Damien and Shade after coming across the floating “cores” continued on their way towards a kingdom that by now Damien had learned was named “Prosperity.” According to Shade it's the oldest standing power on the planet and has profound roots.

  The kingdom had a very unique power base in that only the strong had the right to rule and what Shade meant by this was that ANYONE on the planet who could prove themselves to be stronger than the current leader would be crowned as the new one.

  Hearing this Damien thought it was extremely odd in a sense… How do they regulate that? How do they ensure the person who beats the old leader won't drive them into the ground or make bad decisions for the kingdom?

  Thinking they were dumb, Shade noticed the look and explained that they were anything but. While someone could just take over, they had to swear a vow before challenging the current leader. This vow stated that should they win, they would be required to put their heart and soul into running the country. They are also not allowed to abuse that newfound power or make decisions solely by themselves. The new leader must run it by multiple advisers before getting all of their approval before going forward with big decisions.

  Nodding his head at all this he thought things made much more sense, it would have been very foolish to allow someone completely unknown to just take over with no precautionary measures. The vow should it be broken would cripple the person completely leaving them unable to do anything before slowly dying.

  Asking some more questions Damien learned that Prosperity's kingdom was once an empire that dominated the entire world, had it not been for another power of similar strength appearing out of nowhere that would still be the case. When asked about said power Shade's expression turned viscous showing that something about that power made even someone like Shade hate them.

  “No one knows where they came from, one day the empire was thriving and all was good the next they appeared calling themselves “Quantum Empire.” as he said the name Shade's tone lowered even more and his expression turned almost into a scowl.

  “Once they showed up they began taking over parts of the empire ever so slowly, of course, we tried to stop them but unfortunately we were stretched thin. They attacked hundreds of different points a day and our men simply could not keep up. Our emperor at the time made a decision that saved us a lot of trouble and men decided to form an area we knew we could protect. This decision however reduced the size of our land massively making us regress to that of a kingdom once more.” Shade looks quite sad explaining that final part, a look of remembrance on his face.

  Deciding it was best to change the subject Damien asked“So is there anything I should be aware of before we get there?” Wanting to make sure he did not offend anyone or make some crucial mistake causing him to be hunted.

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  “For the most part no… Like I said the country runs on the strong and with your strength, you should be fine for the most part as you are strong enough to be left alone by those both above and below you. However, should you find yourself in a position where someone wants to fight you that's where things change.” The look on Shade's face was rather serious while saying this making Damien furrow his brow.

  “What do you mean?” he asked curiously.

  “Should someone challenge you and that person is close to you in strength, you have no choice but to accept. Should you fail to do so you will be thrown out of the kingdom and if the person you refuse to fight is of high standing you may be killed. Just try to avoid disagreements or any confirmation with people who look to be high in status and you should be fine.”

  Damien’s expression became a bit annoyed hearing this, he always hated people who abused the status of their family to get what they wanted. “And what happens should I fight someone of high status and win?”

  Shade gave him a sidelong glance before shaking his head with a smile, “Well nothing would happen on the surface you would be named the winner and that is all. In the background though the person you defeated would likely run to his family and ask for you to be killed in silence.”

  Damien scoffed at his words, “Well I guess something like this will exist regardless of the world's beliefs.”

  Shade’s smile widened, “It’s not as bad as it seems, If a family is caught doing something like I just said the entire family will be executed. Now that’s not enough to stop most of them like the stronger families for example but it will certainly make them think about it before trying. Should they try to do so as long as you can survive and get evidence of the assault… well you get where I am going with this.”

  “Also I almost forgot to tell you this, to step foot inside the kingdom walls you have to defeat a guard. It's seen as a test for the younger generation who want to make their way into the kingdom even those already inside take the test to show they are worthy.”

  Damien became intrigued hearing this thinking it was quite interesting, “How strong is the guard I will have to fight.”

  “The guard will be a rank above you.” Damien’s eyes widened upon hearing this, “How do people even pass the test? Even I will struggle to do so.”

  Shade smiled once more but instead of answering said, “You will find out once we get there.”

  Damien adopted an annoyed look and glared at the man across from him.

  Suddenly something caught Damien’s attention making him look away from the shade and to his front, A massive wall that spanned hundreds of miles could be seen coming into view. “How many people live here?” he asked a look of shock and awe dawned on his face.

  “The last time I checked, twenty million were in the kingdom's main city, with over a hundred in the surrounding towns and villages.”

  While they were still far away Damien’s vision was sharp enough to make out kind of some details for where they were at. He began to get an almost mystical feeling, seeing something like this… something straight out of a fairytale or movie gave him an overwhelming emotion of wonder.

  “This is awesome,” he said in a whisper as he couldn’t contain what he was feeling.

  “You haven't seen anything yet kid, wait till we get inside.” Shade said with a grin.

  Damien nodded before they set off once more getting closer and closer to the kingdom walls, what awaited him inside Damien was almost at the edge of his seat thinking about it.