Supreme Magus novel Chapter 461

"I don’t want you to take unnecessary risks. We have interacted with all three undead Courts in the past, so I can at least help you by not letting them catch you unprepared." Sylpha continued.

"Don’t trust anyone unless they have offered you their hospitality. It’s their most sacred vow and the only one they won’t break. Only ask questions, never for help. Otherwise it would make you indebted to them.

"Do not bring with you anything that you are unwilling to part from. As your hosts, they may request a gift of their choice. Refusing would instantly end the negotiations.

"Always emphasize that you are speaking on behalf of the Kingdom, so that if they require compensation for their services, they will not be able to ask anything from you. Ponder every word and say as little as possible. Do you have any questions for me?"

"If the Griffon Kingdom knows about these Courts, why are they still standing?" Lith asked.

"I have no idea about the scope of their power or agenda, but they seem powerful enough to represent a threat. Having a country inside the country looks dangerous to me."

"For the same reasons every one of the three great Countries can’t destroy them." Sylpha sighed. "Some of their members exist from the time before even our Kingdom was founded. Not only do they are powerful and wise, but they also have made secrecy a form of art.

"I know from experience that they have functioning Warping arrays even inside cities like Othre, where is supposed to be impossible. The second biggest reason that makes it hard to spot them is that they do not interfere in political struggles.

"They do not seek temporal power. Their interests and our own rarely meet or collide. Between their limited numbers and the discretion with which they operate, finding one of their safe houses is just a matter of luck."

The more Lith learned about them, the less he liked the situation he was in. Undead on Mogar seemed to act more like an Earth’s secret society rather than the dumb monsters he was used to see in horror movies or in Dungeons & Looting rulebooks.

’This is way worse than I thought. Even the Dawn Court sounds like a vipers’ nest. I need to tread with extreme caution.’ Lith grumbled.

’Don’t you mean "we"?’ It was the first time since they had met that Lith excluded her from his plans. It was enough to shock Solus’s very core.

’No, this time I’m alone. I don’t know who I’ll meet and the more ancient a being is, the more likely is for them to be Awakened or at least have artifacts that can grant them senses akin to Life Vision. I can’t risk bringing you along.

’I can’t forget how everyone who learned about your existence reacted. Nalear, Scarlett, the Black Star. They were all either scared or anxious to study you. I’m more than confident to be able to kill a single undead, but a whole Court?

’I doubt they can’t rip you off from my dead body once I run out of tricks. They have the advantage of numbers and experience. You have seen how powerful Kaelan is.

’I’ve practiced true magic from barely seventeen years and learned about tier four and five only two years ago. I can’t compare with someone with centuries of practice.’

After the Queen ended the call, Lith didn’t wait for Kalla’s answer to prepare for his departure. He had the army give him a second uniform and entrusted everything he had on himself to Tista.