The Capital of the Astra Kingdom was placed in an area of historical importance with a natural river and a large settled population of around one hundred thousand people. It is here where the initial founder of the kingdom set up his first town and eventually became the official capital of the kingdom.

With the royal family holding the most prosperous town in all the kingdom, the town became synonymous with the center of the kingdom. Despite being in the far east of the island nation, the royal family keeps control and power through house alliances and their military. In addition, the main founding house of Astra has held power over this kingdom for many generations.

In the middle of this dense town lays the important Royal palace with a large brick laid mall which leads to the palace gates. Before the palace gates is where the mall turns into a roundabout made of brick which allows carriages to stop and turn back the way they initially came.

The King's guards constantly protected the royal palace against those who seek to harm the royal family. The King's guard could be considered its own military force on its own. The King's guard has a total regiment size of around five to ten thousand knights. Constantly trained and enlisted to protect the town and the royal family residence.

There are guards posted at the gates wearing their iconic military uniforms of the king's guard. They wore an orange and white uniform with silver chest plates worn over them. They held long pikes in their right hands as they stood dutifully at the gates which leads to the palace.

They noticed something coming towards the palace. It looked like the black artifacts which came to the palace before, however they were not black. They had a distinct tan color and looked less impressive than the black artifacts they witnessed before. The guards have gotten used to the artifacts driving around the center of Lenel's Town, however it still unnerves them how fast they are.

Recently they have witnessed US soldiers going around in these tan artifacts they call Humvees and gave out food to people all around. With the recent food aid, public unrest has reduced significantly. In addition, the port is much more busy with ships constantly coming in and out to build an embassy for the US diplomats while also conducting their food aid.

The tan object was coming towards the palace and her highness Princess Dianna and her guard stepped out. The guards immediately recognized her and opened the gates.

"Your majesty, her highness has returned to the palace." The King's guard announced her arrival to King Charles. "Lead her here." The king looked relieved. Soon she arrived at the King's study.

"Father, I have returned." She said respectfully. Her guard was outside the study. It was just the two of them in this somewhat spacious study.

"Where have you been? Your disappearance has caused a great headache to the Captain you know." He sighed.

"I went to cultivation town." She said plainly.

"What!? Your went to the main battle between the US and the western region?" The King was taken aback since he didn't expect her to travel to such a distant place.

"I needed to reaffirm my assumptions on the US forces father. I haven't told you this since there was not much time before, but the attack on the pirate fleet was absolutely out of this world. I was relieved to be saved, but my curiosity got the better of me father. Sorry for worrying you."

The King wanted to get mad at her, but he felt conflicted granted with what happened the week prior. The king basically sold her daughter to the empire to fulfill the agreement of tribute, so he still feels guilty.

"Did your curiosity get filled after witnessing their battle? I have received reports from US ambassador Jeffery, but it didn't really make much sense for me other than that their forces won."

"I am now only filled with more curiosity father. The battle was just too....different." Princess Dianna paused. Trying to word her statements carefully.

"The battle was unlike anything I have seen father. If you were there, you would also agree with me."

"Just what did you see?"

"I saw large tan artifacts"

"Yes yes, I witnessed some of them as well, driving around the upper and lower areas of Lenel. I have already become used to those artifacts after the first encounter with their diplomats."

"But there are more of them father. These artifacts had long and narrow cannons mounted onto them and could fire out lethal power to the enemy from a very far distance. In addition, these artifacts moved with such great speed and maneuvered very well for their sizes. In addition, their men and equipment is just too different for me to get a full picture of everything."

"There are different artifacts?"

"Father, their men killed a powerful mana user who could wield lightning, fire, and barrier magic." She said with a serious tone. Mana users are far and few so powerful users are very dangerous.

"How many did the US lose? Was it a mana blood user?" The king asked concern.

"I wasn't able to figure out what type of catalyst the mana user had, but he was skilled. The US did have some casualties, however they didn't lose any men."

"They didn't lose any? You said they had casualties, but they didn't die?" Most men afflicted with wounds are most likely going to die later from infections or other medical problems. In addition, any army encountering a skilled mana user will most certainly sustain deaths among their knights and soldiers. Deaths of knights and soldiers is but a normal occurrence for warfare.

"Their casualties were caused by a powerful lighting spell sent towards one of their artifacts. The men were treated later, but the artifact couldn't move for a while."

"So their artifacts are not invincible?"

"Yes, but they are much more powerful than the average knight, and it appears they may have more of these large artifacts. Skilled mana users are rare, but this army sent by the US had more than ten of these large artifacts father. Plus, the forces they sent only numbers in the hundreds while the western region numbered in the thousands. The US probably single handedly took out a good chunk of their forces for the duration of the war."

The King contemplated. "Dianna, would you be interested in accompanying Gerald to the United States?"

"To visit?"

"Due to a number of agreements that need to be solidified, the US invited me to go to their capital to discuss a number of treaties. The problem is that leaving the kingdom right now could destabilize our faction of supporters right now. I want to send you with Gerald to see what this kingdom is all about."

"What about Damion?"

"I can't send the both of you. That is too risky. I can instead Damion in place of you, but I figured you would enjoy yourself more if you went to witness this kingdom."

She contemplated. She really wanted to see these United States for herself. Why were these states United? What is America? Why were they united? Where are they making these artifacts? She wanted to find out.

"Father, I will go. I need to answer my curiosity."

He slowly nodded. "In my name, you are to be sent with the diplomatic envoy on an official visit to the United States of America. Prime minister Gerald shall sort out the treaties while you represent me, King Charles of the Astra Kingdom.

Princess Dianna prepared for the journey to the US. She has not been told on what the trip was going to be like, but she was preparing for a trip that lasted for around a month. Her maids were preparing her luggage's when someone knocked. It was her guard.

"Princess, Prime minister Gerald is here to talk with you about the trip."

"Alright, bring him to the meeting area."

She prepared to greet Gerald.

"Princess Dianna."

"Gerald. You have come to talk about the trip yes?"

"Yes, it seems that the US has arranged our mode of transportation to their country."

"So we will be using their artifacts?"

"Yes, it seems so. The plan is to take what they call a helicopter to their territory called Guam. We then take an airplane to their country. I haven't seen it myself, but they claim it will get us to their capital in a couple of hours."

"You mean a couple of days?"

"No, you heard me correctly. They said a couple of hours."

Princess Dianna was shocked. She saw where their capital was. It was incredibly far away. Maybe a one- or two-month trip by ship. And their saying it will only take a couple of hours?

However, she was excited to finally see a flying artifact up close. Ever since the pirate attack, she has wondered how the US has managed to fly. Knowing full well that their previous world did not have magic.

Princess Dianna and the diplomatic envoy would take carriages to the designated area where they will be picked up which was outside of town. A Humvee led the envoys carriages while the King's guard cavalry closely followed behind. They finally reached the area where they could see the helicopter they were going to take. It was in the middle of a clear green field.

None of the diplomats from the envoy have seen a Chinook helicopter before. Princess Dianna thought she had seen many things at the battle of cultivation town. However, she now feels that the US keeps throwing surprises at her.

A man in uniform came up to the group leaving the carriages. A couple others came and helped with their luggage's. "We will be flying to the territory by helicopter. ETA will be around three hours. Now, lets get you all settled in."

He motioned the group to follow him into the helicopter. Soon, everyone and everything was loaded into the Chinook. The rotors started to spin. It eventually reached full speed and the Chinook slowly took off from the ground.

The envoy in the Chinook were surprised and scared. They have not flown in the air before, so the feeling was surreal. The princess also has not flown before, but all she could do was look outside the windows to see the helicopter rapidly flying away from Lenel.

Soon, all she could see was the ocean below the helicopter. Many of the envoys feared that the helicopter would fall out of the sky. Princess Dianna had her fair share of fear of falling into the vast ocean given that she does not know if the helicopter is safe. However, that fear was overcome with wonder.

She was intrigued by how such a heavy looking object can fly so quickly. It was clearly not as fast as the artifacts she witnessed in the naval battle a week prior, however she was still fascinated. She wondered how it worked.

The princess continued to observe carefully around the helicopter. What caught her eye was the front of the Chinook where two pilots were sitting. They wore helmets with a dark shade over their eyes. There were constant noises coming out from the front control panel.

She closely observed the control panel and found that it looked quite confusing and complicated. From the looks of it, she assumed this helicopter was not easy to make nor control. It felt so quick for her when she saw something pop out of the horizon. It was most likely an island.

Everything was quick for her. Eventually, the Chinook landed at Antonio B. Won Pat International airport on Guam. One of the pilots opened the Chinook and started leading everyone towards a plane parked near an airstrip.

The princess again sees another artifact she has not seen before. It was much bigger than she expected. She and the group were led up a ladder into the white airplane where seats could be found. They found these seats much more comfortable than the Chinook. Everything was much more clean and neat than the Chinook. They also felt cool air permeating throughout the airplane. It was refreshing. They were also fascinated with the lights throughout the plane.

Princess Dianna looked outside and found that it was getting darker outside. She worried about how the plane was going to fly during nighttime since traditionally, any Wyvern air force cannot fly at night since they could not see anything. However, that did not seem to be a concern for the staff as they prepared the door. A voice could be heard throughout the cabin.

"Welcome passengers from the Astra Kingdom, we will be flying for around 16 hours non stop from Guam to Washington DC. Please fasten your seatbelts while the plane is in motion."

Princess Dianna looked outside to see the sun setting in the distance. It would soon be dark out. She could then feel the plane moving, similar to the Humvee. She could see the plane moving onto a long strip of road, similar to the Mall in front of the royal palace. There were lights flashing along the long piece of road. Soon, the plane faced down a runway. It stood there without moving for a couple of seconds before she could hear some low rumbles.

Soon, the plane started moving forward again, however it began to move faster and faster. Faster than anything she has ridden before. She kept looking out and saw the lights on the runway pass by faster and faster. The envoys were gripping their seats tightly as the plane increased in speed. Soon, they felt weightlessness. She couldn't feel the runway any longer.

She looked outside the window and saw the ground quickly move away at a rapid pace before her eyes. For everyone on the plane, it was simply unbelievable. Such a huge object flying without conventional wings was just unheard of.

Soon, a voice filled the cabin.

"Everyone may take off their seat belts until the sign is given again. If you need refreshments or need to use the bathroom, please notify a flight attendant. ETA is 16 hours."

A beep could be heard throughout the plane. Everyone was relieved. Princess Dianna however kept looking outside her window from her seat. She was shocked to see that they were above the clouds. "So high!" She thought.

It was not long since they departed, but she felt a bit of anxiety for the first time since leaving. Everything was just so foreign and different to her. Though the two countries spoke the same language, everything else was just too different. Seeing the new things has tired her out and with night falling, she decided to get some sleep.

The envoy was also tired from everything they experienced and also decided to get some sleep. Everything they have witnessed has worn out their nerves.

Princess Dianna eventually woke up. She looked out the window to find it was actually daytime already. She looked down. She saw land.