"Zhayen, you do the same. Regardless of what your reasons are, this should be the last time you're ever late," Lucius added before leaving.
He knew that punishing Zhayen was unfair, as he had no doubt that his peers had given him the wrong information. However, this group was clearly undisciplined. If he left Zhayen without punishment, tomorrow one of the others might use it as an excuse.
After speaking to several of the guards, he was directed toward Shavril's personal cave. Apparently, he was not only the most senior member of the council but also the overseer of the warrior clan.
After walking for a while, he found himself standing in front of Shavril's cave. Unlike Shaviki's, this one had a large piece of wood acting as the door. Standing guard in front of it was a massive Chames, in fact, the biggest he had ever seen since coming here besides Shavak.
"Is this Shavril's cave?" Lucius asked.
"His Majesty is currently busy. Whatever business you have for him will have to wait," the warrior in front of the door answered dismissively, before acting as if Lucius wasn't even there.
"His Majesty? Then is this Shavak's place?" Lucius asked in confusion.
"This is Lord Shavril's cave. However he has ordered me to allow no one passage," the brute replied briskly.
"Tell him Havon is here to speak with him," Lucius said after a brief pause. Even if he wanted to question why this brute was referring to Shavril as a Lord, it wasn't his place so he let it go.
"Did you not hear me, outsider? Lord Shavril is bu-" As the brute said this his hand reached out to grab Lucius. Instantly, Lucius's tail lashed out, slamming the brute into the wooden door, before picking him up and slamming him into the ground.
~Now you've done it,~ Lucius sighed to himself. Although he now had a high level of control over his tail, it was still a sort of autonomous limb that acted in a way his subconscious saw fit. So in cases where things happened too quickly for him to think, incidents like this were bound to happen.
Whilst he poked at the brute's body to check if it was still alive, he heard the wooden door slowly slide open.
"What's going on here- You. What are you doing here?" Shavril asked, his voice laced with spite. Just as he was about to comment on something else, he noticed his guard's body lying on the ground, and his eyes shot open in odd realization.
"W-What's the meaning of this? Have you come to kill me?" he stuttered, already taking a few steps back.
"What? No, this was just a mistake. Now help me get him inside, we can't just leave him out here," Lucius replied, before attempting to pick the brute up. Even though he had the strength to do it alone, he wasn't big enough to get a proper grasp on the creature without injuring it.
However, Shavril simply stared at Lucius incredulously for a moment before replying; "I cannot allow this brute to rest in my chambers. Have one of the other guards carry him back to the commoner's area."
Lucius couldn't believe the blatant elitism coming from this old man's mouth. At least back on Earth the people were subtle with it, though he supposed he couldn't expect much from these creatures.
"Now tell me what you want, before I report you for attempting to take my life," Shavril said, now a little more confident. However, it was evident that he was still scared due to the fact he was standing as far as conversation etiquette would allow from Lucius.
"The young warriors I asked to be brought to me-" Lucius began, before Shavril interrupted.
"What? Have you realized that you are incapable of training warriors?"
"No, I came to ask why only spoiled brats were brought to me when I asked for every willing young warrior in the den. Are there no young ones from the 'commoner's area' that want to be trained as well?" he asked.
"What? You want those people to be warriors? Look, I understand you are an outsider, so you do not know how things work around here," Shavril replied with a condescending smile.
"The only members of the den who can become warriors are those whose parents were warriors. Otherwise, the quality of our warrior clan would be rubbished," he continued on to explain.
Even if it was a rather crude practice, Lucius could see what they had been trying to do when they passed that rule. Multiple generations of warriors would result in a new breed that was genetically superior to everyone else in terms of hunting.
However, that was based on an environment where technology did not exist. With proper training and adequate equipment, even those from other families would have the chance to become viable warriors.
Though he now understood how someone as massive as Shavak came to be. He was probably the result of many strong warrior generations, a miracle amongst even this superior genetic pool.
"If that's the case, then why is your son in the clan?" Lucius asked after some thought.
"Because his father served in the warrior clan," the old man replied with a grin.
Lucius was honestly taken aback by this. But he could sort of see it now, below all the worn-out scales, and wrinkled skin was a very good build. Even in his old age, his muscles still looked well developed compared to most of the people he had met in the 'commoner's area'.
"Then I think that rule must be revised. We need as many able-bodied members as possible. And I'm not even sure I'll be able to turn that pack of spoiled donuts into actual warriors," Lucius shot back.
"Do-donut?" Shavril asked in genuine curiosity, before visibly deciding he didn't actually care. His confusion was slowly replaced by another condescending smile.
"Even the king cannot help you here. This was a law passed by those before us, nobody has the authority to change them. However, you can bring it up at the meeting later today," Shavril replied, his smile growing only wider.
Lucius could tell that Shavril would turn this against him in the war room later, but he still had to try. If these people could not understand, even at a time like this, then perhaps he would be better just leaving them to die.
After getting some guards to take the brute he had beaten up to rest somewhere else, he went back to check on his new trainees.
When he got back, he found Zhayen still running laps, whilst Shavtil and the others sat at the center sharing stories.
~I expected as much,~ Lucius thought to himself, before rushing into the room. The moment the children noticed him, Shavtil fumbled to get up and begin his laps. However, even he realized that it was too late when he saw Luicus shaking his head in disappointment.
"Zhayen, you may stop. Stand up straight here until I instruct otherwise," Lucius ordered.
Zhayen's entire body shook as he struggled to stand where Lucius had directed him to. And try as he may, he was simply too exhausted to stand properly.
~Perhaps that was too much for him? He is pretty frail after all,~ Lucius thought to himself, before touching him on the shoulder. He silently cast solar cleanse, and with that, Zhayen's entire body glowed before slowly subsiding.
As the light went out, so did all his exhaustion. His once-pained face now looked like he had just woken up.
"D-Did you do someth- Thank you Havon," the boy stuttered, bowing, before standing at attention.
~You raised a good boy Shaviki,~ Lucius thought to himself, before turning to the others. They were still visibly stunned at what had happened to Zhayen, so much so that they seemed to forget the trouble they were in.
"Everyone except Zhayen and Shavtil, start running," Lucius announced, snapping them out of their daze.
Many of the other trainees began raising objections, wondering why they were being punished. To which Lucius simply replied; "Maybe next time you will not allow your teammate to go against orders."
Although the trainees were still not content with that answer, they began doing their laps. Many of them learned from Shavtil that even whispers would not go unheard around their new trainer.
"A-And what about me?" Shavtil asked awkwardly, for the first time his demeanor wasn't that of a prideful brat.
"You? You can do what you want. After all, you are no longer a part of this team," Lucius replied before turning to Zhayen.
