New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

After waiting for almost an hour at the main castle, this time in a much larger and more luxurious waiting room, guards came to fetch Astaroth, Phoenix, and Rodney. Astaroth got to his feet immediately, almost jumping up, his face already a mask of impatience.

"About time," he grumbled.

The Mana Knights that fetched them eyed them with a tinge of aggressivity, but no more than that.

They walked out of the room, immediately flanked by two knights, and followed by three, as the one in the front led the march in a determined gait. The corridors winded left and right, sometimes long, other times very short, making it hard for them to know which way they had truly come from.

And with how similar every corridor looked, it obfuscated their sense of direction even more.

Only Astaroth could keep his wits about him the entire time. And this was because he kept his mana senses active, and could see the layout of the Ley lines under them at all times.

But they were still taken a long way away from the waiting room, sometimes even briefly teleporting.

Phoenix frowned the first time they did, her senses telling her they had been displaced, but the feeling was so brief and fleeting that she couldn't tell if it was teleportation or sensorial alteration.

As for Astaroth, he noticed that the teleportation was switching them from one floor to another, always in a straight line, up or down. It was almost like they were in a three-dimensional maze, and the invisible portals were making it harder for them to find a solution to it.

Through this, though, Astaroth could determine that the castle was only for show on the exterior. They were already many layers underground.

And the further they went, the closer they got to the Ley lines. Their proximity was already causing Astaroth's skin to tingle.

It took the better part of twenty minutes to reach an enormous stone gate, where the guards stopped and turned toward them.

"Any offence to the Matriarchs is forbidden, and will be treated as a crime. If you make so much as an aggressive twitch toward our leaders, you will be treated as criminals. So we will deem much as a raised voice as a threat, and appropriate reactions will ensue. Do you understand?" their guiding knight asked.

Astaroth scoffed at him.

"You make us waste time repeatedly, and then tell us we are basically peasants here? Do you realize we are royalty, or do you just not care?"

Phoenix nudged him in the side, trying to rein him in, even though she agreed to his words. It was outrageous that they would be treated as lessers, even though this wasn't their turf.

The guard gave a deathly stare to Astaroth, who proceeded to unleash a part of his magic pressure on him, annoyed at the gall of these people.

The Mana Knights around them rapidly grabbed the hilts of their weapons at the threatening aura, but a stern voice from inside stopped them in their tracks.

"Enough!" the voice said, shivering, as if old and frail.

The guard at the forefront was already sweating heavily, even though he was a powerful magic user by Themiscus standards. This made him realize something was wrong with how much power this young king was displaying.

It felt almost muddled to him. As if more than one mana signature was mixed into one.

"Let them in. They have waited enough," the voice from inside spoke.

As the Mana Knights let go of their weapons, glaring at Astaroth, the gate slid open, almost without a sound.

Astaroth retracted his mana presence, sneering at the knight. His patience had already run its course.

Once the door slid away completely, the interior revealed itself to the three visitors, and Rodney froze up instantly.

A large crescent-shaped table greeted Astaroth, Phoenix, and Rodney, at which twelve women of varying ages and looks sat. Behind each of the women, one man stood in fancy clothing.

They would look like trophy men, to most, if it wasn't for the pressing presence that exuded from their clothes.

'This is at least rare-grade gear…' Astaroth realized.

The sheen that most players would see on rare-grade gear wasn't present, though. The clothes were enchanted in such a way as to look innocuous.

They almost pushed the three of them into the room, where they stood a little ahead of the two table points. From there, all the Matriarchs could see them clearly, and already a few knowing looks were exchanged amongst them.

The men behind each woman barely glanced at them before focusing straight ahead, like the guests were not worth their attention. But Astaroth knew better.

He could feel the slight brushes of their mana against him constantly, almost like waves lapping at a shoreline. It was no more than a brief graze every time, almost like they were just feeling for something.

Aberon had once told him you could read a lot through someone's mana, so he wondered if this was what they were doing.

One man, however, was holding his gaze directly on someone in their trio. Directly on Rodney.

The doors shut behind them, and silence permeated the room.

After a few moments of silence, the woman at the center of the crescent table rose to her feet. The gentleman behind her stepped forward, holding his arm out so she could lean on it.

The man looked like he was at least sixty years old, but Astaroth felt like the number was wrong. The pressure coming from him, not even magical, was much too refined and heavy for him to be merely sixty, by New Eden standards.

Once the woman was standing, and steady enough, she looked at the three of them and smiled warmly.

"I would like to personally welcome the new monarchs of this budding kingdom that has made it into our alliance, Phoenix and Astaroth, of Stellar Woodlands. Although the circumstances of your visit may be contentious, your presence is still a welcome one. Welcome to Themiscus, the cradle of magic."

As soon as she said this, twelve waves of magic crashed into Astaroth and Phoenix, carefully avoiding Rodney, before retracting almost instantly.

Immediately, the two of them had to release a part of their own mana, lest they become overwhelmed.

If this was the council's equivalent of a warm greeting, Astaroth no longer wondered why everyone here was so aggressive.

'This is going to be mentally tiring…' Astaroth immediately thought.