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1024 Words
Currently, the family had matching cartoon shirts of Matt and Liz’s faces while they slammed tubes together to make noise with the rest of the crowd. Matt plucked his bond with Aster, and she started wiggling and yowling as he was looking at her.
That sent the Moore family to redouble their effort in making noise, which Matt was only able to smile at. It was nice to have his own personal cheering squad.
He didn’t mind in the slightest that no one else could see them, but their presence was a warm feeling that lingered in his heart.
Not wanting to pass up the opportunity to see the other royals in person, he scoped out the rest of the royals, comparing them to the pictures and videos he had seen and studied. Next to Mara, on the Emperor’s right side, was a shorter, masked form.
Harper, the [Telekinesis] specialist, was small in stature, but their robes and mask hid any identifying features. Ironically enough, it had become their only real identifying feature.
To sate his curiosity, Matt had been forced to abuse his access to Mara and Leon. He asked them for details and found out that Harper had started as a cover identity but had eventually taken over as the main identity. Or at least, the outward one. Along with their past identity, the royal had discarded everything else.
If the duo knew anything about the real Harper, they didn’t offer the information, and Matt took their silence as answer enough.
At the Emperor’s other hand stood Tur’stal, wearing an elegant dress seemingly made of spun light, and combined with the green swirls atop deeply tanned skin to give the appearance of blooming vines on fresh soil.
Normally, the left and right position next to the Emperor were taken up by the two Tier 48s, Mara and Leon. But with this being her planet, her position was switched with Mara’s for a more prestigious placement.
Next to her was a burly man who, even in formal attire, rippled with muscles. Rusty, the only pure melee fighter of the royals, was closing in on seven feet tall. All of which was supposedly genetic instead of from using his physical control earned after reaching Tier 15 to tweak his form.
The man was like a walking landslide with his dark skin and blue fists. From past recordings, Matt knew the king’s hands changed color in accordance with what spell he’d used last, and he guessed that blue meant ‘water.’
His easy smile hid the fact that his fist-based fighting style was brutally effective and had seen hard use in the Empire’s military when he had been under Tier 35.
Like the others, he stood still while the Emperor slowly waved down the crowd.
That led Matt to the final and newest royal, Frederic. The man who cheated at the royal poker game by looking at the reflection of Leon’s mirror glasses. Glasses that Matt had later learned were made from actual mirrors.
He wore a fantastical black and gold outfit to compliment and contrast his own golden hair and paper-white skin, but outside of his suit, he gave off the impression that he could vanish into any crowd in the Empire after only a single second of inattention. His position next to Rusty certainly didn’t help either.
As Matt inspected the man, he swore that Frederic noticed and met his gaze through the crowd of millions of other Pathers.
Matt just nodded slightly, and the man moved his gaze somewhere else.
He wasn’t that surprised.
When trying to learn about the other royals from Mara and Leon, he had learned more than a little about the newest royal.
Despite his differing political views from the Emperor, neither Mara nor Leon were willing to say he was anything but competent. He was incredibly politically savvy, and Matt had no doubt that his identity as Liz’s delving partner was known to the upper echelon.
Matt had worked up the courage to ask Emmanuel why he let Frederic become a royal if he didn’t agree with the Emperor’s ideas of government, and Emmanuel had only shrugged and said he was loyal and competent.
Not everyone would agree with Emmanuel’s ideas, and Frederic was the newest rallying point for the inheritance nobility who hadn’t fallen under Tur’stal’s or Rusty’s much older political blocks. When the expanded borders were taken into account, something needed to be done to secure the Empire’s control over its far-flung territories.
And thus, a new royal was born.
Matt thought he understood, but the high-level politics wasn’t anything he was interested in, as long as it left him alone. So, he hadn’t pushed farther than making sure the new royal wasn’t some evil plant by another great power.
A cartoonish plot, but after spending so much time with Mara and Leon, he had been worried.
After fifteen minutes or so, Matt felt the sound slowly start to dampen around them, and in moments, the crowd quieted down.
The Emperor walked forward a few steps, and with a smile that felt like he was directing it at Matt personally, said, “Good afternoon, and welcome!”
That was all he was able to say as the crowd exploded in another roar of sound, but they quickly settled down at the Emperor’s benevolent smile.
“Today, we mark the official start of this generation’s Tier 10 Pather Tournament.”
He let the resulting cries last longer this time.
“I would first like to thank Tur’stal and East Flower as a whole for taking charge of this event and bringing it to life. A lot of work goes into the games, and it is a burden to the planet and its people. I personally thank the more permanent residents of East Flower, who have welcomed the influx of new citizens to their home with grace and aplomb.”
Behind him, from her place, Tur’stal dipped her head in a shallow bow, which set off the locals.
The Emperor nodded slightly at that, and let the crowd scream their heads off for a solid five minutes.
- Writer
