Mythran's Master Of All

Ren, Teepo, and Artemis didn't have to wait long before Princess Diana came into the large lobby of the castle. As Ren felt her approach, he stood up and helped Artemis stand, then walked over to the middle of the lobby so that they could be seen clearly. Even though it was early in the morning, it was still a little crowded in the castle, so he made sure Diana wouldn't have to search around for him.

Diana had paced herself so that she wouldn't be winded when she stopped running. When she finally reached the lobby, she came to a stop and wasn't out of breath at all. Her eyes started to scan the room and she caught sight of Ren immediately. He stood in the exact middle of the lobby and smiled at her, and she smiled back.

He did that for me, so I could find him quickly. Diana thought right away, and her smile grew broader. She took a quick shallow breath and let the smile fade as she walked across the lobby towards him.

“Good morning, Princess Diana.” Ren said when she was close enough and bowed his head to her.

“Good Morning, King Ren.” Diana responded and bowed her head to him in return. “You're here early.”

“I've got a very important pending appointment without a set time, so I came here while I waited.” Ren said.

Diana tilted her head to the side slightly. “You don't mean my birthday party this afternoon, do you?”

“Is that today?” Ren asked and looked around. “I don't see any decorations in here or outside.”

Diana chuckled. “I don't think the people would enjoy celebrating my birthday like they do my father's.”

“I think you are selling your people short, Princess Diana.” Ren said. “If you will excuse me for a few moments, I'll prove it.”

“I doubt that...” Diana started to say and Ren disappeared. “Wh-what? Where?”

Artemis chuckled. “He's making sure the country knows it's your birthday today.”

“What? How is he...” Diana stopped talking as she felt Ren's presence and everyone in the lobby took in a sharp breath. “What's going on?”

“It's... Ren's... Aura.” Artemis said and tried not to react to Ren activating his country-sized artificial Aura.

Diana shivered as she felt a happy feeling tickle her, then she had a distinct image of herself in her head and that it was her birthday. “Wh-what... what...”

“It's a very clever use of a modified Charm Person spell.” A gruff voice said from about 11 feet away. Diana turned her head to see one of the male delegates from the nearby kingdom of Pervaria. He was 6 feet tall and had a bulbous nose, slightly slanted eyes, and tanned skin that went well with his shoulder length fluffy black hair. He wore a long white tunic, almost like the ones the healers wore, and his well-muscled arms were bare from the shoulder down.

“How would... oh, he's using his Aura to cast it.” Diana said in understanding.

“His Aura must already have that innate ability for it to work.” The man said, but he didn't come any closer.

“It does.” Artemis said and the man looked at her.

“You are a very interesting... person.” The man said, and Artemis squinted her eyes at him.

Ren appeared in front of Diana and she caught her breath. “Okay, I've got all the decorations and fireworks set up and put your image on all the displays.”

“You... what?”

Ren smiled at her. “Outside, anyway.” He said and deactivated the artificial Aura. “Do you want me to decorate inside the castle, too?”

“I... I don't think that's necessary.” Diana said with a similar smile, then remembered her manners. “King Ren, I'd like to introduce you to one of the representatives from the Pervaria Kingdom, Kenkoth Zaerepis.”

Ren's Etiquette skill kicked in and he immediately equipped his Dire Wolf Hooded Cloak and his platinum armor, along with several different rings and bracelets, and his Hand of Glory now held a rod of rings. In the same instant, he activated his Ultimate Terror Aura and his Controlled Berserk Rage ability as he took out his golden shield and hammerpick.

“My name is Ren.”

Diana held in her scream and froze in terror, mainly because she had been trained to not let her emotions show; but, everyone else in the lobby and the rest of the castle completely lost it. Screams of terror filled the lobby and the castle, and even several streets outside. Ren's Aura was huge normally; but, with his armor on and all the other boosts added to it, his Aura spread out to over 2,000 feet.

After suffering for only 3 seconds, Kenkoth Zaerepis nodded. Ren switched his Aura from Ultimate Terror to Reassurance and filled everyone with the best feelings they could ever feel. That brought out just as many yells and hollers as his Ultimate Terror one did, only for different reasons. He cast Charm Person and asked for forgiveness for what just happened. He felt mostly forgiveness, except for several of them that were shaken up pretty badly.

“Please excuse me for a few more moments.” Ren said and disappeared. He went to the ones that were shaken up and used his Emotion Siphon ability to help them get rid of most of those feelings. It took several minutes to deal with the fallout from his display, and they thanked him for taking care of them. He didn't try to go to King Alamast or Lady Eleanor, since they had dealt with it just as well as Diana had. He went back to the lobby and reappeared in front of Diana and beside Artemis.

“What. Was. That?” Diana said through gritted teeth, and he felt how angry she was.

“Please accept my sincere apologies, Princess Diana.” Ren said and took her hand to bend over it as he stored all of his equipment and armor, except for the Dire Wolf Hooded Cloak, and equipped his fancy blue suit again. “When officially greeting someone of his high status, I needed to show my best fighting capability.”

“Excuse me?” Diana looked from Ren to the representative and then back again.

“If I didn't show him, he would have been deeply insulted.” Ren said and kissed her fingers, and he felt a thrill go through her. He stood up straight and let her hand go. “The last thing I want to do is cause the people here even more problems.” He smiled. “Besides what I inadvertently just did, I mean.”

Kenkoth Zaerepis still hadn't moved any closer. “Your presence is quite impressive, King Ren.”

“Aren't you glad that you don't have to reciprocate?” Ren asked.

Kenkoth smiled with a slight nod and Ren dismissed the popup without reading it.

“Even though I am tempted to, I believe these people have had enough of a show for now.” Kenkoth said. “May I ask why you are here?”

“Of course.” Ren said. “I noticed the odd-looking caravan when I was making an inquiry, and I wondered where it was from and who was in it.”

“So it's not for the Princess' birthday?” Kenkoth asked.

“I was invited, but I didn't realize it was today.” Ren said. “I was worried I was going to miss it and gave her a present early.”

Kenkoth let a small smile appear on his face for a second and it disappeared. “That was a respectable decision.”

Ren had to pause in talking, so he didn't dismiss the popup this time and saw that he had gained Respect, the same as he got from the Giants.