The sky was overcast, filled with dark storm clouds. The wind was howling, not quite a gale but still more than enough to have mortals leaning against it to remain balanced. Lighting flashed across the sky with great frequency, and the thunder that accompanied it shook the earth and rattled the glass in windows. Rain hammered the city in whirling sheets, flooding through the streets, through drainage ditches and sewers, and into the river that led into the Ilumerian Wetlands, up which the Heaven’s Eye convoy steadily maneuvered.

In short, it was a beautiful day in Ancon, at least in Leon’s opinion, and he spent his time gleefully basking in the storm as the yacht he was on took the lead in the convoy.

The river they were sailing up wasn’t quite as wide as the Naga or the Tyrrhenian Rivers, but it was a fairly wide channel. There were a few private docks on either side of it, but their true destination was on the other side of Ancon. This city in the west of the Ilian Empire had been built along a river that carried water away from a large freshwater lake further inland. The city bordered that lake to its south, and that was where most of its commercial docks and warehouses were located, including those in use by Heaven’s Eye.

So, as the convoy finally left the Ilumerian Wetlands behind and entered the city, they were given plenty of time to take it in as they sailed up the river, past the numerous fortified walls and towers that would protect the city if any beasts from the Wetlands ventured out of their home, beneath gigantic bridges that towered over their ships, and into the lake, where they turned toward the local Heaven’s Eye enclave. Ancon was an important city, being the western gateway in and out of Imperial territory, but not important enough to have a proper Heaven’s Eye Tower.

And yet, the local headquarters for the guild was almost as impressive as one: it was located closer to the center of the city, essentially on the border between Ancon’s core and the commercial district, and was made of the same polished black glass and golden metal that all of the tall, ten to fifteen story tall buildings around were made of.

Leon took all of this in as he reveled in the weather, letting the magic power of the storm fill his body with energy. He even reached up into the sky with his own power, letting the storm run through it in a manner that was fairly similar to dipping his fingers into a river. He didn’t seize control of the churning magic, but he just stood on the prow of the ship, letting the storm slam the city all around him.

It wasn’t just recreation, though; this was a fairly decent learning experience. With his magic suffusing the air, he could learn quite a bit more about the weather’s natural process.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to stay out on the ship’s prow for as long as he would’ve liked, for the convoy soon reached the private docks of Heaven’s Eye, and he was both elated and dismayed to find that despite the weather, a substantial crowd had gathered to welcome them to the city. He quickly realized why so many people had braved the storm when he saw that the rain was parting around the crowd, not so much as dampening all the gilded finery they were wearing—presumably the reason they had a number of sixth-tier water and wind mages on the periphery of the crowd.

Leon’s ship passed through the protective dome that the water mages had set up, separating him from the rain, and for that he wasn’t too happy. He was even less enthused to realize that since he was the only person out on the deck of the ship, and because his position was so prominent, that there were quite a few eyeballs fixed upon him.

He, in turn, turned his gaze upon the waiting crowd.

There were quite a few notable people in the crowd, he found, which somewhat dampened his irritation. The crowd he estimated to be about four or five hundred people, and of them, more than a hundred were sixth-tier, while a dozen were of the seventh-tier. Those mages were spread throughout the crowd, though, indicating that even though they represented enough force to wipe out a good-sized army from the northwestern Kingdoms—assuming they were seventh-tier mages skilled in combat, at least—they were ‘merely’ prominent down here in the Ilian Empire.

More notably, however, were the two who stood at the front of the gathered crowd: their obvious leaders.

The most eye-catching of the two was a man radiating the aura of an eighth-tier mage, dressed almost entirely in deep, attention-grabbing reds. His clothes were tight against his rather lithe frame and were heavily embellished with floral designs rendered in slightly lighter reds than the rest of his attire. Meanwhile, about his shoulders hung a golden cloak that sparkled with numerous embedded rubies that, to Leon’s eyes, seemed enchanted to ward away the rain, and didn’t even flap in the wind. The man himself had sharp, chiseled features, wasn’t particularly tall, and had long black hair tied back in a tight ponytail that hung down to about the center of his shoulders. His mouth was framed with an oiled goatee, though the rest of his face had been so thoroughly shaven that there wasn’t even a shadow of hair on his cheeks. His eyes caught Leon’s interest when he saw that they were the color of gleaming platinum, and seemed practically locked upon him as his ship came sliding into dock.

Leon didn’t detect any hostility in his gaze or killing intent in his aura, though, so he didn’t think too much of the man’s attention.

Standing just to the man’s right, neither behind nor in front of him, was another eighth-tier mage, though she was modestly dressed in extremely formal black. Her hair was cropped boyishly short, while her sharp, almond-shaped eyes seemed to bounce between Leon and the windows of the yacht as if he was of interest, but not the person she was most looking forward to seeing.

She was quite beautiful, with a lovely heart-shaped face, an enviably fit and well-endowed figure, a healthy golden tan so complete that it could only be natural, and an air of confidence and control that suggested she was the most important person around, save only for the man to her left. Adding to that air of control was the emblem of Heaven’s Eye, prominently emblazoned across her tight black uniform’s top.

Just behind these two mages were several fifth and sixth-tier mages that he could only assume were their assistants. Those behind the man wore clothing that largely matched his, with a red color palette and a focus on floral designs. Behind the woman, meanwhile, were people wearing uniforms of Heaven’s Eye.

Leon’s ship finally came to a halt at the largest and most prominent dock, with the rest of the ships behind his fanning out to the rest of the docks in the yard. The enclave had so many docks that even though his convoy needed quite a few docks, they didn’t even take up half of those that were available.

As his ship finally stopped moving and the crew started to come outside dressed in rain gear to tie it down to the dock, Leon reluctantly stepped back from the ship’s prow. With barely more than a wisp of intent, he used his water magic to dry himself off and dress himself in something a little more formal, then he walked back along the deck to where the rest of the ship’s passengers were coming out onto the deck and preparing to disembark. Elise was the first to notice his arrival, and she welcomed him with a smile that could illuminate even the murkiest of nights.

She looked gorgeous and utterly impeccable, with her long red hair put up in a loose bun, leaving only a few strands untied to frame her face. She was dressed in a fairly modest black dress that reached her ankles and covered her arms as far as her elbows, though it had a fairly low cut and high thigh slit. More eye-catching, however, was the stark white snow lion coat she wore about her shoulders, and the emerald rings she wore on each hand. On her right index finger was one of the rings of invisibility that Leon had looted from the assassins that the Duke of Aurelianorum had sent after him, while her left ring finger had the ring that Leon had given to her during their wedding’s gift exchange. She also wore the bracelet that he’d commissioned for her in Ironford, though given its lack of enchantment, it was slightly less eye-catching than the rings.

To match her in spirit, Leon wore the black formal outfit she’d had tailor-made for him a long time ago, his own snow lion coat, and the sapphire amulet she’d given him during their wedding.

Nearby, Valeria and Maia were also in their formal outfits and wore the snow lion coats that Leon had given to them, bringing a warm smile to his face. His retinue and the rest of the important people of the convoy were there, too.

“Ready, husband?” Elise asked as she snaked an arm around one of his elbows. “We’ve finally arrived, though it doesn’t seem like the weather is cooperating that much…”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Leon replied with a smile, his words punctuated a titanic clap of thunder and blinding flash of lightning. “It’s almost like Aeterna itself is welcoming us to the heart of civilization.”

“I think you and I have very different ideas of what a good welcome is,” Elise replied, her emerald eyes twinkling brilliantly in the light of distant lightning.

Leon could only smile a little wider as he felt the storm’s power coursing through him, lifting his mood and fortifying him against the inevitable social events that were going to ensue in the wake of their arrival. He then checked in with the rest of his family and retinue, making sure that they were ready to finally leave this damn ship, and then accompanied Elise as she steered him over to where Emilie and Damien Makedon were quietly discussing some of the finer points of their arrival.

With the two of them, Leon and Elise took the lead in disembarking. What followed was a long, almost ceremonial greeting between those waiting at the docks and those leading the convoy. There was a complex relationship existing between even just the Heaven’s Eye personnel, let alone those who were here representing the Ilian Empire, but Emilie navigated that complexity with extreme grace. Leon was a little more lost, but Elise was an irreplaceable boon to him during all of it.

The eighth-tier woman turned out to be named Penelope and had the distinguished honor of being the daughter of the Director. However, her official position within Heaven’s Eye was just as one of the Director’s agents—essentially a position that Leon had been led to believe he’d be filling once he officially joined the guild. She was stronger than Emilie, and better connected. If Heaven’s Eye had a Princess, it would be her. Yet, given her official status compared to Emilie’s, she acted with pleasant humility, and Emilie responded in kind, both women treating each other as old friends even though this was their first meeting.

The eighth-tier man, meanwhile, was the local governor of the city and its associated province—the Ilian Empire’s highest administrative divisions were provinces, and they numbered eleven, each ruled by a governor that was recommended by local elected councils and then confirmed by the Ilian Emperor himself, and then served for quarter-century terms. Despite being one of these extremely highly-ranked officials, Apollodorus, as the governor was introduced, was neither servile nor overbearing, and he greeted Emilie with stiff politeness.

Following them came a round of introductions from everyone behind them. Dozens of people came forward to tell Emilie their names and have a short exchange with a woman who would soon become one of the most powerful people in all of Aeterna, and it was all so riveting, so captivating, so utterly enthralling, that Leon’s eyes glazed over almost immediately.

Instead, he entertained himself watching the lightning in the distance, which was fading in intensity and frequency, almost as if the dry, boring introductions weren’t just suppressing Leon’s mood, but the weather itself, too.

After Emilie, most of these people then addressed Damien Makedon, but fortunately, he knew most of these people from previous visits to Ancon, so their exchanges were mercifully brief.

However, after Damien came Leon, and he just about lost his mind. They treated him not too differently from Emilie and Damien, but there was definite strain in some of their expressions. Perhaps it was his own imagination, but he figured that strain was from hiding their reluctance to greet someone like him as politely as they were. He couldn’t say for sure, of course, but he was immensely glad when all of the introductions were over, and it seemed they were, too.

There was a bright spot of entertainment, though, when attention turned to Maia, and she largely ignored everyone save for a few derisive glances at Penelope and the governor.

But after half an hour—it had been so dry and boring that Leon almost couldn’t believe it had gone by that quickly—they were finally released from the purgatory of propriety and allowed to properly progress into the polis. They were shown to their guest house, where they would stay for the next week while another land caravan was put together to ferry everyone north to the Empire’s capital city, Ilion, where one final trip on a large yacht would bring them to Occulara only a few days later.

And there, Leon vowed to himself, he wouldn’t be traveling any great distance for a long time. He was ready to be done with all of this moving around, he just wanted to settle in somewhere and have a little bit of stability.

Elise and Valeria both poked fun at him for his brief complaints, but they still agreed that they couldn’t wait for this journey to be over.

But for the time being, they had other things to attend to—most notably, a formal party to ‘properly’ welcome them to the Ilian Empire. Leon personally thought a proper welcome would be to leave them the hells alone for a couple of days, but it seemed that was a wish he wouldn’t see granted. His retinue wasn’t quite of high enough station to join them at the party, Valeria decided to stay with them out of solidarity, and Maia simply couldn’t be bothered.

Leon envied them for their freedom to choose, for such a privilege was denied him and Elise. Given their relation to Emilie, their presence was so expected that it might as well have been mandatory. He was tempted to blow it off anyway, but Elise wanted to go, and he figured that it would at least be worth it in a practical sense to potentially get closer to Penelope, who would also be in attendance. He just hoped that their time in Ancon wouldn’t be taken up entirely by these kinds of formal engagements.

Reluctantly, instead of relaxing in the guest house, Leon prepared himself for a formal dinner party with the governor, Penelope, Emilie, Damien, and whoever else was of sufficient status to receive an invitation.

—

Leon had been hoping that the party would be a fairly low-key affair, with only a handful of important people attending. He was sorely disappointed.

There were only a handful of important people attending the party, but they’d brought their friends, and those friends had brought friends, and soon enough, there were hundreds of people attending.

Fortunately, the party was taking place on the top floor of the tallest golden tower in the city, which Leon found exciting enough to pique his interest.

He, Elise, Emilie, and Damien left the opulent Heaven’s Eye guest house at about sunset, and the city’s dozens of golden towers looked almost like they were burning in the light of the setting sun. The central tower, however, was burning—or at least, its roof was. It didn’t have a flat roof, but instead the building was shaped rather like a javelin, tapering off after the final floor for several dozen more feet, and it was this part of the building that burned with blazing golden fire in the early evening sky.

Leon wasn’t quite sure what the point—or if there was anything practical point at all—of it was, but he found it cool regardless.

The interior of the golden tower was just as opulent as the exterior implied, with floors of sparkling rose quartz polished almost to a mirror shine, columns in the lobby took the shape of nearly lifelike gargantuan statues of men and women with godly physiques literally holding up the ceiling. The magic lift in the back that took them up to the top floor was larger than many houses Leon had seen, and one whole wall was given to windows that allowed them to watch their own ascent.

From that vantage point, Leon could see with a whole new perspective that the city remained just as alive and busy with the sun dipping below the horizon as it was in the daytime, with every street in the large city heavily lit with both great beams of golden light that stretched over the sidewalks, and by the many trees that lined its larger streets whose leaves glowed in various rainbow hues, allowing Ancon’s many citizens still going about their day. Moving through the streets, he could see horseless, wheelless carriages moving apparently autonomously, lacking even a driver, and he could see small theaters and other entertainment venues filling with people all over the city.

In addition, there was a fair amount of green space, with the thoroughfares shaded by the rainbow trees planted at regular intervals in small plots of land that broke up the concrete and brick streets and sidewalks. Combined with the sewers and ditches that magically kept the roads and sidewalks free of water that might wear them down, it was clear that even just the basic infrastructure of the city had been greatly enhanced with magic, showing the power of the Ilian Empire that it could make even these mundane things so magical.

Leon was impressed, but his jaw didn’t start to drop until the magic lift reached the top of the tower and opened to reveal the ballroom that had been prepared for the party.

The ballroom was filled with people already, but Leon barely noticed them as he took in the room itself.

The floor was a series of mosaics made of dyed glass, each one depicting some presumably legendary hero slaying various monsters, but this was the least impressive of the halls’ decorations. What drew Leon’s eyes first was a series of five massive concentric metallic rings floating in the air above the center of the dance floor, gently spinning, each ring giving off a different color of light. The windows, meanwhile, had been enchanted to show an outdoor landscape outside instead of Ancon, making it seem like the ballroom was just an opulent pavilion in the center of a dark, moody forest lit by a full moon, countless bright stars, and thousands of fireflies flitting between the trees, though the illusion wasn’t perfect enough to be truly convincing. Finally, soft music was playing from somewhere, but as Leon took in the décor, he couldn’t spot any band or bard playing anything—it was like the sound was being projected from somewhere, but he couldn’t quite figure out where it was coming from no matter how he tuned his senses to examine the ballroom’s enchantments.

Other than all of that, the ballroom seemed fairly standard for a party of this sort. There weren’t any places to sit, but one wall had been lined with huge tables laden with food and drinks, and the hundreds of people there before the arrival of Leon’s party were mingling and quietly chatting amongst themselves. Leon noted that no one was speaking particularly loudly or boisterously, signaling just as much as the dreadfully expensive clothing everyone was wearing that this was a Formal Event.

As he glanced around and stepped into the dance hall with Elise on his arm, he started to really take in who was here, and he could feel his patience already start to fray. Most of these people were older, and seemed fairly soft. Many had relatively strong auras—fourth to sixth-tiers was the generally average—but despite that, quite a few had seemed to let their bodies go a bit. They weren’t quite as built as what Leon had come to expect from such powerful mages, and a few had even let their appearance go enough that they seemed a bit overweight. Given how much energy that properly training and using magic could burn, it showed more than anything just how indulgent some could be here in the Ilian Empire.

‘Not exactly putting their best on display, are they?’ Leon thought to himself, not feeling overly impressed with the elite of Ancon so far.

He could already tell this was going to be a long night. He could only count his blessings that Elise was here with him. He didn’t think he’d be able to get through this party otherwise.

He was given a whole new reason to dread, however, when Penelope finally glanced over at their group. Her sharp, unfriendly gaze lingered not on Emilie, or Damien, or Elise, but him.