Despite having never been to Valour City in this life before, Luca knew it like the back of his hand. As one of the Light Faction's capitals, often considered the main capital by others due to its importance, Valour City often had more players than NPCs in the game. Embassies for the other nations of the Light Faction stood not too far from the royal palace, where uncountable members of those nations visited their representatives when needed. While it was generally rare for non-humans to appear outside of capital cities, Valour City hosted as many non-humans as it did humans.
As the carriage trundled along the road to the palace, Luca leaned on one windowsill and watched the civilians go about their daily lives, while Arcturus had taken both of his forefeet and planted them on the carriage door's long interior handlebar so that he could peer at everything he saw with awe. Elizabeth, along with Ella, who had tagged along to keep an eye on the dragonling, smiled at Arcturus's innocent nature.
After reaching the inner walls that encircled the governmental Section 2 and being inspected thoroughly at its gates, then having it repeated again at the royal palace's Section 1 gates, the carriage ride came out to almost an hour, during which time the dragonling couldn't keep his excitement down and Luca was midway to complaining about his butt hurting from the constant bouncing. After this experience, he'd decided to spend some time learning all of the professions so he could invent shocks for the carriages. It had surprised Elizabeth when he mentioned his desire to learn all of the professions, but she did not disagree with his choice. Instead, she fully supported him. Although she had no grounds on which to assume such, she believed that the boy had the potential to achieve mastery of all of the professions. Of course, that would have to come after meeting the royal family, in particular the king.
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A long red runner stitched with gold thread stretched from a pair of enormous doors carved from the deep brown wood of an ancient wenge tree, across polished white granite tiles masqueraded as marble, up one step to a large landing that surrounded a second landing, upon which the runner transformed to cover its entirety. Atop the second landing, placed just before the wall that the two landings were built against, stood a grand throne of gold decorated with cardinal red fabrics. Seated on this throne was a man, coming close to the tail end of his fifties, bearing an ancient and unadorned golden crown, gazing down with calm eyes at his subjects. Two men, one a famous general and one an imperial advisor, stood just behind the king's throne. The second landing had several high-ranking nobles and government officials, in no particular order.
At this moment, several pairs of eyes were focused on the slightly ajar doors as four figures walked towards the king: Elizabeth Tudor, the former Archmage of Fire, and her avian familiar Ella, who rode atop her shoulder, the young Luca, and his draconic familiar Arcturus. beside them was the steward that had summoned them from the Mages Guild Headquarters, attending them until they arrived before His Majesty.
Upon reaching the bottom of the second landing, the steward, along with the two humans, took a knee, while Arcturus bowed his head out of respect, though Dragon Clan members truly did not need to. "Your Majesty, I have brought the Dragonborn as per your commands."
"Thank you, Edvard. You are dismissed," the Valarian King, Arthur Valar, acknowledged the steward, who left the hall promptly. He then focused on those kneeling before him, "Rise." Once a pair of voices thanked him, Arthur continued, "Lady Tudor, I am gladdened to meet you once again."
"You are too kind, Your Majesty. I am simply accompanying this young one, as he has no knowledge of noble matters." As a former Archmage, Elizabeth held a title that deigned her as being exempt from kneeling. However, her staunch loyalty to the kingdom, a trait she developed over her lifetime, dictated that she do so.
The king smiled slightly, though his eyes did not, "Understandable." Arthur's silver eyes faced Luca, who, to the king's surprise, did not instinctively flinch upon experiencing the weight of his gaze. "You are my kingdom's newest hero, it seems."
"I dare not accept such praise, Your Majesty." Compared to the deeds of those he could list off with ease, Luca could not accept the title of hero. After all, he was not exceptional enough to be considered one anyway.
The king's smile grew slightly wider at this, "Nonsense. A mere boy of ten, slaying a Lv. 5 bandit as a barely Lv. 2 Mage. Such a feat is not something just anyone could do. Aside from only the greatest geniuses, no normal man could kill someone three levels higher than them in a true battle, let alone in one attack."
Luca shook his head, an act generally considered rude, which the nobles in the room assumed glares at, "I cannot accept being called a hero, Your Majesty. I only succeeded because I attacked him from a distance he could not detect. A sneak attack is not something to be proud of."
Arthur Valar ignored the boy's behaviour on account of his age and lack of experience, "No matter the method, you killed the leader of a force capable of threatening my kingdom, with manpower enough to topple Grens Province after occupying the Oakwind Strath. Your contribution to the extermination of the Mammoth Bandits remains undeniable."
Knowing that the king had made his decision firm, Luca did not continue, "As you wish, Your Majesty, I will accept."
The king's grin grew once again as he took a liking to the young boy. Beckoning to his advisor, who came forward to hand him several papers, Arthur spoke, "According to the report following the emergency quest from Grens Province's Governor Dominic, it's said that you are Dragonborn, yes?"