Short, casual chapter that sets the foundation of world building.
Chapter 5: A Crash Course on Remnant
This World of Remnant is different.
The landmasses are completely different than what I know; one of them even looks like a dragon. The continent on the left, including the dragon-shaped landmass in the north, is called Sanus where the kingdoms known as Vale and Vacuo are located. If you go south, you'll find a few islands floating out at sea. The newly 'founded' Kingdom of Hasiera and its lands are located south off the coasts of Sanus just in-between the longitude of the recognized territories of Vale and Vacuo.
'I think Hasiera is almost the same size as Japan...'
If you go all the way to the right, you get the continent called Anima which is where the Kingdom of Mistral is. In the north of Anima, you have another continent called Solitas where the former Kingdom of Mantle is; now called Atlas.
[Insight on the World of Remnant has increased by +32]
[World Map has been updated]
Map [Kingdom of Vale capital has been revealed]
Map [Kingdom of Vacuo capital has been revealed]
Map [Kingdom of Mistral capital has been revealed]
Map [Kingdom of Atlas capital has been revealed]
It's funny how Hasiera and Mantle/Atlas are very similar in how they were founded, according to the history book I am reading. I guess being a former colony of Mantle does that to the foundational history of their settlement or something.
Speaking of history, there's nothing about the Faunus Rights Revolution that I can find outside of a few newspaper articles several very old Vale newspapers and that's about it. Considering that Hasiera started to become isolated during the Faunus Rights Revolution, that shouldn't be much of a surprise. The overall conflict was between the faunus and humans over the unfair treatment of the faunus, who are humans that possess a single animal/insect feature.
[Insight on History has increased by +4]
In Remnant: Online, you get to choose between human or faunus. If you pick faunus, we'll call you a furry and you get some nifty perks and/or skills depending on what animal, insects, whatever trait you choose that's within the animal kingdom outside of fungi, plants, microbes, etc.
Sounds great and all but it does have some drawbacks.
Let's say you are a faunus with sharp eyes. You're much more sensitive to a sudden spike of bright lights and can be easily blinded if someone knows how to exploit that. Also, your reputation with certain people, groups, and nations might be low depending on stuff.
As for the Great War, there are a handful of books about that era.
The overall content is similar to how our first world war got started. Political and ethnic tensions, mutual defensive treaties, differences of beliefs, and competition for land.
To sum it up, some sort of incident caused the King of Mantle to deem that being too emotional and expressive is dangerous since it attracts the Creatures of Grimm and banned creative arts, self-expression, etc. This cause Mistral, who was their important trading partner and ally to also do the same thing except for their capital who retain their rich and creative arts.
People didn't really like that, so they started naming their children after colors in defiance which explains some odd names. It's also kinda funny to me that Mistral is supposedly well known for their arts, theaters, and architecture.
[Insight on Culture has increased by +7]
Anyway, lots of tension started building when Mistral begin settling near Vale's land and the rest is history. It finally ended in Vacuo with the King of Vale supposedly destroying an entire army by himself, or some fierce storm screwing everyone over. Half of it sounds like propaganda, the other half sounds like a case of reality is stranger than fiction.
Not sure what to make of it right now.
Then the history book goes into how the four kingdoms gathered on an island called Vytal, settled on a peace treaty, and established the four Huntsman Academies.
[Insight on History has increased by +18]
Map [Vytal has been revealed]
This was how the Vytal Festival got started. An international festival that's hosted by one of the kingdoms every two years to celebrate the end of the Great War. Its main attraction is the combat tournament where all Huntsman Academies sent their best students to compete.
[Insight on Culture has increased by +5]
I am, however, interested in their ancient history and civilizations that are mainly full of speculations and theories. Pre-modern and late to early medieval periods are mostly recorded, but anything before that is a mystery given how the Grimm are the biggest obstacles in preserving records.
'I wonder if their ancient history is anything like in-game. There's nothing about magical artifacts or mysterious groups of god-like people in these books.'
In the game Remnant: Online, there's once an ancient kingdom that grew too powerful and arrogant. They tried to overthrow the gods, failed and the gods wiped out all the people as revenge. The people that came afterward were 'remnants' of the ancient people, only able to wield weaker powers than their predecessors.
This lost ancient kingdom plays a much bigger role than a footnote in ancient history. Some of them were able to survive the extinction event and plots to conqueror the world. I didn't pay much attention to some of the details in story quests back then, so who knows what I'm missing.
No mentions of magical gates leading to other dimensions as well.
[You gained +3 INT]
Name: Enzo
Level: 215
Title: Tempest-At-Arms
Alliance: Avalon-Estria Sovereignty
Semblance: Suppression
AP: 48653/48653
HP: 250/250
STR: 153
DEX: 357
AGI: 391
INT: 198
WIS: 219
RES: 184
Perks
Skills
Equipment
Inventory
'Ah, yes. About time. Big brain time.'
The INT stat stands for intelligence, which for the most part affects the amount of damage or effectiveness you deal with ranged weapons like bows, guns, and Dust crystals. Depending on what kind of semblance that you'll develop, INT can also boost your semblance but for the most part that's all on the WIS stat.
When you level up, you gain a set number of stat points you can use on one of your eight stats. Outside of that, you can gain more stats by other means. For example, if you keep dragging heavy equipment around, you'll get gain some STR for your efforts or stubbornness. I can go more in-depth on the stat gains, but my knowledge of that feature is no different than your average veteran player.
I don't normally bother with INT because it doesn't suit my melee-orientated style, but hey; I won't say no to any extra stats. More stats mean more power.
Putting the leather books away into their respective shelves, I put a hand over my eyes and let out a deep sigh.
'What to do… What to do?'
It's best to do things one step at a time for now and I'm burned out of reading over seven old-looking books.
Archived [The History of the Medieval World]
Archived [History of Atlas: The Young Kingdom]
Archived [A World Shrouded in Mysteries: Remnants Ancient History]
Archived [Dusts, Grimm, and Steel: The Founding of the Four Kingdoms]
The books I picked up have been archived by the system, so I can access them later without needing the actual copy. Honestly, I hate how the archive system works, requiring you to read a decent number of contents before it gets archived.
At least it's very quiet in here for me to focus. Too quiet in fact.
Hasiera has four primary schools to teach writing, reading, math, and other basic educational stuff. This particular area of the primary school I'm in is the library. A rather small library like you'll find in a small elementary school and there's no librarian to speak of insight. It doesn't look neglected, but it feels empty and small with limited selections of books that are mostly academic or informative.
From what Altan told me, they mostly just shelf books and papers in here like an archive instead of a library. Almost nobody visits this area.
'I should start going.' I'm getting restless just sitting here and reading age-old books that are like twenty years old. I'll probably head out and help out with the reconstruction or practice using my dart rope.
Just when I was about to turn a corner, the sound of the library door sliding open made me pause.
"Ahhh… So tired! I ate a lot today."
"Mhm."
Looks like there are two visitors, young teenagers; one female and one male judging by the pitch of their voice.
"We'll be doing this a lot from now on, huh? I can't even run six laps today even though I jog every morning!"
"… That's because you took too much when I told you not to."
"Eeeh? But you didn't specify why though!"
"…!" He mumbles something I couldn't exactly hear.
They're one of the trainees I had earlier today. No wonder their voices sound vaguely familiar to me. I can't remember their names off the top of my head with just their voices. Thankfully I have the system with me to pull up their names and stats if I visual over them. I should casually walk out and say hello before things get awkward. It's best if I form some sort of connection with the people here if I'm staying here for the long term.
Plus, I can make my exit once I greet them.
"Soooo… What do you think of our instructor, Enzo? He's younger than I thought. Maybe eighteen or seventeen?"
Or I can listen in a bit and see what their opinion of me is. It'll be no different than listening to other alliance members giving their opinions and grievances about each other, especially when it involves leadership. I'm curious what they will say about me.
Also, I am nineteen this year.
The boy took a moment to answer, "… I think he knows what he's doing…"
"I think so too! He really caught us off guard when he made us run with the armor and weapons we picked. If you knew he was going to do that, you should have explained it better to me. That round shield was weighing me down!"
"I said he was testing us…"
'Good impressions, I think?' I thought to myself, figuring now is the best time to get going.
I took several strides back and purposely bump my boots against a corner of a bookshelf loud enough for them to hear me coming. It's funny how I can feel them stiffening as I steadily weave myself out of the rows of bookshelves towards the lounging area. They must be surprised that anyone was here at all.
Name: Agnes Nilsen
Level: 15
Age: 13
Affiliation: Kingdom of Hasiera
AP: 225/225
HP: 150/150
Stats
Details
Equipment
Now I remember her. Faded black hair and light brown eyes, Agnes stands out for being the tallest of the trainees, standing just below my shoulders. I recall her using something called an atgeir, some sort of Viking-like polearm that she brought with her. She chose a rather big round shield from the armory racks and paid the price for it when running the tracks.
As for the boy standing two meters away from her.
Name: Dylan Skygem
Level: 13
Age: 13
Affiliation: Kingdom of Hasiera
AP: 160/160
HP: 132/132
Stats
Details
Equipment
He's roughly around Agnes's neckline and has silky light black hair. One of his most defining features is the dazzling blue eyes he possesses that he likes to cover with his bangs. Unless he's blind, I wonder how his hair doesn't get in his way. Dylan's weapon of choice is a bear spear that he chose from the weapon racks we brought out.
These two were one of the five who already had their aura unlocked, so I assume they have some experience using it.
"I thought I heard someone talking, hello." I feign a yawn, pretending I had dozed off and didn't hear their conversation. "You two are… Agnes and Dylan?"
"You remember our names." Agnes happily claps her hand, "We were just talking about you, Mr. Enzo."
"Is that so? And Enzo is fine without the mister. No need to be formal with me." The two of them were carrying stacks of paper tied together with a rope, which I assume is their homework or reading assignment. "Are you two studying?"
I shouldn't be wasting their time then. I can get to know them at another time. Besides, I'm out of things to say without being awkward.
"Yup. Nobody comes here that often, so we made this our hideout. What were you doing here?"
"I was looking for history books and world maps." A teenage boy and girl hanging out alone in an empty room. Probably shouldn't become the third wheel to them, if they have that sort of relationship. "Well, it's getting late for me. I should leave you two to your studies then. Don't' worry, I already found what I was looking for. Sorry for the intrusion. Take care and have a good day."
[You gained 900 Reputation with Agnes Nilsen]
[You gained 830 Reputation with Dylan Skygem]
Agnes waves goodbye; Dylan too who did so meekly. The boy didn't utter a single word and only stood attention while keeping his eyes on me. Not in a hostile manner, but in a respectful way. The guy must be shy, nothing wrong with that.
"Bye. It was nice talking to you."
"You too."
Pardon my grammar.