A party to enjoy? Part 2 (Patreon)

About 5.7 K words, a bit less, but I think it's rather conclusive.

Thank you for reading!

Enjoy!

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/Back to Philip's POV…/

[Activating, ***** Might Lv4]

/CRACK!/

/SPLATTER!/

'The moment he activated the Skill, the plate of pudding in front of the girl cracked, and the pudding itself exploded, splattering its contents in her face as if a meteor had crashed onto it.'

"What?!"

"Mimi! Are you okay?!"

'And while her companions started freaking out, the girl remained completely stunned, as if she had seen a ghost.'

'Her right hand locked in place holding a spoon with a piece of pudding on it as she looked forward with a blank glare...'

'The immense pressure only lasted a moment, but it was enough to squeeze everything she had out of her body, and by the looks of it, she wouldn't be recovering from it anytime soon.'

...

"..."

'Philip only gazed at her for a split second after using his Skill before he resumed his walk, as if this was all too inconsequential for him.'

'But the truth was that he felt he overdid it a little, and deeming how her friends were reacting, he definitely did not want to be on the receiving end of their complaints, at least not in front of everyone.'

'It would be more than annoying, so he moved forward, leaving this issue for someone else to resolve.'

'Of course, his actions weren't unnoticed, as even though he activated his Skill for a split moment, all around the Palace, people turned their heads in the direction of the Ballroom…'

…

'Within the Palace, a man sat in front of an extremely elegant mirror inside an extravagant but comfy room, being surrounded by 3 Maids as they helped him dress up.'

'Behind him, an elegant Red knight stood like a statue, unmoving.'

"... Did you feel that Igrus?" The King asked with a small smile, without moving his face

"It seems to have come from the Ballroom, your Highness." Igrus replied, staying still as well

"How amusing, by the looks of it, they've already started the main event ahead of us!" The King said with a chuckle, only to receive a tug on the beard by one of the Maids by accident

"Remain still your Highness." Maid Number 1 said as she fixed the mistake she had made before applying a cream to his beard, making it quite lustrous

/Clears throat.../

"... I'm getting curious to meet with them all after so long." He said as he looked in the mirror, ignoring what just happened

"Tell me Igrus, you who had more time to spend with them, are you excited for today?"

"... Not wanting to be pessimistic, but despite the spectacular growth they have displayed us, it'll still take a while for them to attain such emotions from me." The knight replied plainly

"Heh, I guess that's to be expected, Lupio said the same thing but in his own way…"

But what a boring answer... Yet brutally honest.

'The King went silent.'

"It should already be about time right?" He asked as he looked at the Maids

'Nodding, the Maid number 2 said "The First and Second Prince followed by the First and Second Queens will be making their appearances soon." as she continued to apply something to the King's hair, making it glossy and shiny.'

"The Third and Fourth Princess will also make their appearances at this party."

"Hm… What about the Fifth and Sixth?"

"Because they broke a prised vase of her Highness, they were grounded to their respective rooms, she has given strict orders for the Royal guard to prevent them from leaving the confines of their rooms under any circumstances."

"Ahh… I remember that now." The King replied with an awkward expression

Sigh, she shouldn't be giving such tasks to the guards, she's putting them between a rock and a hard place...

I'll have to step in after this is done.

"The others are too young to participate, but the Seventh Princess has been given permission from Her Highness to witness the afterparty event."

"As always… How problematic."

The rebellious kids are grounded while the behaved one is rewarded…

The problem is that this is exactly why they are rebellious in the first place.

She's as strict as always, this won't do...

"Apart from the usual, weren't there a few interesting guests today?" He asked with some curiosity

'The King himself couldn't pay attention to everyone in the long list of invited, as his own tasks were just as if not longer then it.'

'But for that, he had the Maids to entertain… Give him a heads up of who would be participating.'

'Amidst the many things in his head, he needed to be aware of some things, else, he might be surprised, and that wouldn't be respectful.'

'Imagine being on the receiving end of his surprise?...'

'The King was surprised you were even there?... It may come as if he didn't want you to be there, and that was definitely not something he wanted to experience.'

'Because it was extremely easy for people to overreact to his words and expressions, misinterpreting his original intentions.'

'One of the reasons why, as he grew older, he started to speak less and his facial expressions started to dull.'

"Apart from the Heads of each respective Noble family within the rules issued to the Duchies half a month ago, there are also the young representatives of said families and affluent groups of the Empire." Maid Number 2 said as he carefully adjusted his hair

'It was impossible to accommodate all Nobles, so half a month ago, each Duchy was given a notice of the party, together with a maximum number of admissions to be filled under their own discretion.'

'This way more efficient than inviting all Nobles of a set Rank and above while also helping in improving the standing of each Ducal family within their respective territories, as they were the ones to choose who would be accompanying them to what would likely be one of the more important parties of this Century.'

'Those who weren't here were being left in the dust, even if their ranks differed greatly.'

'Politics was indeed a complicated matter.'

"That's to be expected, but I've seen those old heads many times, what I'm asking about is their children, anyone interesting?" He asked with a small smile

I'm sure they'll use today as a way to show their children off.

The best way to advertise their talents is by comparing them with those that hold the best.

And since there rarely is a chance for all of them to gather…

/Chuckle/

'The King smiled as the light flashed in his eyes.'

"There are a few whose names made their way to our ears…" Maids Number 3 said with a light smile

"The Eldest of the Skypos Family, who is said to possess a strange power…"

"Lupio's grandchild? He indeed told me he had a pretty capable brat under his line… I'll pay attention to him." The Kind said with a wide smile

As for his strange power... It should be the original Gift of their family.

This should be our first time meeting, I still remember when Lupio told me about his birth and his gift.

I should've met him at an earlier date considering he awakened an ancient Gift from one of the Original Heroes.

But this isn't surprising, the Eldest son of the Head Noble Family, there's no way he wouldn't pull his own weight with him as his grandfather.

I even feel pity somewhat.

"... The Holy daughter of the Azul Family, the one said to have inherited their Original bloodline." Maid Number 2 said in sequence

"Azul? It's been a while since I've heard of their name."

They were always a more laid-back bunch, training in their Spiritual Arts while everyone else either advanced their Magic practices and Martial arts…

Their Original bloodline, that would be... No, not that... 'That'? No...

I forgot.

Too many families.

"The eldest son of the Pyke Family, whose crafting Skills far exceed his age, having been praised greatly by many Masters."

"The Pykes… They were always unappreciated, it's good to see they are finally being given the attention they deserve."

Magitech Engineering is making a resurgence in this generation, and with the current Heroes, the fact their society's technological development is greatly in line with this methodology likely indicates that it's going to rise even further once they reach their full potential.

"There are also the top 10 Students within the leaderboards of Parad Academy, although only 3 of them belong to our Empire."

"Verimir Ji, Fifth in the Rankings, Salatur Kastrosa, Seventh in the Rankings, and Leowart Ercerkalivar… Second in the Rankings."

"The Academy… I've not been receiving much good news from it recently."

Hopefully, that isn't a bad omen for what's to come...

It's such a shame to see the very place we built with blood and sweat be reduced to this state…

The Ji, Kastrosa, and Ercerkalivar families… They do have the tradition of sending their young there for the sake of building connections.

Seeing their children's names on the list doesn't surprise me… What saddens me is the lack of names in there.

I expected to see a few others in there, but I'm left hanging.

3 out of 10, what a disappointment.

Though… It could be just the lack of children their age in the Academy, so it isn't exactly wise to already use this as an excuse to poke those old foxes a bit.

I'll leave this to Lupio, he'll know how to better make use of this information…

"Hum… Regardless, they're all talented children, their parents must be proud." The King said in a monotone as he waited for the Maids to proceed

"Albeit they're relatively young, there is also the son and daughter of Duke Ves who have inherited the doctrines of the Saphire Blaze."

"That problem child?"

"... Yes…" Maid Number 2 said awkwardly, it seemed even she was aware of how much of a trouble child he was

"Urg…"

Duke Ves' oldest child… There wasn't a meeting where he didn't complain about him.

If I were him I would leave him at home, but I imagine he cannot bear to leave his son out of it, as it would be the same as killing him Socially.

He must be trembling in his seat at the thought of letting his son roam around! Hahaha!

I'll make sure to catch a glimpse of it.

I don't know much about his daughter, given how he never complained about her, she should definitely be well-behaved.

Her reason for being here should be simple then, I'll keep it at the back of my mind as well.

'As he thought of that, the Maids moved away from his beard.'

"Oh? Is it finally done?" The King said with a smile as he got up from his seat

/THUD!/

'The Maids grabbed his shoulders, pushing him down with quite a bit of force.'

""Your Highness… We were given strict orders, this time, you only leave this room when we're done."" They said in unison as their eyes gleamed momentarily

"Uh?... Who was it? The First? The Second? I…!"

'Before he could continue, the King's gaze went to the corner of the room where a shadow was momentarily cast over a corner.'

'His eyes sharpening, he seemed to focus a bit before saying out loud with a smile:'

"So they have arrived, finally, that brat caused me quite the worry!"

But most of it came from my daughter playing around too much.

'The King smiled, opening his mouth to say something...'

"How about we sto..."

"Let us continue from where we stopped." Maid Number 1 interrupted as she gently brushed his hair

"..."

'But it didn't seem like he would be getting through with the scary-looking Maids…'

…

/A bit before, in a private room…/

'Kneeling on the ground in front of a small intricate figurine of a cube atop a mountain, a girl with lengthy blue hair whose face was covered with a thin veil clasped her hands tightly as she prayed silently.'

"Hm?..."

'But her concentration was broken as she felt something from the depths of the Palace.'

'And when she felt this strange wave, she got up from her prayer.'

"Looks like it's time."

'Her voice as sweet as the fluffiest marshmallow, she turned around.'

'And with a final gaze at her statue, she left her room.'

…

/Chatter…/

'After giving the little girl a scare, Philip continued on his way across the party.'

'He tried to not draw too much attention, as striking a conversation with these people would literally go nowhere.'

'He didn't want to sound arrogant, but he was sure that, if he didn't try to remain unseen, someone would've definitely approached him by now.'

'Nobles are like that, they'll approach others without any reason sometimes just for the sake of networking, though this isn't exactly the case for Higher ranking Nobles, who are usually the people that are approached, not the ones that seek.'

"Those are..."

'But midway through his walk, he stopped to look at a group of 3 having a conversation on the side around one of the floating tables.'

"Hm?"

'Noticing his gaze, one of the men, someone with Platinum hair turned to look at him, only to be surprised and then smile.'

/Nod.../

'They nodded at each other before Philip continued on his way, this not being the time for them to talk, perhaps there was no need to.'

'But the other people at the table were curious about who he was... Well, only one.'

"Who was that handsome young man Fesard?" A middle-aged woman asked as she held a bottle of some alcoholic substance in her hand, shaking its contents for no reason other than to make some bubbles in her drink and look cool

"He? He's quite the kid…" Fesard replied mysteriously as he smiled lightly

"Spill it out, don't keep it to yourself." Someone else said, the other middle-aged man, someone with blond hair

"Are you kidding me? Can't you tell by looking at him, Thomson?" Fesard said in a provoking tone as he smiled at the blond man

"..."

"Oh? Do the two of you know him? It makes me feel left out for being the only one in the dark." The lady replied with a small chuckle as she took a glimpse at Philip, but she couldn't really tell where she saw him

Fesard seems to hold the kid in high regard, while Thomson seems conflicted.

How would the two of them have met that young man? He doesn't look much older than his physical appearance either.

'The same could be said for her, albeit being over 50, she looked to be in her 30s, but that was mostly due to her wanting to look like that.'

'It was true many always sought to be as young as possible, but more often than not, Nobles would allow themselves to age a little just so they wouldn't look like children when faced with some of the older ones.'

'Can't be an imposing ArchDuke when you look 18 years old sitting around a table full of 50+ year old bearded men and sharp-eyed women.'

'It was also a bit embarrassing to look just as young as their own son as it oftentimes made them look immature and unreliable.'

'The reason why many Nobles grew bears and mustaches.'

"I've only met him once before, but for more information, why don't you ask Thomson over here? He would be happy to tell everything he knows…"

"Stop it, that's enough." Thomson replied with a sigh as he chugged his entire alcohol in one gulp

"Oh!"

"Hah…"

'The two of them were surprised by his actions.'

"Tsk, that son of mine… Causing trouble all the time..." Thomson said as his eyelids twitched

He's just like me when I was his age... But while his problem was immaturity, mine was fooling around.

If only he drew more from his mother's side... But they say the son takes more from the father and that couldn't be truer.

'He raised his head to look at Fusard.'

"Make fun of it all you want, yours isn't any better than mine."

'But the latter didn't back down:'

"Humph, at least he knows how to choose his opponents… Besides, isn't he several years younger than yours? Don't try to put them on the same stage!"

'The two of them started to bicker, so it came to the lady to resolve the issue.'

"Now now, this isn't the place nor the time to discuss such meaningless things."

"... You're right."

'Thomson rolled his eyes.'

"I'm still unsure of who he is, so I'm expecting some clarification." The woman asked, even more curious than before

"... We'll, you'll find out about it soon enough, why burst the surprise now?"

"My, if you're making all interested... I'll kick you if he's not interesting." She said as her eyes sharpened and her eyes grew dark

'But suddenly, the expressions of the two changed.'

""Hahaha!"" They laughed together

"Impossible." Fesard said as he shook his head

"That would only make you the boring one." Thomson added as he grabbed another drink that fell from the sky

"..."

They're oddly coordinated in this subject…

"Well then, has anyone seen my daughter?" Fesard asked as he looked around

"Wasn't she with little Pyke?" The lady asked as she looked at the middle of the ballroom

"Heh, after last time…"

"I told you to quit it already, enough of that embarrassing scenario." Thomson interjected, this time truly annoyed

"Let me guess, you want her to go after him? Aren't you ashamed? I'll tell everything to your wife." He said in an ironic tone

"... I just wanted to have her bring me some of those pastries from the Upper section of the dining table." Fesard said with a serious gaze as he looked at the corner

'However, he was tricking no one as that was exactly where Philip was going…'

"Also, you don't scare me with your flimsy tactics, I can do the same to yours, she would be very pleased to learn of what happened with your Son!"

/Buzz!/

'It was as if there was lightning jumping between their eyes...'

"..."

Sigh...

They're the same as always.

'Should I have my son try to strike up a conversation with the boy as well?' She thought to herself as she saw Philip vanish within the crowd

…

/A few minutes later…/

"..."

/Chomp…/

'Petter stared in a mix of shock and helplessness as he witnessed Philip devour an entire bowl of spaghetti on his own without a single shred of care for the people around him.'

'It was not that he was unrefined, in fact, he was very precise with the way he ate, it was just that he was… Eating too damn much.'

/Slurp…/

'Satisfied, Philip had the urge to burp, only to reign it in as he tapped his belly.'

'In just a few minutes, his fast metabolism would already turn all of that food into nutrients, and within an hour or two, he would be hungry again, but so was his life.'

"Phew... The food in the city was good, but the Palace is something else..."

"So… How long are you going to stare at me?" Philip asked as he stopped eating

"I mean… You just sat down and started eating, I thought you needed some time…"

'Philip drank a mouthful of water before replying:'

"Is that so? My bad then."

'He looked at Petter with a smile.'

"How are you doing? Anything interesting happened while I was away?"

"I… Ha… You wouldn't believe it." Petter replied with a smile of his own

'Two friends had reunited, ready to share their stories with each other.'

…

/About a minute of mindless talk later…/

"... Pretty cool, but let's get to the gist of it." Petter said as he tapped on the table

"Wouldn't it be better to wait for the other guy?" Philip asked as he looked at the closed doors leading deeper into the Palace

"Tsk, forget about him, he won't be meeting with us anytime soon, and I don't think I have the patience to wait for him either."

Dae has chosen to be the focus of the Crown's attention, so I imagine he'll appear as the representative of the Heroes together with the King.

Every Noble is interested in him, so it's no surprise he's not here yet.

"For starters, I'll begin with my own story, though I'll cut down some things since we don't have all day."

"Fine by me, we're just waiting for the true event to start anyway." Philip said with a nod and a shrug as he relaxed in his chair

'He looked around one more time, but didn't see anyone interesting, so he turned his attention back to Petter once more.'

"Hum… Should I begin with exactly after you left?"

"That would be a good place to start, get me up to date with the others."

"So… Simplifying everything…"

"After you left… It was a bit of chaos for a while, not because you vanished, not many even noticed your disappearance, but because the Crown was in disarray."

"The presence of an army of Orcs outside had shaken everyone, putting fear in even some of the weaker-minded Heroes, to the point the King was forced to come back to handle matters with his own hands."

"On that same day, we were moved from the Palace of Heroes to here, a few things happened in between but they were mostly the individual reactions and interactions of the Heroes with their instructors and their surroundings."

"Nothing special, the usual you saw in the first month, just that in another place."

"Oh yeah, that was also about the time when our old teachers left."

"The loud General went back to the army... I heard he was gathering troops for something."

"The sexy Archmage went back to the Academy of Mystics, to advance to the prestigious 8th Rank..."

"The old guy left for the Tower of Knowledge, for no reason really apart from the fact he was tired, he was old after all and he already did a lot by helping everyone find their own paths, I quite respect him given he didn't burst my ears with screams or forced me to do 1 Quazillion pushups..."

"Lastly, the rude adventurer chick left to hunt a monster somewhere in the SouthWest near the Demon lands, I heard something quite big passed the border but no extra details on that."

"They were replaced by a bunch of instructors hired by the King, there were so many that it wouldn't be exaggerated to say there was one for each Hero, though some still learned in groups."

"Be it by their own choice or not."

"At first, nothing much changed, we trained and trained, but as time went on, they diversified things…"

…

'Petter started telling his story, of the many parties and events that happened in the Palace while giving his own take into each.'

'From how boring everything was to how tiring it was...'

'His words, despite very biased, were still very informative and interesting to Philip, as seeing how they were doing and how they coped with their situation was definitely within his interests.'

'Petter's training was also very insightful, and it also gave hints at what sorts of crazy things both he and Dae had done.'

'Petter's control over his Inner Vitality had attained extreme Levels, and his overall combat power far surpassed his Level, which was to be expected.'

'If the Heroes were to be as strong as their Levels indicated, wouldn't that be quite the letdown for beings that were at the pinnacle of the System?'

'Albeit… Due to the nature of his words, Petter left behind many important details that were best discussed… Elsewhere.'

'Petter's entire training was focused more on control and attainment of Techniques, Titles, Skills, Abilities, and so on instead of pure Combat proficiency and power.'

'But the intricacies of it would need to be left for later.'

'Even then...'

"... Look at me, I'm in the top 10 now, I would say I'm quite great!" Petter said as he raised his head up high

Albeit that isn't official... If only they left me alone...

Being strong is more annoying than just minding your own business, which is counter-intuitive when I'm seeking to grow ever further.

"Did you finish your preparations?" Philip asked as he looked at him

If he did... Then it meant he was only a step away from achieving his past... Future power.

He would only need to grow his Stats and Levels, together with a few more advanced Titles of course, but those are add-ons.

"Uh… Not yet… Well, at least according to him, no."

"..."

[Petter Clark

Level 32

]

(Yes... I couldn't resist it...)

"... You shouldn't be proud for being among the top 10 strongest of a group of brats, aim beyond…" Philip said seriously as he shook his head

(Plus Ultra?)

Just 32? What are the Heroes doing?...

"You sound just like Dae… But what about you? How much did you grow?"

"I'm dying to know!" He said with a wide smile as he bent over the table a little

'Philip's eyes opened a bit more when he saw his reaction.'

"Me?... I mean… The expected?" He said as a smile formed on his face

'As he said that, a System window manifested in front of his eyes:'

[

Name: Philip Vinten *5 Fragments*

Race:  Type-2 Sahrot (+)

Home World: Earth (+)

Registered World: Eden (+)

Level 0

Class: None (+)

Title: The Great Desire of ***** (Sahrot's Ruler) (+)

/Resonation Effect: None/

All Titles:

Exterminator of Nightmares; Master of all trades; Great Scholar; Martial Grandmaster; Magic Lord; Mental Lord; The Great Desire of *****; One of a Kind; Seeker of the Ancient Myths; Spiritualist; Master Craftsman; Oblivion Lord; Torturer; Dimensional Traveler; Undead Purger, Warmonger; Berserker; Challenger; Rising legend; Homeless Saint; Judicator's Gaze; Sahrot's Ruler

-Vital info-

(+)

Mind> 530 (699.9)(+)

Physical> 476.3 (558)(+)

Energy> 570 (699.9)(+)

Spiritual> 520 (610.3)(+)

Mystique>  415(+)

Abilities:

Armament Lv5(8) (Hybrid)

Mental force Lv24 (Hybrid)

Mental force manipulation Lv23 (Hybrid)

Mental Domain Lv13 (Hybrid)

Command Magic Lv9 (Hybrid)

Spiritual Force Lv6 (Hybrid)

Spiritual force manipulation Lv5 (Hybrid)

Weak Spiritual Domain Lv17 (Hybrid)

Skills:

Outer Mantra Lv5 (Hybrid)

Unleash Lv3 (Hybrid)

Greater Thu'um Lv5 (Hybrid)

Molten Fang Lv3 (Active)

Phantom Sword Lv21 (Active)

Great Scholar Vision LvMax(10) (Hybrid)

Torture Lv8 (Passive)

Origin of a Desire Lv3 (Active)

Stalk Lv8 (Active)

***** Might Lv4 (Hybrid)

Advanced Skill fusion Lv22 (Hybrid)

Western continent language Lv15 (Hybrid)

Zone Lv2 (Hybrid)

Gamerverse (???)

Traits:

Castle Town ***** (Incomplete)

Hardworking

Unyielding

Sword Heart

Spiritual Ascension(Incomplete)

Dragon Soul

]

'During his one month of continuous training in preparation for his departure, Philip's Status didn't change much.'

'A few numbers went up, but no new additions made their way into it, at least, none that mattered, the rest were all broken under Advanced Skill Fusion as he was trying his hardest to push the Skill into its next stage.'

'But apart from that, his Status sheet looked a bit strange this time.'

'It was full to the brim with many cute drawings and stickers of animals and plants…'

/Chuckle…/

'As he read his Status sheet, a gentle laugh echoed behind him as a girl with prismatic hair materialized out of thin air.'

'She hugged his neck gently as her foot flew in the air behind her, reading his Status sheet with a smile on her face.'

"... Growth… But not quite?" She said with a teasing smile and rough dialect as she started drawing a large tree on his Status sheet, making Philip's expression grow dark

'Once he closed his Status sheet, she let go of his neck, letting herself float to the ceiling of the room like a leaf in the wind where she started to play around the floating decorations, much to the butler in charge's annoyance and straight-out confusion.'

"From your expression, I imagine things went well, you even got a cute follower and a Dwarf! Isn't that like an RPG party?"

'Petter could already imagine it… The Dwarf holding a large shield and hammer, and the girl using a staff together with the "Hero" as he held a sword on the frontline.'

"It's not like that… But I get where you're coming from."

The problem is that my Dwarf doesn't use a shield... He uses a Sniper Rifle...

'Petter crossed his arms as he looked at the people dancing in the middle of the hall.'

'They were mostly young people, likely trying to show off or something along the lines, in fact, it seemed the center zone of the ballroom had become their social zone…'

"Tell me more about it then! I can imagine who the Dwarf is, I was given the details by Dae, but I don't remember fishing a girl being amidst your goals."

"Fishing a girl you say..."

It's not only a girl...

I have a Semi Ghost of a methodic old man inside my inventory tool...

I have a dangerous Mimic in my pocket...

And I also have another girl that loves doing pranks floating around me, and I can do little to stop her.

Lastly, I could add the gaze of the Judicator and the attention of a Goddess... If she can see me right now.

"Well… Sigh, it's a long story." Philip said as he felt a headache coming

"Let's leave it for when he's with us."

"Tche! How anti-climactic."

'Philip couldn't deny that, so he turned his gaze to the people behind him, meeting with someone he hadn't seen in a while.'

'A blond man with sparkling eyes… Roy.'

"..."

"..."

/Nod/

'They gave each other a simple greeting before they turned their expressions back to their respective companions.'

"I've thought of something, how are those three doing?" Philip asked as he tried to change the subject of the conversation

"Those three?... Ah… You mean Foust and his goons?" Petter replied with a scoff

"How else would they be if not down in the gutter?"

"After they lost all of their Skills and their Class they pretty much became devoid of value."

'Petter looked around sneakily.'

"Of course, this isn't confirmed as they refused to share anything about themselves and neither did the Crown, but it's pretty much true as some of the people with Observation Skills decided to confirm what truly happened to them by peeking around too much."

"But they're Heroes nonetheless, it takes 100 years to amass resources to summon one, and considering around 100 of us were called this time, Foust and the others are each equivalent to 1 year of the Empire's resources, so they wouldn't be abandoned so easily."

"Even if they lost what made them unique, they can still train in this world's methods like everyone else to grow something that belongs to them exclusively."

"And they're growing pretty fast… But obviously, not enough to compete… With anyone… Most of course."

"Due to their terrible condition and Status, they've been putting in quite the effort, way more than most, so even with the difference in Status, they've already surpassed some of the lazier ones with miscellaneous Classes, but that's all."

"Even with their Status as Heroes, there's only someone that can carry them, at one point, their Talent will start to be drawn and it'll be a war between that and the Classes of everyone else."

"Who is more talented, the Heroes with their blessings, or 3 losers with a bit of an XP boost?"

"..."

'Philip looked at him with a deep gaze, but the latter only shook his head.'

"I can't forgive them for what they did, but I will waste my time with them no further, that would only be giving them more for what they're worth."

'He then smiled cruelly.'

/Shua…/

'Philip started hearing the sound of water splashing around.'

'And from the shadows behind Petter, he saw a pair of red eyes staring at him, full of hunger and bloodlust.'

"If they ever grow substantially, then I can just reap everything again, I'll throw them in the mud every time they rise."

"I'll make them regret being alive, I'll push them down until the day they decide to give up like they did to my sister."

"This is what I've decided."

"..."

'Philip smiled.'

He truly grew.

/Thud!/

'Petter slammed on the table.'

"Alright then, I have a serious question to ask you now!"

"Sure, we still have some time." Philip said with a smile as he took a sip of his drink

"... Have you seen… Any Cat girls?"

"..."

Bro...

'Philip took back his previous statement, this motherfucker hadn't changed at all.'

…

/Around 15 minutes later.../

'In no time at all, amidst many laughs and plates of food, the lights of the Ballroom dimmed as many beams of light were focused on the two big doors next to where Philip and Petter were sitting.'

'Another detail they forgot to mention is that, the closer one is to those two doors, the higher one's standing seems to be.'

'The fact Philip ignored everyone to sit next to Petter at the very edge proved to many just who he was, and his looks had already attracted quite the big crowd...'

'From old companions from one world to new ones from another...'

'But strangely enough, no one tried to approach them, and the same could be said for the other Heroes around.'

'The Nobles were oddly on the defensive, just what were they waiting for?'

/HORNS!/

'Just as the lights deemed, two groups of Knights clad in shiny green armor moved next to the sides of the large doors, posing gloriously under the strong beams of light.'

'And under the sounds of majestic horns, a man stepped next to one of the tools of Knights.'

"WELCOME HER HIGHNESS THE FIRST QUEEN AND HIS MAJESTY, THE FIRST PRINCE!"

/CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!/

'The Ballroom went into a frenzy.'

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Notes

It was a bit smaller than last time, but that was because it's rather late, I'll try to make do next chappy.

Anyway, in this chapter, we continued with a bit more communication, way more than the last chapter which was mostly on Narration, I hope you all enjoyed this change in pace.

Next chapter should end the Ballroom Arc and go straight into this 'Afterparty' event.

After this... I have no idea how, but we'll start another cool Arc, hopefully.

That was all from me, it's quite late.

Peace.