——————Narrator——————
The continent of Puritia. Located at the west of the continent of Magitia.
Magitia consists of five kingdoms: Bell, Verde, Draven, Demiyas, and Internea. Internea acts as the main kingdom surrounded by Bell, Verde, Draven, and Demiyas.
Internea is the central kingdom in the continent, Bell is located at the north-east, Verde is located at the east, Draven is located at the south-east, and Demiyas is located at the north-west.
Puritia consists of seven kingdoms: Sath, Puro, Risha, Ilaw, Liwanag, Ningning, and Kinang. Sath acts as the main kingdom surrounded by Puro, Risha, Ilaw, Liwanag, Ningning, and Kinang.
Sath is the central kingdom in the continent, Puro is located at the south, Risha is located at the south-east, Ilaw is located at the east, Liwanag is located at the north-east, Ningning is located at the north-west, and Liwanag is located at the south-west.
The continent of Sath and its kingdoms primarily has its own religion that worships the God of Light and Purity, Santessa.
This religion believes that humans are pure and therefore superior to other races. This belief led to the kingdom's birth of discrimination against Beastfolk and Monsters.
This belief became the very identity of the kingdoms. The belief is as old as any race can be, that is why, the birth of a new kingdom happened.
Eight hundred years ago, a paladin woman named Marisa existed. And as the commander of the Holy Knights in the kingdom of Sath, she was tasked to eliminate a fire dragon.
Marisa has always been a follower of the religion but even though it was the primary religion, she did not make it her identity.
She's a summoned, an individual summoned through the Summoning Ritual performed by the elite magicians of Sath.
It was because of this reason that she was not fed this belief at an early age and thus her beliefs weren't influenced by the people of Sath.
Marisa knew she would be executed for siding with non-pure races so she remained silent of her personal beliefs, opinions and created a quiet personality that she can use to survive in the kingdom.
Her life was always quiet and boring, the kingdom only used her ability as a paladin to eliminate powerful monsters. But there's not a lot of powerful monsters that are powerful enough for her to eliminate so she remains hidden and stagnant in her home.
Until it was time for her to eliminate a fire dragon. It was finally her time to shine after being hidden for years. It was the moment she met the dragon that changed her whole life.
She didn't expect that the dragon she's supposed to eliminate possesses intelligence. What she didn't expect the most was the dragon's plea to her.
The dragon lived a life in hiding and cowardice, the dragon reasoned that there was no point in living if all it could do was hide knowing he'll be killed.
Her conversation with the dragon made her feel deeply connected to it. She wasn't able to remove her sword from its sheath nor create a move.
The dragon sensed her hesitation and transformed into a human appearance in hopes that it'll be easier to kill someone who has the body of a human.
White light covered the whole dragon and turned into a male human with red hair, black eyes, tall and buff build.
It was those features that made Marisa fall in love with the dragon. That was the start of the love between an executioner and the executed.
It was love at first sight for both of them and they deeply connected with one another after a deep conversation about their lives.
That was when a crime was committed by Marisa.
Being born as a monster or beastfolk was a crime for the continent, it was the same thing for the ones who gave birth to them.
Execution is the ultimate punishment. Cleansing the world by removing the impurities that exist and the ones that give birth to them.
Even though Marisa knew that, she still conceived a child with Targon, the fire dragon.
Marisa and Targon thought they would be fortunate enough to be able to raise a child but after the birth of their child, the people of Sath found them in the farther kingdom, Ningning.
Marisa gave birth to a small wooden house in a forest where she and Targon lived. Sound came from outside after she had given birth.
They were joyous even if it was only for a moment, both of them were happy they could find a purpose in life.
The house was surrounded by elite knights and magicians and the two didn't have any way out, especially when their child was there.
The two only had one resolve, and it made them happy that they became parents for a second and with this, they'll forever be his parents.
Targon was able to use spatial magic, and it was there that he used spatial magic to teleport Argon Mariss, their child to a place where he'll be accepted.
Because of the requirement of the spatial magic, it would have been impossible for Targon to teleport Argon to a place he'll belong because he's never visited a place like that before.
It was that moment that they became desperate.
{Request fulfilled.} {Implanting a memory…} {Success.}
Text appeared in front of the two and Targon had a headache because of the memory being implanted in him.
There, Targon knew he was now able to teleport Argon to a safe place but it was to another continent so the mana requirement was huge.
Marisa's and Targon's mana wasn't enough for the teleportation to work so they had to sacrifice their souls in order to fulfill the requirement for the magic.
Powerful magic ready to be casted at the house where Marisa and Targon reside. The three manage to successfully teleport themselves from here to there.
Argon cried and the people in the small town where he was teleported heard him and found him covered in a white cloth, crying.
It was that moment where the townsfolk found Argon full of life, while Marisa and Targon were completely drained out of their life, lifeless.
Argon became the happiest child because of the love the townsfolk gave to him. The townsfolk hesitated in showing Argon the graves of his two parents. But they knew it was necessary for him to have at least a memory of his parents even if it wasn't necessarily pleasant.
The sight of the two graves didn't stop him from being the happiest child, it only made him realize that his parents loved him dearly and that they gave their lives just for him to live. It was those sentiments that made him determined to create a world where discrimination against beastfolk doesn't exist.
Argon was strong because of his two parents, and his potential to be the king was even stronger which was why he became the strongest king in the continent of Magitia.
Name: Argon Mariss
Age: 800+ years old
Race: Superior Sacred Dragon
Magic: [Fire Magic] [Holy Magic] [Earth Magic]
Skills: [Fire Manipulation] [Fire Resistance] [Heat Resistance] [Shapeshift] [Enhanced Strength] [Enhanced Speed] [Fast Growth] [Holy Element Resistance]
Intrinsic skills: [Sacred Dragon Body] [Sacred Dragon Eye] [Sacred Dragon Breath] [Sacred Dragon Aura]
Argon founded Demiyas, previously a small town but now populated with two hundred thousand beastfolk.
Only one kingdom has created diplomatic ties with Demiyas and that kingdom is Verde, a kingdom who took in beastfolk when no other kingdom did.
Because of Argon's strength, he has no foes that are on equal footing, and for a race that prides itself on their strength, this became a quiet topic for Argon.
There are different types of species living in Demiyas. Feline-types like Catfolk, Tigerfolk, and Lionfolk. Canine-types like Dogfolk and Wolfkin. And others like Rabbitfolk, Lizardfolk, and Birdfolk.
All species contribute and each of them have a specific contribution to the kingdom of Demiyas.
Tigerfolk, Lionfolk, Dogfolk, and Wolfkin specialize in hunting. Catfolk specialize in espionage and information-gathering. Rabbitfolk specialize in farming. Lizardfolk and Birdfolk specialize in security, land and sky.
Argon has eight generals, each of them a leader of their respective species.
Tanya: Leader of catfolk and a master spy.
Verti: Leader of birdfolk and a bowmaster.
Bino: Leader of lizardfolk and a mage and spear master..
Ragarh: Leader of tigerfolk and a martial arts master.
Liora: Leader of lionfolk and a martial arts master.
Mira: Leader of dogfolk and a master hunter.
Alaric: Leader of wolfkin and master of dual blades.
What drives Argon became one thing and that one thing is to create a world that is kind to beastfolk but he thinks he lacks the necessary strength and potential to make that happen so he just manages his kingdom to be the best place the beastfolk would ever want to live in.
——————End Narration——————
When we teleported from Verde to Bell, I immediately introduced Beto to all of them and they were happy to meet him.
Afterwards, Francis urged others to leave us alone in the dining room, leaving the five of us so he could tell me what he wanted to tell me from before.
He told me to go to Demiyas, a kingdom filled with demi-humans. He told me that demi-humans can be great instructors and security personnel for the academies so I was on board with going there.
But there were a lot of issues I had to be mindful of before I went there and Francis briefed me with the most important of it all.
Francis told me that demi-humans are discriminated against because they are simply non-pure races. They are also not called just demi-humans but beastfolk. Their official name is Esse.
They might be weary of humans, not really weary but distrustful to humans because of some kingdom's religion. We needed to look like we were Esse so they wouldn't be weary when they see us.
Klaus and Beto can change their appearance to look like an Esse but Lukas cannot because he's an angel who already looks like a human who happens to just have wings.
Well, he may not have a shapeshift skill but he can still use illusion-based magic because he can use holy/light magic.
The main problem wasn't the three but me, I was a human so I needed to be very mindful of what I do, say, or even think.
The other main problem is also not being able to instantly teleport there in the kingdom of Demiyas because I haven't been there once.
Thanks to World's Voice and Klaus, this problem was resolved.
Klaus told me that he had been there once so there's a chance we can teleport there instantly but there are high risks of teleporting into physical matter because the memory wasn't very recent.
World's Voice told me that one of the subskills of [Empath], [Soul Authority] can assert authority over Klaus' memories so I could teleport based on his memory of Demiyas.
So I immediately set us to teleport there but first we needed to look like an Esse.
Francis guided us on what kind of Esse we should transform into. Klaus was a dragonkin so he transformed to have a black scaly tail in his back. Lukas was supposed to be a birdfolk but he requested to be a dragonkin so I just let him, he took his wings out and made his smooth wings into a white scaly wings. Beto was a rabbitfolk so he had himself have rabbit ears in his head.
Francis couldn't decide on what kind of Esse I should be so he told me that I should just pick what kind of Esse I wanted to be.
I like cats so I turned myself into a catfolk and had cat ears in my head. Everyone was amazed by the sight of the ears and they kept complimenting me but I didn't know the reason so I just accepted the compliments until they stopped.
After changing our appearances, we teleported to the kingdom of Demiyas based on Klaus' memory. Klaus seemed satisfied that I was using his memory to teleport us there. I don't know the reason why, but I could feel Lukas' jealousy.
Beto and I were oblivious why they were acting like that but just ignored it. The teleportation worked and before it did, I created a barrier surrounding us in case we were going to be trapped in a wall. I also layered the barrier ten times for maximum effect.
Luckily, the spot we were teleported into is just right outside the kingdom. The walls outside the kingdom look very strong and durable, there are also many lizardfolk equipped with armor and carrying spears at the entrance gate.
There is a long line, it looks like it's not moving that fast. It's fine, I don't mind waiting. I dispelled the barrier that was protecting us by acting as a physical barrier and a barrier that makes us invisible.
We tried following the line but everytime we did, the people in front of us let us move forward in line. It was weird, but their looks and gazes at us were weirder. Do we not look like Esse enough?
They kept letting us move in line allowing us to quickly reach the entrance gate. The lizardfolk that were guarding the gate looked like they were staring at us.
"Welcome to the Kingdom of Demiyas." The voice of a lizardfolk spoke.
I looked around to see who he was talking to, only to realize he was talking to me.
"Me?" I spoke, confused.
"Yes, sir. Would you mind coming with me?" He confirmed and asked.
It's not like I'd decline his offer but the way he stands, looks, and talks, it's as if he's saying that I will come with him. The three were cautious but I wanted to trust him so we followed him.
He told us to stay at his back because he'll be using magic to take us there.
"Come forth earth magic, turn the ground we stand into mud. Mud Flow." He chanted.
This was my first time seeing someone who had incantations so it amazed me. I'd test incantations but this was the only one I know so far.
The ground we stood did become mud and it acted as a tool to transport us to what looks like an arena? I thought we would be going there but we went onto the side then into the back to reveal a castle behind.
After hallways passed, we were escorted up to this very room. A room that looks like a normal one with one person sitting at a chair.
"So it was you, huh?" The man sitting spoke.
"Who?" I asked, clueless and confused.
"You." He confirmed.
"I'm afraid, I don't know what you mean." I replied.
"You can't fool an Esse's natural instinct. Your presence is triggering every Esse's instinct. It's why everyone's looking at you and behaving around you weird." He informed me.
Oh? Do they know we aren't really Esse? That would make sense but that would also create a problem for us because we entered this kingdom under false pretenses.
"Don't forget your manners, My King." The lizardfolk who escorted us spoke.
That guy scares me. But wait… King? This is truly bad! Should we kneel? Didn't we just disrespect him by pretending to be Esse to enter his kingdom? AH! I don't know.
"I'm sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I am the king of Demiyas, Argon. Pleasure to meet all of you." He introduced him.
"I'm sure you know that we are not really Esse so there's no point for us to keep these features on." I said.
The three understood and removed their Esse features. The king's reaction was quiet and calm as if he knew, which I knew he knew.
After removing the features, we each introduce ourselves. Normally I would introduce the two myself but I wanted to let them introduce themselves.
"Don't you feel disrespected? We entered your kingdom under false pretenses and were pretending to be Esse. I just find it odd that you look calm right now." I said to the king.
"My instinct is telling me to hear you out first. And whether you were doing it for bad reasons." He reasoned.
"How about a duel with me?" Klaus spoke, out of nowhere.
I turned my head to him so fast that my neck was almost about to break. What does he mean by duel? I looked at the king's reaction immediately in order to intercept if he's offended by Klaus' declaration, only to find him sparked by Klaus' declaration.
"I'd like that. Do you mind if the duel takes place in the arena?" Argon asked Klaus.
"I don't mind." Klaus replied.
"But to make this fair, there should be conditions. Number one, no magic. Number two, the duel shall only last three minutes. Number three, I will allow you to attack me for two minutes without attacking back. If you are able to land a hit in my head, then you'd win instantly, but after two minutes, I'd be attacking back." Klaus added.
"Oh? I accept those conditions." Argon laughed.
The lizardfolk guy introduced himself to us, his name was Bino, Argon's right hand and secretary.
Argon and Bino nodded to one another after Argon's conversation with Klaus ended. It looked like a signal for something. I don't know what the signal is for though.
Five minutes later after we were escorted by Bino to the arena, I found myself standing near the king's spectator seat.
It intrigued me that this place where Argon's seat is placed looks like it's new as if it wasn't used enough.
The arena looks like it has been used daily, even the spectators' seats are ragged. The only thing that looks out of place in this arena is Argon's seat.
We were told to wait for five minutes, and during that five minutes, Esses began to fill the spectators' seats one by one. After five minutes, the seats were fully occupied and that was when Klaus and Argon came out and stood in the center of the arena.
The atmosphere was tense. The fight didn't exactly begin right at that moment. After standing in the center, they stared at each other for five seconds and walked up to create a distance with one another.
"Begin!" Bino shouted as he initiated the start of the duel.
Klaus stood still while Argon began his first attack using a punch. Klaus blocked his attack by covering his head using his arm.
The impact of Argon's punch when it hit Klaus' arm was amazing. The wind was too strong for this arena and the spectators' to endure. So I immediately created a barrier to protect the watchers.
For a brief second, I could hear Argon's whisper thanking me. That was then when his punches and kicks began to intensify.
I was right in putting a barrier, not only it protected his people, he can also go out if he wants to.
There were only thirty seconds left and despite Argon's strong and powerful punches and kicks, he wasn't able to land a hit on Klaus' head.
Two minutes have passed and Argon still hasn't landed a hit on Klaus' head but it was also the time that Klaus began his attacks.
That one minute was stressful for me. Argon wasn't able to keep up with Klaus' fast and strong attacks, at that point, it was just Klaus beating up Argon defenseless.
The duel ended with Klaus standing at the center of the arena, completely unharmed, and Argon's beat up body.
Every Esse who watched cheered and even Bino was about to cry after they witnessed the duel between Argon and Klaus.
That was the moment I realized it.
Esse is a race that prides itself in their strength that is why they duel in this arena regularly explaining the ragged state of the arena.
Argon is also an Esse and he's yet to find someone who can match his strength. It must have been lonely to not be able to embrace his Esse nature.
I can tell that Argon is a king who deeply cares for his people and his people love him. That is why they were happy that Argon was able to embrace his Esse nature, even just for the first time.
I couldn't help but smile.
We came back to the room after the duel. Argon looked fulfilled and happy after the duel, though I can't say the same for Klaus. I wanted to cheer him up so I told him his duel made me happy.
He seemed pretty happy after I told him. It really did make me happy, after all he just gave Argon an experience he will likely never forget.
My conversation with Argon soon began.
Just like my previous conversations with Francis, Tristan, and Jurien. I gave Argon a proposal of the idea Bell Kingdom was implementing.
He told me that the Esse will likely have a hard time working with humans, there's even a higher chance that Esse won't be able to work with humans.
Argon told me that he could ask them but he didn't want them to do it even though they don't want to because the king asked them.
There was one way for Esse to agree to it, Argon told me. But first, he had Bino select the Esse who can be deployed at the academy.
There were five hundred deployable Esse, Bino and Argon told me. They both said that I might be able to persuade them if I meet them one by one. I said I'd take any chance if it means getting them to stay at the academies.
I also promised Argon that Esse would also be able to attend the academies if they wanted to so he said he'll take me up on that offer and had Bino select possible students.
It took about an hour for me to shake hands with everyone. They looked spooked about meeting me, I thought it was because I looked human.
Argon asked me where would the employed Esse live. It stunned me at first because he's the only person who has asked me that and the academies weren't built with dormitories.
Building dormitories would be easy but they might not like residing there so I thought about connecting the kingdoms using teleportation spots.
Too bad I don't have spatial magic to make that happen.
"I don't like leaving my people in a human kingdom where I don't know whether they can be safe. As their king, I would do anything and everything to protect them." Argon declared to me.
His words comforted me, knowing he'll do what it takes to protect the people he loves. I share the same sentiment, I wouldn't let anything bad happen to the three, even though Beto just joined us recently.
{A soul connection has been established.}
{Acquiring skills…} {Success.}
{Skills [Fire Manipulation] [Fire Resistance] [Heat Resistance] [Shapeshift] [Enhanced Strength] [Enhanced Speed] [Fast Growth] [Holy Element Resistance] has been acquired.}
{Skills [Fire Manipulation] and [Shapeshift] have already been acquired.} {Sacrificing skills…} {Attempting to acquire new skills…}
{Skills [Water Resistance] [Earth Resistance] [Air Resistance] [Dark Element Resistance] have been acquired.}
{After integrating elemental skills, you have acquired superior skill [Elemental Resistance].}
{Acquiring magic…} {Success.}
{Spatial Magic has been learned.}
{Acquiring race…} {Success.}
{Superior Sacred Dragon has been acquired.}
{Acquiring intrinsic skills…} {Success.}
{Intrinsic skills [Sacred Dragon Body] [Sacred Dragon Eye] [Sacred Dragon Breath] [Sacred Dragon Aura] has been acquired.}
{Integrating races and intrinsic skills…} {Success.}
{Race [Omni] has been acquired.}
{Intrinsic skills [Omni Vessel] [Omni Senses] [Omni Perception] [Omni Resonance] have been acquired.}
{Acquiring mana…} {Success.}
{Effects of the skill [Empath] have been completed.}
Woah, this is great timing. I could now use spatial magic to make others teleport from one location to another.
I quickly excused myself and teleported back to Bell to talk with Eva. I needed her to create something for me.
Every time I was faced with an adversity like issues on my proposal, I couldn't help but think that the proposal was too naive and that it was made irrationally by a child.
Thankfully, I am able to quickly find ways to resolve any problems that occur or might occur thanks to World's Voice and the people around me who help make it happen.
The concept of id already exists in this world, an example would be the guild cards, created by the adventurer's guild after registering at an adventurer's guild.
Any establishment would require an id so that it instills easy access onto the buildings while maintaining low security risks. Thanks to Eva, I didn't have to figure out the technological mechanics of the ids I wanted to create.
I told Argon that I plan to create teleportation spots at his kingdom and Bell in order to make travelling easy and accessible without ever feeling trapped in a kingdom may they find themselves that way.
He seemed pretty interested about the plan and wanted to finalize and make it official but he needed Bell's king so I brought Francis and they all sorted it out. In the end, the plan was officially on the process and the alliance between Demiyas and Bell was successfully made.
Tristan of Verde and Jurien of Draven, both I asked about the plans after the conversation Argon and Francis had and after I teleported Francis back to Bell. They were pretty intrigued about it but even though I haven't made an official proposal for it, they were already set in mind to be on board with the idea.
After my conversations with the kings, I went back to Bell to talk with Eva to talk about the ids I wanted her to create. She said that the idea was brilliant and she had never seen nor thought about it before. Brilliant? Yes. But it's not exactly made by me nor thought by me, I'm just using my past world knowledge to navigate this world.
Francis wanted to talk to me about the curriculums we needed to apply to the academies. He told me that there is a kingdom that specializes in information and it might help dealing with the curricula we wanted to apply.
Internea, Kingdom of Elves, also known for its other name, Information Superhighway. The name sounds very familiar to me, or at this point it should because it's the thing that lets me watch those movies, series, and even play video games. Internet! Hmm… Is there even such a thing in this world?
Eva needed time for the experimentation, creation, and testing of the id so I gave her time to do so while I travel and gain information in the kingdom of elves.
Unfortunately, there weren't anyone who visited the kingdom so we were ultimately forced to travel using a carriage again with Vlad. It will take fifteen days to go there since Bell were just right on south of Internea.
For a brief second, it felt like I'm being guided by someone… Well, not exactly guided but manipulated by someone… The person who seemed to be doing that is Francis. But that doesn't make sense though. I know for a fact he would never do that to me so I just let it go.