When the golden light wore off, I was sitting on a throne, in a very large room. I would not consider it as amazing as some of the "grand halls" in movies, but it was still nice. I looked down and saw 3 men and 3 women bowing before me.
One of the men rose and said "Welcome your majesty, it is an honor to be in your service, might we know the name of our lord?".
The books had mentioned that you could technically choose any name you want. But it would not do much for you other than have the others guessing what candidate was there. On top of that if everyone else had chosen to use their actual names, then the fake name would be useless.
"I am known as Tristan Chishiki, and the honor is mine." I say, hiding would be pointless.
The other two men rose and introduced themselves. The fat and pale looking man said "I am Gilbert Trimp, a prominent merchant to this kingdom, I have also dedicated my services to the lord.". He then bowed and took a step back.
The second man, tall and slender looking, with greasy looking dark brown hair and glasses said "I am known as Humphry Almus, I am the recorder to his majesty, I look forward to working with you sire.". He also bowed and stepped back.
The first man then spoke and said "I am Reynard Bullful, I am your advisor, I will assist his majesty to my fullest abilities.". He then bowed and took a seat on a small stool next to my throne.
Luckily the rules of this world made it so that any who pledged allegiance could not kill their lords. But that did not stop from higher ups leaking information for high prices. I needed to keep an eye on my officials and make sure I never filled them in too much.
I then looked at the 3 women bowing before me. All rose and bowed. 2 looked to be in their mid twenties while one looked my age, and they all had very attractive looking figures.
The first woman, brown hair, brown eyes, and dark tan. She was wearing a semi-heavy armour which looked like it had definitely seen better days. "I am Lillith Hedgemore, your general to the army, your wish is my command." she said and bowed.
The second woman stepped forward. She was dirty blond with dark jade colored eyes. She was wearing what looked to be a chef's apron and her hands looked slightly red. I could smell different spices coming from her. She was definitely an experienced cook. "I am Lurrel Barker, I am the royal chef and head of the house, meaning I make sure everything is kept clean and organised." she explained and took a step back.
The last woman was by far the most attractive. She had silky looking greenish hair and her skin was just the perfect shade and very smooth looking. She had slightly bright red lips and her eyes were a golden color. If Fuyu was winter, then she was summer.
"I am Naitsu Pendragon, I am the bodyguard to the king's candidate, I will serve you until my last breath." she spoke and bowed, eyes glistening with slight admiration.
After Naitsu's explanation I figured she must be another bonus the competition gave me. A beautiful overpowered bodyguard was just what I needed!
"It is an honor to have you all in my company," I started, "I look forward to the years that we have to spend with each other.".
With that they bowed and walked into a smaller room off to the side. I was confused as to why they all went into the room but Reynard quickly motioned for me to follow.
The room had a giant table that was shaped like a map of the world. Except the map shown looked nothing like what the map in the documents had looked like. Before everything was one large landmass, connected through roads and mountains that acted as a natural barrier to keep the fighting inside the kingdoms. But this map was completely different.
Before the only island was that of the island kingdoms Oceana, but now there were islands everywhere. Found in all territories, just that Oceana was made up entirely of islands. On top of all of that, there was a large chunk in the middle of the table that was missing, where Arthoria should have been. Before I could say anything Reynard tapped the table and below the table, a piece flew up from under the whole and floated about a foot above the whole table. A few other locations started to float as well.
As Reynard guided me to the head of the table he started to explain. "The objects that are floating indicate actual floating islands and places. These places are very rare and often hold many dangers, but with greater dangers comes greater rewards.".
I took a moment to study the map. Thankfully I could read all of the words and was able to locate all of the kingdoms. My closest neighbors were that of Banhiem and Scotchwood. 'Looks like I'll run into those two girls sooner than I thought' I spoke in my head.
Reynard spoke softly and swiftly, informing me of all of the kingdoms and their locations, as well as the scale of the map. Also pointing out the various floating locations that were scattered around. The one that caught my attention the most was a medium sized island that was the closest to my kingdom.
According to Reynard, it was known as "The Burning Island". As it was always on fire and housed many sacred creatures of the fire element. And upon further explanation, I learned that should a ruler sit upon a floating island's throne, they will gain control over the island's movements and resources. And in this case, that person would gain the added might of magical fire creatures.
For roughly 2 hours Reynard went over the map in detail. I made sure to pay extra close attention when it came to the floating islands, as I considered them as very valuable resources.
After we were done I was given a brief tour of the small castle and was shown to my castle maids and guards. They would need to know me in order to know I wasn't an intruder. The castle would grow with the kingdom, or so the books said. When it did I looked forward to all the new stuff I might be getting.
When it came time for me to be introduced to my people, I froze. I was never good with crowds, but if I was to rule a kingdom I would have to get over it.
I walked out onto the balcony looking over the now crowded courtyards of my castle. Although there were a lot of people, it was miniscule if you were to compare it to a real kingdom like in the old days. Some of the army and most of the castle guard had taken care not to let anyone in, and just made sure everyone stayed in the courtyard.
Upon seeing my arrival much of the crowd started cheering. "It's the King!" they cried. While others just glanced up at me, not wanting to give due respects to a teen. Although in this world, a person was considered an adult at the age of 16, it did not stop many of the elderly from sneering at accomplished people under the age of 25.
I took one step closer to the rail, and looked upon all of my domain. It might not have been much now, but in due time it would be something to behold. I took a deep breath in and prepared to address my people. As I was their king, and it was my duty to inspire hope into each of their hearts, and drive this kingdom forward into the future.