The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 1971 Fashionably Late

A party wasn't a party until the band started to play, and that meant that Tian had a captive audience, with the help of a band conjured by Opal.

He was in humanoid form for a change, a preteen boy with fluffy white fox ears and a long tail, dressed in a bright blue and gold suit. That was what he had decided a Noble Bard should look like, and they were playing for Clan Leaders, who were basically dignitaries.

The rest of the group was much more colourful, though Opal had made them all foxkin, and Karl was forcibly reminded of a beastkin mariachi band.

Especially when they started to sing and play upbeat party music.

With just a faint hint of [Fox Charm] on his singing, nobody would ever complain about Tian's voice, and when paired with a table full of Divine Cooking created snacks, everyone had quickly forgotten that they had serious security concerns about the Darklight Host.

All those discussions could wait for later.

Half of these Clans didn't even have a formal alliance with each other, and the Clan Leaders didn't actually like one another. But for the night, they were not going to cause any trouble in the home of the region's undisputedly most powerful crafting Guild.

In Almeixei, the reports were flowing in fast from the spies that they had embedded in the other Clans of the region.

All their intelligence department Elders now knew the basics of the new members that the Darklight Host had gained. Not their names or classes, but that they were all Supreme, and supposedly all had a crafting skill.

They had refrained from sending members today, as not only did they not have an alliance with the Darklight Host, except through the New Home Merchant Clan, they didn't want to get caught up in Karl's pace when he was coercing a group of fellow Clan Leaders into seeing things his way.

Lord Almeixei had very little doubt that he'd be able to do it, and he didn't want his own Elders to get caught up in the mess.

They had the numbers to assert absolute dominance over the region, controlling the majority of the wilderness, the hidden realms, and other training spaces that appeared within hundreds of kilometres of their city.

But if their members began to get individually outclassed out in the wilderness, then they would quickly lose the respect that made them a Sect that everyone had to obey.

Once that was gone, everything would start to crumble, including their forced alliances.

So, they would work out a deal with these new craftsmen that Nerissa had found, but not today.

Going tonight, with all the minor clans, would look overly eager to curry favour. Going tomorrow was not so late as to look disrespectful. So they would arrive after noon, in consideration of the after effects of a welcoming party.

That was the diplomatic answer.

The only question left was whether he would risk going himself and finding out that one of these Supremes might be more powerful than he was, which would be a hit to his pride, or whether he should send the Elders, and risk them thinking that he didn't have a high enough opinion of them to come himself.

No, he had to go, even though he had a pair of Supreme Ranked Elders who had not left to start their own Clans yet.

Arriving with both of them would be a decent show of force, and remind any lingering Clans that Almeixei had power. But more than that, both of them would want to go meet the Darklight Host, and perhaps commission items from them.

They both had cultivation based systems, where they advanced based off the progression of their internal energy. Those sorts of items might be something that the Darklight Host could make, and would find less valuable, as the system wasn't a local one.

By the time that they arrived the next morning, the whole Darklight Host compound was busy.

The Sect Leader had underestimated how fast the news was spreading, so by the time that they arrived at a few minutes to noon, you couldn't even find a seat in any of the cafes in town, while there was a line out the door of the Guild House.

Fortunately, Karl had thought of this, and had people watching for new Supremes who might be Guild Leaders, so that they could be brought in to the ongoing meetings.

Lord Almeixei found himself welcomed by a Supreme ranked Dark Elven Priestess, wearing a black and white dress, with the colours sectioned down the middle. That was the Guild's standard work uniform for ladies, unless they preferred pants.

Assuming that Rae would let them wear pants.

Fashionista that she was, the spider was absolutely adamant that the young ladies should be in skirts or dresses unless the clothing would interfere with their Class Skills. But that was rare, as she even taught the rogues where to best hide weapons inside their clothing.

"Lord Almeixei, welcome. We have been expecting you. Please, come inside and join the meetings. Unfortunately, the Branch Leader can't meet you individually at the moment, but that should not interfere with today's meetings.

He is prepared to offer standard terms to all Clans and Sects who were previously allied with the New Home Merchant Clan, with preferential access and pricing."

The two Supreme Ranked Elders smiled at the summoned Priestess.

"I think that will work out wonderfully. There is no need for special treatment from day one, we can work on building our relationship," one of them agreed on behalf of the Sect Leader, who looked a bit stunned as he realized that the Priestess was the result of a spell.

He was familiar with many sorts of magic, and certainly summoned intelligent creatures were nothing new, but the Priestess was so real that he could almost swear that she was an actual person, if not for the aura difference that marked her as a construct.

It was just plain creepy, though he suspected that most of the crowd thought she was an actual Guild member.