7/15 - Ruins camp - late morning

Music was booming through my earphones while I looked up to the sky from on the couch. The sky was as blue as always with the clouds slightly filling the air. Richard was reading one of the books Selena gave him. He'd been practicing his magic for a while. He was able to heal wounds now but just bruises and relieve some pain. Other than that, he was still pretty weak with it, but hey, it was still cool and useful nonetheless. I had asked him if it was possible to enhance body parts with Source. He told me that it was but only be possible if they are a guardian attribute. I described how the old man acted and his cold presence, and he told me that was a possibility. So overall, that old fart had a few mysteries about him. However that isn't important, what is important is the fact that I am...

"...So freaking bored!"

"Huh?"

"I am so bored, I can't take this shit anymore. I want to do something."

"Why don't you just walk around," Richard suggested.

"Are you kidding me, we've already done that. I don't want to walk around aimlessly anymore, I want to go to an actual place!"

Exploring without a real destination in mind was fun for a while, but it got boring after a while.

"Then how about you come with us?"

Alex poked his head from behind the couch.

"To where?"

"To the kingdom," Marie answered. "We need to get some supplies and it can't be found in the forest, so we're heading over there. We could use extra hands."

So, we're finally heading to this Kingdom place that's been mentioned. To be honest, I don't expect much from it. However, if there’s a weapons shop there? I could replace the stone sword with a cool ass weapon! Shit, now I'm getting hyped! I jumped off the couch doing some athleticism.

"What are we waiting for, let's get going!"

"I see you're fairly excited," Richard pointed out.

"Hell yeah I am, this trip is going to be awesome!"

"This isn't a trip, this is to gather supplies," Marie snappishly reminded me.

"Yeah, yeah, Richard, you wanna come along?"

"Sure, I'm interested in this kingdom as well. What about you Nunnalé?"

"I have no such interest, I'll only go if you command me, or if you are going yourself," she said in a robotic tone.

"I guess that's a yes," Richard said.

"Alright then, let's head out right now, I want to get there before the afternoon," Marie instructed.

"Okay then, what are we waiting for, let's go."

Everyone else was going on ahead of me. Before I ran after them, a thought poked into my head. I went through my bag to find what I needed...

...

We were on Marie's bike, it was rather cramped since there were five of us. Marie was driving with Alex behind her. Richard, Nunnalé, and I sat in the sidecar. I needed to be careful on the sidecar or I would fall off (however, it was a pretty big sidecar). The drive wasn't as bumpy as I believed it was going to be but it was still pretty damn rough in some places. During the drive, I saw ruins, statues, and other places of interest covered in overgrown.

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"Yo, I got a question: what is within the ruins," I asked Marie.

"We don't know, they were there long before I was born and ever since, so they remain a mystery. However, some of the Kingdom's researchers had discovered it to be a part of an old kingdom that must've fallen centuries ago."

"Makes sense, if this land wasn't kept in check then it would stand to reason that some of these buildings would be covered in overgrown. But if it were abandoned it would mean the old inhabitants are all dead," Richard theorized.

"It's true when I was a child I was told stories of how this used to be a Kingdom of several different lands, each having their own beliefs and ways of life. But they all one day disappeared. Ever since then, humans have tried to make something out of this land again, but it was tough times making it happen. I don't know many of the details of how it went down, but now we have a kingdom that fits most of the humans of this land." Marie had ended her history lesson.

"Wow, that's more history learned about more so than my own country," I told Marie.

"Speaking of which, where do you two hail from," Alex asked Richard and me.

"We're from another world," I answered.

"Really!?"

I thought Marie would tell him? Is it really that unimpressive to her?

"Yep, I'm a badass that comes from the city of NewPort Island, from the state of New Jersey! And so is Richard (minus the badass part)."

"What is NewPort like?"

"NewPort is an island city that is made up of four different areas. The first one is an entertainment district, the second would be an industrial area, the third is a residential area, and the final is the commercial district. Each being connected by bridges and train stations," Richard explained clearly, trying to come off as expertly.

"It sounds like a fairly big place, how do you get around," Marie asked.

"We take trains that go throughout the whole city plus buses and any other vehicle," I answered.

"It sounds like a marvelous place," Alex said.

"It's not bad, but district one is full of gangs that are ready to beat the crap out of anything that moves, but other than that, it's a pretty great place to live."

It's been a while since I thought of NewPort. I wonder how everyone is doing over there? I wonder what's being said about mine and Richard’s disappearance. Nah, can't see Lauren working up the energy to care, and I bet Birch is glad that I'm gone. Eh, it's whatever at this point. I'm in another world and it's fun as all hell, so I'm not gonna let the minor details ruin it . . .

"We're going to be taking a scenic route."

"How come?"

"A Fire Wraith is camped out nearby. We don't want any trouble from them, especially while shopping."

"I don't mind a bit of trouble," I casually told Marie.

"We don't need it at this moment, so cool yourself."

We parked in a miniature forest area. The trees were enough to hide the bike.

"Okay, we're going to park here. I don't want to get questioned as to why we have this."

"Is it illegal to have a bike," Richard asked her.

"Civilians and outsiders can't own vehicles unless they're merchants or with the Kingdom army, otherwise, they would take away my bike."

That's rough, what asshole came up with that rule?

After a while of walking, I was beginning to see something beyond the horizon. It was a giant wall, covering a large chunk of land. No, more than that. Probably covered miles of land.

"We're here. The entrance to the Kingdom of humanity."

The entranceway was open with a gate in sight above it. Rather, it was a large tunnel entranceway that leads into the kingdom. Guards are standing outside the city, with weapons in hand.

"Give me a moment. I need to verify our entry."

Marie walked over to the guards that were watching the gate. She pulled out some documents from her pocket and after a couple of minutes of expecting them, Marie gave the thumbs up.

"Welcome, merchants to our fair Kingdom," the guard said to us. We all passed them and into the tunnel.

“Merchants,” I asked her.

“It’s the best visa suited us, besides, I still don’t want to bring my bike since they might question where I acquired a vehicle like that.”

“Where did you get it?”

“I stole it.”

“Ah.”

Soon after a few minutes, we had finally stepped foot into the kingdom of humanity.