Prologue: The Elftarise Kingdom

Elftarise... a land filled with rich ore reserves and abundant mana, where people who live there are considered to be the luckiest beings on earth.

Known to be the most powerful nation...no...Empire, Elftarise stands at the top of the list, followed by other nations around the land.

However, before the Empire was known as "Elftarise", the land was utterly deserted. Filled with forest greens and sweetly fragrant flowers.

Additionally, the land was also called the 'Death Zone' by everyone who passed by the place.

Like the name entailed, corpses, carcasses, and blood could be seen everywhere. A foul smell was left after every turn.

Large amounts of uncontrollable mana could be seen by the naked eyes of mages and wizards, half-humans or not.

Some might even be thinking, "Is this what hell looked like?"

Due to the large amount of excessive mana concentrated in that forest, it attracted all sorts of creatures and monsters. Ranging from all sorts of different sizes, from prey to predators.

Monsters who get attracted to the energy source go berserk.

With an insatiable thirst for power, they fight each other to reign over the territory filled with ominous energy.

Travelers, merchants, and even mercenaries who traverse the land are afraid of getting eaten up by such monsters and would normally take the longer route, around the forest.

On the other hand, the adventurous and daring might consider passing through such a dangerous forest, the shortest and the most dangerous route, to reach their destination.

However, one should be wary though, a wrong step into the cursed forest's territory and your head might become a glorious feast for the monsters.

If you are lucky enough, you may be able to come out alive, with an arm or a leg chopped off but most who step into the forest will never see the light of day ever again.

Maybe that is how the forest got its name.

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Well...the name...' Death Zone' has gone down in history by now. That was a story from hundreds of years ago.

With the help of the very first emperor, His Majesty, Wagner Von Ritzer, it was a miracle that even such a place went from being called the most dangerous place on earth, feared by everyone, to the most prosperous Empire called home by the content citizens living there.

One might even be confident and proudly proclaim: "I think I saved the entire universe in my past life to be able to grow up here!"

How did His Majesty end up creating such a wonderful place to live in?

It was said that...His Majesty...before he was known as the Emperor of Elftarise, used to live in Elftar. It was a small and humble village. The village was filled with joy and laughter with enough resources just to get by.

Having grown up in such a peaceful area, His Majesty was curious about what it was like outside the village he lived in.

Since young, he had been told by his parents that beyond the Elftar Village, there was a deadly and dangerous place called the 'Death Zone', filled with mana energy so strong and poisonous, that it was enough to kill wildlife found there.

"Don't you ever leave the village carelessly!", these were the words that his parents drilled into his head since young, just in case His Majesty was dumb enough to do something stupid.

Unsurprisingly enough, His Majesty was THAT type of person.

Ominous mana energy? It did not seem to faze His Majesty at all.

The village may be small but it was also home to various bloodlines, especially those who can wield magic. His Majesty was lucky enough to be born with an ability and was one of the minorities who could wield the power of magic.

He, himself was even well-trained enough to protect his family and friends.

Having a kind yet curious and adventurous personality, though his parents were disapproving at first, he had decided that once he had become of age, he would go and look for this 'Death Zone'.

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Finally, a few years has passed and the day had arrived.

One morning, he decided to leave the village to search for the 'Death Zone' with a few of his close subordinates, Sir Hogan, and his knights.

Before Sir Hogan was known as "Sir Hogan", he was just a simple swordsman who protects the village with a group of other swordsmen.

Additionally, being a close friend of His Majesty during his childhood days, he was the only other person that His Majesty could trust to join forces with to investigate this "Death Zone".

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Days and nights flew by quickly and they finally reached the forest. His Majesty and his subordinates continued their journey to the center of the forest, trying their very best to slay every monster that stood in their way and eventually, became victorious.

After reaching the center, they went on to find the main source of energy, the dark energy that created the cursed mana.

As they were walking closer to the main source of energy, a foul smell of rotting dead matter, unrecognizable skeletal structure, and dried-up blood can be smelt throughout.

It was strong enough to send the group of men crying.

After a few miles of walking, with mask barely covering up their mouth and nose from inhaling such a stench, they finally reached the center and found the main source.

There was a high amount of aura surrounding a body of some sort.

His Majesty and a few others who could wield magic came forward and tried to counteract the ominous mana.

It took them the whole night but they eventually managed to calm the mana and little to their surprise, what they saw was shocking...it was a large black dragon carcass.

Everyone stopped whatever they were doing and came closer to look at the situation. All of them said nothing and started to clear out the carcass after saying some prayers to the body, "May the body not be disturbed and be passed on to the afterlife."

After clearing out the dragon carcass, the mana surrounding the forest started to disappear and daylight was finally able to shine through the forest.

Amongst the body of the dead dragon shows a ravine filled with riches ranging from the cheapest of copper ores to the most precious of emeralds and crystals. Outside of the rich ore reserves, an abundance of other resources could be found anywhere and everywhere in the forest.

"We struck gold! Such mana was covering the treasures!" They all exclaimed excitedly.

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The Elftarise Kingdom...a name decided on after "Elftar", his hometown village that had "Risen" with the discovery of riches and resources.

A wonderful Empire with a humble background.

But enough of the history talk, the current emperor of Elftarise, following his ancestor's feet, is His Majesty, Raphter Von Ritzer, the tenth generation of the Ritzer family, with His Highness, the Crown Prince Damien Von Ritzer as the next heir to the throne.

Peace and tranquility can be seen all year round, but as generations passed and developments are being seen throughout the Empire, can it still stay number one on the list?

Who would have thought that this so-called 'Death Zone' birthed the Kingdom of Elftarise?