As the incoming Cloud Weaver finally slowed down near the third platform, ropes were tossed out from the deck like they were going out of style. Workers caught them with practiced ease and tied them to poles. Then, one particularly brawny worker, who clearly skipped leg day in favor of arms, turned a knob on an iron table that was far too stylish to be just a table.
Ether started to flow through the detailed patterns on the table, and the poles started glowing, and the wheels they where attached to started to spin inward, tightening the ropes and pulling the Cloud Weaver down toward the dock with a satisfying thud.
Judge watched the ship dock with a masked excitement, his outward expression was that of a four year old who was yet to learn the ways of the world. But inside, he was really excited to see two of his pawns in the grand game of life again.
Both of them had accepted his terms to work for him, he enticed them with words like 'work together, forever' and 'I'll be the leader since I am the smartest'. Two young kids were really easy to manipulate, it was a break time for him after orchestrating industrial battles of information.
He checked his pocket watch again without knowing why, the ship had finished docking and it took a whole five minutes to get things right and let the passengers head out.
Everyone shifted their attention as armored knights started to come out one by one uniformly. After they all had gotten out and stood facing each other, they took out their swords and lifted them forward, forming an arch.
Stein, the second prince of Eldris, walked forward. Together with his father and older brother, both of them were tall and slim. The king wore a neatly tailored, overly ornate regal dress. His blue hair was combed back neatly, there was a sword sheathed on his waist.
Meanwhile, the first prince wore a white suit with gold embroidery patterns. He had a black bow tie and a few golden chains hanging from his waist. He had blonde hair that was combed to the side, coupled together with the fact that he was a prince, it was no doubt that he had ladies fawning over him.
Stein immediately ran towards Judge, who facepalmed in embarrassment, "He has no sense of manner or decency... Should I really be using this Idiot over his brother?" he was silently sighing, "No, I can use him." He steeled himself, "A blade must be sharpened before it can cut."
"Judge!" He jumped onto him to give Judge a hug, Stein was the same age as him, only a few months older, he had blue hair like the king. It was a sign of the royal blood. most of the males in the royal family had blue hair, with rare exceptions like the second prince.
Soon, a group of ladies came out, and at the center was the queen, she had a blonde hair and almond eyes. Her features were sharp, her dress was red with many colored embroideries of different types. What stood out about her was her ears, they were on her head like a cat.
But Judge's focus was on the little girl beside the queen, Raphael, she was the Queen's niece. Their background was ordinary, the Queen was a commoner from the beast race and she lived together with her brother's family. They died together with their two elder daughters, leaving Raphael behind.
Raphael too had blonde hair and sharp, furry ears, she wore an elaborate emerald gown with green flowers stitched on them, she came to Judge as The King, Queen, and the first prince all gave him a heartfelt smile before heading to their designated rest-rooms, they still had about an hour before the party starts.
Judge, together with his two "Pawns", headed to his room.
"Hey, Judge!" Stein took out a brand new wand, it was only a few months old at best, "Look what your mom made for me! Isn't she the best?"
His wand had a sleek design, the handle was blue colored with silver patterns twisting around from one end to another. The shaft was made of pure silver with a hint of gold and bronze, there was a transparent jewel in the place of a guard between the shaft and the handle, Judge knew it was the catalyst.
"Huh?! I did not get a wand all this time and you tell me that my Mom gave it to YOU?" Judge acted surprised and jealous, of course, she would not give him one before he was four. But children are not meant to think logically when it comes to these things like jealousy.
"Your mother made one for me too, it is not exactly a wand, but it is still a catalyst." Raphael showed him her necklace with a white stone embedded inside it, it had an iron holding and silver chains. There was a hue of pink and blue mixed in the white stone, making it look like the night sky, full of stars— but color graded.
Judge kept up his act of jealousy, "Heh! I hope Mother gives me one during the party as a present." He had gotten many catalysts in his journey across the world.
He still had not officially gone out of the land of dragons, it was because children under the age of four rarely go out of the land, if ever. It was an unspoken rule, and is followed by even his grandfather who opposes many of the dragon's ways.
While he has not visited many places, he has gotten a good haul of catalysts from the researcher's lab, he had searched the place after Hawthorne had taken the diary, because he visited the place after he turned one year old, after his mother's watchful eyes relaxed off of him.
While his collection mostly consisted of one time use catalysts, but there were some rechargeable catalysts with a deep pool ether and catalysts with deep ether holding capacity were both rare and powerfull.
But he was yet to try them, mostly because he could not show anyone that he had it. And even when he went outside, he did not had the opportunity to use them, a dragon's ether pool was plenty.