“So from what Raavar has told me you have been completely locked up in a facility for the first fifteen years of your life?”
“That’s right.” Sevyn confirmed with a nod.
“You poor kids.” Ariel stated sympathetically.
“Mmm..it wasn’t that bad. We were very well taken care of. The only issues were the experimentation and boredom.”
Raavar, Amuro and Ariel all glanced at each other, they had to remind themselves that these kids in front of them lacked common sense.
“Is there any more you can tell us about your time in the facility?” Amuro wanted some more information, he had a hypothesis with the help of Maeve’s blessing.
“Well now I think about it I never mentioned the owners of the facility or how exactly we escaped.”
Sevyn quickly explained the how they made it out.
“From the looks of it the attack on the facility was made by the Umbra Cloaks and as you mentioned you were being held by The Red Suns…” The chief looked thoughtful for a moment.
Raavar and Ariel were on high alert now
“Who are either of these groups?”
“The Red Suns are a dangerous group that form a significant part of the underworld. They are mostly based in the city of Taelruin which sits not very far westward from here, the Jigal forest.”
“The underworld?”
“The criminal world that exists ‘below’ this world, they take part in various lawbreaking activities such as, trafficking, drug selling, assassinations and more.”
Sevyn wasn’t exactly privy to any laws apart from those of the facility. However, she felt that she did not enjoy the idea of living under laws that were made by others. Especially now that she had gained her freedom from the facility, she was not interested in being tied down by rules made by people she did not know nor care about in any capacity.
She knew that despite her…temperament she was never one to initially inconvenience people as a deliberate act. At the very least not just to cause them trouble. She wondered if becoming an adventurer meant being forced into conforming to said rules. While she was not interested in doing any of the lawbreaking activities stated above. She was certain that other rules might restrict her actions in ways she found…inconvenient. That did not bode well with her, not one bit.
“And I assume there is a reason these people are able to continue operating?”
“Indeed, after all this world is about power. With enough of it or enough backing you are capable of getting away with a lot. The Red Suns are controlled by a person only known as The Lady, she is very powerful. It is believe that she is at least mid-way into the Artillery class.” Amuro shook his head slowly. “Power at that level is extremely difficult to deal with and she is any stronger it is not just direct combat ability that she would have. Her other abilities would make even simple tracking very hard to do without others at her level. And as we have established those are few and far between.”
“Hmm..” As she figured out to be capable of living as she wants power was a requirement. “What about these Umbra Cloaks.”
“They are a well-known service of law keepers, they operate all over the world and attempt to crack down on the criminal underworld against figures on the level of the Lady.” Ariel was the one to answer her excitedly you could practically see the stars in her eyes. “They are led by Marrow an Artillery class Xerani who has the backing of Mort, a Royal.”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Is Marrow blessed by Mort?”
“Good guess. And yes, he is.” She answered with enthusiastic nods.
“He is also very handsome.” She added causing Raavar to roll his eyes.
“Sure, if you like an anaemic who looks like he is constantly on the verge of sleep.” He said in a mocking tone.
“That just adds to his charm.” She countered indignantly.
“Who are these Royals, you have mentioned them before but so far I only have to names. They seem very well known.” Sevyn added before it could become a full-blown argument.
“Ahh that right.” Amuro took the reins.
“The Royals are all well known because there have not been any new Royals in nearly two millenia.”
“That sure is a long time.”
“Indeed, in actual fact only five of them exist. Emile, The Brave. He is the most popular one amongst the people.”
“The Brave?”
“All the Royals have Titles, these are granted to them by their Ehror. It is something that anyone with the capability to read Ehror even partially is able to glean from reading that of the Royals. While not many have had the opportunity, the few that have, have managed to realise that Ehror can grant Titles to those on the Royal level.”
“And these Titles are based on?”
“We aren’t sure how they are decided but we do know it give them some kind of power based on the titles.” He explained. “Anyway, Emile rules the kingdom of Lumil on the northern most continent.”
“He rules a kingdom?”
“Sort of, he really did a long time ago but has decided not to be personally involved anymore a few centuries ago to let others who have better relatability to the citizens make the decisions. He still gives advice from now on, or at least he did.”
“Why isn’t he doing so anymore?”
“I would get to that. Then, there is Mort, I have mentioned him before he is known as The Death.”
“Sounds ominous.”
“Sure does, but he is also the most righteous amongst them, Emile is said by most to be the most righteous and for good reason, but he himself denies that and elevates Mort over himself in that regard. Personally, I would take Emile’s words over others.”
“Sounds like you have met him.”
“Not personally but I have connections with those who have.”
She bet he meant Maeve.
“Next there is Cassandra, The Restorer. She is probably the most volatile of them all she rules the kingdom of Harmonica in the far East. She is well known due to her ability to control plant life and it is how the kingdom is constantly protected.”
“Next we have Broen, The Bull of Heaven.”
“Long Title.”
“And the second most mysterious, with the others you could guess to what their abilities least to and they are just one word but his sounds the most like a Title. He is also the physically strongest of them and thus the physically strongest person in the world. It is a well-known myth that he created an over one hundred kilometre long island millennia ago with the body of a serpent that he defeated in a single strike.”
“Ridiculous.” Stated Gael in disbelief.
“You would think so, but no one including the Royals have denied it. They did not confirm either.”
“That sounds awesome.” Angelo this time.
“I would like to meet him some day.” Sevyn could not deny that she was intrigued.
“Well for reasons I would explain the chances of that are significantly more improbable than they were before.” Amuro said before continuing.
“Broen is also the most…dangerous of the five. He is the one that cares the least about weakness and would kill and destroy those who gets in his way with a smile. The only reason the world is not under his fist is due to the other four being frank.”
“I want to meet him even more now, but I guess that would have to happen after I gain much more strength.” Sevyn had a dangerous glint in her eye.
“Finally, we have Maeve, The Anti-World.”
“I think she sounds much more ominous than Mort.” Angelo quipped.
“Her title is the most mysterious, there are a lot of theories as to why she has it but nothing even close to concrete. She lead a kingdom on a small continent south of Lumil called Corix. She is also thought to be as the most powerful of the five.”
“Didn’t you say that Broen is?” Angelo asked curiously.
“No, I said he is physically the most powerful. In raw strength and muscle power he is thought to be the one that can punch the hardest. However, Maeve is also a great user of magic and her abilities even without it are wide and varied.”
“Magic?” Gael tilted his heard.
Sevyn had heard that from Akuuna before, though he had not said much about it.
“Magic is basically an application of Ehror beyond the Corpus… You would not quite get it yet but if you want a more detailed explanation then Ariel here is you best bet.” He said waving a hand at her as she waved to everyone with a smile.
“Are they called the Royals because three out of five of them rule a kingdom?”
“Yes and no, as has been said in the history books originally those that reached the Royal class were known as Apocalypse class. They were mostly ridiculously dangerous and volatile monsters that really were on the verge of leading this world to utter destruction. That was until Maeve the oldest of the five gathered them together to rid the world of the other Apocalypses. Then the name change happened and it is when the year was called year one AR. Apocalypse to Royal.”