BACKGROUND of the STORY
Dear readers,
I greet you on your journey. I greatly appreciate you for giving your time in reading this book. I know you all are very busy individuals. This book is very special to me and holds a big room in my heart. I hope this book meets your standards and become special to you too.
There is so much I could share about this book. When it started, how it started, and what drove me to write it. But I will not prolong this portion and keep you waiting as I'm afraid it may bore you.
This chapter contains information of the book that may help you understand the book easily. The way this world works is all in this chapter so I implore you to take your time on reading it so any confusion will be settled.
Of course, I will make sure that in the future chapters, things are very well explained so you won't have to go to this chapter to understand things. Nevertheless, I still encourage you to read this.
Well then, I bid you farewell my new readers.
Welcome to the life of a particular prince.
STORY DETAILS
SETTING:
This novel is set on a Historical setting. It dwells in a world of fantasy. This book has almost everything you expect from fantasy books — elves, fairies, spirits, mana, flying kittens. The possibilities are endless.
The world is split up into four continents:
> The Northern Continent, Fria, known for its cold, mountainous regions.
> The Western Continent, Gaia, where our main character is native in and Dhara being one of the two empires that is in the western land. Also, the only continent that shares the same language.
> The Eastern Continent, Huiyan, known for its diverse culture and people. There's one empire and three great kingdoms that dwells in the land.
> The Southern Continent, Derya, known for having the largest desert and forest.
You'll know more about these places as you read.
Other than that, we should also talk about how time works here.
Time in this world is just like our world. There are 60 seconds per minute, 60 minutes per hour, and 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week. However, the way it is arranged is very different.
In this world, normal months like "January, February, March, etc." does not exist here.
Instead, it is name as seasons. Our twelve months are divided into four here.
The 1st season – (January, February, March)
The 2nd season – (April, May, June)
The 3rd season – (July, August, September)
The 4th season – (October, November, December)
So, dates will be arranged like this. I'll use it in a sentence for an example.
"Cleus was born in the 21st day of the Second Season (April 21 to us) whilst Clarity was born in the 40th day of the First Season (February 10 to us)."
You may ask, "So, what about leap year? Do they not exist in this world?". In this era's arrangement, they do not as of yet. Think of this era as the Renaissance Period. Anyway, each season contains 90 days in all making it a total of 360 days only.
The year of this story starts in year 279 when Cleus was born. The numbers will increase one-by-one each year of course.
Now that is settled, let's move on to the currency.
Please let me know if I missed anything in this section.
CURRENCY:
From olden times, this world used coins but now, has transitioned to the use of cash called 'Roring'.
It's very simple to understand. Here's how it works:
Currency System:
Coins:
- Gold Coin = 1,000 Rorings
- Silver Coin = 100 Rorings
- Copper Coin (Penny) = 10 Rorings Paper Bills:
- Low-value Bills:
- 10 Rorings (1 Copper Coin)
- 50 Rorings
- 100 Rorings (1 Silver Coin)
- Mid-range Bills:
- 200 Rorings
- 500 Rorings
- High-value Bill:
- 1,000 Rorings (1 Gold Coin)
Conversion Examples:
- 1 Gold Coin = 1,000 Rorings
- 10 Gold Coins = 10,000 Rorings
- 1 Silver Coin = 100 Rorings
- 10 Silver Coins = 1,000 Rorings (1 Gold Coin)
- 1 Copper Coin (Penny)= 10 Rorings
- 10 Copper Coins (10 Pennies) = 100 Rorings (1 Silver Coin)
Example Costs:
- Buying Bread: Costs 10 Rorings (1 Copper Coin or a 10 Roring bill)
- Buying a Meal: Costs 20 Rorings (2 Copper Coins or a 20 Roring bill)
- Rent for a Month: Costs 100 Rorings (1 Silver Coin or a 100 Roring bill)
- Buying a Cow: Costs 1,000 Rorings (1 Gold Coin or a 1,000 Roring bill)
The change from coins to Roring happened before Cleus was even born. It has been a hundred and three years since then.
MAGIC SYSTEM:
This world has six hundred-million people living in it but only 2 million awakened people currently exist here.
The 'awakened' are those who have went beyond their natural body and sparked a power inside themselves which allows them to make the impossible possible. They all possess certain abilities. However, the abilities of people depend on their affinity.
An affinity is a certain element that a person possesses. Most of it are elemental. There are some who possess a very rare affinity, and some possess two affinities at once which is also very rare.
However, no matter how rare of an affinity a person has or if one has two affinities, mana plays a crucial role in determining the strength of a person. If one has a small amount of mana, their potential will be limited.
The amount of mana depends on their mana heart. A mana heart is both one and separated with a person's physical heart. It could be considered as an awakened person's lifeline unless they are skilled enough to separated both features within their body.
Mana can be gathered everywhere or can be gained by consuming a specific mana-imbued item. Gathering mana is extremely challenging and takes a long period of time. In this era, an exact amount of mana that a person possesses is yet to be determined and can only be obvious by aura.
An aura can also be felt by non-awakened people. The larger amount of mana, the heavier the aura is. That's why concealing is very recommended. Many has mastered the art of concealing but concealing it completely requires a genius.
Sometimes, mana can be seen by specific awakened people who practices the skill "Mana Reveal". These people tend to look or evade the privacy of other awakened people and see how strong they are. There are those who outwit them by concealment, and those who overwhelm them very greatly by size that it could be considered almost undetectable–a case that is considered that appears once in a thousand years. The weight of one's aura can be manipulated whether they intend to show it off.
There are also people who gains powers without awakening but through linking with spirits. Spirit summoners are an incredibly rare set of people, even rarer than awakened people. However, unlike awakened people where their strength is determined by mana, a summoner's strength depends on how strong their summoned spirit is. There are rankings in the spirit world which will be discovered in the future chapters.
There are also rare cases where an awakened person can summon a spirit and have their mana-based powers amplified, that is, if the spirit they summoned have the same affinity they have.
HIERARCHY:
This world has royals, nobles, and commoners. But the hierarchy system depends on what kind of country it is.
An empire would have (depends on the continent):
A typical empire would have an Emperor which is the highest position. Next to the emperor is the mother of the country, the Empress. Naturally, the position of the Prince/s of the empire follows but there is still a hidden ranking system within the children of the Imperial Family. It usually depends on competency or birthright order. And then the Princesses, daughters of the emperor, necessary for diplomacy which would also mean they are sent as symbols for alliance (arranged marriage required). The world is not so fair to women in this period.
Next would be the Prime Minister— whose position is determined by wit but the holder of such a position must be from a noble family. The rank or noble title of the family where the prime minister comes from does not matter. One of the handles of the prime minister is the court. Though it is the prime minister who handles the court, the court is under only to the emperor.
The court consists of men who are usually the patriarchal heads from the noble society. They handle all matters under the emperor's leading who is also the judge of the court.
The court also manages the selection of the Prime Minister but usually, it is just a position given by the emperor to an emperor's favorite 'friend'.
Then going to the nobles' society.
Empire's usually have states, and each state have one duke. However, there's a position that is higher than that of a duke's and can be considered as a position equal to the royal family.
The Archduke is the left hand of the emperor. He oversees all the regions of the empire and usually is assigned to take care of the overall well-being of the empire. Often, he collaborates with the prime minister and often… headbutts against the prime minister. But this position is not passed by blood unlike most titles. It is acquired through sheer effort or great power in not only connections but also in physical power. There are times this seat is vacant because no one is competent enough to have this position.
Next is the Duke. Like mentioned, there is only one duke in each state. They, of course, handle matters within the region under their state. But most would only care about their own ducal kingdom.
Then there's the Count, the Viscount, the Marquis, and the Baron. (in order)
A noble title can be given to a commoner who possess all requirements or have done a great achievement worthy to become a lord of a region.
But if it is a kingdom:
Since a kingdom is smaller than an empire and could be the same size as an Imperial ducal property, the number of nobles becomes smaller.
They would have a King and then a Queen. A Prince then a Princess whose roles are still very much the same as Imperial princes and princesses.
A kingdom may have a prime minister but that depends on the King if he wants to have one. However, usually having one is not that necessary as the King mostly handles all of that.
The kings of this world usually have a Royal Advisor which acts like a prime minister at most. A royal advisor's title is acquired through wit and recognition from the king alone.
And they also have a duke, a count, a viscount, a marquis, and a baron.
As for Tribes:
They have a Chief, a Vice-Chief, and the Spirit Head. Tribes usually function according to the wishes of the Spirits.
The Chief and the Vice Chief are the heads of the military too. These positions are given through sheer strength. Though most past in on through blood, it really depends if a person deserves the title as they are stronger and much wiser.
I think I have explained the necessary basic knowledge, and the rest of the information will be shown in the future chapters. No need to spoil things here.
Thank you so much for giving your special time in this chapter.
Have a wonderful read!