The three of them, Herulepilin, Aranellevanima, and Saironellotoron, all left the room while I dressed myself, after arguing with my friend that they should not uncover my nakedness; although to their claim, they already had for medical checkups. I pulled on the white robe that was set aside for my trial, and put on the "laurea" or "Golden, as in color or light" shoes that were left for me. These two articles of clothing were important because they symbolized status in the court. The white cloak showed purity and innocence, to symbolize that I was innocent until proven guilty, while the golden shoes symbolized the righteousness of my path. As I finished getting ready, I realized I had never asked the results of Aranellevanima's, and Saironellotoron's trials. I rapidly walked out the door, and exited, to where my friends and master were waiting.for me, as we began to walk, with my master slightly ahead, and my friends on each side of me, with Aranellevanima on my left, and Saironellotoron, on my right. I requested of my friends, "How did your challenges go?"

"Simply put, we succeeded, but that should not be what you focus on immediately." Saironellotoron issued. I looked at him with astonishment, due to his normally facetious nature. Reorganizing my thoughts, I asked my master "So who will be on the Council?"

"The other eight councilmen and councilwomen. There will be Aranellevanima's master, Heruellomornie(Lord or Darkness), the necromancer, and a wise and fair woman as well. There will also be Heruellonarynen(Lord of Fire And Water) The Evoker, he is hard set once his decision is made, and nothing will sway it There will be Toqohinmunta,(Come forth from nothing) the Conjurer, able to be easily swayed, but she will instinctively vote against Heruellonarynen. Next, comes Gollorelloleilurambar(Magician of The Walls of The World) the Abjurer, who can hold much sway in the council, so if you can convince her, you should win, or at least tie the vote. To the right of her will be Saironellotoron's master, Heruevavista(Lord Of Change) the transmuter, who will vote for you for my own and his apprentice's sake. To his right will be Nimloth, the enchantress..."

"Nimloth! As in the enchantress from my challenges?" I interrupted, thinking back on our meeting.

"Yes" Herulepilin continued "and she will be swayed towards you due to the kindness you showed her during your challenge, and also by the respect, she has for you due to your logical thinking. Opposite of her, will be Heruevafairëindemmar(Lord of The Phantom Mind Picture)the illusionist, who is capable of manipulating people, and finally Heruellohandë(Lord Of Knowledge), she will actually answer the trial, using divination, and truth is often the most powerful factor in a trial."

"Thank you master" I responded politely, but he shook his head.

"I am a fan of formality," he quipped "but you and I are more than just master and apprentice, we are friends." With that, and a quick cliche good luck conversation with Saironellotoron, and Aranellevanima, we all took our seats.

"Saironelloistya, you stand before us, eight, to be tried, and we pray, found successful, in your endeavor to complete your trials, in this trial. How do you plead? " Heruellohandë rhetorically quested

"My Lady, I regret to inform you that I choose to plead successful, in this case of my Challenge. May I please present my case?" I responded for the record

"Not yet," Nimloth respectfully explained "first the prosecution must issue it's case, before you may defend against it. It is the logical route for this trial to take, as you cannot counterattack a case without knowing what you are arguing against." She smiled to reassure me.

"My sincerest apologies, I did not think my request through. May I be seated?" I apologized

"You may, but remain attentive. I would be displeased if the just nature of this court was compromised by an inherent sense of laziness" Heruellomornie ordered

Intimidated I sat down in the chair appointed for my purposes, and listened as the first judge,

Gollorelloleilurambar, began her case. "My fellow associates, and members of the audience, I hereby state that in the Case of the Trials of Saironelloistya, I believe, at this point Saironelloistya did not complete his trials. My contention for the round will be Law and Legality. According to the laws set forth by our predecessors, a person attempting to become a universal wizard must complete all eight challenges, Without Outside Interference. After being poisoned in his third challenge, his friends assisted him thus rendering challenge three of Abjuration void. He has since then exited the trials without completing them all rendering the entire universal trial inadequate for him to be promoted. He is not and in my opinion, after viewing the rules and laws concerning this case, should not become a universal wizard. Thank you for this time to speak and I pray to the Goddess of Wisdom that she will guide your decision correctly."

Nimloth rose, and stepped down off the parapet to stand next to me. she began to speak. "Master Wizards, and Wizard Adepts, I fear that I must disagree with the wise Mistress Gollorelloleilurambar, as from my perspective Saironelloistya, did indeed complete his challenges, without assistance. Gentlemen and Women, it is essential to the nature of this case, that we realize these trials are not one long event, but in his case, eight individual events, which he did complete. The law, which my opponent upholds, states they must complete all eight trials, without any outside assistance. Saironelloistya, was indeed helped, but only after the completion of his third trial, without leaving the Arena's boundaries. He upheld the letter of the law, and in doing so completed his trials. He not only did all eight different schools of wizardry correctly, he showed his ability to problem solve and use logic, which are also essential skills to being a Universal Wizard. Based on these conclusions based on a direct interpretation of the Law and the facts, I stand resolute in my contention that Saironelloistya should be promoted to the rank of Universal Wizard, and given the title Sairon Istyar, which judging by his namesake, he was born and named to have. Thank you for your cooperation, and for listening to my case."

Heruellonarynen rose and glared at Nimloth, who grinned in return, sending waves of happiness and contentment throughout the crowd, Through her enchantment magic. "Nimloth, while I have always regarded you as a Logititian, and a powerful enchantress, perhaps it is your young age that leads you to be misguided in this. This pitiful Wizard Adept did not complete his trials because it was all one universal trial. Your mistake is in your assumption of plurality, not in your deductions from it. Surely, even one so young as yourself, can admit this flaw in her thinking? You have clearly become attached to this boy, due to the kindness he showed you during his TRIAL, and that is fine, but even you must admit, that you cannot allow your emotions to cloud your rational thinking. I request that you, Nimloth, rethink your argument, as an argument incorrectly interpreted from poorly drawn conclusions cannot stand. This is my resolution, and it does not waver. "

Toqohinmunta stood up and walked over to stand behind me as Nimloth had, and proceeded to counter Heruellonarynen. "My friends of old, surely we cannot allow a feud to break out, over a trial similar to any other, but in the class of the wizard. My Associate Nimloth is correct in assuming the challenges plurality, because in his training to be a universal wizard, Saironelloistya passed an Abjuration trial, a Necromancy trial, a Conjuration trial, an Evocation trial, an Enchantment trial, an Illusion trial, a Divination trial, and a Transmutation trial, with flying colours, and all should be counted to him. With the exception of the Noble Herulepilin, we all only completed one challenge, while this young man, completed eight separate trials. According to the rules of precedent, we must follow our own law, or risk being dissolved by the people. Thank your for listening to my claim, and may the Goddess of Gifts bless you with the knowledge to make the correct decision. "

Heruevavista stood up with a grimace on his face, and I immediately knew what his vote would be. "My brethren of this world, we are gathered here to decide the fate of the apprentice of my friend Herulepilin, but I must, unfortunately, side against him. While I do not believe it was his fault that the challenge was interfered with, I can not on an honest conscience pass him, because he failed his challenge after challenge three of Abjuration led to his poisoning to the point of which he couldn't continue, without his friend's interference. That being said, because of his lack of choice in the interference, I do not vote for banishment, but instead for a more lenient form of justice. Thank you for listening to my contention, and to Herulepilin and Saironelloistya, I offer my apologies."

Heruevafairëindemmar looked around the room, and cast an illusion in front of every member of the council, all of them saying the same thing at the same time. "This foolish man cannot be passed, because he did not complete all of his challenges without interference, thus meaning that according to the word of the law of the constitution we must follow, it would be unconstitutional to pass him. I need not say any more, except to thank you for listening to my presentation for the preservation of government."

Heruellomornie arose and glanced around the room, but not at the people, but almost at things in between them. She began by saying, "As many of you know, I am the council member on Necromancy as a school of avocation, so I am able to sense the wills and life forces of the spirits of the dead. As I look around this room, I can feel the distress flowing off of the spirits, but not the source of their distress, so I must instead go with my assumption. I will vouch for the success of Saironelloistya's trials, because of their state of plurality, admissibility of the healing, and morality. The state of plurality means, as addressed by my fellow compatriots, that they were eight separate trials, and thus the healing took place between the trials, so the letter of the law is not irrelevant, but non-applicable. We have all put through Adepts, who have completed one trial in comparison to this one young man's eight, so if his eight only count as one, then all of the adepts we have put through should not have graduated, because they only completed one-eighth of their trials, which is an immoral claim. So unless we accept his trial as eight separate trials, then we would have to make illegitimate the promotion of every wizard here, except Herulepilin, who successfully completed all eight trials. We cannot due this, so it would lack ethics to do any method except to accept them as eight separate challenges. Thirdly, we allowed the healing, so to disprove the trials because of healing that we made admissible, would be immoral, and illogical. In conclusion, We must promote Saironelloistya to the rank of universal wizard, because of the trials state of plurality, admissibility of the healing, and morality." She came and stood behind me.

Finally, Heruellohandë stood and began to mutter spells of divination, but I could not hear them. Then she straightened. "We are now at a juxtaposition in this vote, where my vote will decide the winner or the loser. I have heard all sides of the argument except the Adept's, but his argument will come in deciding the punishment, as I have already made up my mind. We may have designed his trial as eight separate ones, his trial was still legally only one, according to my divining of the will of our ancestors, who designed the system. While he may not have had a say in the healing, he benefited from it, and must, therefore, reap the full spectrum of consequences from it, not just the benefits. Finally, The claim that it is not moral to not remote him is illogical, as it would be immoral to promote him, without his completed trials. In conclusion, this is why I must vote against the passing of Saironelloistya, to the Rank of Universal Wizard."

Following her speech chaos ensued, starting with Nimloth shouting "NO" in rage and shock, leading to the unintentional rioting of the audiences and the council's emotions, which led to fights breaking out between Heruellonarynen, and Toqohinmunta, due to their rivalry. The other Judges called for order, as Nimloth, realizing her mistake, tried to relax everyone, but it was too late, Heruellonarynen, had just burned Toqohinmunta to death.

Heruellomornie, looked on in horror, as her friend Toqohinmunta, was killed slowly and painfully by fire. Regathering herself, she snuffed out Toqohinmunta's life force, and as I ran to Toqohinmunta's side, she stood up and broke the silence. "We will have a brief intermission for the disposal of the body, then we shall issue the official verdict, and find who holds the guilt in Toqohinmunta's death."

To Be continued...