The event had not subsided yet when another lady from the 12 approached Z. She had long black hair and lustful deep black eyes. Her clothes were unique from the rest since it was the only one among them that revealed her contours and skin.
The slit of her dress reached all the way to her hips while the neckline of her dress was not shy in revealing her cleavage. This, coupled with her lustful smile would not make one mistake her for any other race.
"You are quite something," she said with an intoxicating voice. In a zap, she appeared before Z and positioned her face a breath away from Z's.
'What the–?' Z thought, unsure of what to make of the situation.
"You smell…hmm? Unique. Good…but unique. Me likey," she said while licking her lips.
Everyone around wanted to gaze away, but they could not help themselves from watching the scene unfold. Just then, a gentleman with short white hair and eyeglasses walked beside them and stared at Z with his piercing green eyes.
"You are lucky this time. Do not underestimate the power of The Stellar 12," he remarked before walking away.
Z could only stay dazed in confusion about what was happening. If not for the continuous blows on his mind, he would have definitely retorted back to the lecture of the man, but as it stood, he had no willpower to do so, 'Twelve prideful individuals, huh? I guess, I should be there as well,' he thought with a wry smile after finally stitching the events together.
Amidst his thoughts, he heard Lumen's voice. Different from Arcane transmission, they are the only ones who know this is happening.
(Swallow your pride, Z. You have already caught their attention. Any further and your life will be in danger.)
(Do you really believe that, Lumen?)
(The forces backing them up are some of the strongest in the world. If you anger them, you will die without a grave.)
Z thought for a moment before finally responding.
(Chief Bahk once said to me that if he were to live a life controlled by everybody else, then death would be his solace. I happen to agree with that.)
(You know how your masters and my master ended up the way they did. I just do not want to see that happen to you.)
(Thank you for worrying about me, Lumen. Do not worry, I will not be reckless.)
As they were talking, the 12 individuals had already sat down on the twelve chairs parallel to the stage. Just then, an old man with short gray hair, stern blue eyes, and a monocle, wearing a full black suit entered and stood on the stage.
"Good morning to this half-decade's representatives of The Stellar 12 and the rest of the attendees. I, Arthur Hensley, am in charge of this Celestial Selection," he introduced. "Tomorrow, when the sun shines, you will all enter the Celestial Grounds and try your luck. The Celestial Grounds opens every half-decade and lasts for two months. Before this close, everyone must get out of the domain lest death. Good luck," he briefly said before leaving.
"That was it?" Z whispered to Lea.
"Well, that was just for formality. It is a given that everyone here knows about the Celestial Grounds and how things work inside," Lea said while looking at Z. After realizing that Z had no idea, she continued, "That's right, you came from a cave. Inside the Celestial Grounds, countless legendary Artifacts and legendary Stelle Beasts can be found. Of course, this would not be enough to make the entire world move. The most fascinating thing inside is at the heart of the Celestial Grounds, The Celestial Nebula. If one is fateful enough, the nebula will give one a new Celestial to embark on the path of a Starforger. The times someone came out without a Celestial is extremely rare, so it is sought after. There is also a limited amount of slots available, thus the Celestial Welcome and the succeeding competitions to determine the number of spots given to everyone," Lea explained.
"Hmm, is a person only allowed to enter it once?"
"Yes, so treasure this chance well," Anshth answered instead.
Only a few people remained inside when the intoxicating lady earlier came over to Z once again.
"What is your name, darling?" She asked with a sweet devilish smile.
"Z, and yours?" he replied with a stoic expression.
The lady stared at him for a while in fascination before finally responding with a smile, "Qama, see you inside the Celestial Grounds." Then, before leaving, she kissed the air while facing Z which caused the latter to shiver inside.
'Chief Bahk warned me about Succubi, they are revolting indeed,' he thought while raising his defenses against her.
He was about to leave the room as well when his attention was caught by Thea's gaze. There was not much to it, but he understood that she was reminding him to come and see her later tonight.
Just then, another person came to him. He had golden engravings on his forehead that resembled a crown, but aside from that he looked like a regular human with long silver hair and gold eyes.
'He reminds me of Ahelia,' Z thought.
The man wearing a pure white robe broke out in a wide smile after getting close to Z, "It is rare to see a person radiating the purity of the north outside our continent, but I have already met you. This must be fate working its way, I am Gabon, let us get acquainted, Mister Z."
'Did he overhear my name?' Z thought.
"It is an honor to be in the presence of a man from Zen," Z responded in kind.
"I heard from Ahelia about your encounter, and you are certainly a decent person, so let me give you this piece of information. You can ignore Byron. He might be from The Nobles, but since The Divide, they lost a lot of influence. Although it is still a lot, Lady Thea sided with you, so he is no longer your concern. However, that elf with eyeglasses that talked to you earlier is from House Eminence. Em Kasth will not hesitate to bring you down if he finds you a hindrance to his plans. Also, he likes Lady Thea a lot, so watch out," Gabon said with another smile before bowing a little and leaving.