After the 21 people spawning today were settled and the people sent out to collect the people from the other villages returned with 7 more, Aeron held a funeral for the soldiers who died in battle.

6 spearmen, 3 knights, 4 berserkers and 1 skirmisher had fallen during the wolf attack.

Aeron showed them the respect they deserved, leading a procession of soldiers who carried the fallen on a full circuit of the city walls before having them placed gently in an untouched grassy area.

The soldiers gave a military salute towards the bodies, their eyes filled with respect and grief.

The Nature Spirit rose from the ground, making branches grow and weave into a casket around each of the dead.

"Today we mourn the passing of these brave souls."

Aeron began.

"They fell on the battlefield and gave their lives to protect ours, and for that we are grateful."

He turned to look at the crowd.

"But their sacrifices are not in vain as we still live on!"

The fairies flew over the caskets, causing beautiful flowers to bloom all over them.

"So we shall live on to honour their sacrifice!"

With this he turned around and gestured to the Spirit.

"Rest now, brave souls, you are not forgotten."

He spoke solemnly as the caskets sunk into the ground, being buried in the earth and surrounded by nature.

Aeron bowed his head towards where the bodies had sunk.

The others followed.

Over the next hour, the people dispersed slowly and Aeron only left once everyone else had.

He headed towards the temple since he had seen a change in Rose during the ceremony earlier.

He got there and was surprised by how the temple now looked.

There was a willow arch for an entrance and flowers bloomed from the walls and floor. Such a change was brought about as more flower fairies were born and resided here.

Aeron went up to Rose, who was in telepathic conversation with the Nature Spirit the temple was dedicated to.

"Greetings."

Said a voice in his head.

He almost didn't recognise it as Rose since it had gained some maturity in the tone.

"Greetings."

He replied.

He took in the physical changes the firstborn fairy had since he last saw her.

She was taller by an inch and wore a more elegant dress which flowed down to her knees and she carried herself with more confidence. The wings on her back had also grown larger since last time.

"What happened to you?"

He inquired.

"When there were five Flower Fairies, I was promoted to a Flower Fairy Baron to lead them."

She answered.

Indeed, when he looked at Rose's stats, the base values had doubled, if you didn't include the bonuses from her improved cultivation, and her race had changed to what she had said.

Aeron was intrigued by this transformation and wondered if Rose's race would continue to promote as more and more fairies were under her.

Along with the appearance of a Fairy Baron, the blessing on the village had grown in strength, increasing most people's loyalty by one or two points.

Aeron smiled and bid them farewell before leaving.

He exited the Heaven Domain as it was 7 PM on Earth, almost time for his party.

...

Dressed in a sleek black suit, Aeron stepped out of the car. He adjusted his overcoat as the driver went to park.

The event had started half an hour ago, though the guests were only required to be there at this time. Despite that, many had turned up early.

There was a band playing classical music on a raised platform off to the side and a stage set up in front of the dance floor, which was currently empty.

Entering the venue, Aeron checked his watch and tapped twice on its surface. He then looked up and watched as several people scattered across the room each tapped one of their accessories twice.

Fixing a warm smile on his face, he entered the venue, being served a glass if champagne by a nearby waiter.

He kept it in his left hand and entered one of the circles of people discussing, quickly taking control of the conversation.

Seeing this, one of the other guests decided to leave this discussion, brushing passed Aeron and muttered to him,

"Know your place Little Snake."

The words were laced with venom and a hint of mockery, especially as they spat Aeron's nickname.

He sighed inside, the identity he'd chosen for himself truly had its share of problems.

Nevertheless, he continued conversing with the others as usual, travelling around the room and talking to different people.

On his way around, a woman in a sparkly dress tripped and fell in front if him.

On instinct, he caught her with one arm and the champagne glass with another.

Recovering from the fall, the woman stood up straight, thanking Aeron for catching her and asking if he would like a dance.

He agreed, leading her elegantly towards the currently empty dance floor.

When they reached it however, neither of them made any move to dance and several others from around the room joined them.

Once no one else moved towards the dance floor, the sound of a fork tapping a champagne glass filled the room, causing the conversations to die down almost immediately.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to today's participants."

A tall man dressed spoke as he walked up to the stage.

Two people, one man and one woman, followed him up and stood a little behind to each side.

All the guests in the room turned to look at the man, reverence, fear, or envy clear in each of their eyes.

"If the participants would be so kind as to reveal their tokens."

The man spoke.

Each of the people on the dance floor reached for an accessory on their person, opening them via a hidden latch.

Aeron himself flipped open the top of his watch to reveal an empty hidden compartment.

The woman he had led to the dance floor gave him a mocking smirk before flipping open one of her earrings like a locket to reveal that it was also empty.

Aeron returned her smirk.

The two of them weren't the only ones to open an empty compartment as most of the participants looked around in confusion as to who stole their token.

Following this, Aeron, the woman and the guest who had warned Aeron earlier reached into a pocket on their person.

The woman was the first to reveal hers, taking out Aeron's token and another. The guest revealed his second, showing four tokens to the man on the stage.

Aeron himself pulled out six, both the woman's and the other guest's tokens being among them.

Seeing this, the other guest's face turned pale as if he remembered something. At that moment the man on the stage spoke,

"According to the rules, if you possess someone's token half their count is added to yours so congratulations Aeron for winning with a score of 9 and congratulations to Emma for being the runner up with a score of 5."

After saying that, the man walked off the stage, shook Aeron's hand, and went back to where he was standing.

The other man, still on the stage, stepped up to the speaking position and looked over the participants. His face scrunched into distaste as his gaze passed over Aeron, and disappointment when it passed over 3rd place.

He spoke a few words of congratulations before both people left the stage.

The woman from the stage approached Aeron and spoke,

"Your teacher, Viper, would be proud of you."

She said with a knowing wink.

"Thank you Baba, your praise means a lot."

Aeron replied with a slight bow.

"It's a shame your teacher can't show up to these events, considering he's a Snake and all."

Baba said.

"I doubt he would enjoy the company. He finds Spiders to be a bit boring and predictable."

He replied.

At this, the woman laughed.

"Well give him my regards Little Snake."

She patted his shoulder, gave him another knowing wink, and left to stand with the two men from earlier.

Aeron turned, facing the other participants, smiled and spoke,

"It was a good round. I hope to see you all again."

He then left the venue, stepping into the car that was waiting for him outside.

"You know me too well."

He said to the driver.

"It's part of my job."

The driver said, his smile reflecting off the rear view mirror.

The car drove off, leaving the party behind now that he was no longer needed.