Noble guests watch as screams fill the room and both old and young lose their marbles.
"There is meaning behind our names, boy! His life will only serve to soil our honor and bloodline!!"
"So what if he is affinityless?! Valthar has a purple talent and the will to become a mage much better than many of your generation!"
"That has nothing to do with this! It's about principle! Letting a cripple walk around representing the Manaborns is to take one step closer to turning us into just another fucking commoner family, hearding cows and marrying half beasts!"
"I'm not talking about representing shit you sack of bones! I just refuse to have our family execute one of our own!"
"HE ISN'T ONE OF OUR OWN ANYMORE! The moment the crystal of truth revealed his real face he DIED to the family!"
"I AM PART OF THE FAMILY, HELL! I AM THE NEXT PATRIARCH AND HE DIDN'T DIE TO ME!"
Hearing such blasphemy the old Ancestor reddened in rage.
Why did the one to awaken a red talent had to be this headstrong and shameless descendant?
"AND THAT'S THE PROBLEM CAELOR! YOU ARE THE NEXT PATRIARCH OF THE MANABORN! SO STOP ACTING ON YOUR SELFISH WHIMS AND START THINKING ABOUT THE FAMILY!"
The old man's aura explodes outward, pressing everyone in the room.
"The family isn't just you kid, ask any other member what we should do with the cripple and the answer will be clear."
Surrounded by copious amounts of mana in the air Caelor grits his teeth and refuses to back down.
Even as Valthar and others close by lowered to the ground under the mana pressure, his knees refused to bend.
"You know what? I don't care! I vow with my life that if the family dares to execute Valthar, I'll marry a commoner, then make a 30 meter tall statue of her and bolt it to the entrance of our ancestral home!"
Gasps echoed through the ballroom, a noble marrying a commoner was a shameful deal, but doing so as the head of a family and announcing to the world with a statue?
That was shitting on the family name.
" You wouldn't dare!" The old man screeched, his aura fluctuating wildly.
"Oh I would! Keep up with this bullshit and I'll grab one from the streets right now."
Caelor screeched back, ready to marry a baker's daughter.
The crowd of nobles watched with glued eyes, if earlier the family's future looked as solid as a mountain now things weren't so clear.
If their family head was crazy enough to marry a commoner for a magical cripple, who knew what other barbarities he would be willing to commit.
At this point the only certainty in the crowd was that by tomorrow night, every single noble of the empire would hear the events of this ballroom.
From the crowd an old man walks out.
"That's enough young man, as next patriarch there is no need to reduce yourself so low, I'm sure there is a middle ground where your friend survives."
He is an old fox from the royal family and long dated friend of the Manaborn Ancestor.
"And old Philip, give a break to your new family head, as a red talent he deserves a compromise no?"
The Manaborn Ancestor grows quiet, as his troubled eyes stare deeply at the crystal of truth.
"You have a point." He sighs before addressing Caelor. "Even then the cripple is a black mark in the family and that is unacceptable."
"You are not killing him."
Caelor shot back instantly.
The old royal fox walked closer, putting a hand on the new family's head shoulder.
"Who said death is the only solution? Send him to the outlands, he might not die with honor, but he will live better there than here." He says, motioning to the multitude of eyes judging quietly.
"I…" Caelor hesitated.
After today Valthar would be forever known as the affinityless cripple from the family of actual mages.
And yet to banish Valthar to the outlands would bring a sour taste to his mouth.
As Caelor's fists balled, hesitation took over his mind.
Before he could come to a conclusion a familiar voice reached his ears.
"It is okay Caelor, even in the outlands I'll always remember I owe you my life."
Valthar said weakly, his eyes hopeless as the reality of his new future carved itself in the walls of his heart.
Being honest he didn't want to leave his whole life behind, to lose everything he knew and loved, and yet a simple glance around showed him clearly there was no going back to yesterday.
In the eyes of others he was now a disgusting joke of a Manaborn, a cripple only kept as a shameful ornament because of his friendship with Caelor.
Both here and in the outlands life would suck, but at least there he wouldn't become Caelor's reverse scale.
A perfect target right in the middle of the political storm that was the capital of the empire.
At least there… he would not be a dead weight to the one person who didn't throw him out when he was shown to be a waste.
Caelor watches conflicted as Valthar's eyes dim down with each second passed.
"I'm sorry Valthar." He mumbles quietly.
***
In the deep of the night Valthar was escorted by Caelor and a few guards.
Wrists bound, face masked and body hidden under a long cloak.
On his chest a mana mark pulsed with soft light, a symbol of the oath of banishment.
To never speak of the family name, to never step in the empire's capital and to never mention his now erased affiliation with the Manaborns.
Harsh terms already softened by Caelor's further arguments.
"I'm sorry I couldn't do more, once I'm so strong nobody dares to look down on you, I'll fetch you back alright."
Caelor whispers to him, before giving him one final hug.
In shame Valthar shakes his head, a small tear sliding behind the mask.
"You already did more than I deserve Caelor." Valthar whispered. "There is no need to tarnish the family's name further for a cripple like me."
"Don't call yourself that, I'm sure you'll become a great mage one day mate."
Hearing his cousin Valthar chuckles at himself.
Even now, banished and ashamed, he somehow thought the exact same thing.
"Look, I believe so too Caelor… but that doesn't change what I am, even if one day I form a seventh mana circle, I will always be an affinityless cripple."
And with those last words spoken Valthar embarked into a blacked out carriage.
Soon departing to the Outlands.