The Next day, Ryan found himself sitting once again, looking at the court while wearing a ceremonial outfit; now, a red sash was over his white robes, featuring a golden sun at its center.
He stared at the nobles below the steps, all of whom regarded him with faces that seemed either genuine or fake, picturesque ones.
Regardless, he would rather give himself the benefit of the doubt that all of them were wearing masks. There was also the Consul, grinning happily from one side of the hall.
"We will now begin the first court!" Rictor announced.
'Wait, the first court? Aren't there any other ceremonies for the day?'
The Hall was filled with hushed murmurs, creating the impression of the officials being a group of squeaking mice.
An official with grey hair walked confidently to a spot before the stairs. Ryan focused on the man's gold plaque, deducing his rank was near the top, and decided to investigate further.
[Character Info
Name - Gareth Lancer
Title - Lord Gareth
Elemental Affinity - None
Description
Lord of the City of Arkorn, Lord Gareth is a man who believes in the supremacy of power and strength. He also believes that his role as a Lord is a true testament to his leadership skills.]
Now he recalled something unpleasant. The description he obtained about these characters was updated over time. Hence, he could only have an overview, not a deep study.
At first glance, it seemed to be of little value, but he was certain that it could be used in a myriad of ways. If an enemy was more powerful than him, he could better formulate an idea on how to deal with them.
The Official bowed a bit before speaking, "The King truly radiates an aura of one picked by the Divine to rule."
Ryan kept his expression mute. Internally, he felt weirded out by that statement. Thankfully, the Royal Counselor briefed the man, "Lord Gareth Lancer. His majesty's time is quite limited."
"Truly, truly. My apologies. Counselor Rictor," Gareth apologized, along with a simple bob of his head.
"So is this Aria's father? If it is, then the resemblance is quite uncanny." He thought, watching the old man cough before setting off, "As the whole court knows. The Town of Arkron has been under the Lancer family's supervision for decades.
However, around the start of this summer, strange things have happened."
"Strange things?" Both King and Counsellor said in unison as they both raised a brow.
"Yes. Very strange ones."
Ryan wished he would get to the point.
"At first, it started with a flood,"
'Finally.'
"Then we had a sudden influx of raiders, Barbarians to be precise, who keep venturing from the forests to harass us. In addition, we've experienced a few floods that damaged our crops, putting us in quite some trouble.
In order to settle these issues, the town has halted a few of its productions, and now we need the Flaming Hand's aid."
The City Lord then fell to his knees, his head dropping to the floor, stunning Ryan with the act. "I beg his majesty. Please intervene."
[New Quest - A Lord's plea
The Lord of Arkorn had proposed that you requested that you extend your help to his people, your subjects.
Reward - 200 Wealth or more, +20 Nation Points.
Penalty - Decreased Loyalty from the People of Arkorn.
Do you agree?]
Ryan narrowed his eyes at the tab that popped, but then Rictor whispered into his ear. "Sire, shall I send scouts to confirm his report? For all we know, this could be a trap."
He stared at the screen for a moment, then he looked behind and nodded.
"Rise, Lord Lancer." He said calmly.
The Old man obeyed the order and rose to his feet. "The Flaming Hand has heard your plea. Rest assured, I will answer to your people's cause."
With that, the first case was pleasantly dismissed.
[Quest Accepted]
And the next one followed after that.
Another official with a scroll appeared, his bronze plaque swaying with the wind. He was quite a young lad, Ryan considered that he was barely above 20.
For someone of that age to have climbed to the fourth rank, in his perspective, it was either a notable achievement or a series of strings being pulled.
All he had to do was watch.
As the young official bent down to bow, he clumsily dropped his scroll. A portion of the court burst out laughing at the antic, while others looked on with scowls or nonchalant faces.
After picking up the scroll, the official cleared his throat and nervously greeted, "G-greetings to t-the King."
The scroll dropped to the floor again, and Ryan sighed, feeling a bit disappointed, 'Seems he should have held back from the ranks if this is how he is.'
The Counselor noticed the King's dissatisfaction and spoke on his behalf, "Young One. Return to your position."
"Yes. Sir," The lad nodded as he clumsily walked back to his previous position. Half of the court was already bursting with laughter, then the Counselor's stern gaze made it all quiet.
Despite having a jade plaque, an official standing next to the King could not be easily trifled with. Before a Queen was picked, he had the second-highest power in the palace.
Another official stepped out, and Ryan wondered if he would spend the whole day having to deal with a ton of servile comments. Thankfully, that didn't seem to be the case with the one that came.
"May his majesty's reign be filled with prosperity." Ryan noticed a face with a copper plaque, but a black ponytail that swayed with her figure.
"A woman?" He thought, eyeing the crowd only to find a handful of them.
The female official bowed as she introduced herself, "I am Leyla, hailing from the national academy as a researcher of the arts."
The King understood that art in this context referred to the seven elements: Flame, Water, Air, Rock, Nature, Light, and finally Storm.
The researcher placed her hand into her robe and presented a crimson-colored crystal, which pulsed dimly in her palm.
"This is a flaming crystal, my King. Flame Users who happen to be Wielders need its aid in forging weapons, Tamers require it to make bonds with beasts, and finally, Chanters require its existence to amplify their spells."
"However," She continued, "Like other elemental crystals since their first appearance, only affinity users have been able to use them. Mages, on the other hand, have had mana stones to aid their classes of Combatants, Effectors, and Casters."
Ryan squinted his brows as he listened.
The Seven Elements, or most notably seven officially known elements in the world, were graced to be wielded by people who possessed something called a core. That core was what gave them the name Affinity Users or simply Users.
Mana, an energy intangible to the common man, flowed into these cores, allowing them to manipulate one out of the seven. Users who didn't have a core but could wield mana had something called a node, and that gave them the name Mages.
To become an Affinity User, one could either receive it naturally, genetics or after ascending from a mage, or their ties with a Mark Bearer.
Mark Bearers were people who fulfilled conditions and taken oaths before an elemental spirit or deity to wield power related to an element. Most of Ridlockia's priests were Mark Bearers.
According to the system, there were only three realms for an affinity user's core and six levels for a mage.
Despite being small in terms of population size and mass, the highest they had were those in the second realm or third level.
Regardless of all these, a realm or level doesn't define one's overall strength. Class, Scale of weapons, power of accomplices, environmental settings, and many more factors decided the balance.
Beasts also had this grading, but theirs was more Mastery-related than Skills. Ryan could tell what the researcher meant, but asked regardless,"So what are you proposing?"
"We at the academy want to solicit his majesty's support. At the moment, we intend to create a sort of tool that would allow even non-affinity users to handle mana and possibly mimic the functions of cores and nodes.
This would revolutionize warfare and heighten our nation's combat strength by a wide margin."
The Whole hall dissolved into a loud uproar.
[New Quest - Invest in the Research of the Arts
Reward - Improved National Combat Strength, +30 Nation Points
Effect - The status quo remains.]
From the convenience of his chair, Ryan slowly tapped his fingers against the armrest, then eyed Rictor. In return, the Counsellor shrugged; he had no answers.
'Interesting.'
He slowly squinted his eyes but heard the System's rejection.
[Information about this Character cannot be reviewed until you make a decision.]
'What a bummer.'
His hand then raised, and the whole hall fell silent, "If it will be beneficial as you claim. Prepare your researchers to grind their gears, but first, you have to prove to us how you expect this to work."
"A sample would do."
"The Researchers over at the academy will prepare their sources for your majesty's viewing."
"Excellent!"
A small smile crept up the female researcher's face as she retreated from the throne's view.
More officials appeared after that, giving their own reports, stories, and other things. When Ryan tried to check, he could only see some basic info and descriptions, but loyalty was not present.
This deeply puzzled him.
So he was going to play court politics after all?
"Who's next?" Ryan mumbled as he pressed his head against his knuckles after the eleventh official had left.
Thankfully, Rictor announced some sweet news then. "The Court is now dismissed."
With that, his first official 'court' was now over. Or so he would have wished.