Three grand buildings boxed in a huge courtyard that was paved with white stone, centred by a beautiful pool that was pocketed with all sorts of artistically-carved fountains that spouted crystal-clear waters up into the air at regular intervals. A large number of peculiar purple plants floated aimlessly through the gentle waters, identical to lily pads. This was accented by an omnipotent source of pale, purple light that was given off by an interesting spiritual arrayment that had been cast on the grounds proper. Hundreds of spirit stones hovered in place above the property, the interesting technique only allowing for purple light to spill out of the stones in a manner that created a dim yet pervasive ambience which refracted off of the gentle waters in a beautiful display. Many tables made of star gold surrounded the great pool and the white-stoned patio that bordered it, with purple-shaded lampposts lighting the several pathways that traced winding lines throughout the garden-filled grounds of the estate.

Thousands of people were attending the event, which seemed to be an invite-only sort of gathering. It didn’t pass Nolan’s notice that everyone who caught sight of Welson did so with varying looks of surprise. Evidently, he wasn’t the only one that hadn’t thought he would be attending this party.

“Nolan, perhaps we should go to the back of the line and…”

They arrived at the front of the line in short order, the cultivators in charge of checking the invitations all seeming to ignore Welson in a deliberate manner.

One of them eventually looked over in feigned surprise and said, “Consul? I wasn’t made aware that you would be attending this event.”

“One thing led to another, and I decided to come by. I hope that’s not a problem.”

The middle-aged man put on an apologetic expression and held his arms out in a helpless manner. “Lord Chamberlain said only to allow those with valid invitations inside. To go against his order would leave me in a very sorry state, so I’m sure you understand.”

“Yes, well…I suppose there’s nothing you can do about that.”

Many of the nearby people began to belittle Welson under their breath, some openly doing so. Nolan got the feeling that they were all from factions that rivaled the consul’s, so he promptly strode over to the handsome couple that had been saying the most and then abruptly locked them in place with his aura. This was an easy feat considering that their cultivations were only at the fourth and third levels of Integration for the man and woman respectively, the two of them fixing Nolan with looks of fright as he held out his hand and snapped his fingers in an impatient manner.

“Give me your invitations.”

One of the cultivators at the gate, a young man at the eighth level of Integration, immediately dashed toward Nolan and struck out with a violent punch. Nolan sidestepped the attack without turning around or taking his eyes off of the couple, reaching out and grabbing hold of the man’s wrist before turning 180 degrees and flinging him off into the sky in front of the unsuspecting crowd of onlookers. He’d caught his attacker and thrown him so quickly that people might have missed it if they had happened to blink in that moment, an action that stole all sound away from the vicinity around the gates.

He snapped his fingers again. “Invitations, let’s go.”

The couple handed them over with wide eyes and wordless mouths, though Nolan wasn’t quite finished. Struck by a sudden idea, he walked over to each person that had spoken out against Welson and extorted all of them in the same manner. By the time he returned to Welson’s side, he held up twelve invitation cards and addressed the remaining doormen with stern words.

“Is this enough, or do I have to find some more?”

Hearing his words, some of the surrounding people took subconscious steps backward.

One of the gatekeepers was at the first level of Genesis, and after giving Nolan a long, pensive stare, he nodded and allowed them to go inside. Nolan handed over all twelve of the invitation cards, and then looked the man in the eye without fear.

“Those two are for me and the consul. The rest are for our friends, who’ll be showing up soon. You’ll know them when you see them.”

Without waiting for the man’s response, he led a quiet Welson through the front gates and began walking toward the party proper. A few moments later, they both began to laugh and the consul thanked him for what he’d done.

“Even though I’m sure I’ll have a fright in the morning when I remember what just happened, it was nice to see that lot look so scared.”

Apparently, the people that Nolan had just extorted were all openly hostile to Welson, and had actively been undermining his authority within the city since his appointment as consul. Since this was a party that only seemed open to members of opposing factions, Welson drew even more negative attention after the two of them entered onto the grounds.

Nolan ignored the surrounding onlookers and contacted May with a sound transference talisman to let her know what he was up to, telling her to notify the others and invite them to drop by should they desire to take a short break from their training. Until their enemies arrived in Tallgate, there wasn’t anyone in the city that could rival the strength of his group, and they were now strong enough that they no longer needed to remain obscure for the sake of security. On the contrary, he wanted Tems and his people to know exactly where they were so as to lure them into a tactical trap, the foundations for which he would lay tonight with his friends as they made a public appearance at such an affluent gathering.

May was delighted at the idea and quickly agreed, telling him that she would let the others know and that she would be there soon along with whoever else wanted to come. He made sure to stress the need to dress as formally as possible, as the event was high-class in nature.

Idling at a random edge along the courtyard, Nolan said, “So what’s the deal with the guy hosting this party? Is he in that Angram guy’s faction?”

Welson shook his head. “The faction he’s a part of is headed by four merchant lords, so it isn’t as prominent as Angram’s or the king’s. Even so, most of its supporters are leaning toward throwing their weight in with Angram and his people, so it’s very important that we don’t cause too much trouble here lest we worsen the relationship between our factions.”

“Ah, so whoever wins them over has a better chance at winning the war for the throne? I probably shouldn’t have sent that guy flying then, eh?” Laughing without a care, Nolan casually summoned two golden chalices over from one of the many refreshment tables that dotted the area around the pool, along with a pitcher of golden spirits that a flustered servant had been carrying. “I wouldn’t worry about it, though. Once we deal with Kalvin, that’ll be one less merchant lord on their side, and I’m sure it’ll make people think twice about joining up with Angram.”

“How can you be so confident? Inebriated as I am, I still can’t help but agonize over what the future has in store for us.”

Nolan filled the floating chalices and then handed one to Welson. “The last time I fought Tems, I was a lot weaker and I still almost cut off his arm. Like I saw his bones. And that was with his whole sect chasing me around.”

“Is that so…?”

Welson was clearly skeptical, but Nolan paid him no mind. Looking out at the large crowd of people that covered the majority of the central grounds, he said, “You see any friendly faces?”

“Just one, actually. Though the fact that she’s here raises some questions in my mind.”

“Let’s go talk to her, then.”

“I’m not—” he was delayed by a hiccup—“sure if that’s a good idea.”

“Come on, man. You’re the consul of this city. You need to keep up a good public image, and it’d look bad on you if you just avoided everyone after coming here.”

“That’s why I didn’t want to come. Ah, I regret letting you talk me into this…”

Nolan couldn’t help but wonder what sort of merchant lord Welson’s liege was to have assigned the timid man to such an important post. From what he could tell, Welson wasn’t confident in himself in any area outside of conducting trade, and the man didn’t seem to have many allies within Tallgate. More than that, it didn’t seem likely that he had any friends in the city as well, for every time that Nolan had met with him he had always seemed to be indulging in food and drink by his lonesome.