The Knolls, after evaluating the humans deemed them as lacking sufficient intelligence (stupid), and unskilled at mana utilization.
The Knolls who recently learnt about magic have already been able to reach Syne-3, they reached a bottleneck at this stage but with the aid of their technology, could contend against someone at syne-5.
They conquered the Kingdoms and enslaved the humans, bringing the Kings to their knees and taking control of their lands.
The achievement of the Knolls however, was short-lived. As the saying 'tough times made tough people' was appropriate for this case.
Ellion Vanderhal, the first six-syne mage led a resistance against the knolls. He and his comrades fought to take control of the Northern Kingdom, they achieved victory and secured the North in the seventh year.
Humanity became stronger as more mages broke through the fifth-syne but they could not contend with the knolls in terms of absolute power.
The war ceased on both sides, for the humans it was because they were now free but could only fight a defensive battle against the knolls. The knolls ceased the war because trying to subdue humans had incurred too many losses on their ends, yes they were strong but they had a low birth rate and a lesser population compared to the humans.
Ellion Vanderhal, the first syne-six light mage, became the sole ruler of the humans at the age of 43. His comrades who fought alongside him were given positions of high nobility (Duke, Count, Viscount) and territories to govern. Out of the high nobles, six Dukes were appointed by King Ellion to govern the city-states.
The soldiers and people that had outstanding merits acquired titles of low nobility (Baron, Lord), were granted lands and monetary compensation according to their level of accomplishments in the war.
During this period humanity was at peace, united against a common enemy with the zeal to grow stronger and take back their lands.
King Ellion married many wives and established the Vanderhal kingdom, his family became known as the Imperial family, he ruled for almost a millennium before departing from the realm of the living.
His first son Gillian Vanderhal, also a syne-six light mage, ascended the throne. Many battles were fought even after Gillian became King, from within the empire itself against rebels,and externally against the knolls that wanted the humans to yield to them, as they aimed to dominate the planet.
The humans always triumphed in the defensive battle against the knolls but they still couldn't regain most of their lands as they didn't possess enough strength to initiate an attack.
The six high nobles became the six Ducal families, each headed by a syne-five or syne-six mage answering only to the King.
These were the only group that had the rights to possess troops to defend their territories and aid the king who was also the Grand Commander of the Imperial army.
Each Ducal household were mages with mastery in one of the elements. The six Ducal families from strongest to the weakest are, the Zach family of water/ice mages, headed by Duke Cyprian. Ferell family of wind mages, led by Duke Johan. Lane family of fire mages led by Duke Charles. Bloom family of lightning mages, headed by Duke Elijah. Iyun family of dark mages led by Duke Gerard, and the Williams family of earth mages with Duke Jeffrey as the head.
These Ducal families grew from the inception of the Vanderhal kingdom. They are powerhouses in their own right, producing skillful and talented mages that have aided the kingdom to becoming what it is today. Conflicts do occur between these houses for different reasons but mostly due to competition between them making it superficial, not deep enough to cause a long lasting dispute.
The Lane family was the strongest during the period of Gillian Vanderhal. This changed when the succeeding monarch came into power.
During the period of Gillian's reign, the Lanes' grew to a point where they could almost stand toe to toe in terms of power with the Imperial family.
This was warranted because the head of the family was the only syne-six mage apart from the king and the fire users were the most offensive group of fighters in the kingdom, they took a proactive stance when dealing with the knolls.
This brought victory and joy to the Kingdom but made some members of the Imperial family agitated. Eric Vanderhal, the crown prince at that time was one of them.
To him, their merits and forces seemed to grow at an unpredictable rate. If left unchecked, the status and prestige of the Lane family could surpass the Imperial family.
While in his father's chambers, Eric was having a conversation with his father, the current ruler.
Gillian Vanderhal had become old and had already begun to groom his successor in line for the throne.
"Father, the borders have become peaceful, I heard from the reports that there's not being any civil disturbance for a year now."
"Haha, how could there be a disturbance when the Lanes are defending the borders." the king said with a bright expression.
"That's true, they have been aiding the kingdom on all fronts, doing progressively more than what we told them to do." Eric said this plainly but the meaning laced behind the statement was obvious.
"Eric, what exactly are you on about?" His father was a bit surprised as he asked.
"I am worried but not for the reasons you might think. In my opinion, they might be overexerting themselves by using such proactive measures to secure the borders. Even going so far to expand it. It may be beneficial to the Kingdom but we'll have to expend a lot of resources to protect and develop the conquered lands. This may cause holes in our defence which may lead to the opposite of the intended result."
The king chuckled in response to this. "Eric Vanderhal"
"Yes father."
"Your analysis is incorrect, we've been victorious not only because of the Lanes but because we're united against the knolls, the forces we have are all serving their purpose. Do you understand?"
"Yes father, I do."
"No you don't."
Eric felt slightly awkward by his father's quick retort. Still, the only thing he could do was keep quiet and listen to what his father the king said.
"You see, the idea to expand the borders was mine. The Lane family are just carrying out my orders. So are you saying my orders are wrong?" Gillian looked at his son in a questioning manner.
"Pardon me father, I had no idea they were following your commands" Eric said while lowering his head.
"What commands would they follow in the first place?"
"I was just being cautious of the outcome."
"Caution at this point Eric, begets nothing useful. When I got a report on the disposition of the troops outside our borders and the state of our troops I knew it was time for caution to go to the wind. In this kind of battle, he who hesitates is lost. Do you understand my point now?"
"Yes Father, I've seen the error in my thoughts and I'll do well to correct them." Eric said bowing his head before looking up to meet his father's eyes.
The king smiled and nodded in approval. "Son, my time is near. I urge you to rule not with equality but with fairness. You will make some mistakes along the way but be careful to not make too big a mistake or you will pay the price."
"Yes Father, I understand. I am grateful for the advice." Eric replied before proceeding to leave the king's chambers.
The king's words made sense but Eric was unconvinced.
In his chambers, Eric was deep in thought. 'I can't believe father doesn't feel concerned about the Lanes', good thing he doesn't know my actual reason. If he knows I don't want the Lanes' to have that much power, my successor title may be revoked.' Eric sighed.
'He thinks I'm too cautious? He has no idea. I shouldn't make big mistakes? Ha! Once I become king I would nip this problem in the bud before it becomes too big. Why does he not feel concerned about this? Well, that old man would leave this world sooner or later so it's best for me to start planning things now.' He stood up with a decision to set some things in place in order to achieve his goal.
After the previous king expired, his successor Eric Vanderhal became the King.
He decided to review and modify the laws and policies of the Vanderhal kingdom. These policies were mostly beneficial to the Royal family, one of which was an order for the Ducal families to reduce their forces by sixty percent and make the troops swear fealty to the imperial family.
The Ducal families were baffled by this and sought to talk with the Ruler who then reduced the number of troops to thirty percent with the exception of the Lane family. The high nobles had no choice but to accept.
However, Duke Charles was appalled by this and tried to know the cause of this 'partiality'.
The King didn't give an adequate response, only telling him it was for the benefit of the kingdom and not doing so was considered an act of rebellion. Seeing the matter at a deadlock, Duke Charles had no choice but to yield.