POV Vesuvius:
Vesuvius resting within the chaotic storm of lightning, pitch-black frost, and flashing solar flares, observed two tiny figures standing on a distant rocky island.
The tall alien and the short dwarf both faced a stone tooth, looking just like insignificant ants below the huge dragon and his searing aura.
A heavy-looking polearm in the dwarf's hand slowly lowered as he aimed it at the stone tooth.
The hexagonal purple crystal embedded within its head brightly glowed and energy passed through the arrays of runes and metal rods straight into the second smaller and round crystal at its tip.
The tip pulsed a single time, and a blast of heat shot out before passing through the last, third crystal that was pointy like the tip of a spear. A thin and brief ray punctured through the air.
Instantly the stone teeth exploded, with semi-molten shrapnel flying in every direction.
"You majesty, we have already started on rearming your army."
The dwarf bowed, hugging the polearm weapon with his bulky, muscular arms.
Vesuvius carefully ogled the weapon, his eyes shining as he imagined his new reformed army.
'Ohh my, this will increase the deadliness of my kobold infantry through the roof.'
In its base, the weapon was a short polearm with its huge axe-like head and shaft engraved with glowing runes. freewebno(v)el
'It can be used in melee battle while still able to unleash powerful ranged attack.' It was a weapon ideal for his soldiers and the doctrine and style of warfare they were trained for.
Mana crystal and small magic circles were embedded straight within its blade. The lines of mana-conductive metal rods connected it to the single crystal with the engraved attack spell circuit.
The dragon immediately recognized the spell engraved on it, 'Fire ray, a standard attack spell.'
Finally, right behind it was the last and smallest crystal.
'Ohhh, it looks like it works on a similar principle to my lenses. This one must be adding that explosive effect to the ray passing through it. Simple and effective.'
Vesuvius woke up from his thoughts as the alien in his space suit erupted into laughter, "Hahaha, I might not understand the energy source and the weird crystalline technology, but even I can see how bad and crude this thing is."
'That is not that surprising...'
The alien scientist continued raging, ignoring the dwarf staring at him, "What the heck is it even? Just some advanced power source slapped with few conductors to fuel this crystal energy array? What a cheap piece of shit..."
The dragon just watched in surprise at how brave the alien was with his outburst, 'What happened? He was so scared before and how he is just shouting...'
"I might be new here, but I can tell you, your majesty, that you are being scammed. All my suggestions were declined for no reason."
The dwarf stepped closer, his eyes threateningly dilating, "What nonsense are you talking about?! We need to produce it in mass. Even if we triple down our workforce we will not be able to finish it in time if I make the changes you have proposed."
"Such a lie, with the ability to produce these crystal technologies it should be an easy task to manufacture my proposed modifications. You just want to pocket the difference!"
The air around the dwarf almost burst into fire, with stone cracking under his feet.
"I have seen it before at my home world. I saw how corrupt government officials as you rotted away the country from within until we lost even the power to defend ourselves. I just watched it in silence! This time I will not be quiet! This time I will not let people like you rot this place too."
The dwarf clenched his giant fist, his eyes murderously shining with fury, making Vesuvius realize he had to set in before something bad happened.
"Silence!" Both fell to the ground as the dragon's voice boomed through his entire divine kingdom, sending ripples through the sea of magma and clouds of ash and snow in the sky.
He quietly finished his words in contrast to his previous shout, "Show him the workshop. Show him our manufacturing capabilities."
Only now, Vesuvius realized the size of the misunderstanding between his two minions, 'With him witnessing magic, it is not surprising for him to think our technology is advanced... sadly, he is wrong. We have no way to effectively produce small and precise parts.'
Even the weapon before him was only mass-producible thanks to their near-unlimited source of the otherwise precious mana stones and the naturally high mana reserves of dragon kind.
'He seems passionate about his works. That is good, as he will have a lot to do. For him and his people to build and reform my production chain... hard, but doable.'
The dragon turned at the egg submerged within the boiling, molten stone, carefully studying it for any signs of damage. To his relief, he could feel life within it.
'I wonder when you hatch.'
Vesuvius stood with his huge body towering above the islands and the sea of lava like a giant volcano. His eyes burned with determination.
'Once you hatch, there will be war. One could even say that you will be baptized by that war.'
POV ???:
In the grandiose main chamber, with its tall dome and the giant, shiny white statue of the dragon in its center, stood multiple players in their black robes and silver masks, symbolizing their high rank within the faction.
The middle-aged man in knightly armor with long horns and the woman with red glowing eyes stood right before them.
The counts noble-sounding voice resonated through the hall and also everyone's souls, "There will be war soon. You are officially officers in our army that served their majesty from the begging, so you will receive your orders beforehand."
Whispers came from the small group. Some were filled with worry, while others were filled with excitement.
"So the rumors were true... there will truly be a war."
"There is no way that we will lose with the big boss on our side."
"Let them burn! I want to see his majesty turn their armies into deserts of ashes!"
The mad judicator stepped forward, her long red dress rustling with each of her steps,
"Secrecy is required, you are not allowed to speak about and spread anything that will be said."
Lili gawked paranoidly at their group. 'As if we would do that. No, one would be so stupid to leak crucial information just for a few likes. At least as long there are no spies between us.' It was no longer just a game. It was now a serious business to them.
The madwoman continued her speech, her shoes rhythmically tapping on the marble floor as he slowly walked, "Your task is simple. Secure the dedicated teleportation arrays until the day of the war."
Finally, she stopped before large metal crates with royal seals and the dragon on them.
"Here, these are the prototypes of the latest weapons developed for our weapons. Take them and use them well."
Ding!
// New faction mission: freeweb(n)ovel.co(m)
Objective: Secure your assigned teleportation array and guard it without arousing suspicion
Quest item: (Magic Weapons) Draketooth Halbeard
Reward: 2 X Instant level up; 1000 gold coins; ???
//
Silence fell upon the massive hall as everyone read through their missions with bathed breaths.
'Doesn't sound too hard... but I am sure it will be deep within enemy territory which has a lot of risks.'
Suddenly a voice echoed, "I have a question."
Lili immediately recognized that voice, making her flinch just thinking about that madman, 'Ohh, no. I know where is this going.'
"Yes?"
"Can it set things on fire?"
"Yes..."
"Hahaha, in that case, I will take one! Finally, the era of flamethrowers has arrived!" Immediately the figure in red rushed out of their group straight toward the nearest crate, fire burning under his feet.
'Ohh no. Is he the right person for this kind of mission? Why am I worried that he will burn the teleportation array instead of protecting it... he shouldn't be allowed to defend anything.'
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om