Chương 359: The Hearing Part 1

The next morning Damion opened a Portal directly to the Argentum teleportation platform and walked through. He wanted to be on time for his hearing with the Mage Association, but he also needed to show he legitimately entered the city, it would not do to Portal in somewhere close by and fly the rest of the way. He wanted them to have a record of his entry, just in case they tried to say he was late or did not show up later on.

When Damion stepped through the Portal onto the Argentum teleportation platform, the attendant there jumped with fright.

"Hey! What do you think you are doing. You can't just Portal in here any ole time you like." Damion looked at the D Rank Space mage but was unsure what to say. Were there regulations regarding arrivals and departures? There probably were. After all, it would be hazardous to open a Portal where people were standing. However, it wasn't like Damion had the contact information for the Argentum teleportation platform to call ahead.

"I wouldn't know anything about that," Damion told the attendant.

"I merely stepped through the Portal. I don't know anything about running teleportation platforms."

"You have to call ahead for approval to teleport through and no one was getting permissions this morning… I mean, I didn't get no call."

"Like I said, I really don't know anything about how these places are run, I just asked at a Yellow Zone and the Spatial mage there was kind enough to send me over."

"Which Yellow Zone?" the attendant demanded.

"Not really sure, I've been out and about for a while. I might be able to find it on a map for you. Do you have a map?"

"Forget it. What was the name of the attendant that opened the Portal for you?"

"How should I know? I mean, how many people come and go from here every day and how many of them know or ask your name?" Damion's question elicited a grunt from the attendant, before he moved on to another question.

"What's your name? So, I can log you in."

"Damion Wells, B Rank mage," Damion told the Spatial mage, emphasizing his Rank. The attendant paled for a moment when he realized he had been rude to a high Ranker. After a moment he regained his senses and entered Damion into his log and waved the young mage off. Not wanting to waste any time, Damion moved quickly to go to the Mage Association which was conveniently located in one of the buildings surrounding the teleportation hub.

The proximity was likely due to certain high Rankers in the Association not wanting to travel far after they teleported to or from Argentum. Today, those mages' laziness worked in his favor, since he did not have far to go for his hearing.

"Good morning. How can I assist you?" A clerk at the entrance asked when Damion entered the office. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"I'm looking for Hearing Room A," Damion told the clerk, recalling the contents of the summons.

"Just down that hall, first door on the left," the clerk told him, directing him to a corridor across from the entrance.

"Thank you." Damion had been expecting a bit more resistance after the teleportation platform attendant let it slip he was not supposed to be accepting any incoming Portals this morning. That told him the Mage Association was trying to block his arrival. However, once he thought about it, he realized they believed him to be in the wilds and would have a hard time finding someone to teleport him to the White Zone in the first place.

With their plan of halting incoming traffic, it was no surprise they did not tell the common staff in the Association to hamper his approach, they had no reason to believe he could reach Argentum. When Damion entered Hearing Room A it was empty. He checked the time and found that he was quite a bit early, which suited his purposes fine. Not sure exactly where he was supposed to sit or what he was supposed to do, he took a seat in the far corner of the room and waited.

He considered casting One With Shadows and hiding himself, but he did not want to risk being exposed as having more affinities. While he did not know for sure, he had a feeling the people sitting in judgement of him today were all going to be A Rank mages. As the meeting time grew near, mages began to filter into the room. Some took seats in gallery like him, while others took seats at the head of the room, around a large half circle of a table.

When it was almost time for the meeting, someone brought in a chair and set it directly in front of the half circle table and Damion realized that was where he was supposed to sit. The accused on trial, being presented to all for viewing. He considered heading down and taking a seat in the chair, but he decided to wait it out.

He assumed the reason the chair was brought in and not always there was because the room was used for different types of hearings and a chair for the accused to sit in was not always necessary. There was still a short time before the hearing was set to begin, so he decided to wait. No sense in robbing those scheming against him their joy in believing he had failed to show up. Better to let the shock show on their faces when he appeared at the last moment.

Doing this would make it easier to identify those arrayed against him. When there was about five minutes to go before the scheduled start time, all the chairs around the head table were filled and a fair number of the seats in the gallery were filled as well. Damion was not sure if it was because he was popular, or because the council would be having multiple hearings today.

"This hearing is now called to order," the mage at the center of the half circle table announced, silencing everyone in the room.

"The first matter to be heard today is the Mage Damion Wells and his sole ownership of a dangerous Rank B Stable Realm Breach. As it appears Mage Wells has decided not to grace us with his presence, I move we rule against him and order his immediate forfeiture of the Realm Breach in question."

"I second the…"

"Point of order Chairman Thorn," a familiar voice from the gallery said. Looking over, Damion recognized the mage speaking as none other than Axton Veers.

"The council recognizes Mage Axton Veers. Please go ahead with your point of order." Damion had not seen when Mage Veers had entered the hearing room, but he was happy to see he apparently had a few allies in the Mage Association. Though, he was not entirely sure what Mage Veers was going to do or say that could help him.

"Thank you. I believe it is customary to ask if the defendant is present for their hearing. After all, I don't think Mage Wells has even been to a hearing such as this and his summons did not specify that his was the first case to be heard this morning."

"Very well," Chairman Thorn said, sounding a bit annoyed at having to follow the rules.

"Mage Wells, if you are present, please present yourself."

"Certainly," Damion said, standing up in the back of the room, he then began to make his way to the front.

"I really wasn't sure what I was supposed to do here. I mean I got the summons yesterday on the border of a Red Zone and then when I tried to get a Portal here, I come to find out someone ordered the Argentum teleport platform to deny all incoming Portals. It was quite the hassle to get here on such short notice."