As always Giliath demands your power stones!
*
Little did I know that a certain green and white-haired kid would begin his new journey, a boy who would eventually become one of the echelons inside the Septian Church's Gralsritter. Among the Dominion, Kevin would earn quite a domineering title for himself.
The Heretic Hunter.
Due to his emotional trauma, he would have a hard time facing his friends, only to get his hands stained with more and more blood. It would take all of Sky the 3rd to realize he wasn't alone, and that he could face his future events head-on. It would prompt him to reconsider the title given to him. I'm not sure if that title ever changed, but we'll find out in the future, I suppose.
After all, the events of Sky won't happen until I'm around fifteen years old. I'm still just three right now, so I still have a long way to go myself, haha!
I digress. Training has been going smoothly. I've only focused on my running after Father showcased that Arts display for me. It provided me with even great anticipation of what is to come, and that equated to more stamina ready to be spent.
Before I realized it, another three months had passed. I had just completed my fourth month of this first year's training period. A notification followed suit.
[Ding! You have completed Daily Quest 120/365 times. You have received 1 Stat Point.]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto's Available Stat Points: 125.]
Music to my ears~
Like seriously. Everything feels so surreal, but I've spent over three years of my new life here in Zemuria. I've come to accept myself as Naoto Osborne. I was no longer bound by my previous life!
So I could truly enjoy these moments how I see fit. I know I'll miss my previous family, but you can't really mope around forever, you know?
Every day, I would work up a sweat while passing through the trees. I made it so our villa was always within sight, never venturing off too far. At the beginning, it was almost impossible for me to run these ten kilometers, but just in a span of four months, I've already gotten used to running this distance every single day. I no longer feel quite as exhausted after. It's more like a jog now!
Every so often, Father would join me on my runs. He would only do this if he returned home. It was another weekend, so that meant Father was running beside me. He no longer blasted that military wake-up bugle to make sure I followed his guidance. He just assumed I would now. Not like I wouldn't refuse if he wanted to teach me something. Any new knowledge I can get my hands on, I'll gladly absorb it.
Today especially marked a new milestone. Giliath was with me today. Even though I had already finished my run, he decided to bring me to the other side of this giant forest. We soon found ourselves past that forest and the nearby rolling hills. The scenery changed, making it a wide, grassy plain. The radiant capital city Heimdallr could now be seen far off to the southwest. Since we came to clearing, I could see the gigantic city in the distance.
Seeing such a city really makes you feel small.
Yet Heimdallr and its radiance isn't where my attention was currently attracted to. Quite opposite in terms of direction, actually. Further toward the northeast, the plains continued. A large railway stretched through the middle of it. At the end of this railway was our current target of interest.
I saw Giliath's eyes also land on where my eyes were now. It was still in the far distance, but one could see a gigantic metallic wall and its presence alone overwhelmed the rest of the land. There was a clear, defined path that led into it while it was surrounded by raised plateaus. A small river passed through it on the south side, while to its north had the Transcontinental Railroad. From here, you could continue further northeast. After this stop was the industrious city, Roer.
But it was none other than this military facility that had my current interest. Giliath mused at the fact, seeing my eyes still glued to it.
"It looks like one of our military bases caught your fancy eh, Naoto?", Giliath asked, and approached my side.
"Yeah. I see quite a few tanks around, among other machines. Those are called Achtzehn Tanks, right?", I questioned. It's not like I was completely oblivious to history here, nor was I idle during my spare time apart from playing with Rean. I've been brushing up on some books already. I made sure not to take it too far though.
"Indeed they are. The Orbal Revolution brought in series after series of new technology for us. And it changes by the day. In turn, our war machines also become strengthened, as do our own forces.", Giliath said, explaining the ongoing scene to me. "And while we're on that topping, you've been keeping up with your map studies right, son?", Giliath decided to ask.
"I have. The place to the northeast of here is one of our military bases, the Schwarz Drache Barrier. It acts as an entry point to the rest of Northeast Erebonia, and serves as a major checkpoint for travelers. Beyond that...is the city of Roer?", I asked back, pausing for the moment while saying that. Hearing my answer, he smiled.
"That's correct. It looks like you've been keeping up with your studies, good. The Schwarz Drache Barrier pales in comparison to other facilities, but it's very practical. Its sole purpose is to act as a barrier. Nothing goes in. Nothing comes out. In times of war, at least.", Giliath said, continuing his explanation. "And its color is quite unique too. It's a lot darker than our other facilities. It is like that for a reason. We like to call it the Black Dragon."
"The Black Dragon...", I uttered, turning silent while I was receiving another lesson on history from Father. That did make sense. A lot of the gigantic wall was black in color. But that wasn't the only reason why the color was chosen like this. It served another meaning altogether.
"You recognize the name, don't you, son?", Giliath mused. "The name Black Dragon does ring a certain bell. Then this shall be the question for today. The Schwarz Drache Barrier is ruled by the Great Houses. Which of them do you think rules this land?", Giliath said, suddenly putting me on the spot with the question. I had long gotten used to this side of him, where he feeds me random knowledge. Thanks to my knowledge of the games, I can answer most of them. But I won't let that get to me, I've also been properly studying, even if it is just through light reading.
"Umm...It's the Rogner House. Marquis Rogner is the leader!", I answered. Giliath laughed, seeing me answer correctly.
"Hahaha! Well put. The Black Dragon is the crest of the Rogner House. There used to be five until the conclusion of the War of the Lions took place, but they had to sacrifice themselves to protect the serving Emperor at the time. To date, we have House Rogner, House Hyarms, House Albarea, and House Cayenne. They bear the emblem of the Black Dragon, the Roaring Lion, the Winged Pegasus, and the Seafaring Seahorse respectively. I do not expect you to remember this all son, but it is of big importance to take a mental note of what Houses the nobles belong to. After all, they may become your fellow compatriots, depending on how you enter the noble circle in the future.", Giliath said. His eyes turned serious, causing me to nod my head.
"I understand, Father.", I replied with a serious nod of my own. But there was one thing he pointed out was strange.
A fifth Great House used to exist...? I don't ever recall this being in the games. No mention of it at all in any history book you'd come across. And trust me, there's a lot of books you can read in the Trailsverse. There's hundreds of them. Perhaps thousands. I don't remember all of them. I don't have a photographic memory of that. What I do recall, I don't remember this being a thing. But perhaps it's just some heavily-buried lore that would take ages to find, or maybe my crossing is influencing some pieces of the plot already?
I can go either way on that, but it'd be best to not dive too deeply into it. I could only continue nodding my head at Father.
"Good! And now that I recall, Marquis Rogner should have a daughter around your age. Perhaps a year older. Angelica Rogner is her name, if I remember.", Giliath said, suddenly changing the topic.
Now there's a character I wouldn't forget...
Angelica Rogner, the sole daughter of the Rogner House. Normally you'd think she'd have a noble's duty to uphold, but she turns...rather unpleasant later on when she brings out her rather unique, let's say, tastes to Rean's classmates. Angelica loves women. And she's quite open about it too. Definitely not the shy type. You'd try to find her squeezing the boobs of every girl she'd come across that she found cute. Yeah, she's that bad.
But here in the past with it being S1189 currently, Angelica should be four years old. A year older than me. She was one of those infamous characters. But with it being so far back in the past, perhaps there's a chance to somehow change that behavior of hers? There might be enough time to change that personality...
I can only play the guessing game for now. It is too early to tell. But if I remain in Trista and with the Schwarz Drache Barrier practically being our neighbor. It's possible the two of us will meet one day. If we do, I may consider befriending her.
But until then, it's time to resume studying with Father!