Regaleon: The Forgotten Knight

Aelric remained silent for several long moments...

And perhaps, for the first time since the group had become acquainted with the green-eyed youth, he was genuinely rattled.

His usually relaxed expression had completely disappeared. His sharp green eyes widened slightly as they swept across the eight youths gathered around the campfire.

”...Are you seriously trying to tell me,” he asked slowly, ”that you know almost nothing about the Nether Lands?”

Regaleon rubbed the back of his neck before answering.

”It’s not that we know nothing.” He started, searching carefully for the right words to use.

”Actually, we know the superficial things; that it’s a land overrun by monsters... That criminals, exiled nobles and disgraced Awakened are abandoned here...”

He shrugged helplessly before concluding.

”But beyond all of that, we know almost nothing else; the geography, the races, the history... None of it.”

Aelric blinked in confusion. ”Hold on a sec...”

He leaned forward. ”Are you trying to tell me that none of you ever heard stories about the Nether Lands? I mean real stories. In fact, even without the stories, didn’t anyone ever bothered about studying it properly?”

Silence answered him as the group exchanged awkward glances before slowly shaking their heads...

Truthfully, before all of these, every one of them had lived lives that left little room for studying legends about a place none of them expected to see in there lifetime.

For instance, Regaleon himself had spent nearly every waking day training to meet the expectations of House Valehart.

This was because failing to awaken twice had nearly destroyed his future; therefore he was forced to work harder than anyone else simply to remain worthy of the family name...

Aureleah’s circumstances weren’t much different.

Awakening at only fifteen years old, the prime age of a genuis Awakener, had branded her a prodigy of House Noctivane.

From then onward, nearly every day of her life had been devoted to assassination techniques, missions and endless training, all while trying to care for her younger sister...

Veyrath had also endured hardships... But of another kind.

Unlike Regaleon, he had awakened naturally rather than through the Altar of Ascension.

For a brief period, this had caused him to believe himself destined for greatness because according to what he had heard, natural Awakeners possess extraordinary Soul Essences. In fact, it was rumored that the tiers for their Soul Essences started from Duke Tier and above...

However, in a twist of fate, he awakened two of the lowest possible tiers.

And the admiration surrounding him vanished almost overnight as those who once praised him as a genius began looking down upon him instead.

In fact, it took several influential members of House Vauldryn pleading on his behalf for him to be allowed to remain. But even then, his future had already been decided...

And the same was true for everyone gathered around the campfire. Each of them carried burdens from their former lives and each of them had fought battles long before arriving in the Nether Lands.

As a matter of fact, none of them had imagined that one day they would actually be exiled here. So why would they have spent years studying a place they believed they would never see?

Aelric released a long sigh before speaking once more. ”I honestly don’t know whether to be impressed by your ignorance... Or to be absolutely horrified.”

He shook his head. ”Truthfully, I expected all of you to know at least the basics but it seems like I expected far too much from you.”

A faint smile appeared on his lips as he spread his palms. ”Well, I suppose I’ll just have to teach you about the Nether Lands myself.”

He shifted into a more comfortable position before continuing. ”The first thing you all need to understand is that the Nether Lands is nothing like what the outside world believes it to be.

He paused deliberately, letting that fact sink deeply within them before continuing. ”Also secondly, the Nether Lands is a continent.”

”A continent?” Caelestra interrupted immediately.

Her brows furrowed as she remarked. ”No offense, but everything we’ve ever learned says the Nether Lands is a separate region outside Aetherium.”

She gestured toward the crimson sky. ”I mean, it is also quite obvious when you look around because the environment alone feels completely different from the rest of the world.”

Aelric chuckled softly. ”Actually, everything you just said is wrong.”

He smiled. ”Think about it. You claim the Nether Lands lie outside Aetherium, that’s fine. But can you tell me in particular what lies outside Aetherium?”

Caelestra opened her mouth to reply but unfortunately, she didn’t have the right answer to the question. So in the end...

”...I don’t know.” She responded honestly.

”Exactly.” Aelric snapped his fingers.

”In fact, as I speak with you, no one does in Aetherium had ever thought of exploring the possibility about there being some sort of existence outside it. So tell me, how couod anyone possibly know that the Nether Lands isn’t a part of Aetherium?”

Silence followed his question as none of them had any answer to his words...

Aelric continued speaking. ”Now let me tell you something; according to records uncovered by the Sanctuary inside ancient ruins, The Nether Lands was once the heart of an incredibly advanced civilization. As a matter of fact, evidence suggested that this civilization flourished countless ages ago before being destroyed by an extinction event so catastrophic that almost nothing survived.”

The group exchanged another round of glances. Unsurprisingly, they were able to accept his words this time because they sounded remarkably familiar.

After everything they had discovered beneath the waterfall; the ruined temple, the crypt, the mummified priests, and the Terracottas, none of them doubted that an ancient civilization had once existed here.

Therefore what surprised them wasn’t that revelation. Instead, it was the fact that this Sanctuary Aelric talked about apparently possessed evidence reaching the very same conclusion as they had. But whether they were talking about the same ruins or a different kind, the group had no idea.

Aelric either didn’t notice their expressions or perhaps, he simply chose not to acknowledge them because he just continued speaking.

”Also, further discoveries eventually revealed something even more important. This was the fact that the Nether Lands was never outside Aetherium. Instead, they have always been part of it.”

He paused.

”As a matter of fact, it may once have been the largest continent in Aetherium.”

”The largest?” Kaeloris adjusted his spectacles, his scholarly curiosity immediately surfacing.

”How large are we talking about?” He asked.

Aelric looked toward him and replied. ”Large enough that its borders stretch across every other continent in the world.”

Despite saying something so mind-blowing, the green-eyed youth simply continued calmly without caring about the waves he was making in the hearts of the cohort.

”This is one of the reason exiles or outcasts from every nation eventually end up here. It doesn’t matter whether someone is banished from Valoria, Astoria, or any other Great Kingdom. In fact, it doesn’t matter whether they used teleportation platforms or not. In any case, they will eventually arrive in the Nether Lands... Because this continent touches them all.”

A heavy silence settled over the campfire as the group ruminated over his words. Eventually, Aureleah spoke up once more.

”You’ve already explained the size of the Nether Lands...” She started, her silver eyes fixated on Aelric. ”Now can you explain its regions? And more importantly, the reason any of that should matter to us.”

Aelric smiled faintly. ”Impatient, aren’t we?”

Aureleah didn’t reply but he didn’t mind. He folded his arms and leaned forward.

”The Nether Lands was once divided much like the rest of Aetherium. You know, there were kingdoms, empires, city-states, and countless smaller territories.”

He shrugged. ”However, whether any of those political boundaries still exist today no one knows. You see, the Nether Lands is simply too vast to the extent that even after generations of expedition, the Sanctuary still hasn’t explored all of it...”

Regaleon remained silent when he heard this. But inwardly, his thoughts were churning endlessly...

In Aetherium, there were seven Great Kingdoms and the reason they were called that is because each Great Kingdom ruled an entire continent.

Take for example, Valoria governed a continent making it a Great Kingdom. Therefore, for this reason, the entire continent is named after the Kingdom itself.

The same applied to the neighbouring continent of Astoria. It is ruled by the Great Kingdom Astoria.

This same principle also applied to every other Great Kingdom in Aetherium. Furthermore, each continent alone contained hundreds of nations, cultures and peoples.

In actuality, those lands already felt unimaginably vast that Regaleon couldn’t possibly comprehend their size.

Yet now, Aelric was calmly telling them that the Nether Lands, a place feared as nothing more than a prison, might actually rival... Or even surpass the greatest continents in all of Aetherium.

Truthfully, the revelation was almost impossible to comprehend and accept. And somehow, that only made the Nether Lands seem even more mysterious than before...