At that point, the crew all realized that Karl was just cherry-picking stories to mess with them, but none of them doubted that Rae could mutilate an armoured vehicle.

"Which one of your pets is the friendliest?" The producer asked hopefully.

"Thor, followed by Remi. Hawk isn't really a people person, he just likes to watch them doing dumb stuff from above."

Hawk nodded in agreement. People were always doing dumb things. That was why you had to watch your fireballs all the way down. Because they might run right into them.

The producer nodded, then gestured for the Inquisitor to start the interview. "Good evening parishioners. I am High Priest Israel, here with a special bit of good news for you all. It is my pleasure to let you all know that we have independently verified that this young man sitting next to me has reached a major milestone. This is Prince Karl, born and raised in the Lithium Mines, and now the newest member of the Royal Rank Elites. Beside him is his Dragonhawk, who answers to the name Hawk. They are the subject of the recent hit song, Hawk the Giant Slayer.

Why don't we start there? The hawk is a majestic example of the species, and more powerful than I think any of use would have expected. Is he like a Parrot? Can he speak and understand human language?" The Inquisitor asked.

Hawk shook his head and Karl answered for him. "He can understand us just fine, but he can't speak. However, our bond allows us to communicate, so I can relay answers for him."

"That sounds like an incredibly useful ability. Is that why you rely upon him to do most of the scouting for your group?" Karl nodded. "Indeed. Being able to look down on a situation from above gives us a much better idea of what is going on, and reveals many hidden traps and potential ambushes that would have been hidden when scouted from ground level.

Combined with the extremely well refined eyesight and enhanced range of colours that he can see, and it is an incredibly potent combination."

"We are told that there is a song about you two, have you had a chance to hear it?" Israel asked.

"We did, actually. The bards in camp were playing it, and we got a good chuckle out of their rendition of our activities. They are truly a gifted class of Elites." Karl agreed.

Inquisitor Israel gave a professional smile to the camera, paused for a few seconds, giving them time to insert footage of the music, then continued. "How does it feel to be the youngest Royal Rank Elite in the decade that the program has been running? It has to be exciting for you."

Karl nodded. "It's a crazy feeling, and I can't really wrap my head around it. Royal Rank is just so far beyond anything that I thought I could achieve, that it is taking a while to truly sink in."

The interview went on for another half an hour and switched interviewers twice. They were both from the team of reporters, and only asked simple questions while avoiding anything that might need to be heavily edited or completely scrapped.

When they were finally finished, the final reporter got out of his seat, and he was replaced by a young woman in a wizard themed idol dress that wasn't hiding much of anything from Karl's point of view. It was knee-length and ruffled, but there was a slit up the thigh clear to the hip, and deep cleavage, despite the somewhat modest looking wide sleeves and high collar.

Karl was briefly mesmerized by her personality, but then he realized that this woman was also Royal Rank.

"Prince Karl, meet the Archmage." Israel introduced them.

"A pleasure." She responded, sounding like it was nothing of the sort.

"If we're dressing up for this, should I put on my fancy armour?" Karl asked.

The Inquisitor looked confused for a second until Karl changed into [Beast Armour] with the white fur cloak from the Frost Giants and no helmet. This time, the Chitin appeared as white with gold trim over the black scales, and Karl swept out the cloak, letting it pool behind him as he perched forward on the chair.

An assistant rushed forward, rearranging his cloak and his position, then gave him a thumbs up.

The Archmage looked startled at his armour, and leaned forward to inspect it, giving Karl a view down her ample cleavage.

"Is that an Epic Grade quest reward?" She asked.

"An Epic Grade skill as a Trial Reward, actually. The armour isn't physical armour, but created by a skill book. It still has the same sort of powerful enchantments, though. The bonuses on it are far beyond anything I've seen before." Karl agreed.

"What luck that must have been. Is it a new skill, or is that how you have had such success here on the front lines?" She asked curiously, with a flirty smile that Karl recognized as being for the cameras Karl had forgotten were rolling.

"It came to me during my Royal Rank advancement. I haven't even had a chance to properly test it yet."

The Archmage giggled in an endearing tone that didn't show in her eyes to Karl's sharp vision. She was good at this, playing it up for the cameras and doing interviews that she despised, but still making sure that her idol image didn't slip.

"There has been a lot of speculation among the other Ranking Elites on what your next beast will be. Have you made a choice, or received any sort of sign as to what it will be?" She asked.

"Not yet. I have a very well-rounded team, and they have done an excellent job so far. So, I've been holding off on making a decision until I have a better grasp on what we might be missing."

"That sounds like quite the luxury. On behalf of mages everywhere, I must say that I wish it could be so easy to learn new abilities."

Karl smiled and tried to remember what she specialized in. "Well, I've got a few new skill books to gift to the Blue Dragon Clerics, perhaps we can talk after and see if one of them might suit you." Karl replied with what he hoped looked like a shy smile and not a murderous snarl.

He had been reminded in the past that he was somewhat scary even when he didn't mean to be, which could be a mistake during an interview.

"Is that your intention as a Prince? To collect and distribute skills?" She asked, startled. Karl had assumed that they had warned her in advance, as it hadn't come up in his past interview, but he just nodded.

"Yes. It is a particular advantage that I have. It is my hope that with the contributions, it will make the early stages a bit easier for those who start with compatible classes. The Elites benefit from every new skill that we can gather, and I have a particular talent for finding new skills to share."

"That would be wonderful. But first, I have been asked to perform a short segment for the audience. Don't go too far."

"Cut." The producer called.

"We will film the actual bit to use an upcoming single when this is about to air. Thank you both for your assistance. You are finished with the interview process."

Karl sighed and let Hawk return to his space, while the Archmage got up out of her chair and grabbed him by the edges of his cloak.

"You had better not have been fucking with me about the new skill. Do you really have a skill book?" She demanded.

"Relax. I have a talent to make skill books out of the skills that I know. What is your specialty as a mage?" He replied.

"Lightning with a secondary in Ice Magic."

Karl checked what he needed to make the [Chain Lightning] book, and found that he had the herb that he needed, but if he had a Lightning Element stone, it was hidden in Rae's hole of shiny stones.

"Do you have [Chain Lightning]?" He asked.

"Do you think it's so easy to get advanced skills like that? I've got shock, stun, Lightning Bolt and Lightning Mine, plus Ice blast and Icicle for combat skills. Then a few just for show."

"Do you have a Lightning Element stone, Commander Rank or higher? I need to grind it for the ink for the book, and I will make you Chain Lightning. Or I can make you [Blizzard] with what I have on hand." [Blizzard] [Not Blizzard] Remi and Hawk responded at the same time.