Valerio walked through the sole path connecting his house with the main manor. He passed through the fields of endless, long, lush, green grass, taking in the fresh air. Soon enough, the Augustine Manor appeared in his vision.
He made his way through the grand doors of the main entrance and went directly through the ground floor to the backyard.
In reality, the so-called "backyard" was just a little smaller than the fields surrounding the Augustine complex; such was the opulence of a ruling family.
As Valerio exited the back of the Manor, the main plaza revealed itself. It was adorned with marble tables, with a variety of ornaments and delicacies on them. The tables stretched on for hundreds of meters, though that was only natural given the number of guests that would be arriving today.
He didn't know why he had come early; maybe it was just intuition. Gazing towards the arena in the middle of the tables, Valerio couldn't help but imagine himself participating in the 'friendly' tournaments that would be held.
These tournaments were usually just to kickstart the celebrations and raise morale. Though it was also important for the 4 families to show the clans they ruled, the reason they were in power. It would reduce the number of rebels and enforce peace using soft power.
Valerio and his childhood friends, namely, the heirs of the families, had stopped taking them too seriously long before their 18th birthday; it was just a fun reunion for them nowadays.
He snapped out of his thoughts as he saw his mom flying around and instructing the handmaids for the final touches of the evening. Just as he was about to turn away, she saw him.
Isadora did an elegant flip mid-air, her momentum carrying her from the other side of the arena, which was hundreds of meters away, to in front of him.
She smiled, "My boy looks handsome."
"Thanks mom, is everything ready?"
"Yeah, just about. Oh, and before I forget to tell you, we will be having a new high-class guest this year: the Orions. Don't forget to say "hi" at least."
Valerio's brows furrowed. Even though he was uncaring towards cultivation, he was very well-versed in the history of the galaxy and the various powers within.
'How could there be a new family I haven't heard of that's suddenly invited to Fluxara?'
Valerio couldn't help but reconsider his plan for the night. He had planned on sitting on the sides and dealing with the formalities as he caught up with his friends. But perhaps, seeing what the Orions were about could be worthwhile.
'Hmm, definitely odd, but whatever.'
He had placed the Orions to the back of his mind immediately; he was just a bit curious, that's all. If anything went wrong, his family would deal with it; this was Fluxara.
SWOOSH.
The sonic barrier broke, a large amount of Lu displacing as a starship as big as Fluxara's moon appeared in the atmosphere. The red-tinted starship was clearly a Lu craft—a ridiculously expensive one.
Lu-crafted starships would be at least a hundred times more expensive than technological starships. Technological starships were composed of special alloys that could be crafted from more ubiquitous materials.
Valerio was admiring the craftsmanship of the starship above when a small dot appeared in front of it.
In a moment, the tiny dot had grown into three silhouettes as they began to approach the Augustines, their figures growing ever more clear while their spaceship shone like a brand new sun as their backdrop.
The Solarion had arrived.
The family head, Vermillious, and his wife, Veronica. The third figure was their eldest son, Oliver.
Vermillious and Veronica stepped through the skies as if it made no difference whether they were on the ground or in the air, the surrounding Lu bending to their will, becoming their foothold.
A low chuckle escaped Valerio as he watched Oliver getting dragged by Veronica. His parents were moving too fast for him to stabilize so he didn't look much different than a body bag at the moment.
Maximus appeared right in front of his old friends. Valerio flicked his head towards Isadora just to see her take a step and reappear next to Maximus.
Valerio couldn't help but sigh, lamenting his cultivation base for making him stay on the ground.
'Well, I'm the one to blame, aren't I?'
He didn't lament the topic for too long, listening to the rumblings of his stomach before deciding to head over to the kitchen. Oliver would be stuck catching up with his parents for a few moments anyway.
It was his birthday; he dared someone to tell him off for eating early.
Less than a minute later, Valerio walked out of the kitchen, a plate in each hand and stomach full of the most exquisite food the galaxy had to offer. As per tradition, a huge table was set for the 4 families. A trace of joy painted Valerio's face as he saw his parents, Vermillious and Veronica, chatting.
A wry smile appeared on his face as he saw Oliver staring at him blankly.
Oliver, the heir of the Solarion lineage, carried a personality that seemed at odds with his greatest affinity—fire. Standing tall at 1.9 meters, his lean frame was complemented by light brown hair streaked with red locks, a subtle nod to the element coursing through his veins. His regal sage-green eyes and chiselled features gave him a striking appearance, while his perpetually serious expression lent an air of depth to his aura, as though he carried the weight of generations on his shoulders.
Yet, despite his stunning looks, it was Oliver's stoic personality and notoriously terrible sense of humor that made him unexpectedly likeable. His jokes were so disastrously bad that they transcended the realm of awkwardness, becoming unintentionally hilarious. It wasn't that he tried to be funny—his humor was so appalling that it looped back into being entertaining, earning him a charm that was as surprising as it was endearing.
Valerio walked towards the table they were sitting at, placing his plates on random tables whenever he could. Oliver nodded with a smile, and Valerio reciprocated as he reached the table.
"How have you been, Valerio?" asked Oliver as he stood up, extending his hand.
"I've been good, lad. I assume you have been as well?" asked Valerio as he shook Oliver's hand, a huge smirk on his face.
Oliver maintained direct eye contact, almost daring Valerio to laugh about his formal greeting. Valerio shook his head with a smirk as he cut into the adults' conversation.
"Vermillious, Veronica, how have you been?"
Vermillious was the one to reply, "Good, good, excellent in fact; today's a day for celebration. Val, come over here and help me convince your dad to bring out his thousand-year-old liquor; he's being stingy."
Valerio laughed, "Wager it on a spar."
Vermillious's brows raised as he seemed to sincerely consider his suggestion. Maximus cut in, "Alright, fine. I'll grab the liquor."
His words echoed in the void as he disappeared. Vermillious turned to look at where Maximus had been before turning to Valerio.
"I heard you were going to start cultivating tomorrow, is that right?" he inquired with a grin on his face.
"Yeah, I figured it was time to grow stronger. Of course, father's…encouragement certainly helped."
Veronica brought a hand to her mouth, barely restraining a chuckle, whereas Vermillious let out a burst of heartfelt laughter, booming throughout the Augustine lands.
Suddenly, the sounds of sloshing water appeared. Everyone turned to look at Maximus, holding eight bottles of liquor, with a bottle between each finger. He turned to Vermillious.
"Old bird, what are you laughing about?"