Chapter 437: The Trial of the wolves

The ten elders of the underground city arrived upon receiving the call of the chief. When they entered the room, they saw a human in their midst and quickly took out their weapons. Seeing the little pups drawing their weapons at him made Valdel feel a little bit irritated. These people claim that the humans were discriminating against them, which is true but isn't their way just the same but simply guided by different reasoning?

"Lower your weapons!" The chief commanded as he noticed the irritated look Valdel was showing. He didn't want to provoke Valdel anymore than he already had. The ten elders were still glaring at Valdel but they did as they were told and lowered their weapons.

"What is this all about? Why did you bring a human into our sanctuary?!" One of the elders growled.

"That's right, how can you let a human into the city. Not only that he's even so deep inside." Another elder spoke.

"Everyone calm down!" The head warrior suddenly shouted. When the elders heard the head warrior's shout they stopped talking. The usual head warrior would never do something so rude to them, so seeing the change in his behavior the elders looked at him confused.

"Please dear elders, listen to the chief." The elders who were stunned by the head warrior's outburst looked at the chief. Seeing that the attention was finally back on him the chief sighed before he started explaining the current situation.

As they were listening to the chief's explanation their facial expressions kept on changing for every word they heard. Once the chief was done explaining there was an eerie silence that came over them. After a period of silence, one of the elders could no longer hold it in and shouted at Valdel.

"HOW DARE YOU HUMAN!" The elder suddenly charged at Valdel. Seeing the incoming elder Valdel didn't even bother to move and simply emitted his mana. When the elder felt Valdel's mana his blood and soul told him to kneel. The other elders who felt that mana couldn't stop themselves and knelt as well.

When they heard the chief explain this phenomenon they thought that he was exaggerating but right now as they felt it for themselves, they knew that the chief actually didn't explain it well enough. Who knew that Valdel's mana could warrant such an extreme reaction from them.

"So are you mutts going to acknowledge what I said as truth, or are you going to keep on denying me?"

When the elders heard that contempt in Valdel's voice they lowered their heads in frustration. Valdel stopped his mana from leaking out which allowed the beastkin to be able to move again.

"Sir Valdel, please stand aside for now as we have a brief meeting." The Chief bowed his head as he spoke. Seeing the Chief like this Valdel shrugged his shoulders and left the room. Once Valdel was out of the room, the elders, the warriors, everyone present was able to breathe better.

"What was that?"

"Was it the ruler's might that the Lycan kings of the past used to possess?"

"NO, that can't be it! I refuse to believe that our esteemed ancestor became a human!"

"... I know what you feel, but everything he has shown us, all of it points to him telling the truth."

"Even then, I cannot and will not accept it!"

"Then what, will you continue to deny him, out of spite? Even if he's not telling the truth that human has the power to make us kneel without even lifting a finger."

The elders came to a heated discussion as they argued back and forth. The chief then raised his hand to signal them to stop.

"So who among you believe in Valdel's claim?" Five elders lifted their hands. "Who among you wish to deny his claim?" The remaining five elders then raised their hands. Seeing that the group was split in the middle the elder knew that in the end, he was still the one who needed to make a decision.

"I see... Then do you wish for him to go through the trial of the wolves?"

When the elders heard what the chief suggested they were at first surprised. "Are we allowing a human to take part in that trial?"

"Well, if he passes then that would prove his skill without a doubt."

"Even if he passes that doesn't prove his claim to be our ancestor."

"Hmph, if he passes the trial even if he was not who he says he is it will not matter." The elders once again were in a heated argument. The chief waited for a few minutes before interrupting their conversation.

"So who among you agrees to let the human Valdel go through the trial of the wolves?" This time seven hands had been raised. Even though the winner was already obvious the chief continued to ask the other side. "Who disagrees?" Two hands rose in the air.

"Seven elders agree to let Valdel do the trial of the wolves, and two disagree, and one abstains from voting. So we have come to a decision Valdel will go through the trial. Head warrior call Valdel back in."

...

"So have you decided to believe me now?" Those were the first words that came out of Valdel's mouth as he entered the room. Of course, this made the elders frown, but they didn't say a word to show their displeasure.

"No, we have not, instead we wish for you to go through the trial of the wolves to prove your claim."

"Trial of the wolves?"

"The trial is very simple. It's a battle against the strongest member of each of the ten clans within our tribe. It will be an unarmed battle without using mana, only pure physical abilities will be used. This was the trial used to determine who will become the true ruler of our tribe. The last person that was able to succeed in the trial was the son of our lord Katar. In this trial there is a chance of death, even so, will you risk it?"

Some of the elders thought that Valdel would reject the trial since without any mana involved a human could never match up to the pure physical prowess of a beastkin. Even the strongest of the beastkin who took this trial were unable to succeed. Seeing as you needed to fight ten opponents in succession without rest was something difficult to do. Yet to their surprise the words that came out of Valdel's mouth were the exact opposite of what they expected.

"I will do it."