Start on the right foot.

Manea couldn't really help but smirk slightly as Kotori went on to explain some of his views that he had for his future pack, his desires to not be a follower any longer, and how he viewed those of "noble blood" to be more deserving of recognition within his ranks. It amused her only because she saw so much of her younger self in those views. When she first struck out on her own with the drive to rebuild the Mendacium family she had known that she would need to pull others into their bloodline to continue it on, but hadn't genuinely held much respect for those outside of their family. Soon though she met wolves like Alastor, Irilyth, Ricin and Chade, Venom, Chimera, Artorias and Briar... There were so many now that she respected so highly and the experiences of the last few years had certainly broadened her views on what made a "good" or "worthy" wolf. Of course she still on reflex and instinct looked for the mutations and traits that she had been taught equaled strength and a better chance at surviving in this world and put a lot of emphasis on those things still, but she had also come to understand that someone like Irilyth who by all means likely would have been culled from a Mendacium litter could still astound her with her wisdom and skill. She had a feeling that perhaps time and experience would temper Kotori a bit, but for now she wasn't going to dampen his ambition and strength of his beliefs.

She did appreciate the idea of the pups and adults alike in his pack needing to prove themselves. She wanted everyone to carry their own weight to one extent or another and liked to reward those that did more to better themselves and the pack so she could get behind his idea of testing their mettle. It wasn't too unlike the trails she had for the wolves that competed for their higher ranks. When he mentioned learning from Venom, her brows lifted a bit with interest. She wasn't necessarily surprised that he knew the Ashen Empress since Armada had been neighbors to Ashen when she first encountered them and from what she understood the two packs were fairly well intertwined, though it did interest her to hear that Kotori had been getting advice from the Empress. Manea also picked out the name of his future pack among his statements, figuring it out from the context clues around it. Valta. A grin tugged at her lips as he declared that he would view her and hers as part of this nobility and she chuckled softly, giving a dip of her head in response. "Well, I do appreciate that. I have thought favorably of your family since I met your father some time ago now and that's only become more true as I've gotten to know Briar and her husband more closely." She certainly would leave out the details of her relationship with The Hallows leaders, but it didn't feel like it could hurt to mention that she had already known some of his other family members.

"Venom and I recently cemented the alliance between Ashen and Elysium," she added since he was familiar with the Empress, revealing more possible ties between her pack and his proposed future pack. Smiling again, she said, "It sounds like we run in the same circles. I imagine if you hadn't come to introduce yourself our paths would have crossed eventually regardless." As she briefly thought back on his description of his intents for the pack, she picked out the bit he mentioned about finding an instructor to teach diplomacy. Her head tipped slightly with thought for a moment as she considered him before she offered, "I do have quite a skilled diplomat in Elysium that could possibly come to teach lessons on occasion if you find yourself lacking someone that could fill that role. Her name is Ikigai. She's actually Venom's daughter so perhaps you're already aware of her?" She had a hard time believing that anyone that was familiar with Venom's family could fail to know about someone as striking as Ikigai, but she couldn't be sure either and she didn't want to assume.

"Manea Mendacium"