Stardust Continent

"So we are in the kingdom of Thurasia?" Andrea confirmed. "How many kingdoms are here?"

"Well, to the East of Thurasia is Angian Kingdom and further north is the Sumian Kingdom," As old man Zen explained this, he lifted a 3D map of the three kingdoms and showed it to the two ladies.

"Andrea?" Rina called. "Is it just me or is this continent star shaped?"

"Yeah, I see it too," Andrea mumbled, deep in thought. "Old Man Zen, is this the real map of this continent? Aren't there any more land masses aside from this one?"

Old Man Zen shook his head with a smile. "This is as far as the Explorer guild has gone," he then continued to say, "It is a shame that we aren't able to traverse the whole world, no one really knows what is on the other side of the planet."

"..."

Rina and Andrea looked at each other with a knowing smile. They both were thinking the same thing.

'If they haven't even explored the whole planet then where should we get spaceship parts?'

"That space.. ship?" Old Man Zen started to ask.

"I know what you want to ask, so yes, it does fly," Andrea cut him off. She knew the history of man and how everyone wished to conquer the skies. It was the very beginning of inventions.

"Uuhm.. doesn't it use a lot of mana stones?" Old Man Zen straightened his robes. The two girls had an expression that clearly said, "WTF now?".

That was when Andrea noticed his style of clothes.

He would clearly pass for some Chinese royalty save for the cape hanging on his shoulders.

The robes were made out of linen, at least that's what she saw. On his waist, a purple piece of cloth served as a belt to hold the robes together.

The old man noticed Andrea gazing at his belt and he laughed.

"Although I'm just a Beginner Master Mage, I'm really old and I think I can give you a lot of information on this place," he stopped and put his palms together. "Provided you take me for a ride on you ship.."

HAHAHA!!

Rina started laughing outrightly.

Andrea and the old man we're puzzled by her outburst.

"Little girls are so stubborn nowadays," Old Man Zen could only grit his teeth. "You know not all mages have affinity to Wind so not all can obviously fly?!" He added, a tinge of jealousy in his voice.

PFFT!!

Andrea couldn't keep it down either. She found herself already laughing even before the man finished speaking.

...

HAHAHAHA!!

A moment later, it was Old Man Zen's turn to laugh. He fell on the black floor and rolled around in laughter. He truly looked like a maniac now.

"You.. you.. haah," he panted in between speech. "And she thinks.. huuff.. I'm sorry, it has been long since I laughed so hard."

Andrea and Rina felt very embarrassed. They knew they had slipped up and said something out of the norm.

"Old Man Zen, what was so funny?" Andrea said tactically. Knowing she was in the dark here, she didn't dare try to point out her own mistake, lest she makes more.

"Didn't you say magic isn't real?" the old man said cockyly. "You might as well as say fish can fly.." he mocked.

"You mean magic is real?" Rina raised her brows.

Old Man Zen nodded.

"And some can even fly?" The old man nodded again. "Do they have wings or jetpacks?" Rina asked. She thought it would be weird that people had wings, but it would be a big surprise if jetpacks were already available yet the haven't seen the rest of their own world.

"Only birds and Avians have wings, silly little child," old man Zen mocked. "To think you can be so stupid and stubborn.. tch!"

"You.. Nng!" Rina grunted in anger.

"Let us not get ahead of ourselves," Andrea talked, she had to or else..

"How about you tell us more about this Kingdom?" She said while pushing Rina back to her seat.

...

Thurasia was one of the five known Kingdoms of continent Stardust. It was at the most central part of the continent. The other Kingdoms were: The Sumian Kingdom, bordering Thurasia on the North; the Angian Kingdom on the West; The Avian Kingdom at the South and to the East the Erius Coast Kingdom.

Due to the continent's unique star shape, four of the kingdoms were found near the edges of the continent and only Thurasia did not border the sea.

There were trade routes converging in on Thurasia's main city due to it's position.

Not all routes were safe to travel, however. Although trading took place between all kingdoms, not all traders can do this.

A good example was the Avian Kingdom.

They mainly sold feathers for making cushions and also were good with medicine. The problem was that one had to gain their trust to safely trade in their cities, making feather a really scarce commodity. For one to get their hands on Avian medicine, the person would be an enigma.

For as long as Old Man Zen had lived, only the traders hired by King Darthus, the ruler of Thurasia, had such medicine in the King's street.

This meant that only high class people could access such as King's street was built for the rulers only.

Apart from the Avian Kingdom, the others had a similar administration.

The king at the top, followed by the Regional Dukes, and the Barons ruling over major cities, with the Lords being in charge of main villages and small towns.

The city of Zeth was the home to the King's palace. According to old Man Zen, only nobles lived around the palace area, covering over three hundred acres of land.

Also, the only information on the Avian Kingdom was that they had a queen but none knew her name. Their lifestyle also remained a secret.

Aside from that, there were rummers of a great floating continent. It was cited once by a member of the Explorer Guild but it is taken as just an illusion. The other Kingdoms also owned some islands in the sea.

Old Man Zen proceeded to tell them to always take the main paths if travelling through cities.

"A great number of people have died taking shortcuts. Although the main paths aren't totally safe, there is lower chances of meeting beasts," he added.

"What type of beasts are we speaking of?" Andrea asked out of curiosity. As long as she had her suit on, any wild animal would be as harmless as a teddy bear.

"I'm afraid these aren't your everyday normal beasts," his face turned serious. "From my speculation, none of you have a single martial soul and that pretty much means the lowest of a magic beast can crush you as you would an ant."

"..."

"Now am really curious where you two came from," old Man Zen felt his brows raise. "You two must have come right out of a rabbit hole or you truly are big babies to be so.. outdated."