The party was underway, Fred started off chatting with his group but ended up dragged away by his parents to meet relatives, and friends, although his group was also suffering the same fate.
His father was introducing him to his military colleagues that were stationed down in Castile with him, most of them in senior positions, with his father being the general down there.
“Good evening, Grandfather, good evening…” he greeted all of Edwards comrades.
“I Heard about Albion, what are you 14-15 and already commanding battles?” His grandfather Edmund said jovially.
“13 sirs, I turn 14 in February,” Fred said while scratching his sideburns.
“13 Bloody hell, Well, don’t get too cocky kid, it was a great opportunity for you to gain experience over there, but the continent is not like Albion, those 200 or so noble guards you faced are common on this land,” Edmund warned. “If they wanted to truly commit, you would have been looking at 1000+ Noble guards, with about 800 Wizards to back them up.”
“I understand Grandfather,” Fred was visibly shocked, 200 was already hard to deal with, let alone 1000.
“I’m actually surprised by how much resources they put into this endeavour,” one of Edmunds friends said.
“I got intel that they wanted to move their capital there, and was planning independence, they even set up force shields in Ludnus” Fred commented.
“I see, that makes a lot more sense,” Edmund stroked his chin.
“I can corroborate, I heard the news of them starting to dismantle their planar gate,” another colleague commented.
“My god, you were lucky there Fred, if they had moved that in time, you probably would have stood no chance,” Edmund commented.
“What is a Planar gate?” Fred asked, “I had only heard of it in the last few days from the dukes.”
“They are doors, but on the other side is a different world, it takes a lot of power and resources to make one, but they allow us to tap into other planets, which is worth it as they wield a lot of resources,” Edmund said.
“But couldn’t we find Iron there, we are running out on our end?” Fred asked.
“It’s a lot more complicated than that, we cannot ship enough resources back to justify the cost of running it, these are new technology, well, they have been around for 300 years, but not enough research has gone into these to make it worth it,” Edmund said.
“Only the most valuable of resources are extracted back, plus one more benefit, they allow us to level up faster,” Edward said.
“Have you been?” Fred asked Edward.
“Of course, usually the kids are sent after their fist battle in this world, just to get used to warfare,” Edward commented, “However, there may be problems with you.”
“What do you mean?” Fred asked in worry, this sounded like a great opportunity and now he was going to miss out.
“First off your too young at the moment, normally we send them when they are 18, but you’ve also got a lot of issues to deal with here, plus you are quite valuable with the seemingly advanced knowledge you have,” Edward said.
“Don’t worry about him, he’s always worrying over trivial shit,” Edmund commented, “it might actually do you good if you went early, your marriage won’t happen for a few years, and it would be a good opportunity to hide you for a bit. It doesn’t matter how smart you are, you will be nothing more than a tool if you don’t have the strength to protect yourself.”
This lit up a new vigour in Fred, “What can I expect to find in these Plane worlds?”
“Mainly Crystals, powerful crystals, or elementals, you see, the plane worlds we have come across are elemental based, with the magma plane being the only one with a dual elemental make-up, the one which is currently in the hands of the king” Edmund explained in a teacher-like manner, “you can tame them or take their cores, which will destroy them, but the cores are in demand for high tier weapons.”
Fred was getting excited, “Is the magma Plane, the reason the king can demand loyalty, the king had always seemed so weak compared to the nobles?”
“In theory yes, well, he occupies the most mana rich provinces in the kingdom, which allows exp gain to grow a lot faster, you should have noticed your exp mod increase when you came to the mainland,” Edmund commented.
“Yes, it was originally 220% with the teen status, but now it’s 300%” Fred confirmed. “Although it was 180% at the pre-teen, so I don’t really understand that part either.”
“That’s because you have a second growth spurt in your teens, once you get to adult, which is roughly 18 you will be reduced to 100%, however, I believe Albion will cap you at 150% unless you can find an area that is richer in mana to settle,” Edward explained.
“I see,” Fred was taking all this information in.
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“So, not only does the king’s lands have a faster growth rate but a dual elemental planar has stronger monsters,” Edmund commented.
“So, what does the king’s level have to do with the planar?” Fred asked.
“it’s more to do with the monster’s he can tame, you can tame any monster that is below your ascension level, as well, the portal will be more stable, the stronger the individual controlling it is, although a wizard can usually match a warrior who is one ascension higher” Edward explained.
___
Fred had a lot to take in, and a lot more questions, but he was suddenly called upon by an attendant on behalf of the dukes, when he reached the dukes, he noticed the king, his son and daughter-in-law and grandchildren were present.
“Good evening your majesty, good evening, Duke Ansul, Duke Plantagenet, good…” he did his rounds of greetings to the group.
“Ah, my boy, Fred, the king wished to meet you,” Duke Ansul said in a happy mood.
“You must be Fred, I presume, my brother and cousin have both talked about you before,” the king said.
“My apologies, your highness, I don’t believe I have met your cousin,” Fred mentioned.
“O, no, you were quite young at the time, and she is the headmistress of the Valence school, she watched you participate in the tournament a while back,” the king laughed.
“I see,” Fred scratched his sideburns, “I hope they didn’t say any negative things about me.”
“No, no, they just commented on your fighting style,” the king went sombre as if remembering something sad, “Anyway, I wanted to introduce you and my granddaughter to each other, come here Yasmin, say hello.”
“Nice to meet you,” Yasmin said with a pout, it seemed like she didn’t like him all that much.
“Nice to meet you, princess Yasmin,” Fred returned the greeting in a neutral tone.
“Now, now, Yasmin, be nice, he will be your future husband,” the king said.
“Why do I have to marry a bastard, and kid at that,” Yasmin turned her head away from her grandfather.
“Yasmin! Behave,” the king reprimanded, causing her to jump in fright, “My apologies Fred, Duke Ansul, Duke Plantagenet, she is just trying to spoil the arrangement, it was last minute for her.”
It was apparently common knowledge in the higher circles that Yasmin was a spoiled princess, “None taken,” the dukes said in unison, although their faces said otherwise.
Fred just didn’t say anything, although he almost blurted out that it was last minute to him as well, he took a glance at her parents, and they didn’t seem to like him either, they were currently looking him up and down with condescending eyes.
“Why don’t you two go off together to familiarise yourselves,” the king suggested in a rhetorical demeanour.
“Fine,” Yasmin puffed and went off with Fred, although she followed him, they didn’t really speak to each other, he signalled a waiter, “Excuse me, are you serving vodka."
“Emm, that new drink from Albion?” the server asked.
“Yes, I’ll have a double measure glass,” Fred asked.
“Aren’t you a bit young to be drinking alcohol sir,” the waiter said.
“Haha, yeah, he’s just a kid,” Yasmin laughed while pointing at him, drawing a small crowd.
“I’m fine, although it will be too strong for her,” Fred commented, then turned to Yasmin, “Would you like some water dear, maybe some juice,” some of the girls giggled but quickly hid behind the crowd.
“Haha, you think I cant handle my drinks, I’ll have the same as you,” Yasmin said, thinking nothing of it.
Fred turned to the Waiter, “Bring a bottle out, one with a blue label, and two glasses.”
“I’m sorry sir, but without your parents’ permission I cannot serve you alcohol,” the waiter said.
This got Yasmin in stitches, which drew the attention of Isabella, “Fred, what is wrong?”
“This dipshit won’t bring me a bottle of vodka,” Fred commented.
“Miss, we have been told not to serve alcohol to the younger generation,” the waiter tried to explain.
“My son created and brewed every bottle of vodka you have on stock, now bring him what he wants,” Isabella was getting visibly angry.
The waiter visibly gulped, “Yes ma’am,” he quickly ran away to get the bottle.
“you brew alcohol, isn’t that a job for lower-class people,” Yasmin snorted in disgust.
“Your granddad came knocking on my door for the stuff I brew, in fact, your engagement is for the stuff I created,” Fred sighed in exasperation.
The waiter hurried back with a blue bottle of vodka and two glasses, Isabella was shocked, “What are you doing with that?”
“Well first, I needed a heavy drink after hanging around with her for 10 minutes, but now she’s challenging me to a drinking contest,” Fred commented.
Yasmin’s face went a tinge of red from anger from his first argument, it wouldn’t look good if rumours spread about her forcing her fiancé to drink after meeting so soon.
“You’re challenging her to a drinking contest, that’s the strongest alcohol being produced,” Isabella turned to Yasmin, then back at Fred, “Go easy on her.”
“Strongest alcohol, yeah right, I am used to wine, I can handle this,” Yasmin bit back.
“See mother, nothing to worry about,” Fred grabbed the bottle and placed the two glasses on a nearby table and poured two shots, “Ready,” he picked up the two glasses and passed one over.
“This is all you can handle, Hahaha,” Yasmin laughed, and the crowd joined in, it was a small volume compared to what they are used to.
“But Fred, this isn’t like wine,” as soon as she finished, Fred necked his, showing no reaction.
At this time, the dukes and the king came over to witness Fred drinking the alcohol, “What’s going on?” the king asked.
“Grandfather, Fred wanted to have a drinking contest, but he is so weak that we had to start with these small amounts,” Yasmin exclaimed.
The king looked over to the bottle, and saw what it was, he turned back to her and yelled, “No don’t drink that,” but it was too late she necked her glass just before the warning.
The crowd was confused at the king’s reaction, but Yasmin started a coughing fit, spitting the alcohol back out, “What on earth was that” she said with teary eyes.
“You silly girl, that’s vodka, blue 6 times stronger than the wines you are used to,” the king sighed while rubbing his forehead.
While this was going on, Fred had ordered a couple of waiters to bring out a lot more glasses and another bottle, when they came back, he and the waiters poured out the glasses, “Fred what are you doing?” Isabella asked, causing everyone to stare.
“It’s the new year celebration, we can’t have a celebration without a toast,” Fred turned to the waiters, “Hand these out to everyone.”
Isabella was about to stop him, but one look at her grandfather forced her to stop, most of the adults realised this was a way to save the princess’ dignity by making everyone suffer. Fred walked over to Yasmin, handed her one and came in close to whisper, “swallow it in one go, the pain will be lessened, and just try to steel yourself.”
He then gave the duke a knowing look who nodded back, he couldn’t really be the one to give a toast at the duke’s party.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please raise your glasses in celebration to reaching the end of the year, with our king back, and better than ever, we can only presume a prosperous and bountiful year to follow,” he necked his glass, with the rest following, most of the adults could deal with the strong flavour or have tried it, but nearly all of the kids choked on it.
Yasmin looked like she could handle it, but Fred could tell it was a façade.