Cerimony

Luckas tapped his leg in anxiety, all the villagers were gathered near the entrance of the palace garden, silence filled the air, everyone was too nervous to even talk.

Soon a guard came and told them to move, the villagers grew even tenser as the ceremony was about to start. After entering the garden a row of seats filled their eyes, countless nobles were already sitting.

Jeffrey and Philips were sitting on a big stage, as the guard guided the villagers the nobles gazed at them, some with a mocking smile while their face, while others with curiosity in their eyes.

As the villagers arrived in front of the stage Jeffrey nodded and began to walk towards the center of the stage.

" Today we gathered here to commend and honor the bravery of those villagers, that even in front of the devious forces of the Dark Palace, they choose to stand up and fight."

Jeffrey paused and looked at the crowd, some of the nobles were shocked, they knew the fame of the Heigong cultivators, and hearing that a bunch of normal villagers fended them was shocking.

"They all performed meritorious deed in the territory battle against the dark forces, and the fact that even as ordinary humans beings they stoop up against forces well beyond their powers and understanding show the true meaning of bravery that we all should follow." Jeffrey finally ended his speech and gestured for the guards to bring a few chests to the stage

The crowd clapped as the speech concluded, some of the nobles thought that Jeffrey was inflating their accomplishments, but suddenly a man started to walk towards the stage, when the nobles noticed the embroidery in the man's cloathes they were all shocked.

-" Well spoken young Jeffrey, bravery is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. This group sure demonstrated their courage and undying resolve. As the representant of the Eternal Sun Sect, I can't let those braves people go without rewarding them, after all, standing up against the dark forces is the role of all mankind."

As the old man spoke he raised his hand and hundreds of bottles appeared next to him, all of the nobles were shocked, if even the Eternal Sun Sect acknowledge the deeds, they didn't have any reason to doubt any longer.

Jeffrey looked at the gifts and noded. "I, Jeffrey Strafhampton thank the Elder Elias for the gesture."

As Jeffrey exchanged pleasantries with the elder the villagers bowed to him too.

Soon the Ceremony continued, the villagers climbed the stage and accepted their rewards one by one. Jeffrey gave them 50 silvers and a Small Honor Medal for each of them, the elder gift was a handful of white rice for each of the villagers.

Philips looked at his old friend with a mocking smile, he knew that the Eternal Sun Sect didn't send any gifts, so this was paid by his pocket. Elias was quite sad about having to gift all the white rice he had on him, but he decided he would ask the sect leader for reimbursement later.

The two last people to receive their rewards were Byrth and Luckas, the order was intentional, Jeffrey wanted to reward them with some extra things, but with the presence of the Eternal Sun Sect group, they decided to downplay Byrth contribution hoping to not bring too much attention to him.

As Byrth moved to the stage, the young girl next to Elias was caught in surprise.

-" Isn't this man the one who helped us?" As she spoke the other two looked at Byrth.

-" Oh yeah, I almost didn't recognize him." One of them confirmed his identity.

Philips who was close to the Eternal Sun Sect group froze, he didn't think that the people Byrth helped would be the ones in the group

.

-" Oh, what a good young lad, I heard this history from the Sect Master too." Elias looked at Byrth with curious eyes.

Seeing that Byrth caught the attention of the group Philips tried to probe their intentions about the young man. He felt that the presence of the girl here was too coincidental.

-" Oh so he helped you guys? Quite a good young man indeed, do you guys want to meet him?" Philips's question was quickly dismissed by the three girls, it looked like only the younger one had a good opinion of him.

-" Maybe in the future, it's such a shame that his talent isn't up to par with your requirements, such a courageous young man would surely have a great future." Philips felt like he was dreaming, the group thought that Byrth talent was quite poor, so they didn't pay much attention to him.

-" Oh, too bad, too bad, maybe we can find a place for him in the army, righteousness people are always good to have around."

Philips was overjoyed, he confirmed that the group didn't know about the Byrth likely had a primal awakening of his element. He thanked God and turned his attention to Jeffrey and Luckas.

Luckas was the last one of the villagers on the stage, as he stood there Jeffrey smiled at him. and gestured for him to come closer.

-" In the encounter against the Dark Palace forces, this young man played the most essential role, he had such important participation in this event that even his fellow's villagers considered him a hero after the fact, with this in mind, the rewards he will receive will be a bit greater."

Everyone was waiting to see what rewards the young man would receive, while the villagers felt a bit of envy towards Luckas, they were happy about their rewards, most of them never thought that they would have so much money at one time in their life.

From the smallest chest Jeffrey took a golden metal and one small bag, as Jeffrey put the medal on Luckas felt the envious eyes on him again, but, this time the ones looking at him were the nobles.

A small commotion was breaking out in the seat of the nobles, this commoner was awarded a White Deer Medal, many of the small noble's houses of the territory didn't even dream of receiving such reward.

-" With this, the ceremony comes to an end, I would like to thank all of you present." Jeffrey noticed the noble's gaze towards Luckas and continued.

Soon the crowd quickly dispersed, there was a dinner party after the ceremony, but, most of the nobles didn't attend, Jeffrey did this by design, he thought that making the villagers and the commoners interact directly was bound to cause conflict.