CH.6 New friend

Alen had learned a couple of things, first, although this was a world filled with magic technology still excited or at least the idea of technology, Alen had decided to go out and explore the kingdom, what he found out was there were three walls separating parts of the kingdom from the area of the commoners to the palace. The commoner's section was filled with people and was the largest ring among all the three.

But since this was the lowest of the kingdom, it was filled with people and although its living conditions seemed clean and stable that wasn't the case as the area was commonly known to be filled with corrupt guards and gang dealings within the nights, and lately, there were cases of missing women the knights didn't seem interested in investigating it.

Then there was the noble's section, this section of the kingdom housed the different noble factions and unlike the commoner's section everything seemed to be under control and only a few merchants and citizens were even allowed to step foot in there, Alen had thought it was filled with stuck up people, but he couldn't complain since he and the other heroes called this section home.

Finally, the Royal palace was the smallest section of the kingdom, but it still occupied so much land, the only people who lived there were the royal family and their servants. unlike the other two sections, this one was filled with guards clad in gold and red armor also known as the royal knights, this was currently where Alen and the other heroes would undergo their training, but the mages were separated from the swordsmen and other hero classes had occupied a different piece of land within the third section of the wall.

******

Alen remembered taking a stroll in the kingdom with his friend Quinn, since the land was so massive, they were concerned about how they would get around. But Sir Zelda had instructed them to take a few guards for protection, although the duo rejected not wanting to draw any attention to themselves, he had insisted and had already instructed some guards to accompany them.

That's when they could see the different technological inventions along the kingdom, trains for easy access to different sections of the walls, blimps, and even automated machine guns on the walls, the guards had explained that these were the work of an inventor called Scarlet from the kingdom of Cantu in the north of Noel.

They work by infusing mana into them, unlike their world this world didn't have electricity and the only form of electricity found in this world included lightning spells and thunder, so mana seemed to be the main source of power in the kingdom.

"But if mana is required to activate these machines how many people have to contribute their mana, if I remember collectively most people don't have a pool of mana like the great heroes, I think even I have more mana than them," Alen asked.

"Well sir, most of the mana used is pure mana, and by that, I mean the mana that flows naturally through the earth, trees and birds all produce mana, and when mana has excided its limits, it seeps out. but gathering the remnants of mana from every individual is a lot of hard work so the inventor Scarlet had come up with a permanent solution to this problem."

"Using what we call beast crystals," The knight said as he looked proud to share his knowledge and from how he talked about it he seemed more interested in technology.

"What are beast crystals?"

"Beast crystals or beast cores are mana-filled crystals obtained by slain various beasts around the kingdom. These beasts are different as they have evolved to the point, they can use magic and skills, and depending on the level some have proven to be intelligent; these beasts usually have a core somewhere in their body. This core is filled with mana do you get where I'm going with this?" The knight asked.

"Yes, by slaying these beasts and collecting their cores, you solve the whole problem of mana collection. But if that's the case when do you get these cores, I have been in this kingdom for almost a month and have never seen these cores."

"We have adventures, the guild puts up a request for a specific number of cores and if an adventure happens to take interest in these quests, they will be awarded for their troubles money. And in the kingdom of Noel, we have more than 30 different guilds both big and small so gathering cores isn't that big of a problem, the problem is the."

"The quality of the cores" Alen interrupted. "I'm guessing the more mana a beast has the more powerful it becomes, correct?"

"Yes sir, there are four classes of beasts Basic, intermediate, advanced, and super tier beast, the regular adventures can mostly handle only up to the intermediate level or if they form a party, they can get too advanced but not without getting serious injuries, or casualties"!

The two heroes and their escorts continued to travel and explore the kingdom but that's when Alen noticed most of the citizens of both the commoner's and noble's sections had been staring him down with disgust and some even resentment.

"What's going on here," Quinn asked.

"Well sirs, it seems that rumors of the incident that occurred in the banquette have spread and most of the citizens are angry that a hero lead a resistance and denied saving the people of the world, most likely the nobles are responsible for this."

"Hey, carefully don't speak so carelessly of the nobles they could have your head" The other guard snapped back.

*************

Ever since that day Alen had lost interest in going out and interacting with the town forks, if they believed him to be the villain then he didn't care either way, but what shocked him was the fact that some of the people in the palace were treating him and the others who wanted to go home like villains.

"Hey knight, remove your helmet" The princess commanded.

"Yes, your highness" the knight replied as he swiftly took off his armor.

"SLAAP!"

This action surprised Alen as the princess slapped one of her guards. And it seemed to have taken the other guard by her side off-guard as well, "Now you" The princess said.

"SLAAP!"

"Just because he refused to fight for us doesn't mean he's a bad guy, tell me if you had a son summoned to another world only to fight a war, he was never part of how that would make you as a parent feel, and how do you think your child would react do you think they would be eager to die?" The princess said. The guards seemed speechless and had only bowed their heads down.

"We're sorry Princess, it won't happen again" The guards spoke in unison.

"See that it doesn't".

The princess then made her way to Alen, she looked gentle. Her pink hair was a perfect match for her green eyes and every step she took screamed royalty, what Alen had noticed was the three princesses didn't get along well with each other. The first princess had declined the throne and decided to be a knight, she spent most of her days training in the barracks with the other knights.

The second princess was still a mystery as she preferred to keep to herself most of the time, but lately, she has been spending time with Jack and the twins Chris and Adam, the youngest princess was the kindest of the three she seemed thoughtful and gentle even to those beneath her. Alen didn't know if he admired the princess's behavior or if he was charmed by her beauty.

But now wasn't the time to get lost in thoughts as the princess had approached him and was now standing right next to him.

"Pardon but may I join you?" Sakura said.

"Uumh sure, go ahead" Alen replied.

"I'm sorry about my subordinates, I'll be sure to educate them."

"You don't have to worry about that I'm used to it."

"Be that as it may, it's still unacceptable how people treat you and the others who only desired to go home, its cruel."

"Says the girl who just slapped two of her guards, you know they're going to blame me for that right?" Alen said with a slight chuckle.

"Surely you jest Sir Hero."

"Call me Alen and are you always this formal? From your way of speaking to how you sit and present yourself."

"Well, I am a princess sir hero."

"ALEN, just call me Alen."

"For whatever it's worth thank you for standing up for me, I appreciate it," Alen said as he continued with his research, and to his surprise, the princess had joined him, now at least Alen had someone to talk to while Quinn was off training. He and the princess had spent the rest of the day together discussing different topics and sharing interests, and to Alen's surprise, he found his time with the princess to be memorable.

It had been a month since Alen came to this world, and even though he barely leveled up the same could not be said about his peers, only in a month some had leveled up ten times their past levels. there were only two days until they would be divided and sent to suppress the demon kings' army in various legions and kingdoms.

As for the ones who didn't want to fight, they were guaranteed safety and wealthy life with the support of the king and although Alen tried to convince him otherwise Quinn said he needed to go out and see the world.

All he wanted was one adventure then he would come back.