….from King Ganish’s point of view.

Before he could question the advisor any further, the guest had arrived. He was already notified by his spy guild that the man would be arriving shortly, but he was here much sooner than anticipated. Any thought he had in his head was lost at the sight of the man.

The man had dark skin, his eyes glowed a dim purple, though the robe he wore sparkled for some reason in diamond, his and his fellow black robed mage, staves had orbs. This Damiens orb was bigger than the princess and also confirmed they were all indeed mages. This Damien most dangerous of them all, just look at his crown! The king thought about that crown with anger and envy.

This mages crown was made of the most expensive metals. The way the elements floated over the tops 6 the points but in front of the 7th point on his forehead, held a large mage stone. The number of legendary items on this small group alone put fear in the hearts of the entire throne room. Even the king’s brother, captain of the royal guards, who never showed fear, was involuntarily sliding his feet backward.

His gaze peered into the king. He actually managed to make the king feel small. The king felt like they were all stuck in the cage with a wild animal. His aura was menacing and dangerous. The king wanted to loose his men on this monster of a man, but he felt like his next action would define the future of his kingdom. He has never stood in front of a presence like this. He glanced at his court mage and if he wasn’t intimidated by the princess this man floored the archmage. The king noticed the man's eyes quickly looking left and right as if he was looking for a place to hide if anything went wrong.

“Coward '' the king instantly thought.

This man was supposed to be his strongest magical defense and he was cowering looking for a way out. The king was disappointed but at the same time that spoke volumes about this man. Jostin didn’t feel like he stood a slight chance against such overwhelming power. The king couldn't understand just why he felt that way if he himself was strong enough to topple mountains.

Steeling himself the king spoke.

"Lord Donte, I presume. You have gained a bit of a reputation in your short arrival here in my kingdom."

The king gestured at the crown on Damien's head and continued, "I am sure we can cut all pretenses now and end the charade shall we, Lord Damien. The crowd gasped and you could hear loud murmurs from the massive. Your advisor told me a good story but, I always found that it's best to hear from a man himself. Who are you? Where are you from? And why have you come to threaten my throne?"

After the king spoke, he wanted to disappear. He never felt this alone in all his years. He definitely didn’t feel like a king just then just an ordinary man. He felt like an ant, looking at a griffin. He felt tiny under this man's gaze. The room held its breath waiting for the man to reply and he did, but it wasn't what any of them had expected.

"Hello, I am King Damien Sorlen of the kingdom of Numera. Firstly I come bearing gifts to show my good faith and will to the king. I wouldn’t bring the riches of my kingdom to announce war."

The man then waved his hand and two chests appeared out of thin air in front of him. He had a dimensional ring, but it was a closely guarded secret and there were only a handful in existence and the king knew all of the other kings that one. He was still pondering on the ring when the two massive chests was placed down its contents rumbling loudly inside.

The king waved his men off and the two men opened the chest. The king sat forward in his throne. Much the same as everyone else in the room did in their seats. This man's just boosted the royal coffers for years to come and that was just the high platinum. The second chest was filled with tens of large and small jewels, but it was the mage stones that had everyone stunned. These stones alone topped were worth more than two of his kingdoms and this was just given to him. The king didn't know what to think. While he was still stuck in his thoughts the mage continued to talk.

"King Ganish, I have claimed the wilds as my kingdom. I have braved the dangers of one of the most inhospitable places in the know and have made it my home. I have even gained the notice of the gods with my magical prowess. Yet, I do not wish to cause conflict.

I am simply trying to keep my kingdom thriving and offering a peace and trade treaty to a neighboring kingdom. I'll even ignore the slight you've caused against my subjects. I'll even ignore the unjust bounty put on my head, without even hearing my side of the story. In order for us to have peace and increase trade. I'll even wait until you see our wares at the merchant caravan before deciding. I guarantee you'll be, please. There is nothing, but benefit when it comes to dealing with my kingdom.

I need time to ponder on my time in your kingdom, I will take my leave, but my caravan will stay. If you agree then they are at your service, if you do not, then they will leave immediately. Safely I'm sure."

The man then waved his hand and the wind in the room began to pick up blowing everyone's clothes this way and that. A large sphere of electricity began loudly crackling and a pitched round circle appeared in it. When it began to gain color the stunned king saw that it wasn't a dark circle, but, it was a portal! What he saw terrified him. Tens of mages. Over 100 just that he saw and they all looked at the mage with unyielding loyalty and had looks of reverence towards him. He smiled at his people and stepped through the portal and it closed immediately after he left.

There was a long silence after there exit. The king motioned for the guards to grab the coins. Two guards went to try to pick it up and the chest hardly budged. Yet, the king had just realized that a single man lifted the chest 4 more soldiers came over and grunted to lift the chest and slowly walk it out of the throne room. Then he had soldiers lift the second chest and it also needed 4 men to lift it. The king had that chest brought to his study. He dismissed the court to everyone's relief. The people hurried out of the throne room followed by the soldier beside the king, the court mag and the king's brother.

King Ganish spoke first."Everything he did showed his power. From the very moment that he walked into the throne room. He showed that his kingdom had untold riches and resources. Merchants caravan my ass, he was showing that we would HAVE to rely on him if we traded with him. I have never seen that many large pure Mana stones in all of the kingdoms and he flaunts them as though they are pebbles. Yet, nothing compares to his magic. Jostin tell me what you saw.

When the two men turned to Jostin he was still staring off into space, slightly mumbling to himself. When the king called the mages name louder the mage broke out of his stupor and slowly began to speak.

"What I felt? I couldn't feel anything. Not because he was hiding his power but because his power was out great. I am a high level of Archmage of the fire element. He's a mage over all of the basic elements and he is over some of the advanced elements."

"He cast a portal spell like it was a cantrip spell on moments, where it would taken myself minutes. He displayed lighting magic but, didn't burn up the floor or anything around him. I didn't even feel the hairs on my arm rise from the electricity in the room. He rose a wind and lowered the temperature in the room noticeably without harming anyone. His control over even advanced magic was extraordinary! No my king, it was unheard of. I envy his talents."

He displayed all of this on his own, with just himself alone but he had seemingly hundreds of students learning. Those amount of mages quells the number of trained mages that we have by a mile.

That was his only flaw is that he showed most of his mages being too young. Yet, our ignorance on if he has other stronger mages and the answer is yes. He had two with him. That's not to mention the strength of one of his soldiers is 4 of ours. How many of these does he have? He has 100 just guarding a merchant caravan also archers. They have a small army even with that number of soldiers. This man is not to be taken lightly. I think we should take this man up his offer.

The king was fuming. This man had embarrassed him in front of his whole kingdom of nobles. Yet, it wasn't so bad seeing as how many of them were pissing themselves. I'll send word to his caravan to meet with me in private to further discuss terms. The king sent messengers to Damien's caravan to deliver his message. He couldn't afford a war on two fronts.

…. The next morning, upstairs in Damiens study room in the former town hall building.

Damien's groups sat around a wooden table. Allen had paper notes and maps scattered across the table. Everyone was just staring at him in his new robes and crown. The commander reported that Damiens show worked and the king to discuss terms. He would like to meet with you this evening. There is also the issue with space. What are we going to do about the living situation? We have had an influx of 200 people and that was just from the last few days.

"Well 200 isn't so bad, let me know when we are in the 2000s. I can build more homes in seconds. I'm going to build apartment buildings.

"Apart- what, sire?" Allen asked.

"Apartment buildings are multiple personal homes on multiple floors we build up instead of outwards," Damien responded back to his advisor.

"In the meantime, I had planned on getting back to the magical tournament but I see that won't be necessary, but Selene may want to join the tournament next year. I don't think I need to any longer."

"Mage tournament my. Lord"?

"Yes, one that the hold in one of the kingdom's cities. I signed up as Lord Donte but I don't think that's viable any longer, since I announced myself. It would be great practice for Selene. Me, I am going to fulfill my true mission. It is not to sit around running a kingdom, but it's to get followers to my cause."

Damien needed to establish a home and he's has done that. Damien is going secure the borders to the kingdom and then continue to travel and gather followers.

"Allen and Selene will rule in my stead while I am away. I do not know how long I will be away. All my men will stay here and train the new followers that come into the town. Make sure they continue to submit the oath to me and the city". When everyone began to argue, Damien cut them off.

"This is not up for debate. Your king has spoken and you will follow my directions."

The group all fell silent. None of them had seen this coming. They figured Damien would always be around to rule and to protect them. He had already done so much for them.

Damien continued on, "I'll continue my mission securing the borders of my kingdom and move on. I'll spend some time with the king setting up terms and I'll have them brought here. Allen has access to all of the kingdom's protections that I have built." I am going to create apartment buildings and head to meet the king.

Damien went outside of the town hall building and flew into the air. Damien flew high enough that he could see deep into the forest and his mine he created. He willed his earth magic to his demands and massive 25ft think marble wall began to rise out of the forest. Beginning from the mountains next to his mines entrance. Damien cut out a massive part of the forest as far as his eyes could see and rose his wall. It was 150tf high with moats on both sides on both sides that Damien filled with water magic that continued into the now damned rivers that the wall cut into. Damien didn't want to destroy the habitat. He just needed to secure his borders for his kingdom.

Damien had accumulated almost 100,000 DP with the days that had passed since he first left. First Damien bought 70 2,500 3 bedrooms 3 bathrooms fully furnished with modern amenities. He used some to create roads in his town from all of the buildings to the gates. Even with all of this build, Damien hadn't even carved out a fraction of the area that he claimed. Damien had the System mark all threats in the claimed forest. All of the red dots were either at the large wall trying to climb over it, under or through it. They were obviously fleeing the area, Damien assumed they thought an earthquake was happening or something. Either way, this helped Damien. He didn't have to go and remove the threats personally off of his lands. When all of the dots cleared off of his lands, Damien closed his outer gates.

This process had taken Damien most of the day and several breaks. Such a widescale use of Mana was taxing, even on him. Damien had found that since he had gotten out of his training realm, his gains have been minute at best. Yet, Damien slightly increased his earth manipulation after his large scale construction project. It was time to go meet the king and figure out what his terms are and if they benefit his kingdom. Damien didn't want his kingdom to get caught up in a war. These people had suffered enough in the last few years.

Damien flew back to the village to clean himself up. H donned his new mage armor and crown and headed to meet with Allen and portal them both to the king's palace. As he walked to locate his advisor, he wondered how he was going to make a village look like a kingdom to the king.