"The first event of today will be starting soon, the gift giving!" declared the MC.
Upon hearing this the ballroom was filled with an atmosphere of fevered excitement. This wasn't going to be a simple gift giving, rather this would be a competition. While not officially stated as such, the forces present want to use it as an opportunity to display their wealth and influence through the gifts that they brought. The Sage's Valley on the other hand was happy to encourage this behavior as they were the beneficiaries of said gifts.
The first group to go up and present their gift was the Solis Kingdom's delegation. Being the first to present took a load off of Charles' shoulders. The reason for this was simple, the group that went first were the tone setters. Meaning every other group had to match or surpass the value of their gift. While they on the other hand didn't share that burden.
By doing this the Sage's Valley made it clear to all the relation they had with the Solis kingdom. Though their alliance was well known, it had never been overtly shown prior to this moment.
As Charles made his way up to the stage, he couldn't help but falter slightly under the piercing gazes of the other delegates. Many of these forces were more powerful than his Solis kingdom, a fact that pressured his psyche. But he kept a brave face by reminding himself that things weren't the same now that the alliance with the valley was solidified. The rise is status of his homeland was close at hand.
By the time Charles reached the stage, his confidence had returned to him. looking down at the audience, Charles flashed a smile in Andrea's direction and politely greeted; Charlotte, Zander and Isabella.
"Ahem, For the young miss's birthday I present to her this Sun stone of the finest quality. Using this a fire attributed cultivator can boost their cultivation speed and attack power by 50%" proudly declared Charles as he presented a marble sized stone that was the color of fire. And set it down upon the table at the stages center (placed there after the musicians departed from the stage).
When Charles said this, he set off an uproar within those present, even Zander and Charlotte had to acknowledge its value. It should be known that the normal quality of exported sun stones only provided a boost of 10-15%. Which by itself was already an impressive number.
Receiving the admiration of the guests present as well as the acknowledgment of the valley's leadership, put a smile on Charles' face as he walked down from the stage.
After the crowd cooled down, the next person to go up was the representative from the Isle of Might.
The Isle's representative was a middle-aged man with a well-developed figure. His was an elder of his sect possessing the sage level cultivation.
Stepping onto the stage the elder greeted Zander and Charlotte with a cupped fist bow.
"I want to start by saying thank you to the sect masters for allowing me to celebrate your daughter's birthday together with you." said the man, before removing a package from his sleeve.
Opening the package, he declared in a dignified tone.
"This is the Golden Fist medallion of the Isle of Might, those in possession of this medallion can call upon the Isle to fulfill three favors. As long as they are within our ability and do not disregard the morals of the Isle of Might. My sect will do all within our power to complete them."
"…"
Instead of an uproar, this declaration left the room in a stunned silence. This was more than a gift it was basically a declaration of intent to side with the Sage's Valley.
Even Zander couldn't help but be shocked by this development. After all there was no prior signs or build up to this declaration. While Zander knew that the Isle was leaning to his side there hadn't been any concrete progress made between the two forces.
The only person in the room not shocked by what had just transpired was Charlotte. For this whole time her expression had not changed in the slightest. Rather her's remained as nonchalant as always. In fact, most of her attention was spent on calming the fidgeting Isabella.
Seeing this nonchalance, the Isle's elder narrowed his eyes. "It's seems master was right it seems lady Charlotte does have some kind of mind reading ability."
The principle was simple really, do something so unexpected that the only people who could remain calm were those who already knew what was going to happen. If their assumptions proved correct it simply meant that they were privy to one of the valley's trump cards. If they were wrong then no harm no foul. Either way they had gained a powerful ally.
Just as the elder was feeling smug, he heard a voice sound within his mind.
"I'll let you off the hook just this once, but don't think I don't know your sect's intentions when doing this" this voice was Charlotte's.
Hearing Charlotte's voice set off alarm bells in the elder's mind. While voice transmission wasn't some otherworldly concept, a forced transmission was. A normal voice transmission functioned like a phone call if you didn't answer then the other side couldn't get through. What Charlotte did could be likened to remotely answering another phone without their knowledge or permission. This fact alone proved the massive disparity in strength between the two.
Looking out at Charlotte all the elder could see was her ice-cold smile, which sent shivers down his spine.
With shaking legs, the elder made his way down the stairs and back to his seat.
*
After this little tidbit, the other delegations proceeded to present their gifts as well as Luther presenting Blackiron's in heir stead. The gifts included; jewelry, magical weapons and elixirs with effects ranging from simple healing to beautification, one even had the ability to give a person who ingested it immunity to 1000 toxins. All in all, the gift giving portion of the ceremony was successful. The only complaint one could have was the fact that there was no delegation present from the empire.
However, before the master of ceremonies could announce the end of the gift giving, he was approached by a flustered guard who whispered something in his ear.
"Ahem, I have an announcement to make!" declared the MC gaining the attention of all.
"Please welcome the arrival of the Titan of The North, Sir Perter Invicta and his majesty Emperor of Aeternum Ira Tyrannus!"
The entire Ballroom quickly descended into pin drop silence.