Fen obliged, bringing out the starry creation and handing it a little hopefully into the calloused hand of the man in front of him.
The Magistrate, now letting out a slight smile, looked over the peculiar emblem handed to him, clearly scanning it carefully.
After a few seconds, a look of familiarity fell upon his azure eyes, and his smile broadened.
"It seems you were telling the truth. This is indeed the Emblem of the Craftsman I once gave to the oracle - it truly is amazing to see it once again."
Now curious, Fen asked:
"The Craftsman?"
The Magistrate continued to smile, this time clearly reminiscent of something.
"Ah, I suppose she wouldn't of told you, that is indeed the kind of woman Auxley is. The Craftsman was a brilliant, and all around mysterious man who I've only had the pleasure of meeting once - he's well known among community's who create artefacts, as many of the most powerful and puzzling artefacts ever created have been tied back to him. He once visited our humble city, back when there was no such bustle or homeliness, and created a weapon for me, as well as a few of those wonderful emblems you currently possess."
The Magistrate coughed, clearly a little wistful, and continued his explanation.
"Felhaven was once under siege by a abnormal amount of rift creatures, and we were losing - our champions were much weaker than they are now, and our walls were nowhere near as fortified."
Fen couldn't help notice the man's gaze quickly drift to the raven-haired woman across the room, who Fen was almost sure was his daughter.
'Interesting - a champion of the city, it seems?'
The Magistrate, his eyes now solely focused on Fen once again, continued.
"That was until we received reinforcements at our desperate request - Auxley Audrett. She was much younger at the time, and had not yet acquired such a fierce reputation so we were a little skeptical. She soon put our worries to rest however, as the endless horde was nothing to her - as if a titan had descended to fight ants. Naturally, we gave her some kind of compensation in return - the precious emblem you currently possess - as a sign of our gratitude, and as a sign of our debt for her. I suppose sending you forward with the emblem is a sign we can begin repay - although certainly partly - that debt."
Fen had suspected as much. Auxley had clearly been incredibly powerful, as well as a .. well, retainer he supposed of the government - it wasn't a stretch to believe she had once aided the great city.
The Magistrate stretched his arms, clearly a little fatigued from what seemed to be an immense amount of paperwork, before looking around the room.
"I suppose we should get acquainted then!"
***
A few minutes later, Fen found himself sitting around the large table with the Magistrate, what he guessed was his daughter, and the slightly rough looking military officer, all sipping snug mugs of tea, and at Fen's request a large plate of various meats and fruits.
'This really has been a long time coming' Fen thought to himself, generously digging into the extravagant plate, only looking up at the sound of the kindly Magistrate's voice.
"Well, I suppose I should start then. My name is Elijah Crestworth, and I'm what you'd call the Magistrate, I suppose. I've been living here for around thirty years now, since we first established the city, and have long been overdue for a change of pace like this - running a city isn't what it's made up to be, I tell you."
The Woman placed next to him at the table smiled, before taking over, almost forcefully grabbing Fen's gaze.
"I'm called Lucia, Lucia Crestworth - ever known as the Magistrates daughter."
She rolled her eyes slightly.
"I suppose I've been living here all my life - I've only left a few times through the teleportation rune to the center, and a few dozen around the plains to hunt. I guess I also train with the sword quite a lot."
She followed her statement up with a shrug of nonchalance, playing it off.
Fen found that those who shrugged off such potentially powerful statements, often were the ones that wielded such power.
It was indeed quite cool though, her inky hair and pale complexion contrasting together perfectly.
'Why am I thinking about her looks? She indeed is quite… good looking I suppose, but that really isn't the matter at hand.'
There was something else about her though - a slight familiarity, not percivible by normal standards, but something supernatural - something he could only sense due to his innate connection to his path. He thought at least - he couldn't be too sure, but it was suspiciously close to that peculiar familiarity he had felt towards the jade pendant that was now little more than fancy decorum, but had once been a very, very supernatural artefact.
Fen guessed it was likely something similair. Perhaps they shared some kind of affinity, one currently unbeknownst to Fen?
Fen decided not to press the matter, as it seemed rather strange, and unbecoming of a apparently esteemed guest.
The rugged, uniformed man spoke next, emanating an aura of slight distrust.
"My name is Captain Farrowfall, placed in charge of the six battle regiments - I also am currently in charge of any hunting operations due to certain… matters. If you plan to commence in any kind of contact with rift creatures, or in any training, I would very much wish if you could consult me first."
'A little strict, but he seems like a good man - he might not of said it, but it's almost certainly for the safety of citizens, not for some kind of personal exercise of megalomania.'
At least Fen hoped not.
It was certainly something to ponder though - Fen would need to get some kind of battle experience in, not only to gain skill in whatever form of combat he would choose to pursue, but in order to hopefully reach some stage of enlightenment someday - after all, Fen had certainly been handed some kind of golden spoon - who was he to decline the power that could posssibly come with it.
'Is that even how it works though?'
Fen had never been particually knowledgable about cores and paths, especially the latter. He had known about their existence, about the stages of enlightenment and that was about it - he had no actual idea how to make any kind of progress.
Fen decided to put his unease to rest for now - he would have plenty of time to experiment in the future, for now he had to focus on gleaming any possible information from his current conversation - such as the fact that the Captain had paused a little bit too long, and glimpsed a little too obviously towards Lucia at the mention of 'certain matters'.
If Fen had to guess, he would say Lucia had previously led the aforementioned 'hunting operations', before she was seemingly incapacitated. She certainly seemed fine though, and had been wielding a sword as he had entered, undoubtedly training with the serious captain - Fen was definitely missing something.
'Interesting'.
Fen was roused by his thoughts by the fact everyone around the table seemed to be gazing at him with intense curiosity, and in the Captain's case, a slight hint of suspicion.
'I guess it's my turn to participate in this slightly one-sided icebreaker of sorts.'
Fen didn't know how much the three around the table already suspected of him, but it would be unlikely they knew much - which was much preferable.
'They may prove to be powerful, trustworthy allies in the future, and I may even end up sharing everything with them. Till then though?'
Fen didn't think it would be a great idea to put all his cards on the table.
A table owned by the three sitting across from him, nonetheless.