The next day after Gaya gave the food to Michael, she came to his room to inform him about the dinner preparations. As she expected, he was still sitting in front of the worktable building Spyders. The table was filled with tiny Spyders, some of them were crawling on the table like they were alive.
"Everything's ready for dinner tonight" She came to his side.
"Good, I'm finished here" Michael waved his hand as all the thousand Spyders on the table disappeared into the space ring in his hand.
He then tossed the space ring to Gaya,
"How fast can you fly?"
************************************
Under a sky of perfect midnight velvet, under stars so brilliant they drew the eyes heaven bound. The night was a special kind of blackness, the kind that wants only to hold the stars and help them to shine all the brighter. It was a warm black that hugged Michael no matter what, and within its safety, he could feel his own soul all the more clearly, that innocent inborn spark.
Whether it was because he was born to be a Dark Lord, he felt stronger and safer in the dark. He was looking at the starry sky from the mountain peak. Despite the light produced by the half-moon and the millions of stars, he was barely visible with his full black attire.
A few minutes passed by in peace. Only the silent night accompanied him until he saw a couple of pegasus flying towards the sect. He took a few steps to drop down from the mountain peak. He felt the wind gushing against him, the gravity pulled him down faster and faster before he activated the Lightning Dash to fly. In a blink of an eye, he turned himself into a bolt of lightning to reach the sect.
The dinner table was set in Claire's manor. Michael landed before the manor to see Ricky and Daniel waiting to welcome the guests. They wore gold-embroidered grey coat suits. The coat suit was not of the modern age but of the medieval era.
"Master Ghost" they bowed with absolute respect towards Michael,
"Guests are arriving. Be on your guard"
"Yes...Yes Master Ghost" Ricky stuttered. This was the first time he had been to a dinner like this. For a commoner like him, it was always difficult to interact with nobles. Daniel was able to hide his anxiousness, unlike Ricky who was shivering from top to bottom.
"Relax. You just need to greet them and show them the way to the hall"
Michael patted Ricky on the shoulder to give him some confidence.
"It's just we are commoners-"
"That doesn't matter anymore. You work for me, that means you're on equal foot with most of the nobles. Now, be on your guard and do what you were told" With a final pat to Ricky's back, Michael climbed the stairs to enter the manor.
"And Ricky, Daniel" just a few steps away from the front door, Michael turned back to call them,
"Try not to embarrass me and yourselves" As he said, he entered the manor disappearing from their view.
When Michael entered the manor, he was overwhelmed by the aroma emanating from the air. The aroma was so strong that he could basically taste the air. Following the aroma, he came to the hall where there was a large round table full of food. Mushroom soup, bitter greens with tomatoes the size of peas, rare roast beef slices as thin as paper, noodles in a green sauce, cheese that melts on your tongue served with sweet blue grapes. The disciples dressed in white tunics move wordlessly to and from the table, keeping the platters and glasses full. The centerpiece of the table was a honey-glazed pit-roasted forest boar. The golden-brown meat glistened under the chandelier light.
"Brother Ghost" the disciples who were working as the servers today greeted Michael.
"Continue your work, I'll be right back"
Michael made his way towards Claire's room to meet her and Gaya. Meanwhile, the disciples finished decorating the dinner table with delicious foods cooked by Raylene.
****************************************
Nathen was flying behind his uncle Lord Malan on the pegasus in silence. A trio of guards followed them behind. Under the darkness of the night, one couldn't see the five of them without using a spell. It was surprising for Nathen to see how quickly his uncle postponed or canceled everything he had to do to attend the dinner hosted by Ghost. As the family head of the Bradley Family, Lord Malan barely had time to cultivate yet he made time for Ghost. Unlike his uncle, he didn't come to meet Ghost but his teacher Olivia. He wanted to ask a few questions regarding the upcoming Alchemists tournament.
"They really turned the sect around," Lord Malan said in surprise, looking at the buildings on the ground. Normally the buildings in this continent would be lighted using torches, only wealthy families and sects could afford to light their buildings using the chandeliers. Lord Malan didn't expect the Sunrise sect to be using chandeliers to light almost fifty to sixty buildings. In addition, the buildings themselves looked sumptuous with their unique architecture.
For a moment, Nathen was unable to guess where they should land. Looking around the area, they found a majestic building with water fountains, a large garden, and several lamps decorating it. The manor was brightly lit from all the corners as it looked like it was painted with gold and silver.
When they descended, Nathen saw two noblemen waiting at the entrance.
Their group approached the two noblemen,
"Welcome to the Sunrise Sect Lord Malan, the head of House Bradley and Lord Nathen" they were slightly surprised to see the two noblemen greeting them by bowing their heads. The nobles wouldn't bow their heads towards the other noble, Lord Malan was confused. By looking at the gold embroidered dress they were wearing, they looked like nobles.
"Please follow me this way, honored guests" Nathen saw the young one gesturing at them to follow him. Nathen could see the youngster was nervous yet he tried his best not to show it outside.
With a nod, Lord Malan started to follow Ricky behind. The moment they stepped into the manor, all of them were overwhelmed by the aroma in the air. It immediately made their mouths water and their stomachs growl.
"Hey kid, is this the magic of the 5-star chef I'm smelling?" Lord Malan asked Ricky while taking deeper breaths.
"Yes, Lord Malan. Every single dish has been cooked by Lady Raylene herself"
Taking another twenty or so steps, they finally reached the hall where several people were sitting around the dinner table filled with colorful delicious food.
Nathen saw his teacher Olivia sitting next to a middle-aged man with a brown goatee. His brown hair had patches of white hair above the ears.
Other than Olivia and the man, Nathen saw a woman in her mid-thirties occupying the chair next to the Sunrise sect leader Claire. She was not as beautiful as Olvia or Claire yet she had a certain charm to her. Especially her skin that almost glistened, he had never seen such smooth silky skin.
When his eyes fell on the three old men enjoying their wines with broad smiles on their faces, Nathen was stunned speechless because they were the elders of House Kane, one of the most powerful families in Royal Land.
"Enjoy the dinner, honored guests" bowing his head, Ricky left the hall as Lord Malan walked towards the table with Nathen before signaling the guards to stay outside.
"Lord Malan, the new family head of Bradley" Elder Walter welcomed Malan with a wide grin.
"What took you so long?" Elder Martin asked while taking a long sip from his wine glass.
Elder Edison acknowledged Malan by giving a slight nod before continuing to enjoy the appetizers, Chili Lime River Shrimp Cups.
"Nice to see you again Elder Walter, Elder Martin, Elder Edison" Malan greeted each of the elders with the utmost respect. Compared to the humongous existence like House Kane, House Bradley was nothing. Sitting on the same table with them equally could already be viewed as an honor and an opportunity.
"Teacher" Nathen took a seat beside Olivia. He was the last to sit before they saw Ghost and Gaya walking towards them from the room on the other side of the hall.
Everyone except Claire had a look of surprise on their faces. Ghost looked very different from the last time they saw him. Other than his choice of black dress, everything about him was changed. In simple words, he looked like a different person.
"I'm honored to welcome you all to this dinner ladies and gentlemen"
He said, raising a glass of wine towards them as the girl beside him took the empty chair.
"We're sorry about disciple Jack, Ghost. We heard he was your friend" Elder Walter said. Michael wasn't surprised as he knew they might be keeping a tab on him and the sect. He would have done the same if he was in their shoes.
"Me too, Elder Walter. First of all, I would like to thank you for accepting my invitation and attending this dinner on such short notice despite your busy schedules" Michael said. Putting the wine glass back on the table, he flicked his wrist as small rectangular wooden boxes appeared before each of them except Claire and Gaya.
"I'm good at many things but giving speeches was not one of them. So, I'll get straight to the point without wasting your time. Ladies and gentlemen, please open the boxes in front of you "
As he said, he went straight to the point avoiding unnecessary pleasantries. With his talents and what he was about to reveal, he didn't have to woo them with pleasantries.
The man sitting next to Olivia was the first to open the box. The moment he lifted the box's top, his face was brightened by the light coming from inside the box.
His eyes opened as wide as humanly possible. One by one, they all opened the boxes to have the same startled look on their faces.
"90% pure potion" the man next to Olivia uttered the words,completely shocking everyone in the hall.