhuss the Oberon. Velkist, Rhuss, you already know our wonder boy. As you know, he's a Light Master and I think he could benefit from us old fossils' knowledge of the Rezar tribe."

"You're right, Ajatar." Velkist slapped his own forehead. "You see, young man, the Rezars are the only tribe of Emperor Beasts capable of passing down their Light Mastery. Many learned it in the past, but very few people reached an understanding deep enough to teach it to others.

"According to the legends, the Rezars are an unnatural fusion of Emperor Beasts and humans perpetrated through Forbidden Magic. Yet they would be just a historical footnote if not for their ability to resist cursed objects.

"It is said that after Sinmara defeated Dawn over a thousand years ago, she brought her crystal to a Fringe where the Rezars sought refuge from their tormentors. For some unknown reason, the Bright Day taught the Rezars how to master all branches of light magic.

"Everyone in the Rezar tribe, even small kids, is a skilled healer and Light Master."

"Or so the rumors say." Rhuss pointed out and Velkist nodded.

"I see." Nalrond faked interest in the brief summary of his tribe's history. "What about the sightings of a living Rezar? Why are we still here? If we catch him, we can find a Fringe, you can learn Light Mastery, and I get access to spells a self-taught like me can only dream about!"

He hated talking about one of his people like that, but righteousness was pointless when dealing with someone powerful enough to squash Nalrond like a bug. He needed to test the waters and understand how credible the source of the rumors was.

'Gods if Jirni's training paid off.' Nalrond inwardly thought. 'How can she act like this with everyone and not hate herself?'

Rhuss, Velkist, and many others chuckled amicably at the Agni's outburst, Ajatar included.

"My boy, I was excited just like you back when I heard my first rumor of a Rezar sighting." Ajatar said. "Too bad it ended up being a young Wyvern playing a prank on his parents."

"Lucky you." Velkist said. "Mine was nothing but a hoax. I wasted weeks before realizing an idiot had made everything up just to get himself free drinks."

"You think yourself unlucky?" Rhuss snorted. "Mine was Manohar! That piece of shit beat the crap out of me and almost captured me for his experiments."

"There's nothing shameful in losing to the late god of healing." Nalrond patted his back. "I'm told he was a genius."

"He wasn't the god of healing yet. He was fourteen for the gods' sake!" Rhuss shuddered at the thought. "The little bastard cornered me with the help of the Queen Corps' unit protecting him.

"If his mother hadn't called him for lunch, I wouldn't be here today."

"That's a bit shameful." Nalrond coughed to stifle a laugh.

"No 'bit', just shameful." Rhuss admitted. "Bottom line, don't believe everything you hear and always move prepared. That's why we are taking our time. We have sent our apprentices to collect information and scout the field for us.

"Unless they find concrete evidence, I'm not going anywhere." Many of the guests agreed with his words.

"It's a thousand years that we hear about Rezars and have yet to find a single one." Ajatar shrugged. "There's no reason why this time it should be any different."

"True, but my apprentice can use a bit of field practice." Faluel acted so naturally that no one suspected she had rehearsed her speech. "Do you mind sharing with him what you know?"

"I would, if it wasn't just tidbits of information." Velkist said. "He or she has been spotted at the borders between the Kingdom and the Desert. It seems the Rezar had lived peacefully with the locals until a group of bandits raided the village.

"Then, they transformed into a colossal armored beast that slaughtered the bandits with swords of light and healed the survivors before disappearing into the night."

The Sphinx conjured a hologram from his amulet, showing the location of the village.

Nalrond recognized it as the closest permanent human settlement to his Fringe, the place where all youths were sent to experience the outside world once in a while. Friya held his hand tight to dispel his tension and help him keep his cool.

"No offense, but it sounds just like a shapeshifted Emperor Beast." Faluel said. "Normal human can't distinguish a hard-light construct from a fire blade during a village fair, let alone while under attack and their emotions run high."

"I agree and that's why only a few Council Elders have mobilized while the rest of us sent their disciples." Rhuss replied. "We've mistaken mist for smoke too many times and never found any fire.

"My time is too precious a resource to waste it in another wild goose chase."

"Speaking of resources, we've getting a lot of them from Jiera along with the hate of our dear neighbors." Ajatar said. "We are close to producing more Harmonizers and with a bit of luck, we might even improve on them."

"Gods if I hope you are right." Velkist sighed. "Fallen or not, our cousins Elder Beasts of Zeska possess incredible powers that most Emperor Beast bloodlines can only dream about.

"Once their life forces stabilize and we can produce a healthy offspring with them, there's a solid chance more of us will be able to follow in Nalrond's footsteps."

The ease with which the Drake changed the topic took a huge burden off Nalrond's chest.

'No one believes it might be a real Rezar.' He thought. 'I need to play along until the end of the party and not show any interest as well. Otherwise, the Council members might think I know something about this and follow me.

'Even worse, they might put some real effort into the search. At that point, finding my clanmate first would be impossible.'

"I know." Raagu Drerian, the human representative, said. "Why do you think I'm investing my private resources in the Harmonizer project? Perfect hybrids like Verhen and Nalrond are good, but evolution is better.

"For too long we humans have wallowed in despair thinking our race couldn't progress further."