Elise curiously looked out of the window of the carriage they were in, watching Blue Wave Harbor slowly appear at the horizon.

"The place has changed since the last time I was there…" her mother suddenly said, causing her to turn around to her. As the empress of Safe Harbor, she usually didn't visit any minor towns and when she did she took a battleship as it was better defended against dragons.

Due to the high activity of Ocean Dragons however they hadn't been able to take that route and while the advisors had told her to wait until things calmed down and then travel per ship, she had insisted on departing immediately, so they had assembled a defensive convoy instead and departed.

The convoy she and her mother were in would however not reach the safety of the town until this evening. While her mother ensured her that the convoy they were in was well defended, sporting 30 men and 4 carriages with ballista's loaded on top of them, she still glanced nervously at the sky every once in a while.

"Why exactly did we come here again? You never told me…" she finally asked her mother.

"My messengers brought me rumors of a person who lives in this town. The Mechanic, as they call him is said to be incredibly smart as well as skilled in technology and it has been said that he turned the place he lived in from a basic harbor that was weekly terrorized by dragons into a fortress of futuristic machinery that even the dragon queens tremble before it's sight. It's even rumored that he has been able to kill a dragon all by his own."

"That sounds pretty far-fetched…" Elise replied unsurely.

"I know, and I don't believe half of it myself, but I learned that every rumor has a true core and for people to speak so highly of him he must have done something impressive enough to deserve my attention. Who knows, in the end, he might indeed have something to effectively fend off dragons. The fact that he has weapons far more advanced than anything we have is something all sources agree on."

"And you believe that?" she asked, doubtful of her mother's judgment which was new as the empress was usually very smart.

"Just look out of the window sweetie." she replied with a chuckle. "That harbor is way more fortified than any minor harbor of its size usually would be. Balista's, spiked walls, water mill… It even has a keep with a protective roof that has enough windows to cover every angel."

Now that she looked closer she realized that it was true. The town had been heavily modified in different places, using technology she either had never seen before and the things she did recognize could usually either not be afforded by a smaller town because of either price or lack of manpower to operate them.

"I'm quite interested in what he can actually do and what's just rumors." her mother continued while she was still gawking.

"Are you afraid?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he sounds like someone you don't want to mess with… What if he decides that we're the enemy?"

"We will see, we will see…"

[A few hours later]

Elise felt herself relax a bit after they had entered the town. While she was a bit nervous about meeting the Mechanic she was happy that they were safe from dragons now.

She watched the curious crowd of townsfolks that had gathered to see her arrival, wondering if anyone of them was the Mechanic while she climbed out of the carriage, quickly following her mother.

From what she knew they were heading towards the town hall to meet the city's council. She wondered what that was like. Most towns and cities she visited before were commanded by minor lords or nobles, this was the first time she was to meet a leadership of multiple people.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden light. Curiously looking up she saw that a bunch of lanterns was placed on poles next to the road and they were slowly igniting one after the other illuminating the streets while the sun slowly settled.

"Wow…" she mumbled in awe, as she walked past another lantern that lit up. Looking closer she saw a small mechanism inside the lantern, but she couldn't figure out how it ignited the oil lantern.

Looking back at the street she saw that her mother had noticed it too, but she was professionally hiding her surprise behind her dignity even though she kept giving quick glances at the unknown technology.

"Well so far the mechanic seems to be quite capable in his job…" she could hear her quietly mumble.

Continuing their way they came across a beautiful playground with bright colors and a large amount of choice when it came to playing equipment. Multiple children of different ages were happily running or climbing around without any care of worry in the world while a few adults sat on a nearby bench, happily chatting one to the other while watching their kids with a smile.

Elise gave it a sad look wishing she could go and join them. Despite her status and age as well as the fact that she usually wasn't interested at all in these things, this place was different. Whoever built the playground has put a lot of effort into it and paid a lot of attention to even the smallest of details while making sure that everything was safe for use. There was even a first aid kid near the benches where the parents were sitting.

With a sigh, she moved on quickly catching up with her mother who was observing a few guards train at a barrack.

"They seem to have another type of Balista than the one we're using… They seem to be more basic judging by their size." she could hear her say once getting into earshot.

"They only look that way." a man suddenly said towards her. He was wearing basic clothing and looked to be in his early twenties. "But you should never judge a book by its cover. The components of the weapons have been compressed into the weapon so that it takes up less space. In fact their one of the strongest models on the continent while still being able to be operated by only one person thanks to multiple pulleys."

The empress looked surprised at the man who had addressed her. "You seem to know a lot about these ballista's…"

He chuckled. "Of course I do. I was the one who built them after all."

Decided that it's time to expand upon the world a bit and move beyond the walls of Blue Wave Harbor.

As always, if you have any feedback to give, feel free to comment. It's greatly appreciated. :D