ACC Chapter 17 It Starts

My attention drifted away from Nikolai, to take in the marvelous floor that appeared to be made of sand, shifting in patterns that resembled the movement of rivers and streams, sometimes denoting continent-like structures and lakes that shifted and collapsed, as if the river of time was in action.

The walls weren't anything greater than just plain old red monoliths that served as embarkments upon which the ferocity of the sand floor crashed upon in its activity, like waves crashing upon rock.

The ceiling was a brighter blue of the sky, with an array construct acting like the Sun itself, beaming its light down onto the floor and the walls.

The complexity of the arrays within the entire structure and the way they seamlessly interacted with one another to give off the spectacular view was impressive.

Even more so, the way the sands splashed when someone stepped upon them, was realistic enough to warrant my admiration.

"Its very...deserty..!?" Lily commented with glistening eyes, which appeared to have brightened at the decor.

"Yeah. Its because the owner has lots of money." Milla mildly retorted.

"The man of honor has finally graced us with his presence! Let's toast to that!"

A man shouted within the crowd even as he approached us, with two beauties hunging at his arms.

My eyes narrowed, with the nervousness temporarily banished from within my mind. Miller was the poster child of the Sects, a young master at the peak of the Core Formation stage.

I sensed no other Sect-affiliated Nascent Soul within the crowd, meaning that this young master was their representative... And that always spelled trouble.

His status, coupled with the fact that he refused to ascend to the Nascent Soul, made it so that the people most unhappy with him and had the chance of killing him in a one on one match, namely almost all the Nascent Souls unaffiliated with the Sects, couldn't find trouble with him.

There was a law within the Federation constitution that prevented any higher realm cultivator from attacking below their stage unless the lower realm lost their marbles and challenged you.

"What do you want?" I asked him while plastering a cold expression on my face.

"Oh! Dear Lily, you also managed to sneak in? I want an answer to my previous proposition."

A flare of anger threatened to rear its head upon that blatant disregard, but I buried it within myself even as my wood core started spinning up, with an emerald color taking over the borders of my pupils.

"Ignorance is bliss." Milla commented at this time, intersposing herself between Lily and Miller.

"Brat, it would do you good if you stopped making enemies of people." Nikolai spoke up.

"I am talking to Lily here. Why is everyone butting in?"

A trace of fear flickered within his eyes when all our collective auras pressured him, causing him to beat a hasty retreat.

"Dealing with him is becoming more and more of a pain."

"Anyway, I am off to mingle." I said before wading through the crowd. I wasn't going to mingle with those having superficial conversations. I had spotted my peers, people I could chat with comfortably.

There was a figure I was somewhat shocked to see even among them.

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"I thought you hated the crowds. Why are you here?" I asked Livia upon joining up with the group, which minus me, was made up of three people, Livia included.

"I was invited. By association." when she added that, her eyes narrowed towards me in annoyance.

"Don't blame me. Even I didn't believe that there would be quite the crowd."

"Reed is right, Livia. Let him off the hook."

"Tony, it's nice to see you. How are you doing?"

"Unlike you, I have nothing to do...scratch that. There are many things to do, but they aren't exclusively mine. I want something to put my soul into. Do you have a project or idea?"

Tony was a blue haired man with soft blue eyes. He had opted to bring lab attire to the party, instead of the suits and dress the rest of us were clad in.

"I have something in mind. Maybe I could give it to you now?" Tony gleefully accepted, after which I galvanized my divine sense and sent him the idea and speculations, which was related to mutating plants with different attributed spiritual energy.

"This looks promising. Your conjectures might be right. But I will need to run some experiments to determine the quantity and quality needed."

"Miller's here." spoke the last of the trio, a petite lady with glasses framing her eyes. And they weren't just gimmicks, but highly advanced visual aids that had been enchanted with a myriad of uses that made even me feel envious.

"That means Nikolai can't join us." Tony added, upon which a collective sigh escaped our lips.

He had to keep an eye on Milla because of Miller's presence, in case she went berserk. That was why I had left Lily with them, to keep an eye on the situation.

Through my divine sense, I discreetly scrutinized the gathered crowd while snagging a glass from an attendant's tray.

"Why do you think this many people are gathered?" Priya asked us.

"To collect information." I answered while savoring the drink.

"They want to see whether they can glean something that will allow them to stay ahead of others. After all, the lineup here isn't made up of any random chaff from the street." Livia added more to my words.

"How could they really benefit from information in an entirely different spectrum from their lives?" Tony asked.

"Never underestimate those who majored in administrative calculation, and especially watch out for the business moguls. Those people can pick up things we would be too lazy to even think about, after all, our fields of research are different." Livia warned.

"So, you two? How was it, chatting with an actual Devil?" Tony's question even perked Priya, who scooted closer to the two of us. She was clad in a long furry garment that obscured her body and dulled her appeal. But those of us here knew how explosive her curves were. You could even say that she was the embodiment of seduction, capable of untold wet dreams.

That thought brought a smile upon my face, which I promptly squashed and stashed somewhere.

"How can we tell you that easily? We wouldn't want you to become bored when the interview starts!" Livia and I spotted shit eating grins that elicited frowns from the duo.

"Come on, you two! We promise to atleast pay half-attention." Tony tried to make a cute expression. Of course that failed and I pushed away his face that had gotten a few inches away from me.

"Na-ah! We can't allow you leave us with these people." Livia denied.

Before our conversation could drag on any further, a ripple propagated through our divine senses, attracting us to its origin, where a woman, professionally clad in a white shirt within a black jacket, with a short pencil skirt matching it, was standing.

She was directly within the center of the hall. People started moving away from her after some instructions, creating a circular empty area, where mounds of sand started rising, as if escaping the confines of the 2D world to manifest in our 3D one. They took on the form of sofas while the woman introduced herself...

"It's my, Selena's honor to be here, having been given the chance of hosting this live talk show. Our guests have already arrived and I call upon our first one, Mr. Mumaso Reed!"

The sound of applause was deafening and uncomfortable. Not to mention the attention that had now gathered my way.

My fingers wiggled as I moved towards the seats, while making sure that my head was kept low.

"Our second guest is Miss Livia Gomez! And last, we have ourselves Mr. Nikolai kardeshev!"

After we had all taken our seats, an illusion dulled the photons beyond the circle, leaving us at the center within the spotlight.

"First of all, we congratulate you both, Reed and Livia, for successfully handling the situation. It must have been terrifying when you heard the different tone of voice."

"It wasn't terrifying, bordering more on being unexpected." answered Livia, so at ease and exuding confidence.

"What was it like in that moment? Most of the crowd here with us and those at home, work, or any other place, me included, would love to really experience that moment."

There was an eager glint, like the flame of a bonfire within the woman's pupils. It had even spread to the audience, who were now gazing at us in anticipation.

"We will show you, but only some parts, as there is sensitive information that can't be displayed to you."

I decided to follow Livia's lead, with both of us galvanizing our divine sense to drag the audience into a massive illusion, while for those watching the screen, the information was being captured by micro devices to present them with a 3D environment to experience the same effects as those in the hall, though to a lesser extent.