Haital Kingdom

"Sire, the prince and princess of Rozel Kingdom are to arrive soon," A royal knight hurriedly spoke, knelling down. In his imposing armour, the emblem of Haital kingdom was etched into both shoulder plates.

"Sir Aldrich, please have the royal knights prepared. Inform the vice-secretary about the matter, I will entrust it to her. Have us meet at the garden pavilion," The king had a crimson robe pulled around his shoulder, the inner piece made with white refined fur. Wearing a golden crown with twelve peaks, each one having a red gem embedded.

"Understood," the royal knight of the highest order, Aldrich exited the throne room thereafter.

As the king stood up from his shine-polished throne in gold, he made a long sigh. The matter a few weeks ago still present in his mind. He wondered if he had made the right choice.

This meeting was an opportunity for the two kingdoms to forge closer bond, and— to discuss something else.

Rozel had delt with a similar incident before. Hence, he shouldn't miss this chance to seek advice.

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Stepping outside, a light breeze brushed her face. A moment after, a humongous shadow dawned upon her. Looking up, a belly was passing by at a steady pace. After the whale had pass, the sun revealed itself in it's glory. Slightly caught off guard, she averted her eyes a little too late and her eyes became watery from the burning light.

Early afternoon. The sun was at 80 degrees from the horizon, approximately.

Looking ahead, a row of guards lining both sides of the dock. All of them wore the Haital knight's signature armor. The craftsman of Haital were truly amazing. Even the replication of the emblem on the armor had close to no deviation. Of course, by logic, only craftsman could tell the difference. Ordinary people didn't posses such a keen eye.

The large sky ship dock had been cleared up for the purpose of their arrival. Though, there were a few warship fleets a distance away. Nevertheless, this place was relatively quiet and didn't seem to be the lively ship dock she expected.

Appearing before her was another female. The vice-secretary was what she referred herself to as.

"Prince Herlock and princess Louise of Rozel Kingdom, pleased to make an acquaintance, " Pulling her hand to her stomach area while holding a file, she gave a bow. All following suit, the knights faced the prince and princess and made a light bow in unison. Finishing her bow she looked at the two with a smile.

"Pleasure is mine, pleased to meet you too vice-secretary of Haital Kingdom," trying to put up a little courtesy, Louise was the first to return the greeting, followed up by prince Herlock, her brother.

Louise had been informed prior that it would be the vice-secretary leading them in.

Lifting up her dress a little, she gave a slight bow. Her dark black hair fluttered in the air, two red ornaments tied at both sides of her hair. Her slender body and beautiful curves around her dress were exceptionally alluring. Though her face showed benevolence there was without doubt that she still had a refined aura.

Nodding her head, "This way, please. The king and queen will join up at the garden pavilion,"

One could imagine the knights hardening their will, trying to not bleed at the nose.

Beside Louise was Prince Herlock. Dark black hair tinted in brown because of the sunlight; Rozel Kingdom's potential future king. He wore an imperial outfit, had golden spirals interwoven between the fabric. Having an asymmetrical design, every angle had a different feel. But it all shared one similarity; The embodiment of royalty.

Haital Kingdom and Rozel Kingdom, these two are part of a larger constitution called Monarch Empire. Within this Empire, there were many more kingdoms. A few other well known examples included Cobalt Kingdom, Crowfer Beast Kingdom and Trinity Kingdom, the central of Monarch Empire.

Cobalt Kingdom was know for it's many rich crystal veins. With many medium sized pillars surround the central pillar, they were though to have a vast supply of blue crystals. Giant gryostone quarts could be found in abundance inside the many pillar clusters around. As such, mining was the kingdom's source of wealth.

Blue crystals are know to have mana emitting properties, giving them the name, 'mana crystals'. Different from the regenerating one's mana, it functioned more like a battery. The mana would be used directly from the crystal. This meant that the user didn't not need to use their own mana, conserving strength and avoiding fatigue. The down side however was the method required to charge the crystal. Even during this era, the only know way to charge a blue mana crystal without the aid of a mage was to place it in close proximity to live green gems that grew on trees. Even then, it would take weeks before having replenished a sizable amount for use. Moreover, even if a mage could induce energy into the crystal, the amount of mana used was disproportionate to the amount of mana absorbed. Replenishing the gem with 100 points of mana would only charge it to 30 points or so. This inefficient charging method had caused the people to view blue mana crystals as a consumable item. Replenishing the mana within it was simply too troublesome. Congruently, this problem has lead Cobalt Kingdom to flourish. With their rich supply of mana crystals, every other kingdom would come reeling their hands over to grab some over. Making Cobalt Kingdom an important resource hub within the whole Empire.

Crowfer Beast Kingdom was known for it's special pillar structure that allowed adventurers to explore regions close to the caustic barrier. It also had incredibly diverse cave systems that was believed to extended beyond the caustic barrier which would otherwise be unfounded in other pillars.

As for Trinity Kingdom, there was no much to be said as it was the capital kingdom of Monarch Empire.

Rozel Kingdom was known for the humongous pillar being built on, having the second largest land mass of any other pillar within the empire. Having such an enormous size, about 4 times the size of Haital, their economy lied on agricultural produce. Not to mention the countless medium and large pillars that snuggled close to the central pillar. The land mass was absurdly huge.

That wasn't all. As if the Gods blessed the place, water reservoirs that came pouring from the sky created many brimming water pools around the medium and large pillars, leading to easy and bountiful harvests all year round. All they needed was to dig trenches around the fields and connect it to the pool of water.

They also conducted large scale celebratory events. Like magnets, they attract a lot of adventurers, traders and tourists alike. Exploring, hunting, completing requests, transporting goods, all these were what adventurers do on a day to day basis. Who wouldn't want a break after completing a good job?

Rozel Kingdom was also thought as a nation that provided the best hospitality and care to visitors. Entertainment such as theaters, musical performances, and exhilarating duels were commonplace for them. Most other kingdoms still lack the culture and infrastructure to achieve this. Though, they were soon to catch up. Especially with the surge in popularity in regards to the fighting tournaments.

Besides the ones mentioned, there were also High Peak Kingdom and Froque Kingdom.

—To be mentioned in another time.

The prince and princess walked up the splendidly crafted stone stairway. The whole width amounted to having 5 people standing together. It was really spacious. Upon reaching the last step, she turned to look up. Large twin overlapping towers formed at the outer walls and the sturdy castle at the heart. The structure shining in a fortifying radiance.

Louise's lips curled at the side.

'Vacation, here I come!'

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Curtis lay out a yawn. Stretching his body a little he settled back down in his usual sitting posture, crossed-legged.

The sky above was cerulean; The abyss below was still—as dark as ever.

After flying past many lone pillars, Curtis turned to look at Ellis. Maybe she was bored. Too late, he didn't need to turn, she was already stuck on his back.

The issue was how she was able to do so without him noticing. He was standing just now....

"I think we'll be arriving soon.", Curtis noticed some familiar pillar formations. In the distance, there was a small town with a tall totem built at its outskirts. It wouldn't be too long now.

"Nn", Ellis sounded with a nod, Curtis' shoulder as her pivot, sounding monotonous.

Her face was so close. If he turned his head to the left, it would have caused their lips to meet.

However, Curtis felt that something didn't sit too right with the thought.

"I still can't quite believe we actually bumped into a forest sprite." Ellis said in a lowly voice. "Can you tell me what happened already, I'm bored."

"Let's see...you got killed," Curtis narrated, simply, "Except, the you that was killed was your doppelgänger."

"Er.. I already know that part,"

Curtis had been very vague about what happened that night. Being a little pertinent, Ellis continued.

"So what did my doppelgänger look like? She looked just like me right?"

"Yes,"

"Anything else?"

"No. not really," at the back of his mind, he could still envision her revealing body and alluring curves. Those eyes that locked onto him, gleaming with bitter tears and disbelief. In the end, it was just an act, or was it? Though, if Ellis were to know how Curtis saw her naked body in the form of an illusion, what kind of reaction would he get from her? He clearly didn't wish to find out.

With a puff of the cheek, Ellis pressed her head against Curtis, one hand holding his head straight with a powerful force. She was stifling him to spill the beans, knowing that wasn't all to the story.

"Tell me already,"

"What else do you want to know..." Curtis was really desperate, his head was currently being squished.

They continued to duke it out on the large leather saddle placed on the back of Whaley.

It had been about 4 hours, a little more to go before reaching Haital Kingdom.

There were sand bags tied to the saddle on Whaley, one at each corner. It functioned to hold it in place, since nailing it down on a whale would probably be a cruel thing to do. Besides the four sand bags, a few meters of rope were coiled around Whaley. If one of the sandbags were to fall, the coiled rope would help stabilize the saddle, barely.

"Look," Curtis held up the red crystal he found. The luster and refractions it created captivated Ellis in an instant. With coincidental symmetry while being the sized of a large button, it could sell for a fortune. Ellis stopped with her bickering and stared right into the thing. It had a purity unmatched to those she had seen before.

"Huge. Where did you get this?"

"I saw it growing on a tree. But, I felt like it was placed there accidentally. Something like this can't be found on the surface, so it's a little suspicious. I did a proper check on it, turns out, it's a genuine red crystal."

"Really?" Ellis' voice was brimming with curiosity. She had never even been so close to such an item, let alone obtain one. "I wanna look at it."

Curtis had kept few things about the night hidden. The general events were already told but, the things he saw and the emotions he felt— Well, he was going to reveal it bit by bit sooner or later anyways. He just needed to find the right time.

While Ellis is busy admiring the red crystal, let's have a World Building session:

Red crystals, like the one Curtis acquired was a type of Gryostone. A gryostone is defined as any rock classified substance that reacted to mana, weather or not it was a positive or negative reaction.

There was a phenomenon where the prefix 'gems' were given to gryostones that were less useful, namely, green and purple gems. And 'crystal' for the latter.

Green gems could be found everywhere, so as long as there were trees or hard-wood plants present.

Purple gems similar to the one Curtis created artificial when he ruptured the spell {Absolute Zero Field}, had the property of hardening or strengthening an object.

Blue crystals possessed mana absorption and discharging ability. No further explanation required.

Orange crystals can store mana just like a blue crystals. At the will of the user, a pre-set spell would be evoked. The limit to how many spells a single crystal could store depended on multiple factors that included size and purity.

Yellow crystals, or what normal people refer to as: life crystal or Angel Tears, have regenerative properties. The frequency or gentle warmth radiating out when mana is channels into the gem can massively increase one's recovery rate. It could be used reattached a lost limb. That depended on how proficient the mage was at controlling the healing energy.

Red crystals enhances and amplifies energy, whether it was strength, or magic. Normal market sold red crystals had the ability to amplify a source by 150 percent. In Curtis' case, there was a chance it could reach all the way up till 200 percent, because of how pure it was.

These gryostones could be found everywhere, a common constitution of house hold appliances or tools, with the red and yellow crystals being more uncommon. Used for weaponry or in the medical field.

There were also mixed coloured gryostones known as compound gryostones. There were intensive studies done on specific properties of each colour and the effects of combining each of their respective properties. A rough example would be that a blue-green gem would have the weird property of emitting mana uncontrollably while having a fairly low mana storage capacity.

In addition to that, the shade of the crystal seemed to also affect certain properties. It was something Curtis noticed when he had to temper with mana crystals.

Ellis took a very good look at the red crystal. Rotating it around to see it's glistening refractions, she felt amused.

After flying past schools of different species of fish they finally spot a ship far in the distance. Pillars started to converge closer and tighter. Towns and fields can be spotted along the meandering streams of water, passing through constructed wooden bridge point before falling off the edge.

Whaley dived into a sea of cloud. Cutting a path directly in the middle, the world opened up, and Haital Kingdom came into view. Whales flew in the sky, flying ships could be seen converging. Scarce land with various agricultural plantations interspersed every few pillars. Verdant green lands; some left untouched with it's pristine forests. Like a large archipelago with many, many small islands surrounding it.

There were even floating island around the pillar clusters. Some spanning a kilometer in size, others the size of a whale.

"Erm, Is it just me or do I feel like this crystal looks better than Haital Kingdom?"

Curtis spewed a laugh, "The crystal has it's own flair doesn't it?" he wasn't planing on rebutting her point, the crystal was indeed eye catching.

It was that Curtis felt Haital Kingdom possessed a nostalgic air to it, with it becoming a stepping stone to Curtis. Ever since the day he decided to become an freelance adventurer, he knew that he would need to work hard, to come to terms with his self-diagnosed 'mana emaciation'. Which he did.

Before even having traveled to Haital, he had only seen painted pictures on it hung in the libraries of his hometown, Nessy Earldom which was part of Haital's sub-region. Having seen the real thing a few years later, it bore a glorious feeling of accomplishment, forever being etched in his mind. He knew that his beginning had started.

"Nothing beats being with you though." Ellis quipped.

"Right..."

"We should keep this hidden for now. If people found out about this, we'd be in a pinch," Ellis returned the red crystal to Curtis.

"Right."

Ellis replied with a gentle smile, it's cuteness incomparable to Haital.