Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

While the jealous look had been toned down and mostly replaced with a serious expression, there was nothing friendly about Henrik\'s gaze at Hal.

"Hal" Hal introduced himself and took it upon himself to shake Henrik\'s hand.

Henrik looked down at their joined hands, 

"Did I ask you to touch me?" He asked.

"No, but I wanted to" Hal said and shook the hand firmly once again before letting it go and smiling at the irate upperclassmen.

After all, Henrik\'s demeanor and clothes showcased such prospects.

Henrik continued to look down at his hand which Hal had shaken when he noticed Hal\'s feet were no longer in front of him.

Quickly, he looked around and he saw Hal laughing a little at his ponytail while moving about the hall, now with a wine glass in hand and garnering attention wherever he went.

It was not that he was dressed particularly well, as there were many on the scene, Henrik included who dressed in a more dignified fashion, it was that he seemed to hold a lot of charisma as he walked the room.

Hal seemed oblivious to all this as he took long a sip of the wine and his eyes widened when he felt the sudden burst of energy that traveled right down his throat to his abdomen.

Immediately he closed his eyes and did his best to refine the energy right then and there. 

When his eyes opened again, the sapphire blue orbs seemed to be sparkling as he looked down at the ruby red alcohol in his glass and felt a definite increase in his cultivation base.

A treasure!

That\'s what it was.

Clearly, this was no ordinary beverage and had been refined with ingredients capable of aiding cultivation.

Immediately, Hal downed the whole glass and now that he knew what to expect and was not caught by surprise, he could keep his composure and refine it.

The increase while still not getting him any closer to the next stage of his Cultivation, was well worth the burning sensation he was feeling.

"Strong stuff, isn\'t it?" Asked a mellifluous female voice behind him and Hal turned to be face to face with none other than lady Penelope.

Meanwhile...

Eva walked across the Hall to the very end of it where a dignified pair stood side by side. The first was a middle-aged man with brown hair and handsome features. 

He was buff and his stance was like that of a militant but his smile was ever-present as he greeted the guests who came over to greet him.

He was Aaro Kirsten, the Baron of the Kirsten Barony and the beautiful and stately woman beside him was Camari Noren, his wife and the Baroness by marriage.

It was to the pair that Eva now curtsied, 

"My lord, my lady" she said.

Baron Aaro sighed, 

"How many times do I need to tell you that we are family. If you would even use honorifics with me, you shouldn\'t use them with your sister" he said exasperatedly.

Eva simply bowed while Camari spoke, 

"We\'re in public, it\'s good that she has the good sense to be formal. Come on Eva, walk with me" she pulled her sister\'s hand was leaving when gestured, 

"Hold on. Who is that young man you came here with? I don\'t believe I\'ve seen him before" he said.

Eva looked over and frowned slightly when she saw that Henrik had approached Hal, 

"Oh, his name is Hal and he only arrived in the city yesterday." She replied.

"Is that so? From where?" Aaron asked. He was frowning slightly at the Hal and Henrik pair and could not hear what they were saying clearly due to all the chatter in the Hall.

Eva shrugged, 

"No idea" she said and before Aaro could question her again, Camari pulled her to the side with the Baron\'s attention now entirely in Hal. Or at least until another dignified individual came over to speak with him.

"So that\'s him, huh? He\'s the one the Princess recruited from that City" Camari said.

Eva nodded, 

"Without a doubt. He must still have the seal on him. What do we do?" She asked while watching Hal walk away from Henrik and take a long sip of the wine which she knew was not wise.

That said, it was her fault for not warning him.

The sisters watched as Hal paused and closed his eyes in an uncomfortable posture. Eva made to move forward and assist him with \'digesting\' the wine when he opened his eyes again looking perfectly fine.

He did not even crumble to his knees which should have been a given considering his presumed cultivation base.

To make things worse, he downed the whole glass and closed his eyes again. This time, he look quite as uncomfortable and before long, he was opening his eyes again with a smile.

"Well, there is something you don\'t see every day. And you are sure he is from a city like Salmon city. It\'s now been renamed but that is far from enough to simply change the status quo." Camira said.

"The princess said he was from there so I don\'t see why we should doubt her, not that we would even dare to do so anyway." Eva said.

Camira shook her head, 

"The princess said she met him there. He might be from somewhere else. And he really did not tell you his last name?" She inquired.

Eva shook her head with a sigh, 

"He told me he did not have one which means he is either lying or he really is not someone of importance. However, considering he had no coordinates and was most likely keeping where he departed from a secret. He could really not be from the Sapphire city." She said.

Camira frowned as at that time Hal was already conversing with Lady Penelope and there was no etiquette in his manner at all.

"He certainly acts like someone from that city though. I don\'t trust his intentions one bit. 

I\'ll have you screen him after the party."

"As you wish sister" Eva said with a short bow.

...

Back to when Lady Penelope approached Hal and commented on his drink, 

"You can say that again. Quality drink. Thumbs up all the way" Hal said as he changed the empty wine glass for a full one from a servant and then faced Penelope again, 

"It seems you got my message."

"It was impetuous." She said with a light smile.

"You still came personally, did you not?" Hal replied with a shrug while walking about the hall again in short steps.

It might have seemed casual but it actually was not as he was doing so to get close to the inlaid Arrays and furtively study their functions.

Since there was only so far he could extend his perception, he had to move closer and that also aided Grimoire to sense anything he missed.

Penelope caught up to him and they were now side by side with many men admiring her beauty and cursing Hal to the deepest part of the abyss for not even paying such a beauty enough attention.

"So who are you exactly?" Penelope asked.

Hal chuckled, 

"You seem really curious so I\'ll tell you. I am Hal and I come from Sapphire city formerly known as Salmon city. Not sure if you know where that is" he said.

It was not in an attempt to be snide but to be perceptive. Being from the County, a small city such as that was bound to not be noteworthy.

However, the assessment did not seem true for Penelope,

"Oh, I know where that is. It\'s one of the only two cities in Cruz County to have a Demon beast-infested forest. Didn\'t know it was renamed though."