"Excuse me Sirs and Madams," Maia, the one known as the Eternal Monarch by her people who had no idea that such a title originally belonged to another, approached the table of the men and women whom she was secretly listening to. The nature of the bar, with all its noisiness and chaos made it so that its disoriented and boisterous clients didn't notice Maia's actions. And even if they had, it was highly unlikely that they would have paid any attention to her.
"Oh, young lad. How can we help you?" one of the women liked Maia's polite attitude and offered herself to be of any assistance. Although they couldn't see Maia's face, they could tell from the tone of her voice that she was very young. Besides, her aura was largely youthful.
The others had faces reddened from booze and wine. Yet even they liked the stranger's politeness. This was the difference between Greater and Lesser Celestials. Greater Celestials were nobles and expected this kind of treatment from everyone. Over the years they had grown pompous and arrogant, leaving only a few with humble and sincere hearts. Lesser Celestials however, seldom found others to offer them respect. They only found respect in each other. Because of this they were much easier to approach. Thankfully, this bar was not in the inner city, so rarely did Greater Celestials frequent the place. Which meant that it was filled with Lesser Celestials.
Maia's bearing was that of a noble, and though she had successfully hidden her race, her upbringing couldn't be hidden from the eyes of anyone. While it was true that the Celestials here were drunk, they could still tell that Maia was far from a child of ordinary descent. And it may be the influence of alcohol, but each one of them felt that Maia's destiny was just as uncommon as her heritage.
"Would you mind if I sat beside you?" Maia asked, her voice still laced with charm and the innocence of one who knew not the ways of the world, although her life suggested very differently.
"Please, by all means. And do feel comfortable." One of the ladies smiled brightly before shoving the man next to her to the end of the table to make space for Maia. This girl had a certain charm and likability to her that made them want to draw close to her. And the fact that she didn't mind sitting next to them, on a bench that was soiled with the results of their careless beer handling, made them like her even more. For the robes the girl wore were made of high quality materials, and few could procure these in the outer city.
"Thank you," although she was completely hidden from their eyes, she did flash them a genuine smile of thanks. Then she plumped herself onto the space that had been made available for her with no reservations. Her actions caused the eyes of the team around her to sparkle. For if she had acted in a restrained or hesitant manner, they would have lost all the good impression they had of her. However, she doing this made them feel like she was one of them. She may be noble, but she was surely not pompous.
"So far so good," Reiki, the Eternal Throne transmitted to Maia. "What next?" Reiki wondered.
"Long before, Dad always used to say that, 'to get into the good graces of men is to show them no ill will, become like one of them, and offer them what they need the most at the moment.'"
"We are going to do the last bit," Maia replied.
"What they need the most at the moment?"
"Yes. Right now they don't need money or fame or anything else. So we don't have to worry about depleting our treasury. What they need is alcohol. So I am going to give them that."
"Barkeep," Maia called out, her delicate voice only drawing the attention of the one person who was never supposed to get drank in a bar. "A round for my new friends," Maia instructed, and the faces of the Celestials eased into large grins and heartfelt laughs.
"Good lad," a man seated next to Maia struck her shoulder with a broad smile on his face. The gentle strike brought a small frown to Maia's face, for the man was a Heaven Realmer! His casual strike was deadly to an earth realmer like herself.
"You moron. Can you not bruise everyone you meet?" the lady who was seated next to Maia didn't like the action of her colleague one bit. And the seated high kick that was delivered to the poor man's jaw was proof of that.
*Bang*
Maia watched in surprise as the man was struck cleanly and accurately out of the bar. The woman literally kicked the man out of the bar. And even stranger was that none of those indulging in alcohol seemed to mind. They only 'ohhed' at the accuracy of the strike that sent the man right through the door without breaking anything. Other than that, they were okay.
"I am starting to like these folks," Reiki said to Maia, causing the young queen to smile. She had to admit that she preferred the simple and straightforward nature of Lesser Celestials to the complicated schemes of men. Although those she was sitting with right now were a bit different from the simple Lesser Celestials that she was thinking of.
"I am Nesa," that said, she was one who had experienced too much to now be scheming herself. She introduced herself alright, but she didn't give out her real name.
"I am Nola, their leader," the lady next to Maia extended her hand for a handshake. Celestials were much bigger than other races. Nola was actually the smallest at the table, yet her hands were twice as large as Maia's. When Maia rested her hand in Nola's, she felt like a child.
"It is rare to meet an outsider. I reckon that you are here for the Academy Trials?" Nola enquired.
Although Maia was covered up, it wasn't hard to tell that she was of a different race. Not only was she much smaller than Celestials, her frame was too delicate to be that of a Celestial. Besides, no one other than Greater Celestials, was allowed into the inner city. That meant that even if a person was a king from a High World, they would have to make do with living in the outer city. And that was why they weren't surprised that someone with Maia's bearing was in the outer city.
"I am," Maia nodded her head in acknowledgement. She didn't deny her origins, neither did she deny her intentions in coming to Planet Celestial. If this were to be in the past, before the advent of God Academies on Planet Celestial, Maia wouldn't have dared to declare herself an outsider, or even come into the city for that matter. She had read much about this world before making her way here. And she knew that though Planet Celestial was mainly occupied by fierce beasts and other races in the wilder parts of the planets, Celestials did claim ownership over the land. And Celestials frowned upon intrusion of their territories by other races.
She wasn't planning on coming here before because of the danger. After all, although Planet Celestial had now opened its borders, she couldn't tell if they will show hostility towards outsiders or not. But her master had asked her to come here. In fact, it was her master's spell that transported her to this world. As to the purpose for which she was brought here, she didn't know. But she was told that she was needed here. She trusted her master. After all, he gave her everything. So she wasn't inclined to refuse his demands.
"I see," Nola nodded her and turned to receive the tray of beers from the barkeep. She expertly tossed the entire tray onto the centre of the table whilst keeping one for herself. One would have expected a violent collision, but the beer-filled tray hit the table so delicately that barely a tremor could be felt. Every bottle was intact, and no alcohol spilled out of the opened bottles.
'Celestials are indeed freaks at control,' Maia thought silently to herself. It was one thing to read about the ridiculousness of a race, and another to see it firsthand.
"You're one to talk. Eternals may be weakened by the disappearance of the 6th Supreme. But their strength rises like an erupting volcano once the Supreme returns. As long as the Supreme grows, you grow with him. Plus eternal life seems like a pretty good deal to me." Reiki scoffed at the absurdity of Maia's thoughts. To him, Maia was the last person who had the right to marvel at the cheat codes of another race.
"Point well taken," Maia had to admit that her artefact was right. So she stopped thinking about that and brought her mind back to Planet Celestial.
"If I may be so bold to ask, what do the trials entail?" Maia finally asked the question she needed an answer to. After all, she didn't buy the beer to share with them. She had a purpose for her actions. And now she demanded repayment.
"The trials differ from world to world. As you may know, only Higher Worlds have God Academy branches. These branches are called God Roots. Because Planet Celestial is a Chief Higher Planet, this places it above other Higher Worlds. And that means that the trials here are much harsher than the average Higher World."