The Life I Gained From Dying

Chapter 15 - The Elder's Gathering

"I'm elated to see everyone here is still blessed with both a healthy body and a healthy mind." Faye stated with a pleased expression on her face.

"Same to you sister Faye." Alexander replied.

"It's been years since our last gathering and you're still the only man among us brother Alex." Treya stated.

"It's not my fault the women in this village have proven to be more competent than us men time and time again. Speaking of which, I believe this is a first for you sister Claire."

"Why yes, thank you all for guiding me these past few years." Claire happily replied.

"Alright sisters and brother, let's address our first topic at hand." Faye suggested.

.....

"Thanks again for making me breakfast." Kaden said as he sat at the table in Mai's dining room.

"You don't have to thank me for this." Mai replied. "Since Elder Aira isn't here, I just wanted someone to keep my company for a bit."

"Where did you say she was going?"

"The Elder's Gathering. All six of the current elders gather in the courtyard to discuss important matters that are currently taking place."

"Shouldn't something like this be a common thing?" Kaden questioned.

"Usually the elders would split up and deal with trivial matters around the village by themselves, or they'll pair up given the difficulty or importance of the task. When there are several major situations happening at once, then that's when you'll normally see an Elder's Gathering get called."

"So, how does one become an Elder?"

"A current seat holder would have to either pass away, or step down from their position. Following that, the remaining Elders would each provide a candidate to fill the empty seat. After that I actually don't know how they decide who would get the seat."

"I'm guessing you need to be pretty strong to be nominated."

"Not necessarily." Mai stated. "Take Elder Faye for example. She prides herself on her sensory abilities. She's infused her own essence into all of the great lakes, that includes this lake that sits above Aestus. This allows her to detect whenever someone or something comes into contact with any of those lakes. She can even identify who that person or thing is if she's met them before. However, the downside for maintaining this ability is that she has a very shallow amount of water essence inside her body. That means she isn't going to contribute much in a fight."

"That sounds tiring." Kaden replied. "Alright now I'm interested. What can the other elders do?"

Mai brought over two plates of food and presented one to Kaden before taking a seat herself.

"Alright. Let's start with elder Aira. She's the most skilled fighter amongst the current Elders. It's mostly thanks to the irregularly large volume of essence in her body. She told me once that she can control hundreds of gallons of water at the same time, but I've yet to see that. Then there's Elder Treya who isn't much of a fighter but can handle herself much better than Elder Faye can. Elder Treya has a unique lie detecting ability which you've seen firsthand."

"I have?" Kaden muttered with food in his mouth.

"Yes, when you first arrived here. I don't fully understand how it works, but I know she directs her own essence inside the bloodstream of whomever she is questioning and then she's able to tell if that person is lying or not."

"That's kind of scary. Can she control blood?"

"Not that I know of. Next is Elder Mildred. Remember how I was trying to make liquid water from the air today?"