The landing was gentler than Yi Qiang expected, considering the brusque process of teleportation itself. Regardless, he stood, taking a second to adjust to the now less familiar feeling of his new terrestrial surroundings. The gravity he had so longed for was perfectly intact here, evoking a pleased shoulder roll from the archer.

  A second, already too long, taken for the pure enjoyment of solid earth passed and Yi Qiang closed his eyes, prolonging the moment in which his eyes saw darkness slightly, before opening them gently.

  As he observed his surroundings, what the sharp-eyed Chosen was unaware of was the pressure he placed on the people gathered around the teleportation circle. His gaze seemed to bear an invisible pressure, hard to bear for most he looked at.

  The first thing Yi Qiang noticed was the difference between this room and the small chamber he came from.

This place was huge.

  The expanse of the room was enough to hold multiple teleportation circle, a proposition which Yi Qiang wasn't entirely sure was false.

  Taking note of all that surrounded him, from the richly-colored dark wood walls, interspersed with streaks of marble pillar, to the smooth grey stone floor he stood on, to the sunset-red carpet that covered the rest of the floor, the marksman turned his eyes onto the people who were evidently awaiting him.

  The majority of the faces surrounding him were unfamiliar, however, that didn't mean Yi Qiang knew nothing about them. From the grouping, for example, the experienced sniper could tell that there were two opposing factions in the crowd, visible from the subtle distance and lack thereof between nobles. 

  Having separated the dozen or so people into those two sides, Yi Qiang then noticed one group was significantly more hostile towards him. Their dislike was subtle(political power relied heavily on the management of emotions, so it made sense the politically adept Yi Qiang would be able to make fewer conclusions that he normally would), but its existence was concrete.

  So, immediately, Yi Qiang was leaning towards... the other faction.

 It didn't take long for the marksman to conclude that the 13 people around him were all nobles - not one of them was even somewhat proficient at combat. None of them displayed the hardened qualities of a warrior, nor the most obvious thing - the physique. While he wouldn't go as far as to say all of them were obese, none of them possessed the toned physique of a skilled fighter.

  The Second Prince, who Yi Qiang had long spotted to his left, at the front of the crowd, quickly came forward.

 Seeing him, and seeing everyone who appeared so comfortable, so perfectly in place, Yi Qiang suddenly became acutely aware of his heartbeat, which had started to accelerate.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  ... How can they be so calm? There's so little they can do in this huge world... they're so little, in a vessel so large...

    Thankfully, the Second Prince's hand on Yi Qiang's shoulder cut his thoughts short, the archer returning to the present as the Second Prince leaned over and whispered into his partner's ear.

 "I see Shenyu's tired," he spoke in a hushed tone, glancing at the Empyrean dragon who had fallen asleep in Yi Qiang's arms, thoroughly spent from what happened in that white void, "sorry about the rough trip and, likely, lack of warning. Thankfully, it looks like you made it through fine. Anyway, you clearly seem tired, so I'll try to get through the formalities as quickly as possible so you can get some rest. God knows I need it, but you got it worse - the thing about teleportation is that it's less pleasant the stronger you are, so I got off easy. So, uh, follow my lead. These are all pretty important people, so try to avoid snubbing any of them if you can."

  With that, the Second Prince bowed toward the 13 people gathered around the circle. He cleared his throat and spoke, his voice more formal than Yi Qiang had ever heard it.

 "Greetings. Unfortunately, my Champion is tired, so you'll have to excuse me for not taking the proper measures to greet you. I'm quite spent as well, so if we could be directed to our chambers as quickly as possible, it would be greatly appreciated."

  None of the nobles seemed surprised by this, and a middle-aged, clean-shaven man stepped forward. He was the most confident of the faction that was more amicable toward Yi Qiang, and it showed in his speech.

  "Of course, we understand. The necessary procedures can be put on hold until tomorrow, as it is rather late. Sillith, call for a servant, please."

  The woman he gestured to nodded in response and quickly met the eye of one of the attendants who were idle, watching for anyone's requests, who hurried over.

  The man continued, "Do as you wish for the rest of today and tomorrow morning, however, please know that we are holding a banquet at noon tomorrow, which would be wise for you to attend."

  Suddenly, a man who had shown a strong dislike toward Yi Qiang from the start cut in, with a blatantly rude tone.

  "Of course, we can't trouble the Chosen too much. Perhaps their other world's customs are different than ours. Refinement is hard to find, after all."  

 Clearly annoyed at this interruption, the first middle-aged man took back the conversation with a pointed glare at the hostile man.

  "I'm sure the Chosen is just as intelligent as you are, Gilen. Now, servant?"

  The nobles dispersed, heading to different places. Silleth lingered for a while, instructing the servant in a voice too soft for even Yi Qiang to pick up on.

  She finished her instruction quickly, and the male attendant walked up to the Second Prince and Yi Qiang.

  "Hello. I'll direct you to your quarters, please follow me."

  Both weary, despite it only being noon, they followed.

 Yi Qiang tried to slow down his mind and body as much as possible, reducing the number of outside stimulation to a minimum, in order to keep his inner balance as stable as possible before he could act with freedom in his own privacy.

  Luckily, the walk was quick and uneventful, and the pair were led to their rooms. The Second Prince's chamber was right next to Yi Qiang's which he supposed made sense. He put all other thoughts out of his mind, however, just glad to be able to enter his own private space for the first time in a while.

  Yi Qiang grasped the door handle. This was going to suck.