The empire has been under the control of the queen, for the past decade after the unification, but sadly peace and order were short lived, as civil unrest started to become rampant again due to the influx of refugees who lost their family members, homes and their livelihood, without proper structure and commanding authority the empire was slowly falling apart, and this situation was secretly being maligned and controlled by corrupt nobles, merchants, and officials for their interest and personal gains.
Residents from various towns and major cities were facing calamity as their source of food was running low, and most nobbles and rich merchants still resist the queen
" that is your mothers' royal authority."
"wow! I still can't believe, that my mother is the queen."
"wait! if she is the ruling queen, why are you here mom?"
"Oh, that! I never wanted to be the queen but your uncle, my older brother forced me to do it."
"but. to tell you the truth,"
"I hate staying in the castle, they think I wasn't noticing their dishonorable acts on my people while I was still in the capital."
"the only thing that made me stay, was my longing to have a child of my own."
"Ahem! can we now continue our lesson,"
"yes, teacher."
"As animals that once lived in the forsaken forest, stretching even through the dark mountain, began migrating into different areas because of unknown factors in the ecosystem,"
"within those many years, things started to happen and changes accompanied it, soldiers that were loyal to the queen were also suffering, and the nobles' army wasn't complying to the laws that the throne has established."
"the queen officially created an independent organization to ensure the lives and safety of her people for a small fee, to fill the gap in the security and lack of income."
"the Imperial Mercenary Guild was established."
small mercenary guilds branches started to spread all over the land and were being commissioned to hunt, kill, and control the increasing infestation of those creatures, and lawless scoundrels that continue to wreak havoc on the land,
but the biggest threat was the rise of powerful and untamable monsters that even countless known warriors fear, it was mindless and vicious and was called Black Ferals, these were creatures that were mutated to reshape its body into humanoid being, due to their oddly poisonous fluid, hard metallic skin and clay-like internal organs, and these creatures' aggression, Excessive hunger, and becomes mindless abnormal behaviour,
" wait! I have seen those things outside the dome."
"Whenever I go near one, it just blindly attacks the dome "
"son, you still need to train more every day to fully control your powers to defend yourself in front of those things."
"wow! I am excited to train with mother."
"ok, as i was saying."
These were previously living organisms that were flourishing on the land. just like in the human realm, these animals in different shapes and sizes roam the land freely which is part of the ecosystem's balance, but because of the rapid increase in population these faunas were hunted, some became livestock to breed, and some were trained to become domesticated,
so many wild animals started to move away from all known cities because of self-preservation and just left their habitat and roam the vast territory in hiding, and because some parts of the land were barren the lack of food and water made these animals ignore all their instinct and started to rummage for anything eatable, even the going inside the forsaken forest,
those animals that were too weak to repel the raw miasma while foraging food inside the forsaken land instantly died, and those that manage to survive mutated into Black Ferals.
normal mythological creatures were hard enough to subdue and control, to obtain their core, but facing a single Black Ferals was time-consuming because of their Excessive hunger they do not have any visible pattern in their movements, so obtaining the mutated core heart is far more expensive to sell than the rest.
so many individuals dream to be part of these elite groups more than joining the Empires army, so after seeing this as an opportunity, many by the hundreds change their profession and be one of them,
because now mercenary guilds became the answer to most of the problems that everybody was now experiencing. most of these hired warriors came from every walk of life and known race and gained fame, wealth and recognition for their skill and power in fulfilling each task,
"Teacher, what about this place,"
"ah! you mean this particular area that we are currently living in."
the forsaken land because of the geographical territorial border before entering the feared domain, is surrounded by miles of scorching desert, this stops the contamination of the sacred roots from spreading further to the rest of the land. as the southern regions with a land size of 30 million square kilometres were consumed by the sacred roots, a small protected path of soil inside the land could be seen a mile from the forest clearing,
the outer and some parts of the area were still livable and can sustain life, but it was to find and some were hidden away, like what the Dukes Dallmethad Family did, for generations, they establish a merchant outpost in the west, and created a stronghold with 4 siege towers for many unspecified and strategic reasons until a few years ago when the duke requested the queen to stay there for their weak sons recover.
those who have strong bodies and power can easily enter and even live in that forgotten land, but travelling even further inside the condensed forest will be life-threatening, because the closest anybody gets near to the massive sacred root the more powerful and vicious the mutated creatures turned into Black Ferals will be attacking, because of the dark poisonous miasma that twisted the creature's body and mind.
"Ah! So Teacher, the land that we are currently living in has that kind of physical features."
"Actually! the sand surrounding this land was created by my sister ."
"wow! that is amazing, so the desert outside of the forest clearing was created by an outside force."
a thundering sound could be heard, as explosions were seen a few miles in the open farmland in the small town of Greenflower with a population of 2 thousand Cambion and mixed race, once again hired a group of mercenaries named the Garden brawlers these six hired hunters were paid to eradicate a 25-meter-long Basilisk that physically hurt the town's inhabitants and killed many of their livestock ruined their farmland.
this small far away town was the only nearest civilization, it is just a mile away from the dunes that were keeping the sacred roots at bay.
because Ramiels hearing was now sensitive, even after Trazgallen used a spell to hide his energy, he stared at the direction of the sound and suddenly stood up and said
"I am so sorry teacher, somebody is crying out for help. mom, can we secretly help them again?"
"ah! about that, you can ask the teacher about it."
"Sigh! I know for a fact you will never stop pestering me on this."
"the first one was a salamander attack."
"the second time, was when that town was raided by a horde of roaming bandits."
"so! what is it now"
"I keep hearing, now they are being attacked by a huge snake."
"master Ramiel please remember, we are here for a reason."
"I know teacher! but it is our responsibility to give a helping hand to those who are in need, you taught me that is what honourable beings do."
"Why do I even bother? look at your mother is already getting ready."
" you are really like your mother."
" here son! don't forget your mask."
" so mother what should I use today?"
" right now! you are still lacking in using my Mace."
" Okay, Mace it is."