Eternal Kingdom

Marinea, a village, that housed twenty-two households. The moonlight gave away little details of the tranquil village hidden beneath the mountains. The sounds of the flowing river and the gentle rustling of trees leaf, served as the background, complementing the serene surroundings, while the sparsely spaced wooden houses completed the village looks. If only it was lit with the grand rays of the morning sun, surely it would leave one speechless by its beauty.

Yuri group walked through the dimly lit gravel roads, following the elder, deeper into the depth of the village. Coursing through the crudely made stone stairs, and finally stopped at the lowest peak of the mountain.

The moonlight shone through the side of the mountains, glowing silver as if reflecting its grandeur. Yuri was the first to arrive, besides the elder that was in front of him, seconds after the rest arrived too. The first thing they saw was a run-down house that looked like a mansion, although it was dimly lit, they could see its white colored walls, and the brown colored roof.

'A mansion...I-Is this the place where I met the old man?' Yuri was perplexed by what he saw, 'But...Its state is in ruins? Is this really the right place...' He took a second to recall his memory, however, seconds after he shook his head, and thought why the elder guided them to here.

"Where are we? Didn't you say we're going to our territory?" Felix whispered as he tugged Yuri's left arm.

"Marinea...Apparently, this is our territory, however, I don't know why they didn't greet us, despite my status as their lord..." Yuri was confused by the situation too as he whispered back.

"This place is spooky...I didn't like scary stuff..." So-Hee whispered after, while gripping tight on Yuri's tattered clothes, scared by the sight. The girl also gripped tight So-Hee hands, and positioned herself behind So-Hee, afraid by the eerie surroundings.

Yuri felt the tug in his clothes and took a glance at the two, and thought, '...You're not scared by skeletons, but you're scared at this place...Looks like the girl also didn't like this place...'

He took a breath and asked towards the elder, "E-Excuse me, sir...W-Why have you guided us in here?" He said with an awkward smile on his face, trying to be as polite as he can.

"Oh! Right...I had a tendency to daydream and forgot my purpose. Hahaha." The elder turned his body towards the group, while at the same time laughing at his predicaments.

"R-Right..." Yuri tried to sympathize with the awkward smile he let out before.

"Right. Why I bring you lot here..." The elder tapped on his bald head trying to recall his memory, however, his wrinkled face was filled with confusion, he turned his gazes towards Yuri, and asked, "Why did I bring you here??"

Yuri and the other almost lost their balance as they heard the elder enigmatic question, it was a question that was unsolvable even for the brightest scientist on Earth. However, they tried to understand the elder because it was already impressive enough that the elder could guide them in his age.

"AH! Right...I remember now! Forgive me, young man, you tend to forget things as you get older. Hahaha." The elder laughed and walked closer to Yuri, "Wrong place. Let's go to my house."

The elder walked past them, with the cane that supported his balance.

Yuri was perplexed by the situation, he turned his gazes towards Felix and saw the shrugged his shoulders. He turned his gazes once more towards So-Hee and the girl, however, the two didn't give much reaction, and still had they heads hung low, afraid by the surroundings. In the end, he sighed, and followed the elder once more. 'That old man is just something...'

----

"Hahaha. Welcome to my house young man. Sit, don't be a stranger." The elder said merrily, as he sat himself on one of the dinner table chairs.

The group arrived at the elder house, it was quite a cozy and clean place, made entirely by wood and timber. However, the unique quirks of the house were the magical crystal that emitted light inside the house. Felix and So-Hee were fascinated by the thing and scrutinized it, while the girl followed So-Hee every movement.

Yuri, on the other hand, accompanied the elder as he sat in front of the elder. He was fascinated by the magical crystal however, he kept it inside his head while trying to be a polite guest.

"You guys are an adventurer, right? I assume you guys were not from anywhere near here." The elder asked, as he placed his can in the dinner table.

Yuri nodded, he explained his circ.u.mstances, however, he didn't say that he was the lord of the land yet, because he was afraid to make a wrong move, and lost the faith of his future subject.

"I see...You've got here by a magical scroll..." The old man stroke his gray beard. This was the only hair that can be seen in his head, aside from his eyebrows, "I say, you came here at the wrong time young man..."

"Wrong time? Why is that?" Yuri raised his eyebrows, curious by the elder statements.

"The pyres of war was coming fast to this land young man, if you didn't want to get caught up in the mess, I suggest you leave this place in the morning."

'Looks like the whole world is a mess now...' Yuri contemplated inside his minds.

"Right." The elder took his can and stood up from his chair, "There's empty room on the second-floor young man. However, there are only two beds in there, hope you didn't mind that young man."

Yuri deep in his thought heard what the elder had said. He stood up too, he nods and slightly bowed while saying his thanks towards the elder hospitality. The elder waved his hand as if saying that he didn't mind their companies, while at the same time walked away from Yuri, towards his room in the back of the house.

The moon is at it highest, showcasing its graceful appearance. Felix and So-Hee finally sated their curiosity and moved towards Yuri.

"You didn't tell him that you're the lord of this land?" Felix said as tapped Yuri shoulders.

Yuri turned his gazes towards Felix and shook his head, "Not yet." He decided to postpone telling the elder that he was the lord of Marinea, this was because he decided to look at the situation in the village first. Also, he wanted to know more about his subjects.

His finger move and opened his menu. Yuri saw that it was nine in the evening, finally, he remembered that he got a little sister to take care of. His eyes trembled as he moved his finger abruptly to close the menu.

"Crap! I-I need to log out first. I'll come back at midnight!" Yuri said in an awkward manner.

So-Hee and the girl were puzzled by Yuri actions, however, Felix, on the other hand, was chuckling on the side.

"What happened to Yuri?" So-Hee asked Felix, curious by Yuri weird behavior.

Felix chuckled, "He forgot that Lillie is finally back to the house. Bet, he's going to beg for forgiveness. Hahaha."

So-Hee finally realized, and nod her head, the girl, however, was stunned by the scene in front of her. She saw a man turned into light motes and disappeared in front of her eyes. This was the first time she saw this kind of scene although she lived in a world filled with magic.

The log out mechanism worked unlike any magic, there is no magic circle or even fluctuations of mana in the air, instead, it looks like a miracle created by the gods themselves, from the view of a little girl. However, the truth was, this type of phenomenon was actually the universes will system of operations, providing the avatar and storing it back inside the records.

So-Hee saw the awed little girl and smiled at her, "Don't think about it too much, it's just our special magic for us, adventurer."

The little girl nod after hearing So-Hee, "I-I want to be an adventurer too..." She murmured while lowering her head.

"Oh. I forgot, what's your name, little girl?" So-Hee asked with a smile, while at the same time kneeled to meet her in the eyes.

The girl stole a glance or two at So-Hee, "Ca-Carina..."

"That's a beautiful name. I'm So-Hee and this one is Felix, while the one that you saw disappear was Yuri." So-Hee introduced, "I saw a river down there, you want to clean up before going to bed?"

Carina was still wary of the group, however, she didn't find they were bad guys, so she nodded.

So-Hee smiled and stood up while grabbing her little hand. But, before she goes into her way, she glared at Felix.

"W-What? I-I would never do that..." Felix felt death was glaring at him, he denied with a cold sweat rolled through his back.

----

It was dark, while sometimes lit with a blue and red light. Yuri took off his dive helmets and saw that his room was pitch black, he navigated through his room trying to turn on the lights. He sighed, 'I need to schedule my playing time...I can't neglect her...'

The sounds of tv echoed through his ears, as he walked out from his room. The house was properly lit, giving it a cozy ambiance through the night. Yuri moved his feet towards Lillie's room, however, his steps were stopped as he saw her sister flowing black hair.

She was soundly asleep in her wheelchair, in front of the TV. Yuri moved closer and saw her beautiful face, he fixed her hair to saw her clearly. He felt happiness while at the same time, he felt sadness inside his heart.

He sighed once more, his arms moved and carry Lillie in his bosom. Although she was seventeen years old now, to him, she was just a little girl. He carried her gently to her room, and put her to bed. He stared at her for a little while before turning off her room light.

"Big bro...ther..."

Yuri was startled and turned his head towards her, however, it was just her, mumbling in her sleep, he sighed a relief. He also didn't forget to place her wheelchair beside her bed. He felt his heart ache looking at the wheelchair, although Lillie was fine with it.

He was done putting her sister to sleep, and closed the door to her room. Although he felt his body changing, he felt that if he didn't eat, his energy would seep away from his body. However, the truth was that just his inside his minds, with his evolving body, he can survive with minimal food and water, for two months. And, if his avatar integration was completed, he can survive without food and water for two years.

However, he just can't change his habit even though his body was evolving. He walked his feet to the kitchen, he was perplexed by what he saw, it was a quite a mess. Although it was nothing serious, however, he saw all the dirty utensils stacked and piled up in the sink. He sighed, he knew it was Lillie's doing, however, he was happy, and slightly annoyed at the same time.

"I know you want to cook, however, wash the dishes too..." He grumbled, with a smile on his face. He scanned his surroundings once more, and he saw there was a dish in the microwave. He was curious and opened it. It was the dish that Lillie's made. He took out the dish and it looks like a kimchi jjigae.

His face plastered with a smile, while taking out a spoon to taste the first dish that Lillie's made. He looked at the dish, it looked like a normal kimchi jjigae, but, why does he felt nervous. He gulped, and scoop his first bite.

----

The morning sun chased away the veiled white mist. The sounds of waterfall reverberated through as if saying good morning to the village. The birds chirping while the monsters were roaring as if to state their start of the day.

Felix didn't sleep that night, he decided to browse through the manual, and read a bit of it, while So-Hee on the other hand, put Carina to sleep in the second floor and decided to take a nap too. The morning greeted the group, Felix saw that the elder walked out from his room.

"Morning, young man. Hahaha." The elder was laughing the first time in the morning. He felt happy that he had a company after living alone for quite a while.

Felix slightly bowed and smiled at the elder, "Good morning elder."

It was quite tranquil in the village, however, on the distance, sounds of horse hoofs can be heard.

"GATHER!!" The yell woke up the entire village.

The elder and Felix were startled by the sound, while So-Hee and Carina woke up by the sudden sound. The elder moved his feet outside the house, steadily albeit it was quite slow. Felix however, didn't come out yet, he waited for So-Hee and Carina to come downstairs first before looking at the situation.

"What happened?" So-Hee asked while holding Carina little hand.

"No idea, but, let's check it out first." Felix suggested, he was already moving as he answered So-Hee question.

----

"From now on! This territory shall belong to me! The baron descendants! Merdin Tritus." A man yelled on top of his horse, with a mocking smile plastered all over his face, guarded by three soldiers on top of their own horse.