City Lord's Mansion.
The City Lord himself was a well-groomed middle-aged man sitting in the back of the great hall which was filled with joyous music and dancing couples. Behind him stood two hooded individuals in the shadows.
The somewhat fidgety City Lord sat on a raised platform, accompanied by three beautiful girls to his right while to his left was a young man with similar features to him and next to him was a lady about the same age as the city lord. The youngster was his son and the lady his wife.
Various other officials dressed in their shiny clothes decorated with badges sat below them on another platform. Most of them were men in their 50s or even older.
They watched the dancers with great interest while throwing cheezy compliments and chugging down drinks one after another.
Along the left and right sides of the hall were two 20 meter long tables full of people. To the left were the local nobles and other people of importance that stole glances at the people sitting across from them which were about fifteen or so bored youngsters with airs of superiority surrounding them.
These were the people that had just arrived on their planet and wreaked havoc, intentional or not.
They looked not much different from the locals, only much more beautiful. Each and every one of them was a sight to behold for these mortals that seemed to have just reached the technological era equivalent to the middle ages of earth. With some difference of course.
Most of these young, hotblooded local noblemen were sitting upright, giving off mighty auras while every now and then peeking towards the girl that was sitting on the seat of honor to the right of the city lord. Even without doing anything she was the center of attention with her uncontested beauty.
Even the city lord himself was not immune to her charm, even though she was younger than his own son who was sitting next to him in much the same state.
The song finished and the dancers bowed towards the city lord and his guests before moving aside.
The city lord put on an awkward smile and leaned towards the right. All the officials and noblemen suddenly became attentive.
"Princess uhm, Ceni was it? What brings you here today? It is the first time we have had someone from your side pay an official visit to my humble city," he spoke in the beast world's language.
Other than his pronunciation, there was nothing with how he spoke. He could even be seen as someone from the beast world with such diction.
Ceni who was the guest of honor and the reason all these noblemen had gathered here in such a hurry seemed completely indifferent. From start to finish her expression was blank, as if she wasn't even there.
But upon hearing the City Lord speak her eyes regained their glimmer, like she had just woken up.
Putting on a small smile she started speaking in a formal tone.
"I'm sure you must have heard a lot about us and have many questions. I'm here today as an official representative of the Academy of Sollertia to lend your people a helping hand and help you get ready for what is coming…"
She didn't put on any airs and without holding back, told them everything about the upcoming events. The battles affected them more than anyone else since it was on their home planet and she didn't want to lie.
By the time she was done speaking, the entire hall had turned deathly silent.
The tournament had been going on for months and this obviously wasn't the first time they were meeting, but it was the first time it was done officially.
'I have to prove myself here,' Ceni's eyes shone with conviction. She had to show some results and stand out from the crowd like her older brother and sister.
She leaned back against the chair, giving them some time to accept their new reality. They were just told that their planet wasn't their anymore, how could they accept it all so easily?
The other cultivators sitting on the table below seemed indifferent but all of them were ready to attack at a moments notice.
The City Lord was the first one to speak up again.
"This…I'm afraid I don't have the authority to do much here," he replied somberly, "I will have to talk to go to the Capital and talk to the King. Only he can give you an answer. There are too many powers tha-" before he could finish speaking, the sound of arguing came from the other end and meter thick door was abruptly shot open.
"What's going on!" a few guards suddenly ran in from the sides and stood in front of the entrance while the two hooded individuals moved closer to the city lord.
"Will you people relax? I told you I'm not here for you," a voice came through, speaking in the native language and then a large shadow walked in, blocking the entire door.
There were actually two guards hanging on from his clothes, trying to stop him but were being pulled along as if they weighed nothing.
