Ch. 6: Discovery

Princess Lucia pov:

I am Lucia Q. Regios, the first princess of the Regios Kingdom.

Our Regios Kingdom is somewhat different than others. In our kingdom women have much more rights than in other countries and are even eligible for the throne.

I was on my way home from a diplomatic mission with my royal guard from the Holy Empire in which I was tasked to negotiate a new trade agreement..

Needless to say, those arrogant fools didn’t take too kindly to the fact that the representative

from another country was a woman since the discrimination towards women was common in this country as well as the other human countries.

I was also there to meet my future fiance, the crown prince Michael of the ruling house of Pendragon. It is common practice for the ruling families of different countries to establish alliances through marriage.

I eagerly anticipated the meeting hoping to finally see the prince whom I would marry.I had often fantasized as a little girl about marrying a handsome and charming prince who would cherish me and treat me as his most cherished person. Little did I know that my expectations would be crushed.

When I finally met him, I was flabbergasted.

The prince looked very handsome indeed with his blue eyes, golden hair that went to his shoulders and his face that could even be called pretty but the lustful way he looked at me when we first met made me feel that he was trying to undress me with his eyes.

I also later found out that he had many mistresses as well as slaves from other nations whom he raped frequently.

When we were alone, he tried to take off my clothes but I stopped him and used the excuse that we must wait until we are married.

For the rest of the visit I avoided the prince and focused on the trade negotiations.

The ministers were hesitant to negotiate with a women but within time, they accepted it and the negotiations were completed.

After crossing the Eastern border into our kingdom, we went through the Great Genken forest that separates our populated areas from the the border with the Holy Empire.

After some time traveling and after discovering a river with a waterfall, we decided to take a break and I decided to take a bath which I hadn’t had the luxury to do in a while. I had been too scared to do so in the Holy Empire thinking that the first prince might try to do something to me while I was taking a bath and defenceless.

I thoroughly enjoyed washing away that dirty feeling that I had from being in the Holy Empire.

After stepping out of the waterfall I was attacked by five crocaddo and was saved by a mysterious creature. Little did I know that my meeting with this mysterious person would affect the fate of my kingdom and this world for years to come.

The creature was almost two heads taller than the average man and had scales all over his body. Yet his face seemed human. He was covered in scale-like armor and had a sword made of bone as well as a shield with a sigil that I had never seen before. I thought that he may have been some rare breed of demihuman.

After being saved by the creature, the river which was once clear had been dyed in the red blood of the crocaddos and I had a large wound on my body.

It was then that my royal guard appeared followed by my guardian knight Cain.

Cain and the other knights were scared by the creature and pointed their swords at him.

I will have to mention that although our kingdom is very tolerant towards the rights of human women, there is still a big amount of hatred as well as fear towards the other sentient races. This is common not only in our nation but in most human countries since humans have always been seen as the weakest of the sentient races. Yet because of our greater capacity to reproduce, we are able to fight the other races through sheer numbers.

I will also have to mention that the enslavement of other races is also very common. Elves and demihumans are some of the most common slaves in the human countries that are used for sexual as well as other purposes. Many of the Holy Empire’s crown prince’s slaves were from other races.

Back to my story; After arriving, Cain and my other guards pointed their swords at the creature.

After examining my wounds, it was determined that they were serious and that we did not have enough medicinal supplies to treat them.

It was then that the creature offered to help with my treatment. Cain and the others were skeptical at first but after listening to the reasoning of the creature, they finally relented and allowed him to examine me.

It was then that the creature did something that shocked all of us. He created a flame in his palm and after crushing the flame with both his hands, it spread through his arms. He then place his hand over an area of the wound and the most miraculous thing happened.

The flame in his arms spread over the entirety of the the wound which was fairly large and caused it to disappear as if it wasn’t even there. Both myself and all of the guards were shocked. We have people who are capable of using healing magic in our kingdom but most of the time, a wound woudn’t be healed completely and a scar would be left behind. Yet this person’s magic healed it to the point that the skin was completely undamaged.

After Cain grudgingly thanked him he was about to go when I asked him to stay.

When he asked why, I answered that it was so I could thank him. Cain then shouted in anger that I should get away from him since it could be his plan to get close to me in order to kill me.

His actions show his great hatred and mistrust towards other races.

I then pointed out that if he wanted me dead, he could have let the crocaddo finish me off.

Then the creature or maybe I should say individual asked why I was so adamant in defending him.

I told him it was because my father the king had always taught me that anyone who offers their aide to another should be treated with equal respect. He also taught me and my siblings that as members of royalty we should always repay a debt of gratitude to one who has helped us.

When I asked his name his reply was dracus. Little did I know that this meeting would one day affect the fate of the entire continent.

Drakus POV:

*What do I do now*

I had saved this girl who turned out to be a princess and after saving her she wants to thank me and give me a reward.

*What my friends and I need now the most is information about the world that we have come to*

Lucia: “If there is anything you want, as long as it is within my power, it shall be granted to you.”

I wonder what to ask for and then it comes to me.

“Do you have a detailed map of this area. I am a traveler but I kinda got myself lost.”

Lucia: “I have several maps and I shall give you the best one we have.”

One of her knights handed me a map that was 1 meter long and 1.5 meters wide. It was a map of the world with a label for each country, the physical layout of the continents as well as the national flag of each country. It even listed which population populated each country.

Lucia: As you probably already know this continent is called the central continent and it is one of five continents in the world.

She then points to a location on the map of the central continent.

Lucia: “This is the great Genken Forest which takes up much of the Eastern portion of our Regios kingdom.”

I peruse the map making mental notes of which countries belong to which races. I then notice a very large country to the East of this one with a familiar looking flag.

“What is the background of the other large country that is to the East of this one?”

Lucia: “That is the Holy Empire. It was said to be founded about one thousand years ago by the seven heroes who saved the continent from the first invasion of the demon lord and his army from the demon continent to the East. Each of the heroes who suddenly appeared during the invasion wielded a sword of great power and were very strong. After driving the demons from the continent they established the Holy Empire with the strongest of the heroes, who wielded the most powerful of the swords establishing the imperial family while each of the other heroes became one of the dukes of the empire. All together, they established the seven great families that rule the Holy Empire today and are now worshipped as Gods by the Empire’s people. Furthermore, the swords of the heroes as well as the skills to fight with them are passed down to the head of each family. The Holy Empire has also led the alliance of human countries during other invasions by the demons. Right now I am engaged to the crown prince of the Holy Empire in order that we may forge an alliance with them.”

That last bit about her engagement was said with her making a melancholic face.

She also went into an explanation of the other continents and the countries that made them up.

“Thank you for the maps. I think that I should get going so that I can continue my journey.”

Lucia: “Wait! There are two more things that I would like to give you”

She reached into her pocket and took out a golden ring that had a coat of arms on it of a majestic lion on its two front legs with a crown on its head.

Lucia: “This is the ring with the crest of the Regios family that only those from the royal family as well as their most trusted servants are allowed to wear. It is an ancient class magic item known as the ring of valor that any citizen with the identify skill would recognize. If you show it to any city guard within the Regios kingdom, you will automatically be allowed to enter a city without paying a toll. You will also receive a 40 percent discount when staying in an inn if you show it to the owner.”

Cain: “Princess, you can’t be intending to give such a treasure to a non-human”

Lucia: “It doesn’t matter if he isn’t human. He saved my life. As a member of the royal family, I must repay my debt to him. I will also give him 200 gold coins.”

She then proceeds to take out a large bag of coins from a bag and gives it to me.

“Thank you for the gifts, I will now take my leave to continue my journey.”

Lucia: “I hope that we meet again.”

After leaving, I put the gifts in my inventory and head for home.

I than make my way through the forest as fast as I can until I reach the Grand Sanctuary. I could have taken it easy and gone slower but I didn’t want to worry anyone because of being gone too long. I also wanted to test my abilities to see how fast and far I can go while not taking a break. What I found out is that this body is ridiculous and that I had become a total cheat.

After making it back to the Grand Sanctuary I found Altina at the entrance who after seeing me return flew into my arms and hugged me.

After realizing that she had hugged one of her masters and behaved shamefully, she immediately pulled away with her face turning bright red.

“How long have you been waiting for me to come back”

Altina: “I haven’t waited long Drakus. You don’t need to worry.”

“Lets go to the council room. I have to tell the others what I have learned from my excursion into the forest.”

After hearing my suggestion, she calmed down and we teleported to the council room where we found Nu-Ru sifting through some data.

“Hey Nu-Ru, I’m back.”

Nu-Ru: “You idiot, do you realize how worried everyone has been about you after they realized you were gone.”

“I have an idea”

After I said that after looking at Altina, her face turned completely red again. Upon seeing this Nu-Ru started to chuckle for a bit.

“That’s enough laughing. We have to contact the others to come to the council room so I can relate what I have learned.”

Nu-Ru: “No need to worry. They are already on their way.”

After another five minutes the others arrived and I recounted about my excursion into the forest

as well as my meeting with the princess and the gifts she gave me.

Nu-Ru: “I didn’t expect you to learn so much from a simple excursion into the forest.”

Arsenal: “I can’t believe you met a real fucking princess. I’m damn jealous of you right now.”

Manom: “Why are you jealous? You would only have scared her off anyway with your ugly mug.”

Arsenal: “I’ll have you know that my face can be considered quite handsome, which is more than I can say for you Mr. faceless, undead lich.”

Manom: “You want a piece of me?”

Arsenal: “Bring it!”

Nu-Ru: “Enough! Now from the information described by Drakus I can confirm my theory that we have been sent to another world. After all, Eternia never had a kingdom known as Regios. Now Drakus can you take out the world map the princess gave you and explain what she told you about the world.”

“Yes from what she told me, this world seems to be divided into five continents. The continent we are on is known as the central continent and is mainly populated by Humans with several countries populated by demi-humans and beastmen as well as a variety of low to mid level monsters. There are two large human countries with the others belonging to other races. Of particular note is the country of the elves that live within the Great Northern Forest as well as the kingdom of Dwarves that lies in the mountains in the western part of the continent. The Eastern continent is otherwise known as the demon continent and is populated mostly by demons. They are ruled by the demon lord whose ancestors have tried invading this continent several times but has been repulsed by the alliance of the two Human kingdoms. The Western continent is home to mainly demi-humans and beast men. They are lead by a lion beastman named regulus whose family has prevented human incursion into the continent for centuries. The Southern continent is also known as the dragon continent since it is mainly dragons who live there, although there is also a population of high level monsters. The dragons are ruled by the dragon emperor Tiamat who is said to have lived for millions of years. Finally, there is the northern continent which is home to a mysterious group. Little is known about it but something is going on there.

Nu-Ru: “That was a good explanation. Can you also explain to me about this Holy Empire that the princess mentioned.”

I then went on to recount the information the princess told me about that country.

Nu-Ru: “This information confirms another one of my theories that we might not have been the only ones to come to this world”

Kaetzchen: “What do you mean, nyaa.”

Trion Jazz: “I’m also lost dude.”

Nu-Ru: Think about it. Seven heroes with swords of great power. Also look at the Flag of the Holy Emipre; doesn’t it look familiar.

Shae Alpha: “It can’t be.”

Nu-Ru: “You’ve probably guessed right. The Holy Empire was most likely founded by the seven founders of the Holy Knights Guild.

In the world of Eternia, although the Guild Crimson Strife was thought to the most powerful guild among the many different guilds, there was one guild that was constantly fighting with Crimson Strife over the title of the strongest guild. That guild was the Holy Knights Guild. The Holy Knights Guild only had two criteria that it strictly adhered to in order for someone to join. The first is that the applicant had to have a human character. The other was that they had to have a character related to sword fighting. This guild with 30,000 members was always trying to challenge Crimson Strife in different ways in order to claim the title of the strongest guild in Eternia. What they were most famous for was that six of the seven founders had a sword magical item of the legendary class and the guild master had an abyss class sword item, as well as the fact that all of these items had ridiculous cheat abilities.

The names of the seven leaders and their swords were: Sigfried whose Magic sword Gram could cut through any defence, Roland whose Great Sword Durandal could unleash magical waves of destruction to take down hundreds of enemies at once, Oliver whose sword Hauteclere had a charm effect that left most enemies stunned before being cut down by the blade, David whose sword Tyrfing had the ability to take away the sight and hearing of an individual once cut with the blade, Seijirou, a samurai who wielded the Kusanagi Blade that healed and recovered the stamina of the wielder by taking it from any enemy that was unfortunate enough to be cut by the blade, Ayato who wielded the sword Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi, which allowed him to use and seal off one or more of the skills or abilities of an enemy once they are cut by the sword, the Guild Master Arthur who wielded the most powerful sword in the game, Excalibur, an abyss class sword item which could increase his stats 50 fold when in battle, which could destroy any other sword, and which was completely indestructible

The two reasons that Crimson Strife would always come out victorious against such a formidable foe such as the Holy knights guild is because of the unstoppable strategies of Crimson Strife’s Genius strategist Nu-Ru as well as the fact that each of the leaders of Crimson Strife were also armed with a legendary class item in addition to the abyss class items owned by Drakus and Nu-Ru.

Back to the story:

Shae Alpha: “What I don’t understand is that those seven heroes founded the Holy Empire about one thousand years ago, so how can they be those same jerks from that troublesome guild.

Nu-Ru: Most likely when the game shut down those of us who stayed to see the end weren’t just hurled through space but time as well.

“What do you mean”

Nu-Ru: What I mean is that the different groups that stayed to the end were most likely sent to this world but in different eras of this world’s history.

Arsenal: So does that mean that those seven bastards are controlling the Holy Empire from the shadows?

Nu-Ru: From the information Drakus received, they are most likely dead. I mean even though they were players from Eternia, their characters were still humans with set lifespans. Further evidence that they are deceased comes from the fact that their prized swords are being wielded by their descendents so unless they used some skill or magical item to prolong their lives, it is very likely that they died a long time ago.

“For now we can’t be sure that there aren’t enemies in the shadows or that there aren’t other players out there, so for now it would be best if we were to be cautious. We also have to decide in what direction our guild will proceed in this world. Nu-Ru, as our guild’s strategist, give us your opinion on the current situation.”

Nu-Ru: “At this point we should assume that there is no way back home. I mean those seven fellows couldn’t find it but if you were to look at their personalities, they probably never tried. Also we have no idea what sent us to this world in the first place. We also have no idea as to what happened to our real bodies when we became our characters and were brought here.”

Kaetzchen: So you mean that we could be stuck in these bodies for the rest of our lives nyaa?

Shae Alpha: At least you’re still flesh and blood. I may be stuck as an Android for who knows

how long.

“So Nu-Ru what do you think we should do”

Nu-Ru: For now we should gather more information on the immediate area surrounding the great sanctuary and further fortify our defenses. Now that we know that we are in an area that is hostile to non-humans, we have to make countermeasures against an attack on the Grand Sanctuary from the human kingdoms.

“So what’s the plan? Are we going to explore more now?”

Nu-Ru: “Yes, but not right now. If we have to out there, then we should at least study up on anything and everything we can first. Let me look through that map one more time.”

Princess Lucia POV

Cain: “I can’t believe you would gift such a precious treasure a creature like that.”

“He saved my life and more so. That was the least I could do for my savior. Now, are we all packed up?”

Cain: “Yes ma’am! We’ll reach the fort near sundown.”

My guards were packing up while Cain was issuing order. I ran back to the lake to make sure all my possession where in order. Everything was set, we were about to leave until something shiny caught my eye. It laid on the rocky floor.

“What’s this?”

It looked to be a small scepter. The handle was a transparent silvery color while there was a bright blue orb at the top. It was very beautiful looking and I was pondering why it was doing out here.

Cain: “Princess, what is that?”

Cain came over with my house along with the other guards who were ready. Cain suspiciously looked at the item along with some of my guards.

“I don’t know. I found it near the lake where...do you think it belongs to Drakus?”

A wild thought occurred to me and the more I think about it, the more it made sense. One of the soldiers inspected it, making sure it was safe.

Guard: “So far it doesn’t seem to be dangerous. But I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

“If it’s not dangerous, than I’ll keep it.”

Cain and some of the other guards were about to interject but I gave them a hard look. They quickly back off and we were on our way. I stuff the rod in the pocket of the tunic and we continued on our way.

Little did I know the series of events I would get entangled in once I reached that city.

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So this is the first chapter that I wrote myself and that wasn’t left over from Thecode’s written chapter. Like I have said before, if anyone has any comments on something I did wrong or something to make the story better please post it and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Also please rate and review my work since it doesn’t take too much time.