Chapter 84: Chapter 84: System's Tragedy

"Summoners Lucien, Selene, and Raelar," the messenger gasped, his chest heaving, "Patriarch Fathoran demands your immediate presence in the families' building..."

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As they entered the council chamber, the air crackled with palpable tension. Fathoran awaited them, sitting on a carbon throne, the white rabbit motionless atop his head.

"Ah, my dear grandchildren," his voice was soft, almost paternal, but with a hidden edge that made the three tense. "I'm glad you arrived so quickly. We have urgent matters to discuss."

Lucien stepped forward, inclining his head slightly in feigned respect. "How may we serve you, Patriarch?"

Fathoran rose slowly, his imposing figure dominating the room. "As you well know, our city has prospered under my guidance for a century. But with prosperity comes... excess."

The three Summoners held their breath, dreading what would come next.

"The time has come," Fathoran continued, his voice low and ominous, "to reduce our population. We will increase the soldiers in the wall, but also... Some families must be... eliminated."

Lucien felt the floor opening beneath his feet. Selene visibly paled, while Raelar maintained his neutral expression, though his eyes betrayed his horror.

"Patriarch," Lucien began, struggling to keep his voice steady, "surely there are other options. We could find a way to push back the monsters on our own. The elimination of entire families is..."

"Necessary?" Fathoran interrupted, his eyes dangerously gleaming. "It is, Lucien. I don't have the power to survive without the barrier, so neither do you... For the good of the city, to maintain the balance that God established... Sacrifices are necessary."

Lucien felt bile rising in his throat. Images of innocent families, of children who had done nothing but be born, being eliminated, flooded his mind. He couldn't allow this to happen.

"I refuse," he declared, his voice resonating in the chamber. "I will not tolerate a genocide!"

Lucien opened his book, his frog growing and charging its ice explosion in an instant. Selene and Raelar looked at Lucien with a mixture of admiration and terror.

Fathoran enclosed Lucien just before he could launch his attack, his overwhelming presence filling the space. "You refuse?" His voice was soft but laden with threat. "Have you forgotten your place, grandson? Have you forgotten who's in charge here?"

Lucien, trapped, maintained his firm expression, though he could feel cold sweat running down his back. "I haven't forgotten anything, Patriarch. But neither have I forgotten my duty to the city and its people. This is wrong, and you know it."

For a moment, it seemed Fathoran would explode in anger. But then, a cold smile spread across his face. "Ah, my son Leothen. Always the idealist. I thought his death would have taught you his mistake. It seems you learned everything backwards from your father..."

"So," Kriz said with a crooked smile, his eyes gleaming with excitement, "when are you going to give us those cores? I can't wait to invoke!"

Elio smiled, extending his hand towards Zara. "Well, let's begin. Zara, open your book to the balance page, where you normally absorb and expel mana crystals."

Zara nodded, a bit nervous, and opened her book. Elio placed his just above it.

"Alright," said Elio, and suddenly, cores began to fall from Elio's book into Zara's, like a cascade of lights.

"You could just do that?!"

Kriz complained, his voice tinged with mock disappointment. "Here I thought you were going to do something impressive after all that time you took showing how you could extract cores. This is pretty anticlimactic, don't you think?"

Elio shot him an amused look. "Sometimes, Kriz, the simplest is the most effective."

He repeated the process with each of his friends, transferring exactly 11,100 cores to each one.

"With this," he explained, his voice filled with quiet excitement, "you'll be able to summon the salamander, the frog, and the rabbit."

Zara was the first to step forward, her eyes fixed on the ground, a slight blush coloring her cheeks. "I-I'm going to summon the salamander," she said. "I want to know my invocations from the first."

Elio nodded, noticing the slight flush in Zara's cheeks but choosing not to comment.

Everyone knew she was partly doing it to match him, but they decided not to mention it. Even Kriz, too busy delighting in his acquisitions.

Micah was next, his voice steady and resolute. "I'll summon the frog," he declared. There was no need to explain why; everyone knew of his admiration for Raelar and Lucien.

Brok, Ren, and Kriz opted to go directly for the rabbit, as Elio had explained it would give them more magical damage in their attacks than the other two.

One by one, they summoned their creatures. Zara's salamander was red, a darker shade than Ember's blue, with golden spots. Micah's frog was a bright green, with eyes that seemed to absorb everything around them. Brok, Ren, and Kriz's rabbits varied in size and color, each reflecting something of their summoner's personality.

Kriz, excited, extended his hand towards his rabbit, his fingers trembling with anticipation. "Finally, I'll be able to touch an invocation!"

But to his surprise and dismay, his finger passed through the rabbit as if it were air.

"What...?" he stammered, confusion written all over his face.