The kingdom of Arin was located in the North Eastern side of the continent of Nuren. The kingdom bordered the kingdoms of Ruhen and Rawyth, the kingdoms of Ruhen and Rawyth were separated from Arin by the Dralia Mountain Range. The mountain range and was not fully mapped, there were all sorts of special creatures and many unknown ores and plants. The three kingdoms of the north east were not allies in any form and have had their fights in the past, they could as well be considered enemies. There was currently there was no conflict between them, there had little reason to fight, especially with the mountain range that acted as a barrier.
The kingdoms even did some trades through the use of two passes that are found in the Dralia Mountain Range, the Wipouria Pass and Ruinia pass, some people even believed that the two passes were just to convenient to be natural, they believed that some high tier mages must have used a spell to carve out the mountain range.
Currently there was a meeting between Arin's big shot about the situation the find themselves in, these people were in a grand meeting room with paintings of valiant men and women wearing crowns and very fancy clothes, these people are obviously the previous monarchs of Arin.
"So has the magic crystal lode been inspected? Ingrid what did you find?"
The one who was speaking was an old man with some greying hair, he had serious blue eyes. The man was handsome even as an old man, he must have made many noble ladies fall for him when he was young. The old man was the king of Arin, his name was Klaus Stefan Arin, he was a tier 7 Arc Mage.
"Your Majesty, I have inspected the magic crystal lode, The lode is a Very Large lode that can be used for a few years to support all the mages of the kingdom at tier 5 or lower, having us at Arc Mage use the magic crystals would be a wasteful."
"I understand."
The king nodded to Ingrid in understanding, he was slightly lethargic about it, she just nodded back as well, it looked there was something else in her mind.
'Ah Klaus, you have gotten tired, haven't you?'
"Karl, we can expect Ruhen and Rawyth will start to prepare for a war to try and get a part of the magic crystal lode, especially that cunning king of Ruhen. I want our military readiness to be in its highest to protect the lode."
"I understand your Majesty."
The one who answered with very little words was the top tier person in the military when it came to combat. He was tier 7 Arc Mage Karl Schneider, he was very famous for his tier 5 Magic Ring [Half Time Cast], which made all his time spent when casting spells be cut by half. It is rumoured that he found the Magic Ring design in a ruin when he was young, no one is really sure.
This man was very dangerous, with other rings which are not really known to support [Half Time Cast], fighting this man is usually a gamble on whether you can survive or not. The time an opponent uses to cast a tier 4 spell can be used to cast a tier 5 spell or the same time can be used to cast two of the same tier 4 spells.
He is highly respected in the military and the royals favour him very much. By the way it the same Schneider that is named after Schneider Military Mage Training Academy.
"In the meantime, I want the lode to be mined, the mined magic crystals will be used to quickly grow the low tier mages in the Academies, this will increase our numbers of low tier mages that will be available for the war from the military. The royal academies will also get some of the magic crystal to also quickly develop some mages, they too might have to enter the war, I have a feeling this war will be very brutal."
"I understand your Majesty, I will have the required people ready in the fastest time possible."
The one who answered was the King's seneschal and sex partner, or maybe it's better to say lover, Annalise Meier. The woman was a middled age woman and maybe because she was a tier 5 mage she still looked very pretty with blonde hair and hazel eyes.
The kingdom highly valued mages as seen from Annalise also being a mage, if an heir of the royal family did not have magic talent, the was practically no chance of gaining the throne.
There was no way the other noble families would agree to have a weak person take the throne, the military would also not agree to have such a person represent the country.
"Karl can you quickly get people who will protect the miners, I am sure they would not be given a chance to mine with piece, you can expect Ruhen and Rawyth to send people to probe us"
"I understand your Majesty."
"Can someone tell me where Walter is currently."
Annalise answered that being her job.
"Your Majesty, Sir Witfield was outside of the kingdom to scout the workings of the empire to the south, he was delayed."
"I understand, we must not drop our guard when it comes to the empire."
The King said in understanding.
"Ok, you guys can leave. Annalise, no one is to disturb me I need some time alone."
"Your Majesty I understand."
Karl, Ingrid and Annalise left the room, leaving the king to think. Recently the king had been thinking of leaving the throne like his father before him to one of his children. The king was not dying, mages had long lives, he was just tired and getting weary, thus he felt it was time but there was a problem.
The King because of his handsomeness of his youth, he had gotten many wives which lead to many descendants who are vying for the throne, this was one of the reasons he was feeling tired, he had to choose one to be Queen or King.
Unlike his children who are competing for the thrones, he did not have too much competition when he got the throne, his father had one wife, the previous Queen, who birthed him and his little number of siblings. The current king was the one with the highest attainment in magic amongst his siblings, which made him King.
"Very difficult."
Lamented the king.