4 World building by Tristan

[AURORA WRIGHT. Town of Friendship, Southern Vales, Avalon Sanctuary. Red Day, 13th Week of Winter, Year 5008 of the Avalon Calendar.]

Aurora sat on the large, canopied bed, her face flushed red with embarrassment. Sitting opposite her on the bed, was the teenage male she had encountered in the bathroom. He was no longer towel clad, but instead had on a pair of long pants and a long-sleeved shirt, both made of light cream linen. Over this, he wore a sleeveless aquamarine surcoat that ended just above his knees. He was looking at Aurora through heterochromatic eyes; one blue and the other brown. His face a mixture of happiness and curiosity.

"Thank you for waiting for me while I dressed," the youth smiled. "My name is Tristan Laurel. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name my lady?"

Aurora cycled through responses in her mind. She had thought that her name was Laurel due to the diary she had found. However, she now believed that journal actually belonged to this young man.

"You do speak Common Human right?" asked Tristan. "I'm pretty sure you spoke it earlier when we met. I didn't quite understand the meaning of the words you uttered. But I am certain that you used the Common Human language."

"Yes," replied Aurora, remembering her Character Overview. "I speak Common Human, Avalon and Huaxia."

"Excellent," said Tristan. "I've never heard of Hoo-Ax-Ee-Ah, but I do know that the Avalon tongue is used by nobles and scholars. So that means you must come from a noble family or are well educated."

"My Intelligence attribute is four hundred," said Aurora, without thought. She was still trying to get over the fact that this cute guy was paying her so much genuine attention.

"Wow!" exclaimed Tristan. "That's about as smart as me."

"Really?" asked Aurora with a hint of pride in her voice. She had always been told by others that she was quite bright.

"Yes," acknowledged Tristan. "Intellect is a Primary Attribute. As such a rating of one hundred is average. A rating of four hundred means your Intellect is four times greater than the average person."

"Wow, I'm smart," Aurora though out loud. "Um… not that I'm the type to boast or anything like that."

"That's fine," a smile formed on the young prince's handsome face. "There's nothing wrong with being proud of your talents and achievements."

"So, are all Primary Attributes rated at one hundred for the average person?" Aurora queried.

"In theory," replied Tristan. "Though the term average can be misleading. I'm not really sure which human would be considered average. For example, most nobles and academics have an Intellect above one hundred while most commoners will have an Intellect below that number. Yet the positions change if one were to measure Strength. With commoners having an average strength far higher than most nobles who do not enter military service."

"That makes sense," said Aurora. "Commoners would do a lot more manual labour. While nobles probably have more time to study."

"That's what my teacher said as well," agreed Tristan.

"So, what about Transcendent Attributes?" asked Aurora. "Surely their average can't be one hundred."

"I don't know what Transcendent Attributes are," admitted Tristan. "I've never heard of them. Are those terms from that Hoo-Ax-Ee-Ah language?"

"Yes," lied Aurora.

Aurora deduced that perhaps not everyone had access to Transcendent Attributes. That maybe it was due to her being a transmigrator that she had those stats. She also realised that letting others know that she had strange abilities could lead to unforeseen problems. What if she had some kind of Divine Spiritual Roots and was targeted by a powerful sect who wanted to steal and transfer those roots to their own disciple.

I need to find out what attributes and abilities are possessed by normal people in this world, Aurora decided.

"Tristan," Aurora smiled. "I'm suffering amnesia… probably from being hit on the head. I think my brain is a bit muddled. So, I apologise if a ask strange questions or say anything weird."

"That's alright," Tristan consoled. "Do you at least remember your personal name or family name?"

"My personal name is Aurora, but I don't know my family name," Aurora lied.

Although she felt that Tristan was a kind individual, she had no idea what problems faced the previous owner of her body.

"That's a shame," said Tristan. "Still, I did send someone to the Adventurers' Guild to post a request in finding your kin. I drew a picture of you and provided a description. I'm sure we'll discover your identity sooner or later. Till then, you can stay as my guest."

"Thank you so much Tristan," said Aurora. "Um… if it's not too much to ask. Could you tell me more about the world?"

"Sure," the young prince had a thoughtful expression. "Um… what do you want to know?"

"First off," said Aurora. "What is the name of this world?"

"Wow," said Tristan. "You really do have amnesia. Alright, this world is known to humans, dwarves and most of the non-fey races as the Sanctuary of Avalon."

"There are other races apart from human?" asked Aurora in excitement.

"Yes," stated Tristan. "The fey are the original inhabitants of this world. They consist of a number of different races who all share three things in common. Firstly, they are all natives of this world. Secondly, they all possess innate magical capabilities. Finally, they respect the authority of the High Fey, who are their immortal ruling caste."

"The High Fey are immortal?" Aurora queried with a hint of cynicism in her voice.

"All fey are technically immortal," explained Tristan. "They stop aging after reaching maturity. Most live a few centuries with the High Fey living several millennia. Plus, even if they die, they will simply reincarnate after a few centuries. Because of this, the High Fey had a very different concept of time to the mortal races. They kept no calendars and focused on the flow of events, rather than specific dates.

The current calendar was created by the dwarves. The dwarves and the jotan were the second group of races to arrive in the Sanctuary of Avalon. The dwarves do not speak of what came before they arrival, labelling it as taboo. Meanwhile, the jotan were the slaves of dwarves until relatively recently. They were not allowed to keep records of their past, so were unable to shed light on the two race's origin point.

After the dwarves and jotan, came the beast-kin. The beast-kin is a collective term used to cover a large number of individual races. They were created about four thousand years ago, during the Fey-Dwarf War. The fey were attacked by the dwarves, who wished to expand from their original mountain strongholds. Not wishing to directly engage the dwarves in combat, the fey created a servitude race by uplifting animals into sentient beings. After the Fey-Dwarf War, many of the beast-kin were given their freedom.

Humans only came to the Sanctuary of Avalon less than a thousand years ago. Like the dwarves, the humans were unwilling to speak of their original home world. Unlike the dwarves, humans all manifested in single place; the City of Gates which is at the exact centre of the Sanctuary of Avalon."

"The Sanctuary of Avalon has an actual centre?" pondered Aurora. "Is it underground or something? Who decided it was the centre?"

"The fey decided," stated Tristan. "No-one knows how long ago it happened, but before the coming of the dwarves, the fey created the Great Barrier. The Great Barrier has a radius of ten thousand kilometres and at its centre is the City of Gates."

"What is the Great Barrier for?" asked Aurora. "What's beyond the Great Barrier?"

"Demons," a frown appeared on the young prince's face for the first time. "Demons are monstrous beings who fought against the fey. They are immortal, just like the fey and so neither side was able to win. To avoid further suffering the fey created the Great Barrier to clearly demarcate the extent of their territories."

"Can the demons get past the Great Barrier?" Aurora nervously asked. "What about us? Can we go out?"

"The strongest demons are trapped outside the Great Barrier," stated Tristan in a matter of fact tone. "However, lesser demons can and do cross the barrier. The areas adjacent to the Great Barrier are often targeted by demonic raiders. Three places in particular; the Demon Woods, the Demon Plains and the Deep Water Sea are the sites of constant warfare.

As for those in the Sanctuary of Avalon crossing over to the demonic side… only a fool would do so willingly. Beyond the Great Barrier lies the Chaos Lands. The demonic energies out there are so strong that they will twist the mind and body of mortals who dare trespass. Turning those mortals into demons."

"So, demons are really that scary huh?" queried Aurora. She had a sinking feeling that being a Beast Master probably meant she'd have to end up fighting against the demons.

"Don't worry," Tristan tried to comfort her. "Demons are primarily a threat due to their numbers. However, most individual demons are only slightly stronger than a human soldier. Even the more powerful demons can be defeated by Beast Masters such as myself."

"Beast Master's fight demons…." sighed Aurora. "That's got to suck…."

"Are you a Beast Master?" asked Tristan. "I know you must have some memory of your aura scan, because you knew that your Intelligence was four hundred. Since a person's Character Classes are listed before their Primary Attributes, you would have seen if you had the Beast Master Character Class."

"Um," Aurora hesitated. She wanted to lie, but felt that too guilty, considering how open Tristin was being. "Yeah. But I'm only level one."

"I'm only level one as well," stated Tristan. "All Beast Masters remain at level one until they can create a contract with a Mystical Beast. Still, you being a Beast Master definitely means you're part of one of the noble families. Since only members of the noble families are allowed to become Beast Masters at out age.

Oh, and don't worry about demons. Like I said, Beast Masters can definitely beat them. Also, considering the fact that you didn't have any military effects on you when I rescues you, you're probably not trained to be a soldier. More likely you're supposed to become a contestant in the Beast Master Championships."

"Beast Master Championships?" asked Aurora.

She remembered that Tristan had mentioned this tournament in his journal and she was interested in why such a contest was so important.

"Ah, this will require another history lesson," yawned Tristan. "Though I'm actually getting a bit tired. I missed my regular bedtime because I was too exited after rescuing you. Then I had a bath to relax, but you suddenly came in. I would really like to get a few hours of rest before the dawn. If that's alright."

"Oh," Aurora bit her lip.

The fact that the prince had a set bedtime made him sound much younger than she thought he was. She fretted about asking his age, but decided that such a question would be strange coming from a stranger.

"I'm so sorry for keeping you up," Aurora apologised. "Um… please feel free to sleep. I'll have some rest as well. Um… where can I sleep?"

"You can share my bed," said Tristan. "It's definitely big enough for both of us."

"Is that really alright?" Aurora asked.

"Don't worry," declared Tristan. "Even though I admit that I find you to be quite attractive. I promise on my honour as Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Laurel, that I won't try to take advantage of you."

"Please take advantage… I meant… thanks," Aurora corrected herself. Although she preferred charismatic older men, this young prince was definitely winning her over with his kindness and intelligence.

"I'll dim the light," said Tristan.

He leaned over and touched a small silver rod that was hidden behind one of the large bed posts. Then slid his finger gently downwards, causing the bedroom lights to dim.

Aurora tucked herself under the linen blankets and closed her eyes. She realised that she was quite tired as well. Soon she drifted off to sleep.