The First Legendary Beast Master

Karl resisted the urge to laugh at the bird.

[They're determining how much trouble we're in. I would say it's probably a lot, though.]

The Elder tapped his gavel on the table to silence the muttering in the stands.

"We have come to a decision. The attack by The Karl on these four was a provoked violation of the no violence rule. While they may have come to start violence, they didn't strike at him, or any other Clan member.

For striking at noncombatants and property damage, Karl will be sentenced to one hundred hours of community service, plus repairs, which have already been made.

Does he have a patron within the Clan?"

Jin made a gesture as if to say that he couldn't help.

There was a moment of silence, then a raspy voice spoke up.

"I will stand as Patron to the Karl. His one hundred hours of public service will be served under my supervision and direction." The Alchemy Elder insisted.

Karl tried not to react beyond a polite bow.

If he did more, it could be misinterpreted. But he knew that he had things the Elder needed, so there was a chance that this punishment might not be terrible.

"For unprovoked assault on a member within the Clan, Golick will be sentenced to ten strikes with the flog at the public pole, and to five hundred hours of public service.

Does he have a Patron within the Clan?"

An Ascended Immortal stood. "I will stand as his Patron."

The Elder nodded. "Will you stand as Patron for the other four as well?"

"I will."

"They will serve fifty hours of public service for their role in the unprovoked assault. Those are the end of the charges."

The man who had vouched for the five attackers stared pointedly at Rae, but the judge just shrugged.

"She didn't do anything warranting punishment. She was attacked first, and did not damage any property with her response."

The Ascended Immortal clearly was not happy with that decision. He could see that she had deliberately tortured and tormented his underling. But if the Elders serving as Judges said that she was in the right, he couldn't force them.

All that he could do was lead his five faction members out of the judgment hall, and accept the convict bracelets for them on the way out.

The guards brought one for Karl as well, and he noted how the runes glowed with a pending countdown.

The guard passed it to the Elder, who activated it with a pulse of mana and clipped it on Karl's wrist.

"Let's go. I fear that there is a lot you need to learn about Clan rules."

At the mention of learning rules, Hawk retreated to his space, while Rae wandered into the stands to find Dana.

"Jin will keep your ladies safe, no need to worry about that. You will follow me back to the Alchemy Labs, and we will get started on your studies before you start your public service."

Rae waved. "We will be at the apartment when you finish."

As they walked, the Elder began to outline the nuances that Jin hadn't gotten around to explaining for Karl.

"The first thing you need to know is how to start a fight properly. It's not an offence to fight if you don't cause serious injury or property damage. The guards also won't strongly enforce extortion attempts unless they meet the same standard.

Therefore, the first few strikes of a battle should be unarmed and without skills. The art of trash talking, of provocation, are essential to fighting within the Clan.

If you slap them, and they slap back, you can either fight right where you are, if you can do it without breaking anything, or demand an immediate move to the arena.

If they have already struck back, they can't refuse the arena challenge.

Public humiliation of weaklings who try to stand up for themselves is common. So, the real choice is if they want a beating, or to lose their resources.

Your case is a bit different, as clearly they are idiots, and they couldn't win the fight.

So, there is an additional consideration. Many of the Clan members are allied to a clique. If they don't matter, or don't display their affiliation, feel free to beat them. But if they do, you risk offending their group's leader.

The Elder today, who vouched for them, leads their faction.

However, they weren't wearing any sign of affiliation. They aren't considered worthy of it, as his group is powerful, and they're just errand running lackeys who forgot their place."

Karl nodded. "I think I get where I went wrong. But I have one question, their sentence, fifty hours of community service, and repayment for the healing, can their patron just dismiss that on their behalf? Like, you've just said these incidents are normal. So, is the punishment a non issue for established members?"

The Elder chuckled. "Quite the opposite. There are a number of prescribed acceptable punishments for public service, and if you don't do them within thirty days, I have to do them ion your place, as your patron Elder.

If nobody stood for you, you would have been expelled from the Clan as a troublemaker, by the way.

And only an Elder can stand for an accused criminal."

So, the man who Rae had stabbed had thirty days to finish five hundred hours of community service. That was nearly sixteen hours a day for the next month. Truly a harsh sentence, depending on the tasks.

"The tasks are all things that serve the Clan as a whole, and are all done in public areas, unpaid. There is also a uniform involved, but you are in luck, as I am the Alchemy Hall Elder.

Unless I send you out to sweep streets, your punishment uniform will be the one that the Alchemy Hall uses, and it is marginally less degrading than some of the others."

Karl gave him a suspicious look, and the Elder smirked, then gestured to a man in a black vest and pants, with a bright gold shirt.

"That is the uniform of the Clan Hall staff, with a different shirt colour for each Hall. However, yours will be plain grey, denoting your status as being on punishment detail.

I expect that you are going to be a fast learner, as I am short one cashier, and I will not accept any damage to the reception area."

Karl smiled. Working as a cashier wasn't bad, and the uniform wasn't terrible.