The formal part of the ceremony was done—everyone had sat still, looked important, and applauded on cue. Now came the real battlefield: the social part.
The air was laced with a low hum of conversation, the clink of glasses, and the subtle shuffle of shoes against the polished marble floor. It was the kind of atmosphere where everyone smiled too much and secretly measured each other's power levels like it was a futuristic role-playing game. Which, to be fair, it kind of was.
