The slim Dragonborn walks into his tent as he shuts the flaps behind him, runes glowing with life on the walls. These runes seal any sound that could enter or exit so the tent is filled with an eerie silence as he sits down. He looks around cautiously one last time before placing his runestone up to his ear, a feminine voice emanating authority speaking.
"What is the importance of the situation to risk blowing your cover for?"
He wastes no time, "This new king is growing his kingdom rapidly, he completed the plumbing within hours. And this technology he uses is unheard of, on top of that his guards have tools that have a wider utility than spells. His guards seem to have infinite stamina and follow his orders to the letter, as if they belong to him in body and soul. But the oddest thing is they seem to be made of shadow. And it doesn't end there." He stays swiftly, as if reading a book.
The other end is quiet while murmuring is heard along with hurried movements of a pen on paper.
While waiting, the Dragonborn nervously gulps. 'I would usually be a lot more dominant in this situation, but it's the Queen so I don't want to piss her off.' The Queen of Shall, the kingdom obsessed with the full Dragonborn form. Anyone that isn't a full Dragonborn are harshly discriminated against if they weren't cast out already.
After a few moments of silence, the female voice speaks again. "Thank you for this information, anything else?"
He thinks for a moment before asking, "My queen?"
"What is it?" She says in a dominant tone, as if she was looking upon an intelligent ant.
"Do you mind if I give my own opinion?" He asks nervously, lightly treading the forbidden waters.
"Usually yes, I would mind. But this moment is an exception as we are gauging the strength of a supposed god." She says as she has a curious tone, her interest piqued.
He clears his throat before speaking, "I suggest we try to ally or at least show peaceful intentions with him as soon as possible. If so, it would either open many paths in trade and technology and our kingdom could advance rapidly ahead of the others or we could at least make sure he won't attack us, even if that's unlikely seeing his attitude towards his people. But we need to be weary, I heard he already has connections to the Fang Kingdom."
Her end is silent as she listens, each word he speaks making more sense each moment. But the last two sentences makes her very confused. "How could a starting kingdom already have connections to another kingdom...and what do you mean by his attitude toward his subjects?"
The red dragonborn nervously swallows some saliva that had built up in his throat, "He treats them as if they are relatives, he doesn't show a stern or overbearing demeanor. He is also helping to physically build the kingdom, doing the manual labor himself."
She listens silently as he adds, "He doesn't have the demeanor of a king or a warrior, just a strong figure."
She listens for a moment before speaking, "Understood, so we have three choices. Either we try to ally for technology and have an incompetent ally in combat, make peace and possibly loose out on the technology, or we try to beat him down while he is weak and take the technology by force."
The red dragonborn's eyes go wide as he hears the last sentence. He blurts out before he can even stop himself, "We cannot declare war!"
The Queen immediately responds, "Silence! You are to continue with your mission until given further instructions!"
And before he can say a word, the line is cut. "Bitch." He states as he pockets the stone.
"She will get what is coming to her, one day." He sneers in anger before taking a deep breath. His expression becomes blank as he leaves the tent, the runes disappearing as he exits.
I watch the smiling kid as he gazes happily at the glowing red stone. "He has an affinity for fire magic, if he trains it well and gets lucky with a strong mana core, he could become a great mage. But even then, since he seems to like forging, he could use it for more utilitarian uses instead of fighting."
The father smiles happily as a tear slides down his cheek, "Thank you, we have been wondering for so long, we couldn't afford a test so we had no one to turn to for it. He has been so obsessed with magic and smithing but no one could tell what affinity he had."
I smile and nod as I hold out my hand, the kid excitedly placing it in my hand. I put all the stones except one away, the only one we haven't tested.
I hold out my hand as I ask the little kid, who looks slightly tired after releasing so much mana, "Try doing what did with the last two, this stone is a special one."
The father has a confused look on his face as his son nods. "What affinity stone is that?"
I slightly tilt my head in confusion, "Do you guys not know what no magic is?"
He shakes his head, showing he has not heard of it before. 'Must be regulated information or just rare period.' I think as the kid grabs the stone. Nothing happens as the crowd watches anxiously. The kid doesn't look very disappointed as he places it in my hand, probably happy that he already has an affinity.
I go to grab the stone when the kid's face shifts slightly, and I already know what is going on. I take a step back as I wave my hand again, a book appearing in my hand. The father is surprised by my sudden action as he looks at me with a worried expression.
Before the father can say anything, the stone turns black and glossy. The stone seems to melt as it shifts across the kid's arm, suddenly hardening into a gauntlet. The kid helps in shock as he moves his hand around, seemingly shocked that his hand is now black. As he clenched his fist and opens it a few times, a light shoots out as a symbol forms, a black-spiked shield hovering above his palm.
I quickly flip through the rune circle book as I look for this rune, the pages whistling with life when I halt at one. 'This book is really handy, I need to look for that cobald again to ask him some questions.'
I read over the page as the father begins to panic, finally breaking from his stupor.
"Are you alright? Does it hurt?" He asks as he gently touches his son's arm. The kid smiles and nods, "It feels funny but it doesn't hurt. Not like that time I found that snake."
I laugh heartily, suddenly drawing everyone's attention as I announce, "Seems your kid is extremely lucky, he got an affinity as rare as mine."
The father stares at me stunned as he hastily asks, "What? This is an affinity?! What is it?"
The crowd gasps as well as people murmur amongst each other, shocked that things like this existed.
I calm down my laughter as I smile, "He has an affinity called Obsidian's Legend and it lets him control and create obsidian."