Kingdom of Geros

On the journey to the kingdom, Kiren and Derek talked about their interests. It turns out they had a lot in common. Derek reckoned that this elf was no different to any young adult from his old world; passionate, naive yet still immature at times; while sharing mutual interests with other people her age. She was probably as old as Derek. Whenever Kiren wasn't in the kingdom, she would go hunting with her team. On occasions where they nail big game, they celebrate back at the kingdom. She didn't say much else, but it certainly seemed like she led a pretty exciting and busy life.

On the other hand, Kiren was interested to know how Derek managed to propel towards the two beasts they fought earlier. From Kiren's naked eye, everything was a blur, and all she saw was dark smoke and two beasts thrown into the air. Luckily she didn't mention the voice that bellowed within the smoke.

Derek knew not to say much, and simply mentioned how he developed innate learning for teleportation magic at birth and really didn't know much about it. Telling how his ability to fly was out of the question; Derek used his magic to blast himself into the air. It seemed like Derek was hesitant to say anything more, so Kiren stopped asking him questions.

Kiren and Derek finally arrive at the front of the kingdom gates.

At first sight, Derek was extremely impressed. The entrance's architecture rivaled his old world's encapsulating beauty. At the front of the gate were two elven head statues built from limestone, standing tall and high above the outer walls. The face of the statue was no king or famous person, but rather the first elven builders of the kingdom. Geros holds a diverse community, but it's origin is predominately elven, and as such, the design was reminiscent of ancient elven ruins.

* The Kingdom of Geros Discovered! Archive Updated. *

* Quest Journey to the Kingdom of Geros Completed! 30 Aers rewarded, Side Quest Branching Unlocked. Balance: 150 Aers. *

Z.E.D. popped up on queue to formally introduce the kingdom they were about to enter.

[The Geros Kingdom is predominately an elven kingdom and accepting of all races. It is the kingdom with the lowest crime rate, and boasts the highest quality of life amongst all kingdoms. Trade has prospered here due to the combination and intermingling of technology between the ideas of all cultures.]

When the gigantic gate opened. Derek's mouth dropped to the floor.

Strips of royal gold and lime flushed across sharp skyscrapers supported by marbled columns. Intricate drawings and sketches could be seen etched onto the surfaces of houses, markets, and other places of gathering. Finely trimmed bushes and other flora spread across the rooves of houses as if nature and the kingdom were one entity. Far inside the kingdom, laughs and cheers could be heard at the center of the plaza. The whole kingdom could see the astounding gate spread wide open.

"My lady! Welcome home!"

"Lady Kiren!"

"Everyone! Our princess has come back from her hunt!"

Derek was at a loss. Lady? Princess? Could they mean--

The demon angel's eyes darted towards Kiren as people began to shuffle in a circle as though they were being sucked in by a singularity. Dwarves, humans, elves, and other races alike raced towards the princess and kneeled down to pay their respects.

[Sire, I'm updating your systems now. It seems that your bash in with the female elf earlier yesterday caused some malfunctions in the system. Debugging Kiren's information...]

* Analyzing... *

* Name: Princess Kiren Reikas of the Geros Kingdom, Firstborn of King Reikas the III and Rightful Heir to the Throne. Race: Elf. Class: Shadowdancer. *

Derek's jaw couldn't drop any lower. How could Z.E.D. mess up such an important figure? More importantly, how could Kiren not tell him? Derek threw his hands up and looked at Kiren in bewilderment, but she was being showered with an onslaught of people that kept pushing past him. Even the gate guards jumped out of their stations to rush and bow to their princess.

"Princess!"

"Lady Kiren! How did your hunti--"

"Your Majes--"

"Your Highness!"

Hundreds upon hundreds of people from all races crowded around the homecoming queen. It would be an understatement to say that she was popular in town. Back in Derek's old world, this sort of mayhem would be equivalent to a sighting of an A-list celebrity.

To Derek's surprise, Kiren switched gears to the powerful presence of true royalty. "Please. Settle down, people of Geros. I am unscathed and unharmed. It brings me true joy to arrive home after weeks of absence to return to my people."

The crowd roared in unison. People were jumping and yelling at the back, eager to see the princess. At the center of the ring, some men even took out their handkerchiefs and wipe away tears. Little elven children could be seen bawling their eyes out, mostly because of the outrageous noise the people were making.

"People of Geros! Please, I would like to address the kingdom in an important manner." The people immediately quieted as she cleared her throat. "It has come to my attention that I have been gone too long. The kingdom is in a complicated position and my father, the king, needs me now more than ever." The gate guards regained their composure as the kingdom guards started to usher in and pave the way for their princess.

Kiren gave an honest sigh of sadness. "I would love to share my stories of the hunt with my people, but forgive me, as I have pressing matters to attend to. My number one priority is the safety of the kingdom and you all. With that, I shall take my leave."

The crowd roared even louder after hearing the speech given by the young princess. Even the guards had a hard time containing its people.

"Oh, your Highness has matured so finely!"

"She'll be a great heir to the throne!"

The guards finally made way for the princess to go to the castle, but not before Kiren shot a glance at Derek and pointed at him.

"Him. He comes with me."

And with that, the guards drag Derek onto the horse carriage and plop him right next to Kiren. Derek was about to go insane. He had so many questions he needed to ask Kiren. As he was about to open his mouth, Kiren put a finger on his lips.

"Hush, Vars. I'll tell you everything when we get to the castle."

It seemed like Kiren didn't want to say anything during the ride there, but Derek couldn't help but blurt out.

"Are you kidding me, Kiren? All this time?" Derek wasn't even mad. He was amazed. What luck this reincarnation has given him? It all seemed like a fairytale, except that the princess came to his rescue instead.

Kiren tried to keep her composure now that she was back at the kingdom but her face flushed red with embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Vars. It's just... everybody looks at me and only see me as royalty, not for who I really am, and it's gotten dull."

Kiren gazed in the distance. "My people have given me such a huge responsibility and burden that I feel obliged to take on. They rely on me and I'm not sure who I am anymore. I don't feel like a princess nor someone anybody can rely on, but because of my position, I'm faced with an enormous duty to help my people, and my life has become senseless. I'm not sure if people like me because I'm Kiren or because I'm the princess of Geros. It seems a bit selfish and shallow, but I'm an elf too."

Kiren turned to look Derek directly in the eyes. "You're the only person so far who didn't realize who I was when you first saw me. You saw me as who I was, rather than who I'm supposed to be, and these past two days were the days I've felt like an actual person."

[Sire, your heart rate is reaching an abnormal level.]

Derek was sweating profusely. He definitely did not sign up for this. The drop-out of the Skylar Academy, supposedly being led on by an angelic elf princess from a fantasy world? This most certainly was not happening, Derek told himself. Yet it was, and he was at a standstill, paralyzed from head to toe. What on Earth, no... Aeras was happening?

As Kiren stared into Derek's eyes, her eyes slowly began darted away; Derek could see her cheeks began to burn up. As Kiren tried to regain her composure, Derek signed a breath of relief and chuckled. That was a close one. If she did anything else, my heart would've surely imploded.

Kiren looked back at Derek and got even more flustered. "It's not funny!" Tears begin to well up from her eyes. Derek continued to chuckle and thoughts about his previous life began to pop up. How he was treated by other people, and what they saw him as.

"Even though she's a princess, she's still a elf."

Meanwhile, in the Faras forest.

A light crack appears in the middle of the forest as a ghostly white hand shoots up from the ground. The hand started to act manically, grasping and clawing at a blood trail. Another arm shoots out, but this time, fiery dark hands emerge from the ground, melting the earth to give away to the monstrosity that rose.

"VVaaarrr... sssiii... nnnaaarr..." The creature let out a ghastly whisper. It swept its head across the blood trail, pushing its nose against the red soil.

"Kkrrrrrrrr... iiiiii... rrrr..." It suddenly stopped in its tracks to what seemed to be a bloody rag. Click, click. The creature begins contorting its body in a spasm, letting out a shrill scream of glee. It skitters towards the cloth and grabs it with its claw. It shoves the cloth into its nose and inhales deeply, letting out a moan as the smell of the hardened cloth streams through its body.

"At last, the blood of The True King is close." Grasping the cloth with its talons, the creature contorts its body once again before burrowing underground.

"Longggggg liveeeee theeee kinggggg..."