Chapter 9-288: The World is Going to Change... (1/2)

Some of the most powerful people in the secular world began to arrive at Heavenbound Hall.

It was both business and pleasure. They could attend the talk that I would be putting on, then hang around long enough to watch the Haze open and the stars fall down upon Heavenbound Hall and Detroit. A lot of famous people came to Detroit every year just to see the stars, and some of the parties were legendary.

There were Presidents and Premiers, Prime Ministers and Headmasters, Church Hierophants and even a Royal or two who had formally requested that they be allowed to attend... and unlike so many others, had been allowed to.

Notably, there were two Elves from Ælfheim, set up in lands that had once belonged to Sweden. It was now the greatest concentration of Elves in the world, and with them, the single greatest collection of magical power among mortals.

Naturally some of these people were acquaintances to one another, although the aloof Ælves, who didn’t venture out much on the world stage, were naturally drawing a lot of attention. That they were here at all surprised some, but given the feats that Lady Traveler had accomplished, perhaps it was unsurprising.

Certainly the Ælves felt their power was threatened, as their ability to make Faux Eight had now been exposed for how it was done, and rendered completely irrelevant. Indeed, in the face of the Double Helix method, they were going to rapidly fall behind the curve, and their methods seemed very short-sighted and foolish!

Instead of being able to hide and enjoy their magical superiority, they were going to have to re-engage with the other races, especially if they wanted to make the adjustments to make Ten. The elitist image of their elven kingdom was now regarded as just isolationist foolishness, and given their pride, there was no way they would not react to their status being turned upside down.

Queen Huellia and her eldest son had been the ones designated to come. She was a Mystic Theurge of Sylune, while her son was a warrior-mage known across the lands of Scandinavia for coming to the aid of people there.

Perhaps most oddly of all, every person who arrived had placed a goldweight ingot on their table where they were sitting. They had all been instructed to bring one, although no one knew the reason why.

Hall followers of Sune and Tiirith were handling the gladhanding with flair, and even if nobody got a much-desired private meeting with Lady Traveler, they could not complain about their hosts, the meal, the live music, or the atmosphere.

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“Our apologies, everyone. Lady Traveler received an urgent request from China for a few moments of her time. She will be joining us momentarily as soon as she returns from there. It should only take a few minutes,” the smiling Esper Movan told everyone, and he didn’t even have to make it up.

He was definitely amused at the words and looks that were rapidly exchanged between the attendees, but he wasn’t exaggerating. He gestured off to the side for the musicians to take up an expectant tune, which would slowly build to a subtle and powerful theme for her arrival.

As she had said, it should only take a few minutes...

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I came back to Detroit from across the world. My magic was full up, Cultivators being useful for that purpose in the sense of being guilt-free, goodbye, doing a Good Deed and leveraging it for multiple purposes.

It really was going to suck when I wouldn’t have free recharges, but hopefully by then I’d have access to Perpetual Spell.

Esper Movan was a renowned Minstrel who had taken time off his re-Leveling to come back and act as the MC for this event. He was a social butterfly, an instinctive performer, and loved doing this sort of thing.

He also couldn’t hide his total awe of me. He could sense our relative Stats very clearly because of his Blessing, and my ramping Noble status was just overwhelming to someone as centered on personal Charisma as he was.

I appeared on the platform, set down Clavus, and my crossbelts and bandolier slid off to hang on my Staff as my clothes changed from eminently practical and comfortable boots, trousers, and blouse to a sparkle-cut leg-showing, figure-showing black shimmersilk dress with pumps. When you don’t need to walk anymore, high heels are just another accessory, not a risk of breaking your ankle... although I could dance on tightropes if I needed to, so that wasn’t a danger, either.

While I didn’t have whatever nymph-succubus-nereid stuff was going on with Sama, I did have killer legs and Moonlit hair, meaning I basically had my own moonlight spotlight effect following me around.

Also, the glimmering jewelry that popped up to accent my attire bore Life Diamonds, right now the single most desired gemstones on the whole planet. Each one represented a chance to come back from the dead, and I was still currently the only one who could make them.

I had twelve Ranks in Diplomacy, and twelve in Intimidate. I was a Faux Fourteen Caster whose Aura was plucking at magic with the subtle force of a 26, and as soon as I used Oratory, i.e., spoke, it jumped instantly to 34. My base Charisma was a 38, which basically meant I was the moon, and everyone looking at me was shadows.

I was also a High Queen in Noble Rank, and they knew just looking at me that they were not my peers.

“Thank you, Esper.” The way his Aura spiked just from me saying his name made him nearly swoon. I would have to watch that. It was hard to avoid, but I very explicitly did not want the default state of those following me to be fanatics... although it would take only a miniscule amount of effort from me for that to happen at this point.

I could sense the people out there swallowing as my voice broke across them. Yes, that’s a Heartsong Perform Check with twelve Ranks behind it. That’s a +14 Charisma modifier, tacked onto a +12 Wisdom modifier.

I was speaking right to their souls, and none of them had any way to resist it without stopping their ears... or blinding themselves, since my gestures and just looking at my lips was going to seize them just the same.

“My apologies for disrupting your schedules, and thank you all for coming. I know that you are all busy people, and I am afraid I am going to be adding a great deal to your workload.