Matteo's entrance got a strange set of reactions.

At first, his appearance seemed to have disappointed a few people here and there. It was not because of who he was, but rather who he was not. Judging from the dismayed looks of one of the bachelors in the ballroom, it seemed that they were waiting for someone different…someone more feminine.

"Oh great, another competitor. Tsk."

"Damn. I didn't think Mateo's going to be joining us here. He's out of our league!"

"I thought I'd have a chance, but with him here, it's dropped down to almost nothing!"

Michael leaned towards Jot'un. "What's happening?"

"Tsk. He's here? I just hope he won't go anywhere near Aerith," the golden-retriever masked Jot'un grumbled to himself.

Just when he wanted Jot'un to be talkative, he suddenly went silent and offered no other explanation.

"Ahem… what's up with that guy? And why does everyone—no, why do most of the men look disappointed?''

Jot'un seemed to have snapped out of his overprotective state and finally answered Michael's question.

"He's Matteo Aubert! Some say that he's one of the reasons why the Aubert company is starting to regain their stride."

Michael remembered the Aubert name. They were a family-owned company who used to be part of the Conglomerates, but has declined massively to the point of obscurity.

In recent years, they have started to make a come-back, especially here in New Sparta, where most consider them to be at the same level as the Legacies or even higher.

He recalled the first time he met the Brownblood Werewolves during their swordsman competition. There was a guy called Mauricio Aubert, who was supposed to be the lead runner of the whole thing until Jaku defeated him and was crowned the winner.

He also had an older brother called Sergio, who fought against Michael during their altercation after the tournament.

In short, the Auberts shouldn't have that good of a relationship against him. At least, if they knew his name. Mauricio and Sergio both never knew about his real identity.

"And why do the men glare at him while the women swoon at his appearance?" Michael asked as Matteo walked towards his seat.

Women flirtatiously fanned themselves as he walked by, some even fainting as he got near. And of course, the men trying to woo those women glared at Matteo, even though Matteo never did anything suggestive towards those women.

"Look at him. So suave, damn it! Not only is he handsome in real life, but he's also extremely talented. He's on par with the Legacies and is considered to be one of Alaric's only rivals!"

Curious, Michael secretly released his Drone and furtively glanced at Matteo's cultivation using the Drone Camera.

[Matteo Aubert]

[Cultivation: 1st stage Nascent Spirit realm]

[Aubility Power: Fatal Attraction]

[Description: His power allows him to attract anything and everything that he can see. Those that are within his grasp are crushed using immense gravity.]

[Nascent Armor: ????]

Michael was very relieved to see that he didn't have any Artifice on his body.

So he's a Nascent Spirit cultivator. Same with Alaric.

As far as he could tell, they were the strongest people here in the ballroom. On the other hand, the lowest cultivation was in the 5th stage, which coincidentally, was Jot'un. No wonder the guy was so angry at Matteo.

"Not only that, but rumor has it that the Heavenly Knight from the Way of the Sword has arrived in New Sparta!" exclaimed Jot'un.

Ah.. that blind woman, he remembered. She was the one who arrived that night and requested a meeting with the two Werewolf Chiefs.

"Mistress Eldea is known to be very picky in her students, but the ones who have the best chance of piquing her interest are the Auberts. Last I heard, Matteo's cousin Mauricio is a very good swordsman.

If they get a Heavenly Knight's approval, this would only increase the prestige behind the Auberts and Mateo's name!"

Jot'un's angry praise for Matteo became the only words being spoken in the ballroom.

Silence reigned as they watched two auras clash.

"Welcome to the Soiree."

"Thanks."

Everyone stopped what they were doing once Alaric and Matteo faced each other. However, their interaction only lasted for a short while before the two separated and went their separate ways. One went back to his group of friends, while the other sat at an empty table.

Matteo seemed to be a taciturn fellow, the complete opposite of Alaric who was talking to everyone he could see.

And so, a few minutes after Matteo's entrance, the ballroom continued on with their humdrum conversations.

Michael started to get bored. "What are we waiting for?"

Matteo, who seemed to be entranced and besotted at Aerith from the opposite corner of the room, snapped out of his reverie at Michael's question.

"You don't know? That's the whole reason for this Soiree in the first place!"

"Please. Enlighten me."

Matteo then pointed to the very front of the ballroom, where there were a couple of empty tables that no one dared to get near to. They seemed allergic to it, or rather, they seemed afraid to get close to it as if they'd get in trouble if they did so.

But strangely, they just couldn't help but glance at it now and again.

"You see those tables? Those are reserved for the guests coming from very far away."

Michael raised his eyebrow. "Guests from far away?"

Jot'un nodded. "Yes. Metaphorically speaking. They're far away from us in status, is what I meant. Normally, they don't even deign to travel this far away from their kingdoms. But New Sparta has forced them to reconsider their dismissal of the Lower Queens Region."

Michael stayed silent, already having a premonition of what kind of people were about to come.

"Who are they?"

And before Jot'un could even answer, the whole ballroom suddenly erupted in a bright flash of light, blinding almost everyone simultaneously.

Once the light subsided, everyone turned their heads to the tables at the front.

Now, there were six people sitting in each one.

"The conglomerates!" someone gasped.

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